Cut, Cull, Include

Currently I'm reviewing our homeschool. It happens regularly. I frequently question the validity and effectiveness and worthwhile-ness (a new word out of necessity :D) of what we do in our home. Everything is under fire and examination and it's time-consuming! Should we have so many extra activities, are homeschool meets worth the effort, how is my time-management, is the curriculum we're using consuming too much of our boys all important play time, how much of their time should I control constructively, can I include more art etc.

There is so much more on my mind but what I do know is that for many reasons, particularly critical thinking, board games, like reading aloud, need to be included daily.

This week we were watching childrens program Behind the News together and they reported the inclusion and benefits of board games as part of the school curriculum. I was already aware that author and school principal of The Candlebark School, John Marsden includes Chess as part of the schools curriculum to enhance math skills. Linking to Behind the News online is a Scholastic article touting the social and educational benefits of playing board games.

I've tried googling with little success for some scientific study to support the validity of including board games in the curriculum but realize without the scientific backup that if I encourage our boys to play a board game of some description regularly they will benefit socially through the interaction of cooperation and will learn fair play by following the rules and that their critical thinking development through strategy and planning will be enhanced. But the benefits are a bonus. Seeing our boys playing together happily like this is valuable in itself.

All Over and Where Do We Go?

So here we are on the other side of The Music Man! The musical performances wrapped Sunday before last, to a sold out crowd to the complete joy of all involved. For our little family being a part of the musical in varying capacities has been incredible fun and an invaluable education for all of us, especially in commitment.

Outside of rehearsals we spent our time working on backdrops and hanging out with a backstage crew who embraced my kiddo's and involved them wherever they could. Obviously these guys are very smart people as they could clearly see what I was doing taking so much time away from our lesson books. Not once in the three weeks that I was there was I questioned over why my children were not at school. Apart from a hands on education these guys realized that at our boys age is the right time to sow seeds for the future. If not for involvement in the theater world, I'm hoping that our boys will definitely see themselves as citizens who embrace actively and support their community from a young age.

Everyday that I rocked up with my boys in tow we were welcomed. Every time we left these guys encouraged us to be back. Towards the end when everything was at its busiest one special friend had prepared a surprise for Kookaburra and Kangaroo. Pre-cut timber off cuts were laid out for them to sand and when he was able they were shown how to drill these pieces together to make their own wooden trucks. My boys were so proud. Their little chests were swollen with happiness over their accomplishments. We took an enormous amount of off cuts home too and now they've become a valuable addition to my boys playtime.

Little boys need great male role models to look up too. They need their fathers to be positive examples of what it is to be a man. Little boys need their Uncles and Grandfathers and other men to show them the way - how to fix the lawn mower and work on the car. Men to model themselves on as they grow older. The problem our family faces is that our family unit is so small and our extended family lives too far away so this perfect scenario doesn't fit for us. What I'm discovering is that being involved in positive community activities with a peer age range outside our childrens' own age is a great and, we feel, the right way to help grow our little men.

But as for fall out from the musical and long days at the theater helping, well the consequences were small. We needed daytime naps to help make up for the extraordinarily late nights. And after the fact for me, trying to ground myself back at home has been a trial. Lets just say the cranky pants have been out a little too often but thankfully that too has passed.

Hmm... better climb down off my soap box and share some pic's from The Music Man :)

My little lad and I.

With his gigantic tuba!

An especially proud moment for me was seeing my boy thanked and commended for his outstanding conduct and contribution to the musical backstage in front of the cast and crew. He was so proud that night. Eleven pm he's walked in the door to his father, more pleased than I could possibly convey bursting to share this great moment in his little life.

'That's my brother'. Kangaroo loved opening night so much that he begged to go again to the matinee on the Sunday and I was only just able to get them tickets too as the theater had very nearly sold out on the Saturday.

My gorgeous and ever supportive, understanding husband. Without the many meals he cooked and logistics in Kangaroo handling I would not have been able to be so much a part of this amazing experience.

But here we are. The Music Man has finished and we're no longer needed on stage or back so where do we go from here? What new project shall we leap to now? I'll tell you.

This Friday night we have our first of hopefully many meetings with the Astronomy club. Next term we'll begin volunteering at the wildlife sanctuary I mentioned at the beginning of the year. Next term we begin with APEX - a long hoped for volunteering and community involvement opportunity . A family friendly group who we met through the theater. Violin lessons will also begin for our boys.

