Im writing this very quickly as I really should be in bed, but I just wanted to say that my son chose and inserted this dancing man as my avatar, and is quite proud of it so I am going to leave it for now. He is feeling very computer savvy atm.  

Will write more soon...........as soon as my life calms down a bit and stops moving so quickly!

Ive just spent the WHOLE day playing Monopoly with my children. They added, subtracted, multiplied, worked out percentages, thought out strategies, competed against each other and teamed up to compete against me.  They wheeled and dealed and went to the brink of bankruptcy, then back again. It was great. But best of all, we talked, laughed, hugged, commiserated, bared teeth and smiled at each other all day.

What a fun way to work on our relationships with each other! I'll have to do this more often.

I was just reading a good friends blog and she had this link on Biblical Advice for Bloggers. I thought it was pretty good advice.

Im reading Diana Waring's Beyond Survival at the moment and Im starting to learn more about my sons learning styles. Its really very interesting.

Sensor: the whiz-bang, lets get this done RIGHT and lets get it done NOW person. Practical and efficient.

Thinker: precise, organised, exact, scheduled. No grey areas, black and white facts only thanks.

Intuitor: What-if people: they see the possiblilities in things. 'Maybe, if we try this.....'

Feeler: Lets just cuddle on the couch and read for a while today.  Cannot learn if agitated in a relationship. Relates events to people.

I have one sensor (my 6yr old), one intuitor (9yr old), and two feelers  (my 11yo and I can allready tell this is my 2yr old). My sensor is kinesthetic/auditory, my intuitor is also kinesthetic and my eldest feeler is visual. Im not sure about my 2yr old yet.

Its good to work this out, as it helps me to understand their personalities a little more.

Ive also been reading a lot more about the Enneagram personalities. I am a definite no.7, yet I have a speckled variety in my chlidren. Understanding what numbers they are and seeing their motivations in the Enneagram has really clicked with me: Im understanding my children a lot more as I can see how their personality leads them to certain traits. I have one son in particular I struggled to understand, and I feel like someone has turned on the light finally to show me his motivations behind why he does particular things. Its beeen a big help.

I dont believe in using your personality as an excuse for bad behaviour, but Im finding that these personality tests are assisting me in identifying learning styles and why my chlidren do these weird and wonderful (and plain annoying) things. My oldest son always loved cuddling up in the afternoon and reading, reading, reading. I couldnt understand why my no.2 and no. 3  boys just found it hard to do that when I had read to them so much!! Why my 6yr old understood his phonics so much more by being upside down in his seat. Why my nine year old just liked to debate and debate and debate until I went crazy, and in which direction we should aim to turn the negative into a positive. Its also been quite humbling on a personal note..........its not easy reading about your flaws and agreeing with them!

Have a great day!

Please meet:

Nerdy Nelly, Nick and Fuzz.

We had a professional puppet-maker come in and show us how to make puppets in one of the homeschool groups I go to today, and these are the three puppets my eldest children made.

Twas a good day.   They did all the sewing themselves too which was a bonus, I am NOT good at sewing!

A Thursday afternoon nature walk.

With views!

I just wanted to write in quickly (only for third or so time today) and write about our day today. I read Leonie's blog this morning and we decided to take the plunge and go and find some mushrooms before they all disappeared, so we can see their spores on paper.

We couldnt find many in my yard so we headed over to Grannys, and while we were looking we found a very young blue tongue lizard! You can see his picture and read a bit about him here.

We bought our mushrooms home and placed them on white paper, the spore patterns have turned out just fabulous. My older boys looked up fungi and lizards in their nature encyclopedia (which just happened to appear on the table, fancy that) and read to their little brother how fungi grow, what they eat and how they reproduce. They then all did an entry in their nature journals, drawing wonderful pictures of different mushrooms and toadstools they had found on the internet. We popped into the shops and they asked if we could buy some blue-veined cheese so they could try it. My oldest son wanted to know how to grow mushrooms, so he thinks he has worked it out and wants to start that this weekend. 

What a great day!  

Thanks Leonie!

Hi,

My boys have started up a nature blog (with my help) now that my camera has finally been fixed!

Please check it out and offer some encouragement.    

Our Wild Days

Thanks!

Hi!

