Updated Photos

I took these photos on Sunday (29th January) as their "school photos"

Monster - nearly 6 years old

Monkey - 2.5 years old

A Day in the Life - First Day of School

Today was Monster's very first day of school.
There was much excitement in the house.
So I thought I would give everyone a peek into our first day.

After breakfast and getting dressed we started our day with our Bible/devotional/character study reading.

Both of the boys LOVE this book... we have read it numerous times from cover to cover... this morning we started it yet again and read the first two stories.

I have been waiting to read this book to the children. It is filled with wonderful stories and poems that all have wonderful morals and lessons to teach.

Then we picked up where we left off with our Bible reading... and we read five chapters today.

All of this reading took us about an hour and brought us to the 9:30am mark.
At that point the boys were hungry again (they seem to be having a growth spurt) and I needed to deal with the laundry so I did the rotating (clean in and wet out on the line) while they had their snack.

Then it was time to say morning prayers with daddy before doing anymore work.

Time for a couple of pages of handwriting.
Monster recognizes that he needs lots of practice so this will definitely be a daily part of our school day for awhile.

After handwriting we got straight in to math.
Two pages from his maths textbook (above) which he had no trouble with (other than needing a bit of help with some of the reading, and then a problem solving page (below) that dealt with counting by 2s.

Another break to clean up the playroom and eat lunch and then at 12:30pm it was time for the online reading program (Reading Eggs) that both the boys are in love with. The above photo is the ideal way for them to enjoy the program... however, the computer decided to be a bit cranky and would not hold internet connection for more than a few minutes and since hubby had already left for work we moved on to Plan B which was Monster using my computer in the office to work. This situation was okay for him but less than ideal for the curious two-year-old Monkey who struggles with not touching all the exciting and forbidden items in the office!

Much later than I intended we got started on his other reading for the day.
I assessed him on several lists of sight words and he knows MANY more words than I initially thought. There were eleven lists to go through but he had enough after eight so we'll finish the others tomorrow.

I also had some new beginner readers that Grandma sent him from the states but he was too hot and tired at that point so we put those off until tomorrow as well.

Instead we curled up on the lounge together and I read the first two chapters of this book aloud to the boys before I started struggling to stay awake myself. By this point it was after 4pm and I felt we had definitely put in a full days worth of work for school.

After Monkey went to bed Monster and I settled in the lounge room for about 45 minutes working on this puzzle. It was a Christmas present from my sister and he has been desperate to start working on it. So we opened it up and he put all the edge pieces together before I chased him off to bed! All in all, despite the few frustrations, a very good first day of school.

Things I learned today:

I need to wake up earlier...
(usually I'm awake between 6am and 6:30am without an alarm, but this morning I slept until 7am)
I need to eat regularly throughout the day...
(I got too hungry a couple of times and that was when I felt frustrated the most)
I need to sort the computer in the lounge room out BEFORE hubby leaves for work...
I need to check the weather report so I'm at least prepared for hot days...
(after a very cool and wet December and January, today was sunny and HOT)

So together we will work until we have a schedule that suits our needs and works well for us and I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Introducing...

Next I need to introduce you to the main subjects of this blog.
As this blog will remain public, I am choosing to use nicknames for the boys.
Never fear, these are nicknames of love, and both boys enjoy hearing them and respond to them in a positive manner.
So allow me to introduce...

The Monster

He is 5 years and (nearly) 6 months old.
He loves ANYTHING active: running, jumping, flying, hopping, ect.
Aeroplanes, trains, buses, construction equipment and vehicles of all sorts interest him.
He is very inquisitive and asks a million questions a day.
He is talkative but also extremely articulate.
He knows all his letters and numbers.
He writes well.
He can do simple addition and subtraction.
He has recently learned to read.
**********************************************

The Monkey

He has just turned 2 years old.
Like his big brother he thinks aeroplanes, trains, buses and vehicles of all description are amazing.
He loves music and hardly a day goes by when he doesn't either ask for music to be played, or uses one of his musical toys.
He is developing a great imagination and spends long periods of time playing with his plastic dinosaurs, farm animals, or Bob the Builder figurines.
He can easily put together simple puzzles.
He knows many nursery rhymes and will do the hand motions as we sing.
He LOVES to wear hats - indoors as well as outdoors.

Let's Start at the Very Beginning...

Welcome to our homeschool blog.

Our family has decided to "go against the flow" and homeschool rather than enroll our children in one of the mainstream education options. Follow our blog as the adventure unfolds.

Feel free to browse the blog to learn more about homeschooling and the processes we are using to help our children make education and learning a life long, enjoyable process.

My hope is that I can use this forum to share thoughts and ideas and to continue my own life-long learning as well. We are VERY excited to be starting this journey and we look forward to sharing the process with our family and friends.

As this is a public blog I ask that your comments (if you choose to leave them) remain kind and considerate. You may disagree with my choices and beliefs but please do not attack them.