What an absolutely fantastic start to the year, the children have been enthusiastic, co-operative, greatly interested in their studies and have maintained a great work ethic šĀ I was well organised this term, having created Unit Studies for the Summit Talk, so a major focus on Australian Studies is happening š Another tweak which we believe has made a major difference is our morning meetings. Each morning I meet with the children, we look at their ‘to do’ term sheets, which have been divided into weekly blocks, and THEY decide what they will do that day, this way they are part of the decision process. Obviously in regards to the younger children if the first child to meets decided they will do one of the group subjects that day; science, history, geography, faith, nature then that’s the subject they all will be doing. We also discuss what they did the previous day. Just this one tweak is making it all clearer to them and it’s easier to pick up on potential hot spots.
Faith
We read short bios and picture book of Sts John Bosco, Brigid and Agatha on their Feast Days and coloured pictures of them.
Brigid’s Cloak – Bryce Milligan
Mariah’s Reads:
St John Bosco & Dominic Savio (Vision Bk)
Lay Siege to Heaven – Louis de Wohl.Ā Read 10 chapters and finished book!!
Genevieve’s Reads:
Catholic Truth for Youth – 5 chapters
Poetry
Mariah Read:
Poems of Praise – Pelagie Doane
Creative Writing
There has been an explosion of writing amongst the five younger children. It all began when Saxon watched the One Year Adventure Novel excitedly explaining to me how the instructor had him write the general rules down and then told him to scrunch the sheet and toss it. He has actually paused the DVD for now as much is referenced to LOTR and he hasn’t yet read it, so that’s his project at present. The children all became keen to join in the writing fun and thus the Great Writing Craze began, each day the children are writing for at least an hour a day! One day Ignatius wrote for three hours! For a child who hasn’t been keen to put pen to paper previously this is incredible!! Genevieve, Sebastian, Saxon and Ignatius are happily writing away, asking occasionally how to spell a word, either from me, their sisters or the phone. Siena dictates the sentence, I write, then she goes and copies. It’s incredible to see their story plots unfold and the vocabulary they are using, David and I are totally impressed, not only with the quality of writing but their dedication and enthusiasm.
Essay Writing
Lively Art of Writing ā Lucile Vaughan Payne
Read and answered questions 2 chapters.
Spelling
Was pleased to manage some formal spelling lessons using AAS with; Saxon & Genevieve – 3 lessons, Sebastian – 5 lessons! and Siena – 1 lesson. Ignatius is learning plenty of spelling skills via his intense concentration on creative writing as are all the children.
Dictation
Sebastian was eager to begin dictation and managed 3 lessons š He is doing quite well. I didn’t worry so much about the other boys due to their Creative Writing focus.
Mariah completed 3 exercises, she is excellent
Handwriting
Sebastian completed 7 lessons, Siena 5, they are both eager to be writing neatly and well. Just needing a few letter formation corrections but overall doing quite well. Other boys covered handwriting within Creative Writing outpourings.
Narrations
Narrations are tied to our subject readings, so each day the children are meant to write a narration of their subject choice. They wrote nature and history narrations, managing 2-4 a child, discovering it wasn’t as difficult as they thought, progress!!
Mariah:Ā Narration on Timmy and wrote a diary entry of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Genevieve: Wrote a huge narration on The Dog who Conquered a Continent by Jackie French. so impressed.
Geography Mapping
The children are marking on map where we ‘travel’ as we go around Australia. Genevieve, Siena and boys also spent hours using Geography software naming continents, countries and states
Mariah: capitals of Europe, Asia and Countries of world
Spanish
Mariah: 10 lessons
Maths
Ignatius has set himself a goal, he wants to complete all of Grade 5 by term’s end!! Big ambition and he kicked off with 28 lessons!!! Sebastian started well and completed 11 lessons š And Siena was most keen to start Kindergarten and completed 7 lessons. This was the first time I’ve sat with her to do maths, only to discover she had already started last year (I thought she’d been just playing around) and she had most lessons correct from last year and had a good understanding of maths concepts.