I thought I would do a little book review. I just read 'Homeschooling for Excellence' by David and Micki Colfax. The Colfaxes home-educated their children through most of their schooling years and ended up with three of their sons at Harvard, Im not sure about the fourth as my book is a bit old and their fourth son had not yet applied for college.

At first to be honest I didnt think I got a lot out of it, but after reflecting for a few days I changed my mind. Coming from a CM background with a strong christian base, this book at first didnt seem to relate to me too well. It didnt mention a Christian education at all, and it spoke mainly on why we need to homeschool, what was wrong with the school system and then how to homeschool; giving recommendations for the various text books they used throughout the high school years. (which didnt mean much to me considering they are American and use American texts, where I am in Australia )

Saying this though, I really enjoyed the simpleness of their homeschooling plan. Im sure it wasnt as simple as it appeared ( things never are, are they?!) but it was obvious they did not have the huge array of choices out there that can be mind-bogglingly confusing at times for us 'modern-day' homeschoolers!  To encourage their children to write, they kept a journal, they wrote letters, they wrote notes to each other. To encourage their children to read, they read to them and built up a library filled with an array of fiction, non-fiction, classics and manuals. To encourage their children's work ethic, they purchased a property and had them work alongside them. They believe 'real-life, hands-on experience' is more important than any book work during the younger years. They focused on 'real-world' experiences:

"There is a world out there- beyond the home and the neighbourhood -of museums, libraries, parks, concert halls, factories, markets, construction sites, farms, and fairs, to which the child can be introduced at an early age. It is a world at once more challenging and more complex than the one presented on television or in books, and one to which he or she should be gently, thoughtfully, introduced." (page 52).

They even went on to say:

"Young children cannot be expected to immediately appreciate Picasso or Mozart any more than the fine points of a baseball game, and a light touch is in order, especially where 'culture' is concerned. Children should not be cutrurally indoctrinated by well-meaning but heavy-handed parents any more than by insensitive classroom teachers. Homeschoolers need to take care not to overwhelm their children with elaborate 'meaningful experiences', for didacticism can be as anitithetical to education in a museum or zoo as in the classroom...........A visit to the ballet may result in an aversion to, instead of an interest in, dance. And budding artists have been known to prefer baseball to art galleries. But, more typically, days at the zoo may evoke a general interst in wildlife, or a special interst in snakes, or spiders, or bears." page 53

I found this an interesting contrast to some of CM's teachings, and one that gave me food for thought.

Overall I found it renewed my enthusiasm for 'real-life' experiences with my children, it encouraged me to keep that tv turned off and get my children outside and working next to me in the garden. Their detailed data on the deterioration of schools re-inforced my decision to homeschool throughout the highschool years. Personally I would not recommend this book as a purchase but I enjoyed their viewpoint on homeschooling. It reminded me a lot of the Moores philosophy and inspired the choice of my next book: 'The Successfull Homeschool Family Handbook' by Raymond and Dorothy Moore.

Have a great day!

As we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them,

Nor the years condemn,

At the going down of the sun

And in the morning

We will remember them.

Ive just had a really wonderful morning. As all Australians/New Zealanders would know, today is ANZAC day. ANZAC stands for Australia New Zealand Army Corps, and because my three boys are scouts they were asked to participate in the dawn service with the war veterans . Our household was up at 5.15am, I made hot chocolate for everyone, we wrapped the 2yo in blankets, bundled her into the pram and we walked the 15 minutes to the war memorial.  It was a nice way to wake up. The boys took the service extremelly seriously and as a group the scouts all did a wonderful job. We then headed over to the RSL for brekkie.........sausage sizzle, vegemite toast and Bundaberg Rum in the coffee! (lucky I drink tea!!) We were fortunate enough to be introduced to a man named Eric, he was 93 and had served in New Guinea during WWII in the air force. He had an impressive array of medals which attracted my boys eyes straight away. As we sat and nibbled our toast this lovely, gentle old man sat with my boys as they asked him question after question about the war and his medals. He was sofly spoken and partially deaf, so they had to listen closely as he explained about the airplanes he had looked after, the ships he had travelled on and what it was like during those years as a soldier. He was able to show them photos of some of the old bombers that he had worked on too which they were really interested in.

