The kids really are enjoying doing their school work on Clever Dragons and Always Icecream. We have however, run into a couple of problems that I will need to address for next week.
The first problem is that Taffy can't read, so I have to sit with her at the only computer with sound and help er with each topic. To address this issue, I have signed up for a free trial period with Reading Eggs and she is finding that much more to her liking. If she is still getting loads out of it when the trial is over, I'll invest in the program.
The second problem we ran into, is keeping the kids to a time limit. They can happily sit on a computer all day and I am not so happy with that.
The next problem is related to the second one, I had no clue how many subjects are covered in this wonderful program! So, I sat down and listed all the subjects and I shall plan accordingly for next week. I'm also going to look into printing off some work sheets so they're not doing it all on the computer.
My "cruisy" week turned into a "crazy" week due to lack of planning.
Oh well, we learned another lesson! :)
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Day 36.
We have discovered a wonderful online school program that the kids are just loving! There are two separate sites, one for girls and one for boys. The content is the same, they are just dressed differently.
http://clever-dragons.com/login is the site to go to if you have a son and http://always-icecream.com/login is the place to go for your daughter.
This program covers a broad range of subjects and leaves me free to plan the hands on activities like drama, art, music and PE.
Loving life! :)
http://clever-dragons.com/login is the site to go to if you have a son and http://always-icecream.com/login is the place to go for your daughter.
This program covers a broad range of subjects and leaves me free to plan the hands on activities like drama, art, music and PE.
Loving life! :)
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Day 33.
Quick photo catch up on what we've been up to, since our return.
We try to go for a walk each day and usually, we'll incorporate a mission from NaturePlay. This was a game that the children made up and had lots of fun with.
An impromtu tea shop made from a giant cardboard box made for lots of enjoyment.
A weird and wonderful creature stopped by for a quick visit, before flying off to greener pastures.
Gretel finally has a sandpit and she is really enjoying it.
St Patrick's Day, dinner with the fam! Didn't quite go as planned, but it was a great evening. I tried printing off school work for the kids in keeping with the celebrations, but the printer was being contentious, and it was slow going getting them work to do for today. Now the printer is working again, and it has run out of ink.........sigh!
Lime jelly with aero bubbles for dessert. Kids loved them.
Taffy set up an activity for her and Gretel to do, off her own bat. I was impressed, so was Gretel.
We have signed up with Geocaching and quite often search while we do our daily walk. So far, we've had 2 fails and 2 successes. It has helped beat the whining while walking about how much longer, which is great!
We have almost finished reading our first book from the Famous Five series. I read them one chapter, most nights. At first, they were not interested and kept walking off. Now, they are hooked, it's wonderful!
We try to go for a walk each day and usually, we'll incorporate a mission from NaturePlay. This was a game that the children made up and had lots of fun with.
An impromtu tea shop made from a giant cardboard box made for lots of enjoyment.
A weird and wonderful creature stopped by for a quick visit, before flying off to greener pastures.
Gretel finally has a sandpit and she is really enjoying it.
St Patrick's Day, dinner with the fam! Didn't quite go as planned, but it was a great evening. I tried printing off school work for the kids in keeping with the celebrations, but the printer was being contentious, and it was slow going getting them work to do for today. Now the printer is working again, and it has run out of ink.........sigh!
Lime jelly with aero bubbles for dessert. Kids loved them.
Taffy set up an activity for her and Gretel to do, off her own bat. I was impressed, so was Gretel.
We have signed up with Geocaching and quite often search while we do our daily walk. So far, we've had 2 fails and 2 successes. It has helped beat the whining while walking about how much longer, which is great!
We have almost finished reading our first book from the Famous Five series. I read them one chapter, most nights. At first, they were not interested and kept walking off. Now, they are hooked, it's wonderful!
Day 32.
I know it's been a while since I last posted, so I better do a quick catch up to where we're at.
My hubby and I headed off for a week's holiday in Asia and incorporated a cruise into that as well. It was fun and we learned heaps, and we've decided we need to travel MORE! :)
Here are some highlights from our trip.
We enjoyed all the wonderful sculptures and street art we saw, particularly this one in Singapore outside the main shopping mall in Dhoby Ghaut.
The whole week was wrapped in a shroud of smoke from the fires burning throughout Indonesia. The sun was glowing red, but unfortunately, this camera didn't register that.
Main mode of transport in Malaysia and Thailand.
A fun, touristy type of transport in Malacca, complete with tour guide posing as a pirate. Ooops, my mistake, he really was! But very charming and good at his job, and we didn't mind really. :)
In Phuket, we travelled in a taxi van who brought us to see these very gentle giants. Something I never thought I'd do, and I'm so glad we got the opportunity!
We were amazed at some of the artwork we saw on buildings, just incredible!
The beautiful street decorations form Chinese New Year, it's the Year of the Horse, of course!
Our friends doing what they love best, geocaching! It led us to some very interesting spots and could be quite a challenge.
Our ship, out in the bay near Phuket. Looks quite impressive from so far away and after hours of walking was quite a welcome site when we finally returned to the tender.
This is the most amazing statue I have ever seen!
The gardens in Cloud Mountain are well worth a visit! The critters are rather amazing too.
We were able to meet up with some old friends who are now living in Singapore. It capped off the week's adventure and was such a blessing!
This was such a mixture of beauty and desperate poverty, and the people where amazing and kind, everywhere we went. Will definitely return one day. :)
Only downer was we left the same day as the flight that disappeared..... we thank God we weren't on that flight, and pray that an answer will come soon for the family's sakes. :(
What happened with the children, I hear you ask? They were fantastic! We came home to a spotless house, a reorganized laundry and the kids had kept up with most of their school work! We are so proud of the older ones who helped keep things flowing smoothly, they are fantastic people!
My hubby and I headed off for a week's holiday in Asia and incorporated a cruise into that as well. It was fun and we learned heaps, and we've decided we need to travel MORE! :)
Here are some highlights from our trip.
We enjoyed all the wonderful sculptures and street art we saw, particularly this one in Singapore outside the main shopping mall in Dhoby Ghaut.
The whole week was wrapped in a shroud of smoke from the fires burning throughout Indonesia. The sun was glowing red, but unfortunately, this camera didn't register that.
Main mode of transport in Malaysia and Thailand.
A fun, touristy type of transport in Malacca, complete with tour guide posing as a pirate. Ooops, my mistake, he really was! But very charming and good at his job, and we didn't mind really. :)
In Phuket, we travelled in a taxi van who brought us to see these very gentle giants. Something I never thought I'd do, and I'm so glad we got the opportunity!
We were amazed at some of the artwork we saw on buildings, just incredible!
The beautiful street decorations form Chinese New Year, it's the Year of the Horse, of course!
Our friends doing what they love best, geocaching! It led us to some very interesting spots and could be quite a challenge.
Our ship, out in the bay near Phuket. Looks quite impressive from so far away and after hours of walking was quite a welcome site when we finally returned to the tender.
This is the most amazing statue I have ever seen!
The gardens in Cloud Mountain are well worth a visit! The critters are rather amazing too.
We were able to meet up with some old friends who are now living in Singapore. It capped off the week's adventure and was such a blessing!
This was such a mixture of beauty and desperate poverty, and the people where amazing and kind, everywhere we went. Will definitely return one day. :)
Only downer was we left the same day as the flight that disappeared..... we thank God we weren't on that flight, and pray that an answer will come soon for the family's sakes. :(
What happened with the children, I hear you ask? They were fantastic! We came home to a spotless house, a reorganized laundry and the kids had kept up with most of their school work! We are so proud of the older ones who helped keep things flowing smoothly, they are fantastic people!
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