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Hot apple cider, hot cocoa, peppermint, sugar cookies…

There are so many delicious flavors that remind me of the Christmas season. I do not want to pick a favorite, but gingerbread certainly ranks very high on my list. I enjoy soft gingerbread cake and crunch gingerbread cookies!

This year, I thought it would be fun (and delicious) to do a unit study on gingerbread.

History of Gingerbread

Gingerbread has a long and interesting history. A few variations are told, but we know that gingerbread has been around for a very long time. Years before Christ, possibly as far as 2400 BC, gingerbread was initially just preserved ginger, and it would be hundreds of years later before gingerbread became what we know it as today.

Gingerbread developed differently in different countries, from China to Germany to England. Queen Elizabeth I is credited with gingerbread cut into shapes and decorated with gold leaf. While gold leaf is not common anymore, shaped and decorated gingerbread cookies are still popular today.

Another common tradition is building and decorating gingerbread houses. This tradition originated in Germany in the 16^th century, and they were made famous by the Hansel and Gretel story by Hans Christian Anderson. Today you can buy kits or create your own gingerbread houses.

You can find out more over at The Spruce Eats or PBS. You can also check out this documentary with Amazon Prime Video about gingerbread. (This is on our list to watch this year, but I have not yet watched it.)

Books for a Gingerbread Study

Books tend to be the backbone of our studies, and I love a good read-aloud. There are so many to choose from for this gingerbread study. Rather than choosing just one to base the unit around, I have picked out several that we could read during the study.

Some of my favorites are the Jan Brett gingerbread books because of the stunning illustrations. She has several, but we particularly like Gingerbread Christmas and Gingerbread Friends for this study.

I also found this bilingual edition of The Gingerbread Man (included for free if you have Kindle Unlimited). My seven-year-old has been trying to learn Spanish, so I think he will enjoy listening to the story in both languages.

Hansel and Gretel is also a good story for a gingerbread lesson. There are many different versions with some excellent illustrations.

I even found this chapter book Rescue at Gingerbread Mountain that sounds intriguing, and I have not yet read it but did grab it with my Kindle Unlimited subscription to give it a try. It sounds like a great read for your upper elementary-age children.

Bonus Tip: If you want to add a few of these books to your household collection, Amazon is offering this $5 off of $20 book purchase, including several gingerbread books.

Gingerbread Art

You know I had to add some art to our study.  We love this gingerbread and holly lesson included with our You Are an Artist membership (If you want to try it out but don’t want the membership, you can also purchase the Christmas Course.)

In addition to a traditional art lesson, you can build and decorate a gingerbread house or gingerbread men (maybe even both.) It is such a fun way to incorporate family members of all ages.

If you need a less messy option or have food allergy issues, you can make one from a foam kit.

Gingerbread Activities

There are so many gingerbread-based activities that you could do to go along with your students. This Gingerbread playdough is a hit with all ages. Younger children can use it like regular playdough, and older children often like using it more like a stress ball.

I found this Gingerbread House Kit idea that you could make ahead for your children to do. You could even have your children make them for their friends or family as an inexpensive but fun Christmas gift.

There are many free and inexpensive gingerbread-themed printables such as The Mailbox, Royal Baloo, and 123Homeschool4Me. These offer a way to stay in the gingerbread theme while reinforcing reading and math skills.

For older students, you could assign a gingerbread-themed writing prompt. For example, have them write their own gingerbread man story or do a descriptive writing exercise about a gingerbread house.

 If you have done all of this and your child still wants more gingerbread fun, check out this list of fifty gingerbread activities.

Putting It Into Action

Whether you spend one day learning all about gingerbread or sprinkle gingerbread activities into your learning over several weeks, it is sure to be a fun family time. There are hundreds of wonderful gingerbread recipes available on the internet, and I encourage you to try one or more. However, if you want to keep it super simple, remember there is nothing wrong with making memories from a box mix!

We enjoy the Betty Crocker Gingerbread Mix for making soft gingerbread cakes. We make them in a decorative pan similar to this and dust them with sugar. They look so beautiful and fancy, but they are simple and quick.

Remember; make this study work for your family. Do whatever activities interest you and skip the ones that do not. It is not about completion but learning and having fun together as a family.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

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Deals and Freebies

Need a good way to organize all of these great printables and have access to them when you need them? Try a free Dropbox Plan.

Amazon Prime 30 day FREE trial. If you do not yet have Amazon Prime this is a great time to try it for free for 30 days! Get your Christmas shopping done with free shipping, enjoy Christmas music and more.

The Green Ember is only $2.99 on Kindle or Free with a KindleUnlimited Trial

$10 Sign-Up Bonus for Ibotta and they are doing some major savings and rebates starting today. Great way to save money on the things you are already buying.

