Possum is almost 1!

Can't believe how the last year has gone! To celebrate our little man turning 1 we are raising funds for Women's & Infant Research Foundation 'Angel Breaths' campaign. They intend to purchase a new ventilator with the funds. If you'd like to support us and help us meet our target, please follow the link to make a safe & secure donation which will go directly to WIRF.

http://www.mycause.com.au/mycause/raise_money/fundraise.php?id=32051

Quick Possum update

He is now 6 months corrected. He just had a weigh in at 7.37kg which places him on the 25% for weight for his corrected age. He was also on the 25% for length for his corrected age. That has seen a massive improvement from the 3% line he was following before starting nocturnal oxygen therapy. He has also started rolling tummy to back.

Mid Year Review

So it's July and it's time to have a mid year review just to check how things are going and see if we are on track.

Flossy -
She has completed Math Mammoth Addition & Subtraction 2B and has really cemented those concepts. She is about half way through Miquon Blue. I had planned on her being further along in Miquon but we needed to pit stop so the delay is to be expected. In saying that she has a solid understanding of multiplication covered in Miquon and is probably working on a late 2nd early 3rd grade level. We have shelved Kumon word Problems for a little while as it was presenting some concepts that we had not yet covered. We will be getting back into it in the second half of the year.

She has been motoring along in AAS3 and is almost done. She very rarely makes a mistake and really enjoys it. I'm hopeful that we will finished AAS4 and be part way through AAS5 before the end of the year. That would see only AAS6 & AAS7 for next year.

WWE2 has been going well. She narrates well and rarely makes a mistake with the copy work. I am starting to have her write the first sentence of her narrations. I'm thinking of changing things up a bit with writing and might take a look at Galore Parks Junior English books. I've also got a book about writing poetry on the shelf and we might have a go at that. We won't drop WWE2 just mix things up a bit. It's good keep it fresh.

REAL Life Science is proving a hit. We are right on track with that. I honestly feel that this is below her level. She isn't learning too much new material, but it is getting done and it is fun.

With SOTW2 we are a little behind. I'd like to see us do a few more projects in the second half of the year and be a little more consistent with narrations. I'm thinking of posting them here so she can see them published, she'd think that would be neat. She has been reading plenty of the go along books and enjoying them. She is also loving our literature selections.

We have not been consistent with MCT or GSWL. We need to change that moving forward. With MCT I'm going to have to think about how to be more proactive with it. It is enjoyable but I'm not sure if it's sinking in properly. I'm sure consistency will help. With GSWL we need to make a vocab chart so that we can remember all the nouns we are learning.

She has been swimming well and passed level 3.

Bugsy -
He is flying through ETC, he completed book 1 and is now half way through book 2. That's ahead of where I had planned him to be.

He is right on track with Horizon K math book 1. At this point I think we will switch back to Miquon at the end of this book and see how he handles it. If we need another pit stop book 2 is on the shelf.

Reading wise I had hoped we would have finally completed 100EZ but we still have a few lessons outstanding. He has been reading plenty though and that is coming along well. He seems to struggle with silent e words.

We have not been putting much time into AAS1 but will focus more on it in the second half of the year. I would like to see him complete level 1 by the end of the year.

He has been swimming well and making great progress with his kicking.

Differences between The Voyage of the Dawn Trade book and movie by Flossy

The only thing that was different was that they didn't get captured as slaves the same way they did in the book. They didn't follow the blue star in the book. Eustace didn't sit on the mast in the book because he was a dragon and he didn't write 'I am Eustace' in lava letters. In the book they asked him was he Eustace and he nodded his head. He still could understand them even though he was a dragon. Aslan didn't change him back the same way he did in the book. In the book he took Eustace down to a well and then he told Eustace to take off his clothes, which means his skin. So he scratched his skin off and then he found some more skin, the same kind so Aslan made a deep scratch into all of Eustace's dragon skin and then he was a boy again.

Hawaiian Chicken

This recipe makes enough for 4 family meals.

1kg chicken breast chopped in thirds
8 rashes of bacon diced
2 brown onions diced
1 green capsicum diced
1 medium tin of pineapple pieces drained
800g tin crushed tomatoes
2 jars tomato based pasta sauce
2 cloves garlic minced
2 teaspoons sugar

Brown onions and bacon then transfer to slow cooker.
Add all other ingredients and cook on low all day.
Shred chicken pieces with a fork and stir.
Serve with rice, pasta or dry crusty bread.

Eat for dinner tonight then divide up the remainder and freeze for another time.

Milestones for Possum

Today Possum moved from his bassinet into his cot. He is a few days shy of 9 months old.

Also today, Possum started rolling again. Before he had heart surgery he had started rolling from his tummy to his back. After the surgery understandably he stopped doing it, but today he started again. He rolled both to the left and right several times this morning.

Mobilo

Perhaps you remember Mobilo from your own school days? I certainly do :) To be honest I had forgotten what it was called until Spring last year when we visited friends and the kids played with their Mobilo non stop. After that I knew what was going on our Christmas shopping list! I spoke with my wonderful sister in law who bought the kids a large bucket to share for Christmas. Six months on and the kids are still playing with the Mobilo almost every day! It is so versatile. Here are some of their creation.

Flossy built this train to collect Little People and transport them around the house.

After watching Star Wars everyone was busy creating. They did a very impressive job!

Bugsy and his X wing.

Chicky and her tie fighter.

Do you have Mobilo? What have you and your family been busy building? We love to take a look.