Term Two: Week Three ~ Books Are the MOST Important Thing

 There are NO photos of any structured written learning this week, and we didn't make it to homeschool group either. But that is okay, because my title for this blog post says it all. Books, for our family and especially our homeschool, ARE the MOST important thing. Yes, I use traditional textbooks (for a couple of subjects), and YES, I follow the national curriculum (though I tailor it a bit for our needs and interests) but BOOKS are the core of our homeschool and the backbone of everything else we do! We read about four hours every day!! I read aloud to all three boys together for about an hour just after lunch time. This is when we focus on subjects that I teach them all together... Then in the evening I do focused, individual, reading aloud - though the older boys always listen in on their younger brothers selections. I start with Munchkin's literature and history books, reading to him for an hour, then he gets tucked in to bed. At that point I switch to Monkey's literature selection and history topic until his bedtime an hour later, and finally, I read to Monster and we focus on his literature and history unit study. It works well for this time and season in our lives and I LOVE reading aloud to the boys!

Independent reading selections for Munchkin for the week...

Monkey's read alouds for his Ancient Egypt unit study that we have started...

This was a lovely book that I read aloud to all three boys during our afternoon reading session. We all loved the stories and the illustrations were magnificent as well. I highly recommend this book to any and all who love a good story.

This is part of a series on mapping skills that I'm reading aloud to Munchkin...

These three titles are books that Monkey is reading for his Premier's Reading Challenge this year. He liked all three of these books.

Finally, the history and science selections that I read aloud to the boys this week. Both are part of a series and both series are high quality.

Term Two: Week Two ~ ANZAC Day and Extended Celebrations

Week two of the term and we're finding our groove, even if the schedule is still a bit out of the ordinary! 

I discovered these beautiful berries growing in one of the gardens at church and just HAD to photograph them. They grow on the back plant in the right hand photo.

After church we met up with dear friends, got take away lunch, and headed to the picnic area at a local beach for food, fun, and fellowship. We also took the opportunity to get some better photos of the 15-year-olds than we did at the football the previous weekend.

ANZAC Day was Sunday this year, so no Public Holiday for NSW, but we still observed in our homeschool schedule. First up, Munchkin and I baked a batch of homemade ANZAC biscuits to eat and compare with store bought biscuits.

On Monday afternoon we had an extended celebration of Munchkin's birthday. A dear friend came over with gifts and delicious morning tea and we gave Munchkin our presents as well. It was a fun and exciting afternoon and we always enjoy extending celebrations in our home.

In the late afternoon/evening Munchkin got started on his Meccano set and it kept him busy for a very long time!

We ended week two with another trip to a Swans (AFL) game. Our seats were right up at the top of the stadium, which messes with my fear of heights, but the view is AMAZING!!

I love that my zoom lens lets me get some decent action shots! It was a fun family night out, well worth the late night and feeling tired the next day!

Monkey finished reading this book for the Premier's Reading Challenge...

Munchkin is giving a new Emily Rodda series a try and he likes it... New books are ALWAYS fun!

We read these four books as part of our ANZAC Day observance. Rather than read a huge stack as we've done in previous year, I chose our three favourite and one new one!

These three books are other read alouds I read through the week for various subjects and unit studies.

Independent selections for Munchkin...