This week was organised to be themes based for the school kids. I decided that Alexander could have a go at doing the same topics and tasks as Eliza. Unfortunately it wasn't that easy as some tasks were watching videos on her iPad, writing stories or responding with their favourite part and just other tasks that really wouldn't suit Alexander so I ended up making most of a program for Alexander this week. But I also was intentionally trying to let go of the strictness of needing to get the work done when I asked them to. There was a feeling of 'If Mum says something, just do what I want to do instead' in the air. But I also know that it was the end of the term and the kids were quite tired so their listening and responding to me wouldn't be great but it was a bit hard at times when it felt the kids weren't listening to me.
Anyway, Monday was Geography day. Daniel decided that he wanted to wear his school uniform. It has been a long time! Good to see that it still fits.
While the big kids started work Alexander was keen to make more paper aeroplanes and throw and measure them. I tried really hard to just roll with what Alexander wanted to do, so we made paper aeroplanes and enjoyed flying them in the hallway. I was a bit excited because my aeroplane flew further than Alexander's this time. He again measured the distance using his hands and feet. He realised that his 2nd throw went further but the number was smaller. We spoke about why and he worked out that his hand is shorter than his foot.
Daniel spent the morning working on a journal entry related to pollution. He was writing about pollution at school and pretended that he found a bird that was caught up with pollution stuck on it. When he finished his writing I showed him that he had actually written a type of story. He had set the scene, written about the problem, described the problem and then solved the problem and lastly wrote a conclusion. He was quite surprised and did a little shy smile when he realised what he had done. I was very proud of him.
Alexander saw that Eliza was spending time on Google Maps to draw a 'bird's flight view' of our house. He then wanted to look at Google Maps and look at different places. A great way to waste some time on the iPad but he loved it.
He then watched some videos about emotions and had fun singing 'if you're happy and you know it' and then he drew a picture of what makes him happy and what makes him sad.
 |
| I like going to the beach and Daniel and Eliza do too. |
 |
| We went in the sprinkler yesterday and I didn't like it but Daniel and Eliza did. |
Alexander was then keen to play with his cars on the car mat.
Daniel finished his work by lunchtime so we spent the afternoon cleaning up his room (a large task). It was nice to find some old toys and Alexander had fun playing Rush Hour.
Tuesday morning Alexander and I led Mainly Music and enjoyed making Hippos for our Hippopotamus song. It was a bit more fiddly but the end product was really cute.
Being Literature Day I decided to organise some activities for Alexander because I didn't think that Alexander would be interested in many of the activities. After Mainly Music we sat down and read Pig the Pug together. Then I gave Alexander the challenge that he needed to make a toy tower like Pig the Pug made and then have Pig the Pug balance on top.
After his first tower he decided that he needed to make a taller tower so went and grabbed some more. It was intersting to see his planning. Covering the bottom toys with a blanket, then wrapping Flynnie around them. Eliza had finished her work so came to join him in helping build the tower.
Alexander then played with Bunny and Bunny drew a picture. It is nice to see him play on his own for a bit.
Next up Alexander made his own Trevor using a concertina so that he could become a long sausage dog.
He then made a paper plate Pig the Pug.
Alexander and I then played a maths game where we took turns to roll the dice and build our towers. After 5 rolls each we counted the blocks to see who had the tallest tower. Alexander won.
He then decided that he wanted to play with the duplo to make a house and helicopter.
Today I forgot to set alarms for the different zoom meetings so I accidentally missed Eliza's live hip hop class. She remembered with 5mins to go. My poor baby girl had tears because she really enjoyed this dance class last week. I apologised and she joined in for the last 5 mins. I then found a hip hop class on YouTube for her to do to try and make up for missing it. She did perform it to me at the end of the night which was nice.
Eliza had to make her most magnificent thing, based upon a book that she read. I love her creativity and am amazed by it. She straight away said 'I have an idea' and got a jar, a straw and started to rip up small pieces of paper. I had no clue what she was making. Once all the pieces of paper were ripped up, she got some plastic and cut a hole in it. She then made it into a lid and stuck it down. Eliza then came up to me and said that she had finished. She blew into it as told me that it was fireworks in a jar.
Daniel had a break in the rain to be able to go out and measure the height of some trees using a stick. Was pretty cool to see.
