A little seed for me to sow . . . (Pretend to hold a tiny seed.) A little earth to make it grow . . . (Stoop down and touch the ground.) A little hole, A little pat . . . (Pretend to dig a hole; plant seed; pat earth around seed.) A little wish, And that is that. (Hands in prayer position) A little sun, A little shower . . . (Make sun with hands; use fingers to create rain.) Another wish, And then --- a flower! (Hands in prayer position; cup hands together like flower.) Week 1 Snippets from our week... We started off this month with a week of revising, finishing off outstanding work and working on self directed projects. I find it helpful to occasionally schedule in a 'rest' week, where we don't introduce new concepts but let them 'sit' for a bit. It's also a nice opportunity for me to plan ahead and for the boys to spent solid days in play or on self directed projects. Mr 7's November calendar So this week saw lots of electronics tinkering, learning about how motors and engines work, and outside play in the sunshine. Electronic tinkering Deep in free play Making our own compass! We spent lovely hours together working in the Spring garden, getting things planted before the hot summer days arrive. Making biodegradable newspaper planting pots Picking berries in the garden Yum! The best strawberry year we've ever had <3 Harvesting the garlic Hehehe its a radish bum! Week 2 Snippets from our week... Number 6 This week we explored the Number 6, using a mix of Earthschooling's Sixth Sense Math (found ) and The Gnomes Gemstones stories (found ). Story: The Gnomes Gemstones (Chapter 6) TL: MLB Letter 6 TC: Story Puppetry TR: MLB Skip Counting by 6 ML: Walking the Number 6 MC: Modelling the Number 6 MR: Exploring shapes with 6 sides BL: Skip Counting by 6 using the multiplication wheel BC: Learning about bees and beehives BR: 6 tastes like... honey! yum! Music This week we began the first lesson with our pentatonic flutes. We are loosely following Jodie Mesler's program 'Music from the Heart' . A sweet little short story from introducing the flute can be found . A good rhyme for holding the flute can be found . Some extra stories to accompany lessons can be found . Week 3 Snippets from our week... Letter S This week we explored the sounds of the Letter S using the Grimm's story 'The White Snake' a version of which can be found . We found the letter S in the snake. Story: ‘The White Snake' TL: Story Puppetry TC: MLB Picture Alphabet (S is for Snake) TR: Letter Practise ML: Wax-resist Letter S MC: Modelling the Letter S MR: Walking the Letter S BL: S tastes like: strawberries! BC: Alphabet Bunting BR: AUSLAN Letter S Science For something different this week, we collected native seedpods on our nature walk and studied the different types. We then used them for seed pod pressing and painting, which was not particularly successful for printing, but a lot of messy, painty fun that the boys enjoyed :) In the Garden We welcomed 4 new ducks into our 'family' - 2 Indian Runners and 2 Elizabeth Ducks. A big weekend planting the new juniper shrubs on contour. Week 4 Snippets from our week... Letter Y This week we explored that tricky pretender, the Letter Y, using the well known story of 'Jack and The Beanstalk', finding the Letter Y in the giant ogre's yawn! A version of the story can be found . Story: ‘Jack & The Beanstalk' TL: Story Puppetry TC: MLB Picture Alphabet (Y is for Yawn) TR: "Magic" Beans! ML: Letter Y practise MC: Modelling the Letter Y MR: Walking the Letter Y BL: Wax-resist Watercolour Y BC: AUSLAN Letter Y BR: Alphabet Bunting We planted the "magic" scarlet runner beans around this bean teepee frame! Science This week we participated in the 2015 Wild Pollinator Count, which we only just managed to do on the last day of the count as every day had been very windy, wet or overcast. The day we finally did the count was also rather cloudy and breezy, but it was now or never! We had fun identifying different insect pollinators and tallying up the numbers at the end of our count. Handwork & Artwork Mr 7 made himself an art easel! Watercolour painting together <3