Mem Fox

Reading a book on learning to read by Mem Fox, I learnt a new way to help T to learn to read.

As we are reading a familiar stroy I show him a word that is often repeated, usually the character;s name, and whenever we come across the word in the book I ask him to identify it. When he does, I do a funny scream of suprise and make him laugh and then he is excited to look for it again. Or when we come to a new page he has to look for the word, which also helps with his scanning skimming skills.

Direct praise is a problem with T because it seems to put too much pressure on him.

Advent Planning Follow-up

So-far here is what we have achieved out of our Advent planning:

A table-centre wreath with advent candles - lit each night with appropriate prayer for each week.
Purple ribbons, tinsel. Christmas lights.etc put up around the house.

Nativity scene with the approaching Magi.

Our "Christmas Story" Advent Calendar with a little book for each day, leading up to the birth of Our Lord. After a new book is read each evening it is hung on a wooden Christmas tree.

Jesse tree with a new symbol for each day - this is proving a bit much as I forgot to print off what the symbols mean and it adds to a long bed-time. So next year I might do a shorter one that I have in my Liturgical year folder.

Christmas books placed in accessible basket on floor

Buying Christmas present and food for a family who need help at Christmas.

 

December 1 (First Sunday of Advent)

*Decorate for Advent with Advent Calendars, Advent Wreath, Jesse Tree, etc... Set out Manger for Baby Jesus {I will do this next year I think- all a bit much for me now!} and all of our Christmas Books. Bless the Advent Wreath during nighttime prayers.

 

December 3 ~ Celebrate the Feast of St. Francis Xavier

We made tempura chicken for dinner (the link to Japan!) and read a short verson of his life over dinner

 

December 6 (Feast of St. Nicholas) ~ The Miracle of Saint Nicholas

We read our relevant St Nicholas books the night before and the boys put out their shoes by the wood heater. They found 'toffee money' in their shoes in the morning! I made these by melting white sugar in a frypan and browning it slightly. Then put it in cellophane bags. We pulled out our St Nicholas picture we made last year and set it up on dining table.

 

December 8 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) ~ http://catholicicing.com/category/immaculate-conception/, give miraculous medals to children and we ask priest to bless them at Mass.

Completely forgot to do this...

 

December 9 (Second Sunday of Advent) ~ *Our Lady of Guadalupe (pop-up)

* Feast of St. Juan Diego

Feeling harried at this point... 

 

December 12 (Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe) ~ The Legend of the Christmas Rose

Whoops...

 

December 13 (Feast of St. Lucy) ~ Lucia, Saint of Light

*Celebrate the Feast of St. Lucy

Forgot my own daughter's name-day! Her first one too! 

 

Today we went shopping for Christmas food, and wrapped a present, both for a family who don't have much. Via Wyoming Church. We will drop it off tomorrow.

 

So you can see Advent has started off well. We've been keeping up with our candles, reading our advent calendar and mostly covering the Jesse tree on time. I'm not too worried that my feast day plans went awry as I want to focus on preparing ourselves for the birth of Jesus: in hope, trust, charity and anticipation.

 

Advent Planning

To Buy: Advent candles, food bin for stockfeed (as a manger?!?!?); jesse tree; large wreath {SPOTLIGHT?)

ORGANISE CHRISTMAS HAMPER

Also from http://showerofroses.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/this-years-advent-christmas-book.html

December 1 (First Sunday of Advent)
*Decorate for Advent with Advent Calendars, Advent Wreath, Jesse Tree, etc... Set out Manger for Baby Jesus and all of our Christmas Books. Bless the Advent Wreath during nighttime prayers. 

http://catholicicing.com/nativity-set-crafts-and-activities-for-kids/

December 3 ~ Celebrate the Feast of St. Francis Xavier

December 6 (Feast of St. Nicholas) ~ The Miracle of Saint Nicholas
*Celebrate the Feast of St. Nicholas; Bake St. Nicholas Cookies

December 8 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception) ~ http://catholicicing.com/category/immaculate-conception/, give miraculous medals to children and we ask priest to bless them at Mass.

December 9 (Second Sunday of Advent) ~ *Our Lady of Guadalupe (pop-up)
* Feast of St. Juan Diego

December 12 (Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe) ~ The Legend of the Christmas Rose
*Begin Christmas Rose Novena

December 13 (Feast of St. Lucy) ~ Lucia, Saint of Light
*Celebrate the Feast of St. Lucy

December 14 ~ Waiting for Noel: An Advent Story

December 16 (Gaudete Sunday) ~ The Night of Las Posadas

December 17 ~ The Miraculous Child: A Christmas Folktale from Old Russia
*O Wisdom... (View all our O Antiphon Plans here.)

December 18 ~ Home for Christmas
*O Adonai, and Ruler of the House...

December 19
*O Root of Jesse...

December 20 ~
*O Key of David - Key Lime Pie and Sparkling Drinks with Dinner

December 21 ~ One Christmas Dawn
*O Dayspring... Hot Cocoa in thermoses and drive around to see Christmas lights in town after dark

December 22 ~
*O King of the Gentiles...

December 23 (Fourth Sunday of Advent) ~ The Donkey's Dream
*Bake Starlight Cookies
*O Emmanuel...

December 24 (Christmas Eve) ~ *A Christmas Manger (Punch-out-and-play Books)

Read Alouds Term 4, 2013

Enjoyed by both T (4) and W (2)

The Adventures of the Wishing Chair, Enid Blyton
The Latch key Dog, Joan Dalgleish (abridged by me)
Jack Russell Pet Detective, Sally and Darryl Odgers Scholastic Series
Stories for Five Year-Olds,
See Food
Stories for four year olds

Preschool Planning

Language and Literacy http://www.teachpreschool.org/read-and-write-on-teach-preschool/

• Read alouds (every day)
• 'reading' books alone in 'reading space' (up to children), strewing
• different mediums for writing/drawing eg: salt tray using different tools; shape tracing; on frosted mirror; paint and write styrofoam boards with cotton tip for writing; window tracing: Once or twice a week
• "letter of the week/fortnight"? Every two weeks?
• name writing and recognition eg name journal; seeing name around house; writing name first on activities, writing name on a line or in boxes on a white board Once or twice a week

Maths http://www.teachpreschool.org/math-on-teach-preschool/

Outdoor Play

Science and Nature

Creative Art

Fine and Gross Motor skills

• tying shoe laces

back to magnetism

T wanted to repeat the magnetism experiments of several months ago, so on his own he and W looked at how magnetic force can pull through glass and water and how magnets only attract iron, not glass (glass marbles were not drawn to magnet). T then described his experiment to me.

A month ago ben also made a game with boys demonstrating how magnetic force works through cardboard. They drew a racing track on strong cardboard and made paper cars with paperclips stuck to the bottom. A magnet applied to the paperclip from underneath the cardboard pulls the paper car around the track.

story-telling

We read a lot of books to the boys (fiction and non-fiction) and this translates into how they express themselves.

T was pulling up a runner root in the garden and W came up behind him, grabbed him by the waist and they narrated or 'fictionalised' their activity:

W: ...And they pulled, and they pulled and they pulled...
T: ...but it wouldn't budge!
Me: so then what happened?
W: And they pulled and they pulled and they pulled...
T: But it still wouldn't budge!
Me: then who came to help?
T: Mum!!! And they pulled and they pulled... [at this point the runner root snapped] ... And it broke right off!

Art exhibition

Last term T attended homeschool art classes and his favourite piece was put into an exhibition at the local eco-garden's annual festival. It was a great confidence-booster for him and a great encouragement for finishing art work that he has started.

Writing

I have not done much actual teaching of letters so far with T and W. T is not at all interested in workbooks and I think he is the type of learner who will 'get' it in his own time. Mostly we do a lot of reading together and both boys try to identify what sound different words start with. W has more success with this.

I plan to get some shaving cream to make letters on a mirror.

T can write his name with a bit of help. Being left handed he often writes from right to left.

Sickness

We have been plagued by sickness over the last three weeks in our family. W has been very unwell with a cough and runny nose and T has a croupy cough. So we have been in survival mode.

skeletons

T. has fascination with "skeleton bones", We have:

• discussed different bones in body and identified them on ourselves
• borrowed book on skeletal system from library
• watched descriptions of skeletal system on you tube
• collected animal bones from bush and tried to identify: wallaby skulls, cow skull, vertebrae, rib bones, leg bones. NB extension: borrow book on animal skeletal systems and try to identify more accurately.
• bought book on skeletal and other body systems and extended reading to nervous, muscular and circulatory systems
• visited both Australian museum and Bathurst's Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum with excellent dinosaur displays, seen whale skeletons in Whale museum, Albany WA
• at one point T had his own museum display on the toyshelf of all the rocks and bones he'd found in garden

A Wallaby skull?

dirt play

T and W spend much time playing in a patch of dirt outside the back door. W is more independent so he is out there alone more often with toy cars, trucks, etc. usually sitting in a hole. T digs many holes in dirt and plays with a pulley system rigged up by ben as well as a crane also made by ben.

Getting muddy is a daily occurrence for W

We've given up trying to keep him clean... ;-)

When neighbouring girls come over to play there is 'treasure' hunting (even finding old coins), mud fights, 'magic potion' mixing, mud pie making, mud puddle making, mud tower building, digging, raking and hoeing.

All this play fosters development of imagination, fine and gross motor skills, friendships and negotiating rules of play.

Hopefully they are growing in charity as they share in play, and patience as they wait their turns.

digger project

A ride-on digger project has begun with T. requesting Ben make one.
T. then drew the design he wanted.
Ben, T and W went online to see if there were similar designs that were feasible.
Ben sketched a doable design while boys watched.
The three went in search of appropriate wood.
Work began in the shed... to be continued.

Serving others

T. made great attempts to calm our screaming 4 month old while I dressed 2 y/o for bed. This is despite his sound sensitivity which eventually got the better of him and he ran in distress foe his ear muffs. An heroic effort.

Ivanhoe

Boys watched cartoon version of Ivanhoe which was an abridged version of Walter scott's novel. I had recently read novel and Ben and I discussed at dinner table differences between book and cartoon. T joined in discussion of characters in novel and the roles they played esp Front de Boef, Robin Hood, Gurth, Rebecca, Ivanhoe, and the old hag.

magnetism

Read section on magnetism in Harcourt Science level K to T day before. He wanted to do magnetism experiments listed in book. So we did three experiments:
(a) what do magnets attract? We tested magnets on different materials eg plastic, types of metals and we confirmed that magnets attract iron.
(b) Showing that magnetic force can act through some solid objects: Placed an iron object in a glass of water and showed that object was attracted to magnet through glass. Also worked through place mat and cardboard
(c) compared strength of two different magnets by seeing how many paper clips each attracted: counting paperclips

Ridges and Swales

Visit to beach -  brought shovels and Ben and the boys dug swales to channel water across contour lines of slope to water's edge. Added ridges and discussed with boys differences between swales and ridges. watched water run along the various water courses.