 Then as the lure of the old guns and weapons on display drew my boys attention away, he sat and held my hand as he told me the personal story of *his* war:  he had sold his little corner shop so he could enlist leaving his young wife and 4yo son at home. His beautiful baby daughter was born while he was serving in Borneo. He was in tears (so was I!) as he described his time in service: the friends he lost, his cousin who died in Galipolli, his wifes packages to him with her photos and letters that meant so much.

I dont have a relative who served in any of the wars, so I really enjoyed listening to Eric and his stories. I could have sat there all day I think. My husband, my boys and I discussed him and his adventurous tales all the way home. I had some pretty good *parent* moments too.  I was really proud of the way my sons took such a special interest in Eric and treated him with such respect. I have to admit I did feel pretty proud of them.

I hope my children will get other chances to talk to some other war veterans: they have such wonderful tales to tell and can offer our children so much, besides giving our children the chance to serve and honour these well-deserving older ladies and gentlemen.

We are off to make ANZAC biscuts now! Have a great day.

ANZAC Biscuits

There are a few theories on the origins of ANZAC biscuits (or ANZAC Cookies for Americans) but it is certain that they came about during the First World War, around 1914/15.

Some say that they started as biscuits made by the Troops in the trenches with provisions they had at hand to relieve the boredom of their battle rations. And some say they came about due to resourceful of the women on the "home front" in an endeavour to make a treat for their loved ones that would survive the long journey by post to the war front.

There is even the suggestion that they originated from Scottish Oatmeal Cakes which is entirely possible. Whatever the origin, they have won the hearts of all Aussies the globe over as the pseudo National Biscuit.

And here is how to make them, it is dead simple. If I can make them, anyone can!

Ingredients

·         1 cup plain flour

·         1 cup rolled oats (regular oatmeal) uncooked

·         1 cup desiccated coconut

·         1 cup brown sugar

·         1/2 cup butter

·         2 tbsp golden syrup (or honey)

·         1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

·         2 tbsp boiling water

Method

·         Combine the flour (sifted), oats, coconut and sugar in a bowl.

·         Melt the butter and Golden Syrup (or honey) in a saucepan over a low heat..

·         Mix the bicarbonate of soda with the water and add to the butter and Golden Syrup.

·         Pour the liquids into the dry ingredients and mix well.

·         Spoon dollops of mixture, about the size of a walnut shell, onto a greased tin leaving as much space again between dollops to allow for spreading.

·         Bake in a moderate oven, 180C / 350F, for 15-20 minutes.

·         Cool on a wire rack and seal in airtight containers.

Tips

·         The American tablespoon is a little smaller than the British tablespoon, so be generous with your Golden Syrup (or Honey) and Water.

·         If you have any thoughts of keeping the biscuits for any length of time I suggest you keep them in a padlocked container!

For a little variety you may wish to add 2 teaspoons of ginger spice or even Wattle Seeds, a recent addition but don't ask me where to get them.

Mmmm, ANZAC Biscuits.

Enjoy!

We are enjoying a rabbit-trail unit study on Robin Hood and the medieval world at the moment. I have three budding merry men and an unsuspecting 2yo Maid Marion (who doesnt have much choice in the matter.). We headed down to the hardware store today and bought plastic piping etc. for their bows and quivers and they have made their own arrows using some of the bamboo we have growing down the back. We're reading Roger Lancelyn Green's version of Robin Hood (which is just fantastic, Id really recommend it) and the boys have allready asked my mother to help them sew some costumes. (I dont sew well at all! ) However I suspect the request for some chainmail might have her a bit stumped!

Before tea I found J (11) on the internet looking up medieval feasts,  F (6) was busy making a sword (hammering nails in the kitchen on our new floor! arrghhh) while L(8) was practising his bowmanship outside. They all asked for another chapter during dinner which I was happy to oblige. As I type this it is almost 8pm at night and they have all headed outside with their bows and a great big spotlight torch (we gave this to J for his birthday last year and boy does he love it! Not very medieval however). Their plan is to shoot the wild  rabbits, we get tons here at night. But I gotta say,  I think those little bunnies are pretty safe tonight! lol. Which is good because I suspect there was rabbit on that feast menu.........so if by some miracle they kill one I will have to do the rest.    .

