One of the (many) things I love about homeschooling is that we can take the State-mandated "curriculum" and twist it around to suit ourselves. Love maths? Lots of opportunity to delve deeper into the "thinking mathematically". Love english? Get stuck right into writing narratives or expressing yourself through the spoken word (aka: drama).
Did I mention we are going on HOLIDAYS? We are! Just two short weeks until we board the Diamond Princess to sail off into the sunset and into Asia. So, I do what any self-respecting homeschool mum would do - I tailor just about all our learning around our trip (because I'm excited!!).
We watched a great documentary about Qin Shi Huang - China's first emperor and the guy who got all those Terracotta Soldiers and the Great Wall (not self-centred at all!!!).
Research skills
Calculating (or daydreaming?)
Constructing time lines (to scale!)
Measurement, representing historical events
Ancient China timeline
Reading up on Japanese history
Origami folding
Following instructions
Working together
Turtles holding up the world!
Even a trip to the dentist is educational!!
We are also looking at foreign currency exchange - there is a world of resources out there on consumer maths and being an informed consumer - this is just one from ABC TV's Behind the News (great videos on huge range of current topics):
We are also trying to squeeze in some language practice time learning Mandarin!
Lots of wonderful learning opportunities and I haven't had to pay for any of it :-) It all comes from the internet (lapbooks) or the library!
Oh, and I need to add in what a wonderful day we had "not going back to school" and meeting up with homeschoolers from the South Coast to northern Sydney - a nice chance to catch up with Helena from Respect. Love. Learning again:
It surely is a wonderful life - full of wonder, joy, learning, love and we're going on holidays!!!
I love documentaries! What an interesting site!
ReplyDeleteWe have a book, first copyrighted in 1925, with Japanese hokku, poetry and stories, some from the first century. I wish I could lend it to you.
That site is da bomb, I tell you! I also wish I could pop 'round to borrow that book - one day :-)
DeleteHow long will it be before you depart for China and all those other wonderful countries I have yet to see?
ReplyDeleteOne week to go now!
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