THUNDERBIRD PARK HOMESCHOOL EXCURSION

Last week our boys were lucky enough to join their Homeschool group of friends for an excursion to a great place up at Tamborine Mountain, Thunderbird Park. The place gets it's name from the egg shaped rocks that can be found in the area. If you stretch your imagination a little you may even think of the 'eggs' as belonging to a prehistoric bird, hence the term 'Thunderbird'. The park uses a Pterodactyl as it's logo which is quite fitting.

We spent the day before the excursion up on the mountain with friends who were camping there for a few days. We would've joined them if Clif could have taken a couple of days of work but we enjoyed spending the day before making a fire, damper and cooking it over the coals nevertheless!

The excursion itself consisted of 4 activities, Archery, Rock Fossicking, Bush art and then at the end of the day all the groups came together for a bushwalk and to learn some Bush survival skills from our guide. The boys enjoyed the day immensely, having fun with their friends and learning new skills.

Here are a few pictures of our day.

Bailey really enjoyed the Archery. Here he is in green shooting for the target.

This is part of the group after making a fire during their Bush survival skills talk.

This is the first day at camp with friends after one of the Dads showed the kids how to make and cook damper.

Bailey with friends cooking their damper.

Paul showing the kids how to make damper.

Tracy and I rock fossicking for Thunderbird eggs. I managed to find one that could be cut and it looked lovely inside.

INCIDENTAL LEARNING

Today whilst doing schoolwork with the boys I came to realising just how much incidental learning is going on in our household. Some days I am teaching Bailey a new Maths concept or a new spelling tip and Dane is listening in on the background, only to come out with the information weeks later. Other days I think Dane is learning a new topic and Ehren sits in and seems to be taking in as much as he can as well. It's really quite incredible to think how much they are picking up that I am not going out of my way to teach them!

Today is a classic example. I was teaching Dane about halves and quarters (something that Bailey has only just mastered mind you) and then Ehren asked me for his schoolwork. So I palmed him off the ABC flipchart I had just been using with Dane for his phonics work. Ehren starts flipping over and saying a for apple, c for car, pronouncing the phonic sounds! I swear my head almost spun right around, he's not even 3 yet!!

Then to top it off Fraser is sitting in his highchair beside us and I asked Ehren how many cars there on the table? Fraser (who is 20 mths old may I remind you) starts counting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9!! He missed a 6 but seriously I can't believe he is counting!! When did this all happen?

I don't really need anyone to remind me these days just how much Homeschooling is working for my big boys. At 8 and 6 yrs old Bailey & Dane are both bright, highly motivated learners. I guess I just really underestimated the positive impact it would have on the two little boys. They certainly don't need to Kindy with the amount of mental stimulation and play they get here at home and they definitely have a lot more friends than my other boys had at ages 1 and 2. Homeschooling works for us, all round :)

SIMPLE TIPS TO ORGANISE YOUR HOME

Lately it seems I have been receiving many compliments on how organised I am. I must confess to being just a little bit 'anal' but it's really only to counteract the fact that if things aren't in their usual place I tend to have a little meltdown! It's not always easy to keep your cool in a home with 4 boys aged 8 and under, let alone when they are all home each and every day homeschooling with you.

I've been asked for tips on how I keep myself organised for a very long time and up until now I've barely had more than 2 seconds to scratch myself so whilst hubby is working late tonight and I have all the kids in bed early (well before 8pm) here goes.

My best tip is the old saying 'a place for everything and everything in it's place'. The first thing you'll notice when you walk around my house is that I am a big believer in keeping things in boxes in designated areas of the house. We have oodles of white plastic boxes you get from Ikea that house all the kids toys and homeschooling resources but also use them to store each of the boys shoes in.

Knowing exactly where something is when you need it will save you loads of time, when you add up all the minutes in the day you could possibly waste just looking for something. It also means that asking your kids to help tidy up is an easier task as they always know where to put things. When we walk in the door from being out the first thing I say to my boys is go put your shoes away. They then take off their shoes and pop them into their personal shoe box, even the 20 mth old!! It means that the next day when they need to get their shoes on they are in the same place they always are. The boxes are kept in a bookshelf in the hallway. Here we also keep hats, bags and all the kids swimming togs to make it easy to collect what we need quickly should we decide on a whim to head to the beach or a theme park.

The classroom/playroom stores an enormous amount of toys, games, books, school and art supplies. I've made the most of the vertical space in the room by adding in Ikea cube shelf systems to house all the boxes. All the items I don't want little ones getting into like paint and lego are stored at the very top shelf.

One of my biggest tips is for the mountains of washing I encounter, which I'm sure most Mums can relate to. I have a separate large washbasket for each of my boys labelled with their name. When I am sorting the family's washing I order the baskets from biggest child to smallest and throw at each basket til I'm done. I'll normally have a couple of loads to do a time.

