Two weeks in......

Well its been two weeks, maybe three since we commenced school for the year..
I have tried to keep the school load as light as possible.
Some subjects are progressing quicker than others, but I am placing no pressure on Brid. She is working at her pace.
This workload leaves Brid free to warm up and stretch before her daily ballet classes.
We are working with another family, exploring Art & Artists. Its not only to learn about these Artists but to have girl time with a close friend. That's so important in the world of ballet. It can be extremely competitive.
Brid is reading through a gorgeous book she chose at a Catholic bookstore in Melbourne, certainly not on any lists, but she's enjoying it, nevertheless.

  Its full of wonderful wisdom although it is pitched at the older teen,its certainly a great inspiring book that she'd recommend. The best part for me is that she chose it, not me. Makes me proud.
So with a balance of school load and allowing her plenty of down time after Ballet classes, a good nutritious diet we have settled in well to our year.
Its bound to get quite busy, as the eisterfodd season is upon us.
This year Brid is attending a big Competetion, AICD. Its a chance to win a Scholarship to a prestigious Ballet Summer School in Houston USA. Just to enter will be amazing experience, no matter the outcome.
We are still trying to Keep God as our focus and At times, I must confess this can be difficult as the world creaps in. So spare a prayer for Brid as she enters these Competitions. Her intention always is to dance for God.

How is your year going so far?
  

Last part of 2013 in snapshot.

Well here I am again apologizing for not checking in.!!!
I 've tried to keep up with all our friends different posts on Blogger.

Its been totally mad around our home since last August.
I haven't been able to find the time to blog.
September saw Brid do her Ballet exam. She scored well and was awarded a Highly commended. The 2nd top result in the scoring system. She had a calf and shin injury, therefore, she couldn't do small or large jumps ( Petite and Grande Allegro).
We were ever so proud of her.
After the exam, we worked with a Bowen therapist to realign and correct connective tissue. Yep- You heard right. Amazing work.
This was a major success.
We holidayed in a little cottage 8.7 kms out of Dorrigo. Such a pretty and relaxing place. We walked, talked, lazed and reconnected with each other. Its been a very busy year.
Brid attended 2 eisteddfods following our holiday, she attained great results and danced her first modern expressive- choreographed by herself. Critiqued by her Jazz and contemporary teacher.
Once school holidays ended then began the hours of concert preparation. Brid says this is her favourite term. She loves learning new dances and assisting in choreographing.
somehow, between all this we fitted in school work. How I don't know. !!
We even managed a fortnightly Shakespeare gathering, reading and discussing Romeo & Juliet. This later turned into Art appreciation lessons with the same family. Loved the company and enjoyed the experience. It will happen again this year.
Meanwhile, We took it in turns to drive Brid to Ballet. We began car pooling with another family. That took off a little pressure.
I reconnected with several life long friends and family member after a sad incident in September. Its been lovely keeping in contact.
During all this busyness and mundane life, we purchased a puppy. She is adorable and much loved by us all.
The Christmas production Of Cinderella was drawing near and wow was it going to be good.
Brid was cast into 5 different dances, She was pumped and up for the challenge.
We tried to prepare our hearts and home for Christmas amongst all of this. It wasn't the most well prepared we could be, but we ket giving over every day and challenge to Our Lord.
Brid continued to attend Youth group and has some lovely friends and has enjoyed the company of the youth leaders.
We said goodbye to our Central coast Holiday house. Its being sold. So sad, the end of an era. Brids' been going there since before she was born.
Its been quite an emotional roller coaster of a journey for us all this year, learning hoe best to support Brid through several difficult peers at Ballet. She has made many good choices and learnt so much about herself, who her friends are and how Friends and family can be there to lift her spirits.
So that brings us mostly up to date with last year 2013.. Of course,  our faith was the underpinning of our reactions and the source of moral judgments.
Dermot and I celebrated 10 years for our computer company. That's quite an achievement in these days. We decided to give our clients a little hamper of things we liked. A useful box, wine and glasses, coffee and mugs, lovely tea, chocolates and assorted goodies all presented in cellophane and individually delivered to each of our clients. We chose every item ourselves and carefully wrapped it all. Brid helped by writing and printing the cards.
I'll share some more news soon.
 


 

Its that time of year again ....

                                       Well our holidays are nearly at an end.       Sadly.

As you would have been in the post above, We have worked pretty hard to get a plan for 2013 school year together.
Brid and I throw a few ideas around and then we had to see how it would all fit together.
This was important, but couldn't be done until we had our ballet timetable.
So now we are set.

