READY TO ROW:

I planned Cranberry Valentine as our holiday row this year, but I started it too early and finished before the holiday. I was going to continue our chapter book series with The Story of George Washington Carver when I saw Carrie Bozeman’s post about On The Corner of Chocolate Avenue. I was ecstatic and ordered the book over the weekend.

Kick-off Breakfast:

As the kids get older, I find the day zooming past and our “kick-off breakfasts” can be anywhere in the rowing process – beginning, middle, end or after. We try to create “fun moments” wherever we can.

We commemorated this row with heart pancakes filled with Hershey’s Dark Chocolate dipped Cherry and Cranberry Bites. Since Parker loves chocolate with fruit, we drizzled some of his blueberry syrup on top. A sweet way to remember this very special Valentine’s row.

Cover Art:

While waiting for our book to arrive, Parker used a youtube read aloud. He created his cover page based on the book cover art.

Story Disk:

Parker colored the story disk and placed it over Pennsylvania.

Story Book Shelf

Now that Parker is in Junior High, our rows may look a little different. I create a daily check off list that he works through. This list includes all FIAR topical units we plan to cover that day with activities and additional reading material. Parker reads almost all of the material on his own, including the FIAR Teacher’s Manual; however, there are some things we save and read together for fun.

You may have noticed that much of the associated reading material is still mostly picture books. Parker often reads books already covered in previous rows – another FIAR concept of gleaning more from a book each time it’s read. Illustrated books appeal to our senses by drawing us in with carefully crafted text while revealing more of the story with thought-provoking artwork. I choose each book Parker reads based on content and visual appeal.

In my opinion, picture books are a wonderful way to engage older children while still teaching valuable lessons. As my children began working independently, I wanted them to do so without being overwhelmed by the amount of reading material in text-heavy books often used in traditional junior high curriculum. I wanted to maintain a love for learning by adapting our FIAR approach to meet their educational needs. This really maintained the heart of our homeschool approach while helping my kids take off as independent learners.

Our reading shelf was stocked with a variety of picture books that included a HEFTY dose of chocolatey fun!

BIBLE:

Memory Verse:

I created a Bible verse printable to go with On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue.

You can purchase your copy HERE at our TPT Store.

Parker used the copywork page for writing his Bible verse.

Bible Lessons:

Since there aren’t any Bible lessons for the FIAR units, Parker continued his Bible lessons in A Kid’s Guide to the Power of Words. This series is excellent for both upper elementary as well as middle school kids.

SOCIAL STUDIES:

Pennsylvania:

Parker read Exploring the States Pennsylvania on our Epic app.

Afterwards, Parker completed the My State Report from our Story Review.

We also read the beginning of The Hershey, Pennsylvania Cookbook. There was so much information about the history behind The Hershey Company.

History – The Liberty Head Nickel:

In addition to reading the manual, we explored the nickel coin, the U.S. Mint and the actual nickel element on the periodic table.

First, Parker got his feet wet – in the financial district – by reading the “Coins” chapter in Explore Money on our Epic app.

Next, His dad talked about his experience as a kid visiting the San Francisco Mint when he was in elementary school. Unfortunately, Parker wasn’t able to go on a field trip, but he read The U.S. Mint on our EPIC app.

While covering money and the U.S. Mint, he drilled down specifically to the coin he was looking for by reading Nickels on our EPIC app.

Lastly, we reviewed currency by reading –Money Math, another great David Adler math book on our EPIC app.

Parker was deep into his Singapore Dimensions 7th grade math lessons, but we added a Money Math worksheet in our Story Review.

Elemental Fun:

Haley and Jordan always loved the Periodic Table of Elements, so I thought it might be fun to include a Periodic Treasure Hunt worksheet for Parker. Our social studies and math unit, quickly took a scientific turn.

First, Parker read about Nickel in Our World in Pictures The Elements Book. This is an absolutely beautiful book to engage all learners.

Afterwards, he completed his “Metal Mania” worksheet from our Story Review.

Milton Hershey’s Life:

The more we read about Milton Hershey, the more we love the man behind the chocolate we enjoy.

We watched a wonderful clip about Milton Hershey on our playlist. I added several other inspirational clips too!