Then those baskets sit on top of each of their tallboys ready for putting away as I get time through the day. Sometimes I only have a few minutes free at a time so I just pop in their room and put away as much as I can in that time. It saves me time having this system cos I am looking for something specific in the meantime (for example a pair of shorts for Dane) I don't have to go through copious baskets. I just head straight to his basket and I'll find what I'm looking for quickly and easily. Even better I normally direct the older boys to look in there for what they need. At least this way they're not throwing all my nice clean clothes all over the place in their search.

I have also laid out each of their tallboys in the exact same format so it's easy for me (mostly hubby) to find what I'm looking for quickly. For example the top drawer has undies on the left, singlets in the middle and socks on the right. Second drawer is pyjamas, third drawer is shorts and the bottom drawers are long pants.

Just the last few days I've been busy on my latest organising mission. I picked up a tip from my friend Kylie a long time ago to take all the board games out of their boxes and put them into individual clipseal bags. I decided to give this a tackle as over the years we have managed to build quite a collection and they were taking up 4 cube spots in my large Ikea shelf unit. I bought some large clipseal bags from Ikea, you buy them in bulk in the kitchen area for $4.99 for 15 extra large bags and 15 large bags. You can see from the following pictures how much room I've saved by doing this. Amazing how boxes can take up so much room. I challenge you to give this one a go. It seems hard letting go of the box, but if space is an issue I can guarantee this will help!

Can I also add that the above pic is not accurate of all the boxes being thrown out. There are about another 4 inside larger boxes too!

Anyway I hope that I've managed to help with some tips to keep things organised in your home. If you've got some more for me I'd love to read your blog too, don't be shy!

Until next time
Take care,
Angie xx

2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF BAILEY HOMESCHOOLING

As another Easter rolls towards us it signals to our family another momentous occasion to celebrate, another year of Homeschooling! It was this time of year 2 years ago now that I decided that enough was enough and pulled Bailey out of Grade 1 to give Homeschooling a try.

I figured pulling him out of school for a while could only be a good thing considering the state of his health and mental well being at the time. From the commencement of Prep the year earlier Bailey had increasingly had more seizures (he has Autism and Epilepsy) and was coming home more stressed each and every week. It got to a point where he was having a seizure every second day, constant asthma attacks, was being bullied, hiding from class and spending lunch breaks in the library alone. One day the week before Easter break he had a massive seizure where he couldn't walk or talk for several hours afterwards. I'd had enough by then. Even the school principal agreed it wouldn't hurt to give Homeschooling a go.

As it turned out those first few months were an absolute delight! I made it a mission to get Bailey reading and within a very short time he was sounding out simple words and showing a real talent for working with numbers. I knew very quickly that Homeschooling was going to be a long term change. Bailey's seizures almost disappeared immediately once he came home to learn. He had a few small ones when stressed out in public for the year that followed and now 2 years later he has weaned off his medications completely.

Bailey can now read and write to a similar level of other children his age. He can add and subtract and is finding simple multiplication a breeze. He has learnt so much about the world around him, from books, family discussions, excursions and documentaries. He has a very special bond with his 3 younger brothers from spending each day with them, watching them learn and grow beside him.

The difference in Bailey these days is incredible. Most people wouldn't even be aware of his Autism when they meet him. Moments like today, watching his homeschooling classmates in hysterics from his comedic routine during a Cake decorating class, makes it all worthwhile. The fact he can participate in a wide variety of lessons and sports with his Homeschooling group means he really is getting the best of both worlds.

People often ask how long I'll continue to homeschool my boys. I guess I never really know when or if they'll be better off in a standard school setting. I just know that for now, this works and I can't imagine any of us being happier doing anything other than what we are doing right now!

OUR VISIT TO COBB & CO MUSEUM

For the next few months we are focusing on 'Greatest Inventions of all time' that ties in with our Year of Science. We have been learning all about the Automobile. After discussing how horse and carriage were converted into the Horseless carriage and then the Automobile I decided it might be nice to visit the Cobb & Co Museum in Toowoomba. We have annual passes for the Ipswich Rail Museum which means we can enter Cobb & Co free of charge, which is always a bonus. We have visited the Cobb & Co a couple of times before but the boys always seem to enjoy it and they do change some of their exhibitions from time to time.

Our first stop in Toowoomba was to the Queens Park gardens which are conveniently located the block next to Cobb & Co. It gave the boys a chance to stretch their legs after the hour and a half journey, run off some energy and then we had some morning tea in the beautiful gardens. There are oodles of little playgrounds all around the gardens which makes the walk across to Cobb & Co seem much shorter and more exciting for the boys.

Once arriving at Cobb & Co we took a little look around the art gallery section of the Museum which is always showing different items each time we visit. This time they had metal works created by local artists and trade persons. It was a good opportunity to discuss how welding and blacksmithing are done. This was followed by lunch in the cafe, which is quite relaxing for us parents as they have a play area in the centre of the cafe for to kids to amuse themselves whilst waiting for the food to arrive. The food tastes great and is reasonably priced which is a nice change to some other Museum cafes.

