The Brick House

After they got bored with paper craft, we decided it was morning tea time, so they had boiled eggs (fresh from the chicken’s bum that morning) and Milo in the garden, and stayed out there to play. K came inside for a feed but didn’t go to sleep. Apparently I don’t have much milk – I asked her if there was any there and she said “All gone, I suck it all up!” *g* She watched a Play School episode, but B stayed outside, by now in the rain. She started out up in the cubby house doing something Soopa Sekrit, then built herself a small cubby under the bench in which to experience the joys of not getting wet while in a small, cramped and probably smelly tent. Meanwhile I stayed inside and watched it pass over on the rainfall radar. What do you mean, modern life is disconnected from nature?

K had fun revisiting her Legoville “car game”, then she and B both played with the bubblewrap game for a while. B listened to two episodes of Classics for Kids, this week on Benjamin Britten, while doing more drawing, and K played outside with the dog (and made entirely too much noise). I found a cool-looking experiment on creating a “naked” egg, and when I was telling B about it I asked her various questions about how she thought this feat might be accomplished – and she was able to work out the process pretty easily from a hint about how limestone caves are formed. Clever scrub. She was very pleased to hear about the Digital Frog virtual dissection CD-ROM which I have ordered (it’s free) as a complement to the Introduction to Biology course she also wants to do. I knew she’d love the idea, as she has talked about wanting to cut things up to see how they work before, and it’s not exactly something that we would do if it involved starting with a living frog…

There has also been more playing in the rain, plus a lot of crafty activity which has left the dining room looking like an explosion in a sequin factory!

Thursday was very relaxed, with the homeschooling meetup an informal craft/games day at the usual hall. We brought a couple of baskets of crafty stuff with us, but the squids spent a lot of time playing with other people’s stuff (as could be expected, I guess!). K did a collage, played with a basketball both inside and outside the hall, and we discovered a mosaic pegboard toy which was so cool that I’m now keeping an eye out for it for K and B. The family who brought it had obviously been collecting kits for a long time as they had huge quantities of it. It was so much fun I imagine that I will play with it just as much *g* B did some crafty stuff, played a complicated game about Egypt, played ball and explored outside, helped st up a big domino run, and generally pottered. We left by 11ish and got home just before 3pm, so didn’t do much else. B played lots of piano, as well as the usual TV watching.

This morning, we got off to a more organised start than usual. I set B up with some multiplication practice and a new spelling list as I was about to get into the shower. I wanted her to get back into the habit of skip-counting as I think she gets intimidated by multiplication as being random and abstract, so we went back to Year 3 and practiced the skip-counting exercise for 4s and 5s. She did that with no problem and then moved onto the actual multiplication practice, which totally intimidated her and she fell in a sleep. I made her have a break to get out of the “I-can’t-do-it!” mindset (she played some Rune Scape), then I made her number lines for the 4 and 5 times table on strips of paper, on which she filled in the jumps. She then had another go at the multiplication practice, and just knowing that she had the number lines there if she needed them was so helpful that she got 19/20 without any drama. I think about 95 percent of helping B to learn anything is finding ways to ensure she doesn’t let her insecurities get in the way of achieving successes… After that, she did her last spelling test again and got 10/10. Right now, she is making and decorating folding paper doll chains, and K is drawing.

This morning B did a complete unit, including the practice session and the test, on Genes and Traits. It’s the demo unit of an Introduction to Biology course which is currently on special offer to Homeschool Co-op subscribers. She loved it, and when I read her the outline of the complete course (PDF), said she would like to do it. There are also Introductions to Physical Sciences and Earth and Space Sciences courses which are on a similar level and also look interesting, but which we didn’t have time to explore.

After she’d finished doing the test for the first unit (11/14), we headed off for a sales party held by another online friend of mine. I felt slightly like I was there under false pretences since I don’t use any skin products, but they do have a range of SLS-free toothpastes and and aluminium-free deodorants that I salved my conscience by expressing an interest in. It was nice to meet Lis in person finally, and another friend Mary was also there (they’re both homeschoolers). The woman hosting the party is a homeschooling mum – with girls aged 6 and 3 and another one on the way) whose just moved here, so it was nice to broaden my social horizons.

