Homeschool starts!!! :-)

We have officially survived our 1st week of homeschooling!

Actually, we had a really really good time, despite having record high temperatures.
 
We started school 2 weeks early because we will not be sticking to the usual school terms. Seeing that going away on a holiday during school holidays is a complete nightmare  with escalated prices and overcrowding, we decided to our school year into 4 weeks on and 1 week off. This will also give me the much needed time to plan ahead and reserve books at the library if needed.

Here is a brief overview of what the boys have been up to this week.

Of course we have Math and English everyday. The boys so far seem to enjoy the new "hands on approach to learning"

They have actually asked me one evening if they could "play" more math games on the computer!!! Ha ha ha school MUST suck!

 

History:

1. In the 1st lesson we learned about the meaning of history and how historians get their information. The boys created a example of their live history - a family tree.

History lesson 2 We learned about archaeology.  Who Archaeologist are and what finding artifacts tells us about the people that lived there.

Two days prior, Claudio and I spent 2 hour burring treasures in the ground for the boys to dig up! It was all worth it, the kids though it was awesome and spent hours and hours making discoveries.

We buried wooden plates, silverware, forks and spooks, jewelry and tools that I picked up at a second hand shop.

In Science we learned about light, about how light reflects of items making it possible for us to see.
Our Science curriculum is fantastic and every lesson has hands on experiments.

Here are the boys light and reflection Science Journals.

On the second lesson we learned about how light enables us to see colours. We studied the colours of the spectrum.

 

Geography was all about the earth, how people 1st discovered that it was round and the meaning of the word Horizon. We had loads of laughs sending explorers off the edge of the table (if the world was flat) and sending surprised explorers around the world only to return back home.

Later on in the week we learned about the Equator and prime meridian.

We took a field trip to Mt Cootha to show the boys the Horizon.

 During our picnic on the mountain top we had a little visitor. :-)

 Phew it was hot!!! But we had a perfect ending to our school day!

Friday we have Nature Studies, boys were very keen to learn about insects.

We covered what traits make a insect, body parts of a insect and the life cycle of a ladybug.

They boys then spend the rest of the morning hunting the garden for different insect and studying them in their bug viewer. (a jar with a magnifying glass)

 

 

These are their Nature Study Journals.

 

 

 The week was great! I had a chat to the boys on Saturday in the car. "Boys what did you learn this week? Do you remember anything?" 

With excitement they started shouting back at me all the information I was hoping they would remember. (at school the usual answer was "I can't remember" or "I don't know") By their response I know we are on the right track :-)

 

Very sophisticated solar oven

We have been experimenting a lot with solar cooking.     

(Check it out on the blog pure--essentials)

I must say I love the idea of creating a amazing meal without using any electricity. Its easy, hassle free, will not burn and of course its free.

To date we have successfully made a roast chicken, beef stew, roasted chicken pieces and honey mustard chicken.

I believe it is also wonderful for baked product like muffins and breads, although I have not tried it yet.

Here is the process ;-)

Place raw, seasoned chicken in a pot. Use a heavy cast iron pot as it keeps the heat better.

Now for the sophisticated bits ;-)

Place pot on a rack to allow air circulation under the pot.

Place pot and rack into a oven bag and seal well.

Take a car windscreen reflector and fold into a funnel shape.

I have a super complicated system which utilises a laundry peg in the front.

Leave in direct sun light for as long as you would a slow cooker.

Here is the temp after 15 minutes. Most slow cookers cook on temp between 70 - 150 C.

The chicken cooked in the sun for around 6 hours (as you would in a slow cooker).

These went down really well with the boys.



 Here is the beef stew I did a few days earlier, sorry for the rubbish photos :-( 

Slightly browned beef

Add pan drippings with a bit of water, herbs and spices

Thicken the sauce and its done, ready to serve!





Old jeans....... into WHAT???!!

 Farm life has definitely been agreeing with me. As the weight drops off I have some fat clothes to get rid of. I don't like to waste, so please meet my new herb friends LOL 

 These made us giggle the whole weekend! LOL

I'm thinking of doing a whole row of herb friends along the veggie garden fence.

Veggie garden update

I am sooo proud of my garden. It is doing really well, there are no pests, weeds or problems.

What? That does not happen.

We have had a steady supply of greens, baby spinach, rocket, a variety of lettuce. I have only used organic heirloom seeds and there is a massive taste difference. Here is 1 days harvest of Lazy housewife beans, which are not my favorite. The seed dates back to 1865 and is completely unchanged. It is such a wonderfully generous bean, i have already canned 4 jars because of the surplus.

Peas glorious peas! My boys love these, juicy, sweet and crunchy. They often wonder around the garden with pockets full of pea pods.

 They don't usually make it to the table.

and still lots more to come

  Some tomatoes are maturing but the majority still to be planted, my heirloom armish paste tomato had failed and I needed to start again. It will be a little late but thats ok. there is plenty to keep us happy in the garden.

Carrots are regularly thinned out and used, yum!

 I planted 2 varieties of cucumbers, 1 for salads (Lebanese cucumbers) they are sweet and apparently burpless, the second one is a pickling type. I'm looking forward to pickling them when the time comes.

 I must say this one really amazed me! I can honestly say that I had forgotten what cauliflower REALLY tastes like. Danny never liked it but now he asks for cauliflower. Its fantastic!