Mary Did You Know?

Merry Christmas

Thankyou for stopping by my blog! I hope you all have a special and blessed time with your family & friends, and that your heart has time to ponder one of the most incredible events in the history of our world - the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

On account of all the socialising and family related events , I don't expect to have a lot of time for computer related things over the next week or so. I had the idea to embed a YouTube video every couple of days - I hope you like them.


Getting the facts correct




Today's lyrics and music are from my favourite Christian band - Third Day - singing, "Jesus Light of the World" and the clip is really nice, too!





Aaah, well it is going to be very hard to choose! So here is one more for today!
O Holy Night by Third Day

Australiana

I've been asked what our Australiana studies are comprised of, so here you go -

We are learning about Australia in a chronological way, and the children are using an A3 sized Visual Arts Diary as a project book to include all their writings, drawings, stories, photos, pictures and facts. So far we have covered:-

* Indigenous Aboriginal People
* Early Explorer's (Torres, Hartog, Tasman, Dampier)
* Captain Cook
* The First Fleet
* Invasion or Colonisation? (Pemulway and Bennelong)
* Early Settlements
* The Rum Rebellion
* Governor Macquarie
* Bass and Flinders
* Across the Blue Mountains (Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth)
* William Cox and the road across the Mountains
* Hume and Hovell
* Burke and Wills
* Gold
* Bushrangers

Over the next 2 years, Sarah will continue these studies and focus on Federation; The White Australia Policy; and World War 1, looking particularly at Gallipoli. Daniel will be consolidating some of what he has already covered by readings of "An Australian Story" by Eve Pownall, and "A Sunburnt Country" by Arthur Baillie.

So whilst our Australiana studies will be ongoing, over the next 2 years I have planned for our Homeschool to have a strong World History based focus. This is mainly in the interests of balance, since the majority of our Unit studies during 2007 & 2008 fell into the Science and Technology KLA. However, I will write about that another day!

End of Term

We have finished with our formal schooling for the year, though naturally, the children haven't finished learning! Really, it's not like there is a switch that says, 'turned off for the holidays' LOL. Sarah and Daniel will continue to work on their own projects, play music, read and play, or do whatever else they choose to do. It's just that the structure of their days will change - nothing is planned, and I wont be keeping any records. Isn't that what a holiday is?

This year has been wonderful. Fun and full. The variety of interesting subjects the children applied themselves to resulted in much knowledge being acquired - by all of us. I often share in the childrens learning as I research, plan and gather resources!

I have previously mentioned that our preferred way of learning is via Unit Studies, which are usually based on Sarah & Daniel's interests. I value the way unit studies can cover almost all the Key Learning Areas, and I think a more cohesive and thorough understanding is built, simply by the sustained immersion in a subject, as deep or as far as we care to go - bunny trails and all, sometimes!

Typically, after breakfast and morning chores, our Mondays to Thursdays begin with Mathematics and English (though I think this subject should really be called 'Language Arts' as it is in some other states of Australia) followed by morning tea and a jump on the trampoline. After this break, a couple of hours is spent on the current unit study, till we stop for lunch. The afternoons are for music, sport, arts & crafts, reading, playing or socialising.

The Units we have covered during our first 2 years of Homeschooling are: China, Dogs, Polar Lands, Rice Growth & Production, Our Solar System, World Geography, Dolphins, Birds, The Human Body, Australiana, Weather, The Plant Kingdom, Famous Artists, and Light.

Sarah only - Environmental Food Issues, Ecosystems
Daniel only - Transportation, Volcanoes

Fridays are usually the day when we schedule excursions - for example, we have been to the PowerHouse Museum, the Currency Museum, the Maritime Museum, Elizabeth Farm, and Muru Mittigar Aboriginal Cultural Centre. I wish I could add in the Art Gallery, because we have been planning to go since October when the Monet exhibition opened, but my leg injury and being incapacitated meant we had to put it off. With the busyness of December we have still not managed to visit, so it looks like we are going to have to brave the crowds of the school holidays and go before the exhibition closes late January.

Every second Friday we meet with a Homeschool group and the children Ice Skate, which has been lots of fun. The rink offers school rates to the Homeschool group, which means the cost is only $6.50 for each child, for the 2 and a half hour session we have. For the first 30 minutes, Sarah & Daniel joined in a learner's class. These classes were fabulous and in a seemingly short time, they both went from being 'holding on to the wall wobblers' , to children who were presented with Level 2certificates to say they are now proficient at forward stroking, forward punting, backward swizzles and forward shalom. YAY! Next year they will work towards learning to achieve T-stops, backward 2 foot glide and 2 foot turn to backwards.

