63 Days

Ink on Paper

Our learning for the month of March 2011

 Please Note: This is going to be a condensed version of what we have done as we have been doing far too much to write it all down. :-)

This month we have have been learning about.......

ANCIENT GREECE:

Myths and Mythology - The boys have been working on their journals and adding information on the different Greek Gods as they learn about them. There has been lots of reading and discussing and drawing and such. (This is an ongoing project for them and they are completing it at their own leisure).

Oracles and Omens - The boys pretended to be Oracles and solve the problems of the local farmers and gentiles.

Athena - They learned a few facts about Athena like her introduction of the Greek Alphabet. They had a great time deciphering the symbols and working out messages. They also completed some maths written in Ancient Greek which Zak was at first a little dubious of but then claimed how much FUN it was.

Heroic Heracles - (aka Hercules) - The boys learned all about Heracles and his twelve labours.  They drew a family tree and listed all the gifts the gods gave him to help him complete his twelve labours. Zak was quite disgusted that Hera felt the need to destroy Heracles especially the part when he was just a baby.  Of course he was rather impressed with the outcomes. LOL Zak made a mini book of all the stories in short. We read them all and we read some more from his book. (The stories were more in depth). They learned about Conflict and the different types of conflict (eg. character vs character, character vs nature etc) .

They ranked the labours into what order they would have preferred to conduct them and discussed why. They played a game to test their new found knowledge.  They mapped Heracles journey on a map of Greece.

They created some modern day labours for Heracles to complete and wrote stories about them.

AUSTRALIAN HISTORY: 

More reading and learning about Convicts, in paritcular Mary Bryant and Matthew Brady. Reading followed by some extended computer research for Adem.  Adem did some comprehension work on Bourke and Wills and Zak on Mary Reibey.

Adem is reading My Australian Story - My Dragons Claw   (Its a little slow going as he is not finding it quite as interesting as the last one).

BEHIND THE NEWS:

The boys have been taking an interest in the childrens show Behind the News which is great as it is about News stories and they explain them in kids terms. In particular there was some good feed back on the Tsunamis and Earthquakes and the problems with the Nuclear reactors in Japan. Of course there were many other stories but these ones have really got the boys thinking and asking lots of questions.

They have also been watching a lot of Survivor and other type shows where kids have to complete tasks etc. Documentaries as usual (I honesty do not keep a list of these as Zak tends to tell me after the event and never knows what the show is called just what it was about. He has watched several Ocean related shows though and was quite fascinated with a feather star fish.)

There has been a fair amount of questions about politics as we had a local election last weekend. Zak was duly unimpressed with both of the major parties and wanted to know why the Greens could not be in power.


SCIENCE:

The majority of this months science has revolved around the Ocean (as it probably will for the rest of the year).  We have conducted many experiments, read lots of books, watched lots of films, researched many things. We have had many trips to the beach to observe and learn naturally as well as delved into the more scientific side of things.

Zak in particular has been learning more about the life in the ocean, like Humpback whales and Green sea turtles.  Adem has been more focussing on the Biology and Chemistry of the ocean, at the moment he is researching Light and Colour and Sea Plant life. I won't go into details as I would be here all day but here are the links to just one of the  experiments..  (click here)

We went to visit some different beaches up the coast.....including Anna Bay and Caves Beach.....

And we visited the Shark and Ray Centre.........and swam with the sharks... (Click Here if you have not read this post).

We have also been planting and watching SEEDS grow. Its been interesting to see how each different seed germinates and grows at different rates. Tansy for instance germinated really fast but grows really slowly as opposed to Beans that took longer then shot up in a couple of days.

Speaking of Light and Colour, the boys spent an afternoon doing experiments with reflective light, including shadow puppets, making a kaliedescope, telscopes, mirrors etc.

We also visited Oakvale Farm and learned a lot about farm animals, Australian animals, Reptiles and babies.  (just one post about the farm)

COMPUTER/Maths:

We have been trying to use the computers more as a learning tool rather than just for Online games. Both boys are pretty keen on their gaming time and spend a little too much time for my liking holed up with their computers gaming away. I realise they are still learning but I think when something becomes merely repetitive it is no longer much of a learning tool.  Adem does most of his Maths online and also is learning to research more. We have been using some interactive websites as well.

Aside from that Adem is once again learning a bit of programming using Cocoa 2D. Most of his Maths at the moment is revolved around Algebra.

Zak has been working a lot with Graphs, Measurement, Area and Perimeter, Scales and using calculators.

PDHP: 

This months saw the sports seasons wrap up. Nippers is now over for the year and Little Athletics as well. They had some fun days along with the usual sport days.

Hip Hop dancing has been fun but they are not duly impressed with the teachers steps. She has been trying to convince them to move to a Friday class with a different teacher as she admits Hip Hop is not her style. They have however had some fun and learned some dance steps etc, with a little drama thrown in.

There have been the usual trips to the skate park, riding skateboards, scooters, ripsticks and the newer long skateboards (I have no idea what they are called - surf skates?)

