It wasn't just a cold, Jigglepuff has got the flu. So the boys are having to look after themselves this week.
Today we sat on the sofa for half an hour and watched FACTOMANIA which was brilliant - it showed us how a car's combustion engine had 50 explosions per second, and how the explosions made the wheels go around. They told us about some seventeenth-century scientist who worked out the mass of the entire earth. Charizard pointed out how silly it would be to try to go to the sun to work out what it weighed. Then the programme also showed us how a golf ball would float in salty water rather than tap water, because the salt made the water denser. We went straight into the kitchen afterwards and tried the same experiment. It worked with salty water and pumpkin.
Then Charizard did the Pre-Test for the Khan Academy, which gave him 1000 points and his first Khan badge, well done Charizard! Meanwhile Chuggington, who is still off school with a poorly tummy, did some really good work on Spelling BigIQKids. Charizard is going to do some Time4Learning tonight.
Apparently Jigglepuff has spent some time reading the Horrible Histories annual.
Jigglepuff's favourite bit of the day was...being in bed.
Charizard's favourite bit of the day was...
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Sniffle snuffle cough
Charizard had an extra-short homeschooling day today because Jigglepuff is pretty poorly, and Chuggington was poorly too and off school.
We sat at the kitchen table and took a piece of paper. "Right," said Jigglepuff fervently, with all the determination of a homeschooling mum who knows that in twenty minutes she will probably need to go back to bed, "this is two lessons in one, history and maths." We looked at the difference between doubles (2 x 2, 3 x 4, 4 x 2) and squared numbers (2 x 2, 3 x 3, 4 x 4). Then we added in cubed numbers, (3 x 3 x 3 etc). "Got it?" Jigglepuff said. Charizard had. "Right, now those are the times tables you would have learnt in Ancient Babylon, you had to learn your squared and cubed tables all the way up to 59, because it was base 60 not base 10." Charizard and Jigglepuff agreed this would have been much harder. Then we drew a circle, and minutes in the hour, and worked out how the number of degrees in a circle and the number of minutes in an hour was also base 60, and how this came from the Babylonian era. "Cool," said Charizard.
"And this is why we're doing Babylon," said Jigglepuff faintly, "you were asking yesterday, it is the beginning of written maths and the beginning of writing, and also, oh goodness I have to go back to bed."
We sat at the kitchen table and took a piece of paper. "Right," said Jigglepuff fervently, with all the determination of a homeschooling mum who knows that in twenty minutes she will probably need to go back to bed, "this is two lessons in one, history and maths." We looked at the difference between doubles (2 x 2, 3 x 4, 4 x 2) and squared numbers (2 x 2, 3 x 3, 4 x 4). Then we added in cubed numbers, (3 x 3 x 3 etc). "Got it?" Jigglepuff said. Charizard had. "Right, now those are the times tables you would have learnt in Ancient Babylon, you had to learn your squared and cubed tables all the way up to 59, because it was base 60 not base 10." Charizard and Jigglepuff agreed this would have been much harder. Then we drew a circle, and minutes in the hour, and worked out how the number of degrees in a circle and the number of minutes in an hour was also base 60, and how this came from the Babylonian era. "Cool," said Charizard.
"And this is why we're doing Babylon," said Jigglepuff faintly, "you were asking yesterday, it is the beginning of written maths and the beginning of writing, and also, oh goodness I have to go back to bed."
Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Ziggaramids
This is the name Charizard gave to the Babylonian ziggarats, because they reminded us both of the Egyptian pyramids. This was this afternoon's activity: he coloured a picture of ziggarats in whilst listening to the story of Gilgamesh. Turned out that Charizard has never heard the story of the Tower of Babel, so that will be fun sometime!
After that Charizard had a go on the Language Arts section of Time4Learning, which had a great vocabulary-building game on probability. We both found it very calming!
That was after Jigglepuff's big treat of the day, which was a cup of coffee in the Birkenhead cafe that overlooks Auckland harbour - one of her favourite spots. Charizard and she read some exciting news in the newspaper there, apparently the scientists using the telescope in Antarctica (that she and Charizard saw a documentary about some time ago) have just discovered radiation going back to the dawn of time, just after the big Bang. Charizard pointed out that it couldn't have gone back any further because time didn't exist before the Big Bang.
