Term One Review

ENGLISH:

Reading:

I do not dictate what books they choose for their “free” independent reading time. I keep a folder on the desktop of my computer with a photograph of each and every book the boys read throughout each term. For those of you who wonder why I do this it is because writing down all the titles of the MANY books Munchkin (especially) reads in a term, is too time consuming. You will notice this term that I'm no longer photographing all the books Munchkin reads (independently) and sharing them on the blog. I have decided I will instead do "highlight" now and then when he reads NEW books that he has never read before. He spent term one reading and re-reading his favourites as we eased back into our school schedule after the summer of change.

Monkey: Monkey is finished with Premier's Reading Challenge completely as of last year. He earned his medal which is the highest level of the challenge. I still encourage him to read daily and periodically bring home library books that I think he will enjoy, but he is at the age now where he has to take more ownership of his independent reading.

Munchkin: I am being a bit more purposeful with Premier's Reading Challenge now that Munchkin has reached the final reading level (7-9). I am trying to get it so that all his choices for this year are from the 7-9 list even though he IS allowed to read 5-6 books as well. His reading ability is so high that I don't want him reading lower level books for the challenge unless their content is exceptional. He is capable of reading the higher level books and can often handle the more mature content as well.

Writing:

Both boys continue to use the Institute for Excellence in Writing: Teaching Writing Structure and Style curriculum. It allows them to work at a level appropriate for their age and ability. It “grows” with the child so to speak. See below for a list of the types of writing each individual boy did during Term One.

Monkey: The Wisdom of Solomon (Unit 3 Narrative Rewrite), The Healing of the Paralytic (Unit 3), Causes of WWI (Unit 4/6), Living Conditions During the Industrial Revolution (Unit 4/6), and Daniel in the Lions Den (Unit 3).

Munchkin: The Wisdom of Solomon (Unit 3), Untitled (Unit 5 Writing With Pictures), The Water Cycle (Unit 4/6 Research/Writing From Multiple Resources), Food Chains and Webs (Unit 4/6) and Daniel in the Lions Den (Unit 3).

You will notice that both boys wrote two identical papers. The Wisdom of Solomon and Daniel in the Lions Den, both narrative rewrites. The first one was a purposeful choice as they know that story well and it eased them back into the habit of writing after the long summer break. Again, at the end of the term, I wanted them to write but gave them a story they knew SO well they could recite it in their sleep, so that they would simply work on the added elements that the IEW curriculum teaches them to use. Also, it is fun to see how differently the two of them choose to write the same story - as they are very different writers.

 

Spelling:

Monkey:  

Update: Monkey has finished all the spelling lists on the Ozspeller website so he is finished with spelling for his school career. I will now simply keep an eye on his spelling in his writing assignments and if he gets sloppy we'll do a "spelling review".

Munchkin: We continued with the Ozspeller lists from the website. If you are interested in having a closer look at the website click on Ozspeller to be taken directly to the site.

Literature:

Below are the books I selected to read to the boys for their literature this term. Sometimes both boys listen to the literature selections, and other times I read their literature to them individually. This is a change from how we used to read literature, but it suits Monkey and Munchkin so it is a good change.

The only book I read aloud to both of them was: "This is Home: Essential Australian Poems for Children" compiled by Jackie French - both boys need to study poetry so we will be doing that aspect of their English curriculum together although I will expand it a bit for Monkey as he is older.

Munchkin: In Term One we read the following books: "The Indian in the Cupboard" and "Return of the Indian" by Lynne Reid Banks, "The Borrowers", "The Borrowers Afield" and "The Borrowers Afloat" by Mary Norton    

Monkey: In Term One we read the following book: "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain.

I am also reading him "The Arabian Nights' Entertainments ~ of The Thousand and One Nights" - The Complete, Original Translation of Edward William Lane

Monkey found this book in the free little library up the road from our house and asked me to read it aloud to him. This will take us all year - possibly two years! 