But the biggest, not yet confirmed, but hopefully, cannot see why it might not go ahead , opportunity to blow our way, will be the chance to perhaps assist an Arts teacher - visual, dance and drama - during her weekly grade 4/5 classes. So you see, Kookaburra will get to hang and participate with kids his own class age in an arts class at no cost to us.

Fingers crossed :D

So many passionate people who love their fields of knowledge to learn from. Next term is going to be busy, but 'funtastic'.

Why we do it :)

Lifting the 25 kilo weights which go onto the
fly-wires to move the stage curtains and props

A school tour came through the theater yesterday. There have been a few in our time there but I guess this one was a little more memorable than the others and not for good reasons. The children were rowdy and loud and their tour guide had to yell to be heard. Pretty standard stuff with a class I suppose but the difference between our world and that of these children is the immersion aspect.

Touring above the theater, on the left are are the
weights and to the right are the fly-wires

For two weeks now we feel that we have practically lived at the theater. My children and I have had enough but the task is not done, there is still more work and (apparently!) I'm still very much useful with the ol' paintbrush.

It's a long way down!

Unlike the school children who came through for a half hour tour my boys know this theater inside out and respect everyone and everything in it. I don't have to force them to write up an assignment about their experiences here because words like 'sets', 'flys', 'orchestra pit', 'gels' and 'gobo' have become a natural part of their language.

One to two ratio on a personal tour through the theater.

No shouting, competing or distractions and questions are answered directly in a conversation. Each of these power boxes have enough power to light three houses.

First hand they have observed and become a part of an enormous and hard working production team. When little Kangaroo takes his place in the audience on opening night he will understand that this is not just a 'show'. What he is watching is an accumulation of many months of work on behalf of a team who all need each other. He understands that there is a cast to perform and be the stars, an entire orchestra and a conductor in the orchestra pit complementing the singers, a director chewing his nails to the quick with excitement and hope, a music teacher who hasn't gone to bed before twelve for too long that is healthy, a dance teacher who works at her school by day bringing her art to the lives of children who also operates her own dance studio after hours and is now a new Mumma who is teaching choreography so our cast perform the best they can, a backstage crew who set the scene through clever lighting, the indispensable sound tech whose job encompasses the magic of creating effects like a train to ensuring that the mics are clear so our wonderful cast can be heard (I love that my boys know our visiting sound tech better than I do - they just casually walk up to him and start chatting :), the muscles who fly and push the scenery in and out and up and down the stage to create the perfect backdrop for the story, the wonderful people who created these backdrops - artists, cabinetmakers and numerous helping hands to follow direction, management - who without there simply is no show - and our incredible costume ladies who have been working since Christmas to get the (I think) 180 costumes and approximately 20 hats or more ready for next Thursday night. Little Kangaroo, my small five year old exuberant boy, will sit on opening night with his Dada and Grandma and enjoy a 'show' comprised of hundreds and even though he will only see on stage the sixty or so people who are performing Kangaroo knows that there truly is so much more than meets the eye.

Placing a 'gel' on the spot light to show how the lights are coloured on the stage. My boys even took some home to play theater with.

Operating the lights.

Flying in curtains on the stage.

Helping with the artwork backstage.

Learning a new skill and making friends.

Engaging with others.

I know I've raved a bit. But after so many years of doubt I can feel the passion and belief growing within me about how we chose to 'school'. I want to no longer make apologies for our differences or to make small talk with the negatively curious, who have no intention of opening their minds to understanding and who, through a simple conversation, have little hope of comprehending our choice to homeschool. I feel proud of our lifestyle and am overflowing with a desire to teach our children to live their life with two feet straight in it. Homeschooling and the school system both have their pros and cons and an argument for either can be fairly easily built with the right knowledge, background and passion but for now, we're squarely in the homeschooling camp. Who knows what our future holds but right now, at this moment, homeschooling is the right choice for us and I'm thrilled to feel so positive about it. So, for a little while, I've managed to burn away the second guessing and feel at peace.

We're all so very tired from our long days and late nights but I wanted to share my excitement that I believe in what we're doing. To homeschool and live our life beyond the bookwork is where we will be taking our family life increasingly in the future. The benefits are too numerous and comparably, my freaky little homeschool family, understand so much more about the real world and real people then if we were cocooned in a school, with classmates of all the same age. Where the motivation for learning is to satisfy something other than yourself and your curiosity. I want to bring my boys to the real world and this is how we have begun.

