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Tag Archives: Home Educator
Looking ahead in 2011 towards our everchanging homeschooling journey
I guess a fresh approach to home education is called for with 2011 coming our way. Since moving to our new abode our needs have changed and with it our priorities. Thus affecting the way in which we intend to homeschool next year.
2011 brings with it the increased ‘official’ load of homeschooling a grade 5 student, as well as a prep student. Side by side the girls will work, independently as well as collectively. The basics will remain in play as they are the building blocks of all learning. But the focus will shift to align with our different way of working and approaching life in general.
Tata is to take on a more important role this year, shifting from ‘principal mode’ into skill builder. He will help build the children’s physical abilities to enable them to generate new skills for themselves. Until now he has overseen much of the learning, ensuring that we keep on track and are ‘doing’ what is expected, but in 2011 he will join together with us in more everyday activities.
My own involvement will also shift from what it has been, to what it now needs to reflect. More spiritual based learning, reflective of where we are now standing. We have some amazing things to do this year. This all involves just being at home in our little piece of paradise yet bringing a little of the greater world into our own back yard.
We hope to widen our children’s natural curiosity, through more hands on projects, more earth based learning and more time outdoors. So as the sands of time shift, so do our own ways, wants and needs.
Let’s hope that we are blessed with the ability to carry forth with our plans and enjoy new and exciting learning for every one of us, and that all those who tread upon our path, either with intent or by a twist of fate, enjoy a glimpse into our learning as much as we enjoy participating in it.
The Spotlights on Reading…..
As a child I was exposed to books on a daily basis as my father collected books just for the love of them. We had a huge room lined with book cases, filled to the brim with books. I guarantee that even though Dad had his own favourite topics, no matter what you were looking for, you would most likely find a book related to your topic of interest.
So it is no surprise that in our family we have a love of books, that at times means I just can’t keep up with everyone’s reading habits. Each week we usually go to the library and each child has their own library membership and they are able to pick out 15 books to take home to read for the upcoming week.
We are also trying to create our own library of books, purchasing old time classics along with more modern books to create a balanced library in our house. However no matter how many books we buy or how many books we borrow I still can’t keep up with my family’s healthy reading habits!
So I was so excited when I was made aware of a website called ‘We give books’. This website is such a wonderful example of how helping yourself can also help so many others. ‘We give books’ has a wide variety of books – for various ages that have been made into digital versions – and can be read online.
Now if you are like my family, we much prefer to be able to hold the book in our hands and read it curled up on a couch or chair rather than read them sitting in front of a computer screen. However after really examining this website we decided to join ‘we read books’ and contribute to the literacy of not only our children, but those of other children around the world.
‘We give books’ provides us with the ability to read digital books online. However if you sign up for a free membership, every time you read a book online, they donate a real book to charity. You have the choice on sign up; to choose which campaign you wish your books to be linked too (or if you wish you can change this at any time). So for each book you read a book online a child somewhere in the world will receive a real book in their hands!
We have therefore been busy reading books at ‘we give books’ so that we can not only ‘test drive’ stories to see what we like before we buy them to add to our personal library collection. But also to help enhance the chances of another child somewhere in the world to increase their access to books and literacy abilities.
A win –win situation for all if you ask me!
So if you find yourself looking for a new book to read with your children, but don’t know what to choose or can’t make it to the local library, why not join us at ‘We give books’ and check out what books they have on offer to read and help another child along the way!
Our Family has enjoyed reading the books that we might otherwise have not checked out. We have found some favourites amongst these books and hope to add them to our collection in time.
Happy Reading everyone!
Some of the books you can read online include:
This article was included in the October edition of Glimpse (Global learners in Many Places sharing Ideas) – Glimpse Edition 3 October 2010
A casual day at home
Well today started out quite good. The girls and I went down to the local park next to the football oval. I walked all the way while they rode their bikes. We had intended on spending some time there, but as the sky kept growing darker and the clouds appeared heavier we decided that we would make it a quick stop. Phinee decided that she would get me to time her as she raced around the oval on her bike. She wants to see if she can make it around faster each time she attempts the ride. Today the lap around the oval took 2 minutes and 16 seconds – a great effort on her behalf. Only time will tell if she can make it faster or not. Let’s hope she can!
After lunch we had a visit from some friends of ours. They are over from the mainland for 10 days. It is great to see them and to be able to sit and enjoy a chat. They stayed for Dinner and we all enjoyed ourselves. The girls very much enjoyed practicing Netball, playing little pet shops and grabbing some attention from our visitors.
A good day was had by all 
Christmas is well and truly here!
Well today as tradition has it, we put the Christmas tree up and most of our Christmas decorations.
We decided to put it all outside in the pergola as there is much more room out there to dress up and it is where we are hoping to spend much of our Christmas time and festivities and celebrations. The girls had a lot of fun with it all and even though there is more left for us to decorate we have made a great effort so far and the tree looks fantastic.
Our next task is to write a Christmas letter to enclose in our Christmas cards to everyone as we need to get them posted off ASAP!