We got home from that just in time for B to get ready to head off to the swimming pool with Nannie, so didn’t get any more work done. K wanted to play with one of her puzzles which she hasn’t played with for months (matching square picture pieces with a detail from the picture, eg. the sebra picture matches up with black and white stripes on the board) , and completed the whole thing without difficulty. There are no other clues available (unlike a jigsaw) and she’s had a lot of difficulty finding the match in previous attempts. After that, we played with the marble run, and she watched a recorded Play School episode. I was hoping that she would go down for a nap in the afternoon (so I could too!), but unfortunately my boob ran out of stamina before she did, so she got up again to watch Play School. We have also played dress-ups and read books.

I dropped B off at pottery this morning then went home, since this time K decided to come down with yet another cold *before* play group rather than *after*! Since we got home, K has watched some Play School (although she never gets all the way through an episode before getting bored and wanting to do something else *g*); we’ve read some of our library books (due back today!); and done some beading, this time with a plastic needle and embroidery cotton, to make a necklace. She now wants to make biscuits, and has found the cutters on the shelf and brought them over.

Nannie picked B up after pottery and has taken her off shopping to look for a new swimsuit. B made an appointment this morning to take her sick rat to the vet at 4:15 this afternoon, and we have some errands to run while we’re out (posting eBay parcels, library books) which we can do very quickly so as not to stress out the rat. Any work we do will have to be squozen in between B getting home with Nannie, and all of us going out again in the afternoon – better get organised now!

K has definitely watched too much Play School today, but she’s also played outside, built towers and houses with her wooden beads and the blocks, sung non-stop, played with her “treasure box” and sorted/piled things into smaller jars, and insisted that we bake a cake together. No sign that she’s planning on a nap before it’s time to go pick up B though…

B has apparently done all her spelling, discovered that their computer won’t let her access the Smartkiddies site, done some reading from The Stone Giant and some language exercises that Nannie set, and her page of subtraction practice. She and Nannie also went to buy her new helmet and crop, and Nannie bought her jodphurs and a vest as well since it was a half-price sale. But beautifully kitted out or not, B didn’t get to go to her riding lesson because she’s been in contact with a couple of horsey refugees from Victoria which are currently staying at the farm! It never occurred to any of us that the riding school has a big sign up asking people who have been in contact with horses recently to Stay Away…

And I have finally booked a baby capsule from Kidsafe and made an appointment to have it fitted!

• Pottery 10-11:30
• went out with E
• made a wire frame for a statue of a torso

Tuesday:

• experimented with using papier mache to cover her sculpture
• played in garden and looked after K for me
• spelling: reviewed her first spelling words. I wrote them out in her spelling book, she decided she didn’t need to practise RCWC and went straight to using them in sentences. Then she practised her new spelling list
• Rune Scape
• did 3/5ths of a subtraction worksheet: 11/12 correct
• watched TV and did her own thing for a while, until I put K down for a nap
• finished her subtraction worksheet
• read a chapter in “The Stone Giant”
• took the dog for a walk
• out to the farm with Pa for the night

typing tutor
sudoku
helped clear pile of junk before hot water installation
watched hot water installation
listened to 3/5 episodes of Classics for Kids on Tchaikovsky
played lots of Rune Scape – is reading amazingly well
played in the rain
helped bring in shopping and put it away
Bunnings
Scouts

This morning B ripped through a new spelling list in about five nanoseconds while I was in the shower, then got most of them right on the spelling test after only one practice. Possibly I need to recalibrate? *g* It’s amazing what a boost this is giving to her confidence!

After that we did a subtraction worksheet I had printed out, and (after I’d had a brainfart and explained it wrong then had to retract), she practised subtraction with borrowing for a while. After two thirds of the page she got bored, found the calculator (which K had mysteriously transported to the dining room) and marked her work. The fact that she was doing that herself apparently precluded tantrums when she discovered how many she’d done wrong. I think we will spend a while longer on subtraction…

She spent quite a while on Rune Scape, including navigating her own way to the page about becoming a paid member and reading large swathes of it to herself *blink* K watched a couple of Play School episodes over the course of the morning, and when one show finished the program showing on TV was talking about skeletons, which seized her imagination greatly. I pulled out a book on skeletons (which was B’s favourite book for years), and we looked through that together, then read some more books.

