In my life this week…
A bit quieter (yay) - but I did pop up to Sydney to meet up with work colleagues from 15 years ago. It was fabulous to see people I haven't seen for years - most haven't changed at all. Got to stay with my brother and had a fab night out drinking cocktails and eating tapas and chatting!
A teacher I worked with last year passed away yesterday from cancer. She has two little girls. She was an inspirational lady who lived with such vitality, love and care. A reminder to take care of the things that are really important in your life.
In our homeschool this week…
My kids just amaze me what what they already know - I had a whole bunch of days planned out doing angles, but they already were on top of most of it - types of angles, measuring and constructing angles - and totally got complementary and supplementary angles.
Had a great time looking at heat energy. We watched Absolute Zero - the Conquest of Cold
, did more experiments and tried to make our own thermometers - there is a great teachers guide on the Nova website.
, did more experiments and tried to make our own thermometers - there is a great teachers guide on the Nova website.
We loved reading Home by Narelle Oliver and comparing the written words with the information given in the illustrations - and as Video Boy pointed out, if you just listened to the words, you would have a very different image in your head than if you look at the illustrations, which tell a very different story. We also learnt a lot about Peregrine Falcons!
Also "read" Belonging by Jeannie Baker - a beautiful book that addresses lots of issues about home, community, changes, urban living and environmental sustainability...all without any text at all!
Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
Another lovely afternoon with our local homeschool friends. I'm not sure who enjoys those visits more - the kids or me!
My favorite thing this week was…
Sitting out in the backyard with the kids in the autumny sunshine, reading poetry and talking about our home and belonging.
What’s working/not working for us…
Accessing all the wonderful FREE teacher's guides and resources on the web - very cool ideas without purchasing a bunch of "curriculum".
Homeschool questions/thoughts I have…
Loving being able to share all this wonderful learning with my kids - sometimes I think I learn as much as they do!
A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
Sounds like a really happy week, Ingi! Yes, it is amazing what our kids already know, isn't it? My kids surprise (and delight) me all the time.
ReplyDeleteHave your kids ever looked at the Life of Fred books? They are so wonderful, and I think they are especially perfect for kids who think outside the box. My boy just finished the second book and when we checked out what level some of the concepts were, they were yrs 11 and 12. It goes to show kids are capable of so much more than the expected outcomes allotted to them by System. :) Yay for living outside the box!
Hi Helena - it was a happy week! We have had a really lovely time :-)
ReplyDeleteNo, haven't looked at Life of Fred - you make them sound very tempting and I promised DH I would stop buying stuff....
The box is over-rated!
Had a look at the Life of Fred Books! The hard bit was deciding where were up to. We've done a lot of the fractions, so I ordered the Decimals and Percents. The NSW maths syllabus includes algebra and pre-algebra in with arithmetic and geometry, but I was keen on getting the kids into algebra sooner rather than later. So this might be a good step.
ReplyDeleteLove the experiments. Have a great weekend
ReplyDeleteOh, I think I'll check out making thermometers! That sounds really interesting! We don't often have time to explore a lot of simple Science experiments during the regular school year so during the summer we do some.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE free curriculum and activities too! I do buy some curriculum - this year about $300 worth for 3 kids - but there's just so much out there if you search for it!
Stopping by from THMJ!
Jessy