Homeschool - Term # 4 ... 2013
Below you will find a collection from both Noah and Cahil's work from this last term; outlining the highlights and most enjoyed topics covered...
Exploring History - researching the First Fleet and cultural changes to the indigenous . . .
We watched some youtube clips about the first fleet and captain Arthur Phillip to get their little thinker's thinking. A rough copy later, they were on their way to final copy as a bibliography of the explorer. The boys enjoyed this task thoroughly - and spent each lesson discussing what they were learning.
We were lucky to come across an amazing historical aboriginal site ... the Gubulla Munda snake totem in the town of Ayr. A sacred aboriginal burial site that houses buried elders from the late 1700's. | We talked a lot about the Indigenous and how they were mistreated when white man invaded their land. We read biographies of the aboriginal elders and learned about their enslavery, death and imprisonment. | The boys drew pictures of the indigenous - how they saw them in the past, and how events from the past have changed their fascinating culture over time. |
Celebrating Halloween . . .
I highly recommend this app for school work - it's fantastic for recapping, recounts and re-enactments of historic events.
The boys seemed to grasp the learned information so much more with the visual of the cartoon re-enactment.
Our night finished with scary story telling by torchlight.
Creative Arts . . . shadow & light
Creative Arts . . . Louis Wain - visual art
We researched a well known artist from the late 1800's - Louis Wain. He was an English artist best known for his humorous drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphised large-eyed cats and kittens. In his later years he may have suffered from schizophrenia which is evident through his drawings over time. We found interesting information about his life and documented our findings in a Biography layout. | |
We used chalk pastels to sketch and blend colours to the likeness of one of Louis Wain's famous drawings. This particular drawing we chose to attempt was an image Louis drew at the turning point of his onset of schizophrenia. Watch the you tube footage above to see a gallery slideshow of his pictures, as they turn from delightful - to very psychedelic and odd....? |
Maleny Dairy Farm . . .
English concepts . . .
Our first step was to pull apart a character from a well-known fairy tale... I chose the story 'Rhoald dahl's Revolting Rhymes' as it is a favourite book with my boys.... a collaboration of well-known fairy tales told with a rotton twist.
Christmas cheer . . .
Snowmen are a favourite Christmas icon for our family, so we decided to do some creative writing about a melted snowman. Story board planning is always helpful with creative writing. | A little bit more snowman indulgence took us to making these adorable little melted snowman decorated cookies. The kids had so much fun with their cousins Rayne and Elih, making and baking.... They turned out great!...and yummy! |
Rayne attempted to make a snowglobe before we arrived.... it wasn't successful in terms of the glitter moving slowly, so we researched how to slow water down. Glycerol is a low viscosity liquid that apparently slows down water (but its actually sold as a laxative ...Hehehehe - giggling with hand over my mouth) |
And on that note, I will leave you with a visual snippet of our latest hail storm pic's from yesterday...