Showing posts sorted by relevance for query zoo keeper. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query zoo keeper. Sort by date Show all posts

Friday 16 March 2012

HSMJ 18 - Behind the scenes Gorilla Visit


The Home school Mother’s Journal began as a single post on a Friday morning over at The Homeschool Chick, and turned into a link-up for homeschool mothers across the blog-O-sphere to share a piece of their journey with one another each week. The link party is open from Friday to Monday so join me in The Homeschool Journal and lets encourage one another on our homeschool journey.

In my life this week…
 
In our home school this week…
Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…
I am inspired by…
  • Homeschool in Freedom: Throwing Out the Rules by Susan Lemons over at Home preschool and beyond. Excellent encouraging article that makes you think about your preconceived rules of homeschooling. do you need to follow them ??
    Here is a sneak peek: Many homeschoolers, especially new homeschoolers, live under a self-imposed set of “rules” based on their perceptions of what homeschooling should be. These unspoken “rules” are often based on our experiences with public schools. These “rules” often hurt us and our kids...... Make sure you head on over and take a read and be encouraged.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
  • On Monday we spent the afternoon at the Steamrail Open Day looking at vintage trains.
  • Tuesday saw us go on a midnight adventure in the sea.
  • Wednesday saw us sleep in and go to a friends house for a play date and some origami.
  • Thursday was my Dad's Birthday and we did a short trip to the library to collect many reserved titles.
  • Friday we went to WORZ to visit the three gorilla's behind the scenes to finish off our Expedition Earth Nigeria Unit (definitely a great perk for being married to a Zoo Keeper).
  • Counting down the months, weeks and days

My favorite thing this week was…
  • Listening to Sir N giggle as he watched an original version of The Three Little Pigs.

What’s working/not working for us…
  • LATE bed times .....
2012 in 2012
  • Read about this idea over at Behind the Scenes and was really intrigued.  I think I will give it a go.  Won't make 2012 I don't think but it will definitely help me de-clutter.
Opening
Balance		 What  This Week Balance
3 Thrown Away 0 2
0 Sold 0 0
170 Donated 0 0
3 Returned to their owner 5 8


Running Total out of the goal 2012

194

Questions/thoughts I have…
  • What are some fun interesting FREE things you have done with your children ?
Things I’m working on…
I’m reading…
I’m cooking…
I’m grateful for…
  •  Friends who encourage me with fun food and fellowship.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…
  • Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction. - Anne Frank 
We went to see the gorilla's behind the scenes at Werribee Open Range Zoo

Blessings






This post is linking to:


Linking with
Grateful for Grace: What We're Learning
Posted by at 14 comments:
Labels:

Thursday 3 June 2021

Instagramers to follow who are Home Educating

 

 Welcome to week ten of Blogging through the Alphabet 2021. This week we are looking at the letter I and my co-host Desiree will be blogging about I is for Iron Man in her alphabet lego series.

Today I would like to share a list of homeschool bloggers to follow on Instagram.  (The original list that I've expanded upon is shared with permission from Erin at Seven Little Australians) 

Instagram is one of my favourite platforms for it's ease of use and the sense of community is really really encouraging. 

Instagram first launched 6 October 2010 and is a phone only app which is available on both Android and Apple products.

You can find me there under the user name @chareenr and @macro_passion. When I first started using instagram I recorded our daily life as a way of tracking what and where we went.  Over the years it's been a multitude of things.  These days I record special moments and the books we are enjoying for high school.

If you are looking for photo's of wildlife or the occasional story from a zoo keeper then pop on over to my husbands instagram @servalpaul.  He loves hand feeding some beautiful little birds and you can see some slow motion feedings under the hashtag #paulswrens


Hashtags are a fabulous way of sifting through the content or discovering content to save or new people to follow.

For homeschoolers try: #charlottemason #homeschoolhighschool  #readaloudrevival #sonlight #homeschool #homeschoolLife #homeschoolingfun #homeschoolmom #homeschoolcommunity #homeschoolblogger #homeschoolingfamily #homeschoolfriends

A great way to discover new accounts is to join a follow loop.  You can also look through the list of whom I'm following here.

American Homeschoolers on Instagram

Canadian Homeschoolers on Instagram

Australian Homeschoolers on Instagram

Australia Somewhere

ACT

Distance Ed

Northern Territory

Queensland

  Who are your favourite Homeschoolers on Instagram?

Blessings 

Chareen

Find the other ABC posts in this series here:

  1. A is for Art Lessons at Home
  2. B is for Books Where do You Purchase Yours? 
  3. Charlotte Mason a Round Up of Posts 
  4. Delight Directed Education
  5. Encouragement for Weary Homeschooling Mothers
  6. For the Children's Sake  
  7. G is for Geography
  8. Homeschool Bloggers 

Featured from Week 4 all things 'H'

 This Week over at Our Homeschool Notebook the topic is I is for Iron Man. 



 


Posted by at 4 comments:
Labels: ,

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Making Animal Footprint Casts

One of the things I enjoy about being married to a handy man who is a Zoo Keeper is that he comes up with some really interesting things to do.  Here is something that his dad taught him.
Cheetah Footprint
I was surprised at how easy this is to accomplish.

Firstly make sure your cast kit is ready.
  • Strips of cardboard about an inch in width.
  • Plaster of Paris (store in an airtight container, 
  • A container to mix plaster of Paris in, 
  • Water, 
  • Mixing tool.
  • Old toothbrush
Make strips of thin card stock

We used a Manila folder and cut a strip on the diagonal.  
The black dotted lines are where we cut the strips to join with a slide fold.

Make your cast


Choose your print to cast 


Carefully place the card stock strip around your print and slightly embed it into the soil.


Next mix your plaster of Paris. You will need a relatively runny mix.


Slowly and gently fill each separate impression first. 
If you pour too quickly you risk the print being damaged.


Continue pouring in the mix till you have reached a good depth.
A depth of  about 1/2 inch. (10 - 15 mm) is good.

Wait for 30 - 60 min for the plaster to set.

Gently lift your cast


Brush away excess sand.
An old tooth brush works the best.


Allow the cast to dry for a couple of hours.


Paul used a sharp craft knife to shave off around the print to give it a smoother finish.  This also helps to make a contrast of texture allowing a visual enhancement of your print.

You can also use a nail to engrave the date, name of animal and place of your print.  Don't forget to engrave your initials on the back.

Allow your print to dry for about a week in a safe place.

To seal your print use Mod Podge.  You will need to paint it with at least four coats. 

Try this with your dog or cat in your sand pit / garden

Blessings


Posted by at 12 comments:
Labels: ,

Wednesday 28 September 2011

Unique Pets

Being married to a Nature Conservationist / Zoo Keeper has meant that we have had some rather interesting and unique pets in our home.

I would like to introduce you to my unique pet:


This is one of my three Hermit Crabs. We had a rather interesting week this week in that he decided to move homes and occupy a new shell. In the midst of this transition one of his flat mates got into an argument with him and evicted him! So we had the privilege of seeing a naked hermit crab. This is a very rare thing to witness as they are rather attached to their shells.


Pet shops advertise these little critters as easy to care for (and they are after you get their home set up correctly) so in haste I purchased four and brought them home only to discover they have some very unique environmental needs.  So my cheap pets ended up costing a lot more than I had originally budgeted for.

** Lesson learned :  Research BEFORE you purchase and bring home a unique pet!**

For more information on Hermit Crabs:
Although having pets adds dramatically to your work load at home and also means that you are checking on your children making sure that they are keeping up with the care of their individual pets I feel that they are a very valuable addition to any home.  The care of pets adds many wonderful life skills to any child be they home schooled or not. 

Pets provide learning support for your children, comfort and reduce loneliness,  they help add routine and structure to your day as well as reduce stress. There are many physical and emotional benefits to the child and the family in owning a pet.

Do you have any unique pets in your home ?  If so what are they ?
If you decided against having pets what were your reasons ?

Blessings





PS:  At present we have a dog whose favourite toy is a golf ball, a cat who runs the house (or so she thinks), two tropical fish tanks containing: neon tetras, bristle nosed catfish who are so happy they are breeding like rabbits, clown loaches, electric yellows, African mono's, flying foxes, redtailed shark, sword tail, Kribensis, and an aviary in the backyard with breeding pairs of  Gouldian Finches and Orange Breasted Waxbills, a fish pond in the yard with goldfish ,  a Redfin Fish in another container and some fresh water crayfish, and last but not least some Spiny Leaf Insects which are living in a glass enclosure in the dining room. We have had frogs in the past. We had a pet rabbit who sadly died earlier this year but we are looking at getting a new one later next year. My family did want a snake but I gave them the following choice:  Mom or the snake ?  You guessed right I do NOT like snakes. 

I think I will dig out some photo's and show you some of our unique pets from day gone by.
Posted by at 2 comments:
Labels:

Monday 11 March 2013

Day 1 - Delight Directed Instruction

I have spent a delightful few weeks exploring the wide scope and vision of delight directed education.  I do confess that in times past I have shied away from the idea as I had connected delight directed learning with doing absolutely nothing and allowing the child to explore and teach themselves.  I have since come to realize that this is a far cry from the reality of allowing your student to explore the world around them with you facilitating and enriching the experience.