 

Grammar:

Monkey: I am no longer doing a grammar curriculum with Monkey. I am letting him take a break while I decide if I want to use a different grammar curriculum, or just consider him finished with grammar for his homeschool career. Stay tuned...

Munchkin: The Junior Analytical and Analytical Grammar curriculum that worked so well for the two older boys was NOT a good fit for Munchkin, so I've changed to a different program for him. I'm also taking the opportunity to work below his grade level and do some review. This year we are working through Targeting Grammar Year 3 and he is having great success with it so far. I will continue with these workbooks until he finishes the Yr 6 workbook.

MATHS:

Monkey: Continued his Year 9 Haese Mathematics textbook this term. I do the work along with him and over the course of the term we completed chapters 13-16 covering the following topics: Formulae, Statistics, Probability, and Similarity and Congruence

Munchkin: Began working through his Year 7 Haese Mathematics textbook, working through chapters 1-4 of the book, and covering the following topics: Whole Numbers, Angles, Lines and Parallelism, Properties of Numbers, and Positive and Negative Numbers. Munchkin was a bit nervous about starting high school level maths but soon discovered that it isn't all that bad, and did quite well through the term.

 

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY:

For the remaining school subjects I try to teach both boys together as much as I possibly can. So I will now start listing Munchkin’s work first followed by Monkey's so I'm not repeating myself too much.

I rely heavily on our library for quality books to cover the content we study in the remaining subjects. When I am planning a unit study I do a subject search for books and reserve any and all that look like they will be suitable for the boys. I include picture books, junior non-fiction, and I’ve just started including adult non-fiction for Monkey.

 Munchkin and Monkey: 

We read the following science/technology books over the course of the term:

• "THUD! Wile E. Coyote Experiments With Forces and Motion" by Mark Weakland
• "The Gripping Truth About Forces and Motion" by Agnieska Biskup
• "Exerting Forces" Australian Geographic Science series
• "ZAP! Wile E. Coyote Experiments With Energy" by Suzanne Slade
• "Future Energy" by Emily Kington
• "The Energy We Use" by Georgia Amson-Bradshaw
• "How a Solar-Powered Home Works" by Robyn Hardyman
• "Freshwater Environments" by Jane Hinchey
• "The Secret Life of the Human Body" by John Clancy
• "Grassland Food Chains", "Rainforest Food Chains", "Desert Food Chains", and "River Food Chains" all by Angela Royston
• "Ocean Food Chains" by Emma Lynch
• "The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth" by Rachel Ignotofsky
• "Fire Country: How Indigenous Fire Management Could Help Save Australia" by Victor Steffensen
• "The Way We Work" by David Macaulay

Munchkin: These books were read individually to him as part of his water cycle unit study which Monkey already studied when he was in Year 7

• "Water" by Trevor Day
• "Water: Elemental Earth" by William Anthony
• "One Planet: The Water Cycle" by Annabel Griffin
• "Water in Australia" by Rachel Dixon
• "Australia's Environmental Issues: Water" by Peter Turner
• "Water in Australia" by Greg Pyers

HISTORY:

Munchkin: I read the following books aloud to Munchkin for History this term:

• "So You Think You've Got it Bad? A Kid's Life in Egypt" by Chae Strathie
• "Explore! Ancient Egyptians" by Jane Bingham
• "Ancient Egypt" by Tamra Orr
• "Ancient Egypt in 30 Seconds" by Cath Senker
• "Technology in Ancient Egypt" by Charlie Samuels
• "The Genius of the Ancient Egyptians" by Sonya Newland
• "Egyptian Myths" by Jean Menzies
• "Hatshepsut: The First Woman Pharaoh" by Susanna Thomas
• "Cleopatra: Powerful Leader or Ruthless Pharaoh" by Peggy Caravantes
• "Cleopatra Tells All" by Chris Naunton
• "Pharaoh: the Boy Who Conquered the Nile" by Jackie French

Monkey: We are studying two units of history at the moment. One on World War I which will continue for the entire school year, and a smaller unit on The Industrial Revolution which will be a one term unit study.

