ITS A MATTER OF "BALANCE"

I am generally not a fan of computer games - basically I can't see the sense of sitting in front of a screen playing something for hours on end when there are so many other things I would far rather be doing with my time, until we were introduced to the Wii (thanks Dean and Cindy) For Mothers Day I received a "family" present of the Wii with the Fitness and Balance Board. and I just love it. I have even cancelled my gym membership in favour of doing my workout at home on the Wii. I still don't like the games per say, but I don't play those sort of games. I do an aerobic workout, balance games and a Yoga session and it even keeps track of how much exercise I have done, and a graph of my BMI and weight. What I also really like is that the balance board shows you how centered your balance is and the areas you need to work on. Now I know it isn't like going to a Yoga class but I am doing Yoga daily which was one of my goals for this year and I certainly wasn't doing that with my gym membership. To add to this Paul has found a new website which has weekly (I think) free yoga video's. - I have only had a quick look so don't know much about it yet. For anyone interested you can check it out here. The Wii has brought up another type of balance issue and that is how much Jordan can use it. I don't want the Wii to become an obsession so last night we sat down and combined with his new calender (more about that in a minute) we made a schedule for Wii days. Jordan decided on his own that he needed days where he didn't play the Wii so that he can continue to develop his imagination which he might loose if he plays too much on the Wii. For the most part, when he does use the Wii, Jordan will play bowling (which he loves), tennis or running which he also loves but he is allowed a limited time of also playing Mario with his Daddy! Technology and computer games are a part of our society and since his father is so computer orientated with his line of work, he is exposed to computers constantly so I can't keep it from him but I just want to find a nice balance.

I might add, I had really really sore muscles from playing tennis one evening it is that realistic

Finally I am starting to feel like I am getting the hang of homeschooling. I think I have just relaxed and stopped pushing myself to have something prepared perfectly everyday - this is what homeschooling is all about, right! In fact, the more relaxed and flexible I am about it the better it seems to go. I was staying up until 2.00am to make sure I had everything prepared for the following day then I would be so tired that I was cranky and it wasn't fun for either of us. Montessori style teaching which I endeavour to follow for the most part does require lots of materials but I am putting different things together slowly and remembering to enjoy the ride and the time we are spending together.

So out of this new attitude, Jordan's calender was developed - it happened initially because Jordan wanted to know how many days to his birthday but it has become so so much more. I have made one up specially for him and we now mark off every day. He knows when special days are coming up, when the school holidays are because he has coloured them all in and we have marked his Wii days on the calender so he knows without asking which days he is allowed to play. I have been doing "Today is.... and what sort of day is it today, sunny, rainy etc" since he was about 3 on his blackboard but because Jordan is crossing off the days on his calender, it is all making so much more sense to him, along with the days of the week and where they come in the week, month, year etc.

If anyone would like a copy of my calenders (the calender part and the picture heading are separate - you just have to put it through the printer twice) I am happy to share them. Our calender picture is of dinosaurs (free from "enchantedlearning") but you could add anything as your heading picture to make it relevant for your child.

So here is a flavour of what our days have been like on homeschooling days for the past couple of weeks.

shapes and fractions from match sticks


painting numbers

snack for Jordan

cuppa for mummy

making a boat from the bike ramp that fell apart (yes, it was mummy's effort!)

 

Playdough fun

Noun game

This was our noun game and we had so much fun with it. We were learning about nouns and the different types of nouns, then finished off the lesson by playing a game. Firstly Jordan went and put arrows on as many nouns as he could with the arrows he had around the house and I had to go and find them. It was then my turn to put arrows on the nouns so I tried to find an example of the different nouns and Jordan named what type of noun it was when he found the arrow. The exception to this was the "idea" noun which is a bit tricky for him to understand at the moment.

My aim is to spend the afternoons doing some sort of physical activity if Jordan is not involved in one of his imagination games.

I am learning with every step of the homeschooling journey, not just the process but actually learning things myself. It is a journey I would never have envisaged a couple of years ago and I am not sure where it is headed but I do have an inkling it will be far more involved than it is at present. For the moment though, I am remembering to stay relaxed, enjoying the time it gives me with my gorgeous son and remembering to smell the roses along the way.