Next week Brid will begin her Ballet classes.
The following week, our schooling will begin.
But you know, learning still goes on, as many of you are aware, Brid just chose different types of learning. Art, drawing, reading, watching history programs and documentaries.
So after two intense weeks, one with Our Lord at a Retreat and this week at a Ballet summer school, we will return home ready to enter into our new year refreshed and invigorated.



 

A science day...or ...two

Today instead of being on holidays Brid began her school work...well only Science really. Everything else is on track...She worked very hard last term to be in that position.
She has not been looking forward to it as she thought it maybe very hard...Maths, numbers , science mixed together = hard to Brid.
It was all she needed to do. So she nuckled in today and began, and nearly completed a whole module. She not only enjoyed it but Dermot and her had a lot of fun discusing various questions.

It gave her enormous confidence, so much so that she sped through and has only a module test to do tomorrow.
It was just lovely seeing and hearing her face and her voice as she gained more and more confidence until finally, "Mum I have finished the study questions". Wow. Well done honey..

Why did I ask her to do this module in the holidays? We missed 3 and a bit weeks of school last term. That was OK, but she has 3 dance/ ballet concerts to rehearse for, so I thought the less subjects she has to do the better.
It also will be lovely to have December free so we can enjoy Advent the build up to Christmas.
Now to put on paper the things we will do throughout Advent. !!!!!



 

Maths- our journey

I have often wondered how would you write a post about Maths. Well my friend Sue has  encouraged me to write my own story.
I was never a wonderful Maths student. I was however, great at reciting my timetables . Great. At least I could do that. Then I was taught in the learn thing by Rote era.
So I wondered through my High school years. Do I need Maths?  My Dad always said, “Yes, you will at some point”. I couldn’t see it all.
I had 2 great teachers in my early high school years. Both enthused me and explained Maths theories very well. We even had conversations about real life with one particular teacher.
Then I hit my HSC years- oh no, all that confidence that had been instilled in me had gone. I would put my hand up. “I don’t understand”. He would explain it the same way he did before. And he was my year 11 & 12 teacher; he was the teacher, who would teach me all I needed for my University entry. My heart sank, I told Dad, He tried to have me placed in another class, but “no that wasn’t possible Mr P’’.  A tutor.  It helped a little.  So between my Dad trying to teach me, a friend and my tutor, I achieved a lousy HSC score and I deemed myself useless at Maths.
And then I started my  Nursing career . Before we were let loose on the wards!!, we had preliminary training school -PTS. One of the topics was Maths and another Chemistry. My head said how can I pass these.  I needed to achieve an 80% pass in them both. I did -with lots of hard study.
Then I realised many drugs and IV drips, need to be dispensed using various Maths Formulas. Machines do it for you now, but I am pleased I can still work that formula out just incase.
Body fluids needed to be measured and estimated.
In Delivery suite, I needed to count the hours of Labour and then break them into 1st, 2nd and 3rd stages using a 24 hr clock.
I needed to know statistics as these are spouted by learned Drs regularly.
In Nicu, I needed to use micro measures. Everything is triple checked as the doses are so very small.
So I thought I would never use Maths, and actually I have used various areas of Maths extensively.
It is Ok to ask someone to help me work out a formula a few times, but I needed to really understand it myself, because I was accountable for every Dose of anything I gave to a patient.
So what has this to do with Homeschooling  well.....We have had an interesting  journey with Maths in our family. Maybe many other families have similar stories.
As some of you know our older children attended the local Catholic schools. I was super diligent with their Maths homework, making sure they were learning and understanding.
Each of them had grasped Maths in different ways.
Louise was good at Maths until she had a Maths teacher who she didn't gel with, no amount of Coaching would help her. My heart sank again, the system has failed her, like it did me, What can I do to help her....
When she was choosing her subjects for Year 11 & 12, she said "I won't be doing Maths". It isn't compulsory in Year 11 & 12- (although in Australia Religion is compulsory in Catholic and Christian Schools).
It wasn't until she began her Uni degree- Teaching- that she needed to know how to teach Maths in various different ways. So all of a sudden Maths was important to her. By now she owned it.
Kristie &  Kieran were quite good at Maths. I was relieved. Kristie got good grades and enjoyed learning new concepts. She was homeschooled in high school and eventually achieved Maths to Algebra II. It was by this stage a struggle, but she was determined to get the certificate!
Kieran had an amazing aptitude to Maths and was always quite clever with it. He was very self directed when we homeschooled him. After returning to the school system he achieved a considerable score in his HSC.
Brid is a different story again. I remember the older Children being quite noisy when I was trying to teach Brid a new concept. Division !!! We eventually went into my bedroom and worked on the topic together. It was quieter in there.
Once she got the concept she was pretty pleased with herself and wanted to share her findings with her siblings.
We have used Tradition teaching Methods with Brid using bought curricula. We have recently, started using Maths Online. We liked what we saw, and Brid gained great scores. It certainly enforced what she had learnt with another curriculum we were using.
The timetables and numbers skills have been great for her. Timetables have been an issue for her, so the fun she has with her Dad, beating each others 'best', has improved this area of her maths.
We will continue to use a curricula for this area of learning.
Dermot is rather good at Maths. He can’t understand my anxiety. He has always helped the Children and occasionally helped Brid if I can't. I have worked alongside Brid to encourage and assist her in every way I can.
So what has been your Maths Journey, has it influenced your children and their enjoyment with Maths? Yes here in Australia, we call it Maths.
Although I was not the best Mathematician, it made me very careful working out formulas and dispensing any medication.

