The kids continued adding to their Big Book about Me.

Our organic vege box arrived this morning while Danielle's speech therapist was here, so Nathan started unpacking it and discovered a cool new fruit that we hadn't seen before. Google told me it was a Custard Apple - well, something told me to type in custard apple and there it was...;) And yes, it really was heart shaped.

After lunch they disappeared out to the sandpit for a while.

I then joined them down in the garden and both helped remove large weeds as I dug them up. We talked about how the soil in the garden bed we were digging was particularly good because of the high number of worms in each forkfull. It tied in nicely with a book on Dirt that Nathan and I read about yesterday. As I was digging, Danielle spotted a "new" insect we hadn't seen before. Nathan identified it as looking like a cicada. Upon checking out our Life-Size Guide to Insects it indeed was a cicada, but was a Nymph - and they live underground for at least 3yrs before climbing a tree at dawn and breaking out of their shell.

We read more library books...rainforests, a little chapter book that Nathan read half of to me, a Korean folktale and got part-way through an autobiography about a boy growing up in Communist China.

More on time

Nathan's been building and working on understanding how to tell the time for a few years now. Today I felt that he was ready for me to take it further...and that knowing how to count in 5's would probably help in understanding how the minutes work (he's aware of o'clock and half past and when it's a few minutes to the new hour but hadn't made the connection to much else).

He was hanging out watching the dialogue clock on the stove while waiting for it to be time to go and visit some friends who would be finishing school at 3pm.

First up I wrote out a list of numbers counting in 5's and asked him to see if he could find the pattern.

Then showed how those 5 minute chunks related to the clock face.

In the car on the way to visit our friends he wanted to know how much was 100 hours. So I said it was just over 4 days. "Wow, how do you know that?". So I explained how each day is 24hrs, two days is 48 hours and how 4 days is 96 hours and that that is almost 100 hrs. So 100 hrs equals 4 days and 4 hrs.

Knocked down but not out...

Nathan woke during the night complaining of a sore throat that by morning had progressed to fever and muscle achiness...he snoozed on and off till mid afternoon when his fever broke and he perked up again. I can't recall the last time the house was quiet for so long and had both children in it at the time!

Danielle seemed a bit lost without her playmate but found some things to do and came and showed me this picture she'd drawn. "That's you with sandflies biting you, and you're wearing warm clothes".

Then she wanted to create a house under the table and directed me to find things to help her create what she had in mind.

Danielle then went off and created a book called "The Big Book About Us" (I think she got that off Blues Clues that was on this morning). She asked for Nathan to contribute to the book - the poor fella really wasn't in the mood but drew a picture - a tiny little body lying down and he told me that was him sick lol. I did notice later though that he'd added a "Nathan running" picture and dialogue. Danielle's picture has swings, a slide, see-saw, me balancing on a ball (love the detail on the ball), a crocodile and a bumble bee.

A friend dropped a movie in for us that they both watched and enjoyed.

As Nathan started to perk up and I asked him if he wanted to play noughts and crosses. So we had fun playing that for a while. Unfortunately I'd picked up Danielle's notebook to use....oops.

I then showed Nathan a new online maths game I found over at Steph's Ordinary Life Magic (just as well for the inspiration of fellow unschoolers on days like this!). Nathan really got into it and I found when I wasn't quite available to help as he wanted (while I was cooking dinner) he managed to master a few levels he didn't think he could.

(I still get surprised at the end of a day when I've felt very uninvolved in what the kids have been doing, that learning can occur even when I take a day off myself...)

An afternoon with friends...

What started out as meeting a wee friend down at the park after lunch...followed with an ice-block...then followed by coffee back at our house...then moved on to a glass of wine for the mummies (while the kids painted Nathan's aeroplane with dad, got into dressups and rode the scooters)...that lead on to an impromptu bbq dinner (the first of the season!).

Great fun!

(The aeroplane that was built in the morning and later painted green and yellow - he said it was a World War II plane).

Making rocket ships from the weekly vege box.

Assisting with cooking (Danielle loves to peel herself a carrot and slice it up for a snack).

Nathan got out some English workbooks yesterday evening and surprised himself at how "easy" it was for him now to spell the words required.

Playing with friends and went to sea scouts (the Kea's group) on Monday for a looksie.

I took Nathan to visit the local Water Treatment Plant yesterday, so we had a bit of a tour around there for 1.5hrs. The man showing us around thought he might be a little young to get much out of it but I assured him that I would probably get all the questions later. We got back to nannie and grampies afterwards to pick up Danielle and he excitedly relayed to them what he'd seen. Interesting how some kids don't need to be intently looking and watching what is being talked about but still "get" the info (he stood right next to me the whole time, but spent much of it wiggling, moving, spinning and I do wonder how he would get on at school with that need to move while learning). Is distracting for the speaker though so I tried my best to still him at times. Next I'll need to jack up a visit to where the waste water/sludge goes off to which was the next part of the process from what we looked at.

Can't believe it's been 5 days since I last posted!

Last Saturday the kids wanted a picnic out on the front lawn, so they both set out a mat and plates etc.

Sunday and Monday were spent hanging out with dad, visiting friends, dinner at nannie and grampies, bike riding and watching more of Wizard of Oz before it was due back at the shop. Nathan's been continuing to add to his copy-written story from the Thomas book and Danielle's been writing me more love letters. Both of them can play Whosit on their own now and did really well.

Yesterday afternoon Nathan went to play at a friend's house and Danielle and I went down to the mall for a few hours for a coffee (and her a fluffy) and shared a slice of cheesecake.

Been lots of reading of library books...

Today we looked at one of the books on Mixtures and Compounds.

First up we looked at what a mixture is opposed to a solution, so mixed salt with water and it became a solution whereas sand and water are just a mixture as they don't combine.

We then chose an experiment to show how felt pen colours are a mixture of different coloured chemicals that are able to be separated. The red didn't separate (which I'm guessing is because it's a primary colour), whereas the black and green looked great as time went on.



We then attempted separating via evaporation. Apparently lemon juice, which is a solution of citric acid and water should evaporate and leave the crystals behind. We just ended up with a sticky syrup (that the kids enjoyed torturing themselves by licking even though it was about 10 times as sour as usual!).

Watching a spider devour a live fly was of interest this afternoon as well - ewwww....

Mountains have continued to be interesting, and today Nathan took it to the sandpit (again!)...two mountains with a valley between them with a river and trees only growing partway up the mountain that was snow covered.

Danielle building her own mountain.

On the trampoline with additional items "surfing".


More egg hunts to find where the chickens are laying their latest eggs and investigating chicken footprints in the sandpit (Nathan drew a map to help find them) and then Danielle drew herself a map and I could here her navigating herself around the house, front yard and back yard to locate the eggs too lol.

Races around the house using the timer from one of the boardgames.

Reading: A Secret Seven book by Enid Blyton

Nathan's becoming a keen and confident reader and sat and read for 15mins and got halfway through The Cat in the Hat. Danielle proudly told her speech therapist this morning that "Natey's been reading Cat in the Hat to me, it's written by Dr Suess!".

Watching: The Wizard of Oz.

Getting all excited over the vege box that was delivered.

Meeting with friends and forming a tribe, collecting wild weeds for food, making tools and furniture.

New books from the library: Nathan's requests included Mountains, Rain Forests, the Water Cycle, Wahine disaster and Praying mantis' (after our encounters during the week). Danielle just grabs random books of all types - love these, as we end up with books that I might not otherwise I have chosen or thought of. I got a sideways look from the librarian when my card went over its limit - so I instructed Nathan to hand his over to get the rest of the books out lol.

Continuing on with the domino theme using the library's cushions in the kid area.

Waiting for me while I chose some adult books.

Discovering new words from an interesting story with lovely descriptive language: ravine, abyss, gargoyles, meddling, apprentice, cauldron and hue to name a few.

Grocery shopping - seems to always motivate Nathan to write up a list of items to ensure nothing he wants gets forgotten. He then wanted to read out the items for buying from my list - only problem that the way I write a list isn't logical so it frustrated him that he couldn't just run his finger down the list telling me what to buy since we weren't in the right department at the time!

Helping me chop up some plantain and pouring in the apple cider vinegar to make a tincture.


We were checking out an awesome huge full moon tonight, with a beautiful clear sky (there will be a frost overnight) - shame I don't possess the photography skills to take a good shot or one that does it justice though! It was amazing watching it pop up from behind the hill and in a matter of a couple of minutes it had come up completely.