Swimming & Reading (not at the same time LOL)

Bugsy performed solidly at swimming this term and consolidated himself into stage 4.  Flossy comfortably passed stage 6.  Chicky swam well and as she's in the pre-school program doesn't pass stages, although now that she is 5 i've been told to enrol her into a stage 2/3 class as that is where her skills are at.

I will be interested to see how they go over the summer.  We will not be doing our regular swimming this term and instead will be participating in the Education Department In term Swimming Program which will see the kids swim every 'school' day for 2 weeks.  They will also be doing surf club over the summer and i'm lead to believe (have not actually confirmed) that they can pass swimming levels through surf club.

Chicky has now completed the second set of Nora Gaydos Readers and whilst she's desperate to move onto the blue box (level 2) there is a bit of a step up so i've managed to convince her to finish the first set of I See Sam Readers first :)

Take care

Amber xx

Planning for 2013

WOW!  The past year has zipped by at a VERY rapid rate of knots! It's time to plan and purchase for 2013 already!

Flossy will be year 4, Bugsy year 2, Chicky Pre-Primary (US K equivalent) and Possum will be 2yo.

So here is what we have planned for a super fun year -

Flossy age 8, year 4 -
Galore Park Junior Maths book 2* & 3
Kumon Word Problems Grade 3* & 4
Khan Academy
Logic workbooks & games
IEW SWI-A*
Galore Park Junior English Book 2*
Classical House of Learning History & Literature (SOTW4)

Bugsy age 7, year 2 -
Rightstart C
Kumon Word Problems 2
Khan Academy
Logic workbooks & games
All About Speling 2* & 3
Explode the Code 6, 7 & 8
I See Sam Readers*
Writing With Ease 2

Chicky age 5, Pre-primary -
Rightstart B
Kumon Word Problems 1
Logic games
All About Spelling 1 & 2
Explode the Code 1, 2 & 3
Handwriting Without Tears My Printing Book
I See Sam Readers*

Possum age 2 -
Speech Therapy
Occupational Therapy

Together -
Auslan using various resources from Bilby Publishing

Engineering is Elementary which i will flesh out to include cultural study for Bugsy & Chicky as their 'program' for the year.  We will spend 2 weeks on each book, which will include the engineering project and geography/culture for the country.

Lego Mindstorms, Snap Circuits 750 & other STEM programming activities as listed here.

Come & Look with me (art appreciation)

Various art and crafts as instigated by the children

Nature study

Music appreciation (classical)

Swimming, surf club & Scouts

NOTES -
Bugsy & Chicky will not 'tag along' with Flossy for SOTW4 this year.  I think it is too heavy for them at their ages/maturity and Flossy will follow her own course of study mostly independently for the year.  Bugsy & Chicky will instead have a STEM focus for the year and Flossy will join in as her science.

Yes, we are changing up our maths.  Flossy completed the entire Miquon line up as per our maths scope and sequence posted here.  You learn a lot about a program when you complete it from start to finish that you wouldn't know without using it in it's entirety.  Whilst i love Miquon and what it has to offer i have learned that it isn't going to be the right fit for Chicky and i think Bugsy is far enough into it that it's time for a change for him.  He's set off on the right foot as Miquon is such a solid foundation that it's the right time to change him.

We are also dropping Latin.  This has been a really tough decision for me.  I can see and completely understand the benefits that Latin has however it is taking up a significant portion of my time working with Flossy and understanding it all.  Possum needs to learn more Auslan as he doesn't talk.  So we will be switching Latin for Auslan for the time being.  I already have Latin Prep from Galore Park which is what we were going to do after Getting Started with Latin.  I will now shelve this and hand it on to Flossy to complete independently maybe in year 5 or 6.

Items marked * are programs that we have been working on this year which need completion.  As we school year round we start new books as and when required, not necessarily at the beginning of the year which means that some books hang over to the following year :)

Tentative plan for 2014 is an Australian History year for everyone before beginning the 4 year history cycle again in 2015.

Saturday Afternoon Drawing

A bit over a week ago a friend passed on to me a DVD she received free with some Faber Castell pencils.  She had purchased several packs of pencils, all came with DVD's and she had several copies of the same one.  Her children had enjoyed it and she thought mine would too.

After lunch today whilst Possum napped we watched the first segment on drawing a cartoon style koala.  It's the first chance we've had to look at it.  It's not a teaching DVD per say , the artist just talks you through what he is doing step by step.  We got all our supplies ready and just paused the DVD after he completed each step so that we could work along with him.

