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!

August 2013

August was a busy month, with me feeling more organised & capable than I have in a long time. (I find newborns much easier than pregnancy!) The kids have really been getting into the rhythm of regular-ish 'school' days, and are finally beginning to grasp the idea that if they concentrate & co-operate we can get more fun stuff done!

Eli has just started on grade 1 of the Light Blue series of Math Mammoth, and Lexi is whizzing through grade 2 - 

Lexi was reading about how the footprints of dinosaurs & other creatures became like solid rocks as muddy areas dried up, so we recreated it first in playdough -

then in salt dough -

(which after 8 hours in a low-heat oven, and over 2 weeks later is STILL not dry! It's only 5mm thick!)

We've started using some of the Brave Writer materials for our literacy work, here they're illustrating their copywork from 'Hop on Pop' -

Lexi made a playdough ring wraith, complete with black horse, from Lord of the Rings -

Leo's been practising his cuteness and neck control -

Eli had fun doing playdough numbers -

Maia is just sweet -

Lexi is learning to play my 1998 vintage copy of Sim Safari -

(it's actually rather good, apart from not being able to rotate buildings or the map. Fantastic for learning about food webs though!)

And she just received her first four badges from the St John Youth Penguin programme!

Once again courtesy of our friend Mr Spangler, this is what is currently sitting on our kitchen bench....

July 2013

With the new baby a couple of weeks old already, and daddy back at school, July meant us getting back into our activities too!

We cleared all of the weeds out of one of our vegie beds, and planted strawberries instead -

Inspired by Steve Spangler, we had a science day -

(it didn't pop, but it did deflate quite quickly!)

Maia liked the balloon rocket

and the parachutes....

well, I wouldn't want to jump out of a plane with one!

We did the ol' 'trace around yourself' thing -

mostly as a writing exercise, rather than biology...

(apparently Eli has a hcamots)

the ubiquitous maths -

and Maia worked on becoming even more doggedly independent -

March 2013

I don't know about anyone else, but this was always my favourite use for cuisinaire rods -

We discovered an out-of-the-way playground that had interesting pulley systems in a sandpit -

and big logs to balance on -

Lexi started working through Delia Smith's online cookery school -

starting with a classic sponge cake -

more of our usual business at home -

and we finally got to check out the amazing new playground at Tui Glen -

(spot the Lexi!)

Feb 2013

Included...

Reading -

Lots of reading

Writing -

(Eli is working on the letter "A")

Making things -

(Lexi painting ceramic tile magnets she got for xmas)

More writing -

(Lexi doing some work on fossils)

Maths -

Jigsaws -

And little sisters -

(toddler on the loose at West Lynn Gardens!)