School’s back for 2010

And so I thought we’d better make a start.  This year I will TRY to get some organisation happening and update the blog every week.  Our littlest wiggle (now 12 months old) likes to make things more interesting (shall we say). 

Miss 8 drew up some plans for a sceptre like the one she had seen on Tinkerbell.

Then the girls got busy making one.

And you could hear me cheering from here, Miss 8 also sat and did a worksheet – hoorayyyyyyy!!! With no issues. They learned the ‘ir’ sound because she loves birds, so I used the opportunity. And she actullay read the words – her reading has improved as well as her concentration.

So we made a start and I am going to have to take things as they come, not plan too far ahead, not plan too much on a day, and not expect too much from my little one (who is even now pulling on my arm for me to get away from the computer!!!).  My main goals for this year are:

• Practise reading - use www.readingeggs.com, read to Grandma once a week, go to the Library to encourage bedtime stories, do a worksheet once a week.
• Maths – use online programs, do a worksheet & hands-on activity once a week.
• Christian input - use Bible Stories about character traits as a theme
• General Learning - follow the girls interests as the theme.

If i can manage to achieve these goals this year, I’ll be pleased.

Happy Bird-day!

Miss 8 (yes its her birthday) had expressed an interest in breeding birds after seeing a TV show on how some kids earn extra pocket money, so guess what she got for her birthday, or should we say, bird-day?

She got a pair of adult budgies which she names Bluey & Peppercorn, a pair of zebra finches, named Stripey & Snowflake and a neighbour gave her a baby budgie which she called Rainbow.

She spent the day helping her Dad build the avery and moved them into their new accomodation that night.  She has learned about how to care for them and she gives them fresh vegies most days, water and of course, plays with & admires them.

Meanwhile, she became interested in the 2 sections of her books which classified birds as  PASSERINES (meaning birds that perch) or NON-PASSERINES.

Miss 6, who was also interested and loves cutting, helped a lot with making this chart of Passerines we see here on our property. We also made a non-passerines one.

Its fruit picking season

And yes, it always changes the dynamics of our homeschooling in a huge way.  The workbooks are out for yes, more revision , we have to rely on Grandma for any little ‘extras’ like made-up games & the Reading Eggs program has been great. The kids can virtually do it unsupervised if necessary.

This year Miss 7 has really grown up a lot and made the decision to earn some money by helping to pack fruit. She actually set her own fee of twenty cents per tray and managed to pack a huge 26 trays one day, earning herself a $5 note, which she was thrilled with (and has since earned another plus some gold coins).

Miss 6 has been earning herself some baby sitting money entertaining her baby sister while Mum & Dad pack fruit.

Miss 6 has also become quite the little cook lately. She made these yummy sugar-free anzac biscuits.

However, most of the time its a case of hitting the workbooks mostly as a source of revision because there just isn’t enough time in the day to organise activities during our busiest time of the year – fruit picking.

Homeschool on holidays

Miss 7 kept a diary of where we went and what we did on the days that we weren’t travelling. It was good spelling and writing practise for her.

We finally visited the Pet Porpoise Pool this time at Coffs Harbour and learned more about these fascinating creatures (one of Miss 7’s favourites), but she wasn’t game enough to actually touch one (they felt like rubber tyres to me).

We read road signs & how many kilometres to places.

Had swimming lessons. Miss 7 has really improved and can now do doggy paddle, swim under water and some freestyle.

Miss 7 also continued her study of birds and enjoyed photographing any wildlife we came across and identifying it.

We visited the botanical gardens at Tamworth and the girls did drawings of different plants that interested them and wrote their names.

We also visited the Hunter Valley Gardens, which the girls really enjoyed (of course Storyland was their favourite) and they learned to read the map and lead us around the whole garden.

And of course we did some of the regular stuff such as computer CD work on the laptop and reading books. Both girls were allowed to choose a workbook suitable to their learning level and they started these while on holiday.

Back from holidays

Wow, well we have not long returned from a month’s holiday making our way up to our favourite place of all….Tallebudgera, QLD.

Here we are at Burleigh Heads beach just around the corner from this…

This is the girls looking back at where our caravan is in the camping park.  Its a beautiful place to holiday and they have a brand new heated pool.

As you can see, the girls had a ball! 

More on what homeschooling we did later…..