Last Friday, the children finished their Maths and English workbooks for the year. As this is the second lot of books at 'grade level', I decided we might have a party and take a break from workbooks for a while.
After attending a local homeschooling social event (the children made cubby houses and spent more time organising games and building than actually playing, but they've formulated a plan to streamline the process for next time), we ventured out to the grocery store - list in hand - to purchase party foods. We were successful in buying everything on the list, plus a microscope.
Needles to say, much time since has been spent collecting samples and discussing what would be cool to look at through the new acquisition. Various plant parts, onion cells, hair (human and pets), water samples from different sources and dirt have all been examined. A worthwhile purchase, methinks!
We had our party full of processed foods (much to my disgust, but it was the children's day). Miss 9 and Mr 6 felt really proud of their achievements and Miss 2 keeps sitting up at the table declaring her love of parties.
Saturday was the Global Day of Solidarity for Comfort Women. Unfortunately, I couldn't attend any events as hubby woke up in severe pain with a tooth ache. After much calling around (and groaning from hubby), we were able to get an afterhours appointment that evening at a local dentist. Hubby is now sans tooth and a much happier Vegemite!
Sunday was spent recovering from said tooth disaster.
Monday again and it was pottery for Miss 9. She's really coming along. Then sport for Miss 9 and Mr 6.
Tuesday was 'Science Day' and we headed to the National Science and Technology Centre where we looked at the Sideshow Exhibit and discussed gravity and centrifugal force and leverage and then roamed randomly for a while and had a picnic at the nearby Sculpture Gardens (more samples were collected for the microscope). Then we spent some time in the afternoon reading to finish the last bits in our library books for Wednesday and viewing the samples they had collected.
Wednesday was story and craft for under 5's at the local library. A librarian reads several books (broken up by singing and dancing) with a common theme to the children then there is a connected activity. This week was 'Going to Sleep' and the activity was to colour and make a moon puppet and a figure that slides in and out of a bed. Miss 2 loves coming home with her craft and spends the next two days announcing "I made it". I sent the older children off to find the history section and they chose two books on the invasion of Australia by Europeans and a whole heap of unrelated joke books as well as choosing their reading books for the next week or two. I find it a great way to introduce them to the library's cataloging system. The afternoon was devoted exploring our new haul (books).
Thursday, we had a play day with another homeschooling family down at Yerrabi Ponds. It's a fantastic park for various ages and the children always have a great time. They were particularly fascinated with the way the reeds were seeding around the lake. When we arrived home (after a quick lunch and some down time) we had a cooking afternoon. Mr 6 helped me to make bread and cookies and Miss 9 made dinner for everyone. French toast for the two littler children and mushroom risotto and Mediterranean salad for the rest of us. They did a great job! Now to get them as interested in doing the washing up!
Today we went to a theatre production at The Playhouse. It was called "The Fastest Boy in the World" and was a very enjoyable performance for Miss 9. Mr 6 deemed it 'too loud' and spent most of the time with his fingers stuck in his ears. Miss 2 was fine until the lights went out and the music stared. Then she freaked and spent most of the performance sobbing into my chest. Oh well, lesson learned, I guess.
As we didn't get home until well past lunchtime and were all wet (it's raining today - a rare event in Canberra indeed), we had showers, put on our PJ's, ate lunch (over which a discussion of the play was had) and are now reading our new library books.
A lovely end to a lovely week!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
What a wonderful week!
We have been so busy 'schooling' I have lost track of time to blog!
On Tuesday morning, excitement reigned supreme as Miss 9 came back from her visit with bio-dad. Hubby took the day off work in honour of the event and we were placing bets on which child was going to burst into tears first (such was the level of expectant hysteria!). It all went pretty smoothly, though and I was even (thanks to my lovely, thoughtful hubby taking over) able to finish my library book!
In the afternoon when Miss 2 was having her nap, we made musical instruments out of burst balloons and cups (drums) and lunch-box containers and rubber bands (guitars) to demonstrate how oscillators and resonators work. We also did an experiment with cornstarch and water to show how viscosity and resistance to objects work together.
On Wednesday, with hubby back at work, we decided to get back to a little book work (the children are using the NSW edition of Targeting Maths and English. The layout really appeals to them). That completed we chose a recipe to cook later, made a list and embarked on the dreaded grocery shopping!
Wednesday is the best day to go shopping in Canberra in my opinion, as most people are paid on Thursdays. Product availability is a bit hit and miss, though - but as I buy my fresh produce at the Farmers Market, it's not that big a deal.