Having children with some perfectionist qualities we had discussed before hand that every artist produces different work even when drawing the same thing.  They should be proud of their efforts because if we wanted an exact copy we would just photocopy the drawing and not bother with the hassle of drawing it ourselves.  In the spirit of artistic license the children chose to omit features the artist had included and add in some of their own.  For the most part however they stuck to what they were shows.

Here are their final products.

Flossy

Bugsy

Chicky

I will be keeping an eye out on my future Faber Castell purchases to check for free DVD's, certainly worthwhile.

Amber xx

Olympic Lapbooks

We've just completed our Olympic Lapbooks, they were so much fun!  I pulled various pages from the resources I listed here and we also read the books listed too.  The children were all so engaged in this format of school.  They were eager to get to this part of their day and create something they could treasure.

The lapbooks are a concertina fold so the cover page saying 'My Olympic Lapbook' ends up being the front :-)  I removed their names from the bottom of the cover for the photo's.

Here are their final creations.

Flossy

Bugsy

Chicky

I did almost all of the writing for Chicky, but I did write what she told me too.  Bugsy did about half of his writing and Flossy did all of hers complete with her own research.

It was unanimous that their favourite athlete is Lauren Mitchell.  During our discussions it was revealed that anyone can bike, run or swim but not everyone can do all those cool tricks!

Favourite sports were split Flossy chose diving, Bugsy fencing (although he is most disappointed not to have seen any) and Chicky chose gymnastics.

We still have a few things to fill in this week including the medal tally and the weather in London but everything is stuck in its place and just needs a quick note each day until the Olympics are over.

We've had such a fun time doing 'Olympic School'.  Have you done something special for the Olympics in your homeschool?  We would love to take a look.

Amber xx

Girls Keeping Busy

Flossy and Chicky have been busy the last few days.

Flossy entered a short story competition and i would love to share her story with you but it is a condition of entry that we keep it a secret until we know if she has made the short list, so you will have to wait.  She also wrote a poem this morning which i can share :)

Flowers
For koalas flowers are teacups as they sip gum nut tea and in the underwater flower of the anemone clownfish smile and jellyfish float free, and for the lucky lady red gum honey bee the flowers help make sweet and yummy delicious red gum honey.  Sometimes flowers grow on a tree and yet sometimes they're in front of me.

Chicky has completed the first box of Bob Books.  Woohoo!  Another up and coming reader in the family.

Amber xx

Checking in

Busy, busy, busy!!  Possum has been sick with an ear infection going on 3 weeks, poor baby.  He's been quite brave and we seem to finally be getting back on top of it, thank goodness because the sleep deprivation from comforting him all night has been taking a huge toll.  I don't know if i make sense half the time LOL.

In spite of all this school continues to cruise along.  I say cruise because we have been taking a bit of a lighter approach.

Bugsy has completed Kumon Word Problems Grade 1 and i will hold off on Grade 2 until he has completed more of Miquon Blue.  Flossy worked on them concurrently however i can see the benefit of waiting just a little before starting this one.

He has also completed the dark green I See Sam Readers and his reading is going swimmingly!  3 more levels of I See Sam to go and he will be done, then will come the challenge to select school related reads for him.

Flossy has worked hard to finish Miquon Yellow.  There are some challenging questions in that book!  Miquon Purple is next and i'm sure she will find it just as challenging.  Then to decide what to do next. I though i had that mapped out but now i'm having second thoughts.  I will just see how she goes with this book and decide closer to the end i think.  Very proud of her and she is proud of herself knowing how close she is to completing the series.

Chicky is motoring along with reading, phonics and handwriting.  For maths we are working on counting to 100, she makes it to 12 no worries but we have a long way to go LOL.  I am hoping by teaching her to write the numbers she will see them easier which might help her to remember their names.

Possum apart from being unwell with his ear infection and trying to cut his molars which are taking forever to come through is good.  He's started using more signs, yay!  So far i have seen sleep, food, baby, teddy bear, bath, cat, dog, bye and i think that's it.  I'm so pleased we are finally getting somewhere on the communication front.  Last night we actually had a little game and conversation and he signed in context.  It was enough to melt your heart!  He is walking everywhere with confidence now too and his understanding seems to have come on in leaps and bounds!

