She sells Seashells?

It has been a busy few weeks in our household!


Super Gran (as my kids call their Great Grandmother) has been very sick in the hospital for the past few weeks and there doesn't seem to be much of a change as yet.  We are visiting as we can (no children are allowed in the ward) and praying for her recovery.  It has really given me a shock as she always seemed to be bulletproof even at nearly 90 years old.  It has made me realise how fragile she actually is. 

This past week the kids have been having a blast of a time playing with Anthony's best friend Master M.  His Mummy has had the unfortunate luck to have broken her leg recently!  I really feel for her - it has made me change my thinking in how vital we are in our children's lives even when we don't feel like we are doing much!  It has been a privilege to spend more time with them this past week.  Anthony is looking forward to a few more days of the same this coming week.

In between all of this we have been working hard learning about Seashells in our latest Unit Study.
Both kids have been really enjoying learning about everything from Hermit crabs to giant clams.  It has been fun to watch their amazed faces watching clips of the amazing things in the Oceans and seashore.
As part of the study we took a trip to the beach - after discussing all the practical items we would need to collect shells ie Sunscreen, hats, buckets - and of course how to stay safe at the beach!

Its amazing how much learning can be done by children everywhere they go!

We spent the best part of 2 hours collecting shells and watching hermit crabs in the rock pools.  It was a truly great day to be homeschooling!

After such a tiring morning both children loved being able to sit quietly with a snack and watch an episode of the Magic Schoolbus.  (For educational purposes only of course!).

Both kids have discovered their love for the dramatic this week after we printed out some Angry Birds and made them in to puppets.  They have been using the puppets to put on little skits along with funny voices.  I very nearly fell over laughing!

Samantha started back at Ballet yesterday.  It was a shock to see how much she had grown since the last time she wore her little uniform.  It cost an arm and a leg, but gosh she looks so lovely in it!  She was amazing in her lesson.  I was such a proud Mummy :)

And apart from that, things are as normal here.  Any doubts I had about turning our spare room into the school room are long gone!  They just love being in there so much!  Hours after school has finished for the day and most weekends they can be found in here creating. 

We have a fun and busy week ahead as we have  few more days with Anthony's little friend as well as a much anticipated trip to Gibbs Farm on Thursday.  Follow that up with Ballet lessons, Music group, Sunday school and a Birthday party for one of Samantha's Kindergarten friends should make for a full week!
 
Wish us luck :)

School is back in....

School is back in today after a lovely long summer break!

It feels different this year, more serious I guess - it makes sense being that we don't have the distraction of Kindy days for Samantha anymore.

I have spent the past week planning and re-planning curriculum, unit studies and stationary so that we could start the year fresh and ready to go.  In the course of one day I have realised what I am missing!  Its always the ridiculous things like Staples you forget to buy!

We have some new shelving in our school room this year.  I am loving it because things like markers and glue are up really high and now can't be reached by a certain little (menace) boy!

We also have a new shelf for our story books - we have so many of these, but the Librarian in me can't stand to take any away.

New Shelving...

Book shelves (They will never look like this again!)

To prove it is all lovely, clean and organised to start with!

We are pretty happy with Samantha's timetable this year.  I will put a copy of it on once its complete. (I'm not sure why I always run out of printer ink at the worst possible time!)

We have a nice mix this year of the basics - reading, writing, spelling, life sciences and the so called fun - Art, Music, Spanish and Unit studies.  The unit studies actually encompass a bit of everything, but we love them!  I have chosen some with lovely Lap books attached this year, so we are looking forward to completing them!

After 6 months of trialing different curriculum and programmes last year, I found it much easier putting together a very eclectic pile of resources for this year.    I am glad I took the advice of a very smart homeschooler - she told me not to buy anything the first year in the way of packaged curriculum or expensive books.  She suggested we find out how Samantha learns first.  Best Advice Ever!!!!  (Thanks Raewyn) :).

It has also given me the confidence to research and find the best things for my children.  I am still open to change though, so we will see how what we have ended up with works for both of them, and adjust accordingly!

So here is our First day of school for 2013 :)

Samantha's Daily Notebook is a wonderful addition this year.  From the Confessions of a Homeschooler website!  It is so great and as well as great handwriting practise it is also a great way to teach days of the week, temperature, time and money :)

We have this in a clear file at the moment and Samantha is writing over the top of the plastic cover so it can be used again each day.  I am hoping to get these pages laminated later this week so it can become a proper book for her to use.

Maths is always the favourite subject in our house :)  This is after she had completed her Math U See lesson for the day - she wanted to do more! So we pulled out this fantastic practice book :) She loves that you get a sticker and star on each page as they are completed!  This child will most definitely work for stickers!

We are kicking off this years Unit Studies with Sunny Seashells from the Unit Study.com website.

It will finish off in a lap book - once I can print of the necessary pages of course!  In the meantime we watched videos about the Giant Clam and about seashells and then Samantha drew some of her favourites :)

And of course here is a little peak of Anthony's preschool lessons for today.  Since it is a new year we are starting at the beginning of the Letter of the week curriculum from Confessions of a Homeschooler :)  We are just doing the activities that appeal to Anthony at this stage :)

A is for Apple

And of course, big sisters love this stuff too! :)