NBTS Blog Hop - {Week 2} Curriculum.

Welcome to Week 2 of the Aussie NBTS Blog Hop.  This week we are sharing our curriculum for 2012!

Last week you met my three children Mr T, Miss J and Sir N who have all been homeschooled.  Mr T and Miss J have completed their education with me and the only student I have at present is Sir N.   This is a new experience for me educating an only child so each day is a little different to what I 'know' from then.

Our major family experience will be returning to South Africa for a 10 year Family Reunion in




We will be spending the majority of our time in Hoedspruit which is where Paul and I met, married and were blessed with our first two children.  We are looking forward to some great rest and fellowship with Paul's parents up at Trackers.

This will be a summary of what I would like to do with Sir N this year. For a full breakdown you can have a look at our Curricula for 2012 page.

I would summarise our style as Sonlight at the core and Eclectic. Please note I do not use every single item in it's entirety.  I use what we need and ditch the rest.

For our spine we are using Sonlight Core A with Grade K Readers - 5 - day.  This core is all about Exploring God's big world! It's about aquiring a very broad overview of world history and exploring different cultures. I LOVE my IG (Instructors Guide) it is my saving grace.  It keeps me on track and moving forward because I can take many scenic routes and follow one too many rabbit warrens in my schooling.  You can have the first 3 weeks from Sonlight IG emailed to you just select which Core, Language Arts & Science.

Time Line

• Historical Time Line Figures from Homeschool in the Woods.
• Sonlight Time Line Figures A

Bible

• Ergermeier's Bible Story Book
• Leading Little Ones to God.

History

• Sonlight Core A  
• The Story of the World Volume 1: Ancient Times.

Geography

• Sonlight Core A 
• Expedition Earth: A Journey through God's World

Read Alouds

• Sonlight Core A 

Readers

• Fun Tales
• Learning Language Arts Through Literature Blue Book
• Fitzroy Readers
• I Can Read It!

Language Arts

• Language and Thinking for Young Children
• Go for the Code
• Learning Language Arts Through Literature Blue Book

Science 

• Sonlight Science A - 5 Day 
• Sonlight Science P4/5
• During our trip to South Africa we will be living on a beautiful game farm with Dave Rushworth who pioneered outward bound education.  He is a fountain of knowledge and a wonderful mentor and amazing naturalist.  I love watching him impart his wisdom and knowledge and look forward to Sir N spending time with him for two months.
• Paul is a wonderful source of Natural information and generously imparts his love of nature with Sir N daily. (this weekend he found a frog and gecko and brought them in for us to see)
• I would like to incorporate Nature Journaling this year and spend at least an hour each week outdoors looking at nature (The Outdoor Hour).

Art & Art appreciation

•  Usborne ART Treasury.
• The World's Greatest Artists Unit Study

 Music

• Classical Kids
• Hide em in Your Heart by Steve Green.

Math

• Abeka Arithmatic 1

Notebooking

• The Notebooking Fairy
• Last In Line

Handwritting

•  A Reason for Handwritting Level K

Whew it's quite a list !  I felt overwhelmed writing it and wanted you to know that we do NOT do everything everyday. More on that in week Four of the Not Back To School Blog Hop.

Writting this list certainly took me down memory lane and inspired me to write a Time line of my homeschool journey.  Come back on Monday and see a little of my journey over the last 15 years in the wonderful world of Home Schooling.  The things that have influenced my choices and kept me moving forward. 

Don't forget to hop over to Our World Wide Classroom and read what other Australian homeschoolers are using this year in their homes.  There are excellent links and summaries so grab a cup of coffee (or two or three ...) and hop around Australia.

Till Thursday when we will all be sharing about our Learning Spaces.

Blessings
Chareen

This post is linking to: Our World Wide Classroom NBTS Blog Hop

Homeschool Mother's Journal {14} - 2012 items in 2012

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 homeschool this week…

• We watched how a billiard table is recovered. The table is a family heirloom item and has been passed down through the generations.  It was my Great Grandfathers, Grandfathers, Fathers and has been in my care for a few years.  Can't wait to play.  We inherited some miniature skittles for the table.  I can't find the rules for the game.  Do you know anything about it ??
• Went swimming in the outdoor pool
• Went Strawberry Picking.
• The Scale of the Universe.  Thanks to Susan for sharing this link.  Give it a few seconds to load and then have a look at how small / big you are in relation to the known universe.  Lots of fun. 
• Continued listening to Jonathan Park Vol 1 The Adventure Begins.  I am really enjoying these stories. There are HomeSchool lessons available and Behind the Scenes video clips available, and some YouTube clips to watch. The stories are from a young earth creation point of view.

Helpful homeschooling tips or advice to share…

• For those of you who enjoy GA Henty novels many of the titles are currently free for your Kindle on Amazon.
• For Christian Kindle Books on a Budget head on over to Inspired Reads.com I managed to get a book written by Dr Kevin Leman I have been wanting for free this week.
• Harmony Art Mom she has so many great posts that add richness to homeschooling.  It is well worth having a look at all the different Blog Categories.
• The Scale of the Universe. by Carry Huang.  Thanks to Susan for sharing this link.

