END OF ANOTHER HOMESCHOOLING YEAR - OUR YEAR OF 2013

Life has seriously gotten away from me lately, so much so that I have had no time to be able to come and post in this poor neglected blog of mine. I think I'm allowed some lenience though with all that I've had on my plate this year! Between Homeschooling, studying, moderating a website, running my health blog and attached FB page (Angie's Healthy Kitchen), running a busy household of 6 and helping my hubby run a business you could say I haven't had much time for putting my feet up!

Back in June I decided to start studying a Course in Allied Health, specialising in Nutrition. Health and well being have always been a special interest area for me but it wasn't until after having the 4 boys and finding myself tremendously overweight for the first time in my life that I went right back to my roots, deciding to focus more on preserving my health and returning to my previous fitness and energy levels. My long term desire is to assist other Mums to lose their post baby weight and also steer parents towards making better food and lifestyle choices for their children.

From the onset I knew that studying and Homeschooling the boys was always going to be juggle. I have considered undertaking the study for well over a year now but it wasn't until I decided to take the plunge mid-year that I realised that I would be able to handle the workload. Sure, there have been a few things that have been pushed by the wayside (this blog for starters) but for the most part it has just meant watching less night-time television and instead focusing on learning more about things I'm passionate about. I've even managed to fast-track my studies, which means I should have this first course completed by mid 2014.

So, here I am mid December, having completed my studies for this year when I realised I should come update you all as to how our Homeschooling lives have been travelling!

My older boys have just graduated from Grade 2 and 4 this year. Bailey (now 10) is reading superbly now and his writing is coming along nicely. I've focused this year on introducing various writing styles to Bailey and having him attempt to use his Laptop independently to produce his writing pieces. I'm very proud to report he can now hand-write his writing plan, open up a Word document, type his piece, spellcheck and self-check the document and print it out for me to read! His preferred writing style appears to be more factual pieces which is not surprising given his personality and obsessive interest areas, but I'm just glad that he's writing something and keen to do so!

Dane (now 7.5yrs) has been working on improving his reading this year. He has come along way and is now able to sit independently and read to his younger brothers. His handwriting has also improved, making it very legible now. It is becoming increasingly harder to tell the difference in the handwriting of the older boys. Dane recently received a formal diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (same as Bailey was diagnosed at age 3) and we've also been advised that he has a Language delay known as Apraxia of Speech. His delays mean his work takes a long time to get through but at least being homeschooled he can get the 1 on 1 attention that he needs, especially when learning new concepts!

Ehren (now 4) has been doing plenty of Preschool work with me this year. I wasn't going to initiate any actual deskwork for him til next year, seeing as he only turned 4 this year, but he insisted he have his own work whilst his older brothers were doing theirs. He is able to sound out most the letters of the alphabet, is starting to join the sounds together to read short words, can recognise all his basic shapes, colours and most numbers up to 20. Ehren has just recently learnt how to write his own name.

Fraser (just turned 3 late this year) has reached his own Homeschooling milestones lately. He is now able to sit and complete some of the kindergarten tasks I have been occupying him with. He can sit for up to 20 minutes at a time completing puzzles, card matching games, fine motor activities and colouring in pages. Fraser is able to count to the teens as well as identify most his basic shapes and colours.

This year I also started running a sports program for our Homeschool group. I've named it FunSports but it's not just all about sport. It's a program that focuses on getting kids active and outdoors, spending time with and making new friends, learning teamwork and leadership skills whilst learning many of the old schoolyard classics we all played as kids. I run two groups, Juniors being ages 2-5 and Seniors being 6 and over. This year the kids have learnt the game of Softball, Red Rover, Frisbee flying, LaCrosse, What's the time Mr Wolf, the Chicken Dance, basics of Soccer ball kicking, Duck Duck Goose and more. It's been a fun time coaching the kids and something I'm looking forward to doing again next year.


2014 is a special year for us. We'll officially have 3 Homeschoolers in our Homeschool classroom! Ehren will commence as our Prep student, Dane will step up to Grade 3 work and Bailey will be completing Grade 5 work. I'm really looking forward to seeing their progress through the year, not to mention complete my first course! I promise to try and blog more often, not only for others who are interested but for my own record keeping sake ;)

The 2013 Annual Homeschool Athletics Carnival

A couple of weeks ago my boys had the opportunity to participate in the Annual Athletics Carnival that our Homeschool group organises every year. This year I was lucky enough to be the main organiser of the event. This kind of event is something that I enjoy being able to do seeing as I originally attended University to become a Physical education primary school teacher. I never completed my degree so it's wonderful to have the opportunity to work in my area of passion after all these years!

The children had an amazing day. We had to postpone the first proposed date due to bad weather so it was beautiful to see the glorious sunshine and such perfect weather conditions on the day it actually went ahead!

