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.

Emerging Readers for Boys

As you know if you've been reading my Blog for a while Bugsy's reading is starting to take off.  He is reading with me daily and wanting to read for himself.  So far i've not been able to find anything to captivate him at the library so i went looking online and spoke to a few friends and here is what i have to recommend as emerging readers for boys.

Henry & Mudge

Frog & Toad

The Littles

Zac Power

Tashi

Yes, OK, i freely admit some are 'fluff' books, but sometimes you need a bit of 'fluff' before you can grasp the thread to make something beautiful :-)  If you look at our booklists school is full of living books.  As i use a book basket approach to our literature and history reading it is imperative that the children want to read for themselves.  Some 'fluff' will light a fire in his belly and the feast that i have to offer is quality :-)  Well, that's the plan {wink}.

Amber

There's no stopping them!

We seem to be on a roll finishing things at the moment.  The kids have all been working really well, and really hard so far this year.

Bugsy completed All About Spelling Level 1.  This has been hard work for Bugsy and has taken him a very long time to get through.  He is not a natural speller nor is he a natural reader.  It's hard work!  He is getting there.  He has started to realise that different letters or letter combinations can make the same sounds and with spelling you have to decide which to use.  It's kind of like solving a puzzle, there is only one right way (expect for those commonly accepted American words, but we are not going there yet!).

Chicky completed the first Handwriting Without Tears book Get Set for School.  This is a great, gentle introduction to printing.  We have never used this book before but i am really impressed with the foundation it has given Chicky.  She will be moving on to Letters and Numbers for Me on Monday.  She's really looking forward to it.  Below you can see a sample of her work from the final pages of the book.

So as a reward for all their hard work went to ...

and the kids had Squashed Frogs and Fluffy Koalas :D

Bugsy Conquers Level 4

He's just completed Level 4 of the I See Sam Readers and feeling VERY proud of himself, and so he should!  He has been working hard on reading for a while.  He's really blossomed through this level and is picking up picture books and trying to read them and has recently found Zac Power and is really enjoying them.  OK, I know Zac Power is twaddle but sometimes it's OK to go there if your igniting the passion.  Well, i think it is anyway.  He's reading them aloud and he still needs quite a bit of help but he actually wants to read in his own time as opposed to just reading when i ask him too for 'school'.

I'm looking for some more 'boy' readers.  Got any suggestions for me?  I'm going to check out Henry & Mudge and we've got a few Magic Tree House books but i don't think he's ready for those yet.

Amber xx

First Day of Homeschool 2012

Back to school pictures.

Chicky age 4 starts Aussie Kindy.

Bugsy age 6 starts Aussie Year 1.

Flossy age 7 starts Aussie Year 3.

Homeschool Plans for 2012

Flossy Aussie Year 3 -

All About Spelling 5, 6 & 7
First Language Lessons 4
Reading & narrating/notebooking from history & literature selections
Institute for Excellent in Writing Student Writing Intensive A
Unjournaling
Writing With Ease 3
The Poetry Pad
**Writing programs are not used in their entirety. They are used to complement each other and provide diversity.**
New American Cursive
Miquon yellow & purple - will move to Singapore from SGBox once completed
Math Mammoth - used as a supplement to help cement Miquon understanding where needed, topic books only
Kumon Word Problems grade 3 - used a grade below instructional level to ensure thorough understanding of the arithmetic needed so the focus is on decoding the problem
Getting Started with Latin - continue

Bugsy Aussie Year 1 -

All About Spelling 1 & 2
Explode the Code 4, 5, 6 - will use 1/2 books as necessary
I See Sam readers - needs more confidence then moving onto 'real' books
Writing With Ease 1
Handwriting Without Tears Letters and Numbers for Me & My Printing Book - needs more confidence
Miquon red & blue
Kumon Word Problems Grade 1 - again used a grade below instructional level

Chicky Aussie Kindy -

Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons
Explode the Code Primers
Reading Eggs
Bob Books
Nora Gaydos readers
Handwriting Without Tears Get Set for School & Letters and Numbers for Me
Activities for the AL Abacus unit 1
Miquon Orange

For everyone -

Literature selections -
Adventures of Don Quixote
Great Expectations Stepping Stones
Gulliver's Travels classic starts
Les Miserables stepping stones
Moby Dick Classic starts
Robinson Crusoe classic starts
Three Musketeers stepping stones
The Princess and the Goblin
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Tom Sawyer
A Pilgrims Progress
Favorite Jane Austen Novels
Perrault's Fairy Tales
Anne of Green Gables
Around the World in Eighty Days
The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin
Children's Stories from Dickens

