Day 22

3rd November 2021

Ocean School

We started ocean school today!

We love all things ocean in our house. Big Attenborough fans, shark enthusiasts, loved ‘My Octopus Teacher’ (I think we’ve seen that one 3 times) and so we couldn’t wait to get in the water today.

The kids have done very little snorkelling which surprises me even as I write it.

The instructors were great & extremely passionate about the ocean.

We sat on our towels first up and learnt that we don’t know very much about our ocean. In fact, we know more about the moon, than we do about the ocean!

Then we learnt to breath in a special way, and we learnt what free diving was and ultimately, this will be our goal, to learn to snorkel & free dive!

Every week we will be in a new location & we can’t wait!

Moona Moona Creek
Our home school ‘class room’ for the day.

Moona Moona Creek
Deep Dive Into The Sea Book
We learnt some facts from this book. It’s great, I’ve just ordered a copy.
Pages from Deep Dive book.
We learnt the first deep dive was in the late 1920’s. William Beebe went down 923 meters in a steel sphere!
Goblin Shark Picture
This is a Goblin Shark – and it’s a real thing!!
Lincoln in a wetsuit hood
We lose 20% of our body heat through our head & Lincoln said the hood was SO warm. (Plus, that little face!!😍)
Mila