In the morning we did Ko's Journey, before a meeting up in Albany, on the way there and back we listened to the Groovy Greeks. Jigglepuff is threatening to make homeschool a bit more like school in Sparta!
Jigglepuff's favourite bit of the day was...reading about the exciting scientific news from Antarctica.
Charizard's favourite bit of the day was...when Jigglepuff threatened to run a Sparta-type homeschool! We're halfway there already, Charizard already sleeps on the floor...
After that Charizard had a go on the Language Arts section of Time4Learning, which had a great vocabulary-building game on probability. We both found it very calming!
That was after Jigglepuff's big treat of the day, which was a cup of coffee in the Birkenhead cafe that overlooks Auckland harbour - one of her favourite spots. Charizard and she read some exciting news in the newspaper there, apparently the scientists using the telescope in Antarctica (that she and Charizard saw a documentary about some time ago) have just discovered radiation going back to the dawn of time, just after the big Bang. Charizard pointed out that it couldn't have gone back any further because time didn't exist before the Big Bang.
In the morning we did Ko's Journey, before a meeting up in Albany, on the way there and back we listened to the Groovy Greeks. Jigglepuff is threatening to make homeschool a bit more like school in Sparta!
Jigglepuff's favourite bit of the day was...reading about the exciting scientific news from Antarctica.
Charizard's favourite bit of the day was...when Jigglepuff threatened to run a Sparta-type homeschool! We're halfway there already, Charizard already sleeps on the floor...
Under the table
Today Charizard decided to do his maths...UNDER THE TABLE.
He was looking at improper fractions, which was tricky. We might try those again. It was great to see Charizard choosing to work hard on his own on some new challenges. We also did some long multiplication, which he struggled with initially but which then came right: what excellent learning.
For history we took out one of the new books we had bought. Jigglepuff asked Charizard to look and find three facts about the Babylonians. He found out that the Babylonians had fought the Assyrians, that then the king had died, and...oh dear. Jigglepuff has forgotten the third fact. She will have to ask Charizard again tomorrow.
After lunch we watched the first episode of COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey. Charizard pointed out how rogue planets - with their molten core, frozen seas and oceans in between - were very like Jupiter's moon Europa, about which we'd watched a documentary last year. Jigglepuff was very interested to learn about Bruno and his visions of the universe, she'd never heard of him before. We'll look forward to watching the next episode next week. It was Charizard who saw the advert and asked to watch it, thanks for suggesting it Charizard!
He was looking at improper fractions, which was tricky. We might try those again. It was great to see Charizard choosing to work hard on his own on some new challenges. We also did some long multiplication, which he struggled with initially but which then came right: what excellent learning.
For history we took out one of the new books we had bought. Jigglepuff asked Charizard to look and find three facts about the Babylonians. He found out that the Babylonians had fought the Assyrians, that then the king had died, and...oh dear. Jigglepuff has forgotten the third fact. She will have to ask Charizard again tomorrow.
After lunch we watched the first episode of COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey. Charizard pointed out how rogue planets - with their molten core, frozen seas and oceans in between - were very like Jupiter's moon Europa, about which we'd watched a documentary last year. Jigglepuff was very interested to learn about Bruno and his visions of the universe, she'd never heard of him before. We'll look forward to watching the next episode next week. It was Charizard who saw the advert and asked to watch it, thanks for suggesting it Charizard!
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Mangere Mountain Trip
This was NOT Jigglepuff's finest hour organisationally. She got the wrong day! The trip was meant to be last week! Nevertheless, she and Charizard had a wonderful walk/play/talk as we climbed one of the most beautiful sights in Auckland. Some of the things we talked about were...
how we might calculate our journey pace, like in Ko's Journey. Charizard made up his own sums.
how to treat dogs we met safely, not looking them directly in the eye, keeping calm and still, and most important, no screaming!
Why the Roman soldiers were called legions. This was because we were walking along a high ridge where we reckoned Maori soldiers had once stood guard, keeping watch for enemies. We talked about how the legions were made up of centuries and Jigglepuff later found a website - here - giving more information.
how Charizard and a friend had recently seen a cockroach giving birth. What had come out had been transparent. Jigglepuff thinks they saw an egg capsule, which contains 20-40 eggs. What good nature observation, Charizard. (When we read this, Charizard added "I'm gonna puke!")
what fun it would be to do an overnight trip at Ambury Park, down the road, and walk between there and the mountain.
