Term 1 wrap up

The end of first term is nigh, so before we leave on our very well deserved holiday to Heron Island, here's a record of what the girls have been up to.


Sport - Ballet, Gymnastics, Kids Cardio, Circus classes.

Music - Choir, Piano lessons, attending concert band rehearsals, concerts and citizenship ceremonies.

Personal Development - Girl Guides.

LOTE - Latin, learning phrases and words relating to the countries studied in our Around the World unit.

Art - Artist Trading Card swap with fellow homeschoolers, batik making.

History - Brief histories of the countries studied in our Around the World unit; Indigenous study (tool making, edible plants, culture and music); Horrible Histories books/DVD; French Revolution video from Khan Academy.

Geography - Around the World unit; preparation for our trip to Heron Island, Qld.

Science - Crystal growing; Tadpole watch; Saturday Science sessions; Rockpool study; marine life study; growing pumpkins; dog, rabbit and guinea pig care; "Hands in the Dirt" excursion involving planting seeds, grasses, analysing compost, identifying animals under a microscope.

English - Shakespeare (H); Headsprout (R); library days; H is writing her own Mr. Men story; writing and performing original plays; atttending a performance of Hamlet; research skills for Around the World project.

Maths - Smartkiddies website; Cool maths games; math workbooks; Pi Day; selling raffle tickets at band concert.

*Around the World countries studied were South Korea, Mexico, Canada and Mauritius.

...and all done in our pajamas! (well, most of it anyway).

a bucketful of egg cases(?) need help identifying these!

investigating at Rickett's Point

snail trail

common sea star

crab shell lineup

Stage 1 of batik making using flour paste instead of wax. Instructions here.

 

Crystal making using Borax, food colouring and boiling water:

 

Torn paper craft:

Hands in the Dirt excursion:

planting Lomandra

Circus time.  R is working towards her Level 1 certificate:

The Doctor is changing daily now.  One day he sprouted a front leg.  The next day the second one popped out:

We will most likely release him back to the creek where we found him at the end of this week.

Oct 10 - Nov 2

H turned 9 last month. We celebrated at the local Mexican restaurant for dinner followed by cake at home. It was a nice quiet end to a busy day of family visits, art class and ballet.

The Sound of Music season was a hit with full houses each night.  After the last performance we jumped into Manuel and drove to Bendigo for the night.  The next day we explored and shopped, then enjoyed a concert by Bendigo Concert Band in the afternoon.

All the good weather we've had lately had put ideas of the beach into R's head, so off we went to Rickett's Point for some rockpooling and adventuring.  Whilst there we met a grandmother and her grandkids catching crabs and fish with nets and pieces of bacon on a string. Will have to remember that for future trips!

Tube worm cases

Neptune's necklace everywhere

sea monkey

Snail's eye view

contemplation

The girls started a gymnastics class this term.  They are both really enjoying it and have alot of fun hanging, climbing, jumping, swinging, rolling, stretching and somersaulting around the courses. With gym, cardio and ballet (and lots of extra ballet rehearsals for the coming concert) H and R are burning off loads of energy and keeping fit. I'm exhausted just watching them.

At home we've done lots of painting and drawing, and making presents for people.

H and I finished off The Elements and have begun learning about photosynthesis with this fun game. R plays too but often doesn't have the stamina to finish.  We also found an online game called CellCraft which is a great way to explore how cells and organelles are formed and what their functions are.

Other things the girls have enjoyed lately are filling in times tables charts, practicing drawing various 3D shapes, continuing with Song School Latin (up to chapter 10) and H writes in her journal most mornings.

Cornfield by R

Sept 18 - 25

 The Sovereign Hill camp was a great success. Here's a snap of H's class at St Alupius Diggings School 1854.

H and Sir

Soldiers marching down Main Street on their way to inspect the diggings

Speedwell Street

R at the mines

R watching big sister H experience 'school'

Digging for gold

Lining up ready to go in

Cradling for gold

We all had a great time away. We bowled, dipped candles, found gold, rode in a carriage and went down into a mine to experience "Trapped!" - the story of 27 miners in Creswick who were trapped in a water filled mine for 3 days.  On Friday night we visited the Observatory to watch 3D movies and make a bush clock. By 8.30pm R was asleep in P's arms so we went back to the cabin for the night. 

I think overall H enjoyed the experience though she was quite shocked by how long the day was, and how boring the work was as well. The adults kept reassuring the kids that it was all just play acting, but in the end alot of kids cried about various things, especially not being allowed to write with their left hand.  Learning about history should be fun. I wonder if those kids that cried were having any fun?
P has a great idea - instead of making the left-handers write with their right hand for two days and making them feel bad, get all the kids to have a go at writing with their non-dominant hand for half a day and then tell them that that's what some kids had to endure 200 years ago but thankfully today we know how silly it was and we can all write with whichever hand we want now.  I like P's idea alot and I think it would help all the kids (not just the left-handers) to appreciate how harsh life was back then.

Anyway, our first homeschool camp experience was fabulous and we've already booked in for another in February next year to Phillip Island.

Other things we did during last week were finishing Ch 7 of The Elements, reading a book about Marie Curie and her discovery of Radium, watching a short animated film about Marie Curie on You-Tube, experimenting with iron-enriched Milo Flakes cereal and a magnet, singing and working through Song School Latin, translating the Latin songs into Indonesian songs, painting, cutting out felt clothing/accessories for the felt board people, and celebrating my birthday.  As I had hoped, H had been busy sewing at Brownies. She made me a cute little felt mouse.  Other presents included soaps, drawings, handmade card, fingernail bling, a pair of earrings and biscuits and tea in bed.  Lovely!