Books I Read in June

These are the five books I read aloud to the boys in the month of June.

Starting from the top left - "The Stories Behind the Stories" was a chance find at the library and I'm so glad that I found it and read it aloud to the boys. It was fun to learn interesting facts about old classics we've enjoyed as well as more recent books that we enjoy, such as "A Series of Unfortunate Events" and "Harry Potter". "Water Cycles" was a book I read aloud primarily to Munchkin and it was full of details about the water cycle and water around the world. As this book was published by DK it was high quality and we both enjoyed reading it. I also finished off The Borrowers series with Munchkin this month as we read "The Borrowers Avenged" and re-read "Wind in the Willows" as he had forgotten that I read it to him four years ago.

Finally, my favourite read aloud this month would HAVE to be "Victory at Villers-Bretonneux" by Peter FitzSimons which I read aloud to Monkey as part of his intensive WWI study this year. If you have access to Peter FitzSimons books and you are interested in Australian history, I highly recommend you read as many of the books as possible. FitzSimons is an excellent writer and his books are full of information. Australia, specifically the state of Victoria, has a very special bond with Villers-Bretonneux, that continues even to this day. The update about that bond at the end of this book had me choking back tears as I read it aloud.

I am pleased that I managed to read six books independently this month.

Starting at the top left corner is my favourite book for this month. I've always known that humans generally don't breathe correctly anymore (through our mouth instead of our nose) but I didn't know the full extent of the wrong breathing, nor the vast number of issues it can cause. I challenge you to find a copy of this book and read it. You will be horrified I'm sure, but hopefully it will also give you tips and ideas for how to change the way you breathe, and find better health along the way.

Top middle is my second favourite book for the month of June. I am intrigued by all things Ned Kelly so when I found this book about his sister I had to read it. The information was engaging and thorough and I relished learning more about her specifically but also about the time period and the gang as well. 

"The Vagus Nerve Reset" wasn't at all what I was expecting it to be, but I still found some useful information within the book. I highly recommend it for anyone who is trying to heal from trauma as that is the general focus of the book.

I am still finding C.S. Lewis books that I haven't read. The bottom left photo is "Surprised by Joy" which is somewhat of an autobiography. I really enjoyed learning more about Lewis' early life and it has me eager to read a quality biography about the man now.

"Tears of the Giraffe" by Alexander McCall Smith (bottom middle photo) is the second book in the No. 1 Detective Ladies Detective Agency series. I have no intention of trying to read the whole series (it contains too many books and my library only has random titles) but I thought I would read the second book for fun. It was equally as enjoyable as the first book and when I need a lighter/shorter read I will enjoy choosing books from this series.

Finally, I finished reading "The Pillars of the Earth" by Ken Follett. This has been a slow burn read for me as it took me nearly nine months to read it. Three dear family members recommended I read it and it was well worth the time I spent on it. I will look forward to reading other titles by Ken Follett but I will need a sufficient break before I tackle the next one.

Term Two: Week Nine ~ Celebrations

I always love it when we get to the wind down weeks of a term. First and foremost because we are generally ready for the break, and secondly because the focus is on reading. For those of you who haven't already figured it out, reading is the core of our homeschool.

Term two is historically our hardest term every year and this year has been no different. I've never been able to pinpoint why it is our hardest term, but I've learned to accept it. Motivation is low, the weather gets colder, the days get shorter, and this year term two started with illness AND it has rained a lot. I push the boys as hard as I can without causing more problems, and remind myself to kick things up a notch in terms three and four to "compensate" a bit. I don't worry though, because the boys never get "behind" and as our retiring AP has always told me... "as long as you are moving forward, you are fine"!

With all that said, please enjoy the selection of photos I have for you that highlight this week of our learning lives.

We finished off the last four books in this lovely series which satisfied a bunch of curriculum content areas for both boys. I'm a little bit sad as it is the last reading I will NEED to do of these books and they have been wonderful resources for our family over the past few years. I am really thankful that our library stocks such wonderful junior non-fiction titles for us to use. Reading, discussing, and writing about the information contained in these books is WAY more interesting then just working through a boring workbook.

