Music session with Child's Play Music (and other things homeschooly)

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The most recent session at Natural Learning Co-op (formerly known as Learning Hub, apparently there’s another group in the northern suburbs also called Learning Hub, and which I’ll probably shortern to the last word as I’m lazy like that) involved a music session with Alec from Child’s Play Music. He had a huge van full of musical instruments that he’d constructed mostly from recycled materials.

Life and !schooling in 2012

Apparently there was a bit of a kerfuffle in the moderator department, which meant I completely forgot about the moderation until the new moderator rocked up on my door towards the end of my work period. Oops. Fortunately I work from home and can make up hours easy, and I hadn’t gone out to pick up my shiny new computer yet, though I had gotten dressed to do so. So all she saw was that my place is a mess, which is about normal and I don’t clean up for anyone!

Not quiet on the !schooling front

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I just haven’t been writing about it.

Last week, 6yo drew a picture of Venom from Spiderman with black whiteboard marker on paper, including sounding out the name and checking with JJ after writing it out.

This week just gone has been crazy.

Reading and writing

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2yo loves being read to, and is constantly bringing books to us and demanding “Wead book!”

I can also say “duduk” to him and he will sit down. All three kids understand “makan” and “bagus” (6yo used to pronounce it “ba-goo-doos” when he was 2yo’s age :) and that’s as far as I’ve gotten with Malay; my vocabulary is shocking and grammar non-existant.

The initial homeschool moderator visit

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We had our initial visit yesterday, with the next one scheduled for another couple of months. Everything went pretty much as expected. The lady was nice, and was happy with all the learning areas except for English and maths, and also wanted to see more “scientific communication”.

6yo and 4yo set up an experiment to turn a flower blue, directed by 6yo, who had seen a demonstration on some science show on ABC. They made the blue water with paint and water (as we don’t have food colouring). They then went on to do some other arty crafty thingies while they waited for the colour to be drawn up to the flower.

Three decades, and some dolls

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I recently hit three decades. I spent most of the actual day finishing up the coding for the site that’s going on the kiosk Sprat and I are doing for the Christmas Island Tourism Association and cleaning for the party on the following day.

4yo requested the whiteboard so I took it down for her, and little arty girl knocked herself out drawing on it. 6yo came in to me at one point asking how to write an F. I explained it as like an E but without the bottom line (and previously I’ve described the E as a backward 3 as that’s how he was writing it, just straighter). Later he very excitedly came out and asked me to come look at something he’d done for me.

Basic literacy and numeracy sans formal lessons

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Pocket money and birthday cards.

And that’s just two of an infinite number of possibilities. 5yo has recently started writing the names of his friends from !school group on the backs of envelopes. It all started with the first birthday party of one of them a couple of months ago, in which both 5yo and 3yo, with a little help from me, wrote “Happy Birthday from [their name]” on a piece of paper, decorated it, and then stuck it into a similarly decorated envelope, and wrote the child’s name on the front.

Individual learning styles

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Again with the attempt to keep up recording. I have a funky silver Smiggle diary which I’m going to be using for homeschooling notes, and if I remember I’ll transpose them on here and point the relatives at it, as well as anyone else who’s interested in homeschooling or unschooling, just on the offchance :)

P r e o

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Slowly I am getting back into the “unschooling” groove and our life is becoming happy again after a week of horror where Tiny and I were trying to adjust to his testosterone levels, with Smidge not sleeping and teething on top of that. It’s still trying at times as he is being extremely aggressive at the moment, I really need to play “the killing game” or do more kung fu with him, he’s always so much calmer afterwards. Anyway.

Here comes a Smidge, walking walking...

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Very small small girl stood up yesterday. She’s been able to stand by herself for longer periods of time lately, but only after pulling up on something else. Yesterday she spent 5 minutes standing all by herself while gnawing on a banana with her two chompers.

JJ reckons she’ll be walking soon.