Thought I better do a quick catch up on what we have been learning. I have been a little remiss in jotting it down in my diary this past month or so, so thought I'd sum it up here.
Above: Remembering to stop and breathe, right between taboganning, rock climbing......and horse riding! All in one day!
Maths: A has been working on Fractions of all sorts. (Highschool level) He does lessons on Maths Online which we are finding really helpful at the moment. There is a video teaching each lesson and then he does a worksheet and keys in his answers. If he gets any wrong he has to work them out again and key in the right ones. Each week I get a report from the site telling me how he went.
Z has been working with digital time, calenders, distances km etc, map reading, some fractions and more recently prisms and identifying shapes of objects if they are cut up.
Of course we also do a lot of practical maths such as real map reading, working out distances, costs, measuring with tape measures and rulers, weighing and measuring with cooking, playing monopoly, cards, and other games requiring problem solving (;-)
You know, the learning you do when you don't know you are learning kind of stuff!)English:
The usual stuff here, grammar, vocabulary, reading, comprehension, spelling activities. A lot of our English is usually incorporated into HSIE or Science rather than doing them seperately.
We have been reading and watching movies around Fantasy themes and identifying fact or fiction. So if they watch a film or show, I will ask them what they thought it was and then we will discuss why and how they came to their conclusions. Both boys are not keen on writing so I have been trying to encourage a little more of that without getting too fussy. Don't want to scare them off completely. Zak has had a go at making up some funny poems although he does not want to write them down as yet.
(Maths and English are the only subjects I absolutely insist on doing daily. It is not always bookwork but often practical but we do try to fit some in as a rule. The rest of the boys learning I try to give them free reign, having said that Adem is very lazy and needs a push so I do set work for him to get him moving along. Often we just follow Zaks lead and go from there which is where theme work comes in handy!)
HSIE :
Australia: We did some reading and comprehension on the treatment of Indiginous peoples of Australia in the past.
Ancient Egypt: We did a whole unit of study on Ancient Egypt which came about as we were reading the Ulysses Moore series of books. In the first book the children travel to Ancient Egypt so that was our lead. We read lots of books, watched programs, played Khufu (the mummy dvd game), Incorporated it into our artworks, fiction reading and cooking etc. Also regardless of what country we are learning about we always pull out the globe or the Atlas to see where the country is and how far it is from Australia etc.
Family: We took a short holiday with our extended family and all lived together in one house. Zak spent a lot of time fishing with his Grand dad and uncle and visiting museums etc. Spent loads of time reading maps and planning daily adventures.
We watched several episodes of "The super Nanny" have you ever seen that show? It had us in hysterics, no offense to anyones parenting views but while I don't agree with a lot of the super nannies ideas, I could see why the parents in these shows needed it. My goodness! Of course my lot found it hysterical and ran around for the next week telling each other "that is not asseptable! Get in the norty chair!" I must admit I even had a go when I told Zak that the state of his bedroom was really not acceptable and he should do something about it...before either of us could move, two of his sisters popped out from nowhere and fingers pointing at him "that is NOT asseptable! " It was quite funny! (Now how is this learning you ask? Well, it was good for the kids to see how other people live, discipline or don't discipline their children and we spent ages discussing our thoughts on the methods used in the show, the behaviours of the children and parents and my kids got to see one of my theories proven, being that children eating nothing but crap go nuts! Interestingly enough the idea of implementing some sort of timetable is looking favourable at our house as a result!)
WW2: We did some reading on world war 2 and what it was like to live in Britain at the time of the Blitz. On our holiday Zak had fun checking out some old bunkers left standing on a mountain from ww2, he spent ages climbing through them and having a ball playing armies.
He also enjoyed visiting a small maritime museum and was quite fascinated with all the "old" stuff! He especially loved an old calculator that was huge!
Science:
The Natural Environment: We went to Oakvale farm! Got up close and personal with loads of baby animals and fed them. There was also lots of Australian animals and a reptile display. We took lots of pictures which I will blog when I have more time. Went for a tractor ride.
