Signs and Wonders

A Simple Woman's Day Book - June 29th

Peggy is taking a break over the American summer but I will continue with my day book here.

Out side my window.... After days of cold grey sky's we have been blessed with a beautiful crisp clear winters morning.

I am thinking.... About the different ways my children learn and how to best structure our day so that  each child is given the best possible chance of success with their school work. I love Charlotte Masons philosophy on education and this method served my older children well but I'm seeing more and more that Charlotte's methods will not at this stage benefit all of my children and we need to look at other ways of doing things. One of the wonderful things about home education is that it allows for this change of direction and tailoring of programs to suit the needs and strengths of our children what ever their ability. 

From the learning rooms...Fine tuning our work box's to suit every ones individual learning needs. I have listed each child's activities into two main groups. Those subjects that have to be completed each day and those that we will do weekly or bi - weekly. Having specific days set aside for HSIE, Science, fine arts and PDHDE will allow me to plan activities for each days work box's in advance.

I am thankful for... The opportunity to educate my children at home to spend time with them, to watch with wonder, joy and more then a little frustration at times as the world opens up for each child.

From the kitchen...Chocolate cake for morning tea mmmm.

I am going....   To have a quieter week as we all continue to recover from whooping cough. The basic are covered both in the school room and on the home front.

I am reading....  Nothing specific at the moment

 I am hoping.... That this baby stays put until everyone is well and truly over whooping cough

I am hearing....The children listening to a book on CD.

Around the house.... I'm still trying to work out just were and how we will fit this baby in. The baby will sleep in with us so that's not hard but I do need to sort out just were the cot and the clothes will fit and I have to move our music room. At the moment the piano is situated in a converted breeze way area one end of this area houses our bedroom and the other the music room and while we do intend to wall this properly at the moment the two area's are separated by a large cupboard. There have been a few times lately were the children's need to practise and my need to sleep have conflicted and I can only see this conflict increasing with a new baby sharing the area.

A few plans for the rest of the week.... Rest, recuperate and slowly get back to our normal routine

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you.... Visitors for morning tea

June Birthday's

We are currently in birthday mode from mid June to the first week of September we celebrate seven birthdays in twelve weeks and this year we will be adding a new addition to the mix sometime toward the end of July beginning of August. One of th benefits of a large family there is always something special to celebrate.

The long weekend in June saw us celebrate Josh's 21st and Erin's 18th in a combined birthday bash. Erin's birthday isn't until next month but as the baby is due at that time we thought a combined party this month made much more sense.

Nick was our other birthday boy this month. What a blessing and a joy these children have been to us each one bringing their own unique gifts and talents into our home and lives. We truly are very blessed.

Medieval Fun Day

Yesterday our local home school group held a medieval fun day. The children dressed in costume and a member of the local medieval guild came and put together a very informative display about life in medieval times.

Colin's collection of swords and medieval weapons was definitely a big hit

 

Josh is a member of the local medieval guild and as such helped colin put on a display of sword fighting

 

 The littlies to try their hand at sword fighting using shields and swords made out of latex. Here Anthony (in the red) and friend W have a great time trying to get the best of each other, lots of fun and very cute.

 

The older boys get a chance to try their hand at sword fighting as well, Chris (in the brown) tries to out smart D. It was really great how the children were able to participate in the display not just sit and listen to someone talk.

 

NIck gets to try out a real sword

 

Brigid and friends form a shied wall

 

Erin, Amiee and Chris are ready to defend the charge of a shield wall

 

Anna in the red and white charges with the shield wall to attack her brother and sisters.

 

Brigid brandishing a sword

 

Nick, Anna and Luke holding various weapons as colin explains what they were used for and who they would have been used by.

 

Luke very attentive as he joins in the display.

 

Amiee takes a break from all the excitement.

 

After colin's talk we shared a lunch of typical medieval food and then the children joined in with a number of different activities. Here Josh teaches some of the bigger boys how to make chain mail.

 

Paddy and mummy making crowns

 

Chris joins in with a chess game

 

 

At the end of a very enjoyable day two little kings just couldn't keep their eyes open any longer.

A Simple Woman's Day Book - June 15th

Be sure to stop over at Peggy's and check out this weeks Simple Woman's Day Book.

Out side my window....The sun is attempting to shine through a grey and cloudy sky.

I am thinking.... About getting the baby things out of storage and just where we will fit this new little person.

From the learning rooms... Lots of work box fun

I am thankful for... The gift of family and friends

From the kitchen... Erin made a yummy chocolate cake for morning tea.

I am going....    To continue making file folder games for the children these have been a big hit.