English has pretty much been incorporated into the other subjects to save time. Although there has also been some creative writing, loads of reading and some vocabulary thrown in. Zak has discovered cross word puzzles too.

Art has been a little slack this month, there has been some drawing, colouring, painting and junk art or junk weapon making, whatever you want to call it.

Of course there has been loads of learning that just happens, questions and answers, discussions and pondering. Cooking and gardening, crafting in bits and bobs when we want to try what mum is doing. And as I have run out of time......we will just have to leave it there today.

Have a wonderful day all.

Hugs and smoochies xox

64 Days Till Miami

Watercolour pencils and ink.

Karismas chaotic world.....

This week is already passing me by in a whirlwind of chaos....Plans made have had to be changed....time planned...has had to be altered and I can just be grateful for things falling into place in a wonderful chaotic kind of way.

Ashlee is moving out on the weekend, down to Sydney. Her new job is demanding more and more time and she needs to be closer to work. It is going to be a rush of packing and trying to get her things down there in just one day. Exciting but also a little daunting for her finally leaving the cushy nest. We are currently arguing over who gets to keep MY overlocker! LOL

Gemma, my baby girl is counting down the days till she goes jet setting across to the other side of the world. Yikes! Never to be outdone by the older siblings she is branching out at the ripe old age of 18 and flying to Miami for 3 whole weeks. Yes, I am taking it calmly, she is going to have a great time. But it is a little scary for a mama to think about!

She has set herself a little artistic challenge to pass the days and is going to post each day here for you to enjoy. Which is wonderful as I really am finding it hard to fit in a daily post at the moment. So much to do, so little time.

I will try and post a learning update soon. For now I am overseeing a computer lesson on one side and an art lesson on the other.  Have a wonderful day all.

Hugs and smoochies xoxox

Puleeese can I have some too?

Poor baby, recently weaned from mama cow, trying to get some of that bottle!

Its Sunday Afternoon already......how fast the time is passing by! My weekend has been spent attending presentations, dinner dates, knitting and crocheting, washing and cooking and playing with babies.  I finished another baby beanie and have almost finished a cardigan. Hoping to fit some more in sometime today. We have one more Presentation for Nippers then all done. 

Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend. 

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Nice weather for ducks.....

WHO YOU CALLING A DUCK?

HIM, HE IS A DUCK!

AND THEY ARE DUCKS and

....THEY ARE BABY DUCKS

It is rather cold and windy and WET today down here! A very good day for crochet and knitting and lazing about  indoors, unless you are a duck of course and then you may prefer to be out in it! 

Have a wonderful Weekend All,

Hugs and Smoochies xoxoxox

All done.....buttons galore....

After much deliberation, it was decided that we would not go with the wooden buttons afterall. We tossed up between some green buttons and some brown ones and the votes ended up with the brown winning.

As much as I would have loved to follow everyones advice to go out for more wooden buttons, those ones I have are actually quite old and I doubt I would find them now.

The little dress is finished with a yellow trim which extended round the back and has a little flower button, smooth on boths sides so as not to poke baby in the back.

Not that you can tell, but I made this one shorter than the previous two as I am thinking of making some little knickers to go under it.....

And for the bombay jacket, I was pretty not liking the toggle idea for a newborn so I crocheted a little button instead, this way baby can still lay on its tummy without any bulky button to deal with.

And that is all, there isn't any more :-)    But there will be, I just downloaded several more patterns! Yay!

Have a wonderful day! 

Hugs and smoochies xoxoxox

Buttons and Babyknits.......

NO dear! He is not wasting time.......he is learning.......in a sneaky kind of way...........

But where is the learning in buttons you ask? Well.........Just look at all those colours, and shapes and sizes.......(oh he is a bit old for that? Says who?????).....

Well perhaps some might think so, but he is sorting and counting and making patterns and grouping and discussing and dividing and wondering and helping and well, we both don't feel so well so we are seeking solace in things that make us happy......so there.......

It all started when mama woke up with a head like sludge this morning and he says "Oh thats how I feel" thanks for sharing lovely boy, its always nice when people share hey? So, we both were having trouble focusing our fuzzy brains when I thought that I should finish off all these lovely baby knits with buttons and stitching and whatever else they need to make them considered done......

Yes that is another of those little dresses, they are so quick to make and so cute, I could not resist making just one more!

The green jacket in particular has me in a small tither, the front band is not stitching together neatly and I am annoyed that I did not follow my instinct to knit it in as I was going to,  instead of following the pattern which has not come out the way I would like it to. Oh well, next is finding 5 buttons that match AND fit in the button holes which are a bit small.....no easy feat I tell you! We were very much liking the little whales but there are only 4 of the same colour. Zak was keen to use the flower buttons but this is for my nephew and I am not sure whether his parents would approve. Maybe I will ask them...I know it would not bother me, I am not into gender specifics especially with babies! I particularly love the little brown buttons which unfortunately I have only been able to find three of :-( I used to have quite a lot of them, they are wooden and I love the way wood looks on wool. Especially green wool!

