Zak had his swimming lesson on Saturday, still in heatwave conditions, and the break obviously did him some good. He had improved so much that his teacher promoted him to the next level, Dolphins, where he will now start learning butterfly (a stroke he has been dying to learn for some time now!). He really seems to be putting in alo of effort with his swimming now, which is great to see!
I started to look for some information, via the internet, on computer game programming, or ways in which I can start to teach this to Zak, as he has expressed an interest in programming for a while now. I was ecstatic to find a website where the author has even written a programming guide specifically designed for beginners and children! So now we just need to set aside some time every couple of days in which we can sit down and work through it together, so that his hunger for knowledge doesn't dwindle!
On Sunday, we came across a show on TV called Bad Universe. This particular episode, Death Stars, documented the violent forces that occur throughout the universe when a star dies. Zak wrote a two page report about what he had seen.
Sunday afternoon saw the end of the heatwave, so now we can try and get back into a more regular routine!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Semester 1, Week 1, Friday
Ok, this heat is getting beyond a joke!
We had planned a picnic for today, with friends, but we all decided it was best to postpone - it was just too darn hot!!!
The homeschool group, RivKids, that we started going to last year, also started back today, but again, the heat kept us at home ... four kids running around and a baby who doesn't like to be put down (especially in the heat!) .... I just couldn't see myself coping with that today.
The kids all did their chores today though - the cats were fed and watered, the table got cleaned this morning after breakfast .... for the most part though, they didn't move much today. I think all the hot days are catching up with them, cause none of them seem to have the energy to do much, and they are all complaining that it's too hot to eat, so they have basically had loads of water today and a couple of pieces of fruit.
Sometimes I feel sorry for the kids "at school", having to travel in this heat, sit in a classroom with 30 odd other hot bodied children, be forced outside at recess and lunch breaks .... when really, all they want to do is stay cool and go slow. If my kids are complaining about the heat and whinging cause they are too hot to deal with it (well, Khaemon and Veygas anyway - they get terribly frustrated when it's this hot), I can't imagine what kids at school are going through!
But today, I think they all finally learned the importance of doing as little as possible in this heat ... the less you do, the less you argue, fight, whinge etc, the cooler (well, less hot and sticky at least!) you will stay! So again, no formal learning, but a lesson in controlling emotions.
We had planned a picnic for today, with friends, but we all decided it was best to postpone - it was just too darn hot!!!
The homeschool group, RivKids, that we started going to last year, also started back today, but again, the heat kept us at home ... four kids running around and a baby who doesn't like to be put down (especially in the heat!) .... I just couldn't see myself coping with that today.
The kids all did their chores today though - the cats were fed and watered, the table got cleaned this morning after breakfast .... for the most part though, they didn't move much today. I think all the hot days are catching up with them, cause none of them seem to have the energy to do much, and they are all complaining that it's too hot to eat, so they have basically had loads of water today and a couple of pieces of fruit.
Sometimes I feel sorry for the kids "at school", having to travel in this heat, sit in a classroom with 30 odd other hot bodied children, be forced outside at recess and lunch breaks .... when really, all they want to do is stay cool and go slow. If my kids are complaining about the heat and whinging cause they are too hot to deal with it (well, Khaemon and Veygas anyway - they get terribly frustrated when it's this hot), I can't imagine what kids at school are going through!
But today, I think they all finally learned the importance of doing as little as possible in this heat ... the less you do, the less you argue, fight, whinge etc, the cooler (well, less hot and sticky at least!) you will stay! So again, no formal learning, but a lesson in controlling emotions.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Semester 1, Week 1, Thursday
Yet another hot day, and learning of a different kind for the kids today. We attended a Family Capers business networking day and the kids got to meet some new and different "families in business". I think it is good for them to know and see that they can achieve whatever they want with persistence and hard work (and not just take my word for it!)
Of course they got to play as well, which is good for their creativity and imagination, not to mention socialising with other children - learning to share and take turns and co-operate.
Not everything in life is book-learned, and nor is it meant to be!
Of course they got to play as well, which is good for their creativity and imagination, not to mention socialising with other children - learning to share and take turns and co-operate.
Not everything in life is book-learned, and nor is it meant to be!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Semester 1, Week 1, Wednesday
It was so hot today, and shopping day too. It had hit 30 degrees by 9am, and the thought of taking all of the kids shopping had completely overwhelmed me. I decided that I'd leave the three older kids at home and just take the two little ones - I already felt that I didn't have the energy to deal with them all in this heat!
And because of the heat, and everyone's lethargy, I gave the kids a break from traditional "book learning" today and just let them ... be.
