OUR VISIT TO THE IPSWICH ART GALLERY

This week we decided to head to the Ipswich Art Gallery as we heard they had some Lego artwork pieces on exhibit. We had been meaning to get along to this gallery for a long time and decided to head in the week before school holidays for a quieter experience. The exhibit closes on Sunday 7th October 2012.

The Lego Brickworks exhibition displayed some amazing art pieces made purely from Lego. The boys thought they were pretty awesome but I must admit I was a little disappointed there were only 10 in total on display. Nevertheless the pieces were beautifully constructed and showed great detail, giving the boys a different perspective on how they could use their own Lego at home.

I found the Wild Things exhibit upstairs in the Children's gallery held their interest for a lot longer, providing all the boys with something to keep them amused for each of their age groups. The exhibit is based on the popular children's book and movie of the same name. The toddler area was great for babies and toddlers, providing a soft play zone for exploration. The rolling green faux hills and dress-up pieces assisted those slightly older to embrace the 'wild thing' inside of them. There's an excellent art and craft zone set up for the children which Bailey & Dane enjoyed sitting at creating their own little 'wild things'. We spent well over an hour in here playing, creating and viewing the other art pieces on display.

 

 

The gallery also had other items on display that were of interest to the boys. Dane was very keen to take his time looking over roughly 100 handmade hats and beanies, all showcasing the creator's artistic flair. I found the indigenous pieces the most interesting, making use of raw materials like feathers and flora.

I can highly recommend making your way along to the Art gallery within the next couple of weeks if you can. It will be school holidays but I can't imagine it getting overly packed. Street parking is close by and only costs $1 per hour in the area close to the gallery. I can highly recommend lunch in the beautiful Indian restaurant next door if you are looking for somewhere a little different to dine. The prices are reasonable, the food delicious and the service amazing. They were more than welcoming to us, even though most places cringe at the sight of 4 young boys entering their premises!

Link for Children's activities at Ipswich Art Gallery: http://www.ipswichartgallery.qld.gov.au/kids

KEEPING BUSY!

Popping back in to do up a new blog post and realised it's been almost 3 months since my last update! Life has been keeping us super busy lately and I have found it hard to get in here obviously but I definitely have no shortage of ideas or things to write about. So first, here's a quick update as to what's been going on in our lives this past few months.

Bailey has recently turned 9 and is continually thriving and pushing himself a little more out of his comfort level. His social skills have improved out of sight since making some close friends that he gets to see every week. His confidence is soaring thanks to a realisation of his sporting abilities, excelling in Ice-skating, Soccer and running. He never ceases to amaze me with his drive and determination.

Dane is 6 now and is such an affectionate, loving little boy. He still has moments lacking in judgement but they are decreasing as time passes and he is proving to be a good mate to his 2 younger brothers. Dane has recently started reading and is still really enjoying Homeschooling. I once thought that he would eventually ask to go to school, seeing as he has never been, but he seems determined to continue on this path with Bailey. I really feel that Homeschooling is a better option for him anyway, given his concentration issues and his inability to keep his body in a relaxed state.

It's often easy for me to forget that our little Ehren is only 3. He is quite mature and intelligent for his age. He is now able to hold a conversation extremely well and is naturally inquisitive of the world around him. He loves doing his preschool work at home and is constantly asking me for his 'schoolwork' when he sees his older brothers completing theirs. He is currently practising writing numbers and drawing common shapes. He is starting to become a positive role model for Fraser which is lovely to see, especially as they are only 14 mths apart in age.

Fraser has grown up so much this past few months. He recently turned 2 and is talking up a storm. He is a very determined child who shows no fear in getting his point across, which I guess is more a positive trait when he's the youngest of 4 boys! He also loves sitting down to do 'schoolwork' which for now is mostly crayon drawing and practising pencil control. He has just commenced the beginning of toilet training, which we will step up more once the weather is reliably warm. I'm looking forward to not having any more nappy changes in our house in the months to come!

Clif and I recently celebrated our 10th Wedding Anniversary. We are the happiest and healthiest we have been since the day we got married. I managed to get back into my wedding dress for a happy family snap, which is a goal I set myself shortly after giving birth to Fraser. Life couldn't be better right now. I'm very blessed for all I have in my life, both with my family, friends and the life we lead.

Bailey's 2012 Science journal, midway through the year!

Some of you might remember back at the start of the year that we decided to embark on a Year of Science. Well I'm happy to report that so far it's been a big success! The idea was to focus on Science subjects for a fair chunk of our Curriculum and incorporate lots of reading and writing on each Science topic as they were covered.