Besides a budding chef in my family (my 8yo son) I also have a budding musician, so we have also discussed what type of music would they have listened to during these times. Ive got 'requiem' type chanting music in my head, so I will have to investigate that further. Its nice to be able to appeal to the individual child isnt it?

Ive really wrestled with the idea of following curriculum vs delight directed learning over the past few weeks.........the *scheduled* side of me wants to follow something, but the *relaxed* side of me wants to trust more and follow their own interests.  I was just starting to think yesterday that maybe I needed to follow a curriculum as they seem to require some kind of direction, when suddenly this has taken hold completely and we are all running with it. Ive just ordered a heap of bible-based resources and Im looking forward to them arriving so we can investigate what the church was up to during this period too.  Im considering purchasing a HoW study to peruse this topic a bit more, not neccessarily for us to follow but to glean from. Im going to be very conscious of over-doing the delight in our studies though..........Ive learnt from past experience there.

Maybe this is what I'm meant to be doing. Delight-directed unit studies with a biblical basis. Maybe! But I think its more likely that this is just another season as my family keeps learning and growing together.     Praise God  for homeschooling!

love Bec

Ive just been reading about the new competition that Gena from TOS has made. Im going to get my camera back from the shop and enter it I think! It sounds like fun.

Hurrah! The wayward budgie has returned. It has only taken three hours of standing in the rain following him from tree to tree, but finally the children caught him! (and probably a cold or two while they were there). Hopefully he has seen the errors of his ways, but I fear he may never really learn his lesson. We will always have to be on the lookout for an open doorway of opportunity.

After our hot showers we are going to have a celebration feast with sultana cake and milo by the fire, and settle down to read our book......which was my original plan for this cold, rainy, miserable day.

And Ive promised myself that the next pet we get will be a CAT.

Oh dear. There is discord and mayhem in the house. The children are upset. The dog is excited. Our pet budgie, Ernie, has made a break, and headed out on his own into the big wide world. He saw his chance, the open door, and took it.  I think he felt there were just too many barriers living with us, and we did restrict him a bit. He was always a bit of a wild one. We tried to warn him about the dangers, there are some mean looking hawks that hang around the neighbourhood. But alas, he refused to listen, and headed off on his own.

The rescue team has just arrived, a-la granny and grandpa, so I will keep you updated.

I'm going through a de-tox time in my life. I've started The Liver Cleansing Diet, which I went on years and years ago. The main thing I remember about it was that it gave me heaps of energy and made me feel just great, plus I lost weight. I was on The Atkins Diet during the Christmas holidays and I lost 14kgs then, but it made me feel a little sluggish. I dont think I am cut out to eat all of that meat and cheese. (Mind you my nails and hair grew like you would not believe!)

The Liver Cleansing Diet starts each day with 2 large glasses of water (with the juice of a fresh lemon), then a freshly juiced large glass of celery, carrot and parsley. It sounds a bit icky but its actually a really nice way to start the day, straight away it has you feeling fresh and full of vitamins. Then you have to choose from their menu plan, depending on what stage of the diet you are in.

I'd like to lose about 4-5 kgs, and stop putting on weight as quickly as I have been. So this blog can keep me accountable.

I think Im also de-toxing from the internet, Im only allowing myself a small period of time on here each day and its helping a lot. I can get carried away and spend hours and hours on here sometimes. I have to remind myself that when my children are old I will not look back and wish I had spent more time on the internet.

My four babies are all outside at the moment, I can see my little 2yo daughter in the elevated cubby house and her brothers are fighting each other with homemade swords while she watches. They have allready dubbed her the Princess, and they put her up in her "tower' while they fight for her. She sits and watches quite entertained by their swordplay! They are so funny!!!

Have a lovely day.

love Bec

We had a really nice day with our homeschool group today. We have hired a tennis coach for this term and the children are all having lessons, so we are not meeting in the hall for the time being, just sitting at picnic tables outside.

Im really blessed to have such a lovely group. All three of my eldest children, my three boys, have found a really lovely friend each that goes to this group. There have been many times where one or two of my sons have lacked a good friendship, so I am really thanking God for this now. My boys do miss not having close friends sometimes, so its very special they have all found someone whom they can connect with.

