Sunday, 1 November 2015
Tuesday, 29 September 2015
Mollusca
On a recent trip home to WA a visit to the beach sparked some great interest and study of molluscs.
M and Lucy were fascinated by these chiton's that covered the rocks at the beach.
I made some cards for exploring the different types of molluscs, which can be found at my photobucket but I also made a PDF version which also includes some heading cards.
M and Lucy were fascinated by these chiton's that covered the rocks at the beach.
I made some cards for exploring the different types of molluscs, which can be found at my photobucket but I also made a PDF version which also includes some heading cards.
Tuesday, 2 June 2015
Australia Links
After M initiated our study of ANZAC Day a lot of discussion arose about Australia and Australian history. It had me thinking on my feet - and quick too - as I hadn't anticipated this and was so curious to see where it led us.
Have I mentioned before how grateful I am to all those who have created and shared such amazing resources? While I hope my albums arrive from storage back home this week, I am in awe of how many resources there are online for me to access and refer to.
Here is my little list of some of the resources we have used so far:
We started off with our study of ANZAC Day with resources from this post from Our Worldwide Classroom. Little Rogue enjoyed the colouring pages and I was surprised (and pleased) that M asked for the copy work.
Suzie's Home Education Idea's has a great printable Australian History Timeline. Both Lucy and M made good use of these and were prompted onto further research.
To round out the history timeline we used these cards from A Moment In Our World, which were perfect for Lucy.
I printed out our Australian States & Territories 3 part cards from Elementary Observations. These were great for Little Rogue who wanted to join in with the discussion. You can also find a booklet at the same post which gives a brief historical outline of each state.
We also used Suzie's State and Territory fact sheet templates for recording information when researching the states.
I created a series of natural landmark cards a while back as well as some cultural icon cards, which you can find at my photobucket. M had fun researching how far away each of the landmarks are from us in kilometres and planned out a route to visit each one on a map.
The cultural icon cards I made (found in the same location) because the few that I found online did not feel like a true reflection or there were minor errors. The picture of the Southern Cross prompted a few nights of star gazing, but the constellation cards I put out after along with an astronomy book barely got any attention. I will leave this for another time.
And look at me getting all technological - I have a Pinterest board with all these resources and more!
Follow Andrea's board Australia on Pinterest.
Have I mentioned before how grateful I am to all those who have created and shared such amazing resources? While I hope my albums arrive from storage back home this week, I am in awe of how many resources there are online for me to access and refer to.
Here is my little list of some of the resources we have used so far:
We started off with our study of ANZAC Day with resources from this post from Our Worldwide Classroom. Little Rogue enjoyed the colouring pages and I was surprised (and pleased) that M asked for the copy work.
Suzie's Home Education Idea's has a great printable Australian History Timeline. Both Lucy and M made good use of these and were prompted onto further research.
To round out the history timeline we used these cards from A Moment In Our World, which were perfect for Lucy.
I printed out our Australian States & Territories 3 part cards from Elementary Observations. These were great for Little Rogue who wanted to join in with the discussion. You can also find a booklet at the same post which gives a brief historical outline of each state.
We also used Suzie's State and Territory fact sheet templates for recording information when researching the states.
I created a series of natural landmark cards a while back as well as some cultural icon cards, which you can find at my photobucket. M had fun researching how far away each of the landmarks are from us in kilometres and planned out a route to visit each one on a map.
The cultural icon cards I made (found in the same location) because the few that I found online did not feel like a true reflection or there were minor errors. The picture of the Southern Cross prompted a few nights of star gazing, but the constellation cards I put out after along with an astronomy book barely got any attention. I will leave this for another time.
And look at me getting all technological - I have a Pinterest board with all these resources and more!
Follow Andrea's board Australia on Pinterest.
Friday, 8 May 2015
Second Great Story
We are all starting to settle into a good routine. I'm still not taking any photo's of our work as it proves to be a distraction. While Lucy is ok with me sharing, the other two are not so much (Little Rogue really not understanding anyway).
As we are settling into a good routine and I have been able to observe and assess where each of the children are at for myself, I am feeling more comfortable with what I am doing and where we are heading in general with our temporary home-school situation.
This week I was able to share the second Great Lesson with Lucy and M. Lucy has had the presentation before at her Montessori school back home, but it was M's first time and he was quite taken with it.
I downloaded the timeline of life from Discovery Moments. What an amazing resource to share!
I used Miss Barbara's page to draft my lesson, as my albums are still in storage (hopefully not for too much longer - but how fortunate are we that they are so many generous souls out there that share their work).
Another fabulous resource is Pinegreenwoods which we have been using in our follow up work. Lucy isn't particularly interested and is working on other things, but M is loving it!
I have also made some trilobite three part cards using resources from Fossils, Facts and Finds. They also have some other activities available for free.
