Day 88.

I haven't posted in a while, been really busy. We had our home school moderator visit from the Education Dept and it left me a bit flat and frustrated. She was ok with the younger kids program and pointed out the obvious that they needed more writing. I already knew that, so that didn't bother me. I have a better writing program in place and she will be able to see the difference next year. I'm glad I have done heaps of research and setting up a new program that will give them a much better grounding.

What bothered me is her attitude to Yr 11 and 12. According to her, these 2 years a waste of time and resources for the child and they are better off going to a TAFE centre or getting full time work. So she refused to register Pipa and handballed her to a counsellor.

The counsellor was quite helpful on the phone and promised me the world in terms of help, and I have seen nothing!
Sigh.

As for Pipa, she is keen to be educated still, so we are going ahead with lessons. I need to order a new English program as soon as I have funds and look into a new maths program for next semester. She is working part time at Hungry Jack's. Her goal is to start a TAFE course next year in business and/or food handling. She is quite bright and I feel she needs to continue with her studies as it will help her gain good study skills when she goes into tertiary education. There is loads more for her to learn, she needs to stretch her brain and see what she is capable of.

As for the others, we have been having the odd day off as I've not been well. We may work through the school hols I think. They still do their online work, but I'm having to push them to write and do their maths books. History is fun and they don't need much of a push to do that one fortunately.

We are doing History of the World and there are lots of activities to reinforce the lessons.

This is a model of the River Nile as it forms at the Delta. Not sure this one is going to work.

We have been using magnetic letters and Gretel is happily joining in with Taffy.

Taffy making up a story with some puzzle pieces.

I have introduced this great book with lots of fun ideas which all the kids are enjoying. Soon I shall add in some small skits for them to perform.

Since I started writing this post, the kids have improved greatly with their work output which is great but they may have to be pushed again when we start back in a week or two.
We will now be taking a break from school stuff as it is tax time and I need to work.

Day 72.

Things have gone from crazy to completely rabid here and school is taking a bit of a back seat until I get on top of things.

The moderator, who is lovely, is coming next week to check our progress, so there are reports to write and plans to discuss.

Now the tax department wants me to hand in years of paperwork, or they will audit me.

Never. A. Dull. Moment. Here.

Some pics from the past few days:
We went for a walk along the beach to get our brains working and we made loads of pretty discoveries!

                                                      A bluebottle jellyfish.

                                                            Colt with a starfish and sponge.

                                             A bluebottle's very long tentacle.

                                            A play on the playground before the rain came down.

           Today, they built a cubby house out of what was lying around in our backyard. This was to show them how the Ancient Nomadic people lived. Then they played in it for ages, until footy training started.

Day 67.

I and most of the kids have been knocked down with a severe cold this past week. Today was the first day I woke up and felt like my head wasn't full of cotton wool and fog, yay!

Taffy's work is still going well, it helps that it only takes an hour or so and that she will happily colour in for another hour, or play outside if it's not bucketing down with rain.

Gretel is astonishing me with her letter learning, considering I'm not teaching her!

Karys is trying hard to get out of doing anything, admittedly she is feeling quite unwell.

Colt is doing better with his maths, yay!

Dart is suffering because his very mean mummy decided that we would not have screen time during the week any more!

Both boys are suffering greatly, their lives are at an end and they are BOREDDDDDD!

Poor darlings!

Obviously, they needed this intervention so they can find their imaginations again!

It's going to be quite painful here for a little while, but I'm tough, I can do the hard yards with them. :)

Today we planted some bulbs that looked a bit old, so we'll give them until the end of the month and if there's no progress, we'll buy new ones and start again.

We also planted potatoes and re-potted a blackberry bush.

Then we made cards after lunch, for our friends and family.

We came close to deciding to move out to the country these past few weeks. It has made us make some decisions about where our lives are headed and what our goals are.
I'm glad we have thought about it and now we will take the next year or two to learn about farm animals and growing fruits and vegies, and learn how to run a business.

Day 64.

Last week went by in a blur, so glad it's over now.

It was filled with birthdays and Mother's Day, and while they are so much fun, they are exhausting too. I have been spoiled rotten though and my greatest wish came true, so I am truly grateful!

I only have a couple of pics form last week's work.

Taffy having fun doing her maths lesson. M&M sorting sheet courtesy of www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com

Playdough gets them all inspired to be creative.

Today, we have a new plan and I'm too sick to get through it all, lol! We'll see how it goes....

I made some bean bags for a maths game.

Here they are all finished.

Colt having his turn.

Karys' turn.

Taffy's turn.

Gretel had to have a go to, even though she had no clue what it was for, lol. And she cheated! :)

This is what happens when the hole puncher goes psycho and I get mad at it. :/

Karys out doing her Nature Play Mission.

Taffy with a re-made rainbow lacing card. :)

All in all, it went ok, even though we missed some activities. Hopefully, we'll add them in tomorrow and it'll be fine. :)

So lost, I don't even know what Day we're up to, sigh!

Just when I thought everything was completely organized and could run smoothly ALL week, and the little darlings would be filling their heads with knowledge and pouring it out on paper, I find that I am rarely home long enough for school work!

Aaaaaarrrrrgggghhhhhhhhhh! You can probably hear me tearing my hair out right now.

And yet, at the end of this week, Dart has memorised a poem for me for Mother's Day, Colt has read aloud to me a few times, Taffy has improved at ice skating, Gretel is doing puzzles and Karys has done extra maths.

I just wish I wasn't so distracted and bothered.

We did have some successes this past week, and we are still waiting for some books to come to help with our programming. We have our history books, I just need to purchase some good quality paper to make a giant timeline which will stretch down the hallway, then we can really get stuck into The Ancient World.

I made a weather chart for Taffy mostly, but the other kids like it too and are keen to help her put the right details where they belong.

Taffy used play dough to make the word "sat". Sort of. :)

She also used cut out letters to make up the words from her Bob Book.

Taffy and Gretel at ice skating.

Karys enjoying herself on the ice too.

Day 54.

Today felt like a junk day. The kind that goes nowhere and feels like it has no value.

One of those days when you're sure you have made the wrong decision to home school. I could cheerfully leave all the children in a Good Sammy's bin!

Ever have days like this?

(((((((((((((((((((((((hugs))))))))))))))))))))))))))

I feel your pain.


I need chocolate, wine and a good night's sleep.

Perhaps tomorrow will bring a fresh perspective.

And less junk.

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.