Our Week With Ping

These last 2 weeks we have been reading The Story About Ping for our FIAR book. This is such a cute story and we had so much fun.

We made our own Wise Eyed boat for our family of rubber ducks, played with ducks and boats in our sensory tub, went to the lake to look for Ping and then had a picnic with the swans instead and painted with the feathers we found there.

We also learned about China because that is where Ping lived. We found out what our name was in Chinese and how to write it, tried to copy the numbers 1-10 in Chinese, found China on the map and coloured in a Chinese flag. This weekend we are going to try our some chopsticks when we have Chinese for Grandad's birthday.

Here is a look at some of the fun things we did this week!

TOT SCHOOL

Our theme for Tot School this week was ducks. Liana and I were reading Ping for our FIAR book so it tied in perfectly. Unfortunately we were too busy to get many photos. By the time I thought about it we were on to something else. So what did we do....

WEll, we hatched ducks out of plastic eggs, glued feathers onto duck pictures, learned about the letter d. Sang and acted out duck rhymes and songs, had rubber ducks and water for our sensory table, painted with feathers and went for a trip to a duck pond to find some ducks.

Here are some photos of our feather painting and trip to the lake.










Click here to see what other people have done for tot school this week.

Little Ballerina

So, Liana has been desperate to start ballet for the last 6 months. No idea where she got this obsession from. We have never talked about or watched any ballet. Anyway, the dress ups were no longer enough, it had to be "real ballet". So last week she had her first class and absolutely loved it. I'm still undecided if this is a good or bad thing!!!!!. Her first words when she came out of the class were, "I looooove Miss Mel, can we do this every day?" and all week, "Is it Saturday today, Mama?"

So $140 later here she is in all her pink glory, minus the ribbons on the shoes that I am yet to sew on!!!









OOPS!!!! Can't figure out to turn them around, but you get the general idea!!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

I'm Back!!

Not that I ever really went away. I have had heaps to blog about, but I just hate blogging without photos to go with it. Unfortunately, the cord to download my pics from the camera died and then got lost hence, no posts. But, hubby has promised to pick up a card reader on his way home form work tonight so I can blog to my hearts content. Be prepared for an onslaught of photos!!!!

So, what is new you ask?? Well here is a preview.....Liana had her first solo violin recital where she played Twinkle Twinkle. We have video footage to download cause I know you all are dying to hear a 4 year old play Twinkle on her violin!!! She also started ballet and has been very busy creating some great lapbooks with our FIAR books.

We have started Totschool with Liam. Click here to find out more. This week we have been learning about ducks. He has also started having violin lessons with Liana's teacher. He's not quite ready for a real violin yet, although he thinks he is, so for now he has to be happy with the cardboard one!!

We have moved house. We are gradually moving up into the hills. We are on a 1/2 acre bush block across the road from National Park. The kids call the backyard their forest. We've had roos in the front garden and possums in the tree. The house needs a lot of work but the setting is beautiful.

So that is a brief update. Stay tuned for many, many, photos!!

Nature Journals

Our homeschooling tends to be a mix of classical and Charlotte Mason Styles. One element that I have been trying to incorporate regularly is our nature journal. Liana loves going on nature walks and collecting things to put in her nature journal. I am trying to be more consistent with this and do it once a week. At the moment it is more sporadic!

Here are some of Liana's journal entries from this year. She chooses what to put in her journal and then attempts to draw it or make a rubbing. All these drawing are her own work. Occasionally I will help her with something she is really stuck on. Then I ask her what she would like me to write about her find. This is normally along the lines of "It is beautiful. It is precious. I love it." We are slowly working on actually getting a description or some information about the topic, but for now I write whatever she may say!!!

Best Friends

Well, it has been a while since I posted on this blog but htere is nothing like cute photos to inspire me back into blogging!

Liam and Jack have been best buddies since the day we brought Jack home. I quite often find them cuddled up together on the lounge and more than once have had to kick Jack off his bed at night!

Liam must really love Jack because he doesn't share his blankie with anyone but was quite happy to use it as a blanket to keep Jack warm the other day