Life Sized ME

Another home school Mum, whom I highly respect, gave me the idea of this life sized ME activity. My boys loved it.

Here is what we did:  First the boys lay down on a huge bit of paper and we drew around them.  Then we dithered around for about a month, with these huge bits of paper in our desk, getting in the way, I wouldn't recommend that bit.  

I finally got myself organised to fit this activity into a home school day, and this is what we did.  In different parts of our bodies I asked then the boys answered the following prompts;

Head:

3 things I want to learn this year are...

Heart: 

I love ...

Tummy: 

My favourite foods are ...

Arms:

1. My favourite things to do are...

2. I feel nervous when ...

    I feel relaxed when ...

Hands:

1. My favourite  (for each finger/thumb) colour, movie, Bible character, lollie/sweets, song

2. People I like spending time with are (a dash leading into each finger)

Legs:

My top 5 dreams for 2014  (physical, spiritual etc)

I then suggested they lay down on top of their outlines (carefully) and think about all the things they had written under them.  I then asked them if there was anything else that was important about who they were, they should write it on their feet.

Later in the day after reading a portion from a book called Boundaries with Kids, I decided to add a responsibility element to these life sized Me's.

We stood looking at our outlines, which I had hung on the wall, up high so they looked bigger than life.  I spoke with them about how God had given them these bodies, like machines (it's a boys world in our house), they need a driver, someone in control.  I asked them who was in control of their machine?  We talked about who makes their machine lift things or move things? Who makes their machine move their arm?  I asked if I could make their arm move, and we concluded, no, unless I forced them, I could direct them to move their arm, but they would have to comply and do the moving.  

This lesson has been a spring board to talking about self-control.  Controlling our machines is self control..

2014 Mash-up

So this year, due to age differences, we cannot go with the Sonlight Curriculum, so we have opted for a bit of lots of things.  For non-home schoolers this next paragraph will be utterly dull.

Our base curriculum this year is Ambleside.  We are making the most of their Bible, history (with a tiny bit of Sonlight), literature, and readers, as well as all the other online resources we can glean. Maths, we have stuck with Horizons, this program worked so well last year. Geography, we have opted for Ann Voskamps Geography, The whole earth and the Holy Land.  So far, it's not the kind of geography we are use to, it seems more like science.  But this may change. Speaking of science, we have gone with Jenie Fulbrights Animals of  the 6th Day.  We started this last year, but decided a broader science through Sonlight may be better for the first year.  Language Arts, I am making up, using some NZ Curriculum books, Handwriting Without Tears and then my own exercise sheets.  Memory verse, we are following Ann Voskamps Jesus Project, learning 2-3 hand picked verses through each chapter of John. Art I decided to base loosely on Ambleside and some Art books we have at hand.

I love that Sonlight has given me the confidence to be able to pick and choose to form the mash-up curriculum we are doing this year. It has been so fun to be able to pull together so many flavours.  And this has given us the opportunity to add to our day if we so desire, or to focus on areas of interest.

We may be heading back to Sonlight next year, for the American History year, but we shall see how this year progresses first.

Nature Study

When a ordinary fishing trip becomes a organic study of nature.

An overcast day in the beautiful place called Grossi Point, Mapua, what better time to go for a fish?  The boys had spent the morning with my Mum, finishing their homeschool and playing, while I gave some counselling training to a handful of enthusiastic and passionate youth workers.  Upon my return, we decided a spot of fishing was in order, at this location it is really only casting out practise, but we call it fishing anyway. Snag after snag, then birds nests, of the fishing kind rather than the feathered kind, kind of puts kids off the fishing part, so they find their own fun. Climbing trees, exploring the mudflats, hunting crabs. The opportunity to forage and explore is too much to resist.

Seb enjoyed practising casting out and exploring. Solomon collected tiny crabs to keep as pets while holding a fishing rod for all of 30 seconds.  Nana undid the birds nests. I walked the shore trying to get snags unstuck.  A couple of hours later it was off to the ice-cream shop.  A prefect afternoon.

Brownie Making

Charles Upham Avenue Flat Chocolate Brownie

Today we made Brownie, I thought the boys may like to learn the best brownie recipe in the world, best, meaning yummiest, yet most decadent/unhealthy.

I always get asked for the recipe when I take it out to things, so I thought I'd share.

Reciepe calls for 200gms of butter, but I find this a bit much.  So this is slightly refined from the orginal recipe (forgive me Mel, Rose and Emma for tampering with the tradition)

175gms Butter
1/2 Cup Cocoa

Melt in a saucepan. Take off, allow to cool for a few minutes.

Add:
1 cup of flour
2 cups of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
2 eggs
a decent handful of white chocolate buttons

Mix.

Pour out into a baking paper lined, square, retangle or round tin, totally up to you. I normally go a square, as it means the brownie is thicker and stickier.  I like it tacky as I put it in the fridge to harden, and keep it refrigerated, so it's thick and rich.

Variations: You can also add different types of nuts or dried fruits like cranberries or dates.

