April School Holidays: Week One ~ Birthday Celebrations

School holidays are officially upon us. Even though we cancelled school early, we still felt the change with the beginning of the REAL holidays. The whole atmosphere of life is just more relaxed and we all enjoy the time to unwind and recharge. The addition of the Easter long weekend means that this two week break has a deeper meaning to it than other holidays within the school year as well.

I started this week with some work on my Facebook Photography Challenge assignment ~ 100 Steps. This particular theme meant that you could only photograph something that was within one hundred steps of your front door with the usual allowance of three submissions for the theme. Before I went outside I had an idea of what I wanted to photograph - not realising just how restrictive the 100 step rule was going to be. I wasn't able to go very far away from my house at all... but with some extra thinking I was able to come up with three submissions. Of the above two photos, I submitted the LEFT photo to the challenge, but included the RIGHT photo on the blog post because I liked how it turned out...

My second submission to the Facebook Photography Challenge was this shot of the beautiful paper bark trees that grow across the road from our house in the Montessori school yard.

My third, and final submission to the challenge was a shot of the beautiful Aboriginal dot painting that was done on the side of the Montessori school buiding.

Although the La Nina rain is set to continue into May or even June, we are slowly getting some sunshine and dry weather in between the blocks of rain. I take EVERY opportunity I can to get outside and pound the pavement as I miss my daily walks when it is raining.

This was the original photo I wanted to submit for my 100 Steps Challenge but this house is EASILY at least 400-500 steps from the house. Those are passion fruits growing on lattice above the driveway and it just looks absolutely beautiful. One of the HUGE positives of COVID has been that I have met so many more people in our neighbourhood when my daily walk shrunk to just the block we live on.

Munchkin enjoys school holidays because it means the boy next door can play a lot more than he can during the school term. Here they are sitting on our front veranda playing a game together.

No school holidays is complete without a chess game with dad...

School holidays events at the library were on again. They started very small, just ONE event each week for the two weeks. This first week only Munchkin attended because it was a wind chime craft event. A very simple craft that the two older boys were not the LEAST bit interested in.

Wednesday was a bonus birthday celebration day! A dear friend of ours was travelling back in February when Monster turned 16 so we arranged for her to come over for a special afternoon tea and combined birthday celebration for Monster and Munchkin. As you can see from the two photos above, Monster was thrilled with his magazines that he received from her - one about scientists and one all about how things work.

Then it was time to open a combined gift that she purchased for all three of them - a collaborative board game called Hacker.

Another shot of all three boys opening gifts... each had their own gift.. but they all received a similar gift (Star Wars puzzle) so she wanted them to open them together.

Finally it was Munchkin's turn to open his presents and he thoroughly enjoyed getting a couple of presents two days early.

Thursday was all about birthday cake preparation... so I helped Munchkin bake his own cake. Really all I did was put the cake in the oven and take it out when it was finished baking. He took care of all the other details and I simply took photos of the process.

Friday morning (Good Friday) started bright and early with church and a lovely visit with some dear friends who haven't been able to attend church regularly for awhile. These two beautiful boys are brothers and I LOVE photographing them whenever I get the chance. The older boy is almost exactly one year younger than Munchkin, and the "baby" is nearly 18 months old. We are looking forward to the time when they will be able to attend church much more regularly so we see them more often.

Pancakes and bacon were on order to brunch when we returned from church...

Once all the pancakes and bacon were eaten it was time to open gifts.

The traditional birthday photo taken as close to 12:26pm as we could make it! I'm not sure how in the world it is possible that my baby boy is TEN years old!!

We found a visitor in our shower when we were getting ready for church. We left him to hang out and were pleased to discover he had barely moved when we got home from church. Hubby caught him in a plastic container and I walked him down the road to the creek. He is a juvenile Huntsman and while he was small (only about 8 centimetres including the legs) if you release them in your yard they are likely to come right back in the house. So I always make the extra effort and walk them several hundred metres away from the house before I let them go.

Munchkin and Monster had fun playing an online computer game together for part of their afternoon...

Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to get a bone broth (chicken) going in Phillip as I slow cook my bone broth for 24-48 hours.

While I worked on cooking Munchkin's birthday dinner, he got busy with the important task of decorating his birthday cake. First the whipped cream in the centre, then the chocolate icing on top...

Then the various and sundry decorations...

He was very pleased with the outcome...