We started the day with a welcome introduction, some stretches and a warm up run around the oval. It was clear from the start that some of the kids were going to be quite competitive and others were there for the fun and social aspect. It was so heartwarming to see the older children being so helpful towards the younger children, especially consider the varied age groups we had participating on the day. We had boys and girls aged from 2 to 14 yrs of age in separate groups for the field events at the start of the day and then we all came together for the running events after lunch.

We even had a mini tuckshop set up in a big tarp tent selling mostly healthy treats. The kids thought this was such a novelty and happily spent up their pocket money on muesli bars, popper juices and organic lollipops. It's great to give our kids similar experiences to what they would have if they attended a standard school. I know I have very fond memories myself of school sports days, running around bare footed with friends and collecting ribbons along the way!

The event itself was held at the Little athletics field and we had access to all their equipment and a fully lined running track, throwing area, etc. We had 3 main 'sports teachers' on the day, myself, Sigrid and Mel. I really couldn't have done it without their help. Anne-Marie ran the tuckshop and Bianca took some great photos of the day for us. Together with the help of several parents the day was a great success and one we all look forward to seeing our children enjoy again next year.

Below are some of the photos taken on the day. My eldest Bailey can be seen in the green t-shirt, my second son Dane is wearing a blue t-shirt and track pants, my third son Ehren is wearing a yellow jumper and my youngest son Fraser was wearing a red/grey/white striped shirt.

OUR THIRD YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF HOMESCHOOLING!

Last month marked the third year Anniversary of Homeschooling for our family!

It's starting to feel like things are finally falling into place. We are finding our Homeschool groove and for the first time since beginning this journey there is no more baby wrangling in the mix! Ehren is turning 4 in a fortnight and Fraser is turning 3 in a few months time, my babies are growing up!

We essentially run the Homeschool classroom as 2 classes these days, Lower primary (Grades 2 and 4) and Preschool (Prep and Kindy). It means I need to be organised enough to have activities and work ready for all the boys, but at least now once the little ones are occupied I can concentrate on spending 1 on 1 time with the older boys. I have commenced treating Ehren as a Prep student this year (a year early) as he has shown remarkable skills in the area of phonics, pencil control and his concentration level.

Last week we received our continuation of Home education certificate from the Education department. I was totally stoked to get some amazing feedback from the Education Advisor regarding Bailey's annual report. Here is an extract of what she had to say:

"Your focus on communication and social skills seems to be working very well. The DVD of Bailey shows him speaking clearly and confidently. The variety of groups that Bailey is able to participate in, and the learning opportunities these provide, are impressive! Angela, you should be justifiably proud of Bailey's progress socially and personally. Educationally he is developing well with your teaching approach which caters for his interests and aversions. Although not at peer level, Bailey's writing demonstrates significant improvement."

Needless to say this gives me great confidence in knowing that we are heading in the right direction and that choosing Home education was a great decision for our family.

VALENTINES DAY ACTIVITIES

Thought I'd pop into my neglected little blog to kick off the New Year letting you all know about the fun we had on Valentines Day. V Day has long been one of my favourite days of the year. What could be better than a special day to spread the love amongst friends and family? A day for everyone; young, old, those in love or not, just simply recognising the special people in our lives that we love and care dearly about.

This Valentines Day we shared the day with our closest Homeschool friends at a friend's home. It was a lovely gesture for her to invite all us families into her home and organise some special activities for both the preschoolers and the older Homeschooling children. First our friend read the group a story about an imaginary world where people gave out 'warm fuzzy' messages to one another to make each other feel special. The children sat attentively listening carefully to the story and after brainstormed some of the 'warm fuzzy' messages they were going to give to one another. They spoke about how they felt when they were paid a compliment and how nice it was to share compliments and 'warm fuzzies' with friends.

Then the group seperated into smaller groups to work on activities, swapping between them as they completed each task. The older kids started off by working together as a team to bake a cake, reading the instructions, using the Thermomix to weigh and mix and then pouring into 2 moulds to produce a scrumptious double layered chocolate cake. Later they iced the cake with a yummy layer of chocolate cream frosting.

All the children made a love heart envelope by weaving pieces of coloured card, which were later filled with special hand-written messages from one friend to another. It was good to see the children delighted to do this activity even though it meant they did some writing, not always a child's favourite thing to do! Things like, 'you are a wonderful friend', knock-knock jokes for a laugh and 'you are a great talker' made all the children feel warm and fuzzy.

The younger children enjoyed filling chocolate moulds with the chocolate that the adults had melted for them. I personally think my little boys enjoyed licking the spoons afterwards even more!

As if the day hadn't been awesome enough, I even managed to get the babysitter at last minute so hubby and I could have a nice dinner for two at our favourite restaurant, Focus by James!