Science Projects

Monster got several science oriented birthday presents this year so we got straight in to them Monday as part of our school day.

First up was a lolly making machine that created creepy crawly creatures!

Carefully measuring the mixture and the water...

Twisting the mixture up in to the mold...

 Placing the mold in the fridge for 10 minutes...

 And "Ta Da" you have a yummy bug lolly to eat!

Our other project for the day was this crystal growing monster.
Both Monster and Monkey enjoyed checking his progress hourly throughout the day!

First Week of School

Here are the highlights from our first official week of school!

Monkey gets some assistance and some supervision from Munchkin while he works on an alphabet puzzle. 

Working on an alphabet matching game I made for him. 

Monster has turned into an avid and voracious reader over the summer holidays.  He is able to read chapter books right now and will easily read a book of about five chapters in length over the course of one day.  He enjoyed reading this particular book while I worked with Monkey on the activities photographed above. 

Monkey enjoyed working on his Starfall computer reading program while I instructed Monster on his written work (see photo below). 

Monkey also chose some other activities on his own... Design Discoveries (above photo) and Magic Mosaic (photos below).  Both were games that my siblings and I enjoyed when we were in school and I LOVE seeing my children experience them now.

I was very pleased with how Monkey worked with the Magic Mosaic.  The only help he would accept from me was a little bit of fixing of the pieces if he bumped it.  He concentrated and stuck with it until he had a design he was happy with. 

Some of our read aloud selections for our first week.  The two older boys are obsessed with Magic School Bus - the books and the DVDs.  As part of our history this year we have started out with a book about the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  When we finish reading we will spend a day in the city touring The Rocks and looking closely at the Bridge.  Finally I LOVED Judy Blume as a child and read the first two books in the Fudge series... I was thrilled to find she has written two more and the boys and I devoured them! 

 Carrying over from last year is our daily Bible reading and character study books!

2013 Photos

The official (NOT) back to school photos for this year!

Monster Year 2

Monkey Preschool

Munchkin Tot School

Summer Holiday Highlights

Here are a few photographs highlights what the boys and I got up to during the summer school holidays!

I have divided my selections up in to sections.

The descriptions are as follows in order of appearance!

First - swimming, Monster was in his element but Monkey and Munchkin has to be coaxed a bit.

Second - we spent LOTS of time in the library... sometimes three days a week.

Third - we enjoyed a magic show held at the library and Monster got to assist the magician.

Fourth - We went on some excursions... Monkey, Munchkin and I visited the Powerhouse Museum and the Australian Museum while daddy took Monster to ANSTO for two special school holiday programs for school aged children.

Finally - we enjoyed celebrating Australia Day with friends of ours and the fireworks were the finale of the night.

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Term Four Evaluation

WOW!!  Here we are at the end of our first year of homeschooling!  It has been an adventure and a learning experience and I'm looking forward to what the next year has for us. 