Some of the things Charizard noticed/learnt were...
1. That people do make stuff in white so that in the future they can put images through it
2. That volcanoes can be formed in very strange ways.
3. I found out that the higher you go the less oxygen you can get, so crying is a really bad idea because it will exhaust the air surrounding you.
4. The lava. It was amazing. And I think that the Maori soldiers threw some of the solidified lava down to invaders. We found an arrowhead!
Something new that Jigglepuff learnt was...that Maori gardeners used to put scoria stones underneath and around their garden beds, to retain the sun's heat and extend the growing season by about six weeks.
After that we went for sausage rolls, cake and coffee at a nearby bakery where we ended up talking about how you can sell stuff at a loss by making it too cheap.
On the way there and back we listened to Michael Morpurgo's story of King Arthur, which so far is fantastic.
Hmm. We better not tell dad but on the way home we stopped at a bookshop...enough said...
Charizard's favourite bit of the day was going to the very very summit.
Jigglepuff liked buying books best!
how we might calculate our journey pace, like in Ko's Journey. Charizard made up his own sums.
how to treat dogs we met safely, not looking them directly in the eye, keeping calm and still, and most important, no screaming!
Why the Roman soldiers were called legions. This was because we were walking along a high ridge where we reckoned Maori soldiers had once stood guard, keeping watch for enemies. We talked about how the legions were made up of centuries and Jigglepuff later found a website - here - giving more information.
how Charizard and a friend had recently seen a cockroach giving birth. What had come out had been transparent. Jigglepuff thinks they saw an egg capsule, which contains 20-40 eggs. What good nature observation, Charizard. (When we read this, Charizard added "I'm gonna puke!")
what fun it would be to do an overnight trip at Ambury Park, down the road, and walk between there and the mountain.
Some of the things Charizard noticed/learnt were...
1. That people do make stuff in white so that in the future they can put images through it
2. That volcanoes can be formed in very strange ways.
3. I found out that the higher you go the less oxygen you can get, so crying is a really bad idea because it will exhaust the air surrounding you.
4. The lava. It was amazing. And I think that the Maori soldiers threw some of the solidified lava down to invaders. We found an arrowhead!
Something new that Jigglepuff learnt was...that Maori gardeners used to put scoria stones underneath and around their garden beds, to retain the sun's heat and extend the growing season by about six weeks.
After that we went for sausage rolls, cake and coffee at a nearby bakery where we ended up talking about how you can sell stuff at a loss by making it too cheap.
On the way there and back we listened to Michael Morpurgo's story of King Arthur, which so far is fantastic.
Hmm. We better not tell dad but on the way home we stopped at a bookshop...enough said...
Charizard's favourite bit of the day was going to the very very summit.
Jigglepuff liked buying books best!
Saturday, 15 March 2014
A bit of rain
We ended up at Ambury Regional Park Farm today, having dropped Dad into the office for a spot of weekend work. It started to rain, so we went and sheltered in the milking shed. There we learnt that a single cow can produce 80 glasses of milk a day! Charizard, Pikachu and Chuggington all looked at the farmer working out in the rain, and we agreed that a farmer needs to be able to work whatever the weather. We all went out for a bit - and learnt that kunekune means "fat" as well as pig in Maori - but the weather was bad, so we went back to the car.
There was a bit of an awkward moment between the brothers. Jigglepuff pointed out that sacrificing your brother to save yourself wasn't what the Bible suggested, and that the Psalms told us that a contrite heart was more to God's liking. We explained that contrite is when you are sorry and want to do better next time. The boys understood that beautifully. Then we went over to Mangere Bridge for hot chips and cake from a cafe. Yum!
On the way home Charizard wondered if there had been a cyclone because we had angered the wind god. Pikachu said that Tangaroa was the god of the sea and the boss of beaches, but he didn't know who the boss of volcanoes was. At home we asked our babysitter, who said it was Ruaumoko.
Tonight the plan - it's only a plan, it might not work - is for Jigglepuff and Charizard to try to make a bird feeder together.
There was a bit of an awkward moment between the brothers. Jigglepuff pointed out that sacrificing your brother to save yourself wasn't what the Bible suggested, and that the Psalms told us that a contrite heart was more to God's liking. We explained that contrite is when you are sorry and want to do better next time. The boys understood that beautifully. Then we went over to Mangere Bridge for hot chips and cake from a cafe. Yum!
