Catch Up - Part One

Trying to catch up on some of the things we have been up to over the last few months...

 

Nathanael had his eighth birthday at the beginning of March. To celebrate, we had a fun day out together at Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester.

 

 

We were blessed to have a few days away on the East coast of England in a caravan, which the children thoroughly enjoyed.

 

Do they look like they're ready to go to sleep?!

 

 

A highlight of the holiday was a day out in York, where we visited Jorvik Viking Centre. 

 

 

Particularly memorable was a ride that took us through the reconstructed village of Jorvik (York)  meeting different Viking model people as we travelled. The commentary gave a good overview of the Vikings and has fired an enthusiasm for the subject. Since returning home the children have begun a new project, researching further this period in history.

 

 

We also visited the York Castle museum which spanned several different periods in history. There they had a fantastic reconstructed Victorian street where we could enter the shops and buildings - a lovely hands on approach to learning.

 

Whilst we were away we viewed the Solar Eclipse which tied in nicely with our Space Project that we completed in January. We also spent some time learning Psalm 8 together which includes the words "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him?

and the son of man, that thou visitest him?"

The children enjoyed our Reptile Day. I think just spending a day on a theme can be a good introduction to a project and can spark interest to pursue a more detailed project in the future.

We spent time preparing for and participating in the home educator's Science Fair.

 

 As part of this preparation we revisited Quarry Bank Mill and the waterwheel.

  



 

My Mum taught an introductory lesson on electricity and the children made simple circuits.



 

They made clowns with noses that lit up!

 



 

A highlight of the Easter period was taking the older three children out one evening to an Easter Story Trail. Scenes from the Bible were recreated and the Easter story was told. It really brought Easter alive to the children.

 



 

 

In our Easter Bible times we looked at the week leading up to Jesus' death and resurrection and as a follow up we made an Easter wreath to help us all remember the events in the story.

 

The wreath halfway through the week.

Our Week

Monday school began with maths and a science lesson on light.

 

 

We then read together the book "A Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge" by Hildegarde Swift. Set in New York City, it tells the story of a lighthouse that is feeling overshadowed by the George Washington bridge which has been built next to it. We are using this as a springboard for a unit study based upon themes in the book such as lighthouses, boats, bridges, New York, personification etc.

 

Books to read for our project.

The children thoroughly enjoyed the book "A Walk in New York" and learnt lots of interesting things about the city. The children then compiled a collage about New York.

 

 

On Tuesday we read together Rachel Lyman Field's poem "I'd like to be a Lighthouse" and the older children wrote their own versions of the poem.

 

 

"I'd like to be a lighthouse

which guides ships so tall.

I'd like to be a lighthouse

 who sees fish so small

and when its dark, I shine so bright

with a great big flashing light!"

Nathanael age 7

 

"I'd like to be a lighthouse

so everyone can see me.

I'd like to be a lighthouse

not a tree."

Abigail age 4

 

Before piano lessons on Tuesday afternoon, we had some fun in the garden experimenting with different bridge designs to see which would hold the most coins.

 

 

This was the strongest bridge, with the card folded into concertinas.

 On Wednesday we had a family day out to Liverpool. Two highlights of the day were seeing the boats docked in the Albert Docks 

 

 

and visiting the Merseyside Maritime Museum.  

 

 

Nathanael found this P&O poster of particular interest, as it had been recreated using Lego bricks.

 

 

In the afternoon we visited the nearby Speke Hall, a National Trust property.

 

Riding on the buggy.

 It was a beautiful afternoon, so we spent lots of time playing in the woods, the park and in the maze. It was lovely and quiet as the schools had started again after the summer holidays. Abigail would have been starting Reception today, if she had been going to school, so it was nice to mark the day with a family day out.

 

 

Building on our theme of bridges,on Thursday we split up into two family teams and tried to construct bridges using newspaper and sellotape that would be strong enough to support two toy cars and passengers.

 

Team A's bridge!

 

Team B's bridge!

 That afternoon we visited a neighbouring homeschooling family, whose Mum, Elisabeth, is from America. She described to the children what is was like to grow up in America, she shared some stories from her childhood and talked about the similarities and differences between her homeland and England. She made the children popcorn to eat, which was a hit!

 

 

As part of our Bible study, we mind mapped all the references to light we could think of in the Bible.

 

 

In our technology session the children made their own working lighthouses out of plastic cups and some battery operated tea lights which I found at the pound shop. I hope to conclude this unit on the "Little Red Lighthouse" next week.

 

 

On Friday morning we enjoyed a nature walk at a local park, documenting the changes in season, seeing how much the ducklings had grown since our last visit and picking blackberries to make into a pie.

 

 

Curriculum 2014-2015

For Nathanael 7, Tabitha 6 and Abigail 4 (years 3, 2 and Reception) 

and any of the younger children who want to join in!