Read Aloud Books We Finished (read by me):
The Tale of Peter Rabbit
The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher
Where the Moon Lives - Ivan Gantschev
The Little Engine That Could
DC Super Pets: Super Pets Showdown
DC Super Pets: Royal Rodent Rescue
Lego Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
DC Super Heroes - The Flash: Shell Shocker
Starro and the Space Dolphins
DC Super Pets: Barnyard Brainwash
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Elephant Pants - Smriti Prasadam-Halls
Ella Kazoo Will Not Go To Sleep - Lee Fox
The Little Old Man Who Looked Up At the Moon - Pamela Allen
Elephants - Sally Morgan
Lion - Jinny Johnson
Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? - Bill Martin Jr.
Two Little Monkeys - Mem Fox
A Surprise for Dingo - Rina A Foti
One Very Tired Wombat - Renee Treml
The Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body
The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System
The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane
The Magic School Bus Inside the Earth
Dinosaur Pet
The Treasure of Captain Claw - Jonathan Emmett
Warambi - Aleesah Darlison
The Tall Man and the Twelve Babies - Tom Niland
I'm Not Scared - Jonathan Allen
Octonauts and the Great Penguin Race
Dig Dig Digging
Batman: Poison Ivy's Deadly Garden
The Flash: Shadow of the Sun
Green Lantern: Beware Our Power
Green Lantern: The Last Super Hero
Come Over to My House - Dr Seuss
The Magic School Bus On the Ocean Floor
The Magic School Bus Plants Seeds
Wonder Woman Attack of the Cheetah
Wombat Goes Walkabout - Michael Morpurgo
Underpants Thunderpants - Peter Bently
Superman: Parasite's Power Drain
The Magic School Bus In the Time of Dinosaurs
Too Many Pears - Jackie French
Babar's World Tour - Laurent de Brunhoff
Bushland Lullaby - Sally Odgers
The Worst Princess - Anna Kemp
Christmas Wombat - Jackie French
Emily and the Big Bad Bunyip - Jackie French
Animal Antics - Birds
Let's Count Goats - Mem Fox
Mike the Knight and the Mighty Shield
Octonauts and the Monster Map
Superman Little Green Men
The Story of Christmas
The Christmas Tree that Grew
Applesauce and the Christmas Miracle - Glenda Millard
Batman Killer Croc Hunter - Scott Sonneborn
The Magic School Bus Blows Its Top
Santa's Aussie Mix-Up by Colin Buchanan
I Already Know I Love You - Billy Crystal
The Scallywags Blow Their Top - David Melling
Sir Scallywag and the Golden Underpants - Giles Andreae
Wonder Woman Monster Magic
Lext Luthor and the Kryptonite Caverns
Superman The Deadly Double
Green Lantern High Tech Terror

Other Reading Activities:
Reading Eggs Online Computer Program

Maths: Targeting Maths Year 1 Textbook:
Term Four of the textbook covered the following topics:
Number - Place value, Ordering numbers to 100
Length and Time - Measuring length, hours, minutes, seconds
Addition - Counting in 10s, Adding 10s using money
Time and Mass - Half past, compare and measure mass
Patterns and Algebra - Odd and even, Calculator patterns
Fractions and Area - Halves and Quarters, Area
Subtraction - Change from ten dollars
Space - Symmetry, Position words
Multiplication and Patterns - Counting in 5s, Multiplication as repeated addition
3D Space and Volume - Faces and corners, Volume
Number and Time - Ordinal numbers, Calendar
Chance and Time - Language of chance, O'clock and half past
Division - Equal groups, sharing
Number - Estimation
Revision

Excel Basic Skills English and Mathematics Year 1:
Units 24 - 30 and Test
Maths
Number 
Measurement
Space
English
Comprehension
Spelling and Vocabulary
Grammar and Punctuation

Other Math Learning:
Daily Sums Work
Sudoku
Uno
Magic Mosaic Pattern Game
Weighing fruit and vegetables at the grocery store
Numberjacks website
Math Angles website

Handwriting:
Writing Forms Practice Pages

Scripture and Character Building:
Bible Reading (out loud) 2 Chronicles - Ester
Big Ideas in the Bible by Chuck Swindoll
The Book of Virtues by William Bennett

Science and Technology:
Variety of topics studied through reading The Magic School Bus series (see Read Aloud list at the top)

PDHPE:
various play dates in the park
walking to and from the shops
walking to and from the library
riding his scooter
ball skills - kicking, throwing, catching
boxing lessons with daddy

Socialization:
weekly attendance at church and Sunday school
weekly attendance at story hour at the library
various play dates with friends

Creative Arts:
Listened to a variety of music CDs

Other Activities:
Battleship 
Chess

Excursions:
Zoo trip with friends
City trip to see Christmas Lights
Powerhouse Museum with friends

Homeschool Group Topics:
Cardboard Marble Construction
Orphanage in India

The Gift of Time

Homeschooling for our family offers our children the gift of time.
Time to play together for as long as the game or imagination allows.
Time to learn and experience life together, not only as brothers, but as friends.
I do not believe that my two older boys would have the relationship and friendship that they have if I had sent my older son to school this year.  Instead of spending 30+ hours a week at school Monster has spent that time at home enjoying his younger brothers.  They have time for elaborate train constructions, board games, and books!  It is one of the highlights of this first year!

Home Grown Goodness

The first ripe strawberry!

Home grown goodness!

One proud and happy monster!

One loved mummy as the monster decided that I should be the first to taste!