Having arrived back home and done the inevitable packing away and preparing and clean up of lunches, we made a delicious carrot cake. Miss 9 did all the reading, measuring and mixing. I only helped to line the tin and the hot oven stuff.
After yet another clean-up and more snacks all round, we put Miss 2 to bed and indulged in a 'film appreciation' session. We watched the Nancy Drew movie and discussed characters, plots, sub-plots and the difference between the movie and the books.
Then we iced the cake (cream cheese icing, yummo) and got ready for dinner.
Miss 22 was coming over and we have discussed her moving back in with the other children. The smaller ones (well, Mr6 has decided, as official representative of the smaller ones) that they will share a room leaving a room free for her.
Quesadillas and carrot cake were on the menu.
Today we completed our bookwork early, then headed to the local homeschool group activity making and flying paper planes! It was really well set up, with some of the older kids (with paper plane experience) demonstrating different types of planes and aerodynamic principles to the younger and/or less experienced kids. Then we had a competition to see who could go highest, get the planes through a hoop, go the furthest, etc. Then everyone spilled outside the hall to kick balls, climb trees and run around like - well - kids!
Meantime the really little children found lots of lovely mud puddles and proceeded to get as wet and dirty as possible!
Such fun!
On Tuesday morning, excitement reigned supreme as Miss 9 came back from her visit with bio-dad. Hubby took the day off work in honour of the event and we were placing bets on which child was going to burst into tears first (such was the level of expectant hysteria!). It all went pretty smoothly, though and I was even (thanks to my lovely, thoughtful hubby taking over) able to finish my library book!
In the afternoon when Miss 2 was having her nap, we made musical instruments out of burst balloons and cups (drums) and lunch-box containers and rubber bands (guitars) to demonstrate how oscillators and resonators work. We also did an experiment with cornstarch and water to show how viscosity and resistance to objects work together.
On Wednesday, with hubby back at work, we decided to get back to a little book work (the children are using the NSW edition of Targeting Maths and English. The layout really appeals to them). That completed we chose a recipe to cook later, made a list and embarked on the dreaded grocery shopping!
Wednesday is the best day to go shopping in Canberra in my opinion, as most people are paid on Thursdays. Product availability is a bit hit and miss, though - but as I buy my fresh produce at the Farmers Market, it's not that big a deal.
Having arrived back home and done the inevitable packing away and preparing and clean up of lunches, we made a delicious carrot cake. Miss 9 did all the reading, measuring and mixing. I only helped to line the tin and the hot oven stuff.
After yet another clean-up and more snacks all round, we put Miss 2 to bed and indulged in a 'film appreciation' session. We watched the Nancy Drew movie and discussed characters, plots, sub-plots and the difference between the movie and the books.
Then we iced the cake (cream cheese icing, yummo) and got ready for dinner.
Miss 22 was coming over and we have discussed her moving back in with the other children. The smaller ones (well, Mr6 has decided, as official representative of the smaller ones) that they will share a room leaving a room free for her.
Quesadillas and carrot cake were on the menu.
Today we completed our bookwork early, then headed to the local homeschool group activity making and flying paper planes! It was really well set up, with some of the older kids (with paper plane experience) demonstrating different types of planes and aerodynamic principles to the younger and/or less experienced kids. Then we had a competition to see who could go highest, get the planes through a hoop, go the furthest, etc. Then everyone spilled outside the hall to kick balls, climb trees and run around like - well - kids!
Meantime the really little children found lots of lovely mud puddles and proceeded to get as wet and dirty as possible!
Such fun!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Cruisy Monday
Well, with Miss 9 still visiting her bio-dad, we tried to fill in the blanks as much as possible for Mr 6 and Miss 2.
We very bravely embarked on a plan to visit two, yes - TWO, public buildings on Saturday - Questacon (also known as the National Science and Technology Museum) and the National Library of Australia (NLA).
The first was always going to be a hands-down winner with the children as we visit often and they are always entertained, the second was a sorta hit and miss affair, particularly as we left it till last.
Well, Mr 6 was keen to show dad the new exhibit at Questacon - "Perception Deception", which is a whole room devoted to optical illusions and well worth a look.
Miss 2 was happy to explore Mini-Q which is for under sixes and has loads of role play and tactile exploration activities.
As we spent a good 2 hours there, you can imagine that the children were just about over it by the time we decided to head to the Library!
We did pick up the family trail pamphlet that gives children objects to look for and has a brief explanation about each item, but they just managed to look at the lovely stained glass windows and the Ballet de Russes exhibition and we headed home!