On the way home Charizard wondered if there had been a cyclone because we had angered the wind god. Pikachu said that Tangaroa was the god of the sea and the boss of beaches, but he didn't know who the boss of volcanoes was. At home we asked our babysitter, who said it was Ruaumoko.
Tonight the plan - it's only a plan, it might not work - is for Jigglepuff and Charizard to try to make a bird feeder together.
Cyclone Fail
The cyclone wasn't very impressive in the end. We managed to get to the rugby league game, where Charizard decided to support the Dragons instead of his home team: twas the right decision as the Warriors lost in the second half AGAIN.
Earlier in the day, Jigglepuff decided to watch the LIVE broadcast from the International Space Station, which was phenomenal. Charizard came to watch some too, and he made Jigglepuff work out how many mph the space station travels - 17000 - and then asked how many sunsets and sunrises the Space Station sees every day (15 or 16). There was a seriously scary story about how a spacewalk went wrong! Afterwards Jigglepuff found that NASA has a really good educational website, so we might spend some time on it next week.
Not a work day, but there was still some interesting learning to be done. Pikachu was VERY surprised to learn that you couldn't just walk in space! And Chuggington learnt how water drops spin in space.
Earlier in the day, Jigglepuff decided to watch the LIVE broadcast from the International Space Station, which was phenomenal. Charizard came to watch some too, and he made Jigglepuff work out how many mph the space station travels - 17000 - and then asked how many sunsets and sunrises the Space Station sees every day (15 or 16). There was a seriously scary story about how a spacewalk went wrong! Afterwards Jigglepuff found that NASA has a really good educational website, so we might spend some time on it next week.
Not a work day, but there was still some interesting learning to be done. Pikachu was VERY surprised to learn that you couldn't just walk in space! And Chuggington learnt how water drops spin in space.
Friday, 14 March 2014
Cyclone on its way
We ended today at a Families in Parks sausage sizzle at school, with play equipment out for everyone to enjoy. Charizard, Jigglepuff, Pikachu and X all played and ran around happily with the other kids. So some great social time for everyone. Before that, we were at a swimming lesson where Charizard and Pikachu played on the trampoline and climbing frame outside. Jigglepuff loves watching them have fun in the fresh air.
But that was AFTER homeschool time, what did we do? Well, today was an adventurous day, we spent a lot of time outdoors. First Charizard and Jigglepuff paid a visit to the Chelsea Sugar Factory. We picked up some recipes which we want to try, and we also looked at a very striking piece of art based on Kiwi life, old and new: which had been inspired by Chelsea Sugar and which the company are using as decoration for their packaging this year. Charizard pointed out how it was exactly the kind of art he liked - he wanted the word again, which was abstract. We talked about how Andy Warhol's art - which we looked at last year - used advertising and packaging, and how this was doing it the other way around. Jigglepuff was really impressed by Charizard's memory for art from a year ago.
After that Charizard took some photographs which we might work on for the homeschool art fair. We drove home and had morning break, then Jigglepuff noticed Charizard had started listening to The Midnight Folk of his own accord, so she changed the structure of the day to accommodate his interests. Jigglepuff looked online for a poem by John Masefield to show Charizard - Sea Fever - but Charizard didn't like that poem AT ALL! She'll have to try harder to find one that he does like. Then we watched 'The Happy Scientist,' and enjoyed the lesson about crystals and refracting light. Charizard found the kaleidoscope afterwards and showed Jigglepuff how it refracted light through the plastic crystals. What great realworld learning, Charizard! Then it was time to go out for Charizard's homeschool drama lesson. After that, his teacher commented how well he'd listened and taken part, even with a broken toe. Well done Charizard for showing fortitude. He didn't like the part he was given though because he wanted to be someone nice.
Carschooling: in the morning we talked about puppets, remembering the puppet show that we had been to earlier in the week. Jigglepuff told the story of the Japanese puppet theatre developing, and how the legend tells us that it was as a result of a playwright getting angry at actors not liking their parts! and that puppets would do as they were told. In the afternoon we listened to Groovy Greeks (Horrible Histories) which made Charizard laugh an awful lot. I'm not sure what the Burger King attendant thought when he told her all about it, though...