Bake for 18-20 minutes depending on your oven.  I have a bit of a rubbish oven, so I don't preheat mine, I just bang it in for 20 minutes, then tip it slightly sideways to see if the mixture isn't causing waves on the top, if not it's done in my book. I then leave it to cool and put it in the fridge. It goes hard then out it comes and I cut it just before I serve it, or cut it and put it in a airtight container, to eat as NEEDED.

Sadly you may need to try this a few times and alter things slightly to get it just how you like it.  Ensure you share or your waistline will not thank you.

ENJOY.

Fishing Trip

Today was a special Sol and Mum day. I could think of nothing better than going fishing with my youngest.  He loves fishing, and so do I.  So off we traipsed to Mapua Wharf, to meet friends, drink coffee, eat ice-cream and reel in some big ones together.

While fishing, we meet a lovely older couple who were visiting from Amberley, who 'helped' Sol and our friends, catch a fish.  'Helped' can be translated: when they caught a fish, they called over each child in turn to reel it in.  All were able to have their photo taken with a fish, all around the same size as this one...

They decided to cut the head off and use it for bait, as well as explore the intricacies of the fishes insides.

Before Sol and I went fishing, we said goodbye to Dadda, who was off for a 2 night tramp/hike with friends, and goodbye to Seb, who had a Survivor Day event organised by our local Christian home educators group. It was Seb's dream day; making shelter, rafts, fire, whittling, chasing Weka, swimming, and hanging out with his buddies, Ez and Sam.

He came home tired and happy, and so to finish the day we made fire at home and cooked some damper. While they ate it, I read them a chapter from our current read-aloud, a Gladys Aylward Biography.

Seb keeping an eye on Sol's cooking of his damper.

Damper Recipe:

1 cup self-raising flour

25 gms butter

pinch of salt

pinch of cinnamon

1/4 cup milk

Rub butter into the flour. Add salt and cinnamon. 

Slowly add milk to make into a dough consistency.

Use less or more milk as required.

Wrap around a clean stick and cook over a fire, time varies with heat of fire.  

Damper pulls off the stick cleanly when cooked all the way through.

Enjoy.

Bug Week

Surprise discoveries are so exciting.  This week we were blessed with welcoming the first of this summers cicadas, which initially is exciting, later on in the summer they are deafening.

Our next discovery was a little more unexpected. I have not seen a Weta this size before, and I certainly didn't expect to see one as I was pulling my sage bush out. Seeing this attractive creature reminded me of the Bear Grylls clip when he was filming a show in New Zealand. He got bitten and it drew blood! This made me very cautious when handling it. Bear Grylls then ate it, this is a funny clip, worth a look. View clip here. We did not eat it.

Cross Country Fun

Our local Christian Home Educators Group Cross Country Event

Gathered around listening to the directions for the days running and biking events. There was so much excitement and anticipation.

SOLOMON #17

Here I am lining up ready for the race, I was feeling a little bit nervous.

 Here I am, coming in 7th place. I was very proud of myself.

RABBIT ISLAND

 Moturoa, sometimes I am amazed we get to live, run, bike and swim here.

SEBASTIAN #34

Ez and I, extremely tired after the run. Ez placed 1st, I placed 2nd.

Just crossed the finish line, quite tired.

Kori the Penguin Came for a Visit

What a delight to get a surprise visit from Kori the Penguin and Aunty Shirlene.   Such an occasion requires Solomon to dress up - in his swimming goggles.

Imagination Travel Journal by Seb

Date 5015, the 56 month of the year.

I was climbing the famous Almond Mountains in Russia, it was quite misty as it had been raining beforehand.  I was very high now, so I turned around to look at the view and I saw a big kangaroo chasing me.  I started sprinting hard out but he was gaining on me fast.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the famous stolen banana dirt bike and it had petrol in it. I couldn't resist to try it.  Then I remembered the kangaroo.  It was so close now I could hear it bounding after me, so I jumped on the dirt bike as I had ran towards it when I had first seen it.  I revved it and took off. Leaving the kangaroo coughing in my dust.

I was keeping a good lookout for World War I and II trenches that hadn't been filled in , silly people. Further on I came driving through a little group of Hotels in the middle of nowhere.  I was puzzled as I was wondering if anyone lived here.  Out came some partly naked people, only a bit of hippo skin covered them. They were dark skinned and quite tall. They started talking to me in Maori, which I know, so I started talking back (I did quite well at my languages at school).  They said they came from New Zealand by boat to help with the fighting (which they are good at).  They made Hotels themselves, which I think is awesome. They said they would give me hospitality and they would clean up the dirt bike which was quite dirty from all the riding.

I went into one of the hotels in quite good shape. I went up the stairs as a tired man. I went into the bedroom and flopped onto the bed.  It had been a tiring day. I lay awake for as long as I could remember, thinking about the day that had passed.  Probably the most epic day anyone has ever had.  Chased by a kangaroo, found the famous banana dirt bike, found Maori living in Hotels in the middle of nowhere. I finally felt my eyes dropping from dowsiness and went to sleep thinking Russia is a strange and puzzling place.

Sugar in Peanut Butter? Really?

