Our week of learning - 25th July - Space, Mail and Orange Belt

Ah, back to routine! 

English:

Current Readaloud: "Wind in the Willows"

Audio books: Roald Dahl & Enid Blyton.

Independent Reading: - "Victor's Challenge" by Pamela Freeman, "My Gran the Gorilla" by Jackie French

Other:  Billy wrote up a report of his trip to the observatory as part of his Cub's space badge.  The process included discussions about paragraphs, capitalisation and sentence structure.

Maths: He spent time using Timez Attack.

Science & Technology: Billy fulfilled the requirements for his Space Badge for cubs.  He typed up a report about his trip to the observatory, wrote some facts about Mars & Saturn (two planets that he saw through the telescope on the trip), wrote up how to find the Southern cross and we made two pinhole planetariums (Southern Cross & Ursa Major).

We watched the 2nd episode of Richard Hammond's Invisible Worlds - it's a fascinating series with incredible photography.  This episode was about the invisible light spectrums - xrays, ultraviolet, infrared etc. 

HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): We went on a visit to the Hunter Region Mail Centre with some other homeschoolers to see how the mail is sorted.  It was interesting to see the machines - ones that turned all of the envelopes the same way around and checked that they had a stamp, others that sorted read the address and sorted them into the right area slot.

We also watched another 2 episodes of Horrible Histories - Groovy Greeks and Challenging China.

Creative & Practical Arts: Drama lessons started back.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): Martial arts - he had his karate grading and received his orange belt.  Archery & Auskick also started back, and Billy played squash with his dad.

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): Usual chores but we need to get back into the cooking instructions.

Other fun stuff: 10 pin bowling with family, playing with friends.

Plot vs theme

This week's course was on plot & structure.  I've realised that's why I keep stalling with my book - it's boring!  It has a great theme, but not a strong plot as yet.

We're having to analyse the plot points in To Kill a Mockingbird for the next assignment.  It's funny, the parts I remembered of the book from reading it at school were the parts about getting Boo Radley to come out.  When you think about it, that's just a minor plot and while it adds to the theme, it doesn't advance the main plot along at all.  Interesting.

I'm finding I'm reading books more critically now with learning so much from the course.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not though - it's harder to lose yourself in a book while you're analysing it :)

Back to routine - please!

I'm ready for term to start back again.  The school holidays have been packed with activities and play dates, and I need to get back to routine to have a rest :)

The holidays started with the trip to Sydney I blogged about before.  A couple of days after we got back from that, we headed back down to Sydney so Billy could attend a Sydney Swans AFL Coaching Clinic. There were about 500-600 kids there!  They split them into 6 groups by age and for a couple of hours, they rotated them around different skills stations.  They got to do things like kicking, tackling, handballs etc - with the actual Swans players!  Very cool :)   Afterwards they had about half an hour for an autograph session where they could get things signed by the Swans players.  It was supposed to be longer but it started raining - a very cold rain!  At least the kids got a free pie or sausage roll and a drink afterwards!

Considering the amount of kids they had, it was all very well organised - and so amazing that it was all free because he was a Swans Jnr member!  A wonderful PR exercise for the club.

This was the group of 7-9 year olds (I think that was the age) - they split them into 2 separate groups for the activities.

Ball skills.

On the Saturday his martial arts club organised a group trip to the movies to see The Karate Kid.  Pete & I went as well and we all thoroughly enjoyed the movie!

This week we had my niece's BP presentation (top awards in Girl Guides) on Monday.   Billy attended an all-day (10am-3pm) CSIRO Science workshop on Tue & Wed - he loved it.  This was his 3rd time going and he was so much more comfortable because friends he'd made last time were there again.  Last time he wanted me to stay until it started, this time I was lucky to even get a "bye" as he rushed off :)  I can't remember all of the things they did - but I know they made slime, runny poo (chocolate pudding), instant ice-cream using liquid nitrogen, a balloon powered rocket car, a lava lamp and played with light sensing robots.  Both days, he didn't stop talking for the whole hour trip home!

On Thursday we went to see a play at the Civic Theatre - a musical production of The Gruffalo.  It was brilliant!  You can see a trailer of the show - we had different actors but its the same songs and script by the look of it.

He's also been going to karate twice a week over the holidays.  We've had lots of playdates - mainly catching up with friends that go to school, but some homeschoolers as well.  Plus of course, multiple trips to the hospital and my inlaw's place to see my MIL.

I need a rest :)

I did a 2nd 1000 word story yesterday on writing.com. I think my work is improving each time and thanks to some really nicely put constructive criticism of my last story, I have more ways to improve.  I'm really loving the feedback, even though I struggle with feeling a bit defensive when I first read it.  The most pleasing thing about yesterday's story was that it only took me an hour to write initially (the first one took 2 hours), and then back & forth over a few hours to polish.  I sat down - while Billy was watching something on TV - put the headphones on, turned the music up so I couldn't hear anything and just wrote!  So it can be done!

I need to keep moving ahead with my book.  At the moment I'm feeling like its a waste of time writing anything because I'm learning so much and will have to go back and rewrite.  But then, that will always happen.  I will always be improving and changing as an author, so I need to just write the best I can at this moment in time.  There's always plenty of time for a rewrite later anyway :)

Apprenticeship

Something I read in a Jackie French book has stuck in my mind.  She said something about it takes 3 years to become a plumber, so why expect to become a writer overnight.  You need to practice every day. 

I've joined Writing.com as a way to get reviews on my writing.  One of the threads has a daily prompt with a competition to write a short story (less than 1000 words) on the prompt topic.  It's a great way to get some impetus to do something each day. 

I wrote my first 1000 word story today - it's nothing special but I was pleased with it because I managed to actually finish something!!  I have a great deal of trouble making my stories "fat" (as Jackie French puts it) so it'll be good practice.

Thank you!

I have been overwhelmed with the support & offers of help I have received about my MIL - in the comments, privately and in person.  THANK YOU!!!

She has her first consultation today with the radiation specialist.  We think its just a consultation rather than an actual treatment, so once again everything is day by day until we find out more.