Two books I read aloud to Monkey as part of his "mini unit study" within his LONG unit study on WWI. We have read several books about Gallipoli and then I found this excellent book about POWs during WWI, WWII, and the Korean War. In the last week of the term we will read a wonderful junior non-fiction book about the Armistice and then next term return to longer adult non-fiction titles about the war.

I really enjoy doing a LONG unit study with the boys.

Australian history and the world wars are our two favourites.

Left Photo: a funny little picture book to kick off a unit study on the theory of evolution. It presented the information in a very simplified way (that doesn't really work when you stop and think about it) but the illustrations and the writing were fun.

Right Photo: This picture book was a chance find during a different subject search (don't get me started about this issues with the online system with our library) and although we are wrapping up our Paterson/Lawson unit study I decided to read the book. If nothing else, Munchkin learned some things about Banjo Paterson that he didn't know - thus making it worth it. I am just sad that there isn't a picture book about Henry Lawson's early life. I also wish I had found this book when we started the unit study on Australian poetry, but again, the online search system is weird and for some reason it didn't show up during my initial search.

Munchkin and I continue his unit study on the Ancient civilizations with more books about Ancient Greece. I love studying the ancients with the boys. This is my third time through and I'm still learning new things. It helps that there has always been some new books to choose from each time another boy is reading to do the study.

I still don't understand how the public schools think only one is important to study. But I do know they have packed the national curriculum so full it is impossible to learn everything with any sort of depth or true understanding. SIGH!!

Sometimes I borrow books to read to the boys that have absolutely nothing to do with anything we are currently studying. We LOVE Claire Saxby books and a friend reminded me that she has a stack of really lovely picture books so I put them all on reserve. The illustrations in the animal books are amazing and the information is top quality. "Tree" and "Iceberg" both had a section in the middle that folds out and Munchkin was super impressed. 

Whilst these books are well below the reading and learning level for Munchkin, they were an enjoyable way to spend some of our time this week.

Left Photo: Another example of books we are reading just for fun. We've read some of the titles in this series before but never finished them AND they have added more titles. John Lesley is a favourite junior non-fiction author of ours and his books are top quality. We will work through the rest of this series in Week Ten as we won't have much written work to finish through the week.

Right Photo: As part of Munchkin's year long unit study on Water in the World, we are doing a "mini focus" on the Rivers of the World. This is a new book that the library didn't have when I studied rivers with Monkey so I was excited to read it. I was not disappointed as it was full of all sorts of exciting information about rivers around the world. We learned lots more information about rivers we know and also facts about rivers we didn't know existed.

I was thrilled to discover this bit of information about a small river (D river) that my family used to visit when I was a child. It is a short little river that drains into the Pacific ocean at a little known beach we frequented and it battled with another river for the world record of shortest river. It is always fun to find books in Australia that mention things about Oregon, since most Australians have no idea where Oregon even IS in the United States!!

Munchkin and I finished reading this book Friday afternoon. I actually read it to him four years ago, but he had forgotten about it so requested a second reading. It is such a lovely story that I absolutely loved reading it to him again.

On our walk to the shops for groceries on Thursday we noticed this sky writing!!

Friday was all about celebrating as it was my husband's birthday.

After reading aloud and written work was finished in the morning, Munchkin and I got busy with the preparations for the evening of fun.

I cooked a delicious lamb curry with rice and Indian spiced vegetables for dinner and Munchkin was in charge of the cake. He wanted to bake the cake from scratch so he sourced a recipe online and decided on dark chocolate ganache for the icing (he sourced that recipe as well). When we were at the shops on Thursday he found and gathered all the ingredients we needed, and as you can see from the photos above, he worked hard on preparing the batter and then icing the finished cake.

It was moist and delicious and we have extra ganache to eat with a spoon!!

