I woke LiAM up around 9 yesterday morning as we had friends coming over and he likes to be awake before they get here. We chatted while he was waking up, about Minecraft and words and friends and movies, I love listening to his insights and following the way his mind works. He thinks so deeply about things and makes connections that I wouldn't have thought of.
He played Minecraft once he was awake enough, and Amelie got up and watched him, after being a Peregrine Falcon and then a pterodactyl for a while. She actually got out of bed because the pterodactyl needed some fish and I wasn't supplying them quickly enough out of my endless supply from my pocket... Caitlin got out of bed and put Heartland on - we have been watching the 1st series on DVD, and despite seeing it so often on TV, there were at least 4 episodes we hadn't seen. We've seen them now, and parts of the storyline make a lot more sense than they did before! While we were waiting for our friends to come LiAM let Amelie play minecraft for a while, and he helped her spell the words she needed to name her world.
L dropped her boys off just after 10, and LiAM showed A the Minecraft server he's been playing on - Mineplex. The boys watched him for a while, then J went outside with Amelie to jump on the trampoline and run around for a while. When they came back inside they played lego and with J's monster toy that he'd brought along. The older boys played Minecraft on the computer then Terraria on their iPads, and watched and commented on Heartland - what they'd do in the situations they were watching, what would have happened if the characters had said or done something different, when things looked or seemed unrealistic - I love the critical analysis skills that they are all developing when reading or watching anything.
While the kids were playing I started to sort out our leftover veggies to make way for our new box, and made a chicken casserole to put in the slow cooker for when we came home much later in the evening. After lunch (sandwiches and chocolate pudding) I got all the kids in the car and we went to homeschool group.
It was only a smallish group this time, 5 families I think, and there was still plenty of activity. LiAM and Amelie and some of the other kids played tag for ages inside (it was loud! and so much fun) then went outside to play in the playground. Amelie stayed in and played lego and cars. Caitlin and a lot of the other kids (and Amelie for a while) started to write and rehearse a play - we'd taken lots of props and costumes, and some other families had brought things as well, and the kids started working on a story which they are hoping to perform next fortnight. There was also lots of craft made, more slingshots and catapults and some pretty, glittery pictures and little people made from oddments in the craft box.
Once everyone had gone home except for us and L's kids, the 5 of them played charades for ages - each thinking of an item or a word and acting it out - the acting was great, and the guessing was thoughtful - it was fun to watch and looked like a lot of fun to play. I locked the hall up and they went outside to keep playing charades, then we had some fish and chips and afterwards they got their scooters and went up to the skate park. I had a brief toy library meeting and sorted out a bit of a plan for the rest of the term, then it was time to get ready for karate.
Amelie decided to try karate again, and did about half the training session - she was tired by then and it was quite overwhelming, there were 6 or 7 new kids, and the hall was very loud and echoey. I had been looking forward to karate all day, was very keen to get the exercise and push myself a bit, and it was fun, I really enjoyed it.
We got home around 8.15 and Tony was not far behind us, so we actually were able to eat dinner together. We finished watching the last episode of Heartland Series 1, and when the DVD finished and the tv came back on, and episode of Series 3 was on - but we turned that off and began to watch Series 5 which we'd just borrowed from the library. Tony and I both wanted to stay up and watch because we all love it - he went to bed though as soon as he could and I tidied up, fed the animals and so on then took Amelie to bed and left the big kids watching. Hopefully I'll be able to catch up sometime soon...
Showing posts with label critical analysis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label critical analysis. Show all posts
Friday, 19 February 2016
Monday, 1 February 2016
Writing, drawing, board games, tv
LiAM woke up feeling much better yesterday which is a huge relief. While I don't like that he is on so much medication, the alternative is constantly struggling to breathe, so I am grateful that the medicine is available and affordable and helps him so effectively.
After our late night the night before and a big week just gone, and lots of things coming up this week, we decided to stay home for a rest day. Millie played Minecraft and experimented with different ways of spelling 'Rudolph' as she has a reindeer skin now and wanted to name it. LiAM watched TV and played his monster game and some Minecraft. Caitlin played dexterity games on her iPad mini and is getting really good. She got frustrated with one level on Pivvot and asked me to try - I couldn't last more than a couple of seconds, my brain doesn't work that quickly in terms of reacting to obstacles and figuring out which way to go. She also found an online Soduko site and between us we did several Sodukos throughout the day. Millie also helped me with my Spanish lesson.
In the afternoon the kids decided to play Titan, and Tony joined them. The 4 of them played on and off all afternoon - LiAM is getting a good understanding of the strategies involved, Caitlin enjoys growing her legions but doesn't really like battling, and Millie is learning the rules and understanding how it works quite well.
While Tony was cooking tea the girls made a letter box out of cardboard boxes and tubes, and went outside to paint it. The tubes got a bit wet and started to break, so Caitlin came up with a few great ideas to strengthen them - she talked about stuffing them full of paper or something heavier, using sticky tape for support on the outside, strengthening them with a stick inside - she kept working at it and ended up with a letter box that opens at each end and is supported by a pole, and has the little flag on top that lets you know if there is mail inside. She has set it up in the lounge room for us to post letters to each other - she and Millie spent a lot of the rest of the evening writing letters to each other and posting them. Millie also did some drawing and writing on the blackboard - doing a fantastic drawing of a fish and a dolphin and labelling them F and D respectively.