Will try again another day, as I'm sure the children will be more open to the experience if they are not in sensory overload! Plus, the Nick Cave exhibit is opening soon, so it will be well worth a look (for the grownups, anyway!).
On Sunday, Mr 6 told us that he was interested in war games. Now, we are pacifists, but hubby is a geek, so it is a given that he will be into some kind of war game either on the computer or old-school board games, right? His passion is ASL (Advanced Squad Leader), which is a little too much for a 6 year old, so we made a journey into 'town' (Civic) and visited a fantastic games store in Garema Place, by the name of Mind Games and purchased a board game based on the days of Roman expansion.
They've been playing it or talking about it ever since. Little geek in the making, perhaps??
We also stopped at Borders, but I've got to admit that I've noticed a huge difference in their stock in the last 6 to 12 months. It's not nearly so interesting and one is much less likely to find a 'hidden gem' these days. Give me Canty's any day!
Sunday night Miss 22 came for dinner. She is kicking about moving back in in November, but we do have a problem with space and available beds, living in a respectable, but not particularly spacious home. Plus the whole older adult-child in a family home with smaller children thing sorta limits who can share with whom! Keep you posted on this development.
Today, we had a continuation of our unschooling trial for Mr 6. As the children have finished two books at grade level this year for both Maths and English and we are into a third Science book (and I figure our political activities and explanations regarding wacky religious festivals are enough to cover Social Studies), I'm not adverse at this point to them looking around for personal interests.
I got up at about 8 am. Hubby had been up for a while and Mr 6 was reading the Mythology book that we recently purchased at Canty's - his favourites at the moment are the Ancient Chinese legends.
Miss 2 was looking at her books in her bed and 'reading' to her teddy.
We spent a lovely morning reading, playing on the trampoline, chasing stray puppies out of the yard, cooking, and snacking. Then we went to sport (an organised event between a couple of local homeschooling groups), where we saw Miss 9. It was a little up in the air as to whether her bio-dad would take her, but he and his wife did, which was excellent! Especially as it is held on the complete opposite side of town to where they are!
We also saw lots and lots of lovely homeschooling people and had the opportunity to make arrangements for catch up meets in the next few weeks.
Looks like we are going to be busy!
We very bravely embarked on a plan to visit two, yes - TWO, public buildings on Saturday - Questacon (also known as the National Science and Technology Museum) and the National Library of Australia (NLA).
The first was always going to be a hands-down winner with the children as we visit often and they are always entertained, the second was a sorta hit and miss affair, particularly as we left it till last.
Well, Mr 6 was keen to show dad the new exhibit at Questacon - "Perception Deception", which is a whole room devoted to optical illusions and well worth a look.
Miss 2 was happy to explore Mini-Q which is for under sixes and has loads of role play and tactile exploration activities.
As we spent a good 2 hours there, you can imagine that the children were just about over it by the time we decided to head to the Library!
We did pick up the family trail pamphlet that gives children objects to look for and has a brief explanation about each item, but they just managed to look at the lovely stained glass windows and the Ballet de Russes exhibition and we headed home!
Will try again another day, as I'm sure the children will be more open to the experience if they are not in sensory overload! Plus, the Nick Cave exhibit is opening soon, so it will be well worth a look (for the grownups, anyway!).
On Sunday, Mr 6 told us that he was interested in war games. Now, we are pacifists, but hubby is a geek, so it is a given that he will be into some kind of war game either on the computer or old-school board games, right? His passion is ASL (Advanced Squad Leader), which is a little too much for a 6 year old, so we made a journey into 'town' (Civic) and visited a fantastic games store in Garema Place, by the name of Mind Games and purchased a board game based on the days of Roman expansion.
They've been playing it or talking about it ever since. Little geek in the making, perhaps??
We also stopped at Borders, but I've got to admit that I've noticed a huge difference in their stock in the last 6 to 12 months. It's not nearly so interesting and one is much less likely to find a 'hidden gem' these days. Give me Canty's any day!
Sunday night Miss 22 came for dinner. She is kicking about moving back in in November, but we do have a problem with space and available beds, living in a respectable, but not particularly spacious home. Plus the whole older adult-child in a family home with smaller children thing sorta limits who can share with whom! Keep you posted on this development.
Today, we had a continuation of our unschooling trial for Mr 6. As the children have finished two books at grade level this year for both Maths and English and we are into a third Science book (and I figure our political activities and explanations regarding wacky religious festivals are enough to cover Social Studies), I'm not adverse at this point to them looking around for personal interests.
