Liquid Soap Nuts Uses

I LOVE using Soap Nuts. They are so many uses- everything from laundry to bug repellant and best of all, NON-TOXIC!  I buy our Soap Nuts from Green Virgin Products.

I make up a gallon at a time since I use it for LOTS of things. It's one of my most important products I have in the house.


Here's my recipe for making liquid Soap Nuts


Take about 30 soapnuts in approx. 4 cups of water- bring to boil, simmer/boil for 30 min., let cool, strain out the nuts. I store mine in an empty gallon vinegar jug. I add a cup of Nixall as a preservative so it doesn't go bad, fill the jug the rest of the way with water. You can Essential Oils- EO-  if you want.


Here's a list of what I use liquid soap nuts for.


Laundry- 1/4 c per load- With the Soap Nuts from Green Virgin Products, you can still use the cold water setting on the washer.  I also add 1/2 c of vinegar to the fabric softener dispenser. Clothes won't smell like vinegar, plus in the winter, Vinegar doubles as a static cling remover. For stains and whites, we still use OxyClean.


Bug Spray- straight, can add EO if you want


Garden Bug Repellant- straight or add EO and/or neem oil- I add neem oil


All Purpose Cleaner- 1T per 16 oz. spray bottle, fill with water will work just fine, but here's my recipe for a 16 oz. bottle (the 16 oz. bottles you get in the laundry section work so much better than the 32 oz. bottles, in my opinion- the 32 oz. spray bottle sprayers kept breaking, even the ones from recycling empty commercial cleaner bottles)
1T liquid soap nuts
2 T Vinegar (helps with cutting grease, using for mirrors)- it's diluted enough that you don't smell it
1/4 C Nixall- makes it anti bacterial, viral, fungal, acts as a preservative- this is optional, but this is a serious anti-everything product that I use a lot!
Various EO- I personally love a lavendar herb combination- Lavendar/Lemongrass and Lavendar/Thyme are a couple of my favorites. I even just added a bunch of herbals scents (rosemary, thyme, oregano, lemongrass with Lavendar and it was just divine!)


I use this for cleaning everything, even mirrors. For mirrors, it looks as though it's going to streak, but it's always dried just fine, without streaks.  For sinks, toilets, showers, tubs I sprinkle baking soda/borax combo, spray with solution, wipe down, rinse. I've tried a variety of cleaning solutions and this is my absolute favorite. I noticed an immediate difference in just how clean everything was- it sparkled. Much better than anything else, including commercial cleaners, and at a fraction of the cost.

What's on our Summer Shelves

So finally a post, with pictures, of what's on our summer shelves. Just because it's summer doesn't mean the learning stops! We are doing the Summer Library Reading Program and the summer homeschooling literature/activities guide from Wee Folk Art. Before being introduced to these amazing guides, I had already decided to have a summer unit about ponds, so the Wee Folk Art Puddles and Ponds summer guide really was the perfect fit. It focuses on weather and ponds through children's literature and activities. I'm also supplementing with activities from KidsSoup.com.  With Montessori, we have Practical Life Skills and Sensory items.

First a few items from May, which will probably stay out through the summer.

I bought these puzzles at the Dollar Store- there's also a snail puzzle I don't have in the picture. Eli really loves working these and he's getting better at finding matching pieces.

I have a couple of splurge items- items which I spent more than I should have, but they were just too cute to pass up! I do allow a small amount of splurge items each semester, and these little bees were one of them! They fit perfectly for our Bees Unit and Practical Life Skills.

I would like to insert here information about the Barnes and Noble Educators Discount program. They include Homeschoolers!! I would have the link, but can't find it. It was very easy, they were very polite and very helpful in assisting me in receiving my discount card, which by the way, is 20% off of ALL educational supplies- books and toys. All I had to do was tell them I was a homeschooling mom. Once I received my discount card, I used it to buy these all too cute little bees. **PLEASE NOTE** The little bees didn't come with the pom-pom balls, I added those myself, which I purchased from Wal-Mart in the party supply area.

