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.

Morning Basket

I first read about this here and it took me here and I liked what I saw.  We've never really done 'circle time' or 'mat time'.  Generally I've got the kids ready for the day and started on something, then while they are occupied I've got myself ready and the house in order.  That's not to say that I drag my feet in the mornings, it's just how the day went.  Up until recently everyone has needed help with something and that has left me until last, and not wanting to loose their attention I just started them on a lesson and went about my business.

Over the summer however we have worked on independence and morning chores.  Whilst we still all eat breakfast together the kids are now able to dress, tidy their rooms, brush hair, empty the dishwasher, start the washing, feed the cat and get the table ready for the mornings lessons.  It keeps them busy whilst I am getting Possum and myself ready for the day.

Next we grab a cushion and make ourselves comfy on the floor in the learning area.  I choose 3-4 things from the basket and we enjoy them before moving on to anything else.  We've got some lovely things in our Morning Basket :)

Here is what is in the basket -

All About Spelling phonics cards & rules
IEW Poetry
Parables from Nature
Picture books from our Playschool shelf
Guide to the Wildlife of the Perth Region
Birds of the Greater South West (Western Australia)
Nature notebooks
Banjo Patterson A Children's Treasury
James Herriot's Treasury for Children
Can You Find It, Too?
The Children's Book of Virtues

Here is what is on the iPad but for the Morning Basket -
(these are all available free online)

The Fairy-Land of Science
The Insect Folk
Seed-Babies
Wasps and their Ways
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare
Among the Farmyard People
Among the Forest People
Among the Meadow People
Among the Pond People
A Collection of Beatrix Potter Stories
The Story Hour

Occasionally i will throw in something extra like -

Sing and sign a nursery rhyme
Skip counting
Sing Advance Australia Fair
Count to 100
Sing and sign the alphabet
Australian Money
Menu planning
Clock reading
Singing from the Sing books
Map work - states of Australia, continents etc
Stretching, dancing, yoga, running, bouncing, something physical

The children have responded well to the Morning Basket.  In particular they LOVE drawing after reading from Birds of the Greater South West.  Here are some of their drawings.

Chicky's Brown Quail

Flossy's Stubble Quail

Bugsy's Emu

If you need a new way to start your day i'd encourage you to try the Morning Basket.

Warm wishes

Amber

No Avoiding Converting DVD's :(

We are back from holidays!  Lots of blog posts to come!  Tried to get this out before we left but it didn't happen.  Nevermind, here it is :)

Further to my previous post here I have encountered various issues attempting to transfer DVD files in their native format to GoodPlayer to be played.  I had hoped that GoodPlayer would be the answer, but sadly it isn't :(  It seems there is no choice but to CONVERT the files.

On the up side GoodPlayer does an awesome job of dealing with downloaded content from youTube.

Here are some good links to read through which tell you exactly what to do to get a DVD from the disc onto your iPad.

How to Play DVDs in an iPad, iPhone or iPod

Play DVD on iPad

Essentially their information is the same.  Download an open source program called Handbrake, which is free, download VLC media player, again free, then convert and transfer through iTunes.

I tried it out and it worked like a dream on my Mac.  I've converted several movies now and have them on the iPad and iTouches.  Whilst on holidays i tried it out for my friend on her PC and sadly we couldn't get it to work at all :(

Just so you know, you can now purchase DVD's which have various file formats which don't require conversion.  It will say so on the back of the DVD.

Hope that helps
Amber

iPad for your Homeschool

This is brilliant!  Anyone using an iPad to homeschool should check it out.  There are some great ideas!  Just follow the link to the google doc under the picture :)

Source: docs.google.com via Amber on Pinterest

More iPad Apps we are LOVING!

Penultimate
For quite some time i have been looking for an app where you could write just like you would in a notebook, you could turn the page and keep on writing, even draw a picture and have it all saved into a neat little notebook.  I stumbled across Penultimate and it is everything i was looking for.  I've now got several notebooks set up, eg, Flossy's Spelling.  In this notebook she can write all her spelling words and sentences and it's all saved there for later.  Previously we had been using Whiteboard Pro for spelling words, but there was no 'neat' way of saving all of the work.  As we are moderated by our state it is important to me to keep a record of the work we are completing.

GoodPlayer
Last year i tried ripping some DVD's onto the kids iTouches, what a time consuming process, ripping, converting, transferring etc.  I eventually gave up, i think i only did 3!  I was speaking to my sister over the Christmas break and she suggested taking a look at Good Player.  It plays the files in their native format, no converting required!  Brilliant!  I've now downloaded a bunch of Magic School Bus movies from You Tube now to transfer lots of the DVD's we have in our library.

Drawing Box
Want an app that lets you feel like you are drawing on paper?  This is the one, don't skimp, pay the dollars, you wont be disappointed.  It has a wide variety of media to choose from, from paint rollers to calligraphy pens.  Our favourite function is the mirror image feature where it will mirror exactly what you draw.  LOTS of fun and is inspiring lots of creativity on paper too :)

Downloading You Tube movies in Safari

If your on a Mac and your using Safari then there is an easy way to download your favorite You Tube movies to watch time and time again without the hassle of downloading each time.  Better yet, if you've got an iPad then you can pop them onto your iPad and use a viewer like Good Player to view wherever you are, whenever you like!

So first up open the You Tube page with the movie and let it begin playing.  Next press command-option-A which will bring up an activity window.  Find the You Tube heading and click on the arrow to show details of what is being loaded.  Somewhere in that list there will be a large file, typically over 5MB.  Double click on it and Safari will begin downloading it.  Once the download is completed you can find the file in the download folder via Finder, it will be a .flv file and have a generic name which I suggest you change so that it's easier to recognize.

If your using Good Reader you can transfer the file to your iPad via iTunes.  If you'd like to view on your Mac then you will need another media player like VLC.

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.