So, that's a little of what Homeschooling in our home is like - loving, living, and learning!

Do You Know My King?

First up, the pictures aren't as appealing to me as the script of this little clip, but the truth swells my heart! It's from an address by the Rev. S. M. Lockeridge recorded on Moody Radio.

You will have to mute my playlist music first (it's on the left hand side) so you can hear some truths about my King - Do You Know Him?

Growing Our Own Vegies

Our latest gardening project is one I have been wanting to do for a little while. Over the past couple of weeks we have been working on preparing a garden bed so we can grow various fruits and vegetables. I'm so excited about harvesting produce from our own garden; teaching the children new skills; and knowing exactly what we are eating. Fruits and vegetables are grown with so many different herbicides and pesticides these days - not to mention the increasing use of chemicals that can slow down the ripening process for the big supermarkets; or the fact that often these products have been refrigerated for months and months, or that they are often treated with more chemicals that actually stop certain produce from sprouting naturally. I don't know a lot about these processes, but I am convinced our family is set to enjoy organic fruit and vegies that are going to TASTE mouthwateringly fresh and sensational!
To begin, we removed some rather useless ornamentals, and dug over the soil before adding in some mushroom compost. This year, because of our late start, we bought seedlings to transplant, but we intend to plan ahead of future seasons,and order seeds to sow - which will be much more economical as well.

We are now growing large tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, Lebanese Cucumbers, mini red capsicums, lettuce, snow peas, strawberries, flat-leaf parsley, coriander, oregano, chillis .... and the children's choice - mini watermelons!







So far growth has been fast and healthy. The rain and sun are blessings from God, and we are so thankful.

Could Our Expectations Be a Trap?

This week we have not done any formal schooling because I have had a lot on my "To Do" list, which I gave priority to. Last night when we were all discussing this situation over dinner, Sarah recalled the last month of school being about watching movies, talent quests, emptying desks and scrubbing/cleaning same desks with Gumption, and watching more movies. So whilst from past experience I know that not very much formal learning happens during December at schools, I still felt a little guilty that I was letting the children 'do their own thing' all this week, and not finishing up on a couple of things. However, I was gladdened in heart that far from blobbing around watching TV (which would not have been allowed anyway) both Sarah and Daniel busied themselves with their own projects. As well as the usual Karate, Swimming and Music lessons, Sarah engrossed herself in reading, crafting and making Christmas Cards, with quite a few hours spent practising 'Joy To The World' on the piano while one of her friends sang. Daniel spent a lot of time in the garden catching spiders (he wants to have a spider farm) observing the Venus Fly Trap, drawing, reading and building Lego. So it was more like an 'unschooling' week with a lot of natural learning. Lovely!


Could our expectations be a trap? Yes, according to the article below (click on the image to read) "Escaping the Homeschool Matrix" by Steve Walden. Especially if we expect to be able to accomplish everything as perfectly as possible ... all the time. I was grateful for the reminder that we must keep the bigger picture in mind, and be careful that our expectations do not become a trap that leave us feeling frustrated and a failure when things don't go according to plan.



If you'd like to read more of this homeschooling Dad's thoughts, he has a blog at

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/stevewalden

Venus Fly Trap

After completing a unit of learning about Plants, Daniel has been wanting a Venus Fly Trap. He is finding it a fascinating plant and for the first couple of days especially, I often noticed him sitting and watching as in this photo ... waiting to see the traps close with an insect trapped inside!




The Venus Fly Trap (Dionaea muscipula) is a carnivorous plant that lures their prey using a sweet smelling nectar. When an insect lands on the head of the fly trap, it will touch one of the many trigger hairs located within the jaws of the trap. Once triggered, the trap snaps closed, trapping the bug. The plant then secretes an enzyme which essentially 'dissolves' the insect, turning it into a digestible dinner. After a few days, the fly trap will re-open, to await it's next victim.

We agreed that he could drop a fly and a piece of worm onto 2 of the traps to see how it worked, but the advice from the man at the garden shop was that artificially springing the trap, (poking it with your finger), drains the plant's energy. If this is done too often, the trap head will become less sensitive and possibly die.

So far the plant has 'lived' in the cubbyhouse, then on an outdoor table, and now it is on Daniel's bedroom windowsill so he can keep a close eye on it. Interesting plant...and an interested boy!

Dogs Welcome in our Homeschool

We start our school day with morning Devotions, where we read aloud aloud a chapter from the Bible, write out one particular verse, and spend time in prayer. Last week as we were reading through Hebrews, I happened to look up and see these sweet scenes, so I got the children to pause while I ran and grabbed the camera.

How sweet is this?



And this



I'd say our homeschool was inclusive, wouldn't you? Exclusive too. What other school would be so welcoming of puppies on the desk and children on the floor patting dogs while they learn?

OK. Well it could happen in some other parts of the world, but I'm talking about suburban NSW. I'm sure it would happen in other homeschools, of course. A homeschooling friend used to have a parrot sitting on his shoulder while he studied, and I'm sure you've heard of the little boy who hid a mouse in his pocket. Let me assure you however, that rodents are NOT welcome in our homeschool! Dogs, fish, butterflies, spiders and bugs safely esconsed in containers as part of a nature study, yes, but definitely not a scorpion, which Daniel says he would like to own!

Basic Carpentry 101

The cubby/treehouse has proved to be rather unused and neglected during winter, but after Tony installed sliding glass windows and the weather could be kept out, Sarah & Daniel found a renewed interest for playing up there.

Spring cleaning of the cubby/treehouse has been thoroughly undertaken, along with redecorating and renovating. Here they are constructing a mini bunk bed so their doggy toy friends could be more comfortable!




And a photo of Daniel waiting for me to pass up his noodles for lunch one day

Family portrait

I really like this latest family photo which was taken 2 weeks ago at Lake Parramatta by our good friend Lynne .... thanks so much Lynne!






Jodie, Jodie, Jodie - what can I say? Sometimes she just wants to look different from the rest of us! No, she just wasn't going to take off the black jacket and match us with the white shirts, at least not for the first few photos. After that she got into the groove with us...but I just like this photo - black jacket and all!

Portmanteau words

Fun words. Combination words, Portmanteau words. They make me smile!

Here are just a few examples:-

acknowledgmention = acknowledgment + mention
applemon = apple + lemon
babblecture = babble + lecture
bespokengaged = bespoken + engaged
braintelligence = brain + intelligence
churchapel = church + chapel
combattle = combat + battle
crisscrossbreed = crisscross + crossbreed
discipleader = disciple + leader
doublengthen = double + lengthen
dreambition = dream + ambition
enjoymentertainment = enjoyment + entertainment
fundertaking = fun + undertaking
glimpsee = glimpse + see
narratell = narrate + tell
painjury = pain + injury
pleasurejoicing = pleasure + rejoicing
polarctic = polar + arctic
stoven = stove + oven
wenchick = wench + chick
withinside = within + inside

What do you think? Can you make up your own?

Our 2 older daughters

Here they are - Lacey and Jodie photographed together at their Grandad's 80th Birthday party recently.




I had some fun playing around with techniques over at Picnik, can't quite remember everything I did to get this look, but I love it...not as much as I love these girls, though!

Injured and hobbling

Well, I'm just about walking without even a limp now, but it has been 7 weeks and 3 days since I tore the calf muscle in my right leg. A 'massive' sized one my Physio said. The ultrasound showed the tear was 3cm long by 1.7cm wide OUCH! Something to be proud of perhaps.. in a strange way! Yes, it hurt...a lot, most especially the first 10 days. I was on crutches for 4weeks, let me say they were 4 loooonnnngggg weeks - for me AND my family! I am mighty grateful for the care they showed me. Everyone's chores were upped another level while I was stuck on the lounge, and that was pretty frustrating for me. Especially as most nights Tony had to come home and cook dinner after a hard and long physical days work. Again we were fortunate that we homeschool; for one I could not have gotten the kids to school, and for two - they were at home to help me. Some of the time was official school holidays. My original plan was that we were going to school right through them and keep the 2 weeks up our sleeve for another time, but when I injured myself that plan was scrapped and we took the holidays. Homeschool flexibility - I love it!

Sarah & Daniel looked after me so well during the day, and have become much more skilled, not only at making cups of tea exactly the way I like them, but in lots of other ways, in the kitchen especially. They were both already used to doing some household chores, such as putting on a load of washing and hanging it, vacuuming, sweeping, dishes and bed making...they are just not used to having to do them EVERYDAY, for the 4 weeks till I could get around better. Sarah had the most daytime chores and was quite exasperated one day and said about the housework, "it never goes away, you have to do it again everyday" So true, sweetheart, so true, LOL!

The situation did highlight the fact that it's time Sarah learnt a few extra cooking skills. She can make Spaghetti Bol, Burrittos, pancakes and banana cake from scratch, but I have realised this is not enough. In my planner I have noted that I need to teach her more in this area. Daniel will be learning some new kitchen skills as well.

After 4 weeks my physio then progressed me into this cumbersome ski-boot type of thing - which gave me such a sense of freedom! Here is a photo



I have just this week ditched the boot, and I'm swimming (kicking my feet with flippers on) as hydrotherapy. I am doing 20 laps twice a week and my leg feels good and strong in the water. It's another story on dry land though! This weekend it's been aching quite a bit. A combination of being used after a long time off, and the massage to break-up the scar tissue my physio gave me on Friday - it really hurt! Funny how that sort of pain is good for you. He's a chiropractor also, so he did some sort of manipulation of my hip which has been thrown out from the lopsided hobbling I've been doing lately. Besides the ache in my lower leg, I'm feeling pretty good and I'm doing everything I can to get back to normal.

So I didn't say how I tore my muscle, did I? I'm sure you will all be surprised at my new sport, something I would never have envisaged myself doing, and probably some of you wont even believe me when I say - I'm a kickboxer! It's true! I've been doing it since February 07, and I LOVE it. I quite enjoy the hard physical challenge it is, and it's a marvel to me that I seem to find deep reserves of strength and stamina that I never knew I had in me! I am often pushed to a point where I don't think I can do anymore...but I say to myself, "try just a little bit longer, or do just a little bit more"...and amazingly, I can!!!

In the beginning I was not able to complete an hour long class once a week - I'd be huffing and puffing, hanging my head out the window gulping fresh air, and every week for the first 6 weeks I would get dizzy, and also feel like throwing up. For the past 6 months or so I've been going 3 times a week, and my fitness levels have increased dramatically....as well as my punching and kicking!! I've never done anything like it before - I was never in a fight in my whole life...and I didn't even know that a punch in the nose makes your eyes water....but now I do, LOL!

Anyway, I had a strain in my calf that I should have rested for longer than I did - silly, stupid me...because that is why it eventually tore. A hard lesson indeed.

Anyway, let me brag just a litte and tell you that I am now graded with an Orange singlet in BJC Muay Thai. First is white, then I graded yellow and just before my injury I graded Orange, isn't that terrific? I'm very proud of myself, cause let me tell you, it aint easy!!

From Scruffy to Fluffy

Sarah celebrated her 12th birthday recently, and asked would we tie a ribbon bow around Miley's (the birthday puppy) neck on the special day. We decided to also get her 'birthday puppy' a shampoo cut & blow-dry for the event, and are very grateful to C&L for the contact number of a wonderfully capable and friendly dog groomer. As you will see by the photos, the difference in looks was extraordinary...

This photo was taken 2 days before her big treatment



and this next photo was taken after



Isn't it hard to believe she is the same dog? As mentioned in a previous post, a Cavoodle is a cross between a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Poodle - but who would have thought this poshy poodle was hiding under our beloved and delightfully sweet, scruffy pup? A friend described the transformation as, "from Scruff to Fluff" and I thought that was so apt! Sarah really liked the poodle look, and wants to keep Miley clipped in this fashion, but the rest of the family think it should be reserved for special occasions, as we do prefer the original scruffy bundle. What do you think?

I Will Survive

Greetings friends!

Just posting quickly and I promise I'll be back soon to give better attention to this blog...I just have to find more free time.

A friend shared this with me today - I think it is fabulous take on a fabulous song!!! Enjoy

Our new puppy

Our home has welcomed the arrival of another 4 paws, MILEY - the cutest, most adorable, playful and sweet-natured little cavoodle ever born! She won all our hearts very quickly.




Aaaaw ... how sweet is she?

Miley (named after Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana) is actually Sarah's puppy. She had been wanting a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel for almost 2 years, but earlier this year changed her mind to the cavoodle, which is a cross between the Cavalier and a toy poodle. Sarah informed us that her research showed the cross made for a better breed and healthier dog. We decided to buy one for her birthday, and after much research of my own, we went on a list for a female. This adorable puppy became available sooner than we expected...hence the early birthday present. It would be true to say that Sarah would now consider Miley being toilet-trained by her birthday one fantastic present! So would we all, LOL!

Abercrombie House

Last weekend we visited Bathurst, one of the towns in the Central West of NSW. Since the children are now quite intrigued by historic homes, we visited Abercrombie House. Located on the outskirts of Bathurst, it is currently lived in and owned by the Morgan family - who have spent the past 30 years restoring and filling their home with an eclectic variety of interesting furniture and decorations. They kindly open for tours, which are led by son Christopher (a well-spoken and friendly fellow) who is able to tell many interesting stories and give out much historical information.

The house is huge! Three stories, more than 40 rooms, 29 fireplaces, 7 staircases, and a ballroom with a ceiling 8.5m high. It was built by Lieutenant-Governor William Stewart on the first land grant west of the Macquarie River, which was issued to him in 1827. Christopher Morgan relayed a lovely story about Stewart really wanting a land grant in Parramatta, but not wanting to tarnish his reputation by taking prime land whilst he was in charge. He saw all the grants taken, which must have been difficult, but afterwards was told to 'get out to Bathurst and choose some land there', which he did.


Abercrombie House has Scottish Baronial/Gothic style architecture, which seems an unusual design for Australian colonial days, and was built from granite already on site. It has a slate roof. The round tower incorporates a spiral iron staircase. I think that's the one that the children said reminded them of a lighthouse...and which made me a little dizzy! Very much enjoyed the tour, and the house.



Two snippets of trivia:-

One of the windows has a bullet hole through it. During WW11 some Land Army girls stayed in the house, and the bullet was fired by an over-excited soldier! It has not been repaired.

Second, the current season of Camp Orange running on Nickelodeon channel was filmed at Abercrombie House earlier this year. In the series the house is called Raven House.


Of course we couldn't leave Bathurst without seeing the Mount Panorama of car racing fame. I was very surprised at how high it was, and with the view...but Tony was quick to point out that we were in fact, on a mountain!

Muru Mittigar

Today our Homeschool group visited Muru Mittigar, an Aboriginal Cultural and Educational Centre. 34 children participated in some hands-on cultural encounters with a couple of Aboriginal guides, and totally enjoyed themselves!



They tried their hand at painting, listened to a talk about traditional weapons, implements and fishing baskets, and were impressed with the skills of the fellow who played some didgeridoo



After lunch there was plenty of time for free play running around and checking out the various 'camp sites' with unlit fires and humpy's around the fantastic grounds. Here is Daniel at the front of one, wearing his favourite shirt of the moment. As soon as I wash it, he's wearing it again. Can you make out what the logo is? too cool for school !!



A big crowd pleaser was the boomerang throwing and catching demo...with a couple of turns at throwing one themselves.





There was also a talk and guided tour around the garden area of native plants to learn about Bush Tucker. The weather was gorgeous, the place was very well presented, the talks interesting....and all the children had such a good day - living, laughing and learning.

What Horse Breed Are You?

We had a giggle answering the questions at

http://www.geocities.com/hlquiz/index.htm?200820

Tony would not play the game because he thinks these sort of quizes are silly and innacurate LOL, but

I am

What breed of horse are you? Find out!

Sarah is

What breed of horse are you? Find out!

and Daniel is

What breed of horse are you? Find out!

Amusing!

Hot Ice

Have a look at this Chemistry experiment which we are SO going to do!



Amazing, don't you agree?

Elizabeth Farm excursion

We've been out and about on quite a few excursions lately. A couple of weeks ago we visited Elizabeth Farm at Rosehill/Parramatta. Now this is a really nice and well maintained place. One of the things that struck me was how quiet it was as we walked around the grounds - rather amazing considering how close to Parramatta the house is! The creek where the settler's used to collect water is now a concrete canal, that was a jarring image and did not help us in our imaginings....nevertheless, Elizabeth Farm retains, and offers, a lovely sense of days long gone.

Something we appreciated was being able to touch items in the house. At first thought, you might prefer more authenticity and want the furniture and furnishings to be preserved originals. But because everything is a copy, we were free to touch whatever we wanted. To sit at Elizabeth's desk, to lounge on the chairs, to sit at the table...Sarah was even able to play a song on the piano in the retiring room! Nothing was roped off or out-of-bounds, which satisfied all our senses. There was one point, when we were relaxing in cane chairs on the cool verandah, watching butterflies flitting through the flowers in the sunny garden, where none of us wanted to get up again! Oh, to while away an afternoon sitting there reading and looking! Aaahhh, that would be bliss! Naturally, if we were dreaming of doing this in days long gone, we would have wanted to be free to do that, and not have been one of the hard-working, long-working servants or convicts!

We were well informed of all the house's history and shown over the home by our very own personal tour guide. He was a nice volunteer fellow who was full of interesting snippets about how life in the House would have been for the Macarthur's and their servants. John Macarthur was a rather controversial man who seemed to be involved in a lot of trouble making to protect his own interests. Whilst he is credited with being the father of Australia's wool industry, not enough credit is given to his wife Elizabeth, who managed the Farm quite successfully whenever John was back in England for years at a time, usually having to account for trouble he had been involved in back at the colony!

Sarah & Daniel were quite taken with the home and want to re-visit. I am thinking of organising to go back as part of a homeschool group excursion, because they set up some activities for school kids, which would be interesting and fun as well.

After our tour of the home we sat for a lovely Devonshire Tea in the Farm's Cafe, and talked about how nice it would be to live in a more rural setting, complete with a rustic, old-fashioned house. Both the children are now convinced they want four-poster beds, with very high mattresses, but Daniel is adamant he will not be using a commode! Give us the Farm House...but give us modern conveniences as well - bathrooms, toilets, internet access and electricity for starters!!!



We've also read a 'My Australian Story' book called The Rum Rebellion : The Diary of David Bellamy - Sydney Town 1807-1809. An interesting read which gave us more insight into life in those early days of the colony. John Macarthur's involvement with events that led to the military marching into Government House on 26th January 1808 and imprisoning Governor Bligh, eventually led to his being sent back to England (again) once Governor Macquarie arrived to sort out the mess and free Bligh. Now there was a man who was hardly done by! The mutiny on the Bounty was not the last of his troubles by a long shot. Anyway, as for the book, I was sorry I had not taken it with us when we visited Elizabeth Farm, because it would have been quite pleasant sitting in the grounds reading aloud another chapter to Sarah and Daniel.

Here's a page on the Rum Rebellion from Sarah's Australiana book

Maritime Museum Excursion

What a wonderful, sunny day this was when Tony took the day of work and we enjoyed a very liesurely ride into the city on board the Rivercat, mainly to explore the Endeavour replica at the Sydney Maritime Museum!

A fascinating place with excellent displays! We spent hours and hours wandering around, and being able to go outside and tour the ships on the Harbour was great as well. Sarah's favourite was walking around on board the Endeavour replica - gosh, all the crouching and back-bending that was required below decks would take some getting used to! .... and what a slow voyage it must have been back in 'the old days' as the children called them! I thought the room space allocated to Sir Joseph Banks was the nicest spot on board. Right at the back of the ship, lovely light and quite a spacious room. Should have been Captain Cook's quarters, but he gave them over for Banks, whose family had apparently put forward quite a tidy sum of money.

Daniel's favourite was the Destroyer named Vampire, I think it was the guns ! Certainly not the sleeping quarters...which were not as tiny as the Onslow submarine! Have you been inside a sub? Tiny, tiny, tiny! Here's a photo of the Endeavour replica.



And a photo from just one page of Daniel's 'Australiana' book recording some of his learning about the First Fleet

Australian History - Aboriginal

We have enjoyed spending the past 3months learning about the early days of our country's history, and we are not finished yet! This time Sarah & Daniel are each using an A3 sized art journal to record information, and paste in pictures and photos taken on our excursions. We'll probably keep going with it for another 3 months before we take a break and move on to another unit study.

The children have been fascinated to discover that many suburb names in Sydney are actually aboriginal words, and at one stage they were busily checking maps and signposts to see if they could find others. A new development close by has even been named after Pemulway, so of course we visited and did some shopping there. My kids looked at the area with something like history-awakened eyes, and as we wandered around we discussed Pemulway's anger and hostility towards the white invaders, as he viewed them. His reaction was quite a contrast to other aborigines such as Bennelong who was more helpful and co-operative (well, after he got over being captured in the first place) I set Sarah to considering whether the whole event should be viewed as an invasion...or colonisation, but so much depends on which side of the fence you sit on, or your own worldview. At any rate, we had some interesting discussions.

This week we are joining one of our Homeschool groups for an excursion to an Aboriginal Cultural Centre where the children (about 30 or so) will be able to taste some bush tucker, do some aboriginal painting and decorate a boomerang, as well as try to make some good sounds come from a didgeridoo - well, the boys will be. The girls are not allowed to touch the didgeridoo....hmmm!

