Term Two 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 "highlight" now and then when he reads NEW books that he has never read before. He spent term two reading and re-reading his favourites as well as finding new books that sparked his interest.

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. 

In Term Two Monkey discovered the Fablehaven series thanks to a suggestion from a dear friend of mine. He read all the books in that series (there are five books in total) and then quickly moved on to a sequel series. The library only had the first two books in that series (total of five books again) so Monkey put in a purchase request and is now enjoying reading all the books as the library ordered them straight away for him.

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.

Additional Note: As the PRC rules state that five of the books for the year can be "free choice" books, I have told Munchkin that those five books CAN be 5-6 level books if necessary. I don't always agree with the chosen levels for books and there are plenty of 5-6 books that could easily be considered 7-9 level as well. Or there are books that USED to be 7-9 level and have mysteriously been dropped to 5-6 level. So I'm being a bit more flexible than I originally planned.

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 Two.

Monkey: Women in World War I (Unit 4/6) and Nursery Rhymes (Unit 8 - Essay)

Munchkin: Ancient Egyptian Society (Unit 4/6), Hatshepsut (Unit 4/6), and Cleopatra (Unit 4/6).

Term Two is historically and notoriously our most difficult term. This year was no different and was definitely not helped with illness for all of April school holidays (both boys and myself) and then a relapse for both boys in the beginning weeks of the term. Writing suffered the most this term. In the past I used to worry and have all the thoughts of "what if they get behind". Thankfully our AP reassured me continually and reminded me that forward motion (even if it is slow) is always the goal. No, this term wasn't our best, and no, the boys didn't do a lot of writing, but they are ALWAYS learning and we will continue to improve.

 

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.

Combined Reading: "We Are All Australians Now" and "The Man From Snowy River" by Banjo Paterson, "This is Banjo Paterson" by Tania McCartney, "The Banjo's Best Loved Poems" - chosen by his granddaughters, "Poems of Henry Lawson", and "The Stories Behind the Stories" by Daniell Higley

Munchkin: In Term Two we read: "The Borrowers Avenged" by Mary Norton and "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame. I also read "A Journey Through Greek Myths" by Marchella Ward which has crossover curriculum teaching with his history studies.

Monkey: In Term Two we began reading: "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens. We will finish this book sometime early in Term Three as Dickens requires slower reading than some other literature titles.

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 nearly 100% certain that I will not do any further grammar studies with him. As he will be applying for his Year 10 certificate at the end of 2025 our focus is on the work he needs to do to satisfy those requirements. I may consider grammar as part of his curriculum in Year 11 and 12

Munchkin: 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 17-20 covering the following topics: Trigonometry, Simultaneous Equations, Proportion, and Quadratic Equations. This leaves ONE chapter of the Year 9 textbook for us to finish and we will likely choose to move on to the Year 10 book straight away, rather than waiting until next year, to give us extra time should we need it.

Munchkin: Continued working through his Year 7 Haese Mathematics textbook, working through chapters 5-7 of the book, and covering the following topics: Fractions, Decimal Numbers, and Algebra: Expressions and Formulae

 

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:

