Impromptu Nature Study

We were out for a walk when the kids noticed the flame trees which line our local park were dropping their seed pods. On closer inspection we found some green ones, some opening still with seeds inside and some which had obviously been there quite sometime as they were hard and dry. It prompted a great discussion.

Here are some other goodies the kids picked up.

 

Don't you love it when educational opportunities pop up out of nowhere!  We were only going for a walk .

The following day on another walk around the same local park, but taking a different path, the kids again picked up some seed pods.  These ones are from a native tree.  The seeds were so thick on the ground the kids could scoop handfuls!  More discussion ensued.  When we stood quietly we could hear the seeds fall to the ground.  Here are some pics of our treasures.

There was lots of discussion about these last two pics as the kids realised that there were lots of seed pods clustered together.

Maybe i will remember to take my camera next time we head out for a 'walk'.

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 :-)

iPad - How it's changing our homeschool

We love our iPad, it goes almost everywhere with us and comes in very handy when waiting at swimming lessons or medical appointments.  Most of all i love the way we integrate our iPad into our homeschool.  I can see that we will do more and more on the iPad in the coming years as developers release more apps to suits the homeschool community.

So, how do we use it for school?

For handwriting we use Whiteboard Pro.  We have a stylus that we can use to write on the iPad like a pen and paper.  Whiteboard Pro enables us to select different colours and nib size so that we can focus on formation.  Flossy is learning cursive this way and Bugsy is learning to print.  They still use a regular program, Flossy is using New American Cursive and Bugsy Handwriting Without Tears but the iPad enables them to practice, practice, practice without wasting a mountain of paper.  We can hone in on letters they are struggling with and really nail them on the iPad and because we don't have the obvious output of a covered sheet of paper in front of us we are more likely to keep going and not complain :)  Just this afternoon Flossy sat for half an hour focusing on the joining of a, b & c in cursive.  She didn't want to stop until is was just right.  If you need to it is easy enough to add a few guidelines or even use a larger nib and then have the child trace over with a smaller nib in a different colour.  I also love this app when you want to demo a math problem or just jot something down to demonstrate a concept.  When you'd normally reach for your big whiteboard or a piece of scrap paper Whiteboard Pro fills the spot.  Love this app!

In the last couple of days i have downloaded SoundLiteracy.  This app is VERY pricey but i am hoping that it will mesh well with All About Spelling and negate some of the time we spend at the whiteboard moving around the tiles, which seem to go missing regularly.  I can't tell you how many i have had to fish out of the vacuum cleaner!  From what i have heard the developer is open to feedback and is already looking at several suggestions to improve the program.  So far we have done two lessons (AAS level 1 & 4) using the app and it has been a great success.  So glad i found this!

There are a bunch of maths apps that i love.  It is wonderful to be able to offer SO MUCH variety to make drilling those math facts fun.  Ooops, don't let my kids read that, they think they are playing games!  Here are our top maths pics in no particular order, Rocket Math, S-Kruis Tafels, Splash Math grade 3 (other grades are available) and Math Ninja.  I also find these maths apps handy for teaching 100 Board, Counting Bear and AL Abacus but they are not games.

Recently i have come across Notability and i am LOVING it and can see that this is part of the future of my homeschool.  Notability allows you to import PDF files using Dropbox or syncing, although Dropbox is easier when you are always on the go, and then annotate right onto the PDF.  So you can import a maths or language arts worksheet or complete workbook and have your child complete it right onto the iPad and save the work for you to check.  This makes the whole printing, binding storing of paperwork obsolete!  LOVE it!  Prior to finding Notability i had tried a number of annotation apps for this purpose but found they were cumbersome and clunky.  Notability is much better.  The developer is very pro feedback and continuing to work on and improve his app.  Yay!  Love proactive developers!  I can see that i will be purchasing more curricula in PDF format.  I had previously avoided this, so it's a big change.

For narration i am playing around with Dragon Dictation.  In theory i'd love to be able to have the kids independently narrate straight into the iPad and have it all typed out as they speak, but i'm not too sure if this is going to be a seamless as i hope.  I really need to spend more time on this app to make sure it will do exactly what i want but thought because it has lots of potential i would let you all know about it :)

I asked the kids to share their current favourite apps and they said -

Flossy's - Splash Math Grade 3
Bugsy's - Rocket Math
Chicky's - Whiteboard Pro (she loves to draw with this app)

Care to share your families favourite apps?  We'd love to read them in the comments.

Our Latin Progression

We are studying latin for the reasons outlined in TWTM and in CM's writings. We are really enjoying it and I can already see the benefits.

