It was mid February I phoned Gary at work and asked if I could book a ferry to Northern Ireland. He said yes. So I did. It was (almost) that simple. I really felt that as a family we needed a break from the day in day out of life. Now don’t get me wrong,……
Category: Homeschooling
Bits and Bobs and Books
Where have I been? As a few of you guessed I have been in Northern Ireland for the past ten days staying with my incredible in-laws. I had tried to make sure a post went out each day, but to be honest the holiday sort of took over and I have been a bit negligent……
Guess Where I’ve Been?
Cinquain Poetry by T13
The premise of Cover Story is that the author teaches the student how to write the entire content for a magazine with a theme of their own choosing. T has chosen Fantasy Literature to base his magazine on. He really enjoys the fantasy genre having read all the Narnia books, The Hobbit and Lord of……
Blossoming Love by C12
For their writing curriculum (Cover Story) the children needed to write a poem. I really enjoyed reading each of them and thought I would share some on my blog. We’ve done very little poetry before and they all (including T) really enjoyed this unit. Here is C12’s poem about love called Blossoming Love. My cherished……
Book Bonanza: The Next Five and an Announcement
This is the penultimate week I will be posting five books. I have given away lots and lots of books over the past few weeks and it has made my heart sing and feel very grateful that I have such a surplus to be able to offer them to you. I have emptied my shelves……
Seasons of Joy: We were made to THRIVE
So, I was feeling a bit harassed with the day. Nothing specific was causing it, just too much going on in life and in my head. I don’t often feel like this and when I do Gary is fantastic at taking the children out to allow me some space. I don’t need much time, just……
A Day in the Life of a Family of Homeschoolers
I haven’t done ‘a day in the life of …’ post for over a year, so I feel it is over due! This is one day in March, a typical school day from start to finish. Early Morning Bedroom chores, dressing and eating breakfast, followed by regular daily chores. I only check bedrooms once a……
Illustrating Mendelian Genetics: Mr and Mrs Apple-head and their Applettes
Breeding Mr and Mrs Apple-heads to create some Applettes Yesterday I posted about our Gregor Mendel scientist study. We finished up our study with a bit of fun, making our own father and mother Apple-heads. It was a really great way to check the children fully understood the new vocabulary: allele, phenotype, genotype, recessive, dominant,……
Scientist Study: Gregor Mendel – Simple Genetics
Who is Gregor Mendel? Gregor Mendel is regarded as the first ever geneticist. He overcame poverty and the death of his father, funded his own education and finally joined the abbot to continue with his studies. He spent much of his adult life trying to answer the following question: How do mothers and fathers -……
Genetics: Fingerprint Lab
Over the past week we have been learning about Mendelian genetics (or simple genetics). As a fun introduction we carried out a fingerprint lab. Why a Fingerprint Lab? I wanted to show the children that there is only one of them. This was quite important for the girls to see, given that they are twins……
Five More Books
I’m still looking for the Alpha Mathusee disc. It’s slightly weird it has gone missing because I have never actually used it! Once I find it I will be giving away my Mathusee resources. For now here are some more fun maths books. Enjoy! For rules and stuff see my book page here
Continent Study: Antarctica
This post contains all the work we have done for our multi-age continent study. Week 1: Antarctica: Resources Week 2: Antarctica: Where in the World? Week 3: Antarctica: Making a Cookie Map Week 4: Antarctica: Creating a Research Lab Week 5: Antarctica: Experiments in the Snow Week 6: Antarctica Inspired Art Week 7: Antarctica: How Do Animals……
Precious Memories
I’ve got a rather eclectic collection of photos this week. It has been such a good week. Peace has descended on our homeschool as we transition back to what works for us and away from unschooling. It has done us good to get unschooling out of our system. I know without doubt now that it……
Explorer and Leadership Study: Ernest Shackleton in Antarctica
I remember my Dad dropping Shackleton’s name into the conversation often when I was little. He was, quite rightly, very proud to have ‘connections’ to this great explorer, albeit it on my mother’s side rather than his own. I grew up knowing we were related and that this was a good thing. However, I had……