• "A Focus on Urban Habitats" by Jane Hinchey
• "A Focus on Antarctic Tundra" by Jane Hinchey
• "A Focus on Alpine Habitats" by Jane Hinchey
• "A Focus on Coasts and Oceans" by Jane Hinchey
• "A Focus on Deserts and Grasslands" by Jane Hinchey
• "A Focus on Rainforests" by Jane Hinchey
• "A Focus on Dry Forest and Woodlands" by Jane Hinchey
• "Electricity and Modern Technology" by John Lesley
• "Surrounded by Chemicals" by John Lesley
• "Marvellous Magnets" by John Lesley
• "Invisible Forces" by John Lesley
• "Turn Up the Heat" by John Lesley
• "It's Alive" by John Lesley
• "What's That Sound" by John Lesley
• "Earth is My Home" by John Lesley
• "The Solar System" by John Lesley
• "Weather and Climate" by John Lesley
• "Light, Rainbows and Lasers" by John Lesley
• "A World of Materials" by John Lesley
• "Health and Disease From Birth to Old Age" - Your Body For Life Series (this book I read to Monkey)
• "Flow Chart Science: Electricity" by Louise Spilsbury
• "Flow Chart Science: Forces" by Mary Colson
• "Flow Chart Science: Sound" by Louise Spilsbury
• "Core and Crust" by Annabel Griffin
• "Rocks and Fossils" by Annabel Griffin
• "Ecosystems" by Annabel Griffin
• "Weather and Climate" by Annabel Griffin
• "Natural Resources" by Annabel Griffin
• "The Big Bang and Beyond" by Michael Bright
• "How the Borks Became" by Jonathan Emmett
• "The Secret Life of Genes: Decoding the Blueprint of Life" by Derek Harvey (this book I read to Monkey)

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 Cycles: The Source of Life From Start to Finish by DK Publishing
• "Amazing Rivers" by Julie Vosburgh Arione

HISTORY:

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

• "Egyptworld" by Stella Caldwell
• "The Legend of Tutankhamun" by Sally Morgan
• "Mangy Mummies, Menacing Pharaohs and the Awful Afterlife" by Kay Barnham
• "Horrible Jobs in Ancient Egypt" by Robyn Hardyman
• "Female Pharaohs Wore False Beards" by Kay Barnham
• "The Story of Tutankhamun" by Isabel Greenberg
• "Schools and Education" by Rachel Dixon
• "Transport: From Walking to Space Travel" by Rachel Dixon
• "Toys and Games" by Rachel Dixon
• "Food and Cooking" by Rachel Dixon
• "Explore Ancient Greeks" by Jane Bingham
• "The Greeks are Coming" by Paul Mason
• "Discover Ancient Civilisations: Ancient Greece" by Anita Ganeri
• "Ancient Greece"
• "Technology in Ancient Greece" by Charlie Samuels
• "Horrible Jobs in Ancient Greece and Rome" by Robyn Hardyman
• "Spartans" by Rupert Matthews

Monkey: We focused primarily on World War I during Term Two. We have a couple of other short history units to study besides the world wars, so we will likely tackle one of those smaller units in term three or term four as we begin to wrap up our studies of World War I. This term I chose to focus on two aspects of our WWI studies... a specific battle (I cheated and chose two) and also a quick look at prisoners of war, and the book I chose highlighted more wars than just the first world war but I'll have to be satisfied with that. We'll focus more on POWs in WWII anyway. You will see one book title at the end of this list that isn't war focused... that is the start of a mini unit on internal Australian exploration in colonial days which we'll continue in Term Three.

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

• "Australia and the First World War, 1914-1918" by A.K. Macdougall
• "Australia at War" by John & Jennifer Barwick
• "World War I: the Australian Experience" by Michael Andrews
• "Another Mouth to Feed: Children in War and The Depression 1900-1945"
• "My Gallipoli" by Ruth Starke
• "Anzacs at Gallipoli: Creating a Legend" by Jane Pearson
• "Gallipoli: Reckless Valor" by Nicolas Brasch
• "The Anzacs at Gallipoli: Scarecrow Army" by Leon Davidson
• "Endurance: Stories of Australians in Wartime Captivity" by Karen Huckstepp
• "Victory at Villers-Bretonneux: Why the French Town Will Never Forget the ANZACS" by Peter Fitzsimons
• "Armistice" by Ruth Starke
• "Exploring Australia" by Joel Weston

GEOGRAPHY:

Munchkin and Monkey:

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

• "Migrations: A History of Where We All Come From" by DK Publishing
• Jackie French picture book natural disaster series titles including: "Flood", "Fire", "Drought", "Cyclone", "Pandemic", "Earthquake", "Plague", "Tornado"
• "Secrets of the Saltmarsh" by Clair Saxby
• I'm a Global Citizen series - titles including: "Caring For the Environment", "Rules for Everyone", "Human Rights", "We're All Equal", and "Culture and Diversity"
• "Unequal Planet" by Anna Claybourne
• Australian Geographic Geography Series by Ellen Rykers - titles including: "Indigenous Cultures", "Custodians of the Land", "Places and Spaces", "Importance of the Environment", "Human Influence", "Flood and Bushfires", "Around the Globe", "Global Connections", and "Resources and Waste"
• "Earth" by Anthony William (Elemental Earth Series)
• "Water" by Anthony William
• "Air" by Anthony William
• "Fire" by Anthony William

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. I respect his privacy where his drawing in concerned and will ask him to select a few of his recent projects that he would be willing to showcase on the blog.

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. 

We read the following books as part of his Food Technology Elective:

• "A Timeline of Australian Food: From Mutton to Masterchef" by Jan O'Connell
• "Foraging to Supermarkets: A Timeline of Food" by  Cath Senker
• "Food and Farming" by Steve Parker
• "From Farm to Table" by Richard & Louise Spilsbury
• "The Food We Eat" by Georgia Amson-Bradshaw
• "Food and Farming" by John Baines
• "Jobs in Food Production" by Peter Turner
• "The Story of Food" by DK Publishing

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.

July School Holidays: Week One ~ Read and Relax

The winter (July) school holidays are here. They ALWAYS go too fast so I'm determined to enjoy them to the fullest. This year week one is quiet and week two is busy. Other years it has been the other way around, and some years both weeks have been busy, leaving me feeling like I got no break at all. It just seems to depend on the season of life we are in.

I start this post off with a beautiful photo I took of the tree next door. As I walked into the kitchen I noticed the sun shining on the tree with the dark clouds behind it. My camera didn't capture it quite the way I wanted it to, but part of that is because the light had changed in the time it took me to grab my camera. 

I am so glad I took the few moments to capture this too, because by the time I had put the camera away and come back to the kitchen, the sunshine was gone and it was pouring.

The lesson in all this... grab special moments when you see them.

Even though it is school holidays, I am keeping my routine. This means I still wake sometime between 5am and 6am, and for the most part I'm up and out of bed no later than 6:30am. I fix myself a hot drink (tea or sometime hot chocolate if I'm feeling fancy), I put a stack of books next to me, and settle at my desk for reading, sipping, and any computer work that MUST be done in the wee hours of the morning.

Why do I read in the office you may ask? Surely there are more comfortable places in the house. YES, I could certainly sit on the lounge with cushions and blankets, but the office is a small room, and is the warmest because there is at least ONE computer running constantly (hubby's). Also, I can close the door once Monster is up and preparing for work and therefore still concentrate while he is crash banging around the house.

A couple of photos showing my selection of books to read.

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am physically incapable of reading only one book at a time. For those of you who follow me closely on Goodreads, you know that I'm currently reading 13 books! So it should be NO surprise that when I sit down for a reading session, I have a selection of books to choose from. 

Munchkin is much the same, though to the extreme. So he will have a stack of 15 or more books next to him while he reads. Mainly because he reads fast and can finish most junior fiction novels in an hour.

I have finished all but one of the books in these two photos - and if all goes well with my Sunday afternoon routine, that one will be done by the end of today.

Munchkin and I had the special treat of observing this flock of Rainbow Lorikeets, enjoying a feast, on our walk home from the shops on Thursday. I'm torn. I dislike that this elderly gentleman feeds the birds because they rely on him now, but it is so much fun when they are here because they are reasonably tame. I only had my phone with me and didn't use the zoom feature, so you can see that they did let us get close. We just had to move slowly and be quiet. I think Munchkin counted a total of 17 birds at one stage before a car drove past and scared them all away.

A Saturday morning walk to the shops with Munchkin deserved a selfie since I don't normally do that. I know I should take more photos of me WITH the boys, but it just doesn't always happen.