Lost our groove & an update

We hit the ground running at the start of the year and worked really hard and really solidly. Our days seemed very fluid with only the occasional speed bump. Lately though we have lost our groove. It doesn't take much to throw you completely off track. At the start of the year Possum was napping in the morning. He'd go to bed around 10am and wake around lunchtime or shortly after. This gave me a great solid block of time to really get stuck into the one on one subjects with the kids. Now Possum has moved his nap to the afternoon. He's going to bed around 12.30pm and that means I'm juggling every morning. The big kids are not in the right frame of mind to focus in the afternoon so we really have to focus in the morning. Unfortunately I am finding Possum is a big time sap and I'm struggling to keep everyone on track. Sometimes my day just capitulates into fun and games and no formal school at all. I have to keep reminding myself that homeschooling is a marathon not a sprint and this season of busy toddler, will pass.

In spite of all of that we have been making some forward progress. Bugsy has completed Handwriting Without Tears, My Printing Book and has made the big transition into Writing With Ease 1.

Bugsy has also completed Miquon Red so will be moving into Miquon Blue.

Chicky has been reading more of the I See Sam readers. We've instituted a 'reading time' where everyone except Possum is required to read allowed to everyone else. It's really helping promote the reading culture and Flossy has even declared that she is finally enjoying reading allowed. Bugsy has started putting on voices for different characters now that he isn't struggling with decoding each and every word.

Possum is finally walking, woohoo!  I posted a little while back that he had taken a couple of steps and he kept that up but preferred to crawl until last week when he suddenly took off!  In very exciting news he slept through the night for the first time ever last week, hopefully there are more nights like that to come.

Jasper (our dog) is feeling much better 4 weeks on from his surgery.  We still have to keep him quiet and he is still crated much of the day but the vet has advised that we can begin to give him more yard time over the next 2 weeks so that by the time he is 6 weeks post op he should be back to his normal self.

We rescued a baby rainbow lorikeet last week.  Whilst out for a morning walk we came across a baby with a broken wing.  We threw a jumper over it and took it to our local vet who was going to assess it for suitability for rehabilitation and send it on to a wildlife carer.

I got a new camera a Canon 550D with a lovely 'fast' 50mm prime lens.  Photography was a passion of mine in high school and is something i would love to have devoted more time too.  I've got some photo shoot ideas in mind for my kiddies.  Here are a couple of snaps from day 1.  See the difference between these and those ones of Bugsy above (the one of Possum is with the new camera).  Doesn't it take a much nicer picture than the point & shoot, swoon.  Lucky i know how to use it properly, no auto settings for me :)

Hopefully i will be back to regular blogging shortly.  I've got an award to pass on!

ECHO

Last Wednesday we had the pleasure of attending our very first ECHO cushion concert.  It was performed by WASO as part of their Music for Kids program.

From their brochure ~

Toot, whistle, plonk, boom, shake, rattle and roll!  WASO's Education Chamber Orchestra (EChO) is a high-energy 15 piece ensemble, featuring one of each instrument of the orchestra.  We invite all our young friends to join us and have a go on our instruments after the show.  Enjoy 50 minutes of musical celebration as we dance, sing and have lots of fun.
Suitable for 2 to 7 year olds.

We caught the train to the city, then found the right CAT bus to get us close to the Concert Hall.  Then we had to find the entrance to the building, because it isn't in a logical place!  It was a rainy morning, but thankfully we didn't get wet.

The venue was lovely and the carpet very comfortable.  We got a spot right at the front which was excellent as Flossy and Bugsy were chosen as helpers at one time.

The concert itself was just wonderful.  They had a story line which was captivating.  All of the instruments were introduced throughout the story and the children were engaged in clapping, dancing and singing.  On conclusion the musicians allowed the children to try the instruments.

Flossy tried the trumpet and actually managed to make a lovely note.  The musician was quite impressed.  Bugsy tried the french horn.  Chicky tried the violin.

The concerns run again in July and i will be contacting WASO to find out if it will be the same storyline or if they will have a new show as we loved it and the kids are keen to go again.  I've also managed to find two other WASO performances aimed at children aged 6-13 called Play me a Picture and Witches, Wizards and WASO and it is highly likely that we will attend those too.

Flossy and Bugsy are now resolute that they would like to begin music lessons again.  This time Flossy would like to try the trumpet and Bugsy the french horn.  I might have a challenging time finding teachers but it will have to wait until we move back to the city.

*Sorry about the quality of the photo's, there was no flash photography permitted and my little point and shoot struggles in the dim light.

Things have been a little quite around here ...

I can assure you that is because we have been BUSY!  That and my internet connection dies in the evening :(  Thought a change in service provider would solve all my problems, sadly, they have returned! Looks like i will have to change my blogging habits.

So what have we been up to?