Ready, Set, Move!

This morning was my first attempt at creating a 'physical education' morning for our little homeschooler group. After being worried during January about the smallish size of our local group, it appears that over the holidays (whilst I was freaking out) the numbers have in fact swollen by another four families increasing our childrens numbers by, I think, fourteen children! It's so exciting :D! Our group has almost doubled in size and best of all, both my boys are steadily gaining some nice little mates there - both boys and girls of the same or various ages.

Seeing as this was our first organized get together for the year I wanted to create a 'this is awesome fun' attitude in the kids and parents so everyone was keen to keep on coming for subsequent events. You know, I think, just maybe, judging by the numerous boa constrictor hugs I received and profuse I love you's and you're the best Mum in the world claims offered up from my small fry at the mornings conclusion, I think it may have been a hit.

I had some great helper Dad's along too and if I needed to step away for a moment to look after my Kangaroo, they were right there to continue the fun. So, so lucky to have great parents in our group, they just really made the morning easy as.

Physical Education has been a 'subject ' I've wanted to cover for many years but have struggled because of either my terrible organizational skills or that the medium age of our group has been about four. Very little people are pretty content to get together and free play but now we have a wider age group ranging to include a thirteen and fourteen year old, we can start to enjoy some structure. The beautiful thing about today was the way when some kiddo's had had enough they would wander off for a play or a drink or something to eat while the games continued and when or if they were ready the kiddo's would rejoin the group. Pairs of children would wander off and chat and rejoin the games later. I really felt from watching this behaviour that I could see lovely friendships growing so nicely already between the the newer additions and the established kiddo's.

We began with a quick stretching out of the arms in full circles to explore our personal space. We didn't want to accidentally bump into anyone during our fun :D!

After we established our space we played this fantastic game called Pirate Ship (I've included it below) which the kids loved! and it got them ready in a great fun way to follow instructions during the rest of our mornings games.

I felt that from the very beginning we should establish a few quick ground rules to keep play safe and fair. The list might change as I develop the program so what follows is a tentative list to be developed as our sports days grow.

1. Take Care of Our Mates - If someone falls, be there to help them up. If we have an accident be ready to say 'Sorry Mate'! and help dust each other off and keep going.

2. Be a Good Sport - if the other team wins give them a clap and tell them 'Well Done!' and if you're a part of the winning team shake your opponents hand and say thanks for a good game.

3. Play Fair - pretty much means, take turns and be nice. We have a rule in our family which would apply nicely here 'Nice Words, Gentle Hands and Shining Face (Smile Baby!)' which describes our conduct when playing or anytime really.

So I'm making it up as I go along but I want the kids to establish an acceptable way to behave when we get together for sports and games.

Okay so that great game I mentioned earlier was:

Pirate Ship

So easy peasy fun to play. It's as simple as calling to your 'Scurvy Dog Crew' instructions and demonstrating the moves. Try it out soon. A great game for small and large groups.

So here are those instructions - Super fun! :

Man the Lifeboats - find a friend and sit on the ground facing each other holding hands and rock backwards and forwards singing 'row, row, row your boat'

Scrub the Deck - children crouch down and pretend to clean the floor with the hands

Climb the Rigging - children pretend to climb a rope ladder

Crow's Nest - Now that they've climbed the rigging, the children stand on one leg which will become their masts while their other foot rests on their knee to become the crows nest and their torso is the pirate looking out to see, hand above eyes! Peer into the distance and shout 'Land Ahoy!'

Captain's Coming -children salute and shout out 'Aye Aye Captain'

Man Over Board -children jump as if going over the side and then sink down holding their nose with one hand and raising the other hand in the air as if going underwater. Make sure you start swimming guys!

Walk the Plank - children have to walk in a perfectly straight line one foot exactly in front of the other with arms outstretched to the sides

Captain's Wife - Everyone curtsy's

Submarine - everyone lies on the floor with one leg raised in the air like it's a periscope

Fire the Cannons - the children grab a friend and pretend to fire a cannon, shout 'Boom!' and jump into the air

Hit the Deck - well the cannon ball is coming! and the children need to lie down on their stomachs as quickly as possible to avoid it!