We spent the next 2 or so hours walking through the aboriginal exhibits and local Darling Downs history areas before moving onto the main event, the Cobb & Co coaches. There is an extensive range of vintage carriages, caravans, billy carts and a great example of an early horseless carriage. The Auto Buggy was the link between the carriages and automobiles back in the early 1900s.

The boys were surprised to hear that this carriage above was used in Brisbane as a bus to carry passengers to the local train stations.

The Museum has a great learning centre where they supply pictures for colouring, dot to dot pages, tables and chairs, paper, crayons, pencils etc. That same area also has touch tables with a variety of objects to explore, such as snake skin, bird wings, dried and stuffed small animals, turtle shells, coral, bark, gumnuts, etc.

After moving from the learning centre we moved into the playzone. This was a nice chance for me to put my feet up a bit as the boys had the whole area to themselves and were kept busy with a old fashioned store to play shops in. Bailey was using the pencil and paper to take down our cafe orders and filling them excitedly. Fraser and Ehren enjoyed me reading a few books in the cosy book corner whilst Dane spent his time sitting in the pretend carriage and helping Bailey in the shop.

For those looking for a fun day out with the kids or an educational experience I can highly recommend a visit to the Cobb & Co Museum in Toowoomba. We can't wait to go back again soon!

THIS MONTHS SCIENCE TOPIC - Greatest Inventions of all time

Our year of Science has started with a bang and seems to be fun enough to keep the boys amused and easy enough for me to plan! January was spent learning all about the Solar system. We covered topics such as Hubble Space Telescope, Satellites, Neil Armstrong, Landing on the moon, the 8 planets in our system, galaxies, comets, meteors, stars and The Sun.

We conducted a science experiment using oil, water and food colouring to show us the way in which centrifugal forces help create spiral galaxies. We also used varying weighted objects being thrown at varying speeds and force into sand (at the beach) to help explain how craters are formed. The boys seemed to really enjoy these activities.

This month we are covering The Greatest Inventions of all time. First topic is the Aeroplane. I'm sure the boys are gonna love this month! More things to add to their Science journals. Stay tuned!



2012 - OUR HOMESCHOOLING YEAR OF SCIENCE

2012 has begun and as usual it feels like already the year is getting away from us! I can't believe time is flying so fast we are about to celebrate 2 years of Home educating in March. Bailey is now a Grade 3 student and this year Dane joins in officially as a Year 1 student. I will be registering him with the Home Education Unit (HEU) later this year as he turns 6 which means 2 lots of Curriculum and Reports. I've kept all his work from last year and ensured he was working well within the HEU expectations anyway so it shouldn't prove to be too much more work for me.


This year we will be following a Curriculum different to any we have done before. We will be doing what is commonly referred to as 'linked-in learning' which means that we will be doing a YEAR OF SCIENCE and basing 99% of work on this subject alone. We will focus on a Science topic for 2-4 weeks incorporating reading materials and certain mathematical applications into the learning process. Eg: Conducting of a science experiment will involve reading of the steps, measuring of the materials, data collection and use of a results table.

Bailey and Dane have already started keeping their Science journals which they will use throughout the year to make notes, draw diagrams and keep clippings in. All their work will be documented in their journal which will be a nice reminder of the things they've learnt when looking back at the end of the year. Already I can see keeping the journal is motivating Bailey to be more involved with his expressive writing and inspiring Dane to improve on his reading to keep up with his big brother.


The topics are are planning to cover this year are:

• Famous Inventors and Scientists
• Greatest Inventions of all time

§  Aeroplane

§  Automobile

§  Camera

§  Computer

§  Laser

§  Light Bulb

§  Printing Press

§  Radio

§  Rocket

§  Steam Engine

§  Telephone

• Medicine (Discoveries, Tools and Techniques)
• Science in the kitchen
• The Solar System
• Weather

We have kicked off the year learning about the Solar system. I took Bailey to an Astronomy night just a couple of weeks ago to our local Astronomy cafe, which happens to be a couple of streets away from home. We listened to a talk about Orion and Jupiter and then were so delighted to take a look through 2 of the telescopes there to see both the Moon (almost full and in all it's glory) and Jupiter (with 4 of it's moons in sight). We were amazed by the clarity, even being able to see the stripey patterns of dust and debris on Jupiter itself. This year we will be buying a Telescope which is going to be one of the most exciting purchases made yet on this homeschooling journey. I can't wait to come back and blog about all the exciting things we'll be able to see through it!

Anyway, I must sign off for now. Kids are running amok waiting for us to go visit a park somewhere for the afternoon. I hope you look forward to hearing more about our Year of Science in my future blogs.

Until next time

Take care

Farewell, Angie