We had a big weekend away this weekend and are all a bit sluggish and tired today. We had a discussion in the car on the way home yesterday about how I can make my life a bit easier and keep on top of the housework a bit more. I have tried flylady.net before and have decided to give it another go. I found in the past it was very helpful but I would forget about it all or get out of routine and find it hard to get back into it. We are going to try and make it a bit more of a family effort with hubby helping out a couple of times a week so I don't feel like I am the only one doing anything. This morning I did 15 minutes of kitchen/breakfast clean up and 15 minutes in the current zone and I have also added 5 mins in the school room, but am thinking of increasing it on the days I have more time. Hopefully this routine will help to keep on top of the housework a bit more and allow me to feel as though I don't spend all of my time doing housework but feel as though I achieve some each day. I have also included time each day for washing as there is always lots to do. Flylady says that a load a day keeps the chaos away, so I am trying to do this too, by washing, sorting and putting it away on the same day I hope to get on top of it.
This morning Josiah spent a bit of time doing reading eggs on the computer. He was learning about reading rules, capitals and full stops etc.
We had a Fight to get him to give back my phone on which he has been playing games and then we started our school work with some bad attitude. I was tempted for both of us to go to bed because we are so tired but I persevered and Am glad we did. We had quite a successful bookwork time and ran out of time before we hd finished to go and pick Anna up from kindy.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
Yesterday i was feeling very, very tired at the end of the day and actually went to bed before the kids did, and so i didn't blog.
Yesterday Josiah's friend came with us to playgroup at the kindy around the corner. It was an open day and there were lots of young children there. It was great. The boys spent a lot of time shooting baskets with a small basketball ring. They spent most of the time outside playing.
Anna was at kindy for the whole day yesterday and so we had a quiet afternoon. After doing a small amount of bookwork, Josiah and i sat down to watch the third episode of Planet Earth which was title freshwater. I fell asleep a couple of times during it and can't tell you what it's about except for fish and grizzly bears.
Josiah also went to play with another friend in our street after he got home from school.
Today we had an easy school day too. We didn't do any bookwork because we had finished it all. I bought home a poster competition entry for him to do. Today he made his poster. The entry form said posters could be drawn, painted, collage, digital imagery or photos. I explained this to him and he chose a collage with photos. The theme of the poster was Make it a Fresh snack.
He cut pictures out of junk mail and we talked about fresh snacks and healthy food as he did it.
He also wanted to take some photos for his poster so we made some fresh snacks:
Traffic Lights
Funny Faces
The finished product
Yesterday Josiah's friend came with us to playgroup at the kindy around the corner. It was an open day and there were lots of young children there. It was great. The boys spent a lot of time shooting baskets with a small basketball ring. They spent most of the time outside playing.
Anna was at kindy for the whole day yesterday and so we had a quiet afternoon. After doing a small amount of bookwork, Josiah and i sat down to watch the third episode of Planet Earth which was title freshwater. I fell asleep a couple of times during it and can't tell you what it's about except for fish and grizzly bears.
Josiah also went to play with another friend in our street after he got home from school.
Today we had an easy school day too. We didn't do any bookwork because we had finished it all. I bought home a poster competition entry for him to do. Today he made his poster. The entry form said posters could be drawn, painted, collage, digital imagery or photos. I explained this to him and he chose a collage with photos. The theme of the poster was Make it a Fresh snack.
He cut pictures out of junk mail and we talked about fresh snacks and healthy food as he did it.
He also wanted to take some photos for his poster so we made some fresh snacks:
Traffic Lights
Funny Faces
The finished productTonight Josiah had kids club, they are starting to learn about christmas as it is last term. He came home with a sheep that he had made and a shepherd. He explained to me that shepherds are like farmers and they look after sheep.
Today i downloaded a great Christmas resource that my friend Stacie wrote
You can get it from her blog
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
26th October
Today we planted some seeds and seedlings given to us by a friend. The kids took it in turns planting the plants. We used some strawberry punnets as mini greenhouses to grow some chinese cabbage seeds. Whilst in the garden we found some peanuts that had started to sprout so we planted them a bit better. I will try to plant the peanuts i have in the shed tomorrow.
Josiah has finished most of his phonics work for the week already. His word list were relatively easy words and so he hasn't needed to spend time learning them. We mostly just have maths to do for the rest of the week.
This afternoon Josiah had musical theatre and he watched the second episode of the planet earth DVD. It was about mountains and the animals that inhabited them.
I recieved a poster competition thing tonight and so i think we will do this for art in the next coming days. The poster is about healthy snacks.
Josiah has finished most of his phonics work for the week already. His word list were relatively easy words and so he hasn't needed to spend time learning them. We mostly just have maths to do for the rest of the week.
This afternoon Josiah had musical theatre and he watched the second episode of the planet earth DVD. It was about mountains and the animals that inhabited them.
I recieved a poster competition thing tonight and so i think we will do this for art in the next coming days. The poster is about healthy snacks.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
25th October
Josiah had a friend come for a visit this morning and they played on and off. They couldn't agree on something to play, or stick to something for a decent period of time.