Meeting New Friends

We shared a lovely time yesterday with a homeschooling family from Melbourne. They were camping in the Blue Mountains over the Easter long weekend, so we arranged for them to visit our home for lunch. I had not met them in real life before, but the Mum and I know eachother because we are members of the most fabulous online homeschooling forum Rockpool Homeschool.
(sorry, still can't make the link stay in the post)

So enjoyable was our time together, that we shared lunch and dinner, before they headed off back to their campsite. I am sure we will get together again in future; we may even join K and her hubby S, and their 2 children camping one day!

We would probably never have met if it wasn’t for the Rockpool forum. I have made what I consider terrific friends via this online community, even though most of us have not met in real life yet. When we do get to meet up and introduce our children to eachother (as has happened already with 3 different families) fun times have been had by all. I think I know people in every state of Australia now! Besides this fantastic way of meeting new people and making some firm friends, our regular Ice Skating sessions with the various members of the greater Sydney area homeschooling groups - who meet up fortnightly, has also opened up opportunities for myself and my children to make great new friends. As well, Sarah and Daniel have learnt to become proficient Ice Skaters courtesy of the lessons which they participated in for the first half hour of every session. They can now swizzle, stroke, punt, glide (and glide on one foot) t-stop, and importantly - snow plough stop!

It was especially exciting for Daniel to meet their son J, because J has been taking the laminated paper dragon ‘Knuckles’ that Daniel made, around with him on their holidays. Have you heard of the FLAT STANLEY project? This is our version of that. Some Rockpool members children have made their version of a ‘flat Stanley’ and swapped them with the other members children. The idea is that they take the creature they are hosting around wherever they go, and journal a little about their experiences in a small notebook, or take a few photos, or collect a few little postcards or something. After a while flat Stanley (or in our case Knuckles the Dragon) is returned to their owner with some interesting snippets of life elsewhere.

Knuckles has already been photographed at The Grampians, and now the Blue Mountains, and was yesterday photographed playing Dragonology with both J and Daniel!

Life is wonderful!!

Many Paths to Success in Life

Yesterday I started reading Guerrilla Learning – How To Give Your Kids a Real Education With or Without School by Grace Llewellyn & Amy Silver.
They were talking on p21 about how schools decontextualise information year after year and how this often bears little or no relationship to their world outside the classroom, (which results in the child’s curiousity and natural love of learning shriveling) and they wrote :-

‘yet test scores and grades don’t actually predict anything much. Higher level skills such as critical thinking are neither taught nor tested in most schools. Artistic ability, mechanical ingenuity, interpersonal strengths, musical talents, and gifts for synthesizing information are disregarded (if not disparaged). People who can quickly memorise meaningless data and deliver it on demand are rewarded, while poor test takers with other strengths are penalised. Unlike in life, the compliant are favoured over the willful. And the greatest opportunity children have to develop their strengths, cultivate self-discipline, and find their calling – is ignored in favour of the effort to teach what can be measured.”

It reminded me of a short essay I first read about a year ago called “Of Daffodils and Diesel” Have you ever read it? It is posted in a few places over the Internet, and since the author is unknown, I think it is OK to post it on my blog for you.

I always wanted to show my 19yr old daughter this article, because I’m sure it would resonate with her. She struggled academically for her entire school life, trying hard and trying hard until she gave up trying to understand and make sense of school subjects at about the Year 8 level. She continued to attend school only to see her friends, even though she was told many times that she was ‘there to learn – not to socialise’. Isn’t that peculiar? Homeschoolers are continually told that the only way children can learn to socialise, is at school! Ha! )

Anyway, if I only knew then what I know now. If only I had homeschooled her at a pace and learning style that suited her. If only I had opened up new possibilities and opportunities for her to learn about and research things that actually interested her. If only. I know we cannot change the past, but I know Jodie would have done so much better – and importantly, her self-esteem would not have taken a beating by thinking she is dumb or stupid … which she is NOT. I am pleased to say that she has continued to excel in her working life and her actual work ethic makes me marvel. She has not yet found her niche, but she is gaining valuable skills, earning a good reputation, and her confidence is a kilometre high. Praise the Lord!

It proves to me that schooling is not the same as education. Anyway, here is the article I was referring to.


Of Daffodils and Diesels
Author Unknown

I'm not very good in school.