I'm coping ok - I'm good at compartmentalizing and distracting myself.  It helps that we've been busy with Billy's school holiday activities. 

So thank you!

Bad news

A couple of days ago we got the results from my MIL's biopsy.  It's not good.  It's an aggressive brain tumour - they couldn't get it all with surgery so she'll start radiation and then chemo.  The average life expectancy with this type of cancer is 12 months.  As you can imagine, everyone is pretty shell-shocked.  We've told Billy that Ma is still sick and needs more treatment, but I haven't told him anything else yet.  I don't know when or how..

She is out of hospital now and staying at my SIL's house.  We went up to see her last night.  Physically she looks fine, just very tired.  Emotionally, understandably, she's down.

The cat woke me up about 6 this morning, so as I was lying there trying to go back to sleep I started thinking about the next assignment.  It's about writing dialogue - we have to write a 2 paragraph monologue in our character's voice.  I worked out what I wanted to say but I knew as soon as I got up to use the computer, Billy would probably be up and he'd start talking to me, so I'd lose what was in my head.  I grabbed the notebook beside my bed and started trying to scribble it down - it was practically dark and the cat was trying to chew on the end of the pen as I wrote..  Ah the trials!

Anyway I got it written down and then transcribed when I got up.  I think if / when I buy that netbook I'll put it next to my bed for when inspiration strikes!

I was reading something about Ruth Park last night, about how she used to jot down story lines while doing the ironing with umpteen kids at her feet.  It seems that wonderful novels can be written under any conditions - you don't need the solitude and space.  Gee it would be nice though!

Our week of learning - 4th July - Submarines, Silliness and Stars

We went to Sydney for 4 days this week which was just chock full of fun, hands-on learning. 

English:

Current Readaloud: "Misery guts" by Morris Gleitzman (finally finished!), and "How the aliens from Alpha Centauri invaded my maths class and turned me into a writer and how you can be one too" by Jackie French.

  

Audio books:  "Sam Hawkins: Pirate Detective" by Ian Billings

Independent Reading: - "Crackle" by Margaret Clark, "Psycho Gran" by Christine Harris.

Other:  Billy spent time on Spellodrome and earnt a weekly certificate.

Maths: He also spent an hour on Mathletics and earnt a weekly certificate.  He watched a couple of videos I found online about "borrowing or regrouping" in subtraction.  Hopefully those couple of explanations will make it easier for him to understand than just my explanation!

Science & Technology: Our trip to Sydney included a trip to the Sydney Observatory.  We got to look through 2 telescopes and see Mars, Saturn & Venus, as well as the binary star Alpha Centauri.  We also were shown how to identify constellations like the Southern Cross, and watched 2 3D short films about space.  On another trip, we'll have to take a daytime visit so we can spend more time in the museum part - we barely scraped the surface in the 15 mins before the night tour.   (Photo from the Sydney Observatory website).

We also went for a quick trip to the Powerhouse museum where once again, we barely made it out of the science section!

HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): One of the highlights of our trip to Sydney was a trip to the Australian National Maritime Museum.  Our visit included a tour of the submarine HMAS Onslow, and a tour of the replica of Captain Cook's Endeavour.

Creative & Practical Arts: We also went to see 'Just Macbeth' at the Sydney Opera House.  It's a version of Macbeth by Andy Griffiths, aimed at introducing kids to Shakespeare.  It was hilarious and we all loved it. I knew Billy would because we'd listened to the audio book together, but I didn't expect to enjoy it so much myself! Check out the promo below:

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): Martial arts and lots of walking!

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): We weren't home long enough!

Other fun stuff: Playing with friends at the natural learner's picnic.

I'll be giving the recording a break for a couple of weeks while we have "school holidays" here in NSW.

Update on MIL

Thanks for the well-wishes.  She's out of surgery and my sister in law has spoken with her.  I guess we'll know more in the days ahead, but for now, we can relax that that hurdle has been jumped.

The first week of the course consisted of about 1.5 hrs of MP3s to listen to and some handouts to read.  I liked the format - I was able to download them to my mp3 player and listen to them while waiting for Billy at karate and drama.  The topic was Point of view (POV) and voice.  We had to write an opening paragraph to draw the reader in to read more.  Mine is quite silly and would suit a chick-lit or sassy romance type novel - no idea why it sprang to mind, but I enjoyed it.  I actually went on over the weekend and wrote the rest of the scene.

I really need to stop writing scenes and just finish something :) 

So far in the course, the disappointing thing has been not much interaction between the course participants.  Also other than the initial introduction, I haven't "seen" the teacher.  I'm hoping that changes from now on - we get feedback on the first assignment this week.  I don't envy her that job - there is quite a variation of styles and lengths!

I bought Stephen King's book "On Writing" over the weekend and read it pretty much in one go.  Excellent book!

The current plan is to buy myself one of those little netbooks and set it up in the sewing room so I can lock myself away in there to write.  I was trying to write in the loungeroom before Billy gets up - but if he gets up early that blows all the plans.  I need to be consistent about doing it every day.  I'm too tired at night by the time I get him to bed.  With the netbook at least I could write in the car while he's at drama etc.

Its hard to find the time when I have so many other things I feel I *should* be doing.  So much work to do, "schooling", cooking, housekeeping etc.  Writing seems like an indulgence that I shouldn't be doing.  I'm really down and on edge today and need some 'me time'..

Exhausted

We got back yesterday from 4 days in Sydney doing the 'touristy' thing - separate post to follow.  It was a great time, but quite exhausting.  We caught the train down rather than drive - it was much more restful but also took a lot longer and several train changes.  We saw a play, went to the Observatory, 2 museums, walked for miles and ate out far too much.  It was well worth it though.

KMart have their big toy sale on at the moment.  We're buying a Nintendo DS Lite for Billy for his b'day - it wasn't a surprise, it was something we'd negotiated that he'd put some money into buying as well.  Well, the front page of the KMart catalog had the DS lite with the exact game he wanted and a bunch of other stuff for a really good price, so I ducked in before we left on Thursday morning and bought it.  We gave it to him on Thursday morning as an early b'day present - he was stoked.  And it was a great sanity saver while we were away!!!