I have been homeschooling for over 15 years and to be honest I have been experiencing a deep dissatisfaction with our journey over the last few months which in turn has found me in an almost paralyzed state as a home school mom wondering what on earth to do.  I have come to realize that I have fallen prey to  the slavery of checking every box on my home school instructors guide in order to have a tangible indication that Sir N has learned something.   Even Sir N has been bitterly complaining that he hates school.  Each time I say it's time to do school he pitches a tantrum. . . Enough! It's time for change and I think that we will be incorporating more Delight Directed studying around here.

What is it ?
  • Delight - a high degree of gratification, joy, extreme satisfaction, something that gives pleasure. Delight is a more permanent pleasure than joy, and not dependent on sudden excitement.
  • Directed - means Aimed; pointed; guided; regulated; governed; ordered; instructed
  • Education - Education comprehends all that series of instruction and discipline which is intended to enlighten the understanding, correct the temper, and form the manners and habits of youth, and fit them for usefulness in their future stations 

Delight Directed teaching / study is not about a home school method or formula it's about feeding the heart and mind of your student. It's about lighting a spark and flaming it in the mind and heart of your student towards what ever it is that you are learning about together.

I am inspired by what Greg Harris has written on delight directed education:  "A delight-directed study is like a wonderful fire in the mind of a student. It starts small, but as it grows, it begins to consume vast amounts of information until it bursts into a roaring blaze of insight, understanding and creativity. It takes on a life of its own." - Greg Harris

We need to remember that as parents we are the ones with life experience and still need to direct (point/guide) our students learning and this in turn means opening up new avenues for students to explore and enjoy.

How does this work ?
I have learned that it's about listening to your child's heart, it's all about connecting and expanding upon the platform that you are currently laying in what ever field you are exploring.  It's about answering the burning question upon your child's heart.

Greg Harris
 "Delight-directed study is child-responsive, but still parent-supervised. Delight-directed study strategies are more responsive to the interest of the student, without being indulgent. Rather than allow the student to study whatever he sees fit, however he sees fit, delight-directed study urges parents to guide their child’s studies and establish clear accountability for his work." Greg Harris

For me it's about finding a balance between needing to have some structure but also feeding his current interest. It means taking the time to answer his questions and following the rabbit trail and learning via the scenic route. At the same time it's about not getting so far off the beaten track that we can never return. It's about making use of our environment and creating the science of relations that help my student to connect the dots and see that the whole world moves in concert and that there is not a single thing that happens in isolation.

At times we are able to go straight away and answer the question at hand due to it's relevance at time of asking and at other times we might need to write it down in order to explore the topic at a more relevant time. For this we have created a book to jot down questions and have found that this relieves Sir N's pressing need to know now before we forget. If we do not have the book my smart phone serves as a note keeper.

Delight Directed learning. . .
  • Means structuring learning around your child's interest and delight.
  • Flourishes in a flexible routine and is happy to take the scenic route in learning.
  • Means getting to know your child and what makes them come alive.
  • Starts with knowing what your child's particular learning style is and using this to encourage learning.
  • Starts with and fosters delight.
  • Is parent supervised and supported
  • Using a web approach to cover subjects rather than seeing individual subjects its taking one topic and covering a multiple of disciplines
  • Takes into account the interests and curiosities your child holds.
  • Is compatible with all home school methods and approaches.
  • Means using all your senses when learning. It entails cooking new foods, reading living books, exploring the library looking for books to find out more, building something, writing / sharing about your discovery.
  • Uses the environment (library, zoo, museum, field trips) to enhance and encourage learning via building relationships with the subject matter at hand.
  • Is not tied to an instructor guide to the exclusion of all other learning.

Elsewhere on the web
There are many who have shared their wisdom on the www here are a few articles to enrich your understanding of Delight Directed Learning.
I have learned that as a home school mom I need to take note that "We are all inventors, each sailing out on a voyage of discovery, guided each by a private chart, of which there is no duplicate. The world is all gates, all opportunities." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.


How do you apply Delight Directed learning in your home school ?

Blessings
Chareen

This post is part of a week of blog hopping hosted by The Schoolhouse Review Crew: 5 Days of Teaching Creatively Day One

5 Days of Teaching Creatively

Day 2
  1. Delight Directed Instruction
  2. Schooling in the Kitchen
  3. Toy's, Games & Puzzles
  4. Homeschooling in a Crisis
  5. Hands on Projects
Don't forget to enter the Teaching Creatively Giveaway.  Pop on over to Ben and Me to enter in order to win one of three prize packs. (1st prize $525 value, 2nd prize $225 value and 3rd prize $190 value)


**Images from Free Digital Photo's:Magnifying glass Image  Courtesy of Stuart Miles Black Board Image courtesy of Nuttakit


Here are some more posts by home school moms with ideas about Delight Directed Teaching

Posted by at 24 comments:
Labels: , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)