At Guides they have one of those Chinese Skipping Ropes or as I grew up calling them, Elastics. My girls just so fell in love with them so I popped one into each of their Santa sacks this year. Don't you just love those gifts you pick up for $2 that they get so much enjoyment from.
Anyway I knew it wasn't going to be easy to get back into full days of schoolwork this week so today I pulled out the elastics and each time both girls completed five equations I taught them a new ... game, I suppose you'd call them. Thank goodness for the Internet as it has loads of elastics songs and actions on there. Seriously, you don't think I remember any from my childhood days do you ... I can hardly remember where I put my keys half the time!
Well they absolutely loved them! I didn't rush them as I think there is something vaguely mathematical about jumping in a sequence. I also purposely didn't start the morning with any PE as I knew they'd be doing enough with the elastics. Once they mastered the routine, they sat back down at the table to do a few more equations, with more enthusiasm and smiley faces and although maths took longer than normal, it was without any moaning or dawdling.
They can't wait to go to Guides and show their friends some of the new routines.
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Astronomy - Week 1
This year the girls and I planned that they would do more science. It's a subject they love and you can incorporate so many more subjects into science when you do it.
So one of the science subjects they will be doing this year is Astronomy and we'll be using one of the Apologia books, Exploring Creation with Astronomy, by Jeannie Fulbright.
I purchased them each a black jotter / journal book for them to put all their Astronomy work in. I am hoping to obtain some other things for them to add into their books along with the things that come with the lap book package that I also bought from CurrClick. They spent til five o'clock decorating the very front cover and the first inside page, even though I told them at three they could pack everything away. Apparently they were having too much fun decorating their books. Nerds!
In the first chapter they covered what astronomy is, some famous Astronomers and basically worked on a mnemonic for remembering the order of the planets. The mnemonic really challenged Agent Smelly and she got quite frustrated with it. The Fashionista was able to make one up pretty quickly.
The planets are black on one side of the cardboard but along the edge we ran some glow in the dark paint so they will light up in the evening. They weren't too scale as they needed to balance. They worked well together making it up.
Here's the finished product which they told me the Papa has to hang in the study ... their learning room apparently.
So one of the science subjects they will be doing this year is Astronomy and we'll be using one of the Apologia books, Exploring Creation with Astronomy, by Jeannie Fulbright.
I purchased them each a black jotter / journal book for them to put all their Astronomy work in. I am hoping to obtain some other things for them to add into their books along with the things that come with the lap book package that I also bought from CurrClick. They spent til five o'clock decorating the very front cover and the first inside page, even though I told them at three they could pack everything away. Apparently they were having too much fun decorating their books. Nerds!
In the first chapter they covered what astronomy is, some famous Astronomers and basically worked on a mnemonic for remembering the order of the planets. The mnemonic really challenged Agent Smelly and she got quite frustrated with it. The Fashionista was able to make one up pretty quickly.
The last activity of chapter one was to make a solar system with balloons but I remembered that I had this in the craft cupboard so gave them this to make instead.
The planets are black on one side of the cardboard but along the edge we ran some glow in the dark paint so they will light up in the evening. They weren't too scale as they needed to balance. They worked well together making it up.
Here's the finished product which they told me the Papa has to hang in the study ... their learning room apparently.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Valentines Day Craft Swap
Yesterday I came up with the idea of organising a craft exchange for Valentines Day. I emailed a few, mostly homeschooling, families. Some have signed on but due to the time constraints a few declined saying that would love to do one with us again some other time but they were ALL very enthusiastic about the idea.
The idea is for groups of girls (up to 5 in a group) aged between 7 and 12, to make and exchange a Valentines gift with each girl in their group. If we had enough girls I would have split the groups into age groups of 7-9 and 10-12 but we didn't this time around so they are a bit mixed up. A friend suggested also having a 5- 6 year old group exchange handmade cards. which could have been great if we had of had more time to get the info out there. I did say that boys could be involved but they must be prepared that they could possibly receive a lot of pink, red and hearts.
We requested that the items be of a reasonable quality as I think it
would be disappointing if one little girl sewed up, say a pile of felt hearts and
then received something slapped together in a few minutes made from paper and
glue.