Port - run to the left

Starboard - run to the right

Bow - run to the front

Stern - run to the back

Sharks - sit with their knees up off the floor, hugging knees

Compass Point - All the children gather into a big tight bunch

Last One in the Dinner Line - children all line up in a very straight line

Polly the Parrot - flap arms and shout 'Pieces of eight' or 'Polly wants a cracker'

Mutiny - sword fight everyone (gently! with our hands pretending to hold a sword :)

Stormy Weather - Rock from side to side

Peg Leg Jim - the children all walk with one leg straight and the other normally

The Ultimate Homeschool Physical Education Game Book by Guy Bailey is the greatest resource I've purchased of late and was integral for planning out todays fun. But I think all the kiddo's had the best fun playing Pirate Ship and of the days games I felt that this was the definite stand out.

Whether your group is large or just you and your fam, give Pirate Ship a whirl.

Play it! and Soon :D!

Boys Wanted

As we ease back into our 'school' year we have started to read from our morning basket again to get us warmed up and our heads set in the right direction for the day. In it for the moment and has been for a long time now is The Childrens Book of Virtues one of my favourite character education books. The following poem is one we've been reading this week and wanted to share. Most of it's relevant and some of the older words did have Kangaroo running for the dictionary but they must enjoy it because they've been requesting it. I love poems like this. They act like little guidelines for our boys behaviour and gives them great values to think upon.

Boy Wanted
Frank Crane

This "want ad" appeared in the early part of this century.

Wanted -- A boy that stands straight, sits straight, acts straight, and talks straight;

A boy whose fingernails are not in mourning, whose ears are clean, whose shoes are polished, whose clothes are brushed, whose hair is combed, and whose teeth are well cared for;

A boy who listens carefully when he is spoken to, who asks questions when he does not understand, and does not ask questions about things that are none of his business;

A boy that moves quickly and makes as little noise about it as possible;

A boy who whistles in the street, but does not whistle where he ought to keep still;

A boy who looks cheerful, has a ready smile for everybody, and never sulks;

A boy who is polite to every man and respectful to every woman and girl;

A boy who does not smoke cigarettes and has no desire to learn how;

A boy who is more eager to know how to speak good English than to talk slang;

A boy that never bullies other boys nor allows other boys to bully him;

A boy who, when he does not know a thing, says, "I don't know," and when he has made a mistake says, "I'm sorry," and when he is asked to do a thing says, "I'll try";

A boy who looks you right in the eye and tells the truth every time;

A boy who is eager to read good books;

A boy who would rather put in his spare time at the YMCA gymnasium than to gamble for pennies in a back room;

A boy who does not want to be "smart" nor in any wise to attract attention;

A boy who would rather lose his job or be expelled from school than to tell a lie or be a cad;

A boy whom other boys like;

A boy who is at ease in the company of girls;

A boy who is not sorry for himself, and not forever thinking and talking about himself;

A boy who is friendly with his mother, and more intimate with her than anyone else;

A boy who makes you feel good when he is around;

A boy who is not goody-goody, a prig, or a little pharisee, but just healthy, happy, and full of life.

This boy is wanted everywhere. The family wants him, the school wants him, the office wants him, the boys want him, the girls want him, all creation wants him.

Lucky

Kangaroo wanted to be a horse yesterday :) So we covered him
in body paint and gave him little white hoofs, a star and a patch.

Lucky to have escaped Queenslands' Flooding Disaster intact, unscathed, sheltered and protected.

Drawing constantly at the moment and developing beautifully.
Depth, perspective and technical. It has been very
interesting to watch.

Lucky that our biggest fear has been a shortage of fuel, food and supplies as our communities have become isolated due to our roads being cut by flood waters.

His 'Fierce Face' cracks me up!
After watching Little House On The Prairie today,
our boys played Indians happily up a tree for an hour or so.

Lucky and Thankful that my family and friends are safe.

Embracing the theme enthusiastically :)

Lucky that as we are able to, I know we'll give what we can to help rebuild our community and our state. Financial or a hand in the work of cleaning up.

Lucky that our boys were pint size witnesses to our community at work providing for those who momentarily cannot. They see our hardworking Emergency Services as important and are in awe and inspired by them. They respect the work they do.

Lucky that life for us has gone on relatively as normal. So sad and heartbroken that this isn't so for everyone affected by the flooding.

Please pray for our lucky country. That we will rebuild and be strengthened. That those who have lost will find comfort and will not despair.

Thankyou to ecoMILF for the links :)

Sowing Seeds

This is going to be the year that we finally do it. My boys are old enough and I think I have enough space in our lives and in my head for us to finally become volunteers! It's early days yet and we have forms to pick up and fill out, and initiation to undergo, and one small boy to really encourage but I think we'll finally do it... I hope!