My week to serve morning tea/coffee hour at church so Munchkin and I got busy Saturday afternoon with some serious baking. First up, he made a box mix chocolate cake that we had sitting in the cupboard. He did all the prep work. I only poured the batter into my all-in-one cooker and turned it on.

He doesn't seem to mind photos when he is concentrating (left photo) or making cheesy faces (right photo).

After lunch he mixed up a batch of banana cake as well. We had never made banana cake before so we were unsure about everything, but it worked well, and tastes delicious.

I also made a batch of ham, cheese and zucchini slice while Munchkin took a break and ate lunch. No photos of that.

Finally, it was time to mix the icing and decorate the cake.

The cake turned out to be lovely and it will be delicious as well.

Munchkin and I are very much looking forward to morning tea on Sunday now.

Four walks this week. Three to the shopping centre for groceries and one to the local shops nearer to our house.

Term Two: Week Ten ~ Halfway Through

We survived Term Two!

I had to pinch myself yesterday and remind myself that our two week winter break is really here.

It was a hard term, with illness over the April school holidays, illness the first two weeks of the term, the general dislike of Term Two, and the adjustment to Monster starting full-time work and being out of the home for nearly 12 hours every weekday. But we made it and we intend to fully enjoy our break. Despite the difficulties, the boys worked hard, and we'll look forward to more structured learning in Term Three.

Another week of rain...

Thankfully this rainy spell had some breaks. This was the day that I postponed school until after lunch and raced to the shopping centre for groceries while the sun was out. My whole walk there and back there were dark clouds nearby, but thankfully no rain until about 20 minutes after I got home. I got an excellent cardio workout too as I walked to the shopping centre in 31 minutes - which is a record for me. The shopping centre is approximately 3kms (2 miles) from our home.

Munchkin is really enjoying working on his Lego stop motion. Especially since dad was able to obtain a ring light that someone was giving away for free. Most days, while I read aloud, he works on his project.

I got a shock Tuesday morning when I woke just after 6am and found Monkey already in the "playroom" area working on a drawing. Apparently he woke just before 6am with allergy issues, got up to take an allergy tablet, and just decided to stay up. 

Right Photo: Later in the day I did some extended reading aloud with Monkey (see the books on my lap in the photo) and he hid under the blanket. He commented a couple of times about how long the day felt since he got up so much earlier than normal.

I finished reading ALL these wonderful books to Munchkin. We had read a few of the titles about three years ago, and he used the Blue-Tongue Lizard book for a writing assignment. But we never finished the series and they added titles since we last looked at them. The information is a lower level than Munchkin is accustomed to now that he is in high school (middle school for my US readers) but this was an "extra" read and not technically part of his curriculum for this year anyway. We love John Lesley books and the photographs in these books are wonderful.

As a companion we read these Claire Saxby books. We love her writing and the different illustrators were wonderful to look at as well. I also love that despite being picture books, these books give quality information about each animal. This was a fun little detour for the end of the term.

We also did some curriculum based reading this week. I finished these two books with Munchkin as part of his Ancient Greek studies. This finishes off the short books about Greece, leaving chapter non-fiction books for Term 3 and a couple of books about Alexander the Great which we are looking forward to.

This series wasn't as spectacular as I was expecting it to be - we also read the Water book though apparently I forgot to photograph it. The information in the books was high quality, and the photographs were good as well, but I expected more from these based on the size of the book and the quality of the photo on the covers.

Two long chapter books that Monkey and I finished this week. Both books were excellent. Scarecrow Army is definitely best read by (or to) older children as there are quotes in the book from actual people and their words were graphic at times. I had to be careful when reading this aloud that Munchkin couldn't hear as it would have upset him.

The Secret Life of Genes was packed full of excellent information and both Monkey and I learned a lot of new and interesting stuff. Although this is an adult non-fiction book, Munchkin enjoyed listening in every once in awhile as well. 

