Term Three Evaluation ~ Monster

ENGLISH:

Reading ~
* You can see from my Weekly Review posts that we read (aloud and independently) a LOT.
* A book list is included in Monster's portfolio with all the books he reads each term.

Writing ~
We still use and LOVE the following curriculum
Institute for Excellence in Writing Program
Teaching Writing: Structure and Style

In Term Three Monster wrote paragraphs on the following topics: Sir Douglas Mawson, Joan of Arc, and Charlemagne.

Grammar ~
This year we are using Analytical Grammar which is the next step up after Junior Analytical Grammar.  Term Three we worked through units nine and ten: Helping Verbs, and Compound Situations.



MATHS:

We completed chapters eleven through thirteen in our Year 9 Haese textbook covering the following topics: Further Measurement, Algebraic Factorisation, and Formulae.




SCIENCE:

Below is a list of the science related books we read.
"Ants Close Up" by Andrew Kelly
"You Can Fill a Swimming Pool With Your Spit" by Truth or Busted series


HISTORY:

We read the following books as part of our Medieval Europe/Black Plague unit study:
"1666: Plague, War and Hellfire" by Rebecca Rideal


Other History Books:
"Alice of Peppermint Grove" by Davina Bell
"Peacetime For Alice" by Davina Bell
"Meet Daisy" by Michelle Hamer
"The Rats of Tobruk" by Mark Wilson
"Alexander the Great: Reckless Conqueror" by Carole Wilkinson
"Daisy All Alone" by Michelle Hamer
"Daisy in the Mansion" by Michelle Hamer
"Daisy on the Road" by Michelle Hamer
"Meet Ruby" by Penny Matthews
"How the Finnegans Saved the Ship" by Jackie French
"Ruby and the Country Cousins" by Penny Matthews





GEOGRAPHY:

Below is the list of books read aloud and/or independently through Term Two:
"Amazing Expeditions" by Anita Ganeri



ELECTIVE #1 ~ LATIN:

Monster continued to work through Visual Latin 2.
He completed one per week most weeks of the term.




ELECTIVE #2 ~ MARINE AND AQUACULTURE TECHNOLOGY:

SOCIAL:

Term Three Social Events:

Celebrated younger brother's 10th birthday

Enjoyed international visit from his Grandmother from America

Visited Cockatoo Island

Term Three Evaluation ~ Monkey

ENGLISH:

Reading ~

* You can see from my weekly reviews that we read LOTS of books, aloud and independent.

* A book list is included in Monkey's portfolio with a list of all books read each term.

Writing ~

We still use, and LOVE, our Institute for Excellence in Writing Program

Teaching Writing: Structure and Style

In Term Three, Monkey wrote paragraphs on the following topics: Jack and the Beanstalk (narrative), Short-Beaked Echidna (non-fiction), The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf (narrative), The Greater Bilby (non-fiction). He also wrote thank you notes for the birthday presents he received for his birthday.

Spelling ~ 

We continue with Ozspeller lists that I source online.

Monkey is working through the Year 5 lists.

He has an oral quiz Monday through Thursday and a written test on Friday.

Handwriting ~

Foundation Handwriting Yr 4

Grammar ~

This year we are reviewing Junior Analytical Grammar
Term Three we worked through units seven and eight: sentence patterns 1-3

MATHS:

Maths Plus Yr 5 Textbook

Term Three units covered the following topics:

3-digit division, Ordering decimals, Plan view, The tonne, Addition and estimation, Averages, Reflect, translate, rotate, Enlargements, Distributive law, Reading numbers, Decimals to thousandths, 24-hour timetables, 5-digit subtraction, Adding and subtracting fractions, Number patterns with fractions, Constructing objects, 4-digit multiplication, Improper fractions, Chance, Scale, direction and coordinates, Division by ten, Fractions of a collection, Measuring angles in triangles, Perimeter, 6-digit addition, Multiplication by tens, Number patterns/fractions/decimals, Gross and net mass, Two digits multiplied by two digits, Decimal place value, Making objects and nets, Division with zeros, GST and budgets, Interpreting graphs

Diagnostic Review 3

SCIENCE:

Below is a list of the science related books we read:

"Ants Close Up" by Andrew Kelly

"You Can Fill a Swimming Pool With Your Spit" by Truth or Busted Series

HISTORY:

Monkey began and in-depth and intense Australian history unit.