Alexander learnt how to draw Pig the Pug and it looked great.
Then Daniel and Alexander wanted to play the game that Daniel made based on The Lorax. He made it similar to the Very Hungry Caterpillar game that we have. They enjoyed playing together. I was impressed with Daniel's idea for setting up the counters for the game. We also enjoyed playing the game for our Tuesday Fun Night.
He was then keen to draw The Lorax using Art for Kids Hub. He did a great job including different shades to make it look more dimensional.
Wednesday was Creative Arts day for the kids. Eliza started with listening to her teachers read a bit more of a chapter book to them so Alexander started his day with watching Play School Acknowledgement of Country. Each morning at preschool they would do their acknowledgement of country but they haven't been able to while in lockdown and we haven't been doing it at home. So it was good for him to watch the episode and then we said the preschool acknowledgement of country together.
Daniel was a bit of slow motion this morning. He had a book to read and then a writing task to do but he just kept flicking through the online book. He then would scroll up and down the day plan. He wasn't able to focus very well and it was starting to frustrate me. Instead of getting too annoyed I got to the point of saying that he needed to do his own work. He could ask for help if he wanted but it was up to him to get his work done. He did eventually get there but it took a lot longer than it could have taken. Again, I think this was due to tiredness and it being the end of term.
Eliza's next task was to listen to Stickman and head out into the garden to then make her own Stickman. This was perfect for Alexander to do too. I got out our Stickman book and Eliza read it to Alexander. I do love hearing her expression as she reads.
Then they headed outside and gathered sticks, petals, leaves, twigs and grabbed some googley eyes and made their own Stickman and Stickgirl. They were very cute. There was some frustration from Alexander with the glue not sticking straight away but we worked through that and got there in the end.
Eliza added more detail to her Stickgirl so it took longer for her to make. So Alexander was given the challenge to find some things outside to make different shapes. He did well with making triangles (until the wind blew away his petals) and squares.
After recess was Music time. The kids needed a saucepan and wooden spoon. Again, another task for Alexander to join in with. They had a great time playing with the spoon inside the saucepan and hitting it on the outside. At the end of the lesson they called me over to show me that the saucepans made different sounds. We had a discussion about why that might be the case. The kids concluded that it was because one was smaller than the other and also thinner so it made a higher pitch sound when you hit it.
Eliza then wanted to draw Tower Bridge but Alexander wasn't too keen so instead he used Stickman (who was now mostly dry) to help sort some boxes of food into 'Sometimes foods' and 'Always foods' (a task that I then realised was meant for Thursday. Oops). He still had fun doing it which was good.
Eliza then had a live dance class with one of the teachers which she really enjoyed. Alexander came in and out of that, doing some of the dancing and then coming to the backroom when it got a bit tricky. He decided that he wanted to play SkipBo instead. It was a good game but did go a little bit long for his attention.
Meanwhile Daniel needed to do a tally and draw a graph based upon flower colours in his garden. At the start of the day I went to draw up the tally table and the graph to help his setting out, but then I stopped myself because I realised it was important for him to have a go and learn how to set out the work. I was so impressed with his setting out of his work! It was neat, it was clear and it was well set out. Good work Daniel!
Alexander spotted some bubbles so asked if he could have a play with them. As I was trying really hard to just go with the flow of what he was keen to do, I got them out and he had a blast blowing them, trying to catch them, chase them and pop them. Eliza also came out to join in the fun.
Daniel had to draw a sketch of a part of his garden. He went out and drew the magnolia tree. He was then super keen to do a time lapse video as he coloured it in. He is so his father when it comes to using technology!
I managed to do my first attempt of shoe shopping for the kids online, other than Bobux, who made the whole process quite easy. Daniel has been in need to shoes since heading to Hervey Bay but we just haven't been able to go to the shops because of lockdown. So I messaged Forbes Footwear and they were able to guide me in what size shoe he would fit and then I picked them up. They are a perfect fit! Phew. I was actually quite nervous about it.
James also hung up our paintings from our date night the week before. They actually look quite nice up on the purple wall. They make me smile.
Thursday was a PEHPD Day for the kids. Both grades went about it differently. Daniel had grid choices that he could chose which activities he wanted to do. For Literacy there were 2 that he needed to chose, Maths had 1 and the afternoon he needed to do 3 tasks. He liked having the freedom of choice and I was impressed that he didn't get overwhelmed by having many options. Eliza's teachers gave her set tasks to do during the day.
Daniel started by drawing a person using as many fruits and vegetables that he could. He did really well with his design and did manage to include many different fruits and vegetables. I also loved how he coloured in the watermelon using different shades and tones.
I gave Alexander the task of making a fruit a vegetable person using the play food from in the kitchen. He had fun.
Eliza needed to write a recipe for making a healthy fruit smoothie. She was not heaps focussed this morning and she wasn't keen to do writing, even when the result was that she got to make a smoothie. I was finding it hard because I would say to do one thing, she would then use the different paint tools to draw the beach on her iPad. I'd say that she could just do the work on her own because she obviously didn't want my help. She would get upset and ask for me to help. Then we would repeat the process. It was getting to me and I was getting frustrated so I ended up heading to bed again. Alexander came in asking me some questions and I asked him if I could have a cuddle. He came over and we lay there cuddling for a little while. It was a nice refresher and a good way to hit the restart button. I do see the power of a cuddle when things get a bit much to help you calm down. Thanks Bubba for giving me a cuddle.
We headed back out and Alexander set out his sorting from yesterday of sometimes and always foods. He did a pretty good job.
Eliza was then ready to make her smoothie. It was purely an Eliza recipe. She did a pretty good job and included most steps clearly. I loved that it had an Eliza twist at the end with a slice of orange and a strawberry on the side of the cup, like a cocktail drink. It got the thumbs up from the boys, although they did comment that it was a bit too strong with the Weet-Bix taste. Eliza thought it was perfect.
After recess Alexander needed to choose a meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) and then use the food catalogues to cut out food to put onto my plate. He chose to make a breakfast plate for me. It looks pretty tasty. I loved the sneaky addition of ice cream for my pancakes at breakfast.
He then joined Eliza in a task of estimating time. They needed to do an exercise for a minute, but they couldn't use a timer. She did a pretty good job at estimating and often got just above or below a minute. It was pretty exhausting jumping, dancing, running over 10 minutes to do the activity. I was impressed that they pushed through.
Daniel had a little dance class that he did online using coloured spots to help know where to put his feet. We did a few meltdowns because the colours didn't match those on the screen but we eventually calmed down to understand that they didn't have to match. It was just a guide in where to put your feet.
In the afternoon Eliza was keen to play a game so we played Blood and Guts. She was keen to play it because 'I can read now'. She did a really good job at sounding out the scientific words for the game and it was fun playing. She got the giggles when I had a challenge to burp the first 4 letters of the alphabet, which in turn gave me the giggles too.
Lego has also been a popular toy to create with over the last few weeks. Eliza has made cars, roads, a girl, shops, planes and just been really creative.
Friday was our last day of the week, and of the Term. I was keen to try and have it be a fun day and not too stressful. I had known that Eliza was doing bees for Science day so I was pretty sure that Daniel would be too. At 8:45 the day plan came through and Daniel's day was pirate based. Far out! I was looking forward to a day where all the kids could do the same activities. I had even pulled out some of the preschool ideas and worked out how the day would flow. Not anymore. I was a bit stressed but trying really hard to not let it affect the day. I was also nervous because Daniel's first task of the day was to come up with a storyboard, and we all know how the last time he needed to plan a story turned out. I gave him a heads up that he needed to do a pirate themed storyboard and he was pretty keen, which surprised me! He said 'I will make it like Oscar! Just not as long'. Clearly at some point Osc has done a storyboard and shown it to Daniel and that has stuck in his mind. Thanks for being an awesome and inspiring big cousin Oscar for Daniel to look up to. Really helped this morning.
Eliza started with the putty and needed to make a bee from it. I like that she twisted the body to help make the different parts stand out. Meanwhile Alexander was happy just playing with the cars so I left him to do that until he was ready to start the day.
For their warm up writing task I thought I would have them write a reflection from their home learning this term. I loved what they came up with - both Daniel and Eliza were able to recognise areas they did really well in and also identify what they want to try and focus on next term. It was nice to do this extra little task. Alexander also showed me how far he has come in his handwriting.
 |
| Alexander's reflection |
 |
| Daniel's reflection |
 |
| Eliza's reflection |
Daniel got right into the storyboard activity. He added detail to his drawings, he wrote his sentence summaries under each picture. It was so lovely watch him work on this.
Alexander and Eliza listened to some bee stories and then they worked together to help make some honey joys. I haven't made these in years but they were very tasty! Daniel was hard at work so didn't help make them (also he was learning about pirates, not honey so it wasn't linked to his learning) but he offered to pull them out of the oven when it was cooked. He did it really sensibly. They made the perfect morning tea for the day!
After recess Eliza had to do some writing so I came up with the idea for Alexander to make a paper bag bee. He did an awesome job with each of the steps and his bee looked so cute! We headed outside so that he could buzz around the garden.
I then used an idea from one of Alexander's preschool friends to hide photos of his preschool friends in the garden and Alexander and the bee needed to buzz around the garden to find the photos. He had fun.
Daniel needed to describe a pirate island. After he had written it I showed him how far he has come in his writing. His letters are well spaced out, his words are well spaced out, his letter height it great, he doesn't have any reversals, he realised where capital letters and full stops should be. There is just so much improvement happening in his writing.
Alexander and Eliza drew a beehive and then drew some honeycomb. Beehives are very cool!
Alexander enjoyed a honey sandwich for lunch too - continuing on the bee theme.
Daniel's last task for the day was to make a boat that could float on water. He had the idea of using foil because Noah sent him a picture of his boat. It took a bit of discussion to work out how to attach the foil to try and avoid cracks being in the bottom of the boat and water seeping in.
Eliza and Alexander got to watch a live zoom session about bees. They enjoyed drawing the blue bee. I never knew there were so many different types of bees around!
Alexander and Eliza finished their learning by doing Bee Cosmic Kids Yoga.
To celebrate the end of Week 10 of home learning and also the end of the Term, James and I organised for a kids grazing box from The Wooden Platter as a surprise for afternoon tea. Their reaction was the best! A lot of excitement. Eliza was keen for olives to be included but was ok with having lollies instead. The sweet stuff went first and the savoury things were able to be eaten at dinner time.
I made an acrostic poem for each of the kids about their Term 3 home learning and included that a couple of books each as a little home presentation for them.
They had a ride on the road, we dropped honey joys to some friends' houses in the street and then finished the night by watching the Bee movie. What an awesome movie! James and I had many giggles through it and the kids enjoyed it too.
I am so proud of their learning this term. Sure we have had off days and good days but the good days have far outweighed the off days. I have loved seeing each of them progress in different areas, I have loved seeing their creativity expand. I have loved seeing the light bulb moments when they get a concept or when they see the improvements they have made. Alexander's joy at writing letters correctly, Eliza's joy when doing groups of tasks correctly, Daniel's pride in his writing.
Each of these moments have been so special and would have been missed had they been at school and preschool this term. I have loved their reflection that I have been much more calm and happy this term. I have loved the giggles. I have loved their time riding out on the road, seeing friends ride past, chatting with them. I have learnt that I can come up with fun preschool activities to do (thanks so much to Google Searches and others who have posted awesome ideas!!), that I can be flexible with my schedule and ideas, the importance of student led activities, that a simple game of hide and seek with toys can occupy a 5 year old for ages and that I can help guide and teach when put on the spot. I have learnt that structure and programming for Alexander has really helped me stay calm and be prepared for the many times I'm asked 'what can I do now?' I have learnt that screen time is helpful but also a challenge for my kids, a distraction that they wouldn't have in the regular classroom so therefore I need to be patient with the scrolling and fiddling. I have learnt (but still struggle with the knowledge) that the kids will often know a faster way to do a task on the computer than I do and to try and let them go with their idea.
Overall these 10 weeks haven't been too bad. We have faired quite well overall. I am sad for the opportunities that the kids have missed through home learning - preschool photos, excursions, swim school, playing with friends, seeing their teachers, less time in front of the screens, chance to bounce ideas off each other. But I am also so grateful for this chance to help my kids learn, grow and feel loved and valued. We are ready for a 2 week break (although I am a bit nervous about not having structure and routine for those 2 weeks) and will then return for 4 weeks of home learning for Eliza, 6 weeks for Daniel and no idea for Alexander. Hopefully he will be able to go back and enjoy the last couple of months of preschool at preschool with his friends and awesome teachers.
No comments:
Post a Comment