I've been busy in the kitchen mostly.  Some of the recipes have made their way onto the blog some more need refining and then i will post them too.  At the moment i am working on chickpea chocolate biscuits, or maybe that should be chocolate chickpea biscuits.  I'm using some 'different' ingredients as I am trying to fill up Possum (he eats like a bird) and also put some weight on him so we are going for high energy foods.  If he had a full tummy he might actually sleep, that would be bliss!

We ended up taking some time off school over Anzac Day and the following week as my niece came to stay then we had a bunch of appointments both in the city and at home.  We are back to regular programming this week although we are heading to the city Wednesday as i am talking the kids to the symphony cushion concert.  Should be loads of fun!

Anzac Day was great.  The kids enjoyed the march followed by wreath laying.  Then everyone went into the town hall for an hour long presentation.  There were various speakers speaking about their experience at war, playing the last post, hymns, prayers, songs, poems etc.  It was a really lovely way to honour those who fought for us and one of the best services i've been to.  Afterwards everyone had a sausage sizzle for breakfast before heading home.

It's never too early to buy books for next year, right?  Here are some new Anzac books that have arrived.  Many thanks to Jeanne @ A Peaceful Day for recommending these new titles.

Flossy has been busy reading.  No surprises there it's her favourite pastime.  She's recently found the author Michael Morpurgo and is really loving his books.

Bugsy has been busy riding his bike!

Chicky has been busy with her reading and maths.  She read her first I See Sam reader this week!  She's been working more in Miquon too.  Mini Math Monday should be back next week if i can tare Chicky away from Miquon long enough to fit in some living maths!

Possum has been playing and trying to take a few more steps.

Rusty has finished up his local work and has now gone to the city.  It will be hard with him working away but we have been there before.  Hopefully this time it won't be for very long.  We have plans afoot for our move back to the city later in the year.

Sadly our much loved Jasper was hit by a car last night.  He is in surgery as i type having his shattered pelvis and fractured hip repaired.  I'm busying myself waiting for the vet surgeon to call and let me know how it went.

Well, back to the books with the kiddies before packing to go to the city for the concert.

Flossy Reads the News

Today's  Galore Park English assignment was to write and read a news bulletin.  There was specific information to be conveyed.  Here is Flossy reading the news.  She did a great job :)




Flossy is really enjoying Galore Park.  I think it is providing great variety and covering all of the bases.  That marks the end of Chapter 1.  Hope we are still this pleased by the end of the book.

Edited to add ~ You can find out more about Galore Park here and you can purchase here :)

Anzac Day

This morning we are up early.  We are rugged up because it's quite cool out and we are headed off to a nearby town so that Flossy and Bugsy can march for the very first time with the Scouts on Anzac Day.  We will attend the dawn service and listen in silence to the Last Post.  Today we remember the fallen soldiers.  Those who fought so hard despite adversity, to keep their country safe.  There are no winners in war.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

We will remember them.

Lest We Forget

('The Ode' from For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon)

Writing Curriculum

This post is for my good friend Fe @ The Genial Hearth who i have known personally for many years :)  She recently asked me about writing curriculum.  She wanted to know ~

What do you use?
What have you got?
How do you find it?
How does it work for your kids?
How much time/involvement does it need (on your part as well as the kid's)?

So here goes :)

Writing With Ease 1
Not currently in use.  Used 3/4 with Flossy will use with Bugsy when ready, maybe around July.  He needs a bit more work on his handwriting first.

I thought this was a good place to start.  It has copy work and narration exercises (2 x copy work & 2 x narration each week) clearly laid out and includes comprehension questions used before the narration to encourage the child to formulate their thoughts.  SWB narrations and supposed to be short, succinct, summaries of what was read, not long retellings like CM.  On copy work days this was very quick and easy to implement but i didn't need to sit by Flossy to make sure her copy work was perfect, it was 98% of the time.  If you need to sit next to your student it will take from 5-15 minutes depending on how quickly they write and stay focused.  On reading and narration days it took up to 15 minutes working together.  Planning wise if you copy the workbook pages upfront there is nothing more to do than open the book on the day.  This was a good place for us to start.  By the end Flossy was narrating well and i will use it again with Bugsy.

Writing With Ease 2
Not currently in use.  Used 3/4 with Flossy.

