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

Possum Update

Big drum roll for Possum.....

at 1 year and 10 months...

Possum now weighs...

10kg!!!

What a long time coming that has been!  We had a review with the paediatrician this past week and he was satisfied that Possum is finally putting on some weight even though it's very slow.  We now have a green light to start some dairy and gluten food trials again.

We also had a review with our feeding team which consists of a speech therapist, occupational therapist, dietician and physiotherapist.  They were all VERY impressed with his progress.  He is biting and chewing his foods better.  He is not as scared of foods as he was.  He is more willing to try things even if he spits them out.  They were satisfied to the point of saying they now feel his food preferences reflect a more normal fussy toddler than a child with feeding issues and they don't see a need to see us again.  He's also drinking plenty of water both from a straw and a sippy cup, this was another of his issues.

All the hard work is paying off!

He's such a happy boy.  I had to share these photo's taken today :)

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

Versatile Blogger Award

I am humbled and honoured to have received The Versatile Blog Award from Erin @ Seven Little Australian's and Counting a little while ago :)  Thankyou Erin!  Sorry it has taken me so long to pass along this award.

Rules for the Versatile Blogger are :

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them.

Tell your readers 7 things about yourself.

Give this award to 15 recently discovered bloggers.

Contact those bloggers and let them in on the news.

7 things about me are -

1. I was once in a junior Australian Rifle Shooting Team and went to England to compete.

2. I constructed toy solar powered cars and boats when I was 11 from bits and pieces.

3. I wanted/want to be a photographer.

4. I have a background in insurance.

5. All of my babies were born in hospital.

6. I hate spicy food.

7. I was a very sporty kid.

I would like to award The Versatile Blog Award to -

1. Grow, Bake, Run

2. Teaching Stars

3. Trying to Raise Educated Souls for God

4. A Peaceful Day

5. dulcissimae avocationes

6. Learning Alongside

7. Fig Jam and Lime Cordial

8. Wildflowers and Marbles

9. Quarks and Quirks

10. Homeschool Ninjas

11. Counting Coconuts

12. Homeschooling Downunder Blog

13. Weird Unsocialised Homeschoolers

14. Relish

15. A Tree House Education

Launching Project Photog

For regular visitors to my blog you may have noticed a change to the tabs at the top of the page.  Some of you may have already popped over to Project Photog to see what it's about :)

Project Photog is my online journal to become a professional photographer, and if i don't become a pro, that's ok with me, I will always be a passionate photographer and I will have learnt plenty!  This is a LONG term project.  I don't anticipate 'working' at all until Possum is at least 6, and even then maybe only on weekends or when Rusty is around to look after the kiddos.  This is my 'life after kids' goal and in order to get there I need/want to start now.  There is so much to learn!

So if you want to see what i'm up to please head over to Project Photog.

Amber xx

Pop-Up London

Some of you may have read my previous post about the London Olympics which included a book list.  Most of the books on that list are specifically about the Olympics but one that has stood out from the rest is Pop-Up London.  It shows off all of the major London landmarks following the Thames from Kew Gardens to the Olympic Village.

I'm not generally a fan of pop up books, not because they aren't lovely but because they end up trashed and not working properly and that just makes me sad.  Finally the children are old enough to enjoy this format and not attempt to destroy it, well, all bar Possum.

I thought I would share with you some of the beauty of this book so you can see for yourself.

Royal Albert Hall

When you turn the book around you can see inside some of the buildings.  Inside Royal Albert Hall.

Buckingham Palace

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge opens up to let a boat pass under.

Under the flap you will find Olympic Park.

This is a beautiful book!  There is plenty more to see.  It is constructed to a very high standard and all of the pop-ups work smashingly.  All of us have thoroughly enjoyed pawing over the pages and I'm sure it will be treasured for many years.

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!