When Anna went to kindy, Simon did some maths with Josiah. He has been home sick the past couple of days and has been able to help me with the homeschooling a bit. Josiah really loves it when Dad teaches him school and it helps me feel like i'm not in it by myself.
Josiah's reading amazes me everytime i hear him read. Yesterday after he came into our room first thing in the morning he went and read a whole box of readers that his Nanny had borrowed from the library. His reading is quite fluent and he really enjoys it. We have started reading a book together called Jungle Doctor and the whirlwind, which i bought at the conference on the weekend. I plan to read him a chapter or two each night before bed.
We borrowed/hired the DVD documentary called planet earth and watched the first episode of this today. It was title Pole to Pole and full of lots of migration and other animal stories, starting at the poles and working in towards the equator.
He was puzzled about the difference between a cheetah and a leopard. After watching this, the kids played/acted a game where lion's and cheetahs were chasing an impala. I was pleased to see they learnt the name of a new animal. We plan to watch the next episode tomorrow sometime.
When Anna went to kindy, Simon did some maths with Josiah. He has been home sick the past couple of days and has been able to help me with the homeschooling a bit. Josiah really loves it when Dad teaches him school and it helps me feel like i'm not in it by myself.
Josiah's reading amazes me everytime i hear him read. Yesterday after he came into our room first thing in the morning he went and read a whole box of readers that his Nanny had borrowed from the library. His reading is quite fluent and he really enjoys it. We have started reading a book together called Jungle Doctor and the whirlwind, which i bought at the conference on the weekend. I plan to read him a chapter or two each night before bed.
We borrowed/hired the DVD documentary called planet earth and watched the first episode of this today. It was title Pole to Pole and full of lots of migration and other animal stories, starting at the poles and working in towards the equator.
He was puzzled about the difference between a cheetah and a leopard. After watching this, the kids played/acted a game where lion's and cheetahs were chasing an impala. I was pleased to see they learnt the name of a new animal. We plan to watch the next episode tomorrow sometime.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
24th October
We have had a really big weekend at a Missionary Conference which was excellent. They ran a children's program with a group from OAC ministries at the start of a tour of the Eyre Penninsula. The kids had a great time with this and Josiah attended all sessions, even those at night. I am not too sure about specifically what was taught but they were very active and very loud! Josiah was the youngest of the group and they looked after him well. He enjoyed himself very much and enjoyed playing with the bigger boys in particular.
Today being Monday, we started a new word list for Phonics, but we are all a bit tired and patience is low. We finished Phonics and Maths for our bookwork but didn't do any science. I have decided that this weeks science is stuff we have done many, many times before and am altering it a bit. We are growing alfalfa sprouts.
A book called lets teach Art came in the post today along with a new science book for when we are finished our current science course. I ordered the Art book because i don't really know much about it or how to go about teaching it. It was written with homeschooling parents in mind and i think will be a useful resource. It is a year 1 book.
Josiah and Anna spent much of this morning creating things out of some special scrapbooking type paper that Anna got for her birthday. The creation is still in progress and currently takes up the kitchen table. Not sure what we'll do with it for dinner!
Today being Monday, we started a new word list for Phonics, but we are all a bit tired and patience is low. We finished Phonics and Maths for our bookwork but didn't do any science. I have decided that this weeks science is stuff we have done many, many times before and am altering it a bit. We are growing alfalfa sprouts.
A book called lets teach Art came in the post today along with a new science book for when we are finished our current science course. I ordered the Art book because i don't really know much about it or how to go about teaching it. It was written with homeschooling parents in mind and i think will be a useful resource. It is a year 1 book.
Josiah and Anna spent much of this morning creating things out of some special scrapbooking type paper that Anna got for her birthday. The creation is still in progress and currently takes up the kitchen table. Not sure what we'll do with it for dinner!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
20th October
Today Anna had kindy in the morning and Josiah's friend Christopher came over. We walked to the kindy around the corner for play group. The playgroup is actually for under 5's and we went mostly for Rachel's benefit. Josiah and Christopher are both too old but we are investigating if they can join in too.
Whilst there, they played on swings, hit balls with golf clubs, and made a drum out of paper and a tin. They also had reading time and healthy snacks. Today's theme was red food so they tried grapes, strawberries, tomato, capsicum and radish. Josiah ate everything in his bowl.
The playgroup called this afternoon and said they would make an exception for the boys age because it will be another socialisation opportunity for them.
We didn't have a very good book work time this afternoon, it ended in Josiah in time out. Hopefully tomorrow is better.
Whilst there, they played on swings, hit balls with golf clubs, and made a drum out of paper and a tin. They also had reading time and healthy snacks. Today's theme was red food so they tried grapes, strawberries, tomato, capsicum and radish. Josiah ate everything in his bowl.
The playgroup called this afternoon and said they would make an exception for the boys age because it will be another socialisation opportunity for them.
We didn't have a very good book work time this afternoon, it ended in Josiah in time out. Hopefully tomorrow is better.
19th October
Today is Wednesday, and on Wednesday we usually try to go to the story time at the library. The children really love this because the toy library is on at the same time and there are lots of toys to play with there.