This was a no brainer and the next step on from WWE1.  The format changes slightly, day 1 narration, day 2 copywork, day 3 dictation, day 4 narration and dictation.  Often we didn't complete the final dictation as it was dictating from the child's own work or if we did we left it for another day.  The passages were longer and more challenging that WWE1.  The questioning was there to encourage formulation of thoughts.  The student was encouraged to use only 2 or 3 sentences for the narration.  If the workbook pages are copied upfront there is nothing more to do than open the book on the day.  Again the time varied.  Copywork day was quick, the other days were longer perhaps taking up to 20 mins considering reading the passage allowed and answering the questions before narrating.  Flossy was bored with the format of this book by the end.  I'm undecided if i will use this again with Bugsy.

Writing With Ease 3
Not currently in use.

When i purchased this i did think that we would stay the course and continue on with WWE3.  Again the format changes slightly, day 1 narration, day 2 dictation, day 3 narration and dictation, day 4 dictation.  There is finally some direct instruction included in this book to guide the student to write better.  After thinking long and hard about it and where we were going with our other studies i decided not to proceed with this book.  Flossy provides a SWB style narration for history and literature.  She still completes copy work for cursive practice and she does dictation through her spelling program.  Adding WWE3, more of the same was just going to be busy work.  Flossy was also feeling somewhat disillusioned with WWE.  She'd worked hard for 2 years and it was time for a change.  Looking at the lessons i believe you would be looking at 15 - 30 minutes per day.

Galore Park So You Really Want to Learn Junior English Book 2
Currently using with Flossy.

This book is used in prep schools in the UK.  Book 2 is recommended for age 8+ or year 4 up.  It is an all in one style english book so it also covers grammar concepts however it doesn't include enough spelling to stop using another program.  The book contains passages, comprehension questions, writing assignments, grammar exercises, oral presentation suggestions and suggestions of books to read.  The language in the passages is fairly rich, the questions are thought provoking and the writing assignments are interesting and engaging.  Whilst the writing assignments are mostly creative they are specific in their instruction.  We do complete most of this orally however all of the writing assignments are written.  As Flossy is new to creative writing i am providing a level of input.  For example she will give me the brainstorm then i will provide appropriate questioning to flesh out her ideas.  I'm hoping to reduce the level of support as we move on.  We are only in chapter 1 so there is plenty of time to go.  The work is her's but i will scribe or type where necessary.  It is open and go, so there is no preparation time at all.  It takes anywhere from 10 to 30 mins to complete depending which exercises are to be completed that day.  Flossy rates this as her favourite writing program because it's fun and different everyday.

The Institute for Excellence in Writing Student Writing Intensive A
Currently using with Flossy.

After deciding not to proceed with WWE3 i was looking for something that was going to actually provide some 'real' writing instruction.  Flossy was already good at summarising but needed to build some skills.  I was feeling like SWB and CM lead you into a field and don't tell you where the gate is to get out.  They expect you to try and fail, and try and fail and so on until you find the gate and get out.  I am not that kind of a person.  Give me a path or at least a set of directions cause i'm not interested in all the sightseeing along the way.  I just want to get to the other gate!  IEW SWI-A gives you those tools to really help you improve your writing.  Yes it has a formulaic approach and if it's your only writing program i can see how that could cause problems, but given our position it's a winner.  We are taking the pace MUCH slower than what is recommended in the manual, mostly because we are doing LOTS of other writing.  Day 1 watch the DVD lesson, day 2 identify the key words on the hand out, day 3 write the key word outline, day 4 draft the re-write, day 5 edit the rewrite with me, day 6 type up the final copy.  These 'days' are not always consecutive.  The time commitment varies from 10 - 30 minutes a session.  We are probably doing 1 'assignment' per fortnight.  I work directly with Flossy on day 1 and 5 and just oversee on the other days.  It is open and go provided you copy the handouts first.  I actually really like this program and can see how it is going to make Flossy a much better writer.

Killgallon Story Grammar for Elementary School & Killgallon Sentence Composing for Elementary School
Currently using with Flossy.

I'm lumping both of these in together because they are VERY similar and had i known that i may have only purchased one.  Which one, well, I think I probably would have purchased Sentence Composing and taken it VERY slowly.  As i have both we are starting with Story Grammar and will move on to Sentence Composing after.  Essentially these books cover the same kind of material although Story Grammar is gentler, ok, don't take that the wrong way, these books are challenging!  Don't be fooled by the title 'Story Grammar', both books focus on how to write a great sentence and the grammar is thrown in.  In Story Grammar they refer to grammar as 'tools' but in Sentence Composing they use the proper terminology.  The focus is on imitation.  Model sentences are provided from high interest children's literature, various exercises are conducted, then the children write their own imitations of the original sentence.  Flossy is finding this challenging, finding just the write words, the correct phrasing, the correct grammar, it can be difficult so we are only working 1 or 2 sentences per day.  It is open and go, I work with Flossy and it takes us around 10 minutes of full concentration.  Flossy is really enjoying this.

