FIRST WEEK BACK HAS BEEN GREAT

Our first week back at school has been great, totally happy with all the new resources I ordered ... maybe all the research and indecision about the best resource combination is paying off now!  At the time, I wondered how on earth I was going to make the right choices as educating your children seems to have so many options and which ones are the best when each one claims to be the best is distressing for someone who and actually has to make that choice and actually cares it works!  Anyway all the effort appears not to be in vain as the kids are totally loving the options I have taken in each subject area.  It will take time to get the sentence attitude right again ... only one sentence to answer a question is generally not enough Ben ... and so the struggle to get this boy and this girl writing again begins!  Its something that I look forward to, just like last years challenges were hard but joyful in solving so will this years as well because you know you are doing it for the good of your children's development.

One of the most fabulous things we have instigated this year is the "Six Kinds of the Best" achievements program purchased from Curriculum Concepts ... it has had an awesome effect this week, the kids have really strived to be their best as the rewards for doing it are instant plus have the added bonus of counting towards BIG rewards they both want!  Can't speak highly enough of the impact this is having on their attitude to their learning, themselves, helping, the environment, and their community .. just awesome. 

So I welcome the year full of hope and being well organised for the exciting year ahead.  Wishing all of you who home educate a wonderful, rewarding year with your children.

WE START SCHOOL TOMORROW AND I CAN'T WAIT!

So excited we start schooling again tomorrow and now that the classroom is completely set up and ready to go the nerves are waning and I can't wait to get stuck in.  We waited until the kids went to sleep and then set up the classroom so it will be a big surprise when they get up tomorrow morning.  We have added a couple of new things to the classroom and heaps of new ideas, tricks, treats, and programmes to this year's timetable ... the classroom looks awesome and its ready and waiting for two little willing learners!

LET"S ADD SOME COLOUR

MME Damask Papers

I have decided this year to really simplify my approach.  In the past three years, I have made a determined use of my scrap pieces to complete each page of my DD, but this year I have decided to use only the red colour wave of patterned paper from MME damask range.  Love the feeling of warmth and Christmas I get when I look at these papers!  It just makes me want to bake Christmas mince pies!  The red will go really well with the time of year in NZ as well, given we celebrate Christmas during our summer season.  So the papers are gathered, tomorrow it will all be about the collection of embellishments, totally my favourite part!  Who doesn't love a bit of bling in their lives, even us linear gals like a bit of sparkle!  So the white is starting to look a little more festive with a shot of Christmas red ... totally loving reading and ogling everyones blogs listed on Ali's blog :)

FOUNDATION PAGES FOR DECEMBER DAILY

As I mentioned in my initial December Daily post, my pages are very white and very different from previous years! I have printed off my 26 days of December (I include Boxing Day for mine as we have family traditions we always participate in on that day as well!) ready to set off once again on this journey.  I will be posting each day where I am at with my December Daily, today was about the printing off of white foundation pages on white linen cardstock.  This year, my DD is an 8" x 8" album with clear acrylic covers.  I have used a Jolee's on the cover as I like the instant dimension you get from her embellishments (slightly lazy and unaltered but satisfying to have it underway and manageable!). 



Foundation pages ... very white!

This year I have also done something really different for me and that is printed all the numbers on each foundation page.  Depending on the photos for each day, I plan to embellish the actual "number boxes" and I love that each day this year has a dedicated box for journalling.  I am hoping this will make each day a little easier in terms of limiting the choices I have to make each day and making the process a little faster.  Even though I have done the foundation pages each year, some nights in December I have spent an hour trying to work out how to lay the journalling and photos together!  I'm a linear kinda gal and I am hoping this will narrow my nightly decision making process to only 1/2 an hour!  So loving seeing everybody else's, they are so cool.  If you come by my blog leave a comment and a link to your album so I can follow your progress each day as well.  Isn't Ali Edwards awesome for inspiration and sharing!

TAKING OVER MY HOME SCHOOL BLOG IN THE NAME OF DECEMBER DAILY

December Daily Albums from 2007, 2008, and 2009

Yip, I AM!  That is taking over my home school blog for my December Daily album this year.  This will be my 4th year doing the album totally inspired by Ali Edwards (one of my favourite scrapbook/memory keepers).  I am so excited this year as I have gone with all white foundation pages, so far no patterned paper, no transparencies, and no felt pages, this is all feeling very strange!  I didn't step out of my comfort zone with the acrylic bases still my preferred option for the covers.  Can't wait to see what I will end up with this year!

These are my pride and joy, say Hi Benjamin and Pollyanna

Oh and yes, my kids are still home schooling kiddos and the update on their learning will just be at the bottom of each post ... Just as important but not with so much eye candy as a December Daily!

A DAY OF TESTING

We had a day of testing today, so I could make sure the kids were on target and the education they are getting at home is helping them with progressing.  Today the testing we did was for Spelling (Schonell Spelling Test) and the Burt Reading Test (both standardised and used in NZ schools)

Pollyanna (age 6 years, 1 month)


Spelling age of 7 years exactly

Reading age of 7 years 6 months



Benjamin (age 8 years, 11 months)

Spelling age of 12 years 8 months)

Reading age of 13 years, 10 months



Aren’t our kids awesome and I marked them really hard and gave them no warning of the testing!  I am just having one of those proud moments where I am seeing the benefits of home schooling ... I don't often acknowledge the wonders of my two littlest hero's but today I want to acknowledge their hard work and dedication and the effort they both put into learning is just awesome and boy is it paying off :)

A GREAT DAY AT HOWICK HISTORIC VILLAGE

We had a great day at Howick Historic Village yesterday.  The kids were awesome, so well behaved as were most of the home-schooled children.  They also had the most amazing time learning about history by being involved in it ... its incredible how hands-on learning provides so much more understanding than just standing, listening, reading, and writing.  This was truly a day where the education and the ability to home-school my children was so rewarding.  They learnt everything from washing duties, ironing, the foundation of nursery rhymes, and the types of homes that were waiting for those that made the voyage from Ireland.  Incredible stuff, and I can't thank the people at the village enough for their care in teaching and their passion for passing on knowledge.  AWESOME DAY >>> AWESOME :)