Two Free Audio Books with an Audible Trial and if you aren’t sure what to start with I’d suggest checking out the Green Ember or The Penderwicks for good family choices.

 

One of my favorite Amazon sales, just in time for Christmas shopping! Buy 2 Get 1 Free Books!

 

 

 

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

We have had the opportunity to look over and review the I Know It math practice website over the last several weeks. I was somewhat familiar with the program from having used it several years ago with my older children. During this round, I wanted to check it out from the perspective of my second grader.

What is I Know It?

I Know It is an online subscription-based math review program. It is designed to help students work on and improve math skills that they have already been taught. You can set up accounts for multiple students from your household and assign each of them their topics and skills to complete. They can also work on skills that they pick.

The program is broken down first into grade levels from kindergarten to fifth grade. Then each grade level is broken down into various mathematical sections, such as geometry, measurement, fractions, etc. This makes it simple to tailor it to the needs of the student. Each practice assignment is fifteen questions. Fifteen is enough not to be moving too fast, but not so many as to get boring or take an exceptionally long time.

Hints and Solutions

I always like to see what happens when a student answers questions correctly and incorrectly. I know It gives them positive reinforcement when they answer correctly, saying things like “fantastic” or “let’s make it three in a row.” There is also a robot that dances and makes funny moves.  When a student answers incorrectly, it says, “sorry, you are incorrect.” It also gives the correct answer and an explanation. I appreciate that it explains the incorrect answers to help students understand what they did wrong.

There are also hints available, so if a child does not understand the problem, they can ask for a hint before answering. I like how it levels the help and encourages a child to be successful. Additionally, there is a sound button that you can press for the computer to read each question aloud. Reading the question aloud is very helpful for allowing younger children to be more independent and making sure struggling readers do not miss math problems because of their reading challenges.

Graphics

The robot graphics are colorful and fun. I think they would be engaging for many students. The robot dances, grows flowers out of his head, and other funny moves when a student answers correctly. He looks sad when the answer is incorrect. I think it is a fun addition to the math practice but not so much that it is distracting.

Conclusions

Overall, I think I Know It is a good math review program. It does not stand alone as a curriculum but offers an excellent tool for helping students practice math skills. I appreciate that instead of going through all of the skills, I could pick and choose the skills that my student needed. I also like the reports and data that helped me track how they were doing without being with them while they worked.

I encourage you to click on the graphic below and see how other Review Crew families used I Know It in their homeschools.

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

I have never been a huge fan of flashcards, but my son needed some consistent practice on basic math facts. He knows how to add and subtract, but needed more practice to increase his speed and accuracy with basic facts. This past month we have had the pleasure of reviewing the MathRider game.

What is MathRider?

MathRider is a math facts that game that is designed to reinforce addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. Instead of boring flashcards, students get to practice the facts on the computer while completing a quest. It is purchased as a permanent liscence that can be used with the students in your home.

You set up your student and indicate which types of facts they need to review. For example, I had my seven-year-old son start with just addition facts and numbers up through 12. Then they are ready to begin their quest. There is a short computerized movie at the beginning that explains the quest and how they will earn points and move across the map.

How We Used MathRider

When the game begins, the character is riding on a horse and has to answer the math facts correctly in order to jump over obstacles. At first it was a little bit too fast for my son and he was having trouble getting ahead of it. However, once he practiced a couple time he got the hang of it.

The timed nature of it helped him begin to memorize those math facts so that he could answer from memory and not have to do the math in his head each time.

He could work through short sections each time (just a couple of minutes long) and when he came back to the computer it would remember where he was in the quest. When he completed his first quest, there was another little digital movie that congratulated him on what he had done and told him about his next quest.

My Son’s Thoughts

He was really frustrated by the timed portion at first, but once he got used to that part he really enjoyed the program. He loved seeing how far he had gone on the map after each section and found that very motivating.

My Thoughts

I liked that it was not dependent upon the internet once I had it downloaded and set up. This meant that my son could use it in the car or other places. This is really helpful for us, because we tend to use the computer more when we are traveling.

I also appreciated that it was very easy to set up and easy for him to work through on his own. It only took me a couple of minutes to set up his log in and assignments and then he was able to work thought the quest independently.

I did notice that the graphics and style were a little retro in style, reminding me of the computer games from my youth. That might be a problem for some families, but we loved it It was simple but worked well.

Assessment

There was good feedback in the statistics section to help me know what Benjamin had mastered and which facts needed more practice. I appreciated that it was tailored to what he needed and not just all of the facts randomly selected.

MathRider Conclusions

Overall, we thought this was a fun game for practicing math facts. I plan to continue to use it for addition and subtraction for now, and probably multiplication and division next year when he reaches those areas in his math curriculum. The game is not designed to teach children how to do the problems, just provide practice to help them achieve master of the facts.

Other Review Crew families used different components of the program, so make sure to click on the graphic below to see what they thought!