Zak learned to fish, also identifying different fish in the lake. Took a walk along the lake and read all the signs about different plants along the way.
Gardening: Zak made a cactus garden (again LOL) There was a slight accident with the last one. Mr Yakka thought it would make a nice step when he was trying to reach my pegs and tipped the lot out. Barbies mum and dad came to the rescue and gifted Zak a whole bunch of new cacti and succulents so he planted them all and now wants a larger portion of real garden out the back to plant them in. (we are getting to that in the next few weeks hopefully if the rain lets up!)
We have been trying to dig out all the grass out the back before spring so we can plant more vegies and herbs this year. We did manage to find some lovely seedlings popping up when we cleared the vegie patch the other day, tansy, marigolds, basil, parsley and some catnip.
The Human Body: We made models of the human eye and learned each part. Adem sat and taught Zak using a manual and printouts and then they each put together their eyes.
Documentaries: Zak especially watched lots, Adem only a few. They watched a few about the environment, one about dangerous animals and one called Sleek Geeks which was all experiments etc. They liked that one.
Vehicles: Went car shopping, Zak helped. Checked out all the different types of cars and learned first hand what shonky people car dealers are! Yes we did buy a car but it was a pain in the butt! Also checked out lots of boats at the Marina at Nelsons Bay!
Cooking: We did several cooking classes using different ingredients etc. Do you know what happens if you add bi-carb instead of corn flour to a satay dish? It kind of explodes! LOL Very funny though! Messy too! Woops!
We did do some science bookwork too, but I can't remember what it involved off the top of my head.
Creative Arts:
Music: We have been a little lax with any formal lessons but have been having the usual fun with Rock Band which in a sense is music. The kids have to follow the notes and sing and make a lot of noise. To add to this we got the Dancing game for the Wii and Zak has been dancing up a storm. They also got one of those paper jamz toys! (I don't like it, its noisy and annoying as it does not plug in so somebody keeps following mama around the house with his noise! One guess who?) One can pick out tunes on it though. After I complained a bit he picked up the real guitar and started picking out Smoke on the water. I think its time he learned a new song.
Drums have been on the back burner a bit lately, but he has had a bit of a bang on them from time to time. Zak has been playing the keyboard a bit as well.
Art/craft: Painting on canvas, drawing using guides to learn to draw properly as well as free style drawing, drawings with pastels (chalks and crayons), a bit of scrap booking, plaster painting, egyptian pectorals (plaster, cutting, painting and beading), photography, sewing, knitting. (A does not do a whole lot of this but Z takes to it all with gusto! He also like to make his own craft projects often out of scraps and bits and pieces. He made some tubes and climbing toys for the rats. He has also made several knives out of wood, a couple of bow and arrow sets and swords).
PDHP: Dancing, Bike Riding, Riding Scooters, Walking, Climbed a Mountain ( -every which way and back again! Ouch mama had sore legs for a week!) Horse riding, taboganning, Z did rock wall climbing), fishing , trampolining and karate. Kids HQ, sat up at ungodly hours to watch Australia play in the World cup!
Computer: (ahem, this is where we will find Adem most of the time.) He has been learning various programming but tends to get fed up with it quickly. He has learned quite a bit with 3D modelling and is getting good at that. He tends to enjoy more so online adventure games and talking to his friend Jacob who also homeschools and likes to get on the computer a lot too! Adem certainly knows his way around a computer and often helps me or the girls if we have a problem. He can set up a new machine by himself, work out whats wrong a lot of the time and fix it. We are trying to encourage him to do a little more in the programming side, even make up his own games rather than just playing them all the time. He tends to lose track of time if left to himself so we are working on getting him outside a bit more. Zak also like the computer but he will only play for a little while and then seeks out more adventurous play! He would rather be wielding a real sword than a virtual one any day!
Social: We have had several outings with homeschool group. A couple of parties. Lots of family visits.
We did lots of other stuff too but I think this is enough for anyone to read in one go! Must try to do this weekly! Have a great week everyone!
Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox
