Day 51.

Today, we drove Pipa to work and then stopped to play at Bibra Lake for a little while. I felt a little interrupted, but Karys and Taffy had already finished their computer work and Colt happily delved into his after running off some energy when we returned home.

This afternoon, the 3 little girls got stuck into a glueing project with Matchsticks on the letter M. M

Messy, but fun!

Then I put them down to have a rest and watch a movie before we headed off to more footy training and another lovely play in the park.

Day 50.

Starting a new term with a new batch of playdough, almond scented and a fresh green to boot!


Hmm, looks kinda like Spring!


Oops, maybe it's time to think of some Autumn scents and make some orange playdough.


I've refilled two of  the toners and printed off some Bob Book worksheets for Taffy. Now I can get my fix of laminating in. :) Don't know what I'll do when Gretel is up to the same stage, their won't be hardly anything to prepare for her! :)


We did marble painting which the girls loved and the boys turned their noses up at.

Taffy did well with her new Bob Book and she did try to put the letters together and make the words by herself. I am quite proud of her!

I have upped the kids reading time by 5 mins to 15 mins of USSR and they can read whatever they like. Also, they must read 10 mins extra of a history book and a poem. We are starting at the beginning of recorded history and doing the Ancients. I am looking forward to building a massive timeline along the passage wall and seeing how much information we can put on it and have it well ordered in our minds!

Day 49.

Last day of term 1.

Usually, when the kids were in formal school, we would celebrate the end of term with a party when they arrived home. This term, I realized we didn't need to celebrate them coming home as they're always here. However, the kids didn't see it that way at all.
Luckily we are going to a birthday party on the weekend. Hopefully that will satisfy their need for celebrating. :)

We did go to a great park for a play after they'd finished all their work.

During the school holidays, I plan on working out a new more formal program for the kids for next term. This term, I had them reading for 10 mins, this will be increased gradually up to 30 mins by the end of term 2. Also, they will be doing guided reading that will expand to cover history, poetry and the great classics. I want to include dictation and a daily diary for each of them and spelling and grammar will be high on the list.

I have so much to learn and I am enjoying that aspect as it is helping pull me out of my fog, where I was horribly lost.

This holidays, we will have 2 extra kiddos during the week, so we will go adventuring as mucha s the weather will allow. Lots of picnics, long walks and geocaching coming up.

Can't wait! :)

Day 47.

I had a really busy weekend taking older kids to drive log book hours in order to get their driver's licences, so I didn't plan the whole week ahead.

I planned Monday's work and the kids completed it fairly well, though I had to check on Colt and Karys that they actually complete the required amount. Sigh.

Then they got bored. Which turned into hours of playing games on the computer. Sigh.

So that evening, I pulled out one of the books I borrowed from the library, called Glues, Brews and Goos by Diana F. Marks. I was so impressed with it, I've ordered a copy of my own!

Today, when Dart had finished all his online work, and mumbled about being bored, I handed him the book and told him to choose a recipe. 

He chose chocolate clay.

Of course! 

And we even had the ingredients, so we had to give it a try.

Dart collected all the supplies and the other kids kept close eyes on what he was doing.

When it was spread on the tray to set for a couple of hours, Colt even helped with the cleaning up of the mixing jug! What a helpful brother!

I think it was a success! :)

Taffy had her last day on the free trial of Mathseeds and Reading Eggs. She has enjoyed both programs immensely and has done quite well. Now to decide if we should continue and pay for 6 months tuition, or try another program. I have been looking at Starfall, so we may have a little go with that one too. I ordered the Bob Books (Set 1 and 2) as I have worksheets for those and I'm thinking we may just go with those if she likes them. They are more hands on, less time on the computer, which is far better for a 5yr old in my opinion. Then I will still need to find a maths program for her.

I gave her a craft to do that will come in handy for her next Nature Play Mission, and she really enjoyed it.

I read a review on a site that teaches video game design, among other exciting topics, and it is on offer for 50% for a short while. I am waiting to hear back from them on a query about the cost for a group of students. Should be interesting!

Now to plan for tomorrow........ :)

Day 44.

Please bear with me, I am sleep deprived and a little nuttier than usual! These 4am starts to get Pipa to work are harder than I thought.

Today, the kids raced through their work while I went through all their toys and had a big clean up and re-order. In the end, they all played happily with a box of cars for an hour and managed to pack up in good time to get down to the beach for a good stretch and explore.

The beach was so soothing to my weary body, and I could feel fresh energy slowly bringing me back to life. I even ran about a bit!

This last picture was taken this morning. Breakfast Club with hot chocolate and Danishes. Yum!

Day 42.

I am happy to report that the new plan is working a lot better, yay! The kids have a plan and are having better breaks from the computer. Now I just have to plan exciting stuff for them to get their mitts dirty on and keep them learning and enjoying it.

I did some research for an art program that would teach them the why's and how's. While the boys settled down to learning about mixing colours and filling in a worksheet I printed off, the little girls got stuck into the messy stuff! Boy, did they have fun!

The boys will be learning about monochromatic painting next and will enjoy the chance to get stuck into the messy stuff.

We had an impromptu footy kick around the other day and also looked for a geocache, unsuccessfully, while we were at the park.