At Story time, the library lady sings songs, says rhymes and reads a story to the kids. The kids then do a craft activity related to the story and have a word to learn each week. I think this is a great school like activity to do and i don't have to organise it or clean up! It is also another opportunity for socialisation with other kids. Today's story was The Green Sheep, a favourite in our household. The kids made crazy coloured sheep collages afterwards, sticking all sorts of mediums to their sheep.
When we left the library, we noticed a tent in the middle of the park and went to investigate on our way to the post office. It was delightful to discover a solar car and a team of solar car drivers showing off their vehicle. The world solar challenge is racing from Darwin to Adelaide at the moment and this team were going ahead showing a car to promote solar cars. Most of the information about the solar car went over the kids heads but i think this is something we can follow up on later.
They also displayed a solar oven in which they were cooking bread. The kids were interested in this and i suggested we should attempt to make a solar oven sometime soon.
Josiah had musical theatre this afternoon, and is learning a dance for the end of year concert.
At Story time, the library lady sings songs, says rhymes and reads a story to the kids. The kids then do a craft activity related to the story and have a word to learn each week. I think this is a great school like activity to do and i don't have to organise it or clean up! It is also another opportunity for socialisation with other kids. Today's story was The Green Sheep, a favourite in our household. The kids made crazy coloured sheep collages afterwards, sticking all sorts of mediums to their sheep.
When we left the library, we noticed a tent in the middle of the park and went to investigate on our way to the post office. It was delightful to discover a solar car and a team of solar car drivers showing off their vehicle. The world solar challenge is racing from Darwin to Adelaide at the moment and this team were going ahead showing a car to promote solar cars. Most of the information about the solar car went over the kids heads but i think this is something we can follow up on later.
They also displayed a solar oven in which they were cooking bread. The kids were interested in this and i suggested we should attempt to make a solar oven sometime soon.
Josiah had musical theatre this afternoon, and is learning a dance for the end of year concert.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
18th October
Not much extra school work done today, Josiah helped me to clean the house this morning which was very helpful of him. The kids also helped me with the grocery shopping, I asked them to choose the cheapest loaf of bread and they had to compare the prices of two brands of bread. Josiah correctly chose the cheaper one.
We also looked at some labels on some skin care products and listed the ingredients in them. Anna was most interested about a face cream which contained mud.
We had a guest for lunch so we didn't have as much time for school work this afternoon. Josiah decided that he would try to do twice as much work today so he wouldn't have to do school tomorrow. I thought this was clever of him and let him try. He didn't quite get 2 days worth of work done today, but he will only have a small amount of work to do tomorrow.
We also looked at some labels on some skin care products and listed the ingredients in them. Anna was most interested about a face cream which contained mud.
We had a guest for lunch so we didn't have as much time for school work this afternoon. Josiah decided that he would try to do twice as much work today so he wouldn't have to do school tomorrow. I thought this was clever of him and let him try. He didn't quite get 2 days worth of work done today, but he will only have a small amount of work to do tomorrow.
Monday, October 17, 2011
October 17th 2011
This is not a very interesting blog, rather a place to record all our homeschool activities. Much of our school work is done out of the books and i thought that this would be a good place to record it.
This morning Josiah made us porridge for breakfast. This was the first time he has done it, he had to work out how many people were having porridge, how much to put in the bowl and he learnt how to use the microwave.
This is a great action shot of Max our dog that Josiah took this morning. I just sorted through 190 photos that he had taken on our camera, there were lots of good ones and lots of photos of grass.
We made fruit straps this morning from Strawberries, tinned peaches and tinned pears. The kids took in turn using the stick master to blend the fruit together, they really enjoyed this part.
The straps turned out a bit dry and crunchy, i think we left them in the oven too long, they are still yummy though!
Today was the first day of term 4 and Anna's first day of proper full time kindy. So while Anna was at kindy and Rachel was asleep we did our bookwork.
This morning Josiah made us porridge for breakfast. This was the first time he has done it, he had to work out how many people were having porridge, how much to put in the bowl and he learnt how to use the microwave.
This is a great action shot of Max our dog that Josiah took this morning. I just sorted through 190 photos that he had taken on our camera, there were lots of good ones and lots of photos of grass.
We made fruit straps this morning from Strawberries, tinned peaches and tinned pears. The kids took in turn using the stick master to blend the fruit together, they really enjoyed this part.
The straps turned out a bit dry and crunchy, i think we left them in the oven too long, they are still yummy though!
Today was the first day of term 4 and Anna's first day of proper full time kindy. So while Anna was at kindy and Rachel was asleep we did our bookwork.
Everyday we do LEM phonics, Maths and Science. This term i am hoping to incorporate art, design and technology and Society and Environment/History into our school week. We have a good routine for phonics, maths and science. I think i should be able to include one subject each day for the others, but it will depend on how long it takes.
We do school in the afternoon when Rachel is asleep, which is much less distracting for me and Josiah. Whilst Anna is at kindy, this gives us about 2 1/2 hours to do all our school work. On some days we can resume when we get home if we haven't finished but on Mon and Wed the kids have muscial theatre and we run out of time.
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