Interview with the Army

My eldest, D, has an interview to join the Army on 15th June. He is extremely excited as he has been talking about it off and on for about twelve months. He finally made the initial call in February (after he turned 17) and they told him it could take up to six months to get an interview. When they rang, he was shaking with excitement. It was lovely to watch, as if it was my excitement as well.

He needs to have an interview, medical and aptitude test on that day so I googled some aptitude tests and came up with this one. He wasn't here when I printed it off so I did it and got 18 out of 33 (feeling pretty pleased with myself) and M and N had a good go at it getting a few, then getting too frustrated, then kicking themselves as the answers seem so obvious once you know them. I gave it to D when he got home tonight and after priming him and setting up the challenge that anything over 23 is classed as "genius" status, he proceeded to get 26 on his own and 28 by giving a couple of very subtle hints.

So there ya have it - my boy's a genius! Let's hope the recruiting officers are reading this.

Love Karen

Tea Party

Having a girl is soooo different to the boys. They played a lot outside - jumping on the tramp, riding their bikes up and down the driveway, drawing with chalk on the concrete, making soup out of mud and all types of plants while stirring with a stick and playing imaginary shooting games. Maybe because K is on her own and the boys had each other to play with but she is definitely an indoor girl when at home, playing for hours with her teddies/puppies, colouring in, drawing and dressing up and dancing to music. A whole different kettle of fish to what I'm used to!

K made up a big list of things we had to include so we didn't forget anything and she marked them off as we went - she's her mother's daughter - I am the list queen! Cookies were on the menu, the more M & Ms, the better.
We set the table in the finest drapery with a single red rose from our garden.
The tea's poured, the delicacies are set out and it was time to wake D, the only other person at home, so he could join in. Mmmmm, cookies for breakfast, he said.
Then there was the fun of washing up. She did about half of them, I suppose I have to be happy with that. It was a lovely morning. I don't get much time with her one on one for a length of time so it was pretty special.








K watched a 3D movie the other day and I couldn't resist these photos. She looked so serious while watching the movie with these funny glasses on but, of course, ........


she had to play up to the camera as soon as she saw it.

Mums Know Everything!

After our movie, K was having a quiet play with her teddies/stuffed puppies so I thought I'd put on one of my 30 minute lectures from the Teaching Company. Of course, she then had to start crawling all over me and proclaimed in a very loud voice, "This is booorrring". I replied that I really enjoyed it and that I was learning. To which she came back immediately with, "But I thought Mums know everything!" It was so quick and very funny.

It has been a running joke in our house for years that Mums know everything. The boys were always surprised when they did something sneaky and I knew about it. I would just say mysteriously, "Mums know everything". And I would always add if I didn't know something I always knew where or how to find it. So the legend lives on with my daughter and, yet again, my words are coming back to haunt me.

Organic Learning

How can you ever record the learning that happens in everyday life (without driving yourself totally crazy)?

It is a rainy Saturday so we popped on a movie this afternoon that T picked up for two dollars yesterday. It was a cheaply done 2D cartoon type called Globehunters - an around the world in 80 days adventure.

Well, the conversations it generated. Firstly, there was the travel which we followed on our world map to see how far the three escaped animals travelled - Miami, China, Italy, France, Russia, Germany and India with references to the Himalayas and Mt Everest. Then there were the animals in the different areas - pandas in China, leopards and baboons in the Himalayas. Also the different countries' monuments - Great Wall of China, Eiffel Tower and Leaning Tower of Pisa. When the 'baddie' was chasing the three animals, K asked why he could catch the cheetah because aren't they the fastest in the world?

It had issues of animal cruelty as the animals escaped from a lab in America. When the chimp decided to join the circus after escaping, there were discussions about whether that was just trading one kind of cruelty for another and was the animal really free if it made the choice to work in the circus.

At one stage the parrot asked when they were going to be fed as it had always been fed while in the lab while an insect passed under its' wing which led to a discussion about the dangers of hand raised animals being let back into the wild.

I'm sure there were many more topics as well. So, how do you record all of this on a day to day basis to meet the KLAs?, Well, you could always blog about it.......