We had lots of fun celebrating the head of our household Friday night and I think he enjoyed his special day.

Because Monster works full time and travels for his work, (leaving the house at 7:30am and returning at 6:30pm) the traditional bacon and pancake breakfast on Friday was postponed for Saturday. Munchkin and I worked together cooking a quadruple batch of pancakes and close to a pound of bacon. It was a delicious way to start our weekend.

Two walks to the shops this week.

I really need to find time to add in some shorter walks around the neighbourhood on the other days of the week, hopefully I'll do that over the holidays.

Finally, this is our weather report for our final week of the term. I am really NOT looking forward to a week of rain, but hopefully it will get it all out of its system and we'll return to sunshine for the holidays.

Term Two: Week Eight ~ Plugging Along

As the term winds down, I find my photos get less and less exciting. Term two is historically a difficult term for us. The weather gets colder, the days get shorter, and motivation wanes. I don't know why it is and I've ceased fighting it. This term was no different and it was compounded with illness at the beginning. All that said, we have kept working, learning, and living. With two weeks to go now, we will wind up our unit studies and get ready for a break. Then we will dive in to Term Three. Enjoy the few photos I have to share with you this week.

One of the things I love about homeschooling is that the learning can take place anywhere. This particular day, Munchkin and I decided that the bed was the best place for our learning. This photo shows us working through our Spanish exercises for the afternoon.
Side Note: Both boys are still photo-phobic so I compromise by putting only small portions of them in my photos.

We finished off our unit study on global citizenship with this excellent book.

We also finished off this excellent science series with these final two books this week.

Munchkin has finished his Ancient Egypt unit study so we have moved on to his Ancient Greece unit study. This highlights another thing I love about homeschooling. If the boys attended public school they would only study ONE Ancient civilization. Yet I believe that all three are important to learn, and learn in depth. As homeschoolers we are only required to study ONE, but we have ALWAYS studied all three.

This is another excellent series that I've read to the older boys previously. Finally it is Munchkin's turn to listen to these wonderful books, and I'm enjoying reading them just as much as before. They cover a multitude of content areas, and the information and photographs are wonderful. We will finish the remaining books in the series next week.

Monkey and I are doing a focus study on Gallipoli now as part of his WWI unit study. We will read several junior non-fiction books about the battle and then he will write a research paper about the event. Of these two books that we started with, the one on the left is my absolute favourite. 

Left Photo: A book primarily for Monkey as we begin a unit study on further exploration within Australia.

Right Photo: The first book to kick off a mini unit study on the theory of evolution

I read this book aloud to Monkey.

I cannot praise this book enough.

Peter Fitzsimons is a phenomenal writer. His books are thoroughly researched, packed full of information, and written in a way that is easy and enjoyable to read.

Villers-Bretonneux has a close and enduring relationship with the state of Victoria, and the update at the end of the book about the continuation of the relationship after horrendous fires in Victoria in 2009 had me choking back tears as I read.

Munchkin and I took a trip to Riverwood library on Friday.

These are the 13 books I borrowed for my own personal reading.

Another (slightly better) photo of my books.

Yes, I went overboard. Hopefully I'll be able to read them all in the next 3 months. What can I say, every time I go to the library, books just follow me home, it is something like magic.

Two photos of our happy library shelves.

This trip we returned 28 books and borrowed 49 new ones.

So much excellent reading to do over the remaining two weeks of the term and into the school holidays. I haven't decided what reading I will do with the boys over the holidays (aside from the Bible which happens EVERY day holidays or not). I may continue to read literature, or I may take a full break. We shall see where we stand in two weeks time.

This winter!!

Rain in the forecast for yet another weekend!

While it wasn't as bad as this outlook showed - it POURED all day on Saturday.

I spent a good portion of the day organizing my many book lists and researching more books. A reward to myself after doing school planning for the following week. Nothing better than books on a rainy day. I also got started on one of the new books from the library - the one that is MOST likely to be put on reserve and thus need to be returned in a fortnight.

Only two walks this week...