In my life this week:
Forget leaking fishtanks! This week we have had a leaking house. Huge volumes of rain meant our poor roof didn't cope and rain found it's way into a crack, down the upstairs loungeroom wall, through the first floor and throught the ceiling downstairs into DH's office and Video Boy's bedroom. That's what you get for buying a "doer-upperer".
I also gave my Blog a bit of a facelift - what do you think?
In our homeschool this week:
We totally loved reading aloud "Weslandia" by Paul Fleischman! A beautifully written and illustrated book about imagination, creativity, ecosystems, being different and fitting in (see video link below). We completed an activity comparing the visual text with the written text and the effect that it has on the reader and looked into the components of Wesley's ecosystem.
Places we're going and people we are seeing:
Drove north one hour on the weekend in the pouring rain to visit a friend of Video Boy's- geez, the things we do for socialisation! And DS wasn't even that keen! He ended up enjoying himself, although I don't think we'll rush back.
Finished fractions and onto decimals. We enjoyed watching the Great Courses Basic Math DVD on adding and subtracting decimals. The kids are on top of it, but it led to a discussion about bank accounts, credit, debit and balancing budgets (can you see the natural learning sneaking here?). Off to the bank we went to open accounts for the kids, only to be told they didn't have enough staff and could we come back tomorrow! Life lesson there too! We came back and bank accounts are now open! I love homeschooling!
Here in NSW, Australia we had a State Election. Great opportunity to discuss democracy, our system of government and voting. The kids came into the polling booth with us and helped us fill out our voting papers. We then sat up and watched the election results on TV - a new State government!
My favourite thing this week:
Watching the kids, and DH and Max, the dog snuggling up on the lounge on Saturday morning watching cartoons!What's working for us/not working:
Being able to take things on their natural progression - banking, elections, ecosystems. How great is it that we can go out into the real world and learning doesn't just happen at school (or home!)?
Homeschool questions/thoughts I have:
Where's the excursion permission note and risk management paperwork? Oh, that's right! We can go out whenever/wherever we want!
Photo/link/video to share:
Did you tell the kids that their Auntie was working at the polls in her electorate and at the Royal North Shore Hospital (getting votes off patients and staff who would otherwise not be able to get to the polling booths)?
ReplyDeleteNight Owl - no, I didn't! But I will! Democracy in action!
ReplyDeleteThink I need to track down that book! My girls would love it - sounds like their big brother! :D
ReplyDeleteI do like your new design--exspecially your header!
ReplyDeleteThank you MissMOE! I had pinched the other header from a website, I think it was a TV show. This one is legal and very pretty! The chaos theory kind of fits in nicely too.
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