First Ever Australian Unschooling Conference

I am very excited to be able to go to this conference (find information here). I went to the Australian Homeschooling Conference a couple of years ago and came away inspired and energised to continue this journey. The last couple of months I have let go of a lot of bookwork type activities and am embracing a more natural approach with N (13). He is my step-son and so I have always felt the need to "produce" work, not only for his mum but also for registration. I am now recording things we do each day but have no expectations of learning required. I think it also helps that his two older brothers (my two boys) are reaching an age where they are self-directed, responsible, curious and intelligent learners and I know that they have a great grounding to be life long learners. N is working a bit with his dad, reading a lot, doing puzzles, playing Runescape, watching docos and movies and developing a passion for gardening, mainly growing fruit trees from seed. We will see where this takes us but I am very comfortable with it so far.

What I struggle with is radical unschooling. I LOVE the concept but it's like I don't have the energy to be always there for my kids. I like time to myself each evening, that's one of the things that keeps my energy levels up throughout the day, looking forward to my time of peace each night. I also prefer to feed them healthy options rather than eat what they want, when they want. I like to have a tidy kitchen after each meal, not have kids continually eat all through the day so the place always looks like a bomb - OK, as I am writing this it does sound terribly controlling, hmmmmmm......

So, I am open to learning and hearing about radical unschooling a la Dayna Martin. I have read a lot of books about it but am nowhere near that free yet. I say yes a LOT more often than I used to so slowly inching my way along the spectrum. By the time my kids are grown up, I will have let go of my control issues, I'm sure - lol! Anyway, I believe this opportunity is in my life for a reason, whether it is to show me a glorious new path and kick me out of my comfort zone or to cement my deep seated values that I believe children need direction with sleep, health, food, etc. We'll see......

Blue Mountains

T and I had to go to the Western NSW for a business trip so made our base in the Blue Mountains at Blackheath. We stayed in a house called Araluen - for all of you Ranger's Apprentice fans this was a nice touch of synchronicity. It had central heating, thank goodness as one night it got down to 2 degrees C overnight but it also had an open fire which we lighted each night. I don't know what it is about fires but they are fascinating to kids (and adults), especially when accompanied by the obligatory marshmallows to melt.


The weather had us tucked up early to play games with cards and do jigsaw puzzles. I don't know what it is about going away somewhere new, whether it's just the fact that you're out of routine, but we always spend great quality family time together, chatting, playing, having warm cups of tea, watching movies together and listening to music. I love staying in places that provide the homely touches. This house had a great library to trawl through, board games, old DVDs and videos, etc. We watched Little Women, Anne of Green Gables and National Geographic videos on Lions, Tigers and Volcanoes which were fascinating and probably not something we would particularly choose at home. Maybe it's the limited choice that makes it desirable, or maybe that you are having a sneak peek into someone else's tastes.

One of the days Mum and Dad popped in for a visit and we did a bushwalk from Pope's Glen near our house to Govett's Leap along a lovely river.
Lots of time to stop and enjoy the scenery and N took lots of photos of scenery and close ups of plants.
And there is always time to stop and play with a lady bird!
Another day N and I took a quick walk down Leura Cascades, absolutely magic spot and a great walk for kids.
N and I also took the Scenic Railway down into the valley, walked along for a couple of kilometres and then up the Giant Stairway (or we used to call it the 1000 Steps). I did it when I was 5 and a half with my dad and it has stuck in my memory all of these years. I have taken my two older boys a couple of times and wanted to share it with N. The views from the top of The Three Sisters is spectacular (see link for the legend behind The Three Sisters) - stretching on forever. It makes you feel so insignificant standing looking out at the vastness of our country's landscape, while at the same time feeling so powerful and energetic being part of it.
Back to the touristy spot, with busload after busload of people visiting for the day, with just enough time to snap a tourist shot like this one. Me, I prefer immersing myself in the bush, becoming a part of it for a couple of hours, breathing in all of that energy rather than standing separated from it and ticking off the view from my to-do list :)

Little Surprises

K loves familiarity and routine but gets a lot of joy out of surprises and spontaneity. I am always looking for ways to see her face light up and get a lot of inspiration from A Magical Childhood blog. Drawing funny pictures on her chalkboard at night time so she wakes up to it or faces on the bottom of her socks so she can walk around with secret smilies in her shoes all day are fun. Here are a couple of pictures of
things that have lit up her face:

Simply cutting out and blue-tacking some of her colouring-in just near her bed so she can enjoy them during quiet/sleep times. Her face lights up and she gets so excited saying "You are the best Mum in the world!" She has also been known to call me the worst Mum as well - oh, the drama of having an expressive princess!