When I returned from shopping, the kids all helped to take the bags of groceries inside and put everything away. I do believe that this is a valuable life skill, and definitely teaches them how the household is run, and where things go - fridge, freezer, pantry, kitchen, laundry, bathroom ...
They sat and made their lunches - it was sweltering, far too hot for any mischief! They then lounged around the floor in front of the TV, but I doubt any of them paid much attention to what was on. Later in the afternoon, when it was fractionally cooler (maybe a degree or two!), Zak, Kaliah and I went and did the dishes - me washing and the kids drying. Teamwork. Another lesson in how a household works, and moreso, how teamwork gets things done quicker!
The boys played DS for a little while, and Kaliah lied down on the tiled floor in front of the back door with coloured pencils and a piece of paper, and drew a picture of herself!
Garbage night ... the kids gathered together all of the rubbish from the kitchen, bathroom, laundry and computer desk bins, and the recycling, then made sure the bins went out to the side of the road for tomorrow morning's collection. You have to hand it to them, they'll certainly know what to do when they leave home!
So, although not an academic day, a learning one nonetheless.
And because of the heat, and everyone's lethargy, I gave the kids a break from traditional "book learning" today and just let them ... be.
When I returned from shopping, the kids all helped to take the bags of groceries inside and put everything away. I do believe that this is a valuable life skill, and definitely teaches them how the household is run, and where things go - fridge, freezer, pantry, kitchen, laundry, bathroom ...
They sat and made their lunches - it was sweltering, far too hot for any mischief! They then lounged around the floor in front of the TV, but I doubt any of them paid much attention to what was on. Later in the afternoon, when it was fractionally cooler (maybe a degree or two!), Zak, Kaliah and I went and did the dishes - me washing and the kids drying. Teamwork. Another lesson in how a household works, and moreso, how teamwork gets things done quicker!
The boys played DS for a little while, and Kaliah lied down on the tiled floor in front of the back door with coloured pencils and a piece of paper, and drew a picture of herself!
Garbage night ... the kids gathered together all of the rubbish from the kitchen, bathroom, laundry and computer desk bins, and the recycling, then made sure the bins went out to the side of the road for tomorrow morning's collection. You have to hand it to them, they'll certainly know what to do when they leave home!
So, although not an academic day, a learning one nonetheless.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Semester 1, Week 1, Tuesday
Today was another scorcher of a day (it's still currently 40 degrees as I write!) so I tried to get the kids to do some work earlier this morning, before the heat really set in. Unfortunately we didn't get alot done before they were distracted by the heat and I didn't have the heart to make them sit there and work, knowing that they wouldn't really absorb what they were learning.
Zakari
More maths today from Maths Plus 4 Stage 2, pages 83 (Division), 84 (Angles) and 85 (Millimetres). He learned about the division symbol (you know, the one that looks like a closed bracket with a line across the top?) and how you divide the number on the right side of the bracket by the number on the left side of the bracket and write the answer above the line. I also elaborated on the importance of learning this way, because it comes in handy down the track when you're doing long division. I also told him that if he wasn't sure if the answer was right, then all he had to do to double check was to multiply the answer by the divisor and see if that came out the same as the original number.
There were a few simple errors on this page, mainly things he hadn't double checked, but one or two of them, he had actually second guessed himself and crossed out the correct answer in favour of the incorrect one. Most of these were where the division problems had remainders.
Zak worked quite well through the angles exercises, he has a competent understanding of right angles, and larger / smaller than right angles.
In the millimetres exercise, he is very capable of using a ruler and reading the correct measurement from it.. He also estimates length quite close to the correct length, and translate centimetres to millimetres with no problems.
As the heat had well and truly set in by the time he had finished the maths, I decided that that was it for the day and Zak spent some free time constructing with lego and watching some television.
Later in the afternoon, he prepared his dad's snacks for work.
Kaliah
Kaliah chose to read Night Noises by Mem Fox today and wrote a two page recall of the story. Her spelling was much improved from yesterday - she only had two mis-spelled words today. The main things that I feel we need to work on with Kaliah is her punctuation (she often forgets full stops, so thought and sentences run into each other) and her handwriting letter formation. I understand it's hot, so I am giving her a little bit of leeway for the time being.
Kaliah also had some TV time time today - it really was too hot to do anything - even play outside!
Khaemon
I gave Khaemon a choice today whether he wanted to do any work or not. He chose to work (perhaps cause the others were!) but it was short lived! He traced and copied a few letters of the alphabet in Literacy for Littlies Part A - Early Stage 1, a book which he had completed in about a month last year! But the heat got the better of him and he ended up watching TV and then playing various DS games with Veygas (they sometimes like to connect and it's hard to keep up with what game they are playing sometimes!) He finished the day by flicking through some Disney and Dr Seuss books (we have an extensive library of both!), moreso for the pictures at this stage!