Armistice finished off the WWI books that Monkey and I planned to read this term. I'll do some library research (one of my all-time favourite things to do) over the first few days of the holidays and get some more books reserved for Term 3. We need a new long chapter book to read (I have a couple in mind and will allow Monkey to choose) and I'll check if there are any more junior non-fiction books about WWI that we MUST read.

Munchkin thoroughly enjoyed this collection of Greek Myths and we'll follow it up with a different collection in Term 3. I always enjoy reading myths and legends to the boys when we study other cultures and civilisations.

By Friday morning the library bookshelf was looking empty and sad.

Even shifting to the BIG bucket didn't help this time around.

We had some library card dramas that caused me to do a bit of shuffling. Effectively, the online system at the library worked out that Monster is now an adult and not a child and locked me out of his card. The wonderful librarians manually deleted the message which unlocked his card, but when it is due for renewal in November or December he will have to present to the branch and fill out his own set of paperwork. He is happy reading e-books on his phone so is NOT motivated to make a special trip to the library to put his card in his name, especially since it would mean doing it on a Saturday or during his annual leave from work - neither of which he intends to do. Essentially this means I only have until the end of the year to enjoy the use of his card (which is fair) so I shifted his card to a "back-up" card only and won't really use it for the rest of the year unless we NEED to. 

Therefore, I not only returned everything we had finished reading, but everything we hadn't even started in Term 3 (long chapter books) as I'll re-borrow those at the beginning of the new term, and I also returned everything from Monster's card leaving just the ten books I had already put on reserve. That means from now on, his card will be the LAST card I put books on. The idea is to slowly wean myself from the use of it so that losing it at the end of the year won't be a shock.

In case any of my readers are wondering - that is 72!! books stacked up in the bucket.

My pram/stroller has seen its better days. It is something like 14 years old and has been used a LOT! Hubby did a fix of the tyre that means it can't really come off again (he put it on backwards) but my days are numbered. However, it survived the trip to the library, fully loaded with all 72 books, so we'll just keep using it, probably until the wheel completely falls off. In the meantime, I'm watching out for any prams that get put on the side of the road for council clean up!!

Front and back view of how I managed to put 72 books in the pram. They even stayed dry during the short but heavy rain we got caught in as we walked from the chemist/pharmacy to the library.

Monkey doesn't come to the library very often anymore, but he still LOVES books. Immediately after walking in the door he spotted an updated edition of "The Timeline of Everything" (a DK publication) on display, plucked it off the shelf, and sat down to look through it. He was also happy because book 4 in a series he is enjoying had arrived at the library that day as well. It was a good library visit for Monkey and both librarians were happy to see him as he generally only comes once or twice per term now.

Side Note: There was a NEW librarian there and I'm always leery of new librarians. But I introduced myself, explained that we are long term homeschoolers and faithful library patrons, and we had a lovely chat. I think she is a kindred spirit and I hope she stays for a good long time. You never know though in our library system, the directing manager likes to move people around, so we'll see. 

I came up with a fun "holiday" reading idea and as usual went completely overboard!

There were several junior fiction novels on my TBR list AND two dear high school friends have a list of junior fiction they have read together with their children in their own book club and I knew there were several titles on their list that I wanted to read. So I put just about EVERYTHING on reserve and all but 3-4 titles arrived by Friday.

Obviously I won't be able to read all these in just two weeks, but it is FUN having this many junior fiction novels in my house. Many of them are 7-9 Premier's Reading Challenge books (you might JUST be able to see the little blue stickers on the spines) which means Munchkin has NUMEROUS opportunities to finish the challenge for this year.

So I'll enjoy reading as many as I can for "fun" over the holidays and the rest will get read throughout Term 3.

If anyone has trouble reading the titles and/or needs the author name of a specific book(s) just message me and I can send individual photos.

Our happy library bookshelf!!

Two walks to the shops for groceries and the walking required for our trip to the library.