Science at our place...

...at least for now!  

I am a picture person, I like to see ideas in images and so when it comes to planning for our home educating, I find that I like to create a diagram to express what we are trying to achieve.  I find that once I have this image in my mind, I can easily evaluate whether the things we have been spending time on are the things we are aiming for in guiding the education of our children.  

For most learning areas, the kids choose what they want to learn about, with me guiding their learning towards the things we feel are important.  I find a diagram a really helpful way of keeping this in mind as the kids initiate new topics to learn about.

I shared my diagram for our approach to history in this post.

This is the diagram I have come up with for our approach to Science.  It is loosely based on the new National Curriculum for Science.  If the children don't know what they might want to learn about I just mention some of the suggested topics and they usually choose one pretty quickly - they all love Science, especially anything hands-on.

This term Nathan decided he wanted to learn about rocks, so we borrowed a stack of library books and I threw together a notebook of sorts for him to work through.  He can work through it fairly independently, and it allows for a degree of creativity which he enjoys.  I also find that because the note-taking parts of the page are smallish and offset by daigrams, boxes and other elements on the page, Nathan finds the idea of taking some notes less intimidating.  Once he has finished we will have the pages bound into a booklet.

I have added the Rock Notebooking Pages to the blog and you can access the pdf here. I am happy to share this resource with you, but please use it just for personal/family use and do not reproduce any part for profit or to put on another website or blog. Thanks!  I hope it is helpful. 

Here's some pics of Nathan working on his Rock Cycle experiment today.

 So there you have it - Science at our place!

Gymnastics in photos

The kids are doing regular gymnastics this term, and loving it!

 

 

 

Five new arrivals!

 We have been eagerly awaiting the arrrival of baby guinea pigs and two weeks ago Patch delivered one little baby- a female.  We found her just moments after she delivered and the little baby was still wet and very still. Quite soon little "Smudge" was walking around and eating.

 

 And then we waited for Cocoa to deliver her babies. And waited. And waited some more.  Finally, 11 days after Patch, and on the coldest night we've had lately, Cocoa delivered four tiny babies. 

  

Here is "Num Nums" a few days later...

  Not sure which one this is...

  This one is "Curly"...

 Here they all are, so cute!

Now we just need to agree on how many get to stay!

Steamfest Sunday

We ventured out to Steamfest at Maitland today, checking out the various steam operated vehicles like the lorry above, and this tractor below.  They were so smoky and noisy, and I loved the loud shrill whistles.  The girls found them much too loud, and spent a good deal of time with their hands over their ears!

 There were a whole range of vintage vehicles on display...

Nathan particularly liked this green truck...

 and this one too...

 Lili loved the Clydesdales...

 We wandered over to the Show and Shine car show in Maitland park, where Nathan found his ideal Christmas present...

 or perhaps this one...

 By this time it was well and truly raining on us, so we didn't look for as long as we had planned to at the cars on show, and when we went to browse around the market stalls it was a bit too wet and many had packed up.  After an icecream and a bit of waiting it was time for a ride on a steam train - definitely the highlight of the day!  It was difficult to get a good pic as people were flocking to see the steam engines, but the one below is the 3265 Steam Locomotive, known as "Hunter".

 This impressive locomotive was built in 1901 and was still in service until 1968.

 The photos don't really do the engine justice.  They are very impressive to see and hear.  The sound of a steam engine building speed as it chugs away from the station is really fantastic. This photo below is attempting to capture just how high the black smoke plumed as the engine became ready to pull out.

 The carriages were all class with their timber panelling and curved ceilings.  We rode in a carriage just like the ones on the Hogwarts Express, and I must admit I had the theme music from Harry Potter ringing in my ears as we pulled away :)

 By this time we were glad of a dry spot to sit as we watched the scenery go by while the 3265 steamed along from Maitland to Branxton and back again.  You could hear the engine chugging and see the smoke blowing back from time to time.

Nathan couldn't resist the opportunity to stick his head right out the window when the train stopped briefly at Branxton Station...

Aside from the train ride it only cost us $4 to get in to the rally ground - quite the bargain for a family day out.  We had never been to Steamfest before - not being steam train enthusiasts - but we found you don't need to be an enthusiast to enjoy it,  and all had a great time.  Toot toot!

Cooking, sewing, knitting...

  I love to make and create things, and I have had time in the last few weeks to spend some time doing just that.  I sewed these cute little booties for the new baby of our neice.  I thought a crocheted flower would just be the thing to finish them off but alas, my crochet skills began and ended at single crochet.  Thanks to the wonders of Youtube (is there anything you might want to learn that's not on there?) I now know how to double crochet and produce the pretty crocheted flowers on the booties. Add a sweet pearly button and I was quite pleased with how they turned out. I must admit that this pair were attempt number three, and my daughters' baby dolls now have really great booties.  :)

 

It could be said that I temporarily went a little crazy crocheting flowers. Here's one with a vintage leather button now adorning my beanie (the beanie is handmade, but not by me).  There are more on the slippers I knitted for Lili.

 

I knitted up another pair of slippers for myself too.  One cannot have too many pairs of soft, knitted slippers!

 

I have the sewing machine out, sewing some winter tops.  This one is finished and I have a stack of fabric ready to make a couple more.

 This morning I cooked this yummy slice.  It is relatively healthy and a favourite around here.  The recipe is adapted from one given to me; I'm not sure where the original recipe came from.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (80g) pepitas

3/4 cup (70g) dessicated coconut

1/2 cup (65g) wholemeal plain flour

1/4 cup (55g) raw sugar

1 cup (130g) traditional rolled oats

1/4 cup (40g) sesame seeds

1/2 cup (80g) sunflower kernals

1/2 cup (75g) sultanas

3/4 cup nuts - I used pecans, but walnuts or almonds are also nice

Mix together all the dry ingredients.

Mix 1 tablespoon honey with 120g melted butter and add to the dry ingredients with 2 lightly beaten eggs.

Mix well, then press firmly into a lined baking tray or dish. Bake in moderate oven til golden.  I use 180 degrees celcius in a fan-forced oven for about 12-15 minutes.

Yum!