Veygas
Veygas spent about 5 minutes today being artistic with coloured pencils on 4 pieces of paper, before the heat got the better of him. He watched some TV, which he tired of fairly quickly, and then played DS with Khaemon. He spent most of the day hot, tired and whingy, but who can blame the poor child?
------
Tomorrow is our weekly shopping day, so I am looking at making up a worksheet tonight for Zak and Kaliah for them to find the answers for in the supermarket tomorrow. I think I am most looking forward to the air conditioning!
Zakari
More maths today from Maths Plus 4 Stage 2, pages 83 (Division), 84 (Angles) and 85 (Millimetres). He learned about the division symbol (you know, the one that looks like a closed bracket with a line across the top?) and how you divide the number on the right side of the bracket by the number on the left side of the bracket and write the answer above the line. I also elaborated on the importance of learning this way, because it comes in handy down the track when you're doing long division. I also told him that if he wasn't sure if the answer was right, then all he had to do to double check was to multiply the answer by the divisor and see if that came out the same as the original number.
There were a few simple errors on this page, mainly things he hadn't double checked, but one or two of them, he had actually second guessed himself and crossed out the correct answer in favour of the incorrect one. Most of these were where the division problems had remainders.
Zak worked quite well through the angles exercises, he has a competent understanding of right angles, and larger / smaller than right angles.
In the millimetres exercise, he is very capable of using a ruler and reading the correct measurement from it.. He also estimates length quite close to the correct length, and translate centimetres to millimetres with no problems.
As the heat had well and truly set in by the time he had finished the maths, I decided that that was it for the day and Zak spent some free time constructing with lego and watching some television.
Later in the afternoon, he prepared his dad's snacks for work.
Kaliah
Kaliah chose to read Night Noises by Mem Fox today and wrote a two page recall of the story. Her spelling was much improved from yesterday - she only had two mis-spelled words today. The main things that I feel we need to work on with Kaliah is her punctuation (she often forgets full stops, so thought and sentences run into each other) and her handwriting letter formation. I understand it's hot, so I am giving her a little bit of leeway for the time being.
Kaliah also had some TV time time today - it really was too hot to do anything - even play outside!
Khaemon
I gave Khaemon a choice today whether he wanted to do any work or not. He chose to work (perhaps cause the others were!) but it was short lived! He traced and copied a few letters of the alphabet in Literacy for Littlies Part A - Early Stage 1, a book which he had completed in about a month last year! But the heat got the better of him and he ended up watching TV and then playing various DS games with Veygas (they sometimes like to connect and it's hard to keep up with what game they are playing sometimes!) He finished the day by flicking through some Disney and Dr Seuss books (we have an extensive library of both!), moreso for the pictures at this stage!
Veygas
Veygas spent about 5 minutes today being artistic with coloured pencils on 4 pieces of paper, before the heat got the better of him. He watched some TV, which he tired of fairly quickly, and then played DS with Khaemon. He spent most of the day hot, tired and whingy, but who can blame the poor child?
------
Tomorrow is our weekly shopping day, so I am looking at making up a worksheet tonight for Zak and Kaliah for them to find the answers for in the supermarket tomorrow. I think I am most looking forward to the air conditioning!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Semester 1, Week 1, Monday
So it has been about a year since I wrote in this blog and so much has happened!
We welcomed another new member into our family and we successfully completed our first year of home schooling! And while this blog was meant to keep a record of our progress throughout the year, it kind of got pushed to the side.
So what better time to start than now, seeing as school has resumed for 2011, and I have a third child starting "school" too!
Today we started back at swimming lessons. This is our weekly Monday morning regime, with school work done in the afternoon after lunch.
Zakari - 10 years old - Year 5
Monday morning is Zak's practice swimming time (his lesson is on Saturday). This morning, he complained that he didn't want to swim (Hello?? In this heat, who wouldn't??). Being 10, we like him to practice the different strokes, just a couple of 25m laps each of breast stroke, freestyle and backstroke, and then he gets some free time while the others are still in their lessons. We constantly tell him that he won't progress further if he doesn't practice, and to be honest, he is quite good, when he puts his mind to it and puts in the effort!