After we got back yesterday, we drove down to see my MIL in hospital.  It was thought initially last week that she'd had a mild stroke, but tests through the week have found a tumour pressing against the brain causing stroke like symptoms, mainly in her speech.  She goes into surgery today to have it removed.  We won't know much more than that until after the surgery so I don't know what needs to happen.  At this stage, we're just taking things one day at a time.  She seemed well enough last night, but was really struggling to find words for things, people and places.  It led to some amusing and confusing conversations :)  We had a 2hr game of charades going on!

So if you have any positive thoughts to send out into the universe, or if you pray to your god of choice, please spare a thought or prayer for her.  Thanks.

I did my first assignment with the writing course.  The notes & audio for the first week were really good, but there hasn't been a lot in the way of feedback yet.  I guess that starts today since our assignment was due in last night.  I've started a new blog if anyone is interested in finding out more about the course or how my writing is going. 

Ups and downs

Ups:

I got back to BodyBalance tonight - I think its been 4 weeks since I've made it there.  I was quite pleased to find I hadn't lost as much core strength as I'd feared!  It's a new routine though so I was a bit lost a couple of times :)

I've started an online creative writing course through the Sydney Writer's Centre.  This week has been the first week, and I'm loving it!

On the downside, we've had some bad news about the health of a family member which has us all worried.  We're waiting on more tests before we know more.

So that's about all that's going on in my life atm..

Our week of learning - 27th June - a week of "cultcha"

It's been a busy, varied and balanced week this week.

English:

Current Readaloud: "Misery guts" by Morris Gleitzman, and "How the aliens from Alpha Centauri invaded my maths class and turned me into a writer and how you can be one too" by Jackie French.

  

Audio books: "Mirrorscape", "Sam Hawkins: Pirate Detective" by Ian Billings

Independent Reading: - "Catnapped" by Julie & Michael Ramsden

Other:  Billy spent time on Spellodrome and earnt a weekly certificate.

Maths: He spent an hour on Mathletics and earnt a weekly certificate.  They worked on codes at Cubs.  We read together a book called "Elliot Finds a Clue and other Quicksolve mini-mysteries" by Jim Sukach - this improves his reasoning & logic skills.

Science & Technology: He did some basic handwriting analysis to find out who wrote the 'mystery' note.  He played the 'Become a Human Body Explorer' CD.  We watched the partial lunar eclipse and had lots of discussions about what was happening. 

HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): He played 'Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?' (once we found a machine old enough to play it!).  We also had a discussion about treason!

Creative & Practical Arts: He had his drama performance this week - his class presented their mime acts alongside several other classes.  He certainly loves the stage!

We went to see a local amateur Jnr Rep performance of Roald Dahl's "The Witches".  It was brilliantly done and very enjoyable.

We also went to a performance of "Fox" - it was an opera for kids.  (I didn't know that at the time I booked the tickets - I thought it was just a play).  Let's just say it was a combination of modern dance and opera - neither of which are overly enjoyable to me!  It was a cultural experience anyway!! 

We finished it off by visiting the art gallery.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): A big week of activity - I've been encouraging him to get outside and be active every day.  He went to martial arts, Auskick, played squash with his dad, and has also practised his Auskick and catching skills using the Crazy Catch.

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): Meal prep.

Other fun stuff: Playing with friends, playing Dragon Fable on the computer.

I haven't been in the frame of mind to do any more research atm.  Found out on Friday that my MIL has had a minor stroke and there are other possible health problems as well. 

Course starts tomorrow.  I don't know how I'm going to be organised to do it.  We've had an introductory post about ourselves - sounds like an interesting bunch of people!  I'm really looking forward to it, but freaking out at the same time.

Short story

I swapped over today to do some research on a short story I'm planning on writing for the Catchfire Press 'Wood Brick & Stone: The Making of the Hunter' competition.  What I'm planning to write about is in the same geographical area as my book, but a slightly later time period, so I actually found information about both while I was trawling around the internet.  I need to go and spend some time at Maitland library by myself to delve into the local history books they've got there that can't be borrowed.

Yay I now have a surname and a back story for the hero's friend!  Have been searching through the cemetery listings and immigration lists to find something that is historically possible and that appealed to me.

I can see the danger of adding in every little bit of historical fact you find out.  It's absolutely fascinating that Prince Alfred was due to visit Maitland at that time, but is it necessary to the story?

I love this ad from the paper at the time:

NOTICE.
TO MICHAEL HIGGINS.
I WISH you would come and TAKE YOUR TWO
CHILDREN AWAY that you left with me some
eighteen months ago (as I do not intend to keep them
any longer), and PAY ME for keeping the same. And
unless you return in one month from this date I intend
to sell what property there is here belonging to you to
pay for the keep of your children.
ALEX. McDONALD,
Taree Creek.


Got about 30 mins research done - I'm reading through an issue of the paper to get some background knowledge of the time.

Not sure how I'm going to get time by myself to do this course.  Billy is usually up not long after me and likes to talk and have some attention from the moment he gets up.  I try to block out time for work and put my headphones on so I don't get interrupted, but even that doesn't work.  If I'm trying to do 1hr work and 1hr writing each day, that's a lot of time for him to not interrupt!

Creative Writing Course

I'm so excited.  Today I signed up for a 5 week online creative writing course with the Sydney Writer's Centre.  It starts on Monday!  I'm hoping it will give me the kick in the butt I need and help me develop the habit of taking it seriously.

Got about half an hour of research done before the household woke up and disturbed me.  Have found a couple of dramatic incidences that I can use which narrows down the time to a specific year.  Is it ok to kill a very minor character off in a kid's book?

*sigh* Now back to the 21st century with a thud.

Just had an idea in the shower that adds more depth to the novel.  It gives Jamie a reason for behaving like such a spoilt brat in the first place.

So what did I do today?  Nothing major on the book - we were out most of the day.  I did do a bit of research tonight though and have narrowed the time setting of the book down to about 30 years.  Now to do some further reading of the papers in those years and see if there is any event I could use to pinpoint it further.

Still musing over whether or not I need a bad guy?  All of my conflict seems to be internal or just circumstance like being poor & uneducated.

Just found an interesting website - http://austcemindex.com/.  It's a listing of Australian cemeteries, listing of names & photos of the graves..  That's the trouble with research - it can pull you down all sorts of labyrinths and keep you there forever :)

Our week of learning - 20th June - The Fairy and the Zombie...

It's been a short week with the Queen's B'day holiday on Monday.  That doesn't explain why I didn't take a single photo all week though - I guess you're stuck with my old saucepan for a bit longer!

English:

Current Readaloud: "Misery guts" by Morris Gleitzman, and "How the aliens from Alpha Centauri invaded my maths class and turned me into a writer and how you can be one too" by Jackie French.

  

Audio books: Sam Hawkins, Pirate Detective.

Independent Reading: -

Other:  He's done some puzzles & riddles, and also wrote a letter to one of his favourite authors (Andy Griffiths).

Maths: Map reading and measuring.

Science & Technology: We played a game of Totally Gross together.

He created a Powerpoint presentation to showcase what he'd done for his Cubs cooking badge, and presented it at the Cubs meeting.
 
HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): We watched 2 episodes of Horrible Histories - Savage Stone Age and Awesome Egyptians.


He learnt about kitchen hygiene & safety as part of his cooking badge.


Creative & Practical Arts: Drama class, playing the keyboard and making up songs.  He also created and acted a 12 act play with his cousin "The Fairy and the Zombie" (they lived happily ever after - move over Stephanie Meyer!)

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): Auskick and he's discovered a relaxation CD that he likes so has done that a couple of times.

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): Washing up, more meal prep.

Other fun stuff: Lots of Moshi Monsters, Club Penguin and Kameo (on the xBox).

Intro

OK well, here goes..

I want to write a book.  While I'd love for it to be published, I know the chances are slim.  I don't know if I'm good enough or not.  But I still want to prove to myself that I can do it.

After years of saying "I'd love to write a book", I've given myself a deadline of my 40th b'day in October.  I have a children's book in mind (or maybe YA - will see how it turns out).  At least I have the vague story line and the setting, but I don't have enough of a plot in mind as yet. 

I'm trying out some ideas from "Write your first draft in 30 days" by Karen Weisner and actually plotting the book first rather than just sitting down and writing.  It appeals to the left-brainer in me.  Its been incredibly helpful so far already - I have written one scene which I've already had to go and change a dozen times as my ideas have developed - imagine if I'd written more!

So this is my journal to keep me accountable - I'm going to post my journey here so that I don't slack off and let fear get in the way again...

Just going for it...

Remember over 12 months ago when I wrote this?   I wrote for a week or so before the fear of failure & inadequacy raised its ugly head and I stopped. 

Well for the last month or so, I've been reading all sorts of books about writing.  I've resurrected my story and have decided to heed the advice of all the books - and just write!!!!  I've started plotting it out this time before I start writing.

I have about 4 months before my 40th b'day.  I want to have it written by then - no matter how bad it is and how much work it will need afterwards!!

Our week of learning - 13th June - the Sherbet edition

English:

Current Readaloud: "Misery guts" by Morris Gleitzman, and "How the aliens from Alpha Centauri invaded my maths class and turned me into a writer and how you can be one too" by Jackie French.

  

Audio books: Various "Horrid Henry".

Independent Reading: -

Other:  Competition entry typed up, spell checked, and submitted.  It's been a really good exercise for him to follow through.

Maths: Pyramid maths puzzles.

Science & Technology: We found a couple of interesting looking experiments in a book called "Crisp Packet Fireworks - Maverick Science to try at home" by Chris Smith & Dave Ansell.

We made sherbet out of bicarb, citric acid, icing sugar & jelly crystals (for a bit of added colour).


We also boiled up a yoghurt pot to shrink it and demonstrate how polymers can be rearranged & molded.

 
HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): He came along on the couple of trips to the vets with the cat, saw the microchip scanner and watched the cat get blood taken.   


Creative & Practical Arts: Drama class, and he hand-sewed a blanket to make the cat feel better.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): Martial arts, archery (the last for the term) and an Auskick gala day - he played 3 or 4 matches!

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): He made honey joys & jelly slice for his Cubs cooking badge and has been my apprentice chef at dinner times - cutting vegetables & meats, and learning how to stir fry.

Other fun stuff: He was awarded the Joey's Promise Challenge Award at a special ceremony at Cubs.  He was the first in the group to achieve it so they made a big deal out of it.

Mad week...

I *will* reply in more depth to the questions on my last post - I'm not ignoring you all, honest!

This week has been one of those weeks that feel like they have far more than 7 days! 

Our cat has been sick - so that's been 2 trips to the vet, lots of disturbed nights getting up to the cat & then lying awake worrying the rest of the time.  Thankfully they've narrowed it down to a kidney infection, we started him on antibiotics yesterday and he's starting to get back to normal - yay!

We've had the normal activities for Billy, plus a playdate and an Auskick match in Newcastle.  On Thursday night at Cubs, they had a special presentation for Billy who earnt his Promise Challenge award while at Joeys.  He was the first in our district to be awarded it so they had a presentation by one of the district leaders.  We went out for dinner afterwards so it was quite a late night.

I gained an apprentice chef this week!  Billy's been working on his Cooking badge for the last couple of weeks, and its made me realise that most of the cooking we do together is baking and his skills in other cooking areas need work.  Then I saw a post over at Julie's site with her daughter's lovely looking pasta, and was intrigued at Linda's comment that her kids started cooking a meal once a week from about 8.  So I asked Billy if he'd like to do that - would he like to become my apprentice chef, help me cook the evening meal once a week (on a night that we have plenty of time!) and then eventually cook a meal himself?  His response was very enthusiastic!  "Cool!  Can I do it more than once a week?!"  So he's been my apprentice 2 nights this week - he's cooked chicken curry & rice (including cutting up some of the chicken) and sliced potatoes for chips.  Let's hope the enthusiasm stays around :)

I didn't get to the gym again this week.  My normal BodyBalance nights are Tuesdays - I take Billy to archery in the morning, hang around there and chat with the other mums, and then we go to the park with the group for a couple of hours.  We grab any grocery shopping that needs to be done on the way home, go home for about an hour and then I take Billy back out for drama.  I do a couple of things while I'm waiting and then pick him back up.  We come home again.  By that time, the last thing I feel like doing is going back out for a 3rd time - esp on the nights Pete has squash as well, so he takes Billy to squash and then I pick him up after my class.  So its easier to just skip it.  Archery is finished for the term now and next term Billy's not doing drama, so hopefully I'll get back into routine soon.  (Except next week when Pete's squash is in Newcastle on Tuesday night *sigh*)

So this week has been very long & exhausting.  At least we've had some sunshine and gorgeous weather though!

But if you don't force them, they'll never want to learn anything..

I just emailed a variation on this to our natural learner's group...  This is how learning happens in our house without me "making him learn things".

Just to set the scene, I have a whiteboard / corkboard combination in our main living area that I use to write up word & maths puzzles, and sometimes I’ll pin stuff on that I’ve printed off that he might like to do.  There’s no coercion to do any of it, and Billy enjoys doing them.

Anyway 8:30 tonight when he was supposed to be getting ready for bed, he spotted a maths ‘worksheet’ I’d pinned on there a couple of days ago with pyramid puzzles on.   “Can I do those now?”  (Me thinking ‘I just want to get him to bed so I can have an early night, but he wants to do maths… hmmm…’) “OK, if you’re quick”

So he did the 4 on the sheet, got me to check them, awarded himself a red tick next to them (?!) and then went looking for the “Good work” type stickers I’d bought and used a few times when we were doing “school stuff”.  Lol, sometimes I wonder…  If I’d suggested he do the worksheets then and there,  he’d have dug his heels in, I hate to think what he’d have done if I suggested marking his sheet too?!

Speaking of maths, I came across this great post the other day that may interest some of you "But what about Math?"..

Our week of learning - 6th June - sick bay edition!

We took it easy while Billy battled a heavy cold for most of this week.  I love the flexibility of homeschooling!  It meant he missed out on catching up with friends a couple of times, but we can catch them up another time.

English:

Current Readaloud: Robin Hood (abridged), and "How the aliens from Alpha Centauri invaded my maths class and turned me into a writer and how you can be one too" by Jackie French.

 

Audio books: "One Beastly Beast" by Garth Nix, and "Grim Gruesome Viking Villain: The Cursed Sword" by Rosalind Kerven.

Independent Reading: "Edwina, the dinosaur who didn't know she was extinct" by Mo Willems.

Other:  He did manage to attend the final 1hr writing workshop and complete his story.  Now he just has to type it up and submit it for the competition.

Maths: He completed another "What number am I?" puzzle - it dealt with the wording of "the sum of the digits" which was new to him.

He spent quite a while playing a computer CD called "ClueFinder's 3rd Grade Adventures" - he had to solve maths & english puzzles to move through the levels.

We made a Caesar Cipher code wheel - he decoded a message I left for him, and then left me one as well.

Science & Technology: He watched an episode of Scope.


HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): We watched the final episode of James May's 20th century called "Big City, Bright Lights" about the growth of the city, skyscrapers and neon lights.  

Creative & Practical Arts: Drama class and drawing.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): He got to Martial arts and archery before the cold kicked in, and then played an Auskick match today.

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): He's been doing some odd jobs around the house to earn himself some spending money.  Things like emptying the dishwasher and taking the garbage out.  He does get $3 / week pocket money, but he wants a DS for his b'day so we've told him he has to save his pocket money and pay for some of it himself.  So at the moment, if he wants money he can spend, he has to work for it!

Other fun stuff: -

Our turn to be germy..

We've been pretty healthy all year but somehow or other I picked up a cold on Saturday.  It was more than likely at the 10pin bowling alley - lots of people sharing the same enclosed air!  By Saturday night I was sniffly & sneezing, Sunday I had a sore throat, a head full of gunk and wanted to chop it off, Monday I had some energy back but still gunky and by yesterday I was just down to the occasional coughing fit and a hoarse sounding voice.  Hooray, we're germ free!

But no, wait...

Billy came out of his room this morning with a runny nose and sneezing..

So the cycle continues...

Our week of learning - 30 May - writing, airport, space & musicals!

Billy had a very varied week this week.

English:

Current Readaloud: Robin Hood (abridged), and "How the aliens from Alpha Centauri invaded my maths class and turned me into a writer and how you can be one too" by Jackie French.

   

Pete finished "The Voyage of the Basset" as his read-aloud with Billy - its a  fantasy novel that incorporates all sorts of mythical creatures like Medusa, trolls, unicorns, dwarfs etc.

Audio books: Various Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton stories

Independent Reading: - "The Bugalugs Bum Thief" by Tim Winton

Other: - Another word ladder puzzle on the board (funny how he'll do them if they're on the white board, but not if I print it out!)


He attended the 2nd 1hr writing workshop put on by the local library as part of their Writing Challenge competition.  They learnt how to find books in the library (which he already knew) and made good progress on writing his story.

Maths: We watched an episode of Cyberchase about dew point.  He played a few games of chess against the computer.  He also worked through a number puzzle I found at Risa's site.

Science & Technology: His chosen subject for the writing challenge is global warming, so he's done some research on global warming and we've had lots of interesting discussions.  (I got into trouble from him for the length of my showers!)

He took a quiz on space and looked at the space photos on the George's Secret Key site.


HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): Over 40 homeschool kids from the area went on a behind the scenes tour of Newcastle Airport.  They only accepted a few parents to go along as well, so I made the big sacrifice and stayed behind and had a yummy hot chocolate with marshmallows while he went on the tour!  (Hey, someone had to do it!)  The tour lasted an hour, they took them through the security systems and showed them how they scan luggage, put it on the plane, showed them in the hanger etc.  The highlight seemed to be when they went into the security control room and got to control the cameras to spy on the parents left behind :)

Creative & Practical Arts: Drama class.

He made a shell necklace for a b'day present.

We headed off to Maitland Art Gallery for a look at their latest exhibits.

We also went to a musical production of "The Wizard of Oz" complete with live orchestra!  He really enjoyed it.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): Martial arts, archery and 10 pin bowling for his cousin's b'day.

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): He's working on his cooking badge for cubs, so he's made his own breakfast (scrambled eggs on toast) and a favourite recipe (pizza).

Other fun stuff: He remade his promise at Cubs, so now he's a fully invested Cub Scout. 

It was his cousin's 13th b'day on Saturday so we went along to a party for her (10 pin bowling and then pizza!)

He was pretending to be a ventriloquist one day so I showed him some YouTube videos of Dave Strassman, possibly the world's best ventriloquist.  He's hooked!

His friend has introduced him to a new computer site called Moshi Monsters which he's been having some fun with (along with Webkinz and Club Penguin!).    

Happy blogiversary to me :)

Today marks 4 years since I started my blog.  My posting level waxes & wanes, but its now an integral part of my life.  Thanks to everyone who reads - especially those who comment.  The commenting keeps me going.. 

"you like me, you really like me..." :)

Its also my niece's 13th b'day today - she's very excited!  We're off to go 10 pin bowling and eat pizza in a little while to celebrate!

Our week of learning - 23 May - busy times again!

I was expecting this week would be more active than last, but I underestimated just how much he wanted to soak up!  Vanessa, I think you were right in saying he was entering a new phase of learning.

English:

Current Readaloud: Robin Hood (abridged), and "Three Cheers Secret Seven" by Enid Blyton.

Audio books: Various Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton stories

Independent Reading: - "The Bugalugs Bum Thief" by Tim Winton, "Grand Final Fever" by Michael Wagner

Other: - I put some word ladder puzzles up on the board which he enjoyed.

He spent some time on Spellodrome and earnt a weekly certificate.

He attended a 1hr writing workshop put on by the local library as part of their Writing Challenge competition.  He learnt about the structure of an exposition and how to mind map some ideas for it.

Maths: I taught him about square numbers using unit square manipulatives that I made by printing out a grid, laminating it and cutting them up :)

He earnt a weekly certificate on Mathletics. He hasn't used the site for months, so I'm not sure what started him on it again. 

Science & Technology: He had a C# programming lesson with Pete where he created a program that opened up web pages.

We did a couple of experiments about erosion - using 2 trays of dirt, one plain and one with moss covering parts of it.  For wind erosion, we pulled out the hair dryer to see the difference in the "planted" and "unplanted" soil.  For water erosion, we tilted the trays and used a water bottle to simulate a heavy shower :) 

HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): We did our monthly waterwatch testing of the Hunter River this week.

Creative & Practical Arts: Drama.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): Martial arts, Auskick training and he has been practising his circus skills again.

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): 

Other fun stuff: Playing with friends.

Hello??? Is anybody still around???!

I am still here, promise..

Its been a combination of being busy with work, and I've also been in my own head space a fair bit and haven't been in the mood for blogging, commenting on other people's blogs, facebook or much else.  I guess being busy with my own life has meant I haven't needed to know every detail of everyone elses!  In fact I went on a bit of a cull of blogs that no longer resonated with me, and also of Facebook friends - I had some 'friends' that I'd added because they were on other groups I'd joined, but I personally had no idea who they were.  At least I can look at my friends list now and know that I've had some dealing with each person on there, either in real life or via blogs / forums. 

So what's been happening?  I've been back to the gym this week after missing last week - both my BodyBalance and Punch Fitness class.  It was good to be back, but boy it made me regret I'd missed a week!  I extended my gym membership by 12 months when they had a b'day special on last week. 

I've almost decided to get another microwave - ours died a bit over 2 years ago and I haven't bothered to replace it.  Now that our life is getting busier, I'm seriously contemplating one again.  Currently I'm out at the gym 2 nights / week, Pete has squash 2 nights / week, and Billy has cubs 1 night.  Sometimes they overlap, but on crazy weeks it means someone is out every week-night.  It will get worse in a couple of months as well as Billy moves up to the next martial arts lesson which is an hour later than his current lesson. A microwave would make it easier and more cost effective to reheat dinner or zap something from the freezer.  I'm thinking it would mean leftovers would be used up more too - sometimes its just too hard to contemplate heating them up on the stove or oven :)  And I have to admit I'm also hoping that a young boy might enjoy cooking things in it - he likes cooking but can be a bit hesitant with pans & ovens.  I've pretty much decided which one to get, I hope to go and check it out tomorrow.

I've had a fair bit of paid work on (I just wish the "paid" part of that was actually happening a bit quicker lol), and taught last week at one of the community colleges.  I only had 4 students so it was a fairly easy day compared to others. 

Other than that, I've just been reading, catching up with friends, thinking and just living life.  I figured it was time I posted something other than just another 'school' update :)

Our week of learning - 17 May - photo free edition

The last few weeks have been very low tide.  We've all been busy with our own interests - I've had a fair bit of work on and Billy has been immersed in conquering all of the missions on Club Penguin.  Life has just happened.  I can see that its naturally coming back out of that phase now and we're both ready for some more directed learning.

English:

Current Readaloud: Robin Hood

Audio books: Bumface by Morris Gleitzman  (** Disclaimer - probably more suited to older kids as it deals with the facts of life & contraception **)

Independent Reading: -

Other: - I've been putting word puzzles & riddles up on the whiteboard and he's been loving them!  I'm getting a lot of them from sites on this page, in particular this site.  Sometimes he'll want to then make up his own to challenge me (which can be interesting!)

Maths: He's really getting a good understanding of fractions from real life usage.  I noticed when we were cooking that he was able to work out things like "I need 2 teaspoons of salt, but I can only find the 1/2 teaspoon measure, so I need to put in 4 of them" etc.  He's also getting confident with reading 4 digit numbers like 1,206. 

He asked me to give him some test questions last night, even though he declared them a bit "schooly" :)  I gave him this one and he was able to work it out in his head - it took him quite a while but he got there!  (I was about to resort to the calculator for myself lol).
"Harry buys a drink for $2.80 and a Subway sandwich for $8.30. He goes to a different store and buys a T-Shirt for $15.50 and a new pair of jeans for $69.99. If he started with $100 how much money would he have left? (rounded)"

He's also been working out codes and making up his own for me to solve.


Science & Technology: While I was busy with work, he pulled out a couple of science kits we had.  He made a periscope by himself and an electromagnetic playground with a bit of help.


HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): There's been a bit of a medieval theme happening - we're reading Robin Hood and there was a medieval theme on Club Penguin.  So lots of discussions about that era.  This interest has stemmed as well from him doing archery - we started reading Robin Hood last year and he wasn't interested - now that he's doing archery he's suddenly interested!

Creative & Practical Arts: Drama.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): He earnt another tip at martial arts, had Auskick training and archery.  We also went on an hour long walk!

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): He's been asserting his independence with cooking again - he cooked pizza on his own (dough from scratch) and chocolate muffins.  Now to work on the cleaning up side of things :)

Other fun stuff: He's been busy (obsessed?) with completing the missions on Club Penguin.  He had success!

Our week of learning - 9th May - the casual version

I didn't keep any notes last week on what Billy did so this is the casual version from what I can remember:

1. Magazines - Both his National Geographic Kids and Scientriffic magazines arrived over the last couple of weeks, so he spent some time reading those.
2. Websites - He's spent a lot of time on Club Penguin and Webkinz.  Club Penguin has been good for maths - he has to earn points to get to different levels in parts of it, so he'll come wandering out to me saying things like "I need 1000 points and I have 499, so I need another 501 before I get to the next level".  We've never actually sat down and done formal multi-digit subtraction - obviously I don't need to bother with that one :)
3. Sport - archery, martial arts, Auskick & rock-climbing
4. Mother's Day -  Mother's day present shopping, present making at cubs, card making
5. Family history - I've started researching Pete's side of the family again, and he's been involved in discussions about the family tree and looking over my shoulder while I research.  It's a great way to make Australian history more personal - he can now say that he has a great-great-uncle that was killed in action in France during WWI.  That makes it far more 'real' for a kid - and actually, for me too.
6. Jobs - He's been busy doing jobs to earn money for Scout Job Week - he washed his Pop's car (with help), did some watering & sweeping for my dad, and helped cook tea for my mum.  

So he's had a busy week even if I wasn't recording it!

Embrace Life #2

Last night I nervously turned up to the gym for a new (to me) class - a Punch Fitness class.  It's a non-contact class using boxing & kick-boxing drills.  The instructor paired me up with a lovely lady who was a regular, wrapped my hands with handwraps, told me to take a break whenever I needed it and wished me luck :)

I had to collect a set of focus pads and boxing gloves (pink for the ladies!) when we went into the room.  We started out doing some aerobic warm ups like skipping (with an invisible skipping rope - at least I don't trip on those!), and other footwork, and then got into our pairs.  We spent the next 45-50 mins taking it in turns with the pads and gloves - doing punching and kicking drills.  It was a lot of fun, tough at times and being completely unco didn't help with drills like "cross punch right, left, uppercut right, hook left, then duck"...( and that was one of the easier ones lol).  I had a lovely partner though and she took things nice and slowly for me.  We had to swap partners a few times and once I ended up with one of the big, tough looking men - he was way too fast for me!

We finished up with sit ups, push ups and stretches.  I was expecting to be really sore today, but the hot shower I had last night must've helped as I don't feel too bad.

I'm planning to give it another go next week - hopefully that can replace my irregular gym session.  I've discovered I just don't see the point in walking on a treadmill or riding a bike that doesn't go anywhere, so I haven't been doing the gym sessions as often as I feel I should.  I like this because there's a point to it - learning self-defence moves as well as getting fit.  And it should be a nice supplement to the BodyBalance class!

Auskick, Auskick and more Auskick - and some injuries..

Given that its now Thursday, I've given up the idea of posting a wrap up of last week's learning :)  So I'll just touch on the highlights.

It was basically a week of Auskick.  We'd initially put Billy's name down to go to the Auskick season launch (skills training and game) on the Friday night in Newcastle (1 hr's drive away), and then found out he'd been accepted to go down to Sydney on the Saturday night to play as well.  That's 2 hrs drive away.  And also meant an extra training on Wednesday night.

So it turned out, he played Auskick 3 times last week! 

Unfortunately (coughing a bit here!), I had to stay home on the Wednesday night and get dinner ready, so I missed standing in the cold watching him train (awwww lol).

We drove down (in the rain) on Friday night for the launch - luckily the rain held off while they played, and then started again once we were leaving.  They spent some time practising ball skills under the guidance of the Auskick coaches from Sydney, and then played a quick game.  Followed by a sausage sandwich and poppa (drink) :)

On Saturday we drove down to Sydney, picking up one of Billy's team-mates and his mum along the way.  Pete had been asked to be the team co-ordinator for the night, so he had to find all the kids from our team amongst all of the other Auskick kids waiting around (amongst the almost 31,000 people that were there to watch!).  They got to run onto the SCG at half time in the Sydney Swans vs Brisbane Lions match, and play their game.  Pete got to run on too and be one of the goal umpires, but I've been threatened that any photos with him in it are not for publication :)

Billy's #9 in the red & white jersey below.

They played at the far end of the field from our seats, so I didn't see a lot of the game, but I did get some photos of the action.

It was about 10pm by the time the game finished and we left Sydney.  We dropped the other family off about midnight and then got to my Mum & Dad's house about 12:30.  Billy was so proud that he'd stayed awake the entire time!  *sigh*  You can imagine how much fun he was the next day lol.  We stayed in Mum & Dad's van so we didn't have to wake them up and then spent the day with them on the Sunday while Pete went to a home brew day.