All the girls that have signed on are anxious to get moving, so I can't wait to see what little treasures they all come up with.
I have been toying with the idea of organising a kids Christmas Ornament swap amongst the homeschooling community of NZ, so this will be a great way for me to iron out any ruffles before trying that, which will be on a much larger scale.
Saturday, February 2, 2013
A Day Off ... maybe not!
Today's Saturday and we had no schoolwork scheduled ... then why did my coffee table look like this?
Oh that's right ... my girls decided to play school ... seriously, they are such gorgeous, wee nerds!
I love how they even had dictionaries out ... they were making projects on their favourite subjects, mermaids and horses.
Oh that's right ... my girls decided to play school ... seriously, they are such gorgeous, wee nerds!
I love how they even had dictionaries out ... they were making projects on their favourite subjects, mermaids and horses.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
"Cleaning your Bedroom"; Instructions for Kids
Following on from my post Cleaning the bathroom with kids I have now finished the next step in teaching the girls how to clean a room properly. This time I have produced a weekly and monthly bedroom checklist.
I have printed the instructions onto A5 sheets, laminated them and placed them on a ring and into the relevant cleaning box.
□ Vacuum the carpet. Pay special attention to the edges
near the walls (you will need to use the vacuum pipe to do this), and under any
furniture.
□ Empty your bin
□ Put away supplies; dirty cloths into the laundry tub and the pink plastic tub with supplies into the laundry cupboard. Vacuum goes back in the laundry closet.
The girls are actually quite enjoying grabbing the relevant cleaning tub and checking off the list as they clean their room.
If you'd care for a copy of any of the instructions emailed to you just leave your email address in the comments and I will email them to you. You can modify them to your own individual room requirements.
We are using all pinks accessories for the bedrooms, lounge rooms and other dry areas in the house.
I have printed the instructions onto A5 sheets, laminated them and placed them on a ring and into the relevant cleaning box.
WEEKLY BEDROOM CHECKLIST
□ Gather supplies in their pink plastic tub:
·
cleaning / dusting cloths
(pink)
·
one sheet of newspaper
·
a natural spray cleaner for mirrors,
sills, walls and trims
·
vacuum Cleaner
□ Pick up everything up off of the floor and put it away
□ Hang or put in drawers any clean clothes lying about
□ Empty dirty clothes hamper into the laundry hampers
□ Knock down any cobwebs around the ceiling
□ Change sheets, place dirty ones in the laundry, and
then remake bed with clean sheets from the linen cupboard
To clean each piece of furniture, firstly you must
remove every item from it, spray it with a cleaner if required and wipe with a
cleaning cloth or simply dust the item with a fluffy cloth. Remember to dust or
wipe the items before replacing them back onto the piece of furniture.
□ Clean bedside table
□ Clean bookshelf, always starting from the top shelf
and then making your way down
□ Clean any sets of drawers
□ Clean your dresser
□ Spray dresser mirror
□ Wipe mirror clean with newspaper
□ Organize and tidy wardrobe
With a new
cleaning cloth
□ Lightly spray and wipe the window sill
□ Clean any marks on the walls or doors
□ Spray and wipe around the skirting boards
□ Wipe around any light switches and electrical sockets
with the damp cloth. DO NOT SPRAY
AROUND ELECTRICALS!
□ Empty your bin
□ Put away supplies; dirty cloths into the laundry tub and the pink plastic tub with supplies into the laundry cupboard. Vacuum goes back in the laundry closet.
Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are
doing the impossible. Saint Francis of Assisi
MONTHLY BEDROOM CHECKLIST
□ Flip your mattress (with help from someone) after you
remove your sheeting and before you remake it
□ Change any duvets covers, quilts, blankets, etc that
may require washing
□ Spray window cleaner onto windows
□ Wipe clean with newspaper or paper toweling
□ Wipe light shades – Dad may be required to do the main
light overhead.
□ Let Mum or Dad know of anything that may not be
working or is broken, so they can have it replaced or repaired.
The girls are actually quite enjoying grabbing the relevant cleaning tub and checking off the list as they clean their room.
If you'd care for a copy of any of the instructions emailed to you just leave your email address in the comments and I will email them to you. You can modify them to your own individual room requirements.
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