I got up at about 8 am. Hubby had been up for a while and Mr 6 was reading the Mythology book that we recently purchased at Canty's - his favourites at the moment are the Ancient Chinese legends.
Miss 2 was looking at her books in her bed and 'reading' to her teddy.
We spent a lovely morning reading, playing on the trampoline, chasing stray puppies out of the yard, cooking, and snacking. Then we went to sport (an organised event between a couple of local homeschooling groups), where we saw Miss 9. It was a little up in the air as to whether her bio-dad would take her, but he and his wife did, which was excellent! Especially as it is held on the complete opposite side of town to where they are!
We also saw lots and lots of lovely homeschooling people and had the opportunity to make arrangements for catch up meets in the next few weeks.
Looks like we are going to be busy!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Lazy wild and wintry day
As there was one less child today, I was able to better focus on activities for the littler ones. Mr 6 is still young enough to get carried away in the preschooler games if presented with enough enthusiasm, and old enough to take himself off and pursue more 'age appropriate' activities if he gets bored.
I was feeling a little unfocused this morning as Miss 2 has been very vocal in regards to her opinions lately (where were our brains when we decided to raise free-thinking children?) and not at all into waiting patiently whilst the older children finish their 'schoolwork' activities in the mornings.
Added to that, it's been like pulling teeth to get Mr 6 to do book work this week (and with Miss 9 not home to work alongside of, I've got next to no chance) so I've been 'tricking' him with getting out the Choose Your Own Adventure books, cooking, watching how beans grow, activities whilst shopping, word-searches and puzzles.
Mr 6 wasn't much help in the "What do you want to do today?" department, so I decided on the good old standby of having a baking day. Mr 6 chose a recipe, then we were off to the shops to get the few bits and pieces that weren't to hand (and to drop hubby to work).
Previously I had been meaning to set up some Montessori-type activities for Miss 2 to keep her occupied while the older children and I where cooking, but I didn't seem to get organised, so on returning to the homestead, I cleaned off the outside 'little' table and put it in the kitchen and set her up with some dried beans, lentils and rice and a few containers and some patty cases. It worked beautifully! She was still "cooking dinner" long after we had finished.
Mr 6 was happy as he had my (almost) undivided attention and got to make chocolate cake with sprinkles, plus I had time to make them special sandwiches (just sandwiches cut into shapes with a cookie cutter, but special none the less!).
We then did some dancing, out door play (till it got too windy and it started to rain), read a while and put Miss 2 down for a nap.
Then we made some 'chunky crayons' - put pieces of broken crayon into silicone baking dishes (I just use the round cupcake ones, but you can make all sorts of shapes) and bake until melted, then cool.
The rest of the afternoon was devoted to boring housework stuff and trying to think of something easy to cook for dinner. I think the poor family will probably be subjected to lentils and pasta again!
I was feeling a little unfocused this morning as Miss 2 has been very vocal in regards to her opinions lately (where were our brains when we decided to raise free-thinking children?) and not at all into waiting patiently whilst the older children finish their 'schoolwork' activities in the mornings.
Added to that, it's been like pulling teeth to get Mr 6 to do book work this week (and with Miss 9 not home to work alongside of, I've got next to no chance) so I've been 'tricking' him with getting out the Choose Your Own Adventure books, cooking, watching how beans grow, activities whilst shopping, word-searches and puzzles.
Mr 6 wasn't much help in the "What do you want to do today?" department, so I decided on the good old standby of having a baking day. Mr 6 chose a recipe, then we were off to the shops to get the few bits and pieces that weren't to hand (and to drop hubby to work).
Previously I had been meaning to set up some Montessori-type activities for Miss 2 to keep her occupied while the older children and I where cooking, but I didn't seem to get organised, so on returning to the homestead, I cleaned off the outside 'little' table and put it in the kitchen and set her up with some dried beans, lentils and rice and a few containers and some patty cases. It worked beautifully! She was still "cooking dinner" long after we had finished.
Mr 6 was happy as he had my (almost) undivided attention and got to make chocolate cake with sprinkles, plus I had time to make them special sandwiches (just sandwiches cut into shapes with a cookie cutter, but special none the less!).
We then did some dancing, out door play (till it got too windy and it started to rain), read a while and put Miss 2 down for a nap.
Then we made some 'chunky crayons' - put pieces of broken crayon into silicone baking dishes (I just use the round cupcake ones, but you can make all sorts of shapes) and bake until melted, then cool.
The rest of the afternoon was devoted to boring housework stuff and trying to think of something easy to cook for dinner. I think the poor family will probably be subjected to lentils and pasta again!
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