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!

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!

Capable kids

One of my biggest educational aims is to equip the kids with a wide variety of practical skills, so they can be reasonably self-sufficient and develop good problem solving techniques & attitudes.

And when those skills result in chocolate brownie for me to share in, then all the better!

 double yolker!

 recipe from "Who's Cooking Tonight?" by Tauranga teenager Claire Gourley :)

Completely unrelated, it's the second day of spring, and the kids decided it was perfect weather to get absolutely soaking making rain with the hose. Hence being in swimming gear in the first photo, after they had drenched their clothes of course.

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 -