I also made some three part cards to go with the Cambrian Safari Toob. You can download MY FILE if you are interested. These I made partly because Little Rogue was very interested in the Toob and is a little curious about M's work, and also because M is really enjoying this work.
It has been a great week, we have experienced a real explosion of work and a real rhythm developing amongst us as we settle into our routine.
As we are settling into a good routine and I have been able to observe and assess where each of the children are at for myself, I am feeling more comfortable with what I am doing and where we are heading in general with our temporary home-school situation.
This week I was able to share the second Great Lesson with Lucy and M. Lucy has had the presentation before at her Montessori school back home, but it was M's first time and he was quite taken with it.
I downloaded the timeline of life from Discovery Moments. What an amazing resource to share!
I used Miss Barbara's page to draft my lesson, as my albums are still in storage (hopefully not for too much longer - but how fortunate are we that they are so many generous souls out there that share their work).
Another fabulous resource is Pinegreenwoods which we have been using in our follow up work. Lucy isn't particularly interested and is working on other things, but M is loving it!
I have also made some trilobite three part cards using resources from Fossils, Facts and Finds. They also have some other activities available for free.
I also made some three part cards to go with the Cambrian Safari Toob. You can download MY FILE if you are interested. These I made partly because Little Rogue was very interested in the Toob and is a little curious about M's work, and also because M is really enjoying this work.
It has been a great week, we have experienced a real explosion of work and a real rhythm developing amongst us as we settle into our routine.
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
Homeward Bound
I am on my way home (or leaving depending on which way you look at it - I have been back in the west visiting friends and family) and on the plane I realised just how much work I have to do to get the kids back into the swing of home school.
What I have found challenging with the blogging is finding the time (or remembering to take photos) plus one child is happy for me to share the journey here, another child is against it and the third child changes her mind (and too little to really understand the choice).
As I continue to wrap my head around this home schooling business and how I best meet my children's needs (and respect their wishes and privacy) I will endeavour to share what I can when I can.
~ Andrea
What I have found challenging with the blogging is finding the time (or remembering to take photos) plus one child is happy for me to share the journey here, another child is against it and the third child changes her mind (and too little to really understand the choice).
As I continue to wrap my head around this home schooling business and how I best meet my children's needs (and respect their wishes and privacy) I will endeavour to share what I can when I can.
~ Andrea
Sunday, 15 March 2015
Australian Landmarks
Last week we started talking about landforms and it was really interesting to hear what the children had to say about iconic landforms. Lucy and Marco debated about the location of the Grand Canyon as well as its size. Bless Marco and his love of documentaries!
This lead to some considerable discussion (and heated debate - e.g. is there anything bigger than that Grand Canyon) which has led me to make some cards of iconic, natural Australian landmarks. Little Rogue will make use of these just as three part cards (unless something strikes her fancy), while Marco and Lucy can use these as a starting point for discussion and research.
I am debating as to whether to make a research card to go with these or not or if I should let the research be completely shaped by the children. I will decide tonight when laminating these!
P.S. This is my "Oceania" album which also contains New Zealand animals at the moment.
Update: I have made my research cards available
This lead to some considerable discussion (and heated debate - e.g. is there anything bigger than that Grand Canyon) which has led me to make some cards of iconic, natural Australian landmarks. Little Rogue will make use of these just as three part cards (unless something strikes her fancy), while Marco and Lucy can use these as a starting point for discussion and research.
I am debating as to whether to make a research card to go with these or not or if I should let the research be completely shaped by the children. I will decide tonight when laminating these!
P.S. This is my "Oceania" album which also contains New Zealand animals at the moment.
Update: I have made my research cards available
Tuesday, 3 March 2015
Write Off Day
Well, with two disastrous lessons this morning we threw the plans out the window and went for a drive. I am hoping I am not the only home-schooler who does this!
We headed out to the National Park and went for a walk. The kids were reluctant at first, and I think this is part of getting used to this whole home-school thing, but as we headed up the track I noticed Lucy started taking pictures of different plants and birds.
By the end of the walk the children were talking amongst themselves about what they had seen and how they had successfully navigated the stinging nettles (something we don't have back home). I pretended not to be listening but it was so lovely to hear them speaking so nicely to each other and without being aware of it they were learning. How does it get any better than that?
It is amazing the feeling we get when we get back to nature. Everything just melts away and we are reenergised by the experience of being in the open air.
We headed out to the National Park and went for a walk. The kids were reluctant at first, and I think this is part of getting used to this whole home-school thing, but as we headed up the track I noticed Lucy started taking pictures of different plants and birds.
By the end of the walk the children were talking amongst themselves about what they had seen and how they had successfully navigated the stinging nettles (something we don't have back home). I pretended not to be listening but it was so lovely to hear them speaking so nicely to each other and without being aware of it they were learning. How does it get any better than that?
It is amazing the feeling we get when we get back to nature. Everything just melts away and we are reenergised by the experience of being in the open air.
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