I read the following books aloud to Monkey for History this term:

• "A Brief History of How the Industrial Revolution Changed the World" by Thomas Crump
• "The Industrial Revolution and Its Impact on Australia" by Joseph Harding
• "The Industrial Revolution Events and Outcomes" by Nigel Smith
• "Industrial Revolution: Key Events, Famous People, Essential Dates" by Peter Hepplewhite
• "Sweat and Inspiration: Pioneers of the Industrial Age by Martin Worth

• "An Overview of World War I" by Jim Whiting
• "True Stories of the First World War" by Paul Dowswell
• "The Stories of the First World War For Children 1914-1918"
• "The Causes of World War I" by Stewart Ross
• "The Making of the ANZAC Legend: Gallipoli" by Robert Gott
• "Women Heroes of World War I" by Kathryn J. Atwood
• "Remembering World War I: Women in World War I" by Nick Hunter
• "Rachel's War: the Story of an Australian WWI Nurse" by Mark Wilson
• "Bessie's War" by Krista Bell
• "Charlie's War" by Vicki Bennett
• "Alfred's War" by Rachel Bin Salleh 

GEOGRAPHY:

Munchkin and Monkey:

We read the following books as part of their Geography studies this term:

• "The Wondrous Workings of Planet Earth" by RAchel Ignotofsky
• "Young Dark Emu: A Truer History" by Bruce Pascoe
• "Fire Country: How Indigenous Fire Management Could Help Save Australia" by Victor Steffensen
• "Australia's First Naturalists" by Penny Olsen & Lynette Russell
• "Deserts & Savannahs", "Forests in Australia" and "Mountains in Australia" by Rachel Dixon
• "Freshwater Environments: Australia's Endangered Animals and Their Habitats" by Jane Hinchey

Monkey: 

Ultimately Monkey will have separate books for his geography units, but at the moment I'm enjoying that there is a fair bit of overlap and crossover for the two boys.

 

ELECTIVES:

German: (Monkey)

Monkey is finished with "Getting Started with German". He is using the Duolingo app on his phone as well as a German language course on YouTube to further his German language learning. I need to do some further research to find more suitable resources for him later this year and into next year.

Creative Arts ~ Drawing: (Monkey)

Monkey has chosen creative arts for his second elective with an obvious focus on drawing and painting. I don't direct much work for him with this elective, he simply draws or paints when the mood hits him. As I find videos or books that I think will interest him in these areas I point them in his direction. In Term One Monkey completed a beautiful pencil drawing of a scene from "Daniel in the Lions Den" per request from our pastor's wife. It took him two weeks to complete and it now on display in the fellowship hall at our church. Photos of his completed drawing are in earlier blog posts.

Spanish: (Munchkin)

Munchkin chose to learn Spanish as one of his electives this year as he is not allowed to study two different Technology subjects at the same time (see further explanation below). This was a great choice as I am also working on improving my Spanish skills so I am working with him. We are using "Getting Started with Spanish" (workbook) and also using the Duolingo app on our respective phones. This will suit Munchkin for now and if he chooses to continue Spanish further into his high school years I will find more difficult curriculum for him.

Food Technology: (Munchkin)

I am so excited about this choice. It isn't just cooking and baking, but ever so much more to do with all things food related. I am really enjoying sourcing and reading books about the history and cultural aspects of food. This is going to be a fun elective for him - especially since he LOVES to cook and bake. 

He also wanted to do the Agricultural Technology elective (all about farming) but as I mentioned before they aren't allowed to study two technologies simultaneously. So Munchkin will either need to alternate these two electives each year, or study and EXTRA elective that doesn't technically "count" for school as far as the Department of Education is concerned. For now, Munchkin has decided to put the Agriculture Technology on hold.

April School Holiday: Week Two ~ Reading, Resting, and ANZAC Day

Week Two of the April school holidays had no outside (as in out of home) events planned, and as Monkey, Munchkin, and I were still recovering from our head cold, I deemed it a rest week with as little work as possible. I stuck to only necessary things (cooking, grocery shopping, and laundry) and spent a good portion of the week camped out on the front veranda reading.

