It has come to Saturday and I have not recorded anything we have done this week.  I will journal the highlights.

 

Discipleship Studies:  I spent some time in preparing the direction of our Bible Study time.  I find this challenging as I have one timeslot as I want to study together but the children are in two very obvious divisions as far as understanding the Scriptures go.

 

This week we have spent reviewing the “Creation Era” – Adam to Babel.  Josh and Jess have completed overview sheets, notebook pages including geography.  Nomi and Daniel have worked on mini books.

 

Discipline Studies:  My focus this week has been on establishing Daniel’s routine.  Next week we will be starting his Reading Made Easy lessons again.  He is so keen to read – he is devouring comic books and I am sure it is his desire to read finding a solution to not being able to.  Daniel had math sessions interwoven into his FIAR lessons.  Josh and Jess work on their Math independently.  Next week we will commence with Nomi’s math as well.

 

Discussion Studies:  (History, Science, General Knowledge)

Joshua continues with his History reading and recording.  Jessica has been reading predominately on Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt.  Naomi hasn’t done a lot specifically though I am seeing an increase in awareness in her that there is knowledge out there to be pursued.

 

The children continue to record their learning – one page at a time (Notebooking).  Jessica has worked on Cleopatra and Vaccines/needles.  Naomi has a story she is writing and a draft on Vaccines/needles.  Joshua has been working on the political situation in Dark Ages Briton.  He has chosen to use Powerpoint for his information.

 

Daniel and I have been doing a FIAR study on “The Story about Ping”.  We have been working on this title for a while (too long) so we have only read the story once this week.  We read anther picture book story on the Great Wall of China.  Daniel loved it!  We have made several entries into his FIAR Notebook (aka Scrapbook).  He has looked at the Great Wall of China, which included a map, the Chinese writing, which included seeing his own name in Chinese characters and the numbers 1-10 and the Chinese flag.  For math we worked on “first, second, and third”.  For Character we worked on obedience and accepting the consequences.  I unexpectedly found a Magic School Bus book on China and Daniel has really enjoyed this too.  He is delighting in recognising the Great Wall of China – I think this has been a “clicking” unit for Daniel as far as working with me with FIAR.

 

Discretion Studies:

Projects:  We have taken a bit of a breather on creative projects after the intensity of preparing for the Ag Show.  Jessica has written a list of things she would like to make for her Gift box and Nomi will do the same shortly.  Naomi has started her sewing machine lessons (with me) so she is practicing daily on paper – next week she progresses to material. 

 

Music: Jessica has picked up practicing the piano again (we are without a teacher at the moment so practice hasn’t been daily.)  Thursday we talked with friend who is going to source some books she can work through while the piano teacher has a break.

 

Art:  Tuesday night on the ABC Ralph Harris is hosting an artist show.  Three artists have to paint a portrait – each artist favours a personal style – one portrait is chosen by the “model” to keep.  We taped it so we could watch it the next day – the kids were very inspired.  When in town on Friday we bought some canvas boards and some acrylic paints. Joshua has painted Daniel.  Daniel sat for him and all!  Daniel painted a Thunderbirds painting and Nomi is in the middle of painting a dog.  They enjoyed working on the canvas other than paper.

 

Sport:  Netball has resumed this week for another 3 weeks.  Peter took the girls in this week so I got to say home with the boys and clean house!  (See note on Homeblessing below).

 

Life Skills:

Josh spent a lot of time sorting and filing paperwork.  I can’t believe the amount of paper work he generates – he writes, doodles, sketches out plans all the time.  Yet I am encouraging him to keep it all.  He is working at being organised and having a system.  Jessica offered to help him so for a couple of hours on Thursday they listened to stories on tape and got it all filed away!  His desk is now so very inviting and he loves it!

 

Is climbing a tree a life skill?  Well it is probably recreation but there is risk assessment and management skills required so I will record it as a life skill!  Nomi and Daniel have discovered the joys of climbing trees – they are spending a lot of their outside time up a tree, near the cubby, playing a wonderful game.

 

We have been working on the Character trait of Thoroughness.  The main thing we have honed in on is that we train ourselves to see the little things around us that need doing.  The second is that we go the extra mile.  These two things are slowly affecting the way the house looks throughout the day. 

 

Vaccination Needles: All of them were due for needles – this time was definitely a life skill – to be brave, to be caring for others who are nervous and scared and to encourage each other!   

 

Playing Board Games… We continue with the challenge to grab a board game when we have a spare moment, or to chose such a game instead of a video for family relaxation.  The children have played Make ‘n Break again this week.  The challenge has been for them to be gracious to younger children playing with them, to find ways to make it possible for them to join in, and yet to follow the rules too.  They shared the fun of this game with their friends as well.  Our week has ended, Saturday night, with Josh and Peter watching the Rugby and the rest of us playing games – Guess Who and Boggle.

 

Hospitality… This week we had family friends invite themselves down for dinner – they brought the food!  This was a great family time with lots of talking over the meal table and sharing with each other.

 

We went to the library this week – the children stay there while I do the shopping.  That afternoon we all sat at home,  in the lounge room and read books.  It was a great feeling to be there all together yet not really interacting but still being together.

 

Homeblessing – Saturday morning the boys stayed home with me while the girls played Netball.  We got in and did those deeper cleaning jobs that often get overlooked when we rush through the whole homeblessing thing!  Between us all we “blew” down the veranda, washed the outside dining chairs, did windows for ½ the house, cobwebs, fans, and vacuumed the whole house.  This was the longest chore time Daniel has ever participated in.  Joshua did the windows for the first time.  Joshua showed great initiative and kept his enthusiasm going till the end of the 3 hours.  Bathroom and Bedrooms were finished after the girls got home.