an update - lest May slip away without one

May has come and nearly gone and little has happened. Well lots has happened but most people think nothing has happened because we're not in a school! Stylish has been playing her internet game,Spikee has been doing puzzles, and I have been longing to sew MORE than I do.

I sewed a quilt cover from $5 second hand material bought from vinnies, and Spikee loves it. And Stylish is really starting to understand the whole sweat shop thing, and when we're opping - or Op Shopping - she is always reading labels and telling me that the people who made this item are exploited because they were in a factory in China! That's sucha  huge step for her, I'm so proud.

She is also starting to understand my refusal to purchase slave chocolate. AT this point she is moaning about it lots, and trying to cajole me into forgetting about it. For example, a muffin she wanted had a sliver of mars bar on top of it, and I said she had to get another one, so she did - but she protested.

We've had a couple of trips to the museum - on week ends! And it reminded me of one of the best reasons to homeschool ... venues like the museum are EMPTY on week ends! We're also heading for Queensland in July, and I'm going to book my trip some time next week! YAY!!!! Stylish is very keen on seeing green tree frogs while we're there.

a trip to the museum

We went to the Australian Museum for the day yesterday. They currently have an exhibition called "WHEN MAMMOTHS ROAMED" showing so we went to check it out. It was fantastic!!!! I'm really interested in pre-history stuff like that so I was in my element, and I think the kids accidentally enjoyed themselves too - possibly feeding off my enthusiasm. Naturally I took plenty of photos. Stylish really did absorb a lot

They had a mammoth with lots of windows over various parts of it, labeled. And underneath the sliding window it showed what that body part was used for. I must say that I found this part really interesting, and very timely! We've been talking lots about using the whole animal that you kill, rather than just eating the "nice" bits and throwing the rest away. And the mammoth exhibit really highlighted this to her.

Spikee loved the dine-dongs (AKA dinosaurs) and talked late into the night about the movie they have where a big dinosaur eats a little dinosaur. He also loved the play area for 0-5's with a fantastic wooden tree house and lots of little wooden animals and people. Owing to the fact that we visited on a weekday (one of the many advantages of homeschooling) the play area was deserted! So he had it all to himself. He really loved looking at the big mammoths in the exhibit too, so I took his photo with the little one, I also took a photo of the tree house.

The other exhibition we saw was a climate change one. I was looking at one part of it when I noticed that I had lost Stylish ... I found her READING EVERYTHING SHE COULD! She has NEVER read anything at the museum! She loves the drawers of insects and bugs in the Discovery room, and always pores over them reading their names and taking notes about them, but actually reading an exhibit is a first for her! She must have read every word IN it, and was really interested in it all. There was an interactive table with a game on it where you select a country, and are given various environmental problems for different areas (logging, agriculture, waste management etc) and multiple choices to make into policies. Then you get to see how it impacts on that country's financial situation, and the popularity of the government, as well as the environment. She spent ages doing that. it was very well done, and quite funny, but it really got her grey matter into gear!

new musical beginnings!

Stylish has begin learning to play the recorder! She is learning to play 'Mary had a little lamb'. This is somewhat hindered by the enthusiasm of Spikee! So today we bought him his own tambourine and maracas, but he still wants the recorder! I think we'll wait til next time he's asleep and we're both energetic and wide awake, then give it a real whack.