Candle blowing shenanigans...

We ended the night with a family game of Exploding Kittens. All in all it was a GREAT day celebrating Munchkin and he declared at bedtime that it was the best day ever!!

Finally, on Saturday afternoon, as the boys enjoyed their computer play time, I got busy with some school planning for Term 2. After the dramas of Munchkin's medical issues at the end of Term 1, my plan is to be super organised for Term 2.

Independent reading for Munchkin...

We are continuing to read our literature during school holidays and so we finished another book in the A Series of Unfortunate Events series.

Munchkin did lots and lots and lots of independent reading!

Term One Review

ENGLISH:

Reading:

All three boys read lots of books for their independent reading time. I do not dictate what books they choose for their “free” independent reading time. I keep a list of all the books the boys read in their portfolio for easy review.

Monster: Is no longer participating in Premiere’s Reading Challenge this year as he completed it in Year 9. However, if he finds PRC books in the library that look interesting to him, I’m certain he will pick them up and read them. He is also enjoying reading e-books on his phone - the trick is for him to remember to tell me that he has read them!!

Monkey: This years Premier's Reading Challenge started at the end of February and it will take him the whole time (until August) to complete the reading challenge so the next time I go to the library I'll be searching for books that I think will most interest Monkey as he really enjoys reading books about animals.

Munchkin: As Munchkin is the most voracious reader of the three boys, the Premier’s Reading Challenge is quite easy for him. Similar to other years, Munchkin read SO many books from the PRC list in between the end of last year and the beginning of this year, that he has read his required number of books already and the challenge has only been running for a month. My plan, therefore, is to scour the shelves at the library when I'm there for the school holidays events and choose some different books for Munchkin to try.

Writing:

All three boys continue to use the Institute for Excellence in Writing: Teaching Writing Structure and Style curriculum. It allows each boy 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.

Monster: Eggplants Satire (Unit 1/2), The Age of Enlightenment (Unit 4/6), Cell Structure (Unit 1/2)

Monkey: Eggplants Satire (Unit 1/2), Water Cycle (Unit 1/2), Indigenous Australians and Water (Unit 1/2), Technology and Water (Unit 1/2)

Munchkin: Eggplants Satire (Unit 1/2), Firestick Farming (Unit 1/2), Bottle Nosed Dolphins (Unit 4/6), The Little Red Hen (Unit 3), Stars (Unit 1/2)

Obviously, because of Munchkin's health issues in Term 1, writing didn't go quite as I had planned. Because of this, I will be doing some advanced planning of writing assignments for all three boys over the school holidays in hopes of preventing a similar problem in subsequent terms.

 

Spelling:

Monkey:  I use the Ozspeller website to choose and create weekly word lists for him. I quiz him orally Monday – Thursday and then he takes a written test on Friday morning. In Term 1 Monkey decided he would like to review the Advanced spelling lists again. Spelling is an optional subject for him and I'm pleased that he is continuing to review this year.

Munchkin: Term One this year Munchkin has continued to work through the Targeting Spelling workbook that I started with him last year. When he finishes the current book he is working through I will decide if he needs more review with Targeting Spelling or if he is ready to work through the Ozspeller website again.

 

Literature:

Below are the books I selected to read to the boys for their literature this term. Munchkin’s books were read to all three boys, Monkey’s books were read to Monster as well, and Monster’s books were read only to him.

Along with “classic literature” there are three books that we read aloud repeatedly. The first is the Bible and then we also read “The Book of Virtues” and “The Moral Compass” by William Bennett.

Munchkin: This term we read the following books: "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket, "Folk Tales and Fables of the World" by Barbara Hayes, "The Reptile Room" by Lemony Snicket, "Mr Popper's Penguins" by Florence and Richard Atwater, "The Wide Window" by Lemony Snicket, "The Miserable Mill" by Lemony Snicket, and "The Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett   

Monkey: This term we read the following books: "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" by J. K. Rowling, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" by J. K. Rowling   

Monster:  This term we read the following books: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon,    

 

Grammar:

Monkey: I started Season Two of Analytical Grammar with Monkey this term and quickly discovered that I need to brush up on the curriculum before we continue. So we have paused Monkey's grammar curriculum for the time being, and likely won't pick it up again until next year. This will give me ample time to familiarize myself with Seasons 2 and 3 of the program before then.