Speaking of Educators Discounts, JoAnn's has a similar program for 15% off. You do have to show some kind of evidence that you are homeschooling- workbook that your child has worked on, lesson plans, etc. I just happen to have my Wee Folk Art book lists with me in case I find myself in a bookstore. I also had my year overview, which I had just printed out that morning, with me. They accepted it as evidence. The manager was really cool about it. She was homeschooled too and loves it when homeschoolers ask for their discount card.

Next, on our shelves...

These are items I bought from montessori-n-such.com, except for the small brown pitchers in the first picture. Those came from goodwill, on sale for 50 cents.

The crumb brush is the perfect size for smaller hands.

There were several pouring kits to choose from. I decided on this one to help teach pouring and equally dividing between several containers.

This little kit was too cute! I was afraid it would be too easy for Eli, as we've been working with tweezers/tongs for awhile now, but it was a little difficult for him. Not only does it teach fine motor skills with the tweezers, there is the sorting colors aspect as well.

Here's another couple of splurge items- spiral tongs and a little shell scoop. One of the activities I have planned for later in the summer is to have small shells which Eli will scoop, pour and then practice using the crumb brush with. The spiral tongs work very well with the pom-pom balls and placing in the little dish from goodwill which has probably been one of the most used items I have- I think it's a little egg dish?

Dish from goodwill- this was from our December shelves

Here's another Montessori activity- flower arranging. Everything came from the Dollar Store. I had to cut the flowers apart into individual stems.

Still out- folding washcloths

Texture Dominoes.

We also have the Melissa and Doug Shapes clock. We also are doing outside sensory bins. So far, we've done insta-snow and Moon Sand (8 cups flour, 1 cup oil- either baby oil or vegetable oil- we tripled the recipe for the outdoor bin, which is the Step2 raised sandbox). Eli also has a water/sand table, which I just have water in. He has a separate sandbox.

Home Schooling Retrospect and Next Year

First WHAT'S ON OUR SHELVES for the Summer~

Various Practical Life Skills activities, the Wee Folk Art home school guides (see below) and participating in the Library Reading Program. Another fun summer activity has been to designate Friday's as Adventure Day. Yesterday was our first one. We went to the Fountains and it was a HUGE hit! Post coming soon about our Summer Activities including photos. 

This past year, we home schooled Eli. I used the Montessori style, which is a lot of hands on activities, including nomenclature cards. As I'm looking forward to next year, I've been assessing what worked and what didn't. In all honestly, Eli tolerated the nomenclature cards- 3 part cards designed to teach about various topics. They have pictures with words. For example, there were about a dozen springtime cards. The tulip card included 1) a picture of a tulip with the word tulip, 2) just a picture of a tulip, and then 3) the word tulip. What I found was that Eli responded MUCH better by walking across the street, with me, to look at the neighbors springtime flowers, which included tulips. Instead of only seeing a picture of a bud, we watched a little tree in our backyard, almost daily, to see the changes in the growing bud into a leaf. Now, I know nomenclature cards are only a supplement to learning and even Montessori says GET OUTSIDE and do hands-on learning. However, when learning about Africa, it isn't like we can just go outside to do so. I'm now tweaking the home school plan for next year to include a lot more hands on activities and utilizing Google Earth. I have been collecting books to cover our various topics. I'm pulling together a list of activities from KidsSoup.com- which I kept vacillating over the cost, $27 per year. I finally just did it and it is well worth the price! I have Toobs of animals for the different land biomes. I bought Practical Life Skills activities to help teach sorting and pouring. I even splurged on some really cute spiral tongs. I have my list of math manipulatives we need to purchase.

BUT, the most important part being added to home schooling is the beautiful find of the Wee Folk Art Home School Guides- thank you Jessica for sharing! OMG! These guides are amazing and can be easily incorporated whether one is home schooling or not. It is Waldorf based and focuses on literature and creative activities. THIS WAS THE PIECE MISSING FROM OUR HOME SCHOOL! The guides are based on the seasons, which I had already lined out next year's learning accordingly, so they fit perfectly. There's a list of books for each season. It's been a wonderful treasure hunt to find these books used- just buying them off amazon.com would eliminate half the fun, even though I'm sure I will have to purchase a few that way. Also, our local library has many of the books.