I am inspired by…

• Family Ministry and being Dignified over at Woman Living Well. I left feeling very encouraged and ispired.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…

• On Wednesday we went swimming at the heated outdoor pool
• Today we are going to a friends to enjoy a family friendly movie night and watch The Secrets of Johnathan Sperry
• Paul and I went to Archery at Arrows Plus. It was heaps of fun and I am seriously considering doing a course I enjoyed it so much ... 
• Tonight we are packing a picnic and going to enjoy the Rythm of Africa event at Werribee Open Range Zoo with another family.
• Counting down the months, weeks and days

My favorite thing this week was…

• Enjoying handpicked strawberries and cream ......

What’s working/not working for us…

• Getting up super early and doing my bible study / blog  and exercise before Sir N wakes at 7 am.

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 will definately help me declutter.
• Thrown away 2 bags of paper from the office
• Sold - Nil
• Donated - Nil
• Returned to their owner - 1
• Running total = 3

Questions/thoughts I have…

• I am still on the lookout for a new blog design.  I have found one over at The Cutest Blog on the Block I think I might like. I tried it on my practice blog.  What do you think ?? There is something missing in the banner.  What do you think it needs ?  I want a rose themed background.  Can you suggest anything for me ??

Things I’m working on…

• Reading and researching the Old Testament.  I am in Leviticus now.
• My aim is to start working towards my goals.  I was given Wii Active and decided to try out the 30 day challenge.  Boy every muscle ached this morning ....  
• Just sent in our passport renewal forms this morning.  Can't wait.  Don't like the photo's. I must agree with my daughter passport photo's look like mugshots now ..... 
• Labels for my cables. 
• A Timeline of my homeschool journey.  This post has been inspired by the next post for the Aussie Not Back to School Blog Hop which I hope to have up by tomorrow afternoon. 

I’m reading…

• Despairing over the Household Allowance over at The Legacy of Home.
• Home is what you make of it over at The Legacy of Home.
• Sadly Whitney Houston passed away this week. Godvine featured her singing Like a Bridge over troubled waters.
• I think I'm turning Green over at Creating with Wisdom.  I love Vickys heart and balance.  Her posts are always full of great things to think about.
• Cultivating a heart for Motherhood - The Obstacles over at Grace Full Mama.

For my bookshelf ...

• I managed to pick up Have a New Husband by Friday for FREE for my Kindle.
• Rhythms of Grace for FREE for my Kindle. 

I’m cooking…

• Yesterday I tried a new recipe from my Simply Heaven cook book - Risotto Primavera. (Just discovered the book is available on line!)
• Some weeks cooking and cooking can be such a dreary thankless task.  I was inspired by this short post this week: The Kitchen Martyr over at The Legacy of Home.

I’m grateful for…

•  Strong christian friends who are like minded.  It's so good to go out together and enjoy life.

A photo, video, link, or quote to share…

•  "It is the duty of those who have the charge of families to look well to the ways of their household.  The affectation of state and the love of ease make many families neglected." - Mathew Henry

Blessings

This post is linking to:
Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and The Homeschool Chick pop on over to read what other homeschool Moms are doing.

Pinning it down {4} - Bread Bag Clip Cable Labels

Welcome to the third Pinning it Down Tuesday! Do you find yourself pinning projects to Pinterest, but rarely getting around to doing them? Do you need a bit of encouragement to make some of those projects come to life? Join Pam and Sarah every Tuesday for the Pinning it Down link-up, where we're making a Pinterest project happen in our homes every week. This week is hosted over at Pams

This week I decided to tackle something from my Organisation Board.  I really liked the look of the bread clip cord labels. The original idea is found at Apartment Therapy Label Cords At Both Ends for Maximum Organization. I am really pleased I finally did this. I just need to collect more bread bag clips !  I didn't have a permanent marker so I used my Letratag.  They have another interesting post titled: 10 Things you already own to Wrangle and Label Cords.

Blessings

Photo Collages done with the FREE software Photoscape . Tutorial over at Great Fun 4 Kids.


Are you ready to play along? Here's how our link-up works:
1. Choose a project from one of your Pinterest pinboards and make it happen. Blog a little about it. Remember, it doesn't have to be elaborate- we just want to see what you've been up to!


2. Make sure you link back here somewhere in your post so others can find us and play along. Feel free to grab our Pinning it Down graphic if you'd like to add it to your post. Also, don't forget proper pinning etiquette and try to include a link back the original idea whenever possible. We want to be sure that cool idea credit is given to the proper person.


3. Link up over at Pam's . Make sure you're sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address. You can add your link all the way through Friday, so if you haven't gotten a chance to work on any of your pins yet this week, you're not too late.