Munchkin: is not doing any grammar curriculum this year. I have learned that (for our family) grammar is best introduced in the late primary grades or early high school grades. Given that I have had to review spelling rules with Munchkin, I have decided to hold off starting formal grammar lessons with him until he starts high school (Year 7/7^th grade).

MATHS:

Monster: Began his Haese Mathematics Year 11 textbook - Mathematical Methods. Over the course of the term he completed the first five chapters of the textbook covering the following topics: Relationships Between Variables, Quadratics, Relations and Functions, Polynomials, and The Unit Circle and Radian Measure

Monkey: Continued to work through the Haese Mathematics Year 7 textbook. Over the course of the term he completed chapters 13 - 16 which covered the following topics: Ratio and Rates, Line Graphs, Probability and Statistics. He will finish the Year 7 textbook easily in Term 2 and immediately get started on the Year 8 textbook.

Munchkin: Began the Haese Mathematics Year 5 textbook. Over the course of the term he completed chapters 1 - 2 and nearly all of chapter 3 before he got sick with the appendicitis. The topics we covered in term 1 were: Whole Numbers, Multiplying and Diving Whole Numbers, and Angles and Lines. I opted not to finish chapter 3 (angles and lines) with him when he got home from hospital. We will finish it at the beginning of next term and move on from there in the textbook.

 

SCIENCE:

For the remaining school subjects I try to teach all three boys together as a group as much as I possibly can. So I will now start listing Munchkin’s work first and work from youngest to eldest boy rather than repeatedly recording the same things.

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 both Monkey AND Monster.

 

Munchkin, Monkey, Monster:

 Munchkin: We read the following books this term for our Science Content:

"A Water Report: Water Supply", "A Water Report: Water Use", "A Water Report: Water Quality", "A Water Report: Recycled Water", and "A Water Report: Water Conservation" by Michael & Jane Pelusey, "Water Supply" by Angela Crocombe, "What Happens When We Recycle Water", "Water For Australia: Being Waterwise" by Bruce McClish, "Invisible Forces", "Electricity and Modern Technology", "Surrounded by Chemicals", "Marvellous Magnets", "A World Full of Materials", "Turn Up the Heat"  by John Lesley, "Exerting Forces", "Electrical Energy", "Adapt to Survive", "Growth and Survival",  by Australian Geographic Science Series, "World's Strangest Ocean Beasts" by Lonely Planet Kids, "Cells" by Under Your Skin Series

Monkey: We read the following books this term for our Science Content:

"What If We Do Nothing: Water Supply" by Rob Bowden, "Australia's Environmental Issues: Water" by Peter Turner, "Australia's Hydro-Electric Power Schemes

Monster: We read the following books this term for our Science Content:

"The Cell: A Visual Tour of the Building Block of Life" by Dr Phil Dash

HISTORY:

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

"Meet Rose", "Rose on Wheels", "Rose's Challenge" "Rose in Bloom" by Sherryl Clarke,  "The Secret of the Youngest Rebel" by Jackie French, "Meet Alice" by Davina Bell 

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

"The Genius of the Ancient Greeks", "Meet the Greeks" by James Davies, "The Who Was History of the World" by Paula Manzanero, "Technology in Ancient Greece" by Charlie Samuels, "At Home With the Ancient Greeks", and "Aristotle" by Steve Parker

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

"Dead Famous: William Shakespeare and His Dramatic Acts" by Andrew Donkin ~ independent

"The Enlightenment" by Michael Adcock, "The American Revolution" by John Ziff, and "Electric Ben" by Robert Byrd

 

GEOGRAPHY:

Munchkin, Monkey, Monster:

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

"A Thirst for Home" by Christine Ieronimo, "Outback Australia: Life on a Cattle Station", "Outback Australia: Life on a Dairy Farm", "Outback Australia: Life on a Sheep Station" by Michael & Jane Pelusey,  "Thailand" by Blastoff Readers, "Japan", "South Korea and North Korea", "India", "Bangladesh" by Jane Hinchey, "Wildfires", "Heatwaves" by World Book Library of Natural Disasters Series, "Indigenous Cultures", "Custodians of the Land", "The Importance of the Environment", "Floods and Bushfires" by Australian Geographic Geography Series, "Food Around the World" by Children Like Us Series

 

PDHPE:

We did not read any books in Term 1 that dealt specifically with PDHPE content.