I'm so excited about these guides, we're starting them now. All of the curriculum is spiral learning- meaning I can reuse the same materials each year, just going deeper with each topic, or picking a different aspect to focus on. For example, geography this year, we will focus on biomes and animals for each continent. I'm fairly certain there will be some Putamayo CD's in there as well. And cooking some kind of traditional food, or at least eating at an ethnic restaurant.

So that's what we've been up to, at least on the home schooling front!

Pickled Beets

We've had a variety of things going on here at Peace of Earth~ gardening, raising cornish cross meat chickens, and pulling together a home school curriculum for Eli, who will be 4 at the end of August!

In the garden, we have peas and beans coming up. The Brussel Sprouts are looking great, as are the Eggplants. I don't think we've every had eggplant plants look so good! We also have the herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squashes all planted and hoping for some more kale, lettuce and spinach. For some reason, we haven't had much luck with the greens so far this year.

Last night, I pickled 4 pints of beets. Well, really, 3.5. I was hoping for more but at least I had 3- one for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas and one for Easter- and then the half is in the fridge right now. I will do a fall crop and fingers crossed, will have more.

As I was working on the beets last night, I was thinking about my grandmother (who has passed). I also thought about my dad (who passed away this last fall). I learned how to can beets from my dad, who learned from his mother. I could feel both of them with me as I peeled the beets. In case you don't know, canning beets is a lot of work! I now realize just how much love went into each jar from year's past. A dinner at my grandmother's always included a jar of canned/pickled beets.

Here is the recipe passed down to me:

Pick beets- cut tops off, but leave the root (this is very important, according to my dad)
Rinse- I got most of the dirt off, but they will be cooked and peeled, so don't worry about getting them perfectly clean.
Cook- boil like potatoes. They are done when you can put a fork into them, tender, like you would for potatoes.
Rinse- I pour mine into a large colander in the sink and run cold water over them. They are still warm when I peel them.
Peel- The peeling comes right off- I also cut the tops and bottoms.
Fill jars- I do mine in pint jars

At this point, if you're going to follow the directions for canning in the Ball Blue Book and use the hot water method, get your water started, then prepare the following mixture for canning.

Heat together and boil for 10 min. the following:
For 4 pints

2 Cups Sugar
2 Cups Water
2 Cups Apple Cider Vinegar
1t. whole cloves
1t whole allspice
1T Cinnamon

Pour over beets, place lids/rings on jars and then continue with canning directions from your Ball Blue Book. They do have directions for pickled beets, which I did. *Bring water to a simmer, place jars in, bring to a rolling boil and maintain for 30 min. Turn off, let jars cool down in pot (I left mine in for a couple of hours), then place on towels on the counter and cover with a towel. Check for seal within 24 hours. *PLEASE read the directions from the Ball Blue Book!! This is just a brief summary so you know what you're getting yourself into!

Laundry Detergent

I just read an article that Tide is now the new hot item to steal. Seriously? Tide?

This recipe is needed now more than ever, I guess, lol!! 

There are a lot of homemade laundry soap recipes out there. However, I really love soap nuts. They're easy. I also can use them for a variety of cleaning products, not just laundry.

First- buy your bag of soap nuts. I get mine from Green Virgin Products. 

Let's do a little cost comparison-
Tide, 150 oz. 90 loads, from Wal-Mart is $17.97- 20 cents a load
Soap Nuts from GVP, 1 kilo bag, 330 loads, $27.95- .08 cents a load
AND I will have additional Soap Nuts cleaning recipes, so you will have additional savings when you're not buying other commercial cleaners as well.

Next, use your Soap Nuts. They will come with a little drawstring bag. You can put 4-6 in the bag and use them just like that in your laundry. They will last for up to 6 loads of laundry. They work great. But if you want to be daring, make liquid soap nuts. I love the liquid. The little bag would get lost, or come open. Or, I would forget how many loads I had done. Liquid was easier plus I use it in making other cleaning products.