Parker read both Milton Hershey’s Sweet Idea A Chocolate Kingdom and Milton Hershey: Hershey’s Chocolate Creator on our EPIC app.

Milton Hershey Timeline:

I drew a Milton Hershey Timeline in Parker’s FIAR chapter notebook. Parker color-coded various events and filled in all the details from his life.

Valentine’s Day:

Earlier this year, Parker learned all about Saint Valentine in his Mystery of History Vol II studies.

We recently read many Valentine’s Day books while rowing Cranberry Valentine right before On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue.

We also decorated for Valentine’s Day and planned to enjoy many sweet treats.

We celebrated with a sweet breakfast, flowers, gifts, cards and of course chocolates!

After a fun family dinner, we enjoyed a delicious chocolate cake for dessert!

LANGUAGE ARTS:

Story Review:

We created an On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue Story Review for this row.

You can purchase your copy HERE at our TPT Store.

Onomatopoeia:

Though we recently studied this topic, Parker read the “Onomatopoeia” chapter in It Figures!

Afterwards, Parker listened while I read the FIAR manual and he wrote down the onomatopoeic words he heard then drew illustrations using the worksheet from our Story Review.

ART:

Candy Making – Chocolatier:

First, we read all about chocolate in The Hershey, Pennsylvania Cookbook.

We also watched some amazing chocolatiers on our playlist.

Later, I created a really fun CREATIVE CORNER – Design & Color worksheet that allows students to design their own Hershey’s Chocolate Bar. It’s available in the Story Review.

Chocolate Mug Cake:

We made the FIAR chocolate mug cakes with Hershey’s Cocoa and Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa. They were both delicious!

MATH:

Assembly Lines and Multiplication:

We couldn’t discuss chocolate and assembly lines without seeing the famous Lucy and Ethel clip!

Parker had recently read Mystery Math for another row, so he reviewed the multiplication facts this time around.

Afterwards, Parker completed the set of Chocolate Box worksheets from our Story Review.

Percentage & Fractions:

This unit quickly covered both math and science.

First, Parker read Working with Fractions by David Adler.

Afterwards, He completed the FIAR Percentage and Fraction worksheet.

I turned our dairy math activity into a science unit. First, Parker read How Cows Make Milk.

He continued reading about cows in The Milk Makers by Gail Gibbons.

Lastly, he color-coded the Parts of a Dairy Cow worksheet from the Story Review.

SCIENCE:

Cocoa, Cocoa Butter and Chocolate:

We couldn’t study Hershey’s chocolate without diving deep into the wonderful world of all things chocolate.

Before Parker studied the science of Chocolate, he learned about its history in Chocolate a Sweet History.

He continued his reading with The Story of Chocolate.

Before moving into our science unit, we read Mercedes and the Chocolate Pilot, a true story about Chocolate in World War II.

Parker began digging into the science behind chocolate by reading Let’s Explore Chocolate! on our EPIC app.

He gleaned a little more by reading From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate on our EPIC app.

I’m pretty sure we were super saturating our brains with everything chocolate. As long as Parker was able to sample chocolates, he wouldn’t mind reading more.

Parker concluded this science unit with Grandpa Cacao.

I created a Fun Food Science – From Cocoa Bean to Chocolate worksheet in our Story Review.

With our brains full of all things chocolate, I thought it might be fun to go on a Chocolate hunt. We searched the house and gathered every form and brand of chocolate. We had cocoa – for baking and drinking, a variety of chocolate candy, chocolate bars, chocolate chip – semi sweet, milk, white and dark and so much more!

Next, we stopped at one of our favorite chocolate stores after going out to eat as a family.

Winter Animals:

We continued learning about animals in the winter season using Winter Sleep. There’s so much content at the end of the book.

We continued our animals in winter with Do Frogs Drink Hot Chocolate? How Animals Keep Warm. This was a fun, whimsical science book.

We all know animals don’t drink hot cocoa to stay warm, but that didn’t stop us from enjoying a cup or two.

HELPFUL LINKS:

Pinterest Board:

You can find most of the activities, ideas, and printables from this post on our On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue Pinterest Board.

Youtube Playlist:

As with our other rows, we created an On the Corner of Chocolate Avenue with read-alouds, music, science, and other clips.