Story of the World 3 with Activity Guide
Go along books -
American Revolution MTH
Amos Fortune, Free Man
Eyewitness Ancient China
Boston Tea Party
Carry on Mr Bowditch
Eyewitness Castle
Civil War on Sunday MTH
The Door in the Wall
Explorers News
Ginger Pye
Meet a thomas Jefferson
Night of the Ninjas MTH
Eyewitness North American Indian
Peter the Great
Pirated MTH
Pirates Past Noon MTH
Revolutionary War on Wednesday MTH
Sign of the Beaver
Squanto's Journey
Thanksgiving on Thursday MTH
Tigers at Twilight MTH
Who was Ben Franklin?
Witch of Blackbird Pond
You wouldn't want to be Mary, Queen of Scots
You wouldn't want to be Sick in the 16th Century
Norwegian Folk Tales
The Boy Who Held back the Sea
The Village that Vanished
The Cat who went to Heaven
Folk Tales from India
Russian Gypsy Tales
The Best Book of Pirates
The Gold Coin
Famous People of Mexico

Geography - home grown studies
Geography of the World
A Childs Introduction to the World
Around the World in 80 Tales
Material World
Maps & globes
Geography A to Z
Complete Flags of the World
Flags of the World sticker book

Science in a Nutshell kits fleshed out with science encyclopedias to form unit studies
The Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia
The Usborne Internet Linked Science Encyclopedia
The Usborne Illustrated Dictionary of Science
DK Science
Vision & Hearing kit
Body basics kit
Weather wise kit
Destination Moon kit
Energy and Motion kit
Snap circuits

Nature Study
Keeping a Nature Journal
The Nature Connection
Local field guides

Harmony Fine Arts - art appreciation, artist study, art creation, music appreciation, composer study all relating to our history time period

Institute for Excellence in Writing Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization

Swimming Lessons

Logic games and workbooks

An unofficial grade skip

As the middle of the year approaches it is time to review what we have been up to and where we are headed. It has become very obvious to me that the course of study Flossy has undertaken this year, her Pre-Primary year, is far in excess of what Bugsy will be capable of next year which will be his Pre-Primary year. It is also certainly in excess of her age peers at public school. So with much thought and reflection I have decided this Pre-Primary course is actually a Year 1 level course and on completion Flossy will move into Year 2 next year.

That leaves a gaping hole in my programming. Not only do I need to come up with a Year 2 plan for Flossy, I now need to come up with a Pre-Primary year for Bugsy. He will then roll into the Year 1 course of study the following year.

So all hands are now on deck to get some decisions made and materials purchased so that everything is scheduled out and ready to go well before the end of this year. I want it all ready to move on well before our new baby arrives throwing life into chaos.

*Watch for some shuffling in the plans on my sidebar*

Year 1

Learning areas, curricula and resources for Year 1 (6yo) to be addressed in a formal manner -

MATH - drawing from

Professor B math

Rightstart math games

Activities for the AL Abacus

Miquon

Kumon Word Problems

LANGUAGE ARTS

All About Spelling

Writing With Ease

Free reading daily

Mum to read aloud :

• Snuggle Pot and Cuddlepie
• Blinky Bill
• Pinocchio
• Grimm's Fairy Tales
• Aesop's Fables
• A Little Princess
• Charlotte's Web
• The Just So Stories
• Tales of Hans Christian Anderson
• Lang's Fairy Books

HISTORY

Story of the World Vol 1 (Ancients)

Story of the World Activity Guide

Supplementary reading (Book basket) :

• Usborne Greek Myths
• DK World Religions
• Hatshepsut and Ancient Egypt
• The Greek News
• The Last Quest of Gilgamesh
• Gilgamesh the King
• The Revenge of Ishtar
• The Great Wall of China
• The Librarian Who Measured the Earth
• The Gods and Goddesses of Olympus
• I Once was a Monkey
• Tut's Mummy
• Secrets of the Mummies
• Pompeii... Buried Alive!
• A Visitor's Guide to Ancient Egypt
• Detectives in Togas
• Magic Tree House Ancient Rome and Pompeii
• A Visitor's Guide to Ancient Greece
• The Wanderings of Odysseus
• Magic Tree House Mummies and Pyramids
• A Visitor's Guide to Ancient Rome

SCIENCE

Sonlight Science K

EXTRAS

Song School Latin

Minimus Latin

Logic & puzzle books

Playdough

Puzzles

Wedgits

Painting

Drawing

Cooking

Singing (Sing Books)