To make a gallon of Soap Nuts concentrate:

Boil 4-6 cups of water. Add about 30 soap nuts (for me, it's about 3 hand fulls). Let simmer for 30 min. Turn off, let cool. Add to gallon container and fill with water. I use empty vinegar bottles.

To use: 1/4 cup per load. If you read about soap nuts, most will say you need to use warm/hot water, but you really can use cold water and they will work just fine. 

What about whites? We use Oxyclean- one of the few commercial products I buy, with soap nuts. I do the prewash soak overnight in Oxyclean, then the regular wash with soap nuts.

What about stains? I use spray Oxyclean pre-treat then wash with soap nuts. Yes, I even have the Tide pen for tough stains and the Clorox bleach pen for let's say blueberry-smoothie-accidently-spilled-on-white-shirt stains. Yes, it's happened. The Clorox pen is great for that stain. I bought those pen things a couple of years ago, so it isn't like I use them often.

What about Fabric Softener? Great question. STOP BUYING FABRIC SOFTENER!! It's full of nasty chemicals, plus it smells horrible. I hate the smell of those dryer sheets. Yuck!
USE VINEGAR in your rinse cycle. Yes, just plain white vinegar- approx. 1/2 cup per load in your rinse cycle. You're clothes won't smell like vinegar.  I will also be doing a tutorial on making wool dryer balls which can be used as a fabric softener/static cling remover as well. But for now, use vinegar.

If you read about liquid soap nuts on-line, they all say that the liquid will go bad after about a week. However, I haven't noticed that to be true. I did take a whiff of some I made up a few weeks ago, and there's a slight smell, but nothing horrid and my clothes definitely don't smell. You can always make up less- standard recipe is 8-10 soap nuts per 6 cups of water. After it's simmered, you're left with about 4 cups of liquid- 1 quart. You can also add a preserver- ascorbic acid or I've used Nixall (in my all purpose cleaner, it acts as a preserving agent as well as a disinfectant) I don't think I'd use Nixall in my laundry soap though. Nixall is hypochlorous acid- is non-toxic, and can be used for a variety of things- but there could possibly be some negative consequences if using it in laundry- highly doubtful, but it could happen. It has plenty of other uses, not to worry. It's a great product. Not only do I recommend it, so does Dr. Norm Shealy. Get some.

Why we are Homeschooling

Public Schools teach to the average child and they teach to the test. Eli isn't average. If he were to go to public school, he would be bored. He doesn't do nothing well. It wouldn't be good for anyone involved! I am in no way bashing teachers. I think they do an amazing job with what they're given. I really wish they were allowed to just teach.

I find it sad that children in Kindergarten have to stand in a straight line and are expected to sit, quietly at their desks, which are all in rows. They also learn they must color inside the lines, both literally and metaphorically... conform. He has his whole life to learn this and actually I want him to always feel comfortable thinking outside of the box. It is a skill which will serve him well.

I want Eli to feel free to express himself, to be creative, to explore and learn about his world, to be who and what he needs to be with the support of the adults around him, gently guiding him. Once again, creativity is a great skill to cultivate.

We also don't use the reward/punishment system of discipline, which the school seems to only be able to exist on. He is learning to do what is right, because it is the right thing to do and not because someone is watching over him.

I don't want to protect him from the world (as some homeschoolers do), but rather to give him the confidence- and skills- he will need to navigate the world. I want to nurture the skills we value in adults but so many times discipline out of children. It is my job to raise a contributing citizen of society.

I want to teach him HOW to think, not WHAT to think. This goes back to being creative and being able to apply what he learns. Right now, Eli is really into Math. He loves patterns and shapes. Not only has he learned his shapes, but now, he sees shapes in everything! He is applying what he has learned.