We are still doing our chalkboard alphabet project - up to the letter I. Mostly she will draw the pictures but I surprised her one morning by helping out.
Saying yes more often led to this spontaneous autumn shower. We were watering N's new fruit tree seedlings and it very quickly changed into great water play. This was one of our first chilly days too. Kids just don't seem to care......
I just sat back in the nice warm sun with a hot cup of tea enjoying their high spirits.

Update on our busy life

My eldest, D, has finally got his P's driver's licence. Aaah, freedom. I remember it so well. He has been getting up really early (for him) to take his brother to work - just because he can! He has spent the last week driving his Dad's car to and from places and drove our car for the first time today. I stood on the driveway, just like my Mum and Dad did the first time I drove off independently, and pretended to be biting my nails in fear but just so, so proud. I have really enjoyed seeing him grow up over the last couple of years. He is quite adamant he will join the army. Having already filled in the forms, we are just waiting for an interview and more information so he could be gone in two months or six months for at least four years or so. I am enjoying every last minute with my big baby while I can.

We visited a Macadamia Farm a couple of Fridays ago.
The staff got the children involved in a game of "collect the most macadamias" and you could win a prize - cheap labour, I call it - cough, cough.
They then had their buckets weighed. N, K and one of her little friends collected a bucket and a half which is a LOT of macadamias but, alas, were beaten by a group of teens. After that they were shown through the factory to see how it was all done.
Then it was time to browse in the shop to drool over all of the delicious products and enjoy a hot chocolate and cup of coffee. We had about 70 people turn up from the home school group - our group and support network is definitely growing.

Other than that, we have been doing more trampoling training with M with Qld championships coming up on the June long weekend, NSW championships in June as well and a couple of other qualifying comps just before then.

We have also bought an extension part for T's bike to make it a tandem for K to ride on. She still just fits in the baby seat on the back of my bike so we left that on my bike in case she got too tired on her first long ride but she loved it, staying on the back for the loooong ride and only hopping in for about a km or so. Looking forward to lots of long rides now with her on the back of T's bike. I was flying on mine, riding solo after five years of carrying her. She weighs about 20kg now, so the extra weight was great for my fitness and strength!

K's reading is coming along well. We are working through the Fitzroy Reading program which I have had for ages and involves a fair bit of phonics, practicing letter writing, etc. Yes, we are using curriculum, but she has always enjoyed her "schoolwork", loves the workbooks, so we are just going with it. Her face lights up when she recognises the letters or small words so that's joy enough for me.

Other things we've been loving are:

Ranger's Apprentice series - N is up to book 9 and whipping through it.

Horrible Histories on ABC3 - funny, funny, gross and funny

My Place on ABC3 - Australian history series about the same house that has different families living in it every decade or so. Set against cultural, political and economical issues at the time throughout history back to 1883. Fantastic series.

Fun Brain Institute - a group meeting fortnightly ages from 4 to about 10 run by a primary school teacher who has an absolute passion for teaching and it shows. She now home educates her two littlies and has organised a three hour session of art, craft, logic puzzles, maths, literacy, reading time, music, etc based around a theme. Last time it was puppets, next time transport and the time after that is dinosaurs and fossils. It is such a fantastic get together and to see the kids work in groups on projects or just playing with the games, puzzles and playdough is lovely. Of course, it is a great support time for the mums as well.

There's part of our busy life. Looking forward to the next couple of weeks as well.

Cheers, Karen

Our Chaotic Dining Room Table

I had made us a big pot of vegie soup for the cooler autumn days and as I served it up with lovely crusty bread I had to push and move things around the table to make room for us to eat. This is pretty typical of our days of learning. This particular day was on the go and as I served the soup over the top of art work, writing practice and science kits, I had a little chuckle about the choas some days bring.
I thought photos would say it much more clearly than I could but every home educator can relate to this, I'm sure. We had gone from doing a jigsaw puzzle on world flags to phonics practice to watercolour painting to putting a science kit together to running out and buying batteries for our new talking globe (we love it!!). There were books to be read, colouring to be done, paper planes to make, a motorbike meccano-type kit that was being put together, a game of 20 questions that has been lost for a while..... I seriously didn't have time between one enthusiastic thing to the next to make a clearing so it just kept getting piled on the table until I stopped and took a breath at lunchtime, served up the meal on top of all of the activities and had a good laugh.
Here's our new globe. K loves trying all of the national anthems, finding flight times between cities and practicing pronouncing the capital cities names. I love the busy, productive days.