DIY

Have you discovered diy.org yet?

I'm a huge fan of this website, it encourages kids to try new things and develop their skills. There is an incredibly wide range of skills available, from Forager, Papercrafter, Writer, Chef, to Minecrafter, Animator, Backend Dev, or Game Designer!

Here are a few of the things we've been up to -

Homemade rocket pictures with pastel & watercolours (from Artventure which we've just signed up for!)

and pastel planet pictures, Earth & Venus respectively - 

both for the Painter skill. 

They harvested some potatoes - 

which qualifies for the Backyard Farmer and Gardener skills.

Lexi made a pizza -

 and a character cake -

for the Baker skill, which earned her the patch for that one! 

She made a bracelet for the Fashion Designer skill -

thus completing another patch

She made a homemade sprinkler from a bottle - 

 for a Summerologist challenge

 and some tiny treasure chests, out of matchsticks, cardboard, and quinoa -

for Toymaker, and the photo of them for a Photographer challenge!

And Eli learnt to use a mitre box for the Woodworker skill -

It's great fun, and very flexible, I just wish there was one for adults!

Enjoying summer..

while it lasts.

A couple of weeks ago we caught up with a bunch of other homeschoolers for a morning at Cornwallis Beach. It's a great place, bordering the Manukau Harbour, but close enough to the harbour entrance to have lovely clear water and not be so tidal that the water just about disappears entirely, like happens at some of the beaches closer to home! 

One fascinating aspect to this beach is the combination of normal, beige coloured sand from the harbour, and the black, iron-rich sands of our west coast beaches -

It was just after low-tide when we went, so not so good for swimming, but fantastic for exploring -

and there is grass and shady trees right next to the sand, so it's perfect for relaxing or playing games

Nothing seems to make this boy quite as happy as a good tree.

then once the kids had got tired of the beach, we went for a geocache hunt, one of which took us up to the memorial at the top of the hill -

which looks back over Cornwallis Beach -

and the entrance to the harbour -

and the bays around Huia - 

On our way down the hill, I spotted some white daisies, which means only one thing to us educatory types - 

the green hardly worked at all, mostly just added a slight tinge to the edge of the centre, I wonder why that was?!

This is the perfect experiment for illustrating the need for a control, especially when one doesn't appear to have changed much!

Lego Club

I don't know how I stumbled upon this, but sometime last year I signed Lexi up for this Lego Club for Homeschoolers (well, it could be for anyone really, but I think the session times are 10am or 3pm our time), and with our usual efficiency, we finally got round to joining in the February session.

It's a free, online, guided club, each month Roni - the tutor/host/presenter - puts together a theme, a supply list, and a presentation, then at the appointed class time (the sessions repeat several times a month, though you only 'attend' once) everyone 'meets' in a digital space where Roni does a live webcast about the topic.

This month's theme was fairy tales, so there was a short presentation about what a fairy tale is, common motifs, and famous fairy tale authors. Then Roni lead the kids step-by-step through building a little fairy tale cottage - 

 (check out the cute little fireplace & hearth! It does actually open into the wee chimney outside)

We rummaged up some suitable accessories to furnish the cottage too (thank you to Lego Harry Potter, Lego Friends, Lego Pirates arrrh, and our Lego Minifigure Leprechaun for the teeny tiny cauldron!)

Lexi really enjoyed it, and is looking forward to the March instalment, which is making a set of constellation viewers (like binoculars, but with constellation cards to drop in & compare) coinciding nicely with our space theme, mwahahaha...

If you decide to join in, I highly recommend hunting out all the pieces WELL in advance, *not* the night before and then during the class when you realise that you missed one page of the PDF supply list! For those with less time but more money, or just less Lego, you can actually buy each month's pieces in advance via the class, or you can fudge it and make do with whatever you've got. Lego is good like that, and it's encouraged in the class too :)

I really love that this sort of fun opportunity is available to our kids!

February Frivolity

Sorry, alliteration is my Achilles' Heel...

Sorry.

