Monday, December 19, 2011
Christmas Read Aloud
We visited the library a few days ago and I picked up The Kingfisher Book of Classic Christmas Stories. What a beautiful book! We are loving reading the stories each night before bed. It is such a shame that it appears to be OOP because it is a book worth owning!
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Menu Plan 18 Dec
Inspired by Jo at Quirky Cooking I'm sharing my menu plans too. Not nearly as creative or inspirational, but helps me keep my week on track and shop for what we need so it limits wastage!
Sunday
Breakfast - Fruit scones with jam (TMX butter & flour for mix)
Lunch - Crumbed fish & fruit platter
Dinner - Sausage sizzle
Monday
Breakfast - Cereal quick easy, another trip to the city
Lunch & Dinner - will pick up something in the city
Tuesday
Breakfast - TMX porridge & make TMX fruit loaf (EDC Hot Cross Bun recipe) to take on a playdate for afternoon tea
Lunch - Sandwiches
Dinner - Rissoles & TMX steamed veggies
Wednesday
Breakfast - TMX smoothies & toast
Lunch - Corn chips, salsa & fruit platter
Dinner - TMX spaghetti & meatballs AIO meal (new recipe for us)
Thursday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Sandwiches
Dinner - Tacos
Friday
Breakfast - Cereal, quick & easy, heading to my parents place for Christmas! Won't be cooking until we get home.
Saturday
Christmas Day!
Sunday
Sunday
Boxing Day!
Friday, December 16, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Last Swimming Lesson for 2011
Today Flossy & Bugsy had their last swimming lesson for 2011. Chicky would normally participate too but she had broken out in hives from an unknown cause (possibly nuts) so she stayed out of the pool.
The children have all come such a long way this year. Their confidence has grown and they are loving their lessons. Their teacher has been unreal, knowing when to push their comfort zones and when to back off too.
Flossy passed level 4 and will enrol in level 5 for next year. Bugsy remains in level 3 which is fine. Level 3 is a hard one and he only moved up this term. Chicky has progressed from Kindy beginners into Kindy intermediate which has taken a long time but she is finally there and happy to get in the pool, a big change from the beginning of the year.
The children have all come such a long way this year. Their confidence has grown and they are loving their lessons. Their teacher has been unreal, knowing when to push their comfort zones and when to back off too.
Flossy passed level 4 and will enrol in level 5 for next year. Bugsy remains in level 3 which is fine. Level 3 is a hard one and he only moved up this term. Chicky has progressed from Kindy beginners into Kindy intermediate which has taken a long time but she is finally there and happy to get in the pool, a big change from the beginning of the year.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Cactus Flower
Yesterday afternoon the children announced that a small cactus in our garden was about to flower. On closer inspection it sure was! I hadn't even notice that it had a bud on it before they mentioned it, oops!
Flossy stayed up as late as she could manage to try to see the bud open but it wasn't quite open at her bedtime. She was afraid it was a one night only flower as Nana & Poppy have a cactus that flowers for one night only and you wouldn't want to miss it, stunning! She was up early and headed straight outside to see if the flower was still alive. To her delight it was still alive and looking even better than it did last night!
9.30pm
7am
Flossy stayed up as late as she could manage to try to see the bud open but it wasn't quite open at her bedtime. She was afraid it was a one night only flower as Nana & Poppy have a cactus that flowers for one night only and you wouldn't want to miss it, stunning! She was up early and headed straight outside to see if the flower was still alive. To her delight it was still alive and looking even better than it did last night!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
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.
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.
Menu Plan 10 Dec
We've got a VERY busy week ahead of us with several trips to the city scheduled along with several other appointments in town.
Saturday
Breakfast - TMX pancakes
Lunch - Cold meat & salad sandwiches
Dinner - Kebabs with TMX rice & steamed vegies
Pantry/Fridge/Freezer - TMX Beef and vegetable puree for Possum
Sunday
Breakfast - TMX rice porridge
Lunch - Sandwiches (heading to the city)
Dinner - BBQ with the inlaws at their retirement village kids Christmas party in the city
Monday
Breakfast - Fruit salad & yogurt
Lunch - Sandwiches
Dinner - Tacos
Pantry/Fridge/Freezer - TMX choc custard
Tuesday
Breakfast - Cereal (quick & easy, heading to the city)
Lunch & Dinner out in the city
Wednesday
Breakfast - Cereal (quick & easy, heading to swimming), dinner prep cook rice (TMX) and refrigerate
Lunch - Fruit plate & crumbed fish
Dinner - Chinese style fried rice with spring rolls and sweet & sour sauce
Thursday
Breakfast - Fruit smoothies (TMX) with toast, dinner prep cook potatoes (TMX) and refrigerate
Lunch - Sandwiches
Dinner - Tuna patties & steamed veggies
Friday
Breakfast - Cereal (quick & easy, heading to the city)
Lunch & Dinner out in the city
Saturday
Breakfast - TMX Pancakes
Lunch - crackers, dip (TMX hummus), fruit
Dinner - TMX Chicken & vegetable pie (new recipe)
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