Rad Women & Cupcake Lessons

Me again! Staying home during the coronavirus pandemic. Working from home. Helping my kids do schoolwork. Teaching them a few things of my own. Because I'm a working-stay-at-home-mom now and I am OWNING this.

For homeschooling time on Tuesday we pursued women's studies. We discussed feminism and what it is and if we are feminists (yes!). Then we looked at different women's stories in these books: In the Company of Women by Grace Bonney, Brazen by Penelope Bagieu, and Rad American Women A-Z by Kate Schatz. We talked about Issa Rae (actor/director), Maya Lin (architect), Liz Lambert (hotelier), Linda Rodin (stylist), Jennie Jieun Lee (ceramicist), Sonia Sotomayor (SCOTUS judge), Patti Smith (rock poet), Ella Baker (civil rights activist), Delia Akeley (explorer), Ping Zhu (illustrator), and The Shaggs (rock band). We also had an ongoing discussion about how to pronounce "entrepreneur."

 
























We particularly enjoyed Penelope Bagieu's illustrated story of The Shaggs, a 3-sister group from New Hampshire who were forced to become a rock band by their father, even though they couldn't play very well and... didn't want to.

Today, Wednesday, we embarked on a 2+ hour hands-on project to make Boston Cream Cupcakes from a King Arthur Flour Baking Box. It was great! There were 3 parts to the project--make the cupcakes and core them, make the vanilla bean filling and fill the cupcakes, and make the deep, rich chocolate frosting and pipe it on top.

The baking box is well organized, with numbered bags of pre-mixed ingredients, clear instructions, plus any special equipment you'll need--like a cupcake coring tool and a piping bag with star tip.

These were delicious! Highly recommend KAF baking boxes as handy gifts or for a special activity.

I've instituted a ratings and reviews system to get feedback on my homeschooling output so I can keep improving services. My first two lessons got 2-3 stars (out of 5), but the cupcakes were 4.5 stars. I'm aiming to do a printed wrap-up survey at the end of the week so I can get more information from respondents and continue to fine tune my programming.

The state of Vermont hasn't updated on confirmed coronavirus cases since Monday. The number then was 12. No idea how that has changed.