Anyway, the weather has been pretty fantastic, so we've been trying to make the most of it! A few adventures, a couple of which I'll blog separately, and of course trips out to the park too - 

Still got the usual things like maths happening - 

Little brother & sister like to join in too, Maia really likes these magnetic foam shapes ("Magnetism Jigsaw Puzzle" according to the box!), and Leo just likes anything he can bang together -

Lexi mixed up a batch of playdough, but this one doesn't use Cream of Tartar!!

Cooked Playdough WITHOUT Cream of Tartar

1 cup flour

1 cup water

2 table spoons oil

3 teaspoons white vinegar

1/4 cup salt

Mix all ingredients in a pan then stir over a medium heat until it clumps together.

Knead on a floured surfaces

Add colours as desired.

(thanks to Nina from the NZ homeschooling Facebook groups for sharing the recipe!)

We decided to head along to the local "Natural Learners/Unschoolers" group, who meet fortnightly for adventures & play, this time at the secluded Titirangi Beach - 

See what I mean about the weather? Brilliant.

February is famous (infamous?) for being the haunt of Valentine's Day, and whilst we don't usually do anything to celebrate it, I thought it sounded like a good excuse for baking.

Lexi made a chocolate brownie from Who's Cooking Tonight? by Tauranga teen Claire Gourley

and slathered it in this obscenely good brownie frosting (butter, chocolate, sugar - the ultimate food pyramid)

and we made some little chocolate hearts with the left over chocolate -

(with not a small amount of muttered cursing, I'll admit)

Eli has started on Grade 1 of the Math Mammoth "Light Blue" series curriculum, and is flying through it! I've found the pacing of this to be really good for my kids, just a little bit challenging, but doesn't labour over a single item to the point of drudgery. Despite being worksheet based - she gives recommendations for manipulative games and web activities that complement each chapter - it uses lots of images and drawing to illustrate concepts.

And Lexi has now officially moved onto the next stage at St John, she is no longer a Penguin and has moved into the Green Cadets group!

It's time for a new uniform!

Once more unto the breach, dear friends...

It's the beginning of the academic year here, and with the daddy and biggest sister in the house trotting off to their respective schools, I thought it was time for us to get into a bit of a rhythm again too.

We start each year with a little celebration, including some little gifts in lieu of new school bags etc -

The kids each got a new Suzy's World DVD (they love Suzy Cato, and when I spotted these for $5ea I couldn't resist. I know they'll be watched over, and over, and over again. And you really can't beat her baked beans digestive system demonstration....!), Eli got a new pack of dry erase/whiteboard crayons, and "I Can Read With My Eyes Shut" by Dr Suess, Lexi got a pencil case with some pencils, eraser, and pencil sharpener, and Maia got a fabulous set of fabric alphabet letters, by my clever friend Monique of Neak Designs (who doesn't have a website, but you can see some of her things here on Facebook)

Maia isn't the only one who loves them!

and any excuse for cake, even better when they can make it themselves with minimal input from me!

 they used this easy recipe from Annabel Langbein

The rest of the week we had a gradual introduction to our usual stuff, the kids made cards - Eli made one for his dad, Lexi made one for her penpal -

Lexi made us pikelets for lunch - 

 (for international types, pikelets are a bit like a small pancake or flapjack, but also a little different in a way that I can't quite work out. Anyway, very tasty with cream & jam, or maple syrup)

They started some copywork to help with their handwriting, taken from Eli's new book -

 Lexi made a pinwheel from our Discovery Box, which she is going to pop onto DIY.org too

(incidentally, if you haven't discovered DIY.org yet, you really should go check it out! It challenges kids & teens to try new skills, create, and invent. It's fabulous.)

Lexi taught Maia to play "Hoses & Ladders" - courtesy of fire safety themed book covering from the NZ Fire Service -

and we went with some friends to explore one of our city's newest attractions for kids, the Splash Pad at Potters Park in Balmoral -

 we pretty much had it to ourselves since everyone else was in school, which is definitely one of the perks of this lifestyle!