I am reading....  Nothing for myself at the moment I am however making my way through Leonardo Da Vinci for Kids by Janis Herbert and organising a unit of work using the activities suggested in this book.

 I am hoping.... That the weather stays fine for our homeschool groups medieval day to be hosted at our house later this week.

I am hearing....The two little boys riding their bikes through the house. A new reader trying to complete an early reading file folder. Some one practising the piano and an older child asking the little boys to be quite.

Around the house....Things are feeling more ordered the children are keeping up with their chores and all the de cluttering we have been doing has paid off with a much tidier house. We have made a few attempts at the shed and while I can now put my car away there is still alot to do out there. 

A few plans for the rest of the week....  More Dr appointments, a medieval fun day with our homeschool group and our friday sport and art activities.  

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you....

 

Work Box Fun for the Younger Set.

I have slowly been implementing the workbox system for all our home educated children adding more activities each week. One big benefit of the system has been with our younger two children. Anthony loves to do school work and he has his own set time for school each day. Out side of his allotted time with mummythough he is often bored and restless. He is one of those children who need to be doing something, he needs direction or else he will find something to do that usually doesn't fit into mummies acceptable range of behaviour. This week I have made up a number of file folder activities for Anthony's work box these activities are generally self directed and his able to complete them with little or no assistance. He just loves it, he feels like a big kid and has a number of activities that are not only fun but help to reinforce what he has been learning with mum. Paddy also has a file folder box set up with activities just for him and he just loves to do his "school work" and as most of his file folder activities are re use-able he is able to go back again and again and do his work.

Paddy and Anthony's work box's are filled with activities each day for them to do while the older children are doing their own school work.

 

These file folder games have been laminated so that they can be used over and over again. When not in use they hang in my file box and it's very easy to select a few folders each day and place them in the children's file box's.

There are some wonderful resources on the web and some very talented and generous people who are willing to share their idea's. Here are some links that I have found useful.

First School - Has some great resources for your pre-schooler and Kindergarten aged child.

Pre-School Fun - Lots of photo's of work trays for little ones.

Pre-School Printables - lots of wonderful ideas here

Tools for Tots - Links a number of blogs that have posts describing homemade learning tools for little ones. Lots good ideas here.

Work Jobs and Shoe box tasks- While these ideas wont adapt to a file folder generally speaking they should fit into the children's file box's.

Home School Helper- Has free homeschooling lapbooks for all ages. A great resource.

File Folder Fun - An awesome site lots of games and activities to down load for all ages.

Make learning Fun -  Lots of good idea's here.

Pre Kinders- This site offers ideas that promote literacy skills.

Photo Take Friday - June 12th

Not quite what we ment by "please stack the chairs"

Baby Matthew Karol - Please keep praying

Emily has an update over at Gods Canvas. Please keep this courageous family and their precious son in your prayers.

God Doesn't Make Mistakes

Life Lessons 101 - Driveway Improvements

Lesson number 1- Don't order truck loads of new road base a week after major flooding. The trucks will sink.

Lesson number 2 - Make sure you have a dozer on hand to pull said trucks out of the mud. You will need to do this numerous times.

Lesson number 3 - Your children will be completely enthralled the above situation provides for hours of home grown entertainment. As does all the mud and deep ruts left by the bogged trucks.

A Simple Woman's Day Book - June 1st

Be sure to stop over at Peggy's and check out this weeks Simple Woman's Day Book.

Out side my window....The children are tiding the yard in preparation for this weekends birthday parties. 

I am thinking.... About having a "21 year old" boy where did the years go!!! Party prep, house cleaning, menu's and shopping lists for party food, what can be pre cooked and what can wait until Sunday.

From the learning rooms...We continue to work on encouraging independent study habits.

I am thankful for...  21 years of motherhood and for each and every soul placed in our care.

From the kitchen... Not a lot at the moment a simple lunch of sandwiches and/or scones

I am creating.... Party Plans, its's all about parties this week,

I am going....    To throw a big party for two of my children this week one turing 21 and another turning 18. We love parties!

I am reading....  St. Frances Solano By Mary F. Windeatt

 I am hoping.... That the weather is kind to us this week as our drive way and yard are still very muddy after last weeks flood and with more rain forecast our plans for a bonfire might be placed in jeopardy.

I am hearing....The Vacuum cleaner humming in the family room along side sequels of delight as Paddy and Anthony rumble each other on the lounge.

Around the house.... lots of action as we prepare for guests and parties

A few plans for the rest of the week.... Pick Sonja and friend up from the airport. Shop for party supplies, shop for birthday presents, cooking for party.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you....