I had brought out a jar of big wooden beads for K as a distraction when she wanted to join B in her worksheet, and after lunch she and B spent ages playing with them together. I did some tidying in the junk room and found quite a lot of extra beads, which I added to what K has taken to calling her “treasure box”. They ended up all over the floor of course, but amazingly nobody complained about being asked to pick them up again, so I didn’t have to put my Grumpy Mummy hat back on!

K and B played in the garden for ages while I listed some more books on eBay and did some washing up, until K was getting so grumpy that I suggested a nap. B watched some TV, then the two of us went outside and did some gardening, including measuring up for the new chook run so we know how much wire and star pickets we will need. I started out with some weeding until B declared she couldn’t clean out the chookshed because of the smell, so I did that while she weeded a patch for me to mulch with the mucky straw from the chooks. By which time K had woken up again, and grumped sufficiently to require my attention inside. B let the chooks out, then came back inside in time for RollerCoaster.

My babes are out in the garden in summery clothes, doing some gardening project of B’s devising, and enjoying the gorgeous spring-like weather. First thing this morning, B read the new book I bought yesterday, How Babies Are Made (it has the funniest retro illustrations, although it goes into more detail than K is interested in right now), by herself and without needing any help, then bounced over and announced she wanted to do her spelling. She was bored with practising, so breezed through the test and got them all right without any hesitation. Go girl! Must arrange to get her to practise them in context otherwise she will forget them quickly… After that she played Rune Scape while I had a shower and hunted all over the house for my second pair of maternity jeans (still AWOL) and eventually had to put on a skirt since I had put my current pair in the washing machine before I realised I couldn’t find the others. I feel like I’m in drag! Still, at least we will look respectable to visit Ness this afternoon.

B decided to cook herself a tomato and vegetable sauce to go with leftover quinoa for lunch. She even listened to my advice on green vegetables and added broccoli florets *g* She and K ate that for lunch then went back outside for more gardening and general pootling. I’ve been listening to the melodious sounds of both my babies singing “And Bingo Was His Name” at the top of their lungs. I have hung a load of clothes on the line, brought in a load of nappies, now folded and put away, and another load of towels about to go out. Might do that, then head over to Ness’.

[Later]

We all had a lovely time at Ness’. B monopolised the baby, who spent most of the time asleep on her lap, but she did get to change his nappy once. K was getting a bit bouncy and hyped up on chocolate biscuits, so we turfed her outside to run round the garden after a while, but eventually both she and Aidan got so sleepy and grumpy we decided to just go home. Unsurprisingly, K fell asleep in the car on the way home, and when we got back, B and I traded off sitting in the car with my laptop to keep an eye on her while the other one got ready to head off for horse riding. K behaved herself very well at the lesson; she played with all the toys for ages, tidied them all up neatly without complaint when she was bored with them, and spent the rest of the time outside watching B ride while being very good about not continuing to do the things we explained might startle the horses (like make loud noises or scattering gravel). B watched Roller Coaster after we got home, then after dinner she read a couple of pages of The Stone Giant to herself while I pootled, then I read the rest of our current Wintersmith chapter to her before bed. K was less sleepy due to her nap, and crashed about an hour later after watching Youtube videos upstairs with E.

I printed out a subtraction worksheet this morning but we didn’t get around to doing it. It was too nice in the morning and it seemed a shame not to take advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and spend time in the garden instead. We’ll do it tomorrow…

Yesterday was pretty busy in the morning, with B going to pottery, then continuing on to Dickson Library with Caitlin and her dad to sit in on Caitlin’s German class while K and I finished at playgroup. Playgroup ran over time so it was after 12:30 before we got back to Dickson, and since K was asleep in the car I sent B off to buy us lunch (gotta love that gluten-free bakery!). After we got home and had a break, we had time to do some maths and spelling before the gasfitter arrived at 3pm to give us a quote for the water heater and stove. B spent quite a while outside in the garden with the chookies before sunset, doing her own thang. I was completely knackered by dinner time, and E came home mid-afternoon with a lurgi, so no one was planning to make dinner, but B decided to make tuna pasta for herself and K. She’s turning into quite a useful Small Person 🙂 In the evening she read a couple of bedtime stories to K, then we went downstairs and I started reading another chapter of Wintersmith to her. K decided to join us rather than stay upstairs with Daddy, and was occasionally disruptive but mostly just wanted to snuggle. B went to bed about 8:45, K stayed up and ate her way through a piece of toast with sardines, a bowl of Weetbix, and some dried fruit, then took herself off upstairs and put herself to bed. My girls are both growing up…