Jigglepuff's favourite bit of the day was seeing the beautiful crystals and learning about how sunglasses are made.
Charizard's favourite bit of the day was taking photos and the sausage sizzle.
But that was AFTER homeschool time, what did we do? Well, today was an adventurous day, we spent a lot of time outdoors. First Charizard and Jigglepuff paid a visit to the Chelsea Sugar Factory. We picked up some recipes which we want to try, and we also looked at a very striking piece of art based on Kiwi life, old and new: which had been inspired by Chelsea Sugar and which the company are using as decoration for their packaging this year. Charizard pointed out how it was exactly the kind of art he liked - he wanted the word again, which was abstract. We talked about how Andy Warhol's art - which we looked at last year - used advertising and packaging, and how this was doing it the other way around. Jigglepuff was really impressed by Charizard's memory for art from a year ago.
After that Charizard took some photographs which we might work on for the homeschool art fair. We drove home and had morning break, then Jigglepuff noticed Charizard had started listening to The Midnight Folk of his own accord, so she changed the structure of the day to accommodate his interests. Jigglepuff looked online for a poem by John Masefield to show Charizard - Sea Fever - but Charizard didn't like that poem AT ALL! She'll have to try harder to find one that he does like. Then we watched 'The Happy Scientist,' and enjoyed the lesson about crystals and refracting light. Charizard found the kaleidoscope afterwards and showed Jigglepuff how it refracted light through the plastic crystals. What great realworld learning, Charizard! Then it was time to go out for Charizard's homeschool drama lesson. After that, his teacher commented how well he'd listened and taken part, even with a broken toe. Well done Charizard for showing fortitude. He didn't like the part he was given though because he wanted to be someone nice.
Carschooling: in the morning we talked about puppets, remembering the puppet show that we had been to earlier in the week. Jigglepuff told the story of the Japanese puppet theatre developing, and how the legend tells us that it was as a result of a playwright getting angry at actors not liking their parts! and that puppets would do as they were told. In the afternoon we listened to Groovy Greeks (Horrible Histories) which made Charizard laugh an awful lot. I'm not sure what the Burger King attendant thought when he told her all about it, though...
Jigglepuff's favourite bit of the day was seeing the beautiful crystals and learning about how sunglasses are made.
Charizard's favourite bit of the day was taking photos and the sausage sizzle.
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Happy Day (Charizard's title)
Today it was just the two of us at home. Charizard chose to follow all the activities on the whiteboard sequentially. We said a quick prayer together, and then started with Fractions, on Time4Learning, and looked together at how to multiply fractions. That meant we had to learn what an improper fraction was! Which was lucky, because then when we played Ko's Journey there were a lot of fractions that needed to be added together (and some of them we had to do several times before Jigglepuff could remember how to do it, it is a long time since she was at school!)
We ended up playing that game for ages, nearly 1 1/2 hours on maths today. After a break, in which Charizard read Asterix and ate burger rings whilst lying on the floor of the kitchen, and then a second break where he started Inotia 3 on his tablet (fascinating game, he's been telling Jigglepuff little bits about it all day) we went onto to read about the Fertile Crescent and how nomads became the first farmers. We remembered how Ko from Ko's Journey was a nomad. Then we read about the beginning of the Ancient Sumerian/Akkadian empire together. Somehow that meant we also ended up talking about military spies and being a double agent. Charizard also noticed how similar the story of Sargon is to the story of Moses, since both were put in baskets and floated down the river, then picked up by a servant and raised in a royal palace. Fantastic cross-cultural references, Charizard! Jigglepuff noticed something quite exciting about Charizard's ability to use language beautifully: she was writing down that Sargon had founded an empire and Charizard pointed out that "created an empire" sounded better. What interesting materials we are going to produce together, with Charizard helping Jigglepuff to think of exactly the right word.
After lunch Jigglepuff asked Charizard to check out a maths website, with two different ways to do long division. She was surprised that Charizard understood the second way immediately, although we've not covered that yet. Then we both read The Midnight Folk - Jigglepuff read it on paper, and Charizard listened to it on his CD player. Jigglepuff noticed how Kay, the boy in the centre of the story, is homeschooled, but by a rather nasty governess. She hopes that is not how Charizard feels about her teaching! Finally we came together to look at and join an online community called DIY.org, where children from all over the world get together online to learn about projects and earn badges. Charizard would like to do the "Orthinologist" badge. Tomorrow we'll choose which project we will start with.
