Term Three: Week Four ~ Getting Back on Track

Our first week this term that resembled something close to normal.

The boys and I relished in the normal, mundane, routine things of life.

For structured written work we focused on maths and spelling as I decided to ease back into our full load rather than jump in the deep end!

This week was an excellent time to have a look at this book as I tried to make sure we did more read aloud this week.  It is a hilarious chapter book all about the history of the English language and there is some grammar thrown in for good measure.  You know it is a good book when the boys are BEGGING you to read more than you planned.  What is really fun is that there is a puzzle at the end of each chapter that the boys have to work out to learn more. 

The man around the corner (and up the street) from our house had put out bread for the birds again so we enjoyed a bit of bird watching (and photographing) on our way home from the library. 

The three boys played a great many games of Naughts and Crosses/Tic-Tac-Toe one evening before bed.

And as always, we read books.  We're not nearly reading the amount I would like us to be, but we are working our way back up to normal - slowly.  We started the week with a little micro mini unit on the game of cricket.  The top book was a great one about an Aboriginal cricket team that toured to England.  Mark Greenwood is an EXCELLENT author and so far we have loved all his books.

Then we read another book about Don Bradman.  The boys enjoyed the stories, so perhaps this summer we'll make a point of watching some cricket on TV. 

Monster and I finished the very last book in the Our Australian Girl series.  The Marly books took place in 1983 so I'm not sure whether they will add to this series or not.  Certainly there are events in the 1990s and 2000s that would be historically worth documenting, so we'll wait and see what the authors decide.  At any rate, I am glad that Monster and I read all of these.  They were a wonderful way to enjoy some Australia's history through the eyes of children (girls) that are around Monster's age!  

Monster completed his Premier's Reading Challenge list for 2016 when he finished this book. 

We finished off our Ancient Egypt unit with this chapter book all about Cleopatra before she became queen.  Aside from maybe a project or two to further cement Monster's learning, we will call Ancient Egypt finished (for now) and move on to Ancient Greece starting next week. 

We completed Monkey's evening read aloud selection, now on to book three.

Term Three: Week Three ~ Cleaning House

The last of our crazy weeks.

Our landlords came on Saturday to do a rental inspection so I cleaned the house from top to bottom.  I used muscles I forgot I had, and was more physically tired by the end of it then I've been since giving birth to the Munchkin - but I'm proud of my clean house and I'm going to make sure it stays cleaner now.  From next week the boys will be back to their daily cleaning roster (mummy too) and we'll stick to it.

While I cleaned, they caught up on missed episodes of The Great Australian Spelling Bee online, used Reading Eggs and various other learning websites, played lots of Lego, read books, and enjoyed free time for playing.

Next week we return to our regularly scheduled program!!

Monkey finished another chapter book... 

Munchkin and I read these two picture books... 

And Monster made more progress on his Premier's Reading Challenge list.

Term Three: Week Two ~ Monkey Turns Seven

Week two was all about our middle man, who turned SEVEN!  We celebrated with presents, a special dinner, and cake on his actual birthday and then he celebrated with his friends that weekend.  Nana was here for the week so structured learning was set aside to spend time with her and enjoy a more natural learning experience.  

Nothing like a bit of sensory play with "instant snow" given to them by a friend from church who attended some of the winter festivities in the city.  The two older boys quickly worked out the the "snow" was actually the crystals you find inside disposable nappies/diapers.  It was messy but LOTS of fun. 

They spent a whole morning playing a card game they LOVE. 

 Our picture book selection.

 Our "school" reading for the week.  This version of King Midas was VERY simplified because it was from the easy reader section of the library - I'm on the hunt for a good full version.

I got this "Mighty Robot" series out from the library with Monkey in mind.  Monster already read them a few years ago, but read them all again (in one day - thus the photo above of all nine together) just for fun.  Monkey also likes them and read the first three (other photo) the first full day we had them.  I love it when I hit on something they enjoy. 

Finally Munchkin's favourite bedtime story for the week.

Term Three: Week One ~ Let the Celebrations Begin

The first three weeks of this new term are going to be CRAZY so expect that photos will be at a minimum.  This first week alone we have dentist appointments for all three boys (check-ups) in the middle of the week, and and 80th birthday celebration on the weekend for one of Charlton's uncles.  PHEW!!  

As the winter wears on and the temperatures slowly begin to rise, the boys can help with laundry again.  Several mornings Munchkin came out with me and would hang the socks and undies on the portable clothes airer while I hung the rest of the laundry on the line.  He was quite pleased to discover that he has grown and can reach the top rungs if he stretches a bit. 

Wednesday after the dentist appointments we enjoyed lunch at the shopping centre and then some special Lego shopping.  The boys had a budget issued to them by mum and dad, and got to use their math skills at the shop when they discovered all Lego was 20% off.  Much comparing of prices and mentally computing the discount was happening in the aisles before they carefully and thoughtfully made their decisions. 

Just some funny photos of Munchkin showing off his Lego mini-figs.  He was thrilled to be allowed to buy his first "big boy" Lego set.  He didn't even mind that his older brother had to help him (A LOT) with the building.  He just likes to display it on his special shelf, and take it out to play with it. 

On a walk to the park on Friday we spotted this hairy caterpillar. 

 Despite a crazy schedule, we still carve out a bit of time to read.

Monster even finished a chapter book.

School Holidays

The boys and I spent the better part of the second half of the term sick with coughs and colds so I decided that the best thing to do over school holidays was to keep things simple so we could rest and recover.  We kept outings and activities to a minimum and just enjoyed an abundance of free and unstructured time.

As is tradition now, we borrowed the iPad from our local library for the holidays. The boys had set amount of time to play each day and all three enjoyed playing Minecraft the most. 

Almost an entire day was spent soaking up the winter sunshine that spills across our dining table, while creating with Lego and enjoying plates of finger foods. 

We attended only one library event this holidays - a Roll the Ball games day.  All three boys participated though I only managed to get photos of two of them.  Our (new) favourite librarian (George) enjoyed being in the photos with them. 

In between the games, Monkey would settle down on a chair with a stack of picture books. 

We enjoyed our school holidays play date with our best homeschool friends and the boys spent the entire day switching back and forth between Lego and the trampoline. 

On a walk home from the library we came across a small flock of Rainbow Lorikeets enjoying some bread a neighbour had put out for them.  They are quite tame and allowed us to get very close.  The boys (and I) enjoyed watching them and snapping photos of them. 

I love to see the creativity that emerges when they play with Lego. 

Munchkin enjoyed the chance to play his favourite board games with daddy. 

Friends invited us to a delicious BBQ lunch that featured this lamb! 

While at the BBQ the boys spotted this strange and intriguing looking bug. 

Monster continued to work on his puzzle on the evenings that time allowed. 

We enjoyed a bonus afternoon with our best friends. 

That night we enjoyed a special family night out to watch game three of the State of Origin rugby series. 

Our friends Aimee (mum) and Ivy (daughter) were back for a visit after moving to Melbourne several months ago.  The kids were thrilled with the chance to catch up. 

Finally, Munchkin and I enjoyed a special day just the two of us while the older boys attended an all day Lego event at Aimee's church.  Since she was visiting for the weekend she attended and helped out and we got one last super short visit before she headed south again.

All in all, it was a wonderful holiday and we were refreshed and ready to tackle the craziness that would be the first three weeks of the new term...