So much to do, so little time! We have had another busy term as usual. We watched honey being harvested from the bee hives...
We did a few science experiments, using this book:
The kids made a volcano (and the dogs helped...) 
Lili and Amy have been learning to sew (and Nathan too, but he didn't really want me to put that on here). On the sewing machine they made a small cushion with a hand stitched motif on the front.
Then they hand stiched a little "softie" toy with button eyes. On the 27th February the kids participated in a home school swimming carnival.All three kids have enjoyed doing weekly gymnastics classes this term. Nathans class focussed on trampolining and "urban sports".
We have continued to use Math-U-See for our maths. The kids like using it and the manipulatives really help make sense of the concepts. Amy is almost halfway through 'Alpha', and Lili is using 'Beta'- both of which cover addition and subtraction as the main concepts. Nathan is tackling fractions in the 'Epsilon' level.
For language arts we have been using Learning Language Arts Through Literature (LLATL) as a base. Lili is using the Red level and is loving reading, spelling and writing- these are her favourites. Amy is working on the Blue level, and we have been playing lots of games to help her learn sounds and words. Spelling in shaving cream was a fun game...I find that while LLATL gives us a good spine to work from, it can get a bit boring, so we tend to skip parts and add other things. For Nathan, on Purple level, the emphasis on grammar has become tedious, so we are looking at alternatives for him. Most of all we read lots of books. Nathan and Lili are voracious independent readers and one of the things I like about LLATL is that is bases all its activities on quality childrens books.
Lili and Amy have been working on a 'lapbook', All About Autumn. We left our LLATL work for a while to do the lapbook instead. They love the creative elements of a lapbook. I incorporated some books into this unit which we already had from LLATL. Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall was a perfect way to begin learning about Autumn.We are still slowly reading together The Wizard of Oz. The edition we have is beautifully illustrated by Robert Ingpen.
This term Lili and Amy have been doing Reading Eggs which they really enjoy.
All three kids have been loving weekly art classes at our local Art Gallery with a group of homeschool friends.
We started The Story of the World last term, but haven't found time to do the activities so far this term. We have, however, been listening to the audio version of the book in the car. The kids love it and now it's the only thing I am allowed to play!One Autumn-feeling morning we ventured out to see if we could find some wild flowers in our new, large yard. We searched all over our 6.5 acres but mostly found weeds! This was still interesting though, and we tried to identify them. We have scurvy weed, which is a native plant similar to the introduced weed 'wandering jew'. Scurvy weed is edible and was eaten by white colonists to ward off scurvy. After collecting some samples, the kids sketched them in their nature journals as well as sticking in some samples.Phew! So much happening. Of course there has also been all the other creative activities the kids invent, making mud duck sculptures, Girl Guides and Scouts, jumping on the trampoline, riding the pony and exploring the yard.