This afternoon, Zak did maths, from the Maths Plus 4 Stage 2 book, simply because we didn't complete it last year. He worked on pages 80 (Patterns), 81 (More Likely, Less Likely) and 82 (Mixed Addition). He asked me what translate, rotate and reflect meant, as this was the first exercise of the afternoon, so after an explanation, he confidently completed the exercises related to this with no problem. He also competently completed the next two pages without any assistance or errors!
He worked quickly through the mixed addition, where he had to use the answers to solve a hidden code, which took me a good while to work out! He also seems to work things out mentally with ease.
He then helped me with some dishes by drying as I washed, then prepared his dad's bag for work, by filling water bottles, making sandwiches and putting chips, vegetables and bread into containers for his dad's snacks later on tonight.
The rest of the afternoon was left for free time, where he watched some television, and then made chess pieces out of lego, representative of "Super Mario" characters. He has started to teach Khaemon how to play chess!
Kaliah - almost 7 years old - Year 2
Kaliah did quite well in her swimming lesson this morning, learning skills in breast stroke, backstroke and three-arm breathing (where they do three freestyle strokes and take a breath), and also, diving to the bottom of the pool to retrieve various objects.
I had hoped to be a little more organised with having books this year, as she completed all of the books we had last year, but this has just snuck up on me, so we'll be going "school book shopping" later in the week!
So today, I had Kaliah pick a book, read it and then write about it. She chose Koala Lou by Mem Fox and wrote a two page synopsis of the book. Unfortunately, she had been distracted and Khaemon had tried to trace what she had written, making it illegible, and then we discovered that she had actually written upside down in her book, so I got her to sit quietly, away from everyone else and carefully re write her story. Then on the next page, I wrote a list of words that had been spelled incorrectly and got her to write these as many times as they would fit across the page, to help her with spelling.
Then Kaliah prepared her dad's clothes bag for work, making sure he had a clean towel and enough changes of clothes for the week, just in case something happened and he got held over.
The rest of the afternoon was free time, and she watched some television and helped look after her little sister.
Khaemon - almost 5 years old - Kindergarten
Khaemon was the only one in his group at swimming this morning, which was good, as he also had a new teacher, so they got to have some valuable one on one time! Steph had him learning freestyle and backstroke techniques, as well as some basic swimming with the kickboard and the pool noodle. She also worked on teaching him to dive into the pool from the edge.
Although we worked from preschool literacy and maths books last year, I have decided to go slowly with Khaemon, academically, and ease him into a "schooling" routine. So we didn't do anything formally today, but as stated above, he did trace Kaliah's work, so he is learning about the formation of letters. He also talked about what sounds certain letters make, as he tends to do this quite alot!
Then this afternoon, he played Mario Party and Mario Kart on the Nintendo DSi, and "Mario chess" with Zak.
Veygas - 2 1/2 years old - Pre-school
Veygas had his first lesson in Penguins at swimming today, and with a new teacher (the first teacher change he has had in 18 months!) There was only one other child in his class today, which again was good, as he gets used to the new level and teacher! He has no fear of the water and actually exhibits alot of the basic swimming skills, as well as some not so basic ones! He paddled and kicked around the pool with a pool noodle, floated on his back, first with a kickboard then with a pool noodle, and constantly kept diving into the pool from the side and swimming back without assistance (even when Kate wasn't ready for him!)
After lunch, he played Super Mario Bros on the DS (and for someone so young, he has impressive hand eye co-ordination and a good understanding of the game!) and then watched some television.
Saffryn - 4 months old - not yet schooling, but learning nonetheless!
Saffy had her very first swimming lesson this morning, in the mums and bub's (or Infant Aquatics) group of course! It was only 6 months ago that I made it out of the water from Vevo's lessons and now I'm back in again! Saffy did quite well, even with being under water. Admittedly, there are some things she isn't capable of doing, like sitting on the edge (or sitting full stop for that matter!) or crawling down the mat, but I do think it's important that she gains an awareness of the water from a young age so that she isn't scared to learn later on.
Her swim must have really tired her out though, as she fell asleep almost as soon as I had her dressed, and she spontaneously fell asleep twice more at home!
------
All in all, considering the heat, I feel we had a productive first day back in the saddle!
We welcomed another new member into our family and we successfully completed our first year of home schooling! And while this blog was meant to keep a record of our progress throughout the year, it kind of got pushed to the side.
So what better time to start than now, seeing as school has resumed for 2011, and I have a third child starting "school" too!
Today we started back at swimming lessons. This is our weekly Monday morning regime, with school work done in the afternoon after lunch.