But there was also a surprise experiment today. After lunch Jigglepuff showed Charizard a saucepan filled with flour, with cocoa-powder layered on top. We threw rocks into it, and made the most amazing crater-shapes...just like the craters that asteroids made, landing on the Moon.
Our moon dust
Jigglepuff's favourite part of the day was finding out about the Orthinologist badge, and working out what skills we would need t earn it.
Charizard's favourite part of the day was everything.
We ended up playing that game for ages, nearly 1 1/2 hours on maths today. After a break, in which Charizard read Asterix and ate burger rings whilst lying on the floor of the kitchen, and then a second break where he started Inotia 3 on his tablet (fascinating game, he's been telling Jigglepuff little bits about it all day) we went onto to read about the Fertile Crescent and how nomads became the first farmers. We remembered how Ko from Ko's Journey was a nomad. Then we read about the beginning of the Ancient Sumerian/Akkadian empire together. Somehow that meant we also ended up talking about military spies and being a double agent. Charizard also noticed how similar the story of Sargon is to the story of Moses, since both were put in baskets and floated down the river, then picked up by a servant and raised in a royal palace. Fantastic cross-cultural references, Charizard! Jigglepuff noticed something quite exciting about Charizard's ability to use language beautifully: she was writing down that Sargon had founded an empire and Charizard pointed out that "created an empire" sounded better. What interesting materials we are going to produce together, with Charizard helping Jigglepuff to think of exactly the right word.
After lunch Jigglepuff asked Charizard to check out a maths website, with two different ways to do long division. She was surprised that Charizard understood the second way immediately, although we've not covered that yet. Then we both read The Midnight Folk - Jigglepuff read it on paper, and Charizard listened to it on his CD player. Jigglepuff noticed how Kay, the boy in the centre of the story, is homeschooled, but by a rather nasty governess. She hopes that is not how Charizard feels about her teaching! Finally we came together to look at and join an online community called DIY.org, where children from all over the world get together online to learn about projects and earn badges. Charizard would like to do the "Orthinologist" badge. Tomorrow we'll choose which project we will start with.
But there was also a surprise experiment today. After lunch Jigglepuff showed Charizard a saucepan filled with flour, with cocoa-powder layered on top. We threw rocks into it, and made the most amazing crater-shapes...just like the craters that asteroids made, landing on the Moon.
Our moon dust
Jigglepuff's favourite part of the day was finding out about the Orthinologist badge, and working out what skills we would need t earn it.
Charizard's favourite part of the day was everything.
Teddy-Bear's Picnic
Charizard, Pikachu and Jigglepuff were all at home together today. We started with Fun with Fractions, on Time4Learning. Charizard worked calmly and with discipline, it was a real pleasure teaching him Maths today. When Pikachu got upset, we watched our first two videos on The Happy Scientist (Charizard has been complaining that he didn't get taught enough science at school). I don't think anyone could hear much of the first one because Pikachu was laughing too much! but the second one was about invisible forces of nature and how you can move a piece of paper inside a jar, like magic! Then we dressed up our teddybears and headed out to the Teddy Bear's Picnic at the Wilson Home. It was wonderful to see the two boys running around having fun, and there was a puppet show where they got to try moving puppets around and making them dance. Charizard's puppet seemed to want to jump more than remain on the ground...Then we came home and whilst Jigglepuff and Pikachu had wa moenga, Charizard listened to an audiotape of The Midnight Folk. He is recounting the story very well.
At bedtime Charizard showed Jigglepuff a mixture of two shampoos he had made, we talked about how they were like viscous liquids (like the molten rocks flowing under the earth) and he asked if we could do some home experiments like that. Then we listened to "Rivers of Babylon" on YouTube and discussed how Charizard thinks God might have allowed the Jews to go into exile in Babylon so that they could learn to pray in a different way, without the Temple sacrifices. This is a very interesting point of view and many Christian scholars have thought this over the years, what a great student of the Bible Charizard is!
Jigglepuff's favourite bit of the day was....watching Charizard and Pikachu playing with puppets (and seeing Pikachu laugh at the naughty puppets)
Charizard's favourite bit of the day was...eating pizza and listening to The Midnight Folk.
