Sunday, September 06, 2009

Our week of learning - 6th September - A magical week..



Current Readaloud: We started on The BFG by Roald Dahl - loving it!

English: Lots of reading & audio books. He watched a spelling program ("Spelling with the Spellits") and spent some time on Spellodrome.

Maths: He learnt the concept of "doubling" while learning magic tricks on the PBS kids "Math Magic" site. We also played Addition War.

He played a computer CD called "Arthur's Logic Games" and revised ordinal numbers watching "Count Us In".

Science & Technology: He made another circuit with the circuit board, watched a show on Rocks and Soils, and made a 3 way string phone to see if it would work.

He decided that he wanted a CAD program that architects use (he'd seen one earlier on a TV show about designing cubby houses), so he googled for one, found a trial version, asked me if he could download it, did so, installed it and taught himself how to use it! He designed a house for himself - let's just say the layout is unconventional :) I pulled our house plans out so he could see those, and he spent some time orienting the plans with the actual house (something I am dreadful at doing!).

HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): We watched an animation of the Greek myth "Theseus and the Minotaur".

Creative & Practical Arts: Drama, lots of imaginative play, and another trip to the Maitland Art Gallery.

We went to see a play called "The Fastest Boy in the World" - we both really enjoyed it. Lots of great songs and video displays as well as the acting. My favourite scene was when he got an air-guitar for his birthday :)

Billy also made an artwork using a sheet of photo paper, food colouring in a tray of water, and salt sprinkled on top of the picture to create different effects.



He was also busy making Father's Day cards and presents.

LOTE (Languages other than English): Nothing.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): He reached his "bronze level" in the spinning plate at circus - which means he was able to demonstrate certain skills with the plate like keeping it spinning while balancing on one leg, sitting down and standing back up again, and lying down and standing back up again. Yay!

He also went for a walk around our street to deliver some letters and spent time at the playground with his younger cousins.

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): He helped with meal preparation, unloading the dishwasher & tidying.

Other fun stuff: He's been busy on the computer as usual - game creator, toon creator, lego designer etc. Lots of imaginative play and playing with lego. He has been busy practising magic tricks, learning new ones, and putting on shows for anyone who will stand still long enough!


9 comments:

Wendy said...

Dahl's books are amazing. I'm thinking of picking some up for my son - I figure "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is fairly short and full of action. It's my favorite!

Ok, I just got home from a day of shopping in downtown Songtan, but now I MUST go to the library.

Stephanie said...

What an amazing week ... electrical circuits, architecture and more! :-)

Anonymous said...

Another busy week for you. I don't know why but males seem to be better at understanding maps and plans, even from a young age it seems.

I agree with the comment about Roald Dahl books. I can't wait until my kids are old enough to understand them.

Magic and Mayhem said...

I love the art project! The colors are gorgeous and it sounds like such fun. The whole week sounds fabulous, as always. I'll have to look into that math program. :)
~Alicia

Linda Cahill said...

Hi Kez, glad to see that you are still blogging, I have started blogging again. Angus is now 7 months old ! My blog address is www.prosper-us.blogspot.com xx Linda

Kez said...

Linda - I found your blog but I wasn't able to leave a comment. Nothing happened when I clicked on the Post a comment link. Can you check that it's not just me losing the plot?!

Caz said...

Looks like a great week! Like the artwork there too :D There's another version of that where you use cheapie shaving foam, drip little bits of food colouring onto it then lay the paper on top.. then you squeegee the foam off and have this beautiful marbeling.

Anonymous said...

I'm also homeschooling an only child in a relaxed way. My 9 year old son takes drama as well and loves reading and audio books. We're in the United States. I'm so impressed your son created a webpage! Great job B!

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