Posted in Family Life
My boys LOVE playing Hide and Seek with their Daddy and they are getting VERY good at it.
Can you see our hidden treasures?
Here's a closer look...
And his brother.....?
Who'd have thought we had so many great hiding places in one house!
Posted in Planning and Registration
Okay, this post may be incredibly boring for some and really useful for others. Feel free to check back later for a more interesting post.
At the end of next month I have to have my homeschool reporting prepared to send into the Home Education Unit. So I though it might be helpful for some to see what is required and how I plan to address the requirements.
This post will be about the actual Reporting Package that the Home Education Unit (HEU) sends to you approximately four months before your reporting is due. Mine arrived in mid-September in a plastic sheet display folder. It was filled with a number of printed pages, of which I have selected the most significant and will share below.
First there is a page outlining the reporting process:
You should note that the guidelines state that you are not obligated to present your report using their format however I do get the distinct feeling that they encourage it. I haven't started on my report yet but after looking through their format for the second year I'm pretty sure that I won't use it this year either.
I have not included the timeline they mention as it is specific to each individual. It basically just outlines when you will receive your report package, when your report is due and then when your yearly curriculum outline is due. It also outlines how long it will take the HEU to respond to your submissions. Be aware that their timetable for responding to you can be well off the mark. My reporting was submitted in late January and I didn't hear a thing from the HEU until late July. My guess is that they are seriously understaffed.
Section Two is next. It outlines how to go about collecting and assessing the samples:
The colours link to later pages where a sample report has been written using the questions from above.
The next page describes the HEU example of a written report. They include sample writings, a work sample analysis page (sheet A) and a checklist (sheet B) . These are the main components for the format they recommend.
The work samples:
The analysis of the work samples:
The checklist:
The next section includes all of the blank proformas that you are invited to use if you choose to follow their format. The first page gives you all the dos and don'ts of your work samples. It also indicates that you need to send 6 work samples: two from English, two from Math and two from a subject of your choice.
Note that the work sample analysis page (sheet A) has a list of suggested areas from which to select the work samples from. This is particularly helpful when trying to select a Math work sample.
The final section of pages are information about future planning and continuing registration. I haven't included these pages in this post as they aren't related to reporting.
I aim to use the package as a guideline towards what they like to see. I have already submitted a
report to the HEU for a previous year's work. From my past experiences I noted that they seem particularly hung up about draft copies of writing (even if you sit beside your child as they write and guide them before they make an errors) and seeing work from three separate areas. If you look at their Educational Progress forms from my
reporting post you'll can get a good idea of what they will be reporting on from YOUR reporting.
So there you have it...the rundown of what is included in "The Reporting Package" that I hope someone found useful. I shall keep you updated on my own reporting progress.
If you have any questions I'm happy to try and answer them although bear in mind that this is only my second reporting period and that I choose to opt out of their format and do my own thing.
Posted in Language
Recently we went on a hunt for great audio stories as the ones we had available to us in the standard stores and the library were few and far between and often the storylines were horrible - modernised and lacking depth, immoral and full of children wanting to avoid authorities, or just plain twaddle.
We wanted worthwhile stories that the whole family would enjoy, that would impart Christian values, and would ignite our curiosity about God's world. We wanted characters that were good role models, that loved God, obeyed their parents and displayed wholesome relationships with other children and adults. I know, I know. We were asking for a miracle...but God delivered.
I had actually purchased another series before this one but have set it aside as a gift so I can't comment on that choice yet. So I had actually given up the hunt in hopes that I had found what we wanted. And then in the mail a Sugar Creek Gang sample story arrived as part of a bonus deal for ordering
Hal and Melanie Young's fabulous book, "Raising Real Men". I hadn't been expecting it at all so I was truly puzzled as I pulled the parcel from the letterbox. That day we were heading out so we popped the cd in the car and began listening...as something to listen to. It was awesome!! The boys didn't want to get out of the car at our destination....me either!!
Sugar Creek Gang was everything on my wish list and more!! The characters were wholesome and wonderful role models. The characters could be in the middle of an exciting adventure but if it was the time they were expected home for dinner or chores, they would leave the adventure and head home. Now you don't see that sort of honour for parents in modern books!
Most of the main characters are Christian. The ones who aren't are characters that are being led to Christ by the gang or are set as examples of what to avoid in life. And it's not the kind of story where Christianity is sprinkled here and there so the title "Christian" can be slapped on it. The characters pray, attend Church, keep Christ as their role model and desire to lead others to be saved as part of their everyday lives.
The stories are quite old fashioned which adds to the charm for us. They are about a gang of boys who live along Sugar Creek and their adventures. I would say the audios are more suited to boys but then again I enjoy the stories as much as the boys. I love that the audios return girls to their central place in the home - to the nuturing and to be protected roles. So if you support the notion that girls can and should do everything a man can do, then these audios may, at times, offend you.
I asked my boys for their reviews of Sugar Creek Gang. Brayden (6) said he loves the exciting snow and flood adventures (he's our weather and disaster lover) and Ethan (8) said he didn't have one part that he liked because he loved ALL of it. Me - I love all of it too.