Bible

 

 

Morning Bible Time and related projects

Read aloud missionary books

Memory Verses and Hymn Singing

K-3 Picture Smart Bible

Postal Bible School

Walk thru the Bible

Time Travellers Club

Maths

 

Heinemann Maths

Maths Games

iPad apps including IXL, Primary Maths Skill Builders ages 4-8 or Maths  3-5 and 4-6 from EuroTalk apps.

Real life opportunities to use money when shopping, measuring and weighing in baking, collecting data for projects etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and lots of library books!

Phonics

Sound Phonics by Schofield and Sims.

Ladybird I'm Ready.. for Phonics!  app on the iPad.

Games such as Pop for Sight Words.

Spelling

Look, cover, write check method using Schonell's Essential Spelling Lists.

Spelling 1 and 2 by Schofield and Sims.

Handwriting

 

 

Schofield and Sims Handwriting Practice 1 and 2

Various workbooks and worksheets

Copy work from the Bible, poetry and in relation to current project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English

Lots of different projects and lapbooks, using the children's own interest as a spring board. Past projects have included Cowboys, Houses, The Human Body and Genesis.

Five in a Row.

Poem memorisation.

Literacy - Nathanael

Letts Key Stage 2 Activity Book

Galore Park Junior English Book 1

Bible studies

Literacy - Tabitha and Abigail

Nelson English Books

Letts Key Stage 1 Activity Book

Science

 

Science in the Beginning by Dr Jay L. Wile

365 Science Experiments, Big Book of Science things to Make and Do, No Fuss Science Photocopiables, Junior Illustrated Science Dictionary.

Geography

Having researched and completed mini projects on the four countries of the United Kingdom last year we plan to broaden it out to some European Countries and look forward to discovering more about the main geographical features, food and culture. We have also bought a large map of the world for the wall in the living room which is providing a great amount of discussion and learning about world geography.

 

History

 

 

Weekly lessons of History are going to continue with Daddy for the next 6 weeks on their WWI project and then returning to their project in on Ancient History. Resources are  Story of the World, activity book one Ancient World, Lost Civilizations - Time Life Books and various internet and YouTube videos.

Lots of visits to museums and historical buildings, drama, art and technology activities.

German

Rosetta Stone.

Simple oral activities such as numbers and greetings.

Music

 

 

iPad Naxos My First Classical Music app, My Orchestra app and The Carnival of the Animals.

Peter and the Wolf YouTube videos, both orchestral and ballet.

Recorder lessons from Recorder from the Beginning

Nathanael has Piano lessons from Tunes for Ten Fingers

Music theory book Theory made easy for Little Children.

Hymn singing.

Art and design

 

Katie books, A Children's Book of Art, Usborne Art Sticker Book, You can Draw, visits to Art Galleries and lots of opportunities to create their own art.

Simple sewing lessons and woodwork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ICT

iPad apps, this year we are looking forward to creating e-books using Book Creator for iPad app.

BBC Touch Typing

Lessons in how to use Microsoft word.

PE

 

 

 

Lots of walks in the country, games in the garden, visits to our local parks and swimming pool.

Home Economics

Baking, cooking and cleaning lessons. Little Keepers and Contenders, The River Cottage Family Cookbook, Kids' First Cookbook.

Nature

We have enjoyed some lovely walks lately and spent time identifying birds and wildlife. I intend to build upon this, visiting the same country park every month, to document in their new nature journals the changes in season, birds spotted, flowers identified etc.

RSPB Wildlife Explorers Club.

Sounds like its going to be a fun year!

"And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD;

and great shall be the peace of thy children."

Isaiah 54:13

Our Week

Our morning routines are the same every school day. After breakfast, chores and quiet reading we have our Morning Bible Time. At the moment we are studying the book of Mark together.

 



 

We then move onto workboxes for Nathanael, Tabitha and Abigail, which are prepared with their maths, literacy, spelling, phonics and handwriting activities.  Some of these tasks are designed to be done independently whilst others need my input and support. In this session Nathanael also does some piano practice and Tabitha reads aloud to me.

 

 

This week the weather has been really lovely, so we have made the most of the sunshine and visited some local parks.

 

 

We have been given a tent, which we tried out in the garden, and we are planning an overnight family camp at a local site. We are not anticipating much sleep! Picnic lunches outside have been so much more exciting under canvas. Afternoons have been spent listening to 'The Secret Island' by Enid Blyton which I have read aloud to them. It was a favourite of mine as a child and the children have enjoyed it as much as I did!

 

 

On Wednesday we attended a superb music workshop at Gateway called "Sounds Like . . . The Far East". A hands-on musical journey around China and Indonesia.

 

 

As well as listening to music from those countries they had the opportunity to compose their own tunes. 

 

 

At the workshop we watched a clip showing an Indonesian shadow puppet performance and the children came home keen to make their own version of it.  They made a puppet theatre following these instructions. The children found it interesting that the shadows became smaller when they held their puppets further away from the light source.

 

 

The shadow puppeteers...

 

 

In History the children are currently working on a World War I project to mark the centenary year.

 

History books - War in the Air.