We are teaching using the Montessori philosophy with some Reggio sprinkled in. Both of the philosophy's are not just for teaching, but are LIFE philosophies. One of my favorite Maria Montessori quote is from a student speaking with her who said "teach me so I can do it for myself." That sums it up! We are teaching him to be independent and confident, giving him the skills and tools he needs to navigate his world. The Reggio sprinkling is based on the awesome, awesome blog of Play At Home Moms. LOTS of hands on activities and supplies which the children has access to at all times. In Montessori, they recommend a specific place and specific time for learning. Eli has access to all of his activities at all times, including art supplies. Because he has been shown the proper way to use everything, other than a short coloring on everything in the house phase, he is very respectful of his things. Which leads me to the final point~ Montessori also includes the phrase "quiet and respectful". I don't expect Eli to be a quiet little mouse- that would be impractical for an active 3 yr old boy! But, he isn't a crazy disrespectful preschooler either. He doesn't destroy things. He is very respectful, not only knowing the proper use of things, but he also does it. 

We have an awesome Montessori school in town which is always a consideration. But for now, I am very happy homeschooling him. He is learning and is a happy, outgoing preschooler. It's working for us!


Filling the bird feeder

watching for birds

What's on Our March Shelves

The big introduction for Eli's Homeschooling is THE CALENDAR. I love this thing. I spent a lot of time on it. I'm really glad he likes it too. My inspiration is from Counting Coconuts, but I tailored it for our needs.

The moon phase cards and the weather tracking cards came from Montessori Print Shop- the weather tracking cards are FREE. I bought the calendar from an educational supply store and made everything else using Print Shop.

Eli enjoying his calendar. Yes, his shirt is wrong side out and backwards. BUT he put it on all by himself. He was so proud and I was proud of him as well.

The other thing I did was to move his larger sensory table outside. The weather is getting warmer, so it will be good out on the back porch for warm weather experiments and such. The table is a Step2 sandbox table, but we use it for all kinds of things. In his room, I put a bookshelf in the corner where the sensory table was. 

For his learning shelves, I bought blue trays at Target. I wish they would have had 6, but they had five so that's what I got. I have one for each of his learning subjects- Math, Language/Reading, Science (it's the one overflowing!), Geography, Practical Life, and then Sensory didn't get a bin. 

Math
We are using the colored Counting Bears to create patterns- he's really into making patterns, so I'm going with it

Number Counting Cards- Index cards with the number 1-10 and then counting chips- actually they're food chips (plastic green circles with an image of a carrot in them) from a casino that were given to us- they work ;)

Language
Opposites- he has a book of opposites and then sorting cards from Montessori Print Shop

Rhyming words- using his Spelling Spinner

Beginning Letter Sounds- simple 3 letter words, sounding out beginning letter and finding the letter that goes

A couple of books that have a lot of rhyming words

Science
We're learning about the weather and seasons. With St. Patrick's Day coming up, we will be making Rainbow Rice, creating a Rainbow Jar (with the rainbow rice) and learning about rainbows. He also has sorting cards for hot/cold weather clothing

Colors- We did this a couple of times last month and he really liked it- White ice cube tray with water in each of the holes. Add primary food color to 3 of the holes. Then he has color cards for the secondary colors- For example, I put a blue dot + red dot = purple dot, so he will take an eyedropper of blue, then red and make purple in another hole. I also found a Blues Clues book about colors.

Baby Animals- names and matching with adults animals

Geography- right now we still have the green playdoh (earth) with the blue bin (water) to make land form shapes. Eli really doesn't like it and gets bored very quickly- I only try every once in awhile, I don't force it. We do have a poster with land forms that he loves. I really need to learn how to use Google Earth. The Montessori At Home ebook suggests using it to look at actual land forms. I think Eli would really get into that.  Can I get it to work on the Kindle I wonder?

Practical Skills
He loves spooning the glass rocks and tonging poms. He's way past learning it, but he likes it so much, I've kept it out. He's also really good with threading- buttons and then the smaller pony beads onto a pipe cleaner. We need to work more on folding washcloths. He's probably getting close for sewing shapes- various shapes with holes, then you string a shoestring through the holes. Other practical skills not in his room are dressing and undressing- he's getting pretty good at it. I'm also moving towards having his snack shelf in the fridge and in a lower cabinet so he can begin making his own snacks.

Sensory
We have a matching game- cards with pictures of objects and animals and matching them with the silhouette. I have some water beads we need to get out.  I also have a running list of cool things from Play At Home Mom