This morning B and I got started early, and she did some spelling practice under her own steam while I got K ready. Then she had a break and played some Rune Scape, and we did some more maths. We tried the Year Four module on subtraction yesterday and B panicked, so we went back to Year Three and found the unit which demonstrated the concepts using virtual concrete materials *g* She got the hang of carrying much faster when she could illustrate it with rods and units, although interestingly she always did the sum first and then worked it out with the materials. She did a few questions back at Year Four level to build up her confidence, but is still getting slightly confused with carrying if she can’t note it down, so we’ll keep practising at the Year Three unit and also some paper worksheets so she can get the hang of the notation.

After she’d finished that it was time for Behind The News, so she watched that, but didn’t want to watch Our History which was on afterwards. She was discussing what to make for Father’s Day, and happily read through a recipe which she wanted to make and we took notes of ingredients we need. We eventually headed outside, so I could finish weeding the proposed potato bed, and the girls pottered about. B waxed enthusiastic as I explained my short- and long-term plans for our backyard farmlet, and wants to help me fence in the new chook run. She was happy to play with K in the garden for a while so I could sort laundry and do various boring things, then they came inside. B played more Rune Scape as I was cooking quinoa for lunch (doing lots of sotto voce reading to work out what was going on), and chatted with Caitlin for a while before C had to go.

After lunch she and K headed off to the shops with E to spend their various pocket and tooth fairy monies. B lost the molar next to her already-missing pre-canine last week and she decided that she wanted to share the tooth fairy loot with K, so asked us to put $1 under her pillow and $1 under K’s 🙂 We then took advantage of E being home and relatively healthy to take off for an op-shopping excursion without the distraction of having to amuse K.

This evening we’ve been in and out, watching the lunar eclipse. Fortunately (touchwood!) it isn’t as cloudy as it was for the Perseids, nor is it as cold. Unfortunately, our camera is hopeless and we haven’t been able to take a single decent photograph of it… *grumble grumble moan* In between eclipse-watching, we took it in turns to read three chapters of The Stone Giant (an early chapter book about the Cardiff Giant hoax which I picked up today at the op shop) then I read aloud some more of Wintersmith. B is really intrigued by the giant story, and as soon as I gave her the book sat down to try and read it. She found it was easiest to have me there to help her over bumps, and also to trade off reading paragraphs with her so she could rest her concentration, but she read an awful lot by herself, and without making many mistakes either. Her reading from context is getting pretty good: either she’ll figure out a word without needing to sound it, or she’ll sound it out enough to figure out what it is after only one attempt. And I notice that her letter-sound correspondence is becoming much more secure, just from increased practice. She didn’t get discouraged and chuck the book across the room either! 🙂

K has watched a couple of Play School episodes, and played with the Math-u-see manipulatives, including a three minute micro-lesson from me while she was receptive, during which time I gently guided her in putting different pieces onto a ten-rod and talked about how four ones plus one six-rod equal ten, but look, one four-rod plus one six-rod equals ten too! Then she started using them for building with so I stopped making with the schooly. She wanted to play with the pattern blocks but we couldn’t find them, so we played with the magnetic fish instead. She has also been working on potty learning over the last two days, after deciding she wanted to wear underpants. So far she’s good at using the potty when she’s bare-bum, but goes in her pants when she’s not. She’ll work it out sooner or later, I’m in no rush! She has spent a lot of time outside playing with B, and also been generally amusing herself inside. I bought a new lot of fridge magnets, along the lines of the set she already has with people, cars, houses etc, at the op shop this afternoon, and she was delighted with them and spent ages arranging them and making up stories. Hmm, she might be ready for the feltboards now…

Today’s Episode of Extreme Cute: came out of the shower to hear K humming a car song from Play School very loudly. She was sitting in a bucket with a teddy on her lap and her hands up holding an imaginary steering wheel, clearly going for a joyride *g* This has really been an absolutely lovely few days. I don’t know whether it’s because I’m less stressed, or less hormonal, or what, but it’s been sheer enjoyment most of the time. I like it…