This is my second year in the seventh grade, and I'm bigger than most of the other kids. The kids like me all right, even though I don't say much in class, and that sort of makes up for what goes on in school. I don't know why the teachers don't like me. They never have. It seems like they don't think you know anything unless you can name the book it comes out of.
I read a lot at home—things like Popular Mechanics and Sports Illustrated and the Sears catalog—but I don't just sit down and read them through like they make us do in school. I use them when I want to find something out, like a batting average or when Mom buys something secondhand and wants to know if she's getting a good price.

In school, though, we've got to learn whatever is in the book and I just can't memorize the stuff. Last year I stayed after school every night for two weeks trying to learn the names of the presidents. Some of them were easy, like Washington and Jefferson and Lincoln, but there must have been 30 altogether and I never did get them straight. I'm not too sorry, though, because the kids who learned the presidents had to turn right around and learn all the vice presidents.
I am taking the seventh grade over, but our teacher this year isn't interested in the names of the presidents. She has us trying to learn the names of all the great American inventors. I guess I just can't remember the names in history.

Anyway, I've been trying to learn about trucks because my uncle owns three and he says I can drive one when I'm 16. I know the horsepower and gear ratios of 26 American trucks and want to operate a diesel. Those diesels are really something. I started to tell my teacher about them in science class last week when the pump we were using to make a vacuum in a bell jar got hot, but she said she didn't see what a diesel engine has to do with our experiment on air pressure, so I just shut up. The kids seemed interested, though. I took four of them around to my uncle's garage after school and we watched his mechanic tear down a big diesel engine. He really knew his stuff.

I'm not very good in geography, either. They call it economic geography this year. We've been studying the imports and exports of Turkey all week, but I couldn't tell you what they are. Maybe the reason is that I missed school for a couple of days when my uncle took me downstate to pick up some livestock. He told me where we were headed and I had to figure out the best way to get there and back. He just drove and turned where I told him. It was over 500 miles round trip and I'm figuring now what his oil cost and the wear and tear on the truck—he calls it depreciation—so we'll know how much we made. When we got back I wrote up all the bills and sent letters to the farmers about what their pigs and cattle brought at the stockyard. My aunt said I only made 3 mistakes in 17 letters, all commas. I wish I could write school themes that way. The last one I had to write was on "What a daffodil thinks of Spring," and I just couldn't get going.

I don't do very well in arithmetic, either. Seems I just can't keep my mind on the problems. We had one the other day like this: If a 57 foot telephone pole falls across a highway so that 17 and 3/4 feet extend from one side and 14 and 16/17 feet extend from the other, how wide is the highway? That seemed to me like an awfully silly way to get the size of a highway. I didn't even try to answer it because it didn't say whether the pole had fallen straight across or not.

Even in shop class I don't get very good grades. All of us kids made a broom holder and a bookend this semester and mine were sloppy. I just couldn't get interested. Mom doesn't use a broom anymore with her new vacuum cleaner, and all of our books are in a bookcase with glass doors in the family room. Anyway, I wanted to make a tailgate for my uncle's trailer, but the shop teacher said that meant using metal and wood both, and I'd have to learn how to work with wood first. I didn't see why, but I kept quiet and made a tie tack even though my dad doesn't wear ties. I made the tailgate after school in my uncle's garage, and he said I saved him $20.

Government class is hard for me, too. I've been staying after school trying to learn the Articles of Confederation for almost a week, because the teacher said we couldn't be a good citizen unless we did. I really tried because I want to be a good citizen. I did hate to stay after school, though, because a bunch of us guys from Southend have been cleaning up the old lot across from Taylor's Machine Shop to make a playground out of it for the little kids from the Methodist home. I made the jungle gym out of the old pipe, and the guys put me in charge of things. We raised enough money collecting scrap this month to build a wire fence clear around the lot.

Dad says I can quit school when I'm 16. I'm sort of anxious to because there are a lot of things I want to learn.

Hello my friends!

Gosh, look how long it's been since I posted. Oops - that's not very good, is it? I have finally taken down the 'Merry Christ-mas' banner. Seeing that still flashing really showed me how long it's been since I updated this blog. I can only say that life got in the way!

You must have missed me, right?

And you would be wanting to hear all the exciting news from our family life? Well, tonight I will just quickly let you know that

1. Christmas and New Year was great.
2. Our holiday to Port Macquarie was wonderful - regardless of the rain!
3. I don't want a Winnebago to travel around Australia anymore. Long road trips - I'm too nervy I think!
4. We schooled through January to have February off.
5. My children keep saying how much they enjoy being homeschooled - YAY!!
6. They have lots of friends and love learning lots of interesting stuff!

and 7. I will come back soon!!!!