An Extra Ordinary Life | |
Saw this little beauty on the side of the road…
Yep. This is what we- here in Ghana- call a roadside food joint... Ü Can you tell what Addison’s pet peeve is this month?
REALLY gives the guest bathroom that special little touch dontcha’ think?!
and now, some fun...well...for a while. The BMX ParkOne of the more "fun" outings scheduled with other homeschoolers was a day riding around the BMX track at Stromlo Forest. My boys were keen on this idea and looking forward to the day. The course has some challenges but is a good one.   Zac had some good runs early...  but, as I was taking this photo from the start of the course,  Zac skidded off his bike, with it landing on top of him. The handle bar went into his leg and I had to take him off the the doctor's to get stitches! Boys...boys...boys... 3 stitches later, he was much better. It was a shame to end the day that way, though. Thankfully, a few months' later, friends of his had a BMX birthday party and he got back on his bike and rode around a different track without incident. War Memorial Visit ~ 2 July We were reminded of this scene recently as it was Remembrance Day on the 11th of November. However, I took this photo when we went to the War Memorial in July with one of the local homeschooling groups.  Seeing the honour roll, going into the tomb of the unknown soldier and hearing some of the stories of what the soldiers did in battle is a poignant reminder that our freedom has been bought at a great price, and also that war isn't all that glamourous.  Steve went with the older group and they mainly concentrated on the WWII galleries. The younger group was looking at Gallipoli, the ANZACs and WWI and as I stayed with them, I'll be writing more about that side of the trip. Even though I have a book on Gallipoli and we often talk about this campaign at the time of ANZAC Day, it was great to be at the Memorial and get a broader and deeper perspective of what this meant to the soldiers at the time.  The boys were amazed by this boat, taken directly from the beaches at ANZAC Cove and riddled with bullet holes from the Turks.  The model displaying the rugged and steep coastline and narrows of the Dardanelles showed the incredible disadvantage at which our troops fought.  The ration packs and woolen uniforms brought home other challenges faced by the men in the trenches. Other displays demonstrated the difficulties in other theatres of war. Having recently studied Belgium for the Geography Night held in late June, seeing images of the soldiers in Flanders was a natural integration in their learning.   I could talk about a lot more of the displays but there's just so much at the War Memorial and we did look at so many things! From scaling the heights in the Gallipoli campaign, to being stuck in the mud and filth of the trenches on the western front, to charging into the desert with the Light Horse, we then ended up looking at the skies overhead and the flying aces.  Peter Jackson, of Lord of the Rings fame, has put together an amazing, 8 minute long "dog fight". It's impressive, not just for the scope of the sequence but also because it spans a huge, curved screen, giving an incredible 3D effect. It opened in November last year and is played at regular intervals throughout the day. We were all transfixed watching this! It's a wonderful addition to the War Memorial and we'll go back and watch it again, I'm sure. We have such a rich, interesting and memorable resource right at our fingertips here in Canberra. Maybe there's something similar where you live. It's great when History can come alive and be made meaningful. Australian Science Festival - also in May... What's unusual about this photo? Those of you have have been to the ASF will know that this picture is not out of the ordinary... Daleks are common place in this arena. Andrew doesn't usually come with us to the Science Festival because we go during the week. This year, they decided at the last minute to hold it in May, rather than August, so we came on the Saturday to book into some of the things that interested us. There was still some "fun" things in the main hall. Mark got to dress up at the fire brigade stall:  and NICTA had a great exhibit. The boys tested out their endurance and speed, the results being recorded by use of sensors.   Zac tried to build a sustainable environment on "Catchment Detox", drawing the others into the game.  and the boys got to see how cotton is taken from the plant and processed.  After a short lesson in areodynamics,  and some rocket building,   we went to a seminar on "CSI: Fact or Fiction?", learning about the work of forensic scientists. The boys also went to a session on The Square Kilometre Array. Unfortunately, Andrew didn't get to the Science of Beer seminar and after a full day at the convention centre, we decided not to go out star gazing that night. They did have some light hearted fun at the end of the day though:  ...all in the name of Science!!! CSIRO Mini Beasts - MayBack in May, we went to the CSIRO for an excursion, looking at "mini beasts". In this category are some rather large insects and spiders! We asked Oma to come along...  and Mark, being the grown-up boy he is, joined in too. In this photo, he's making the sounds of a cricket. It was a "hands on" affair, and some, like Adam, got taken aback at some of the little creatures:  some things required closer examination....  some puzzles had to be solved...   and some things were just a lot of fun...  so, if you are not "squimish" in any way, and want to see some these creatures in action, a hands on workshop like this one, is a great way to learn more.  I love to see the bricks hanging around!
