How we study and some achievements!

We seem to do some subjects in blocks, rather than itty bitty subjects every day of the week. I used to be concerned about this but actually it suits the children more to learn that way, and when I add together all that we have done and are doing, it seems to balance out in the right proportions.

Currently we have been having a bit of a science and music festival. The science has included the exploration of hovercraft technology, making some models with a motor and batteries from a little kit Matthew brought LittleH#1 back from his trip to Melbourne - our week without him is another story ;).

LittleHs 1 and 2 are learning the ukelele, as well as the guitar. They already knew a few chords on the guitar, and have been having lessons with DH, as well as music sessions. Matthew came back from his conference talking about a session they had with about 300 delegates all playing the ukelele and being taught for the first time how to play some chords. With only 4 strings it is easy for someone to pick up. So we bought 2, one cheap one and one good one - and now they are playing 4 chords (LittleH#1) and 2 chords (LittleH#2). They have been introduced to Bluegrass, and we are working on a VonH version of You are my sunshine. Got a few Colin songs we think they might be able to manage too. With practice! Meanwhile I'd like to think about getting LittleH#3 some Suzuki method violin lessons to see whether he'd like that. The ukelele playing is also improving their guitar playing too. Bonus.

We have also begun teaching them the music stave and note names. Whilst this is something I can do (and I want to teach them the recorder) it has been nice for Matthew to take on music a bit with them, so that's how we are dividing the work for now.

We are thinking about how we might make a bigger hovercraft model next, and also were amazed how LittleH#3 described what he thought was happening to the air underneath the takeaway box container that was the hovercraft body. He thought that the air built up and then tried to escape and that is how the box lifted up a bit and moved around. He'd be right! :)

Other achievements recently are that LittleH#3 has begun riding his bike without trainer wheels at only 3 1/2, and LittleMissH is standing up and threatening to cruise. She is talking a lot, and communicating even more. I haven't officially designated it homeschool but they are all enjoying a mix of Auslan signs and baby sign language with her, and that officially can count as LOTE if I want it to. It will certainly get a mention in dispatches next year!

I have just discovered how to 'right' the date and time I post things on the blog. That had been annoying me for a while. :) Edited to add: ah, no I haven't. I appear to have a technical problem but I don't suppose anyone minds (hardly a great following) and I am just going to have to live with it!

Registration...Moderation...

Well we have come up to our first Registration review!!!! Blog's been a bit quiet for that reason as have other things because, hey, we've been doing a bit of ' real life' (and enjoying it!) and also tidying papers (they were in pretty good order but we wanted to knock the year on the head in order!) and preparing for The Review. Thankfully it was with Sally Robbins (I don't know if she currently has anyone else working with her) and we saw her last year for the original registration so I didn't expect any surprises.

It was great (though a bit rushed in the end, having spent all last week ill when I was thinking of getting the review ready that week) going through all LittleH#1's work and remembering and summarising in report form the year's work. I'd had the bright idea of bringing the review forward so that we can get it done before we go to England in 2 weeks. (2 Weeks!!!!!!!!!).

The Report I prepared was longer than you are probably expected to do and I prefaced sitting Sally down with a cup of tea with an apology as to length and I think I said I am incapable of writing anything short. (Are you feeling that?). She was actually really pleased with the detail, it helps her with her job, because she has to write a 4 page report on us and it saves her having to tease out the information that she needs so that she can write it all. A fun job at times, I am getting the impression.

Oh it was such a wonderful meeting. LittleH#1 was there (the others were all accounted for, asleep / quietly reading etc!) and he sat through the whole meeting and played a good part in it too. She took time out from reading it every now and again to say "Oh, you went to xxxxxx did you?" and then he told her a bit about it, or found something in his folder to show her.

We were so encouraged. Matthew was there for most of the meeting too so that was brilliant and he talked a bit about some of the things he has done with the boys. She said we have had a very good first year, and lots of other complimentary things. I am not saying this to boast - actually I am really just wanting to share how encouraged we were from the meeting. Sometimes it is hard to see the wood from the trees. In the midst of a difficult day, week, or season, or just having had a baby, I have wondered whether we are doing the right thing by the children, whether we have achieved anything good and what on earth the review would look like. I have worked out some things:

We are saving more time than we realise by learning at home.

The extra distractions that teachers have in the classroom cannot be underestimated - crowd control, constraints of curriculum and protocol, timetabling, etc.

When we do a big project, like volcanoes (the only one I have blogged on so that's the best example) the work is more intense than I realise.

We work longer days than is necessary for home educating, for the above reasons. I like that. It gives us freedom to have a bad day, an 'unschool day' or just go shopping and do school out of the house like the day we played 'Phonics Detectives' at Tea Tree Plaza while I bought some essential items, whatever they were.

I had thought our school day (being, maybe unusually for homeschooling, but it works for us) say around 9 -4 or something was long because I allow for play periods, sleeps (some or all of us) and maybe taking longer to get dressed than we might otherwise, housework etc. Actually we are getting more than I thought done during that time. But I can't see that when I am in the middle of it, I see it now I have summarised and looked at what we have produced this year.

Oh they are a few random thoughts but it gives me more confidence, and maybe the difficult wading-through-treacle-learning days will be less worrying as we move ahead because I know the bigger picture is a little different. I am having the perfectionist smoothed out of me (it's a gentle refining process, largely, rather than a chip-chip one) and I can be a little more gentle perhaps with the perfectionist child(ren) that I appear to have given birth to.

I need to have some free time now (we are about to watch a film we have diligently put off till the registration thing was finished) but I will come back and post again about what I really think about registration, how my views on it have changed, and for now, (while we are in Australia and whilst it looks nothing like the draconian measures being threatened in the UK) why it feels like a good thing. In Moderation. Ha ha.