This should take us two years to complete.

We read the following books as part of the unit study:

"Alice of Peppermint Grove" by Davina Bell

"Peacetime For Alice" by Davina Bell

"Meet Daisy" by Michelle Hamer

"The Rats of Tobruk" by Mark Wilson

"Daisy All Alone" by Michelle Hamer

"Daisy in the Mansion" by Michelle Hamer

"Daisy on the Road" by Michelle Hamer

"Meet Ruby" by Penny Matthews

"How the Finnegans Saved the Ship" by Jackie French

"Ruby and the Country Cousins" by Penny Matthews

GEOGRAPHY:

We read the following books as part of geography this term:

"Amazing Expeditions" by Anita Ganeri

CREATIVE ARTS:

Monkey spent LOTS of his free time during the term sketching and drawing.

PDHPE:

We had a life event as part of our PDHPE this term.

Monkey had a crash on his scooter and broke his right wrist.

He got to experience having an x-ray taken of his arm and also had to wear a velcro splint for most of the term. Due to this we did less grammar and handwriting than normal as those were the two subjects that were easy to postpone.

SOCIAL:

Term Three Social Events:

Celebrated 10th birthday

Enjoyed international visit from his Grandmother from America

Visited Cockatoo Island

Term Three Evaluation ~ Munchkin

ENGLISH:

Reading ~
* A book list of all books read to Munchkin and books he has read independently will be included in his portfolio for the year.

Munchkin enjoys his online Reading Eggs program as well as his online Teach Your Monster to Read program.  He spends some time each school day working through the lessons. Munchkin is now working through the Reading Eggspress levels.

Writing ~
Since Munchkin is not reading fluently I do not require him to do a structured writing curriculum at all. He participates in some copy work (writing thank you notes and birthday cards) and will frequently ask us to spell words for him to write down when he is drawing.

Spelling ~
I have continued to hand create his spelling lists this term, but have started to include some of the easier lists from the Ozspeller website. So some weeks he has 10 words to study, and other weeks 20 words. He is handling the transition well.

Handwriting ~
Targeting Handwriting Yr 2 

Grammar ~
Junior Analytical Grammar requires too much writing/reading for Munchkin to participate yet so he will do this program in a few years time.



MATHS:

Munchkin is working through a  Maths Plus Year 3 textbook this year.

Topics we covered this term in the Yr 3 textbook included:
Counting by tens or hundreds, Multiplication facts (3s), Reflect, translate and rotate, Chance - possible outcomes, Trading in subtraction, Division from multiplication, Angles, Millimetres, 3-digit addition, Calculating change, Cross-sections, Litres, Trading in 3-digit subtraction, Fractions of a collection, Temperature, Digital time and analog time, Multiplication facts/revision, Rounding to 5 cents, Grids, Collecting data, Compensation strategy, Division facts and strategies, Scales, Addition problems, Fractions on a number line, Rigidity of shapes, 3-digit subtraction (trading), 4-digit numbers, Octagons, Cubic centimetres, Multiplication mental strategies, Division, Giving directions, Chance - likelihood.
Diagnostic Review 3

Munchkin also enjoys the Mathseeds program online that is part of our Reading Eggs subscription. He works independently (unless he needs help with reading the instructions) and I am continually impressed at the level of difficulty he has mastered on his own.



SCIENCE:

Munchkin listened in on the read alouds with the older boys. The list of books is the same.



HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY:

The early years of history/geography in the national curriculum focus mainly on identifying change and continuity within the family unit. They also look at significant people, events, places and sites. Finally they look at changes in technology on people's lives over time. All of this can be more than adequately covered with quality books so we read a LOT of historical fiction and non-fiction books that are aimed directly at Munchkin's age.

As for geography, students are to focus on sequencing events in order using terms related to time. They also compare objects from the past and present. Again, simple terms that are more than sufficiently covered in the number of books we read and the range of topics.



PDHPE:

.



CREATIVE ARTS:

SOCIAL:

Term Three Social Events:

Celebrated 10th birthday

Enjoyed international visit from his Grandmother from America

Visited Cockatoo Island

Term Three: Week Ten ~ The End is Nigh

We started our final week of the term with some sad news. The cricket that Monkey was so carefully looking after died. We aren't sure if it was the natural end of his life, or if perhaps we inadvertently poisoned him when we gave him some leaves off a plant from underneath our fig tree, forgetting that daddy had recently sprayed it for bugs.

We have a LOT of seedlings for our Discovery Garden project now.

There are even more to plant but we're going to wait and see how these go first. 

Now that the average temperature in our house is above 20C Munchkin's crystals have begun to grow like mad. 

 Monkey is enjoying putting together the new jigsaw puzzle he got as a very late birthday present from a dear friend.

 More seedlings are sprouting!!

Monkey also received some lovely acrylic paints and canvas from our friend and spent an afternoon doing a painting. 

 Friday was our last homeschool group meeting for the term. Sadly we did NOT get to go back to the new playground from the week before as some creepy people have been hanging around. So we went back to an old faithful and enjoyed a "bring a plate" potluck lunch. We also celebrated the birthdays of two members of the group.

Term Three: Week Nine ~ Hands-On Science

Our second to last week of the term and we are working hard to wind all our written work up. When we aren't working hard at that, we're working hard at playing, and enjoying some hands-on science!!

Munchkin LOVES this toy that was my brother's. I LOVE that the "vintage" toys from my childhood are still being loved and enjoyed by another generation. 

Munchkin working hard on writing a little book... 

Monkey had fun with a "nets" math page. I printed out the nets for him and he cut them out and assembled them into 3D shapes. 

This beautiful Blue-Tongue Lizard lives in the bushes about two blocks from the library. Now that the weather is warming up, we enjoying visiting him or her before walking the rest of the way. 

Every once in awhile working together at the table actually works for Munchkin and Monkey! If I sit at the end of the table (in between the two of them) it makes it easier to help both of them at the same time. 

Monkey found a cricket in the house (we get a LOT of them in the house in the spring and summer) and decided he wanted to take care of it. He named it Cricky and did lots of independent research on how best to care for a wild cricket. 

We also started our Discovery Garden seedlings that we have received from Woolworths grocery store. We only had two at first, so Monster and Monkey got first go at planting them, with a promise to Munchkin that he would get to plant the next one we got. 

 Adding water to the soil pod and watching it "grow" like magic... then filling the pot half full.

 Placing the seed sachet (similar to a tea bag) in the centre and then filling the rest of the way with the remaining soil...

Radish and Viola now sit proudly on our dining room windowsill with my mini cactus that was a gift from my pastor's wife several years ago. Now we wait and see if they will grow... 

Cricky with his variety of food... to the left is a strip of carrot, and behind him is some celery leaf and a few pieces of porridge (dry rolled oats) 

We FINALLY got some much needed rain and it absolutely poured for the better part of two days. Sadly, the drought is so bad right now, that we need deep, drenching, continuous rain for a few WEEKS before we will see some relief. 

Our snow pea plant has another crop growing... 

For homeschool group we checked out a brand-new park/playground that opened the weekend before. It has LOTS of play equipment, including stuff suitable for teens! Our group (which now ranges in age from newborn to 20 years old) was in LOVE and played for HOURS! 

A couple more photographs of the play structure.  There is MUCH more to this massive playground but I'll have to photograph them another time!!