Walking, Grocery Shopping, and Knitting

Today was the perfect day. It was about 70F when I sat outside to enjoy the morning. I love mornings!

After my hubby woke up and finished breakfast, he invited me to go on a walk with him. He is trying to get back into the routine of walking three times a week in the neighborhood. Today was our second day. I finished my aerobic workout before he woke up so I closed my exercise ring for the day but I still wanted the steps.

After walking, we went grocery shopping. First, we stopped at Aldi’s and hubby realized he had forgotten his wallet so I drove to Walmart when we left. After Walmart, we had to go home to put away the cold and frozen foods. Next, we went up to Costco and it was very crowded.

Once we got home, I sat outside some more and did some knitting. Hubby decided to wash the car.

In the evening after dinner, we watched Twilight Zone episodes on Amazon Prime Video.

Things we saw on our walk: 

Original photos by Pat Hensley

Comparison Shopping

Recently, we had the grand opening of an Aldi store near us. I have heard a lot of great things about this store, so I had high hopes for it. After lunch, my husband, daughter and I ventured to the new store.

It was interesting that the prices at our store were different than the prices of the store near my daughter. She also talked about the different things that were in our store compared to her store.

I also noticed that there wasn’t a lot of things available that we normally use so there weren’t many bargains for us. Many of the things that we do use were cheaper at Walmart than this store.

So overall, I was excited at first to hear this store was opening near us and then disappointed that I wouldn’t be saving any money by shopping there.

Comparison shopping is an important skill to teach my students. I want them to be able to stretch their money further than expected so that they can buy more of the things they need. They also need to learn the difference between need and want. Many things they need should come before they get the things they want. It is important not to buy something the first time you see it but instead think about the different stores that you go to frequently. If it is somewhere that you normally shop, then it would be better to buy it there. But if you have to go far out of your way to get it, it might be better to pay the higher price. The more the students practice comparison shopping, the easier it will be. 

How do you teach students to comparison shop? Please share.

Grocery Shopping – Unit Lesson

Here is a lesson for grocery shopping which can be done at different skill levels in Grades 3-5.

Everyone goes grocery shopping as a step towards independence. Students who go grocery shopping need to learn how to check prices and total prices to make sure that they have the right amount of money. It is also important to decide which stores have the better bargains in order to save money.

1. The teacher will get grocery advertisements from the newspaper or online. It would be best to use several different grocery store ads. The teacher will cut out individual food items with prices.

2. Students who need to work on adding skills will choose the number of items as assigned by the teacher. The student will add up the items on paper, show the teacher, and then check their answers using a calculator.

3. Once the students master the addition skills, they will continue to the next procedure.

4. Students who need to work on multiplication skills will choose the number of items as assigned by the teacher. They will roll a die to determine how many of those items would be bought. The students will multiply the price by that number, show the teacher, and then check their answers using a calculator.

5. Once the students master the multiplication skills, they will continue to the next procedure.

6. Students who need to work on division will choose the number of items as assigned by the teacher. Students will figure out the unit price for each item. If the item is available in different grocery stores, the student will decide which store has the best price.

You can download the free lesson plan from HERE. 

Do you teach grocery shopping in your classroom? What activities would you add to this lesson? Please share.