I love that they have bricks hanging off trees, bushes and shrubs here- to shape them. What a simple fix! They do it, to trees often, to create larger bits of shade and the bouganvilla grows like crazy here – so you see this over fences all the time. Now.. if only my kids would wear them…. Ü HS review...and boys first college classes are in....“ “Ya, I can just see it now, you’re going to home school them through college!” It seems like just the other day, that I as getting ribbed by friends for not wanting to send Devon to school. Thirteen years later, without a day spent in a classroom, and Devon is nearly finished with his first term of college, and YES! He is taking his classes online, so in a way we are homeschooling him through college! With a college freshman, a junior taking 12 credits (also at Liberty) and a 7th grader- It seems like a good time to reflect on the things we have loved and that have really *made* our homeschooling. These are the things that are tops on my list, that get us all excited and going a mile a minute… in random order as they pop in my head. Five in a Row. ~ This curriculum was really the backbone for our homeschool journey. Using wonderful children’s literature, FIAR seamlessly crosses subject lines and leads learning on-course. All of us have fond memories of our time in the pages of the books that Jane Clare brilliantly and lovingly selected. With the self doubt that can attack HS parents throughout the years- I have heard, read and even thought- “This is too easy!” “Is it going to be enough?” It is! It really, really does work! So very often Paul would come home and ask the kids, “What’d you learn today?” and they would answer” We didn’t do any school work today” Huh, we didn’t do any school work?! Can you tell Dad what country Madeline is from? Where is it on the map? Hey show him what the French flag looks like. Doesn’t that French bread smell yummy- did you tell dad you made it? What does ‘solemn’ mean again? Can you tell dad where your appendix is? … That is how easy the kids learn with FIAR, they don’t even know they are doing it. I think that learning with Five in a Row is like… taking a sponge and placing it in the ocean, the sponge has no choice …it is inescapably, effortlessly saturated with the salt water. The learning that happens when a FIAR manual has been placed in parents' hands, along with those great titles- those poor kids don’t stand a chance.- they are thoroughly, completely and effortlessly soaked in learning. Reading Made Easy (RME): The first big hurdle for a new homeschooler is really teaching your child to read, isn’t it? If we can figure out how in the world to teach them that- they just might be okay and we just might make it. (grin) RME really takes the pain out of this process and ever so gently leads the parent and child down the path together. Spelling Power: I love the way that spelling power works. Spending time focusing on the words that a student needs help with and then moving right along. Love it! English from the roots up: We love these simple flash cards for building vocabulary. Omnibus: We really enjoyed the book selections and the discussion type learning that took place using Omnibus. As high schoolers it was nice to find a “unit style” that we were able to continue along with! It made for some great thought provoking conversations. History Alive: We fist started using History Alive in its old format. We really enjoyed learning with Diana Waring. Her enthusiasm for history is contagious and we loved the reading selections. On car trips we will still listen to her CDs today! For English: A Reason for Handwriting The Writer's Jungle Write Source Science: We loved- Amazing Animals that Defy Evolution. Jonathan Park Other favorites throughout the years: Princess and the Kiss AWANA Keepers at Home Story of the World (read by Jim Weiss) Books on CD have been a huge blessing to our road trip time. Prairie Primer Still looking forward to going through Where the Brook and River Meet, with Addison. =0) Wanna know how the guys did on their first few classes? I’ll tell ya! Dylan 2009 Marine Birthday Ball
It's my mommies birthday!Happy Birthday mom. Thanks for all you do for us and the way that you love us!
{ Last Page } { Page 1 of 5 } { Next Page } |
About Me My Profile Archives Friends LinksCategoriesRecent EntriesFeb 2009 Bushfires in VicThe End of 2008 July June A day in the life of the Redolfi Homeschool FriendsKellyque777HomeGrownKids GoingRural Janne CentralianJen AussieHSBloggers Pickle CommunicationFUNdamentals DonnaLupton AussieinAmerica JocelynJames FLORAandFAUNA fly2 MissTardy adnilpress DesertEagle petlover coolcatau |