Our latin progression will be -

*disclaimer, this is subject to change!*

Song School Latin

Minimus

Getting Started with Latin

Latin Prep 1 (we may spread over 2 years)

Latin Prep 2

Latin Prep 3

So You Really Want to Learn Latin 2 (we may go straight to level 3)

So You Really Want to Learn Latin 3

Afternoon Tea

Quiet time at our house finishes at 3pm and we celebrate by having afternoon tea. We all sit at the table together and have something to eat and drink. The kids LOVE their tea time. Sometimes we have hot chocolate and cake, other times it is fruit and water but it is always together and always with a smile :)

We have been working on pegging a habit to afternoon tea, the art of clearing the dishes from the table. So far so good. Once that habit is down I plan to peg a read aloud and eventually a short activity like picture study, composer study etc.

Musings 'Education Is' from Simply Charlotte Mason

Over the weekend I read 'Education Is - an atmosphere, a discipline, a life' from Simply Charlotte Mason. I highlighted on the first pass and then re-read the sections later and made some notes. Here are my highlights, musings.

"Education according the Webster, involves training by both formal instruction and supervised practice; it includes all that we do to help our children develop mentally, morally and aesthetically; it entails our persuading our children to feel, believe, or act in a desired way."

The really speaks to me. It says to me that the desired outcome of a Charlotte Mason education is a person who is well rounded. They will have skills in all areas and not just academics. Is this thought perhaps related to Steiner's thoughts on educating the head, hands and heart? Is that what he says?

"Atmosphere - environment children grow up in."

"The child breathes the atmosphere emanating from his parents; that of the ideas which rule their own lives" CM Vol2 P247

Without intent and direct instruction parents pass on to their children their own bias and can colour their thoughts and feelings.

"Discipline - training our children in good habits."

Life - "all the thought we offer to our children shall be living thought; not mere dry summaries of facts will do" CM Vol2 P277

Academic/formal instruction should therefore be limited to 1/3 of the total education of the child. Atmosphere, discipline and life should be equal components in a well rounded education.

"Education is a discipline - that is, the discipline of the good habits in which the child is trained. Education is a life, nourished upon ideas; and education is an atmosphere - that is, the child breathes the atmosphere emanating from his parents; that of the ideas which rule their own lives" CM Vol2 P247

To me education is a growing, living thing. It changes as the child changes and grows with them. As a parent you are providing all of the food for the plant to grow, you water it and prune it and the aim is to end up with a wonderful well rounded specimen. Don't loose sight of the goal at the end, the bloom will amaze you!

"What ideas rule your life?"

Is there bias, political views, social views, etc?

"She just wanted to make sure we realise that the ideas that rule our lives play a big role in what our children learn from us."

Lead by example, keep an open mind.

"Children must face life as it is"

"Due relations must be maintained: the parents are in authority, the children in obedience."

We can freely share our thoughts and feelings but must always remain in charge. The adult, the parent. We should not expect nor ask that children take on adult responsibilities or burden but it is OK for them to witness us having a hard time of it. Hmm, does that conflict with the previous statement about ideas that rule our lives? I don't think it does. If our lives are generally unbiased then sharing our thoughts and feelings surrounding and event should be balanced, or at least instilling the values that we cherish.

"What does your choice of curriculum say about what is important to you?"

Mine probably says that i don't spend enough time planning, or preparing. It probably also says that i don't spend enough time actually reading to the children. Going to be changing that!

"Do not let the endless succession of small things crowd great ideals out of sight and out of mind" The Story of Charlotte Mason P160

I love this, LOVE it! We can be so focused on the here and now that we loose focus altogether on the end goal. Everyday, every small step is one step closer to the final outcome we are looking for.

"If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the mother go out to play!" CM Vol3 P33

When our kids are overwhelmed we stop and sometimes redirect them. Why then don't we do that for ourselves? We seem to plough on and no, that doesn't make it any better. It is time to STOP, get out of the house, or go to your room and feed our soul. What speaks to you? What can you do to help calm? Meditation? Handiwork? Make time for yourself and you will be better able to manage your household. I am trying to make time for myself everyday during quiet time now.

"At first, a child wants the support of constant supervision, but, by degrees, he is left to do the thing he ought of his own accord" CM Vol3 P108

Demonstrate, instruct, supervise, withdraw one step at a time. Does this show similarities with Montessori? I recall a moto of hers 'Help me to do it myself'.

"She wanted education to be alive to the children, to give their minds the nourishment of living ideas instead of dry facts."

Make it fun, enjoy it :)

"We too often settle for what looks easy rather than going on a treasure hunt for what is living. Education is a life teeming with ideas. Let's spread the feast of living ideas before our children rather than handing them dry factual crumbs."

I think I need a bit of help in this area. We need more living math, more literature and better science. Need to look at what is immediately available in our area. Also need to remember the previous note about making more time to plan.

So that is it. It was very thought provoking and I plan to tackle Smooth and Easy Days next. I think I would quite like to purchase the all day seminar from Simply Charlotte Mason. I'm ready to learn more :)