She also read the word dolphin when we were looking a photos later on. She and LiAM we were looking at the map of Australia to see where our friends are in their bus after leaving 2 days ago, and where they've been and where they are going. We then looked at some of the places we'll be going on our trip and how far they are from us, and then a more detailed look at some of them, including the photos on Google maps, particularly Shark Bay/Monkey Mia in Western Australia, where there are lots of dolphins and Millie cannot wait to get there. We also looked close up at some reefs of the west coast, they looked like sting rays from the wide view, but are actually areas of shallow water and rocks and look fascinating however close up or far away they are viewed from.
Caitlin and Tony did some gymnastics outside (they started in the kitchen where there wasn't quite enough room...) - mainly Tony flipping C over his shoulder, it was cool to watch how much easier and more graceful it became for both of them as they practised. Caitlin was then able to flip Millie over her shoulder as well which was pretty cool.
In the evening we watched Looney Tunes then Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which is entertaining but a little far fetched sometimes (apart from the premise, there were things that didn't quite make sense. I do like that the kids can notice these things and we can talk about them, while still really enjoying the movie. For example, it was getting hotter and hotter where they were, well over 40 degrees, but they weren't sweating or moving slower or seeming impacted by the heat in any way). Afterwards we watched a bit of cricket and tennis, then an old episode of Heartland, then Rage - they had the top 20 on so the kids were quite excited, and thanks to Caitlin listening to Nova radio these days, I actually knew most of the songs. Interesting to see some of the video clips and to talk to Caitlin about what she thought of them - again, being able to critically analyse them and think about why they make the videos like that means that she's not going to be influenced by the messages without thinking about them herself first.
After our late night the night before and a big week just gone, and lots of things coming up this week, we decided to stay home for a rest day. Millie played Minecraft and experimented with different ways of spelling 'Rudolph' as she has a reindeer skin now and wanted to name it. LiAM watched TV and played his monster game and some Minecraft. Caitlin played dexterity games on her iPad mini and is getting really good. She got frustrated with one level on Pivvot and asked me to try - I couldn't last more than a couple of seconds, my brain doesn't work that quickly in terms of reacting to obstacles and figuring out which way to go. She also found an online Soduko site and between us we did several Sodukos throughout the day. Millie also helped me with my Spanish lesson.
In the afternoon the kids decided to play Titan, and Tony joined them. The 4 of them played on and off all afternoon - LiAM is getting a good understanding of the strategies involved, Caitlin enjoys growing her legions but doesn't really like battling, and Millie is learning the rules and understanding how it works quite well.
While Tony was cooking tea the girls made a letter box out of cardboard boxes and tubes, and went outside to paint it. The tubes got a bit wet and started to break, so Caitlin came up with a few great ideas to strengthen them - she talked about stuffing them full of paper or something heavier, using sticky tape for support on the outside, strengthening them with a stick inside - she kept working at it and ended up with a letter box that opens at each end and is supported by a pole, and has the little flag on top that lets you know if there is mail inside. She has set it up in the lounge room for us to post letters to each other - she and Millie spent a lot of the rest of the evening writing letters to each other and posting them. Millie also did some drawing and writing on the blackboard - doing a fantastic drawing of a fish and a dolphin and labelling them F and D respectively.
She also read the word dolphin when we were looking a photos later on. She and LiAM we were looking at the map of Australia to see where our friends are in their bus after leaving 2 days ago, and where they've been and where they are going. We then looked at some of the places we'll be going on our trip and how far they are from us, and then a more detailed look at some of them, including the photos on Google maps, particularly Shark Bay/Monkey Mia in Western Australia, where there are lots of dolphins and Millie cannot wait to get there. We also looked close up at some reefs of the west coast, they looked like sting rays from the wide view, but are actually areas of shallow water and rocks and look fascinating however close up or far away they are viewed from.
Caitlin and Tony did some gymnastics outside (they started in the kitchen where there wasn't quite enough room...) - mainly Tony flipping C over his shoulder, it was cool to watch how much easier and more graceful it became for both of them as they practised. Caitlin was then able to flip Millie over her shoulder as well which was pretty cool.
In the evening we watched Looney Tunes then Journey to the Centre of the Earth, which is entertaining but a little far fetched sometimes (apart from the premise, there were things that didn't quite make sense. I do like that the kids can notice these things and we can talk about them, while still really enjoying the movie. For example, it was getting hotter and hotter where they were, well over 40 degrees, but they weren't sweating or moving slower or seeming impacted by the heat in any way). Afterwards we watched a bit of cricket and tennis, then an old episode of Heartland, then Rage - they had the top 20 on so the kids were quite excited, and thanks to Caitlin listening to Nova radio these days, I actually knew most of the songs. Interesting to see some of the video clips and to talk to Caitlin about what she thought of them - again, being able to critically analyse them and think about why they make the videos like that means that she's not going to be influenced by the messages without thinking about them herself first.
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