Anyways, we are planning on an easy going day, playing with buttons and wool and cotton and perhaps going out into the garden for some planting in the afternoon when the sun cools a little.  I have four babies to knit for now as well as a gazillion other projects I would like to tackle, so lots of things to keep me occupied. 

But for now, I am going to sip on my herbal brew in the hopes of nipping this sludge feeling in the butt! I really don't have time for it! 

Hugs and smoochies all xoxoxox

Have a beautiful day!

PS: It has just been decided that we will be making a graph to record all of our bright buttons! Oh dear, where is the eduction in that? Bahahahahaha!

The sweet way to a mama's heart.....

Its amazing how fast our children grow, before you know it, they are teenagers and in being teenagers they turn into completely different beings to those little children you once knew and nurtured.  This boy of mine is now officially a teenager. For the last year or so he slowly changed, he no longer wanted to go with us on our homeschool outings, preferring his own company and his computer to human contact. His tolerance for his little brother grew thinner while his tolerance of his older sisters grew stronger.

For a while I watched and waited and sure enough, every now and then he poked his nose out and once again joined the realms of the living! Sparingly, but still, patience is a virtue! Having raised three teenagers already, I kind of know the drill. Being a male tends to show a few differences but still, the hibernating to ones bedroom more than anything is a big clue to the teenage years. The frequent day time naps due to sitting up too late into the night.....the attitude plus! 

So anyway, at the risk of me going off on a dreamy tangent, back to what melted my heart! As you know, the other day we went to the farm and of course I refrained from mentioning to him that we were going until the night before as I kind of knew what his reaction would be! Actually, it was not quite as bad as I imagined.....a bit of a growl and just one.."I AM NOT GOING!" before he caved and begrudgingly came along. His brothers and my enthusiasm must have got through to him...LOL! 

He quite liked the baby sheep......... but was not too sure about the pushy goats.......

ahhh this is not so bad..

Hey! Wait your turn!

Oh No! Here comes another one!

Hey! Where you going? Wait for me!

He is SO outta there!

So after caving and getting used to all the baby animals (we SO saw him smile when he thought we were not looking), he had finally had enough and thought he might take a nap on the childrens slide in the shade.....

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Someone had other ideas......

Someone wanted to hop in with him......

Can I get in too?

Oh come on! I am very cute!

Someone was not taking NO for an answer......

I won't take up much room!

Come on, shove over a bit!

OUCH!!!!!

Sorry! I give you cuddles!

We are NOT amused! (awww but look at him giving you cuddles)

Fine! I'll just sit like this then!

 Karisma! Adems not sharing........

And so, he moved......to a quieter....less populated slide..........

And then.......later........he caved.........and he was sucked in by the lovliness........that is babies.......I mean really.......how could ones heart not melt? Under every tough boys exterior lies a soft heart......you just have to be patient and wait for it to show itself.........

 

Hugs and smoochies all xoxox

May your days be filled with joy and your hearts be full of LOVE!!!!!

Sharks DO bite......

I have so many cute fluffy animal pictures that I could post every day for weeks and you would never get to hear about our swimming with the shark adventures now would you? So I figured I would throw this one in first.

On Thursday, we visited the Shark and Ray Centre and got REAL up close and personal with a few sharks. Now the first lot of sharks were very small and it was fun to feed them and pet them, they are a lot like dogs really.

The sting rays were extremely friendly and this one in particular was very keen to be fed, practically climbing out of the pool to get a little closer......

The kids had a fantastic time, swimming around in the water, feeding, petting and simply admiring the fish under water.

 

Did you know.......sharks feel like sand paper?

AND that Sting Rays are as smooth as silk?

The sharks at the centre are well fed so as a rule will not tend to bite you. There are always exceptions to the rule though, like with dogs, it makes a lot of sense NOT to get in between them and their food.....one of our little kids found this out the hard way when one of the larger sharks managed to take a taste of his leg when it got between dinner and its mouth......

Yep! I don't think sharks are really for playing around with, even if they are not supposed to bite.....I think I will stick to the little ones who have small mouths if I go in the water again. Mind you I do believe this bite WAS an accident. I did hop in the water with those big ones and they paid no notice when I touched them or got near them.

Now if they had of been a great white, there would be NO WAY you would get me anywhere near them. Speaking of Great Whites, the day before while our kids were swimming at the beach a woman was attached just up the road from where we were staying! So an exciting few lessons about sharks for our lot! (I SO DID NOT KNOW we have great whites on this side of the country! Yikes!)

Not that this put them off at all, on the way home we stopped off at Caves beach and the boys of course could not wait to hop in the ocean! They say, they had an awesome time and would just LOVE to go back again sometime. Zak would like to take along an underwater camera!

Just another Northern Lakes Natural Learning kinda day!

Hugs and smoochies oxoxox