The first week of our 2022 school year has arrived!!
I am certain that I am WAY more excited about this school year than the boys are. Having said that, we had the BEST first week of school that we have had in absolute YEARS. Despite the chaotic January I just had, this first week of school has been calm and quiet and productive. Don't get me wrong, there was a little bit of grumbling about school, but this is the beginning of our eleventh year of homeschooling and the boys have matured and learnt that they just need to knuckle down and stick to the structure and routine and get the work done. I'm really proud of these three children of mine and the mature young men they are growing up to be.
A tradition I started WAY back in 2012 and continue EVERY year is to take "professional" photos of the boys at church the Sunday before the first day of school.
Top photos: Left ~ Monster 15 years old, Right ~ Monkey 12 years old
Bottom Photo: Munchkin 9 years old
A change to our usual routine this year that I think will absolutely be for the best. We are doing our "non-negotiable" daily reading aloud, as well as a lion share of our daily non-fiction reading aloud, first thing in the morning. We tested it out by reading first thing in the morning only on Thursdays in Term 4 last year and that was our best and smoothest day of the week, so it was enough to convince me (and Monkey) that we need to read first thing in the morning EVERY day.
Our "non-negotiable" reading aloud consists of three chapters of the Bible...
One story each from these two books... The Book of Virtues alternates with The Moral Compass and then the Folk Tales book changes with either other folk tales, myths, legends, or just wholesome stories (we've read Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling and I'm considering James Herriot after we finish this book)...
This was a fluke find at the library. It was on display when ALL the 50 boxes of new books that sat in storage during our 17 week lockdown last year arrived in the library at once! There were new books on display EVERYWHERE and I was in absolute heaven!! We are reading one entry per day that corresponds with the date. Thankfully the library has eight copies of this book so as we near our nine week borrowing limit we'll just reserve one of the other copies to swap...
I am SO happy that all three boys (especially Monster) are still willing to pose for first and last day of photos every year. It is a really fun way to document the physical changes they each go through in roughly one calendar year.
I kept the work load light this first week... and they all got to work on the tasks they were assigned. These two pictures are Monster working on his typing (top photo) and logic (bottom photo). These are "bonus" subjects for him this year. His only required subjects in Year 11 are: English, Science, History, and Geography, plus two electives, Marine Aquaculture and Latin, but I am requiring the Typing course (online) and he is choosing to continue with the Logic as well.
Munchkin working hard on his maths. This was the grumbling I had this week as he is not only back to using a standard textbook, but it is similar to the middle school/high school textbooks in that he is required to write his answers in a separate notebook. I have agreed to set the work up for him in his notebook so that he only has to write the answers and any work he needs to do to solve the problem.
He really enjoyed using Khan Academy for review of Yr 3 and Yr 4 math for most of last year, but it is time to move back into a textbook. While I think Khan Academy is an excellent resource (one that I have recommended to friends and family), and I'm thankful for online resources, I would never use Khan Academy as a stand alone curriculum, mainly because I would still have to supplement Australian currency.
Monkey has electives this year! He was doing mainly high school level work last year, but wasn't considered "high school" by government standards because of a goof in their registration system when he first started school. This is his first "official" year of high school so this is the year he gets electives. He has chosen Art and German. In this picture he is working in his new "Getting Started With German" textbook. So far it is a HUGE review for him because he spent the summer learning German with the DuoLingo app on his phone.
When I trialled the "early morning reading aloud" on Thursdays last year, the bribe was that they got a hot chocolate with marshmallows while I was reading. We are now reading first thing in the morning every day and there was NO way I was going to let them start EVERY school day with a mug full of sugar, but I did agree to keep the Thursday morning "treat"!!
We are finishing off our Asian Neighbours of Australia unit study that we started in Term four last year and didn't quite have enough time to finish. This week we read about Thailand and Monkey and Munchkin both filled out their notebooking pages.
Monkey, working hard on his notebooking page, with the added incentive of chocolate covered peanuts for a snack while he worked.
As Creative Arts (visual arts) is one of Monkey's chosen electives for the year, I hope to showcase at least one completed drawing or painting that he has done each week. I don't really need to worry about "assigning" him art as he lives and breathes it. My husband bought him a subscription to a craft website and I will expect him to watch a lesson on the site twice a week. Aside from that, I will let him continue to create his art his way and in his own time.
This drawing is NOT from that website as I didn't require it this week, but rather from a simple photo of a Rainbow Lorikeet that he googled on his phone and then drew while referring to the photograph.
Meals: The left photo is simply to show that I'm returning to my healthy eating plan now that I've fully recovered from COVID - meaning that my appetite has returned for starters, AND my sense of taste has gone back to normal. I didn't lose my sense of taste, but rather, certain foods just tasted wrong, or too strong, or just gross.
The right photo is an example of how much I appreciate modern conveniences. We had a mini heat wave this week (though we are quite blessed with a La Nina summer this year which means high humidity, lots of rain, cooler temperatures in general, and low fire risk) which saw me "hiring" my Phillips All in One Cooker (Australian version of the Insta Pot) to cook dinner for me. One of the things I particularly love about "Phillip" is that it doesn't crank out nearly the amount of heat that my standard slow cooker did so it does NOT heat the house up on hot days and means I have an option other than the stove or oven.
Independent reading for Munchkin...
I started a combined water cycle/water supply unit study for Monkey and Munchkin... these are two books aimed primarily at Munchkin's learning level.
Munchkin spent the week reading and re-reading his favourite books we own. On my list of things to do is to get some "fun reading" books reserved for him at the library now that we have EVERYTHING we need for the entire first term of the year.
Left Photo: a mini unit on Outback Australia for Munchkin...
Right Photo: Australia's Asian Neighbours unit study
Restricted screen time means MUCH more reading time for Munchkin...
I FINALLY started reading this series aloud to Munchkin. All three boys have been begging me ALL SUMMER LONG to start, but January was just too chaotic, so I made them wait until the first day of school. Even though this is the third read aloud for Monster and the second read aloud for Monkey, they are both just as excited about the series as Munchkin is. I must say, I really enjoy these books as well... good thing since I'm now reading it aloud for the third (and final) time!!
This book was an accidental find at our library when I was searching for something completely unrelated...
But it meant I dug these two books out of storage and we read all three of them aloud one afternoon. I like that the illustrator of the new book tried to illustrate in a similar way as the original illustrator, but the books from my childhood are still the best!!
These are two BRILLIANT series the library has and I'm using them in conjunction to teach some science and geography topics to Monkey and Munchkin together. The book on the left is more Monkey's level while the book on the right is slightly easier and more suited for Munchkin.
Final batch of independent reading choices for Munchkin...
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