Zakari - 10 years old - Year 5
Monday morning is Zak's practice swimming time (his lesson is on Saturday). This morning, he complained that he didn't want to swim (Hello?? In this heat, who wouldn't??). Being 10, we like him to practice the different strokes, just a couple of 25m laps each of breast stroke, freestyle and backstroke, and then he gets some free time while the others are still in their lessons. We constantly tell him that he won't progress further if he doesn't practice, and to be honest, he is quite good, when he puts his mind to it and puts in the effort!
This afternoon, Zak did maths, from the Maths Plus 4 Stage 2 book, simply because we didn't complete it last year. He worked on pages 80 (Patterns), 81 (More Likely, Less Likely) and 82 (Mixed Addition). He asked me what translate, rotate and reflect meant, as this was the first exercise of the afternoon, so after an explanation, he confidently completed the exercises related to this with no problem. He also competently completed the next two pages without any assistance or errors!
He worked quickly through the mixed addition, where he had to use the answers to solve a hidden code, which took me a good while to work out! He also seems to work things out mentally with ease.
He then helped me with some dishes by drying as I washed, then prepared his dad's bag for work, by filling water bottles, making sandwiches and putting chips, vegetables and bread into containers for his dad's snacks later on tonight.
The rest of the afternoon was left for free time, where he watched some television, and then made chess pieces out of lego, representative of "Super Mario" characters. He has started to teach Khaemon how to play chess!
Kaliah - almost 7 years old - Year 2
Kaliah did quite well in her swimming lesson this morning, learning skills in breast stroke, backstroke and three-arm breathing (where they do three freestyle strokes and take a breath), and also, diving to the bottom of the pool to retrieve various objects.
I had hoped to be a little more organised with having books this year, as she completed all of the books we had last year, but this has just snuck up on me, so we'll be going "school book shopping" later in the week!
So today, I had Kaliah pick a book, read it and then write about it. She chose Koala Lou by Mem Fox and wrote a two page synopsis of the book. Unfortunately, she had been distracted and Khaemon had tried to trace what she had written, making it illegible, and then we discovered that she had actually written upside down in her book, so I got her to sit quietly, away from everyone else and carefully re write her story. Then on the next page, I wrote a list of words that had been spelled incorrectly and got her to write these as many times as they would fit across the page, to help her with spelling.
Then Kaliah prepared her dad's clothes bag for work, making sure he had a clean towel and enough changes of clothes for the week, just in case something happened and he got held over.
The rest of the afternoon was free time, and she watched some television and helped look after her little sister.
Khaemon - almost 5 years old - Kindergarten
Khaemon was the only one in his group at swimming this morning, which was good, as he also had a new teacher, so they got to have some valuable one on one time! Steph had him learning freestyle and backstroke techniques, as well as some basic swimming with the kickboard and the pool noodle. She also worked on teaching him to dive into the pool from the edge.
Although we worked from preschool literacy and maths books last year, I have decided to go slowly with Khaemon, academically, and ease him into a "schooling" routine. So we didn't do anything formally today, but as stated above, he did trace Kaliah's work, so he is learning about the formation of letters. He also talked about what sounds certain letters make, as he tends to do this quite alot!
Then this afternoon, he played Mario Party and Mario Kart on the Nintendo DSi, and "Mario chess" with Zak.
Veygas - 2 1/2 years old - Pre-school
Veygas had his first lesson in Penguins at swimming today, and with a new teacher (the first teacher change he has had in 18 months!) There was only one other child in his class today, which again was good, as he gets used to the new level and teacher! He has no fear of the water and actually exhibits alot of the basic swimming skills, as well as some not so basic ones! He paddled and kicked around the pool with a pool noodle, floated on his back, first with a kickboard then with a pool noodle, and constantly kept diving into the pool from the side and swimming back without assistance (even when Kate wasn't ready for him!)
After lunch, he played Super Mario Bros on the DS (and for someone so young, he has impressive hand eye co-ordination and a good understanding of the game!) and then watched some television.
Saffryn - 4 months old - not yet schooling, but learning nonetheless!
Saffy had her very first swimming lesson this morning, in the mums and bub's (or Infant Aquatics) group of course! It was only 6 months ago that I made it out of the water from Vevo's lessons and now I'm back in again! Saffy did quite well, even with being under water. Admittedly, there are some things she isn't capable of doing, like sitting on the edge (or sitting full stop for that matter!) or crawling down the mat, but I do think it's important that she gains an awareness of the water from a young age so that she isn't scared to learn later on.
Her swim must have really tired her out though, as she fell asleep almost as soon as I had her dressed, and she spontaneously fell asleep twice more at home!
------
All in all, considering the heat, I feel we had a productive first day back in the saddle!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
An interesting article
This article is a very interesting read, and renews my convictions that I am doing the right thing by my children!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)