At bedtime Charizard showed Jigglepuff a mixture of two shampoos he had made, we talked about how they were like viscous liquids (like the molten rocks flowing under the earth) and he asked if we could do some home experiments like that. Then we listened to "Rivers of Babylon" on YouTube and discussed how Charizard thinks God might have allowed the Jews to go into exile in Babylon so that they could learn to pray in a different way, without the Temple sacrifices. This is a very interesting point of view and many Christian scholars have thought this over the years, what a great student of the Bible Charizard is!
Jigglepuff's favourite bit of the day was....watching Charizard and Pikachu playing with puppets (and seeing Pikachu laugh at the naughty puppets)
Charizard's favourite bit of the day was...eating pizza and listening to The Midnight Folk.
Monday, 10 March 2014
Refracting Light
Today Charizard found starting work a little stressful but settled down nicely into his Time4Learning lesson. He did multiplication factors and in order to do that learnt about long multiplication. Jigglepuff found some of the questions difficult too! After he had finished that lesson we had a look together at some of the science topic about Space and the Universe, where we learnt about different galaxy shapes (and now we know that the Milky Way is a spiral, they played a trick on us by showing us a photo that looked as though it was irregular though!) Charizard played Ko's Journey, where he did the refracting light crystal puzzles with very little help (like learning to use a simple protractor, and learning about angles). We needed to learn how to add different fractions in order to work out the weight we were carrying, which was quite tough. But we managed it, and then after lunch we read the second section of The Children of Greene Knowe. We discussed the simile where the bird is like an arrow and agreed that it was a good simile because it reminded us of the speed of a peregrine falcon, the fastest land animal. What good general knowledge Charizard has!
Jigglepuff's favourite bit of the day was reading aloud.
Charizard's favourite bit was doing Ko's Journey with Jigglepuff.
Pikachu's favourite bit of the day was Wa Moenga.
Jigglepuff's favourite bit of the day was reading aloud.
Charizard's favourite bit was doing Ko's Journey with Jigglepuff.
Pikachu's favourite bit of the day was Wa Moenga.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Broken Claw/Toe
Charizard broke his toe yesterday, and was in a lot of pain this morning. So we have taken a gentle approach
1) Read aloud the first section of The Children of Greene Knowe, discussed how many children's books start with a train journey, and commented on the atmosphere of the beginning.
2) Listened to the audiotape of the very beginning of John Masefield's The Midnight Folk. Didn't get very far with that, so the plan is to do a little more tonight. It's OK, there's no rush.
3) Charizard didn't want to do his times tables today so we'll schedule that for tomorrow
4) Watched a super National Geographic documentary on the early writing of the Hebrew Testament. We looked up in the Bible to find the first five books that make up the Pentateuch and compared the name with that of Pentagon. Jigglepuff was particularly excited to hear about the discoveries that some Israelites may have worshipped a goddess who was YHWH's wife, as she had never heard that before. Charizard wondered if Jesus minded us thinking about whether the Bible really happened.
5) Jigglepuff is also relieved that she has cleaned out the cupboard she meant to get done today.
The best thing about today for Jigglepuff was...when Charizard asked if she loved homeschooling, and said that he wanted homeschool to go on forever.
The best thing about today for Charizard was...the reading out loud.
1) Read aloud the first section of The Children of Greene Knowe, discussed how many children's books start with a train journey, and commented on the atmosphere of the beginning.
2) Listened to the audiotape of the very beginning of John Masefield's The Midnight Folk. Didn't get very far with that, so the plan is to do a little more tonight. It's OK, there's no rush.
3) Charizard didn't want to do his times tables today so we'll schedule that for tomorrow
4) Watched a super National Geographic documentary on the early writing of the Hebrew Testament. We looked up in the Bible to find the first five books that make up the Pentateuch and compared the name with that of Pentagon. Jigglepuff was particularly excited to hear about the discoveries that some Israelites may have worshipped a goddess who was YHWH's wife, as she had never heard that before. Charizard wondered if Jesus minded us thinking about whether the Bible really happened.
5) Jigglepuff is also relieved that she has cleaned out the cupboard she meant to get done today.
The best thing about today for Jigglepuff was...when Charizard asked if she loved homeschooling, and said that he wanted homeschool to go on forever.
The best thing about today for Charizard was...the reading out loud.
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