We decided the best way to track their progress was by keeping a Science journal. I was hoping we could keep different subject areas seperate in this book (yes I'm a little OCD at times) but it didn't quite work that way. I allowed Bailey & Dane to lead the way with what they wanted to learn, coming back to our Curriculum to give us ideas on what to concentrate on next. We've already come back several times to Space & The Solar System, mainly because it's a huge interest for our whole family and also because with the recent purchase of our telescope there's been a number of experiences for us to view and write about.

Below is an excerpt of the Science section of Bailey's 2012 Curriculum.

Science Topics we will be covering 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

So far we've covered about half of the Greatest Inventions of all time, The Solar System and a little of Science in the kitchen. We still have a long way to go but I'm thinking if we don't get it all covered this year we can always just carry it over to next year. There's really no big hurry :)

Below are some pictures of the work Bailey has added to his Science journal so far, at the halfway point of the year. Apologies for some of these pictures being on the side, my laptop is playing silly buggers with me!

A WEEK OF 'ASTRONOMICAL' EVENTS

This week is going to be a HUGE week for our family, being great lovers of all things relating to Astronomy. The fact we recently bought ourselves a Celestron Nexstar 4SE telescope is going to make this week even more enjoyable.

For those who aren't aware tomorrow night (Monday 4th June, 2012) will be a Full Moon in Partial eclipse. The Moon will go into a partial eclipse phase from 8pm until ending at 10:06 pm. Those who do not have a telescope you will still be able to view with your naked eye. It's a perfect time of the night to take your older children out to the backyard to watch the Moon darken. The portion of the Moon not covered by the eclipse will be a brilliant reddish hue caused by illuminated sunlight refracted through the Earth's atmosphere. I'm hoping to get some photos, taken through the telescope, to share with you all here.

Something I am even more excited by happening this Wednesday (6th June, 2012) is the Transit of Venus. This is the last time we will view a Transit of Venus in our lifetime, as another will not occur til the year 2117. Venus will pass across the face of the Sun leaving us being able to view this rare occurrence for a total of 6 hours and 40 minutes. For those of us living on the east side of Australia we are particularly lucky to be able to view the entire transit, dependant on clear skies. So far weather forecasters are predicting that we will mostly have favourable weather conditions on Wednesday which sounds great to me!

For those of you without a telescope you are only able to view the transit using a pair of special viewing glasses (most places are running out of stock quickly). If you are lucky you may be able to pick up a pair from Astro Petes at Palmdale shopping centre, Upper Mount Gravatt. He has back order to fill at the moment but is hoping to have more in stock before Wednesday. Even those of us with a telescope will need to use a special filter to block the sun's radiation as viewing the sun directly with or without a telescope can cause serious eye damage, not limited to blindness.

This is certainly going to be a great week for Homeschooling with our emphasis this year on Science, particularly the Solar System. Along with today's visit to the Brisbane Planetarium to watch the Cosmic Collisions show, this week is jam packed full of learning in the best way possible, the fun way!

DANE'S READING SUCCESS!

Most parents who have been through the process of teaching their child to read will know how exciting it can be when their child finally moves past the emergent reader stage into the beginner reader category. I have found that it is far quicker and easier a process when the child has a strong desire to read.

Bailey was clearly keen to read shortly after the age of 7. I was a little worried at that point that he may be 'too old' to be at such an early stage of reading but now only 18 mths later he is reading books of all kinds of topics and levels, instead choosing to read Science and educational resources as opposed to children's books aimed at 8 year olds.

Dane on the other hand has been keen to read now for around 6 months (since 5.5 yrs old). We have worked consistently using the phonics approach, being careful to move quick enough to keep his interest but not so quick that he became overwhelmed or disappointed by his progress. This week marks an important time for Dane. He declared early this week that he would be reading very soon as he wanted a night reading light the same as we had recently bought for Bailey. The phonics work he has completed this week has blown me away. It came to a point around Wednesday when he had read the word 'smoothies' from a sign and 'fantastic' off a book that I realised he was officially a beginner reader!

The look on Dane's face yesterday when we took him to Masters to purchase his very own nightlight was priceless. Even better still was the massive smile he had tonight when using it for the first time (he couldn't use it last night as we got home from a party too late). He was so excited and even had a book ready to go under his pillow when I tucked him in for the night. My little just turned 6 yr old is growing up!! So proud of our 'Daney', he's come such a long way since officially starting Homeschooling last year.

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 :)