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.