PREPARING FOR THE GROCERY SHOP

The List

While the kids work on their phonics (Polly) and Sentences to Paragraphs (Ben) worksheets on a Thursday afternoon, I prepare the grocery list if we are doing the shopping the next day.  This is a brief look at it, it has each item the house needs for the upcoming fortnight and then a budget for that item.  I don't specify how mush one gets that is for the kids to work out within that items budget.  Ben is very good at saving money early in the shopping round so there is a little more he can add to the cereal budget where he and Polly like to buy according to taste as opposed to according to budget ... they are getting to be shrewd little shoppers and it is a wonderful learning tool.  For me, I stand back and watch and drive the cart behind them and that's all I do, the rest is on their shoulders!  Over the holiday period I do take pity on them and fend for myself and do the shopping while they do the traipsing ... but boy is it totally not worth it, I always spend over the budget and don't seem to get the quantities right, gutted that at 5 and 8 they are better grocery shoppers than I am ... its true what they say, BEWARE OF THE SPECIALS :)

MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE SCHEDULE

Our Term Three Schedule

One of the major things that I am really proud of with our home schooling efforts so far, is the schedule that Steve and I put together for the Ministry of Education for our Exemption from Enrolment proposal (that went through without a hitch, yeah!).  It has worked really well and at the end of term when putting together the curriculum for term three I did a couple of adjustments to allow for some of the different curriculum strands new learning themes.  I also made adjustments due to the fact for this terms Art strand (Drama) we have outsourced to a drama school and we have included other learning activities outside the school hours (our school hours!).  hence the reason the kids get Friday afternoons off unless we are on an excursion~!

The timetable works so well for us because even though my children are 5 and 8 years, their personalities rely on a schedule and it helps that we all know what is coming up for the day ... that doesn't mean that I'm not flexible according to needs, but the schedule is the core of our expectations of what home schooling is going to provide each and every day.  It is a relief to be well organised because it is also what I rely on for my personality ... it is an understatement that I don't cope well in chaos!

A BEAUTIFUL DAY

It was such a gorgeous day today, it was almost (almost) too nice to be inside learning, but there were things that needed to be learnt as always.  Lucky the kids had Science today and were happy (for the most part) to be inside doing science worksheets.  Today's space worksheets I got off Kaboose for Polly, Ben was doing something that was a little beyond where I want Polly's space learning to be, she loved the wordsearch and it was a great way to finish off the day for her.  They had a great start to the day as well, they are almost at the assembling stage of their Space posters for English and today was all about verbal communication and listening.  Ben had to instruct Polly with regards to printing and downloading images to go with her space questions.  It was a really interesting interaction that paid dividends, Polly had to listen (not her strong point!) and Ben had to be patient (definitely not his strong point!), to achieve the task they had to work on communicating and there wasn't a single disagreement :) It could be because the task was exciting for both of them anyway but, nevertheless, I was proud they were able to work together, taking turns finding the images they needed to print off for their space posters!

REFLECTIONS ON THE STARDOME

In the reclining seats of the Stardome's theatre

The kids had a wonderful time at the Stardome and loved the show we went to about The Night Sky ... its amazing how much you can keep learning!  The Stardome seems to be under construction at the moment, so there are limited (nothing) things to do unless you take in a show, however, the shows are totally worth it and really not very expensive at all ($35 for a family).  So part of today's writing was about reflecting on their experience on Friday night going to the Stardome.  They loved the domed roof theatre where we took in the show and both had things they learnt about the night sky that they have keep with them ... a sign of a good learning attitude or at least a willingness to learn from others I reckon!

Ben working on his reflections about the Stardome

SQUEEZE IN ... a photo of us at Burger Fuel 

POLLYANNA'S SURPRISE

Polly told me this morning that she had a surprise today for the class and we wondered what it was going to be as she wouldn't play soccer with Ben before school as she was "practising" in her room.  To our surprise she read us Green Eggs and Ham, the whole story, without help!  I was so proud of her and she did a great job, the words might not be overly challenging but it is a really long story full of words.  Well Done Polly, it was such a treat to hear you read :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!

The kids were devastated when they realised they had missed wishing their Dad a Happy Birthday before he left for work.  I didn't want to wake them as we are going to Aucklands Stardome tonight as a reward for all the awesome Space work they have been doing this term and of course for Steve's Birthday, so they are going to be up really late.  Anyway it may not have paid off because they were so disappointed and upset with me :(  To make up for it I told them we could show the cards to Dad on the blog so he would be able to see they during the day, they thought this was a great idea, SO

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU HONEY, HERE ARE YOUR CARDS!

The front of your cards

The insides of your cards

HAVE A GREAT DAY FROM US TO YOU!

YAH FOR THE NO RUSH MORNING

With my husband home a bit later than normal due to a Doctor's appointment, it was a timely reminder of one of the things I love about homeschooling ... the lack of rush in the morning and the grumping at the kids to get organised so we are not late for school.  We DO start our school day at 9.15am every morning, we are never late and we never grump in the morning, unless, like this morning, when Steve is home unexpectedly and destroys our routine (it was nice having a coffee with you this morning though :) . No, we weren't late and we did get everything done in time for school to start, it was just that our usual independent routines were lost and I got a tad grumpy!  You see, my children have a laminated list (oh my god, I have a laminator and saying I LOVE it, it is not putting it mildly) of what they have to do in the morning to get ready before schooling starts.  Thanks to this list, my two little friends get on with their jobs in whatever order and at whatever time they want to as long as it gets done before school.  So great is this magic list I no longer need to nag at them to do the everyday morning tasks or remind them of what needs to be done, which is what I used to do each and every morning :(  It honestly was no wonder I used to wake up in the morning tired, just the thought of all that nagging was enough to want to stay in bed. 

Now my morning is delightful, easy going, and relaxed and it is exactly what I need before I spend the day with my children teaching, coaxing learning, and positively reinforcing their efforts to understand.  What I didn't realise until this morning was just how perfect my normal morning without interruptions is!  My children have cottoned onto this morning routine so well I take it for granted that they are so awesome at getting themselves ready in the morning. 

THANK YOU BEN AND POLLY

Yes, I mean you two!

This time first thing in the morning where I get to just worry about myself means so much to me, especially as I have never been one of those people who feel the joys of life in the early hours, talk to me at 9 and I'm good to go!  I am so grateful for this morning routine because I spend the rest of the day devoting myself to making sure they have everything they need and making sure I am always available to them as you need to if you home school kids and expect them to be the best they can be.  That little bit of my time first thing is just the perfect way to start the day and for that I am so thankful to my children.