ART: Water Colour Pencils

Today I taught the boys how to use Water Colour pencils.  

They chose animals from the One Life documentary movie.

I helped them sketch their outline (so it was big enough to paint), they then set off colouring it in with water colour pencils.  We spoke about technique and the way these pencils work and how you can put layers of different colours together to create new colours.. remembering not to put too much colour down so it would not bleed when wet. 

Here are their photo inspirations

Snow Monkeys

Grass Cutter Ant

Here are their coloured sketches

Here is the water overlay finished products

Both boys REALLY enjoyed this project and it will hopefully be repeated for other subjects.

What I learned is finding the balance between "helping" and "doing it for"  - I let them do most of it but felt by doing the first sketch their finished product would be something we all loved. 

Both boys want to frame and hang their work!

Week 5.. whoa!!

OK so life is just steaming ahead and I can not believe we officially are week 5.. seriously?  

I am finding we are only having maybe one full day at home without having to go out.. we are certainly not house bound!

Im now getting my head around this whole amazing lifestyle we have embarked on and the boy are settling really well into the work they have to do.

I sit and wonder how it compares to their education lifestyle they certainly work hard and its satisfying to see them get through their book work and for us to all stop at times have really amazing conversations about random aspects.. and then for their answer to be so profound and so deep in general knowledge.

I have AWESOME kids.. seriously!

Highlight for me was my eldest making a Lego Pyramid to reflect what he was learning in Maths

Today was a HUGE day.. blessed.. I have been the lucky one to score some resources from a teacher who is on long term parent leave and could no longer store her amazing array of folders full of primary Literacy and Numeracy resources.  WOW.  Just enough OCD labelling to please even my quirks and all will be amazing for my boys.  As a result I had to have a move around and add extra shelving so our playroom go a huge move about.. it works so well!

Weekly we go to the Library, self defence class, swimming, meeting other home ed families, boys club and Sunday school  

Never a dull moment here!!

The week goes so fast!

Wow can't believe we are nearly at the end of week 3 (suppose its really only been 2 weeks as the first week was part holiday part preparing)

This week we have done our usual Maths and English book work and I have been researching some supplementing with printable sheets off the Internet that complement the subjects they are covering.

Reubyn is learning about Telling the Time.  

Gruffyn has been learning some basic Algebra learning that A + B = C is the same as C - B = A  

Both boys got their first spelling lists this week.. we are a little disorganised and unfamiliar with drills for spelling (neither boy has had to do this before) so instead we are just trying to incorporate the words in our standard work.  

We found an awesome game at the charity shop called Don't Rock the Crocodile 

Its a wood crocodile with wooden sticks and discs.. you roll a dice with stick and discs symbols that determines what you must put on the crocodile.. you take it in turns and try not to unbalance the items already on the crocodile.  

We had a good borrowing time at the library we all learned how to find books in the library.  Their NON Fiction section still uses the Dewy system which I remember growing up learning with the old index cards.. now we just do a word search to get the number.  We are going to be studying Volcanoes and the Earth's layers.  This will tie in with a unit on continents.  

I have found a great way of displaying research is a LAPBOOK.. never heard of this concept before getting involved with online Home schooling sites so when I learned this new concept I got just a little excited.  

Here is an example of a Lapbook:

(photo borrowed from http://teachingmyfriends.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/lapbooks-and-cheesecake.html)

its basically an old fashioned project on card but with a funky addition of it being a bit scrapbookish with flaps, envelopes, 3D objects etc.  

An AWESOME  keepsake I think!

The boys started Self Defence class on a Monday night and it was very much like a boot camp but the both boys LOVED it.. came home exhausted but wanting to go back next week!!

Reubyn tried out a HipHop class at our local PCYC but it was full of girls and he really felt out of his comfort zone.  Shame because he loves dancing.

Friday nights the boys have Boys Club run by a local church and just for boy in year 1-6 of primary school.