Yesterday we went to visit Pic's Really Good Peanut Butter  factory with our local home school group. I admit, I was looking forward to this as much as the boys were.  I really love Pic's peanut butter, it truly is 'really good'.

The boys in the factory after the tour and taste test, 

surrounded by packaged Really Good Peanut Butter.

I learnt a lot from the tour. The most amusing was that these folks started roasting their peanuts in a brand new hand concrete mixer.  Now they roast 2 tonnes of peanuts per day, so clearly have more appropriate facilities. What was recent news to me was that Pic started making his own peanut butter because the peanut butter we buy on our super market shelves had sugar in.

Sugar in peanut butter?  Really?  We have two different peanut butters, Pic's, which the bigger people in the family like and another supermarket brand, which the smaller people in the family like.  I read the ingredients with shock.  Sugar was listed.  Sugar in peanut butter!  Why?

Why must we need sugar in everything?  I blame the fall.

Craig our tour guide told us we could make peanut butter at home. Why not try it too.

Take some raw peanuts, roast them in your oven, then put them in a blender with a pinch of salt, and blend for a few minutes until the peanut dust becomes a ball of peanut butter.

Into week 14 of Home Schooling

Well it's fun.  Home schooling is FUN!  Yes it is challenging, it's hard work and it's a total blast all at the same time.

I currently live in a VERY supportive home school community, if anyone ever wants to home school and will move the world over to do so, then Nelson, New Zealand is the place to do it.  Apart from being a beautiful location, there is so much to do; swim at the beach, rivers, lakes (if you're into braving alpine lakes that aren't exactly warm in summer).  We have big hills to walk, tracks everywhere for biking and homeschooling networks from Christian to non-schooling hippies.  It's awesome! And I get to begin my journey amongst the most seasoned home schoolers, as well as other beginners, it's amazing.

We have found that making connections is vital to building community with other families, you do have to work at it, and yet it has come very naturally for us. our church has a number of home school families, and we are super fortunate to be blessed with others who have children the same age as ours.

And yet at the back of my mind, in this time of waiting, I know we are not going to be in this environment forever.  Soon, hopefully Lord, we will be moving far away.  Yet I am doing my best to make the most of every opportunity we have here now.  

We have begun this adventure with structure, opting to use the Sonlight program, I am not disappointed. I am learning so much and the boys seem to be too.  Our family are readers, so this program works well.  I now have two history lovers and my youngest has been mad about geography and flags after attending a Montessori pre-school.  This program is brilliant for us this year.  I just don't know how we will be able to fund it for next year.  But after reading the story of George Muller, perhaps I should take my desire and need to the Lord and let Him resource our needs.

Not much else to say today, just that this is so much fun.

Joys of homeschool

For two boys who love the outdoors and reading, what better thing to do on a balmy autumn day, reading high on a giant outdoor play rhombicuboctahedron  (honestly - I had to google it!).  

Thankfully our boys are adjusting well to home school life. They soon realised that although there are some things they miss out on, home school has it's benefits. The biggest being that play time involved climbing trees, making tree huts, playing Bear Grylls with all sorts of ropes, sticks, and pocket knives.  Most of which wasn't permissible at school.

It hasn't been a totally smooth transition. There have been some very ugly moments, and sometimes those have turned into ugly days - and that wasn't just the boys.  Home schooling isn't easy. Easy is dropping your kids off at school and doing what you like from 9am - 3pm.  I loved that part of my life, and really appreciate that time I had now.  But ... I wouldn't go back now.  I love homes school as much as the boys.  We are learning together, and boy is it fun. History, geography, literature, cultures, beliefs - we cover some great topics.  Topics that broaden our world view - all through well written children's' literature.

I think I'm going to start a recommended reading section, to share all the fantastic books we are reading. There are some utterly rubbish books on the book store shelves and the library shelves too.  But if you know where to look, there are some great books available.  Creating a family library is a very worthy investment.  Thanks to www.bookdepository.co.uk it's not ridiculously expensive either.

Back to home school ... if you are thinking about homeschooling, and are terrified for your children or your own sanity then welcome.  I'm not a teacher by occupation.  I was not even a very good student when I was at school.  The only thing I have is a deep appreciation for my children's  hearts and minds.  I love those two rascals.  They test me, challenge me and infuriate me at times, but together we endeavour to learn. To be honest with you, the best curriculum can not measure up to a parent who desires to invest in their children's heart and mind.

We didn't have a choice to home school. As we are preparing for the mission field, we felt this was the only option for our children while we were overseas.  So reluctantly I started looking into it.  It took one day face to face with Google to be convinced, it's a good thing to home school.

But what about Socialisation?  Dude! The number of times I have heard that question!  Sadly we are too busy to worry about socialisation. With football and basketball practises and games, language lessons, play dates, kids version of youth group, kids church, I don't have time to do all I would like to with our boys.  But  that is how it is for us at present, we are jamming all we can into our time here, until we are to leave for PNG.

This home school lark is fun, fun, fun.  Not easy but definitely full of joy, not just enjoyment kind of joy but also joy in relationships.  My boys are way more connected to me, even on days when I have been Mrs Battle-Axe (which was a surprise). Joy.  That's worth all the ugly moments, that is.