Mariah: 3 lessons
Genevieve: 7 lessons!! Woo hoo, and we are finally off and back in the ‘race’
Artventure
The boys and Siena were passionately engrossed in Artventure the first week back, producing stunning works of art, it was particularly heartening to see the boys work and ability as they haven’t been that interested before. Siena as always is quite talented
Science
I had bought a new science experiment book that caught Siena’s interest, she began with making a balloon sink, making a piece of wood sink. This spurred the great boat design and test that has played out for the past two day.Ā The boys and Siena have spent hours designing and testing boats made from a variety of materials. It began with different styles made with paper, then the addition of balsa outriggers, then evolved to milk carton boats.Ā They’ve been testing them in the pool and adding marbles andĀ play people to see what weight is needed to make them sink.
Then the enjoyed other experiments involving water, detergent and bubbles. This has all been of their own initiation, I love it when they take control of their learning and it’s a natural part of their play.
Nature Readings
The four younger children enjoyed the following books about Australian animals
Picture Books:
Baby Bilby, where do you sleep? – Narelle Oliver
Miss Bilby – Colin Thiele
The Silver Stream – Robert Roennfeldt
Platypus – Sue Whiting
Big Red Kangaroo – Claire Saxby
Emu – Claire Saxby
Stripes in the Forest – Aleesah Darlison
Kookoo Kookaburra – Gregg Dreise
Big Fella Rain – Beryl Webber
A is for Anteater – Ambelin Kwaymullina
The Rescue Ark – Susan Hall
Can You Find Me? – Gordon Winch
One Small Island – Alison Lester
Phasmid – Rohan Cleave
Ignatius Reads:
Lyrebird – Jackie Kerin
The Only Ones I Left Behind – Sandra Kendell
Wilhelmina Wombat – Elizabeth Oster
Geography Readings
The four younger children are using Are We There Yet? – by Alison Lester to ‘travel’ around Australia, we read the following
Picture Books:
Farmer Pelz’s Pumpkins – Colin ThieleĀ
The Best Beak in Boonaroo Bay – Narelle Oliver
Tea and Sugar Christmas – Jane Jolly
Desert Lake – Pamela Freeman
My Home Broome – Tamzyne Richardson
All the Way to WA – Roland Harvey
Cooking Kangaroo- Margaret James
The First Camel Cup – Margaret James
Jandamarra – Mark Greenwood – this book really effected Ignatius, he was horrified to realise the impact of the colonisation on the Indigenous peoples.
Mariah’s Reads:
Timmy – Colin Thiele
Genevieve’s Reads:
Danny’s Egg – Colin Thiele
History Readings
I was so excited to begin our Australian history focus, we are going to read a chapter from our core book then read corresponding fiction and non-fiction books. I’m unsure how long each chapter will take but likely at least 3 weeks each. First chapter was the Dreamtime and before white colonisation. Ignatius became fascinated with Dreamtime stories and delved deeper with any books he could find on the topic.
Core Book:
Our Sunburnt Country
Picture Books:
Land of the Dingo People – Percy TreziseĀ
Land of the Emu PeopleĀ – Percy TreziseĀ
Land of the Snake PeopleĀ – Percy TreziseĀ
Land of the Kangaroo PeopleĀ – Percy TreziseĀ Ā
Land of the Brolga PeopleĀ – Percy TreziseĀ
The Mark of the Wagarl – Lorna Little
Chapter:
Began reading Boori by Bill Scott to Genevieve and boys
Ignatius’ Reads:
Yellow Dog Dingo – Barbara Ker Wilson
Lasca and her Pups – Percy Trezise
The Tale of the Kangaroo and other Australian Stories
Wowie The River Monster and other Australian Stories
How the Kookaburra Got His Laugh – Aviva Layton
How the Echidna got His QuillsĀ
Genevieve & Mariah’s Reads:
Chapter Book:
Dingo: The Dog who Conquered a Continent – Jackie French
World History
Mariah: BeganĀ History of Modern Times
Family Read Aloud
Read several chapters to all six children
Outlaws of Ravenhurst – Sr M Wallace
Queen Victoria’s Underpants – Jackie French (picture book)
Library Hour
We instituted a new practice, every hour after lunch all children were to read for an hour, finally we seem to have jump started the boys into focusing on their reading instead of racing off to other pursuits.
Mariah: Began To Kill a Mockingbird
Genevieve: Heidi –Ā Johann Spyri
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Lampo Circus – Alexandra Adornetto
Sebastian: Mercy Watson x 4
Billie B Brown massive compilation
began Boxcar Children book 3