I know this may very well change though, homeschoolers can be so transient at times. For now, though, its lovely.  

Bec

Anyone notice how many times I said 'nice' in the blog I just wrote below?

ugghhhhh, i need more sleep! this parenting business is tiring work sometimes.

Im tired today. My little girl must be teething because she is keeping me up all night, and we are supposed to be going out for tea tonight.

But the children and I have had a nice relaxing day in front of the fire reading, and my sister came over for a cuppa this afternoon which was nice too. She has only lived in our small town for just over a year and allready knows more people here than me, and Ive been here 7 years! We have deliberately kept to ourselves a bit, but as the boys are getting older we are starting to branch out a bit more, which is nice.

Its slowly getting colder, it wasnt really cold enough for the fire today but we just couldnt resist.  

Anyway, Im too tired to write too much else! I hope everyone else is enjoying the change of season, for some it must be starting to get warmer, for us Aussies its getting cooler. Whichever, its always nice for the change I think. I might try to get some before going out tonight now.

have a lovely evening.

Im busy reading through I Saw The Angel In The Marble, and thinking about how much my homeschooling has evolved over the years. We have gone from pre-packaged curricula-in-a-box, to lots of living books but still curricula- just different types. Ive dabbled in classical and natural learning, yet Ive also rigorously followed schedules that don't seem to connect to anyone or anything much and its almost a relief when we are done for the day.

Now I find myself seeking some kind of a balance. Im drawn to a delight-directed disciple-based learning, with still a semblence of structure for the three R's.  I like the Davis's 'rigid priority structure'; first, relationships; second, practical skills and finally, academics. As they tell of their son:

"Seth grew up with a strong academic upbringing, but academics were never our priority. Setth is a skilled, very competent individual of the highest character. He is also one of the happiest young men I have ever known. As I look back at Seth's time at home, I have come to realize that he was never "homeschooled." he simply grew up in a most unusual place- his own home."

I like this quote:

'Scholoarship should be individual and creative through a process of learning that produces a delight-directed student, a student who knows how to learn and will pursue the development of his God-given abilities. You will not reap the fruit of individuality in your children if you clone their education. This approach to child-rearing and home-schooling will suffocate our children's individual purposes. Violation of this principle will result in settling for a generic education, one that does not prepare and individual for life according to God's design."

Wisdoms Way of Learning by Marilyn Howshall

Its easy to say this however, but putting these ideas into practice can be time-consuming and tiring. But are they??? This is where I think I have gone wrong in the past- I have not given the connections my children make with their books, their nature walks, their art, their creative play (etc) enough value. As Judith Knowles points out in page 127 '...even though I intuitively understand the need to be a relaxed homeschooler, I still tend to stray back to a traditional educational mind set.' 

When I read this I thought "Hey! Me Too!"  But I think its a battle Im starting to win, as I begin to understand my own mind-set and where God, and my heart, are leading me.

blessings,

Bec

After going to Sydney's homeschool conference I have been challenged in a few areas, so Im reading voraciously to try to understand these challenges and help me expand on my own knowledge of them a little more.

Here are a few quotes Im writing down that pertain to my mindset at the moment:

"We suggest you imagine each child's graduation from high school (or leaving home). What do you want that child to know? What skills do you want him/her to have learned? What kind of a relationship do you want to have with that child? What kind of relatiohship do you want the child to have with God? What attitudes? What would it take for you to be able to say, "We're done!" What would it take to look back with few regrets about how you spent the years that child was in your care? What would it take for the Lord to say, "Well done, good and faithful parents!"

pg 40, 'I Saw The Angel In The Marble' by the Davis's.

"Education is not as much the mastering of skills and information as it is the development of healthy relationships. We want our children to be 'rightly related' to God; to themselves (personal care of their spirit, soul and body); to others; and to created things (nature, time, money, possessions, knowledge etc, etc.) Academic knowledge, facts and skills assume their proper places as they contribute to healthy relatiohships in each of these areas."

........."God's 'good way' of teaching is relational. We try to disciple our childen so that, as much as possible, they learn to do things as they do them with us 'when we sit at home, when we walk along the road, when we lie down, and when we get up.' "

pg 78, 'I Saw The Angel In The Marble' by the Davis's.