According to Heinemann, the publishers, Story Grammar is intended for grades 2-6 and Sentence Composing grades K-5.  I consider this WRONG.  Story Grammar should certainly come first and i suggest a more appropriate grade reflection would be Story Grammar grades 3-5 and Sentence Composing grades 4-6.  There is also a middle school program.


With Pencil and Pen ~ Sarah Louise Arnold ~ Vintage
Not currently in use.  Will use with Bugsy when ready probably around the same time as starting WWE1.

This is a very sweet book which covers copy work and very beginning composition.  A struggling speller will find the composition exercises hard work if writing for himself as intended.  The text is recommended for early elementary.  We will probably do some of the composition work orally or with me scribing to relieve some of the burden on the hand for Bugsy.  I will pick and choose what we complete from this book.  I anticipate each lesson lasting around 10 minutes.  This is open and go.

First Book in English ~ William Henry Maxwell ~ Vintage
Currently using with Flossy.

This is the kind of text used in a one room school house many years ago  It is recommended for a child beginning no earlier than his 3rd year at school, so would be appropriate for 3rd, 4th or 5th grades.  Maxwell has done a good job of weaving imitation, grammar, punctuation and composition into this text.  If you complete the book as written there is quite a bit of physical writing involved.  We pick and choose the exercises we do orally and those we do written.  We do not edit and polish the composition, we just use it to practice our skills.  The lessons are short, around 10 minutes although i do break up the composition if necessary.  If the child were to complete everything in writing it would take longer, but could be completed independently as the text is written to the student.  This is open and go.  Flossy is on the fence about this one.

Primary Lessons in Language and Composition ~ Willian Henry Maxwell ~ Vintage
Not currently in use.

This book is intended for use before First Book in English.  The suggestion is once the child can read and write to facility approx 18m after beginning school, perhaps allocating it to grade 2 would be appropriate.  Again the exercises look short and achievable.  Exercises are in copy work, observation, discussion.  There is an oral section and a written section to each lesson.  I am unsure if we will use this book at this point in time.

The Poetry Pad
Used periodically with Flossy and Bugsy.  This is a supplement and is not in any way an entire writing curriculum.  We pull this book out from time to time.  It provides examples of a number of different types of poems and then explains how to write that kind of poem.  These sessions are a bit of fun and generally last around 20-30 minutes.

So in a nutshell i am using IEW and Killgallon to learn the new skills and Galore Park and Maxwell to practice the new skills in a different setting.  In my honest opinion there is no point blindly following a program and not being able to write outside that program.  My aim for my children is to write well across the curriculum.  I'm not too worried about creative writing, if that interest's them then that's fine but it is not a barrow i am going to push unless they are interested (Flossy is).  I also think that's it's important to provide plenty of variety.  There is no point writing in the same way day after day because you end up just going through the motion instead of really thinking about your writing.

The Well Trained Mind Forums always have someone who's talking about writing curriculum.  Here are a couple of interesting threads from well respected board members addressing writing.

lewelma ~ My evaluation of numerous writing curricula

Medieval Mom ~ Construct a S&S for Grammar from Vintage ebooks

Well, i hope that you find my ramblings somewhat helpful.  I've sat down about a dozen times to write bits of this over the course of the day so sorry if it sounds a little disjointed in places.  Feel free to ask, if i've not been clear or you want to know more :)

Amber

Flossy's Tribute to the ANZAC's

We've been reading about the ANZAC's in preparation for ANZAC Day.  Flossy has been deeply touched by the stories.  She brought me this poem today to share with you.  This was written without assistance in her own time and remains unedited.

ANZAC DAY

A time to remember the fallen of our soldiers
Now we march proudly in the thrawl
Zing the bullets used to fly where we stand
A time to lay wreaths at the flagpole
Come and remember with me

Do come and lay a wreath along beside others
Australian's come together and say the ode
Yes we remember Simpson and Duffy too

Preparing for Anzac Day

Anzac Day is a day of remembrance in Australia.  It is a day to remember the soldiers who have fought for our country.  It is not a day to glorify war.  The day is observed nation wide as a public holiday and there are many dawn services and marches held around the country.  Anzac Day is commemorated on April 25.  You can see what Wiki has to say about Anzac Day here.

We have always 'done something' for Anzac Day.  We've attended the dawn service or gone to the diggers breakfast or watched the RAAF flyover or simply visited our local war memorial.  This year with Flossy and Bugsy joining Scouts we will be attending the dawn service and they will march with their group.

