Travels in New Zealand and beyond, going back to 2003!
Term 4 in New Zealand is always a short and fast one. My youngest daughter gleefully reminded me that Christmas Day is fast approaching – and there’s me thinking that surely we’re still in September – but one look at our dog, on pick up from his pre-summer groom, and there’s no denying the festive…
Last week was one of those weeks when I was surprised from Monday through to Friday with the ideas and creations presented to me by my children. Alice woke up on Monday morning telling me how to make a lava lamp in a glass (she’d discovered this on YouTube) and wanted to know if I…
The past week and a half we’ve seen spring drift into autumn, with the weather pendulum swinging more erratically. Hot days, reminiscent of the record summer that we’ve had still linger, as the nights draw in, interspersed with sudden plunges in temperature and days of rain and wind. Our learning days are changing along with the season, as indoor…
We’ve all enjoyed some amazing learning experiences this week (as well as watching the last week of the Winter Olympics!). Here’s some snapshots from our two home educated learners and our school going daughter… Science I enjoyed an amazing experience at Victoria University’s science labs this week, with my 12 year old daughter. We went to…
It was such a mild Autumn that I wasn’t prepared for winter and its dark nights. I always struggle when there’s less hours of light in the day to play with. If I don’t get out for a day or two I feel like curling up in bed and not emerging till spring. It’s a…
The past couple of weekends have given us some calm, sunshine weather to get out and enjoy the outdoors, despite it being the onset of winter here in New Zealand. We live near the south coast of Wellington and since getting our puppy, in October last year, we have good reason to get out for…
When you get out of the habit of writing about the little slices of life, that make it worth living, it’s hard to know where to start. Everything I write, which means so much to me, will be trivial to others; but I share it all the same, as I’ve learned that there’s a wonderful…
It’s Friday. The weekend is nearly here, which means family time with the man of the house. It’s so much easier to keep all three of our children entertained when he’s at home. As much as I am enjoying having the girls all at home, I do have moments of feeling like I’m being held…
I’ve been reading a lovely book with Miss 3 about the way the Chumash Indian people used to live in Santa Barbara ‘The Chumash Through a Child’s Eyes‘. The book compares their life to our modern day life in a lovely way that young children can comprehend. On one page is a Chumash Indian child…
We’ve seen the groundhogs, (also known as woodchucks), playing peek-a-boo, we’ve stopped in our tracks as a little (or not so little) lizard dashes across our path (or up a wall of the house) and we’ve noticed the colourful, varied birdlife and numerous damsel-flys and dragon-flys. Living in a new country offers great opportunity for…
What a crazy couple of weeks we have had here. We’ve finally settled into the house we’ll be based in for a year. It’s very pleasant here – the climate, the people, the environment – tick, tick, tick… but after spending over a decade of our lives making New Zealand our home, we don’t have…
I was delighted to be asked to review a ground-breaking new iPad app, which has just launched on the App Store in the UK, called WriteReader. It is aimed at 3 to 10 year olds (and I have three children in that age bracket!). My children are absolute technology lovers, which I am okay with…
I like the term ‘natural learning’, rather than ‘home schooling’ – as over the last eight months we’ve definitely been doing more natural learning than creating a school like environment in the home. I didn’t enter into this as a choice from the outset – but a reaction to my child’s anxiety at being in…
We’ve had a really industrious week. A little planning on Sunday really helped everything flow this week (and the great weather has definitely helped with a positive outlook!). But though I planned ideas for different learning areas – I kept entirely flexible – gauging where there was interest and pursing only when I saw that…