I wonder what Brid will do with her Maths?

This weeks highlights

This week is the second week of term 3 here in NSW, Australia.
Its been a much more  relaxed week.
Our highlights for this week would be._
Brid started reading Literature for young ladies list. Beginning with St Catherine of Sienna. It also saw us begin our unit study on St Gianna Molla.
Brid attends Girl Guides on  Monday night and its always a great night for her.
We changed Brid's Piano lesson to lateTuesday afternoon. Not sure if it will work, but we can only try. She is playing very nicely and as Brid has a really good ear for music, she is now needing to practice her sightreading. Its coming along nicely.
Tuesday also saw us Celebrate the Feast of St Anne & St Joachim. We made a Chaplet and prayed this after dinner. I already posted about This.
This also saw us outside replenishing our vege patch ready for planting.
Wednesday saw us researching and looking into Bunnies. We have been offered a bunny, so I gave Brid the challenge of doing all the research into the breed, the cost, what we would need, etc. We are now patiently waiting for the next litter.
Every month on a Wednesday is a Mothers and daughters encouragement night. It is a highlight of the month and one we both look forward to. It makes Thursday a little slow for us to start as one young lady is tired from the night before.
Brid has decided on Ballet and Jazz exams, this means extra lessons. As its her initiative she is quite enthusiastic.
 Every Friday Brid is attending a photography course, run by professional photographers. There are 2 classes being run, one for the primary ages and one for the teens. The teens are having a great time together. There is about 8 teens, and they appear to be enjoying themselves. Us Mums drop them off and go to the local coffee shop for the morning. Great way to end the week.

This week also saw us with no hot water !!!!!!  I noticed the water was luke warm through the week. So I had a look at the tank, and saw water pouring out of two holes in the base. Time for a plumber. Lucky, we were able to get our plumber out the next day.
It was also fortunate that the tank was outside, as the ground was quite mushy underfoot. So todat Friday, I had a lovely hot shower.   
So we may not have gone very far, but we have had a rather big week.
  

The Annual Poetry Recital

Last Friday of last term, we were privileged to attend the Annual Poetry Recital for the our homeschool area.
It has been run for several years and it has become quite popular. This year there were  41 poems to be recited. One poem per person. The children's ages were from 4 through to 16.
Some were so cute, others dressed in the theme of there poem, others read from there prompts, and still others read in public for the very first time.
It was exciting, because our venue has been, in the past, a community hall. It was a  lovely venue, but this time a Gallery in our main City Library had been secured.
What  an amazing venue. A homeschoolers dream, as there was a library to pursues afterwards.
So the scene was set, 10am, everyone assembled to watch there children recite there Poetry. It was quite a wet windymorning, so it was lovely to be in a heated facility. We had two young comperes selected, and they did an amazing job.
Brid had been writing her own poetry during the last 2 terms. She had been looking closely at different meters and rhythm of poetry and imitating these. We studied Poetry with another homeschooling family, and the girls bounced off each other and encouraged each other in there writing.
So when it came to selecting a piece it was pretty easy. Brid practiced this piece and recited it to us. Dermot & I  kindly corrected any flaws in her presentation.
With this piece in hand, we waited for Brid's turn. Everyone was reciting and not reading there poem, some were quite a few stanzas. I became worried. Brid had been reading hers. Oh the girls younger than her are reciting much longer pieces. Maybe I could whisper in her ear to try to recite it without her paper in hand. She was several rows in front with a toddler on her lap.
Her name was called,  her copy of her poem landed in my lap.
Oh wonderful I thought. Then what if she forgets her lines.
Just pray Leanne.
She did not only recite it word perfect, but her diction was spot on. You see there were a couple of words that needed to be said perfectly because they were key words.
Dermot & I were so very proud. Why did I worry, she wasn't nervous, she was very confident.
Praise God.
A lovely morning was had with lots of Mums and some Dads beaming with joy after there children had recited there poems.
The young teens all encouraged each other and the girls all hugged each other. The little ones were scooped up by loving, proud families members and friends. It was a lovely atmosphere. Lots of laughter and goodwill filled the room until it was time to go.
We headed down the stairs but nothing could keep us from scanning the shelves of the well stocked library 2 floors below. We all headed away with books in arms, with the rain subsided and the afternoon ahead of us, we headed to acquire the goods we needed on my to get list.

Literature and Young Ladies......and more

We are  in process of sourcing books for Literature for young ladies- I stumbled across these again, not so long ago.
When I originally saw this list on Serendipity, I started dreaming. Oh, that would be good to do, but how would we. We have so much more to do. It just didn't fit into my box. But now, it does.
God has slowed us / me down, he has refocused me.
I secretly dreaded the high school years , so much more intense. So much pressure on me as an educator to get every box ticked.
Then the pressure cooker popped- or exploded. Or maybe it was a revelation from God. Slow down Leanne. Stop comparing; let her do it at her pace. That is how it has been for sometime now, its comforting for me.
So back to our reading list.
I showed Brid the list and her enthusiasm was amazing. She perused the list, put her own list together of books she wanted to read. It was a solid list. Realistic and thoughtful.
When I restudied the list, it included many books I desired Brid to read in her high school years.  We will work at Brid’s pace.

We have placed the books we already have in a basket. This is our reading basket.
There are already a few other books from her medieval and religion books in the basket. Each book was picked together, from various sources, including this one and this one.  oh and this.They all fit beautifully together.
Such richness to all the content.  
So what have I learnt?
Let go and let God. He was working it all out anyway. Where was my trust in him.

A day in our unusual week

It’s a bit of an unusual week this week, because it’s so wet.  

I have been spending the week reading a new homeschooling book. “A little way of Homeschooling.   It’s been quite inspirational for me to see like minded homeschoolers. The revelation that came to me, was we do have a homeschooling style. Yeah!!
Long gone are our work books and structured curriculum.  Brid still likes to have her desk organised for her work..
Our days still have routine because that’s the way we like it. 
Ok its 8am and the Christian radio news is just been turned on- or not.
Brid has fed the cats and is dressed.
We are opening blinds and waking up the house, putting washing on.
It’s close to 8.30 by the time we all have finished breakfast together, just in time for piano practice and my computer/ironing / cleaning time. Dermot is in the office and is beginning his work day.
We gather for prayer around 9am, as Dermot & I have our very important coffee date with  Our Lord.  Brid decides between, her religion reader or improving her handwriting with a verse from the Gospels.
Maths is Brids only fixed subject. We have always done this together, but of late I have tried to back off and just be around in case I am needed.
It’s now morning tea time, for Brid- although its really just break time- and around about this time Bailey, our cat, likes to come back inside, so we make a big fuss over him.
It’s cold, so we stop any pursuits and make a tee-pee in our fireplace and light it. Brid can now light the fire by herself. We usually gather up our wood for the day at this time as well.
We moved to this home close on 2 years ago, it is 40 mins out of the city, so we don’t go in to the ‘city’ very often. We have adjusted to being in our home and our little community now.  We have quite a big homeschool community, in our area, so we can tailor our outings to our needs.
Brid says what shall we do next, and at the moment we have a couple of topics we are looking at. So that’s where we go next.
This is the time of the day, we have a milo made on warmed milk.  Yummy.
Brid is reading a novel. The Yearling at the moment. Several discussions have flowed from this book. We look at the time 2 o’clock. Is it lunch time already? Left over homemade Pizza together.  
After lunch Brid retires to a project she is getting her teeth into. She is re creating a time in medieval history on  a program on the computer. This then led us to looking at Horrible histories DVDs and there website.  A print out of her work was necessary, for Brid, to show Dad when he came home.
Brid then decided she wanted to share her horrible histories discoveries on her blog.  
At the end of a busy day there is none better than sitting and watching a movie. I am knitting trying to inspire Brid to knit too. Somehow it’s just not her thing.  Our calm peaceful late afternoon was disturbed when I noticed we were out of milk. So we made a list and off to the local shop to purchase a few necessary goodies, including our milk..
Usually we would all eat together, but I told you it’s an unusual week. Dermot has an afterhour’s job in the city, so Brid & I eat dinner later. We pray for Gods Guidance and protection on this wild rainy night for Daddy.
So when did school start and finish, it’s sort of been a bit grey for some time now.