We've only bought two volumes (12 cds, 6 stories in each) so far but we're very excited that there are 4 more volumes just waiting to be
purchased. The problem is that we're enjoying them so much that they'll be all listened to far too quickly and we might not find anything else that measures up to the very high standards that these audio books have set for us.
At the moment you can buy the first story from
Beloved Books for US$2.95 with free shipping (to the US I would assume).
So if you're looking for great audio stories I can highly recommend Sugar Creek Gang.
This review is because we love the product. We did not receive these products as any part of a "review for free product" program.
Posted in Homeschooling Days
School holidays have started in our house. Hubby is a teacher so holidays generally start when Daddy finishes school. I mean who would want to be stuck at the table doing bookwork when their Daddy is home! So school holidays started last week for us.
We were going to work through to Friday but my will just wasn't strong enough to get us through to the end of the week. The lure of holiday freedom was just too much and neither of my little students protested.
We've achieved so much this year. We stopped attending a local homeschool group that was taking up too much school time and not fostering Christ-like relationships. In its place we began meeting up with other homeschool friends, who had already left their own homeschool groupie scenes. Until this year we hadn't had enough time to spend with them because we were always off on an excursion of some sort with our group. So this year we met with one or two of these families each week and the boys (and myself) ended up developing much more positive relationships. It also helped that these families had a heart for Christ. It only took a few weeks for me to clearly see that large group interactions were not the place to teach socialisation. For us, this year, selected playdates have been a wonderful blessing. Plus God bought one of my dear homeschooling friends to live much closer to us and we get to see them on a weekly basis now. How spoiled am I!!
I thought when we left the group scene that we would miss out on a lot of activities and excursions but this has not been the case at all! In the past our excursions were crammed into the school term and we were so burnt out by the end of the term that we just wanted to stay home during the holidays. Plus they were excursions chosen by others for the benefits of others...usually only the minority. The way we approached excursions this year was to acknowledge that the excursions and activities that the boys loved the most were not the ones we had attended with our group. They were the outings we went on as a family when hubby came with us and the best time to find activities organised for children and families is holiday time. Yes it means venues are crowded and filled with holidaying school children but the activities and presentations we've attended have been well worth the crowds. Plus there are often set limits on attendees so many of the activities are not all that crowded. And most of them are free!! So this year we've done our school during the school term and our excursions during the holidays when we're ready to get out of the house and enjoy our time as a family.
I've also been totally surprised at how much work we've got done this year. I didn't realise how little we were achieving by being out of the house so many times with our group activities in the past. And we're not rushing through extra work because we have the time but we're finding that we're more relaxed, enjoying a lot more leisurely read alouds and are more happy to spend additional time doing unplanned activities. In the past I've had a "we've got to get this done to be out of the house by whatever time" type school attitude. It has not been that way this year. School has been (mostly) a pleasure for teacher and students.
Not only do we get more time for school work but the boys get more time for play and I get more time to keep the house in shape. It's a winning deal all around.
God has worked wonders with our school year. It's been the very best that we've had so far. Wonderful friends, wonderful opportunities and plenty of time to leisurely enjoy both.
I'm finding it hard to wonder how next year could be even better. But as Ethan often reminds me,
"Everything is possible with God!"
Posted in Science
Yes
Mr Caty has emerged as Mr Mothy.
It happened early last night, just before tea.
We didn't catch the exact moment as we're sure Mr Caty waited for the moment when we weren't watching.
The boys were more impressed with this stage in the cycle than any other stage.
This stage had the "Wow" factor for them.
We're fairly sure he wasn't long emerged from his cocoon
as he still had his wings in a vertical position and was content to just sit and primp and prepare himself for life as a moth.
He also spent some time curling and uncurling his proboscis.
Before long he moved his wings to an open position.
We placed a piece of clear plastic over the top of the insect cage so that we could observe our moth more easily.
For those who love the gory details (skip this next photo if you don't), Mr Mothy fluttered and squirted a watery blood-like fluid from his body in the process of preparing himself to live as a moth.
We used our microscope, that can be removed from its stand and used more like a camera, to observe his details more closely.
a close up of Mr Moth's wings
an even closer image of his wings
I thought Ethan was crazy when he said that Mr Mothy had green eyes. They looked dark to me but under the microscope (or with the young eyesight of a small boy) they are most definitely green.
how cool is this image...we love our microscope!!
The boys suggested that we find out how to care for a moth but I convinced them that it was time to let Mr Mothy head out into the world to do what God had in mind for him (although we did miss checking on him today).
So we turned off the lights in our home and opened the doors to our well-lit patio and waited for Mr Mothy to take his first flight. (Hubby was reprimanded for joking about turning on the electric bug zapper!)
It was quite some time but he eventually flew off towards the light and danced happily around the lights with his mothy friends.
The boys called to Mr Mothy telling him to return when it was time to lay his eggs and have babies...if he turns out to be a she that is.
Farewell Mr Mothy
