Pease Porridge Hot

There are risks involved with being a homeschool Dad. My situation is especially risky since I happen to work from home quite a lot of late. My job is one of those that can literally be called in most days, so I find myself sitting at our dining room table in a sort of mini-cubicle (albeit with a better view) whilst the girls take up the nice, comfy seats on our couches in the living room. But, hey, I'm willing to sacrifice for the sake of their education.

Most of the risks are minimal, really. We occasionally have focus issues whenever I have a telecon while they're trying to read, or do math. One of the girls might not take note of the ear-piece in Daddy's ear when she sits at the piano and tries to practice. "What, Boss? That? Nothing. Just the sound of my blood pressure going up."

However, these risks are small and easily dealt with. Most of the time, Mommy is pretty good about scheduling things around my meetings. That way my noise doesn't conflict with the girls' studies. If I'm not on the phone they can do whatever they please because I do, after all, work in an office that is never quiet.

Along with the risks, however, there are perqs. Primary of which is that I get to be with my family all day. But next on the list, in my estimation, is the food.

Mrs. Woody is big on unit studies. She'll pick a primary topic or period of time to study, then build her curriculum and lesson plans around that topic. Lately the girls have been working through a curriculum called Learning Adventures and they're well into their world history tour right now. They've studied ancient civilizations, and with each culture they've been able to sample some of the cuisine that was typical of the time and place of study. Rome, Greece, Egypt. Each with its own culinary delights and traditions, and many of them sampled in the Woody classroom.

Right now the girls are wrapping up their study of the middle ages. Mrs. Woody decided on a meal of bannock and pease porridge. Bannock is essentially a heavy unleavened bread that uses fat from butter and buttermilk and is perfect for dipping in the porridge. Pease porridge is just an early version of split pea soup, and every bit as tasty. We didn't have ham to use, but we did have a can of corned beef in the cupboard. Quite tasty, I must admit.

One thing about healthy soups: they have a wonderfully cleansing effect, if you catch my drift. It started several nights ago when Mrs. Woody whipped up an Italian soup (similar to minestrone) in the crock pot. Lasted us for three meals. We're on our second meal of the pease porridge today, and will likely have it again tomorrow. Needless to say, I've been spending a lot of time in the loo cleansing room. With all this cleansing action, I should have dropped about 15 pounds this week. Alas, the scale will only give me 2 over which to rejoice.

Progress is progress, I guess.

Anyway, I'm certain Mrs. Woody will expound further on this particular study. It's been a lot of fun, but she's anxious to move on to the Renaissance. Huzzah! More food!