Our plans for the year

I approach this post with trepidation.  The next in the Not Back to School bloghop .   


We are naturally eclectic, strewing, neo-classicists. There, I've said it! lol.


As this is our first year of official schooling, I'm approaching the year using the National Curriculum  (version 2 ) guidelines, and seeing how they apply to us, where BlueBelle is situated according to these (arbitrary but Dept. Ed necessary) and getting my head around reporting for HEU.


English Language 2012
Mathematics 2012
Science 2012
Social Sciences 2012
The Arts 2012
LOTE 2012

Hat-venture

Over the weekend, while DH was mowing the lawn a gust of wind blew his hat off.  Now, this is no ordinary hat, so it had to be retreived, and in a hurry!  The hat had landed on the dam and was heading towards the swamplands.   Nothing for it but to call back into service our, mostly ornamental, row boat.

she doesn't look like much, a duck haven at best

but, amazingly, she floats!

hat was retrieved with the multifunctional rake-oar

all parties safely ashore, mission complete

Dad had to be reassured that being called a water rat with a mole for a passenger was a good thing!

Wind in the Willows

Kenneth Grahame

Our learning places and spaces

Week 3 in the Not Back to School Bloghop.   

The topic this week, learning spaces.   Well, we work and learn in numerous places.

at the writing desk

at the outside table

at the dinning room table

at the lounge room table

basically, any unsuspecting table .... 

in the 'playroom' on the floor

on the deck

on the grass

at the park

at the library

in the car

at the art gallery

at the EcoScience building
oOOH, and how could I forget? The Kitchen!

and all over the world

After the last big rain the playroom sprang a leak which saturated in the inside skin of the walls, as well as a strip along the edge of the carpet.  
On pulling up the carpet we discovered funky mould - out it went, all of it, including the wall skins.  
So, at the moment the playroom looks like this ....  

The assessor came last week, and hopefully we can start fixing the room next week.  I'm planning to paint everything white, and let BluebBelle and friends treat it like the Kusama exhibition -  ' Obliteration Room'. Husband has resigned himself to the idea, poor chap, lol.

http://interactive.qag.qld.gov.au/looknowseeforever/works/obliteration_room/

If you haven't played the game have a go ;)    Kusama's World of Dots 

Earthly Worms

After planting some zucchini Blue Belle dug in the veggie patch for a while.  She ran to the kitchen very excitedly, to tell me that our soil is good because it has earthworms in it - big ones!

catch and release

No earthworms were harmed in the making of this blogpost.  This earthling was returned safely to the vegetable garden after lengthy negotiations.

more about earthworms

Not Back To School Blog Hop - Meet the student

Okay, well,  the Keeper of the ning (and we all know who she is! ) has dragged, or at least prodded me, kicking and screaming into blogland.  I love the idea of a blog, I love reading the blogs of people I know, but I am also quite reticent about having my own.


Anyway, I'm not sure how many years we've been home schooling, I'm going to say that this is our second year.  DD (aka Blue belle), is officially doing year 1 this year, but it's not as simple as that ... of course!!   


STUDENT PROFILE  (she's our victrix!)
Favourite colours:  
lots of favourites, but yellow and red and blue and pink and orange
Favourite books:  
Horse,  Charlotte's Web, Little Bear's little boat
Favourite things to do: 
riding bikes, climbing, swinging and running
Favourite 'work': 
drawing and reading, learning anything, music
Favourite music: 
vioin, trumpet, piano, flute, accordion
Favourite animal:
horse and tiger
Favourite plants:
roses and sunflowers
Favourite fun:
swimming and building castles at the beach

We aim to cultivate the natural love of learning by preparing an environment that provides width and depth for exploration, and offers exposure to opportunities and real-life experiences, while keeping  in mind the balance of character, knowledge and skill.