So I start this blog post with photos of me reading. The first photo is a "selfie" of me reading on the veranda on Sunday afternoon. The second photo is a quote from the book I was reading at the time. Given that the reading statistic is from 2016, I would sadly believe that the percent of students who read daily has dropped even further than 16%. Finally, the last two photos are taken from the blog post just before the school holidays started. I commented in week eleven that I went a bit overboard borrowing all these books to read independently... But thanks to my head cold, I finished reading ALL these books during my April School Holidays of resting and reading. It has been a VERY long time since I've been able to read so many books in so short a period of time. I needed the break as well after our busy summer holidays spent packing, moving, and preparing for homeschool registration.

A couple of photos of the tomato plant after Munchkin and I did some work on it. Because it was getting taller and taller we needed to figure out how to add the third ring despite not having the pole that attaches to it. We found a stick whilst out on a walk, and with some twist ties, manage to make it work. Now the top of the plant has much more support and hopefully it will continue to grow and flourish.

Update photos for these plants... the garlic (left) is continuing to grow well AND the sunflower (right) has started growing leaves again. I may suggest to Munchkin that we transplant it to a larger pot and see if it continues to grow.

This is a wonderful plant that a lady from our church (who is part of the other congregation we share the building with) gifted to Munchkin. We've discovered new sprouts on it so we know it is also growing and thriving.

With my DSLR camera working again, I had some fun with macro shots of the tomato plant.

Thursday was ANZAC Day and per our yearly tradition, I borrowed lots of excellent picture books from the library for our special read aloud session.

While I read aloud, the boys and I enjoy nibbling ANZAC biscuits and sipping hot chocolate.

Two of our favourite books by this author. We always enjoy reading about Simpson and his Donkey and also about Midnight and his roll in the Light Brigade Charge in the war. These are wonderfully written books with beautiful illustrations.

Two books about the roll that animal mascots (be they real or stuffed) played in the war. The book on the right is specific to Villiers-Brettanoux and is a (sort of) replacement for our favourite ANZAC book called "Do Not Forget Australia" which hopefully our library will try to reorder. A warning to anyone who may want to read the book on the left, if you don't handle animals being in dangerous situations, give the book a miss.

These wonderful books are about the roll that music and instruments played in the war. Both are excellently written and beautifully illustrated and the boys and I always enjoy reading them.

The book on the left was a new addition to our reading this year and was an excellent choice as we LOVE Mark Wilson books. I always make sure to read about women and their roll in the world wars so I'm glad there are quality picture books about them.

Finally, two books about Aboriginals who served in World War I. There was another book that we've read in the past, but I was unable to find it this year. These are both well written and are always good additions to our ANZAC observance.

I read this junior non-fiction book aloud to Monkey in the evening as it is part of his WWI study and fit in with ANZAC Day. Normally I would have read it during the term, but found it would fit in well with our ANZAC observance this year. It was well written and a good addition to the day.

Friday, Munchkin and I took a trip to Riverwood library to pick up all the books we need for Term 2 (or at least the books we need for the first 2-3 weeks)!! The left photo is just a shot I took of the train station while Munchkin made up his mind as to whether he would take a selfie with me or not. The right photo is all our books packed into two library bags and fitting well in the pram for the long trip home.

I don't take selfies very often and I'm definitely not good at taking them - but here it is! A selfie with Munchkin while we waited for our train to arrive. There is a very good reason why I don't take selfies often!!

I forgot to take photos INSIDE Green Square library, but here is a photo of the garden area taken from the street, showing the library underground. It is a (visually) cool library. However, it is only a backup library for us because they don't have a lot of books that we want and need.

Our library shelves at home are happy again.

Notice the plastic box on the bottom right - that is an Atari that we were able to borrow from Green Square library, along with a Makey-Makey kit. For those of you who don't know what that is, click on the words for a Google definition.

