Latest box of goodies...

In my favourites I keep two lists ~

1. Books for now

2. 2010 book list

Whenever I come across a wonderful book I add it to one of these lists. Recently I just ordered all my books on my 1st list for our 3rd & 4th term.

Our first box of goodies arrived in the mail this week and Joshua was the one who had the honours and the excitement of going to the bench and handing over the mail slip.

When Joshua arrived home he said "Mum, I had to sign my name and the lady said very beautifully done. I said hello to Pam and told her all about our trip to Malua Bay and Mogo zoo". Just thought that was so sweet!

Anyway back to the books. Here is what came in our first box of goodies and why I chose them ~ (hold on two seconds, just going to make a peppermint tea ~ would you like one?)

This is one of the books from the 'first discovery - music' series. It's a Illustrated book of the musicians life accompanied with a CD

The name of the book is quite obvious in why I chose it.
I was looking for a devotional that I can do with both Joshua & Grace. The book is based on biblical values which just appealed to me.

We do a lot of art & craft during the day and this book is loaded with a lot of wonderful ideas.

Just a tool to help me be diligent at providing poetry in our lessons...time will tell how it works, looking forward to it though.

Example of one in the book: Mary and James each work. One is a bricklayer. One is a skycap. the man is not a bricklayer. Who does what?

Next term we begin Galloping the globe as our geography studies. These two books are on the suggestion list to complement the curriculum.

The power of the dice.

Every night (nearly) while Grace is going to sleep Joshua and his Dad David play games with the dice, a game that Dave just invented, but Joshua just loves. The dice makes maths fun and interesting and also forces you to use your brains, which I just love. Yesterday for maths we had 9 dice on the table, I rolled one dice and Grace had to tell me the amount on the dice and she was good. For Joshua we threw 2-3 and he had to add each number on the dice which was so much fun.

We also revised our 2's and 3's times tables with the dice by simply placing the 2 dots up and adding one dice at a time, and Joshua being a visual and hands on learner found a lot of enjoyment out of his maths lesson.

I believe it is vital for the child to know what he/she is learning and not just memorize the facts; the dice was a terrific explanation that multiplication is just repeated addition.

A Journey to Italy...

"As evening draws near, and in the still air

a few clouds can be seen resting on the mountains,

standing on the sky rather than drifting across it,

or when, immediately after sunset, the loud shrill of crickets is heard,

I feel at home in the world, neither a stranger or an exile."

The lovely place we resided at whilst at Malua Bay was filled with plenty of wonderful written books and art work. Being rather fond of the Italian culture I was immediately drawn to this book 'letters from Italy'.

With a cup of latte and a gorgeous sunlit sitting room I began to read and literally was swept away with this writer and poet to the bountiful land of Italy.

Goethe completely captivated me with his writings and I felt as though I was on the journey with him, his use of words are so lyrical and poetic, I just drifted away.

"From the room where I am sitting, a door opens on to the courtyard below. I placed my table in front of it and made a quick sketch of the view. Except for one corner to my left, I can see almost the entire length of the lake. Both shores, hemmed in by hills and mountains, glimmer with innumerable small villages."

If you would like to read this delightful letter you will find it here -http://books.google.com.au/books?id=ioXNoJa6qNsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Letters+from+Italy+-+by+Johann+Wolfgang+von+Goethe&source=gbs_similarbooks_s&cad=1

Fun in learning

Today for maths I brought out a card game just to keep our lessons alive and fun. I feel as though 'fun' can be lost even with living books and maths books. Joshua loved this game and yes he did win, the little smarty pants. He was begging for more which is a definite sign that your child is having 'fun'. The sums are very basic but the game encourages you to add and take quickly, a great game to get the brain going in the morning.

Grace had alot of fun practicing her counting and writing her numbers with these lovely cards. First Grace matched together the puzzle then count the amount of animals and their colour. Then on a piece of paper Grace traced over the numbers 3 times each which she says "this is my favourite".

Also for Grace we have started a

Just beautiful...

I stumbled across these absolutely delightful snow leopards and just had to display their beauty on my blog.

Quotes from Queen Elizabeth II

Born: 21st April, 1926.

Queen since 6th February 1952

“To what greater inspiration and counsel can we turn than to the imperishable truth to be found in this treasure house, the Bible?”

“It's all to do with the training: you can do a lot if you're properly trained.”

“Work is the rent you pay for the room you occupy on earth.”

“Grief is the price we pay for love”

“Like all the best families, we have our share of eccentricities, of impetuous and wayward youngsters and of family disagreements.”

"The upward course of a nation's history is due in the long run to the soundness of heart of its average men and women.”

“I cannot lead you into battle. I do not give you laws or administer justice but I can do something else - I can give my heart and my devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.”

Remembering Pentecost

Sunday May the 31st was the day on the Jewish calender when Christians celebrate Pentecost. We spent the day reading about this phenomenal event in the book of Acts and reading some wonderful articles dedicated to this day.

One revelation that struck was Pentecost is the Israelite Festival of Weeks - a "week" of weeks since the Passover. It was a time when they thanked God for the gift of processed grain. Isn't that incredible, people coming together to celebrate food, I could just imagine the streets filled with people dancing, singing, playing their instruments and bringing praise to God.

In the morning we went upstairs and put music on and danced around bringing thanks to God for all His provision and for the wonderful Holy Spirit.

The afternoon was spent preparing our evening meal.

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Main

Roast Lamb with garlic & rosemary

Roast Chicken

Roast Potatoes, sweet potatoes

Roast Pumpkin,

Honey carrots

Steamed Broccoli & Cauliflower

Dessert

Home made Apple pie with cream & ice cream

We were expecting guests for this evening but they had to cancel due to having the flu. As a family we don't normally eat red meat but the roast lamb was embraced by all the family. Last time I cooked a roast lamb would of been at least 8 years ago, but I have to say it was delicious.
The apple pie was just scrumdilyumptious!!!