In other highlights of the week (according to the camera's memory card, anyway) - this was what I was greeted with when I picked him up from cubs on Thursday night.

 Luckily, I knew they'd been doing 1st aid training for the night and were going to make fake wounds - otherwise it would've fooled me like it did some of the mums I could hear freaking out :)

There's life in this old body yet!

A few weeks ago I made a vow to stop experiencing life from the sidelines.  To stop being the mum sitting watching my son do fun things, and to join in where possible. 

I put it to the test today - Billy went indoor rock-climbing as an organised homeschool activity, and I joined in!  And I'm quite chuffed to say I made it to the top of the wall 3 times on the easiest paths, and made it about 3/4 of the way on a harder overhang section.  It was tough but fun!! 

I'll probably feel it tomorrow though - the muscles are starting to tighten up :)

Friends

Bear with a musing post please :)

Billy remarked to me the other day "I keep losing friends".  I asked him what he meant and he said "like I used to be friends with x but I'm not anymore, and now I don't see y and z either".  He was referring partly to how he's recently changed from Joeys to Cubs and left some of the younger kids behind, and how some kids that played Auskick last year aren't playing this year, but also to how as his interests have changed, he no longer finds things in common with some kids that he used to.

It started me musing on my friendships.  I read a quote years ago that has stuck with me - "People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime".  I just googled it and found out is part of a poem - you can read the entire thing here.

Are you a person who has lots of friends, or just a select few?  Pete is likely to class anyone as a friend that he's known for a small period of time - especially if they have a beer together!  I'm more particular - I only have a few people that I class as close friends; in fact I can count them on one hand.  Two of them I've never met in real life but I'm just as close to them as my real life friends.  Possibly even closer, because I tend to share more in email than face to face.  My close friends are ones that I feel like I can share anything with - it might be months before we catch up but when we do its just like we were never apart.  They are from all aspects of my life but with all of them there was a connection as soon as we started talking.  These are my lifetime friends.

I also have about half-a-dozen people that I would class as friends, but not close friends - they're mainly other homeschooling mums because that's my social circle these days :) They're ones that I seek out when we're in the same group because I enjoy their company, we might send the odd email or have the occasional get-together outside of those activities, but there's not the same level of intimacy as with my close friends.  If they moved on or we moved on, the friendship would more than likely peter out.  These are my season friends, and in some cases, my reason friends. 

Outside of that I have a lot of people I class as acquaintances.  People I know casually, chat with when we see each other, or even people I just know by sight to smile and say hi to. 

What about you?  A few or lots?

How Low Can You Go Challenge: Day 21-25

Yay, we've finally been paid!  Very exciting!!  Had a bad few days on the takeaway though - I should buy a packet of frozen pies or something to keep in the freezer for the times when its too tempting to get junk fod.

Wednesday - stayed home, no spending!

Thursday - we had a scheduled trip to the chiropractor, then used some vouchers to have lunch at Hungry Jacks ($10).  Called into the fish markets while we were down there ($38), and then Aldi on the way home for butter, milk, bread & rolls ($10)

Friday - we had our homeschool excursion to the macadamia farm - the tour was free, but we spent $10 on goodies at the shop (it was only fair lol!)

Saturday - stayed home, veged out all day - but still managed to spend!  Ordered takeaway pizza for tea because I had the lazies. ($23)

Sunday - Billy & I were out in the rain for the ANZAC Day march, and bought takeaway for lunch to take home to warm us up :(  ($25)

Monday - stayed home so no spending

Running total - Food - $321.29, extras - $212.95.


The cupboard is looking very bare atm and we have a very busy week coming up.  I'm planning on doing a full shop tomorrow using next month's grocery money or we'll just end up getting more takeaway. 

Our week of learning - 25th April - ANZAC Day

We had a really busy week this week with lots of fun activities.

English:

Current Readaloud: Goosebumps: Say Cheese and Die!

Audio books: Give Peas a Chance by Morris Gleitzman

Independent Reading: -

Other: -

Maths: Number Rings game plus heaps of time spent on Timez Attack.

Science & Technology: He used Publisher to create a brochure for Scout Job Week to hand out to the neighbours.

HSIE (Human Society and it's environment): We watched James May's 20th Century about instruments of war (tanks, aircraft, camouflage techniques etc).

He marched in the Anzac Day march with the Cubs.

On Friday, we went on a homeschool excursion to a local macadamia nut farm. They gave the kids buckets and let them loose under the trees to harvest any that were left on the ground. They made it a contest and awarded a prize to the group that collected the most - so you can imagine how enthusiastic they were!

After about 30 mins of collecting, they showed the kids the factory and explained the sorting process. Then we made a beeline for the cafe and enjoyed macadamia ice-cream! It was a really lovely day.


Creative & Practical Arts: Drama started back this week.

PDHPE (Personal Development, Health & Physical Education): He started Archery this week and really enjoyed it. He's come along in leaps & bounds in just one week. Also Martial Arts was on.

Life skills (cooking, gardening, housekeeping): We made Anzac biscuits together.

School shows: -

Other fun stuff: They did some basic first aid at Cubs.

How Low Can You Go Challenge: Day 15-20

A very brief summary as I've forgotten most of the details..

Friday - stayed home, no spend

Saturday - Steamfest $20 in entry fees & lunch (could have avoided buying lunch - but it smelt so good lol)

Sunday - We arrived home from Billy's cousin's b'day party about dinner time, and I did not feel like cooking. Could have been avoided but it was me or the money :) $20

Monday - $10 martial arts

Tuesday - $35.50 fruit, vege & eggs, $6 archery

Running total - Food - $215.29, extras (budgeted) - $202.95.

Still no payment from our client so have had to dip into savings... :(

Always look on the bright side of life...

Come on, admit it - who else is now whistling the next bit??! :) (Or am I the only Monty Python fan??!)..

My last post about how busy I was sounded way too negative.. Rephrasing it to say this week is chock full of a variety of exciting activities :)