This year, for the first time i've felt the need to get them ready, to get myself ready.  A couple of years ago i read this lovely post by Jeanne at A Peaceful Day.  She has reviewed a number of picture books about Anzac Day.  At the time it was too late for me to purchase these books for Anzac Day as the post was only a couple of days in advance.  I promised myself that i would come back in 2011 and buy some of the books.  Sadly with Possum in hospital right before Anzac Day in 2011 the year also passed me by, but not this year.  This year i again read through Jeanne's list and went in search of many of the titles.  Sadly some of them are currently OOP.  I was able to purchase a few including -

Anzac Day Parade
My Grandad Marches on Anzac Day
My Mother's Eyes
Simpson and his Donkey
Why are they Marching, Daddy?

I also came across The Donkey Who Carried the Wounded.  It's not on Jeanne's list but I picked that up too.

I've put the books in our Morning Basket and plan to read from them every morning in the lead up to Anzac Day.  Hopefully we can add a few more next year.  Have you got any recommendations?

Amber

Flossy's Poem

After reading lots of good things about Galore Park's So You Really Want to Learn Junior English i decided to take the plunge and purchase Book 2 to round out our Language Arts.  This book is designed for children who are 8 years +, generally year 3 in the UK where the book is used in prep schools.  Flossy has made a start and as we are tag teaming a number of writing curricula we are not very far in (still Chapter 1), but i am already seeing lovely results.

Today her assignment was -

Write a poem in which the word 'SNOWFLAKE' appears down the left hand side and each letter begins the first word of each line.  This is called an acrostic poem.

Then a short example was given.

Here is Flossy's (un-edited) acrostic poem.

Snow hear it fall softly

Now it blows swirling in the air

Oh hear the blizzard blow

We huddle by the fire waiting

Flakes of snow dance by the window

Lakes freeze as the snow falls on top

An owl swoops past on diamond wings

Keen to return to its chicks

Evermore the snow seems to fall

I really love the imagery she has created in this poem.  Considering she has never experienced snow she's done a lovely job.

Amber

Bugsy... gifted too???

From all my reading on giftedness i know that siblings are generally close in IQ however i've never really felt that with my kids, well not until recently.  Flossy was so clearly different right from the start.  She was amazing and quirky at 18m.  Bugsy is completely different, he's a boy, LOL.

Flossy is clearly language inclined although she can hold her own in math too.  Bugsy is not language oriented at, all.  Just over two years ago he started getting into Lego and building and more recently has started to explode with it.  It wasn't until the last week that i realised that he has a STEM mind!  Where have i been?  Under a rock?!

I'm not sure why it took me SO long to wake up to myself LOL.  Perhaps i was secretly in denial hoping that he wouldn't be gifted too.  Perhaps with everything going on in my life it just didn't enter my mind.  Perhaps because it's through his play and not through his lessons that i have come to realise this and that is why i didn't notice earlier.

So, this week i have been busy looking at STEM things that might interest him.  We pulled out the Snap Circuits and i have given him free range and he has built some great designs.  We already encourage Lego and i've been looking at Lego WeDo and Lego Mindstorms for next year.  We've downloaded and started using Scratch and he's spent hours having fun with that.  He also has a knack with logic puzzles and games which he already has access to on his iTouch.  I'm not sure what else we will get up to, but i can see it will be fun.

Ironically, Bugsy and I are so similar.  I loved all things STEM as a kid.  I built a solar powered car from bits and pieces at age 11 and took it to school to show the class.  I wanted to be an engineer and went to women in engineering workshops at the local uni's.  In the end i never followed a STEM career, math makes your brain work, and everything else was much easier than that! LOL, i guess i was lazy, i had so much potential.

Another Busy Week

Another busy week here with more books completed!  If they keep up their pace they will sail through this years curriculum and well into next, eek!

Possum keeping himself busy while we do lessons.

The Tupperware cupboard is always more interesting than toys :)

I meant to include this work sample when Bugsy finished AAS1, but i forgot, oops!

Flossy & Bugsy busy building Snap Circuits which have featured heavily this week.

Bugsy & Flossy using Scratch for the first time, lots of fun!

Bugsy completed Explode the Code 3 1/2 and did a great job.  He is certainly more solid with silent e words the he was after finishing level 3.  He will move into 4 which we are loading onto the iPad, he's very excited.

Sample of Bugsy's work from the final pages of Explode the Code 3 1/2.