For a few months now I've idealised a happy scenario in which we are volunteering at our local wildlife sanctuary. The scene carries on where we are learning loads through immersion and from hanging with fascinatingly knowledgeable company as well as being helpful contributors to an often overlooked cause. I've thought about the great work ethic we'll pick up, responsibility that is cultivated from participating in such a place - we only have a small part to play but even the small parts are positive and make long term differences.

I believe in sowing seeds.

I want our boys to have great role models, particularly in men and this seems like an excellent way to meet some of the values we wish to have imparted to our boys outside of the family unit.

I believe that many positive seeds will be sown during our time here and we all (maybe not Kangaroo as much :) cannot wait to begin.

The 'curator'/ 'creator' or 'caretaker', I'm unsure as to what to title the guy that runs the place is given but he is enthusiastically passionate and knowledgeable and agrees with me that the education system is failing to impart to our kids the value of our unique flora and fauna. Even as homeschoolers I feel there is only so much we can do out of a book, great dvd's and trips to wildlife parks like this can do and it's a rare bush-walk that will reveal more than some common birds, kangaroos, the odd koala and occasional skink. So I've been idealising that with a little effort on our part, and with open hearts and minds volunteering at our local wildlife sanctuary is going to be a prodigious investment which I'm hoping will pay many positive dividends. Fingers crossed please!

Okay, this is cool, I think I may even remember correctly that this fellow is a red-necked wallaby.

We chatted one on three :) to this awesome man and we learnt an exceptional amount , especially about birds - particularly threatened and endangered birds -, and we talked of the sanctuary's plans for expanding their breeding programs. Kookaburra picked up a valuable multitude of tips and tricks on how to take better care of Hermes his Quaker parrot and he is busting at the seams to wear him out there and get set to work with his 'blue bird on his shoulder' which he has been told he's more than welcome to do.

Today was another special day for our fam. We spent a very wet and soggy evening with our dear Grammy Bear who today has turned an incredible 61! I say incredible because I can scarcely believe it :( I love my Mumma. I have whinged, moaned, complained and definitely laughed about my Mumma's doings but really I should never, ever have. I have the excuse of once being younger than i am and now, I'm a little wiser. She is extraordinary. Of all the tough things she has gone through she has never let any of it beat her and now, when she should be enjoying the quiet and solitude of an older lady's evenings, she is instead wrangling my brothers children and sometimes my brother (he, he :P) and whilst definitely she is not always at peace with the situation, Grammy Bear is making a wonderful difference to my brother and company's lives. I think my mother sets a great example, even when she has lost her temper for the gazillionth time, she is tenacious and won't leave her little family. She won't give up. She's human! Aren't we all :) and is older, she works very hard, long hours and not enough pay and is also lending a big hand in raising her second family. I'm proud of her and that she's my Mumma Bear.

I think there may even be some little seeds in amongst all that too :D.

Annes' Wisdom

I've finished reading the Little Women series by Louisa May Alcott and have now begun an adventure with Anne of Green Gables. Other than the movies, I have sadly never had the pleasure of Ms Montgomerys' extraordinary little character of Anne but already within the first few pages of her lovely story, I have been captured by Annes' heart, enraptured by the vivid detail and description of scenery and by this little girls desiring for a home.

I want to store away, in this holey memory of mine, such beautiful phrases as:

"Isn't it lovely? Don't you think it must be glad to be a rose? Wouldn't it be nice if roses could talk? I'm sure they could tell us such lovely things."

Who thinks of such things? Surely it hasn't been so long since I was a child that I don't remember such wonderful imaginings.

These roses are from our yard. I can't claim to have a garden really when I've just placed plants in the ground wherever I've seen fit. There is no border to define and none of it really makes any sense but the plants mustn't mind if they are willing to bloom like these roses, in the heart of winter.

Another small drop of wisdom from Anne I want to appreciate and remember, in application to myself, are these beautiful two but so important sentences;

"It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will. Of course, you must make it up firmly."

There is so much I want to take away from the great books I read, to store theses nuggets of insight away and be able to draw on the lesson in its time. To understand and hold the valuable messages they have to share when I need strength to go on as I know I should or require wisdom in helping our boys grow.

So much is to be gained from the company of great books. The sages tell us so, and they are wise for good reason ;)

'Books are the quietest and most constant of friends: they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.'
Charles W. Eliot

Will there be enough time to read them all....