The boys enjoyed extra computer time during the school holidays.

Munchkin always enjoys reading new books after we've been to the library.

I got in some good long walks - not conducive to recovering from my head cold quickly but necessary nonetheless.

April School Holidays: Week One ~ Celebrations and Sickness

Our first week of April school holidays was a fully planned busy week. We started the week with a birthday, had two library events, and a coffee date lined up. It was going to be a busy week. It was. But there were also some changes. Munchkin came down with a head cold Tuesday afternoon that Monkey and I promptly caught as well. We still had a busy week, but as it went along it slowly ground down to a stop. Therefore, there aren't as many photos as I had hoped, but enjoy watching our crazy week unfold...

First off - Monkey finished this beautiful drawing of "Daniel in the Lion's Den" for our pastor's wife. It took him two weeks to complete it and I think it was well worth the wait. He did a beautiful job on it. So good in fact, our Pastor's wife has warned that she will ask him to do another drawing later in the year.

I try to spend Sunday afternoon reading and relaxing. This was the stack of books I chose to work on and I got at least one chapter of each read before it was time to cook dinner and continue with the evening activities.

The "Munchkin" is 12 years old!

I'm not quite sure how this happened.

He is funny, intelligent, caring, and loves life.

Cooking, baking, and growing things all fascinate him and I'm excited to see where the future takes him.

The week started with Munchkin's birthday on Monday. So it was blueberry pancakes and bacon for breakfast - which is a tradition for all the men in the family!!

The birthday boy was eager to eat the food he helped prepare.

Breakfast on the veranda.

After breakfast it was time to bake the cake. Somehow through the day, I forgot to take any other photos of the cake baking. Or the decorating for that matter.

An afternoon game of Forbidden Desert - again a request of the birthday boy.

No photos of the special birthday dinner but he requested garlic and herb sausages, fried sweet potatoes, corn, and Kraft macaroni and cheese.

His finished and decorated birthday cake. He did the baking and the decorating.

Candles and singing!

Tuesday was his first library event - and it was all about acid and base reactions.

First they did the simple baking soda and vinegar experiment...

Then they filled a balloon with baking soda...

Attached it to a bottle with vinegar in it...

And captured their own balloon full of carbon dioxide!!

Finally they got to make their own flavoured sherbet (whizz fizz) to take home.

It was a fun day out but it was the beginning of the downhill slide for all of us.

Wednesday was a rest day for me as I desperately tried NOT to get sick. I sat in the sun on the veranda drinking lots of fluids and reading lots of books!

YES - I am reading ALL of these books at once. 

However, for those of you who might be freaking out, thanks to my head cold and forced rest time this week, I've finished three of the books on this stack already!

Despite being sick, Munchkin and I headed back to the library on Thursday for a frogs event he was signed up for. It was well worth going to especially since we got to look at these gorgeous tadpoles.

Finally, when Munchkin remembered that we hadn't checked on the garlic we planted at the beginning of the month, we discovered that it is sprouting already. This has him VERY confused because it wasn't supposed to start growing this soon so we'll see what happens in the weeks to come. Perhaps garlic is able to grow year round in Australia.

Three big walk (all to the shopping centre) this week and with my head cold it was two walks too many.

This is a random addition of a photo taken back at the beginning of March. In the process of our move I "misplaced" the battery charger to my big Canon DSLR camera and so once the battery died I couldn't use it anymore. Thankfully, hubby stumbled across the charger when he was unpacking some boxes in the office and now I have use of my big camera again. I'm really happy as I have been wanting to take lots of photos on some of my walks. So you can all look forward to much more interesting photos in the future.

Lucky last (again taken on my DSLR though it is a current photo) Munchkin was thrilled to find the beginnings of actual tomatoes on the tomato plant. We had some wind and rain that battered it a bit, and we need to fix the climber rings a bit to support it more, so we were worried that we might not get any fruit. But it seems we will at least get two tomatoes and there ARE more flowers on the plant.

Now let's hope that week two of the holidays is healthier for everyone!!