Flossy completed Life of Fred Apples 2 weeks ago and i forgot to take a pic.

This week she completed Life of Fred Butterflies.  This has all been review for Flossy but she is enjoying the story line.  I have to say that i feel Life of Fred is so light there is NO WAY it could be an entire curriculum without a significant amount of work from the parent/teacher.  In saying that we are enjoying it and will continue to use it as a fun, engaging supplement.

AAS Level 4 - Done & Dusted

Flossy screamed through Level 4 of All About Spelling.  I really dropped the ball with this one last year.  The first half of the year i was swamped with Possum and the second half of the year i just couldn't get our days to flow nicely enough to have time consistently, to get this done.  This year it's all changed and we are working on AAS EVERY day!

I expect that we will scream through Level 5 which we are starting tomorrow and i am waiting until Level 7 is out before i order Level's 6 & 7.  We could be done with AAS by the end of the year!  After that ... well, I'm considering a few options - Bravewriter's Arrow and Simply Charlotte Mason's Spelling Wisdom are at the top of my list.  I will definitely be going with a dictation style program I'm just not sure which yet.  If you've used either of these programs, or another dictation program i'd love to hear what you think of them.

Amber xx

Guy Fawkes - Fun in History

Some people love to plan.  I like to have a plan, but i never stick to it.  So, i've given up having a proper plan and instead work to our natural rhythm and remind myself that homeschooling is a marathon, not a sprint.  Today I knew we would cover history but i didn't have any idea exactly how it would unfold...

We started off reading from Story of the World 3.  Today's section covered King James VI of Scotland and Guy Fawkes.  The kids thought it was great but when it came time to see what was in the activity book they were very disappointed to find there was no colouring in page for this section :(  I set up Bugsy and Chicky to draw pictures of a bon fire and fireworks whilst I did a narration with Flossy.  It was an awesome CM style narration.

While she was busy copying her narration into her history notebook i quickly looked at the activity suggestions feeling like the kids had been short changed with no colouring in page.  I came across Parkin, so off we went to the kitchen and made some Parkin.  It was in the oven by lunchtime and ready for afternoon tea.  Everyone LOVED it!

Whilst having lunch i thought, hmm, wonder if anyone's got some filming of their bon fire or fireworks on You Tube.  I just put in Guy Fawkes and was offered a plethora of clips along with one from BBC.  We watched it and the kids LOVED it!  In all honestly you'd want to pre-watch this one, it's definitely PGR.

Who knew that was how our day would unfold when we got started this morning.  What a great day!  I love homeschooling :-)

Sewing for Chicky

About a month ago i joined Pinterest.  Wow!  I quickly started following a few people i know and some of the things they were pinning were cute.  Especially the little girl dresses!  I have not sewn for quite some time.  I really burnt myself out on a sewing project a while back and put everything away and have not been inspired since.  Which to be honest is a real shame because i do really enjoy sewing.  Seeing all these cute dresses was exactly what i needed to get inspired and motivated again.

I sent Rusty out to Bunnings to pick me up a cheap trestle table so that i had somewhere to sew.  Then i set up the overlocker and sewing machine.  Off we went to Spotlight and both Chicky and Flossy picked out some cute fabrics.  I just bought what i thought because i didn't have a pattern in mind just yet, but i was thinking of a pillowcase dress for Chicky similar to this one.

Source: familyfriendlyfrugality.com via Amber on Pinterest

For Christmas Chicky received an Australian Girl Doll Emily and i knew that you could get patterns for American Girl dolls and matching dresses for their bigger friends so off i went looking.  I found this pattern.

Source: youcanmakethis.com via Amber on Pinterest

For the most part this pattern was great.  I made Emily's dress first and found a couple of things to do differently, like cut the arm holes before overlocking the side seam so that you don't cut through your stitching.  Can you tell i have not sewn for a while LOL, you'd think i would have automatically realised that was a problem when reading through the pattern instructions.

The only other issue is that i feel the pattern runs large.  I made Chicky the 5T.  Whilst she is 4 and wearing size 4 i was sewing the dress so that it would fit for next summer.  It really is too big.  In all honesty it is probably closer to what i would call a size 6.  I tried it on Flossy and it was a little small but she is wearing 7 & 8's.

Chicky modelling her new dress.

Emily & Chicky in their matching dresses.  Cute!

Flossy in Chicky's dress.  If the arm holes were a little larger it would fit her pretty well.

Bottom line is - the dress is lovely.  The pattern is pretty good.  I will sew another of these dresses however i will be sure to adjust the size :)

Happy sewing

Amber