 

 Creative Arts:

       "Music and How It Works" by DK Publishing

 

Latin: (Monster)

Monster is currently working through two Latin textbooks independently. They are Lingua Latina Familia Romana and Lingua Latina Exercitia Latina 1.

 

Marine and Aquaculture Technology: (Monster)

"The Deep: The Hidden Wonders of Our Oceans and How We Can Protect Them" by Alex Rogers

German: (Monkey)

Monkey is currently working through "Getting Started With German" by William E. Linney. We first discovered this series when Monster was beginning his Latin studies and we have been really pleased with the curriculum. Monkey works fairly independently through his lessons and over the course of Term 1 he has completed 86 lessons. Each lesson requires him to read a bit of information and then translate ten sentences. Monkey also practices his German on DuoLingo on his mobile phone.

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 photograph the artwork that he creates and include it in our reporting on the blog. He has also begun his own sketchbook for this year that he will draw/paint in and be prepared to show to our AP when she returns in two years for our registration process.

Books I'm Currently Reading

I have recently decided to post my own independent reading, and my photography, in separate blog posts rather than included in the Weekly Review posts I do for the boys. I am hoping this will encourage me to MAKE more time for my personal reading and my photography.

As a young girl in high school and university, I had only ever read the first book in the Anne series. Then several years ago, I bought the boxed set, only to leave it sitting on the shelf untouched and unread. So this year I decided I MUST read all the books. This is the one I'm currently working on, and although I LOVE it, the reading is slow because the book (and hence the print as well) is small. A majority of my independent reading is done late at night when both my brain and my eyes are tired and therefore tiny print taxes me concentration and I find I can only manage one chapter of this book at a time.

This is a book my best friend in America generously gifted me with a few years ago and I picked it up a few weeks ago and started reading it. It is SUCH a good book and though I'm only a couple of chapters in, I think it is going to be very insightful and extremely helpful.

These two books were spontaneous selections from our local library. I can't remember what subject search I was doing at the time (actually two different ones) but these titles popped up, caught my eye, and in reading the descriptions I decided to put them on reserve and give them a try. Again, I'm only a few chapters in to each book, but they are both proving to be interesting, insightful, and worth the time I'm spending to read them.

This is actually THREE books in one, and the sequel to another set of three books in one that I finished several weeks ago. The whole story line is thrilling and intriguing (though the very first book started slowly) and I'm looking forward to the conclusion of the story in this set.

Finally, I started this book last night. My mother got me hooked on Bryce Courtney books and our local St Vincent de Paul shop and Salvation Army shop frequently have his books (hardbound no less) available for about $4 each. I have so many Bryce Courtney books that I try to always have one on the shelf that I'm currently reading, but I needed a bit of a break after The Power of One and Tandia, and then I couldn't decide which book I wanted to start next. But last night, I decided this would be the winner and it was a good choice. It grabbed me straight away in the very first chapter and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Term One: Week Ten ~ Early Start to School Holidays

With another all-night trip to Sydney Children's Hospital towards the end of last week (Thursday night/Friday morning) I determined this last week of the term was going to be a restful (as much as possible) week for Munchkin. Therefore I officially declared us on school holidays (one week early). Monster worked independently on a few bits and pieces, but otherwise we just enjoyed the down time. I got straight into some cleaning and organising, and got to work on marking all the boys work and filing it away for our next registration time, but doing those tasks help me to relax and feel prepared for Term Two so they are essential things for me to do.

Munchkin got a surprise visit from his best homeschool friend, who dropped off a care package. They gifted him with a Pokemon Paint With Water book and a Minecraft Seek and Find book. He spent lots of time this week working on both of those.

I allowed the boys their "holiday" screen time, which is one hour per day instead of 30 minutes, so they all enjoyed that.

Monster enjoyed reading books on his phone, watching food and game theory videos, and chatting live with some of his friends.

After two brief days of sun to dry out and wash laundry, the rain returned! I found out this week that though it is only April, Sydney has already received rain equivalent to the annual rainfall, and YET, more rain (above normal levels) is predicted through April, May and possibly into June as well! I may have lived in Oregon for 21 years, but I'm starting to find the rain taxing.

Munchkin spent LOTS of time reading independently as he missed being able to read while he was sick and in hospital.

We finished two literature books this week... Harry Potter for Monkey and A Little Princess for Munchkin. The boys really enjoyed both books. We started the next Harry Potter book in the series for Monkey and I've started reading "The Neverending Story" to Munchkin - which really means all three boys get to listen to it.

Munchkin LOVES books that are part of a series... he is hard to keep up with... but thankfully the wonderful podcast that I listen to has suggested yet another series that I think he'll like.

Monkey finished a PRC book this week... this is where Monkey and I are MOST alike... he is a slow and steady reader like me! But don't be fooled, he loves books just as much as the other two boys... but their reading personalities are as diverse as their general personalities.

This book was part of our Bible/character reading first thing in the morning. I try to include a book that either builds their character, or teaches them something important from history. I'm not sure what my next selection for Term 2 will be as I'm tossing several options around in my head. This is where the larger age gaps can sometimes pose a problem... but I will find a book that will work even if it means getting creative.

I finished off these two books with the two older boys this week, bringing an end to our school based reading aloud until next term begins. The photo on the left was a book I chose as part of Monster's Marine and Aquaculture Technology elective and it was a brilliant choice. We learnt SO much about the current disastrous state of our oceans, as well as the work that is being done to reverse it. I agree with the author, it is a tragedy that we know more about space then we do about the deep ocean, when the ocean is our lifeline.

The book on the right was part of Monkey's Ancient Greek unit study for history. It was quite a different style book for studying Alexander the Great and while we both agreed that it wasn't the best, we do think different was good. It was a mix of facts about Alexander together with myths and legends about Greece.

The final collection of independent reading for Munchkin... my ever voracious reader.

Term One: Week Nine ~ Recovery at Home

This is probably one of the least informative blog posts I've ever done. But coming off the back of Munchkin's hospital stay and medical dramas, I'll take what I can get. Also, since I use this blog as a form of reporting for the government, and also as a way to journal our life, I will simply blog whatever information and photos I have from week to week.

The only person doing any sort of structured written school work is Monster. He has some Latin he wants to finish so he spends a portion of each day in the office working independently. I have declared the term over for Monkey and Munchkin. I need time to adjust back to life at home that doesn't revolve around someone's illness, and it just seemed logical to stop, regroup, and start fresh in term two.

This is another blessing of homeschooling for our family. I never worry about being "behind". If Munchkin attended a public school he would never get the chance to finish the work he missed while he was at home sick or in hospital. But since we homeschool, next term we'll just pick up where we left off, and put some extra effort into our daily work to "catch up" so to speak. But all three boys are WELL ahead in history, geography, and science and NO ONE is actually behind in anything really, so there is nothing to worry about.

I had to include this screenshot of my sleep app because it is the happiest report I've seen in easily two weeks, even with a sizeable awake time in the week hours of the morning.

How I missed simple home prepared meals. Please don't get me wrong, the hospital DOES provide nutritious hot meals for the children, as well as a parents kitchen, but it isn't the same as home cooked meals. Munchkin had very little appetite in hospital and often only ate a few bites of his meals so I would simply finish whatever he didn't eat. Then, in the parents kitchen, there was an industrial sized fridge filled with milk, fruit, yogurt, custard, sandwiches and bread. I had available to me the fixings for toast (jam and vegemite) and there was raisin bread as well. Parents could make themselves numerous cups of tea and coffee and there were endless supplies of sweet biscuits to go with it. We also had Wheat Bix available and a freezer full of lemonade icy poles (popsicles) and cups of vanilla ice cream. So there was NO WAY I was going to starve - but I missed my favourites from home. The above meal is extremely simply but goodness gracious did it taste good!

We managed to finish one junior non-fiction book. Everything else was either overdue or we needed more than two weeks to finish it. So I made the executive decision to return ALL our non-fiction books (after making a long list of the titles) and I will borrow them again at the end of school holidays in preparation for Term 2.

Munchkin very quickly got back to reading some of his favourite library books when we got home. Mind you, this week was not all smooth sailing. I don't have any pictures of it, but Thursday night we ended up back in emergency at Sydney Children's Hospital because Munchkin started vomiting again. We were there from 11pm until 7:30am and while they were extremely thorough and ran a battery of tests on the boy, they couldn't determine what was wrong. They did determine that there was no infection brewing from the surgery and simply chalked it up to residual dehydration. So we came home, got a few hours of sleep, and then spent the day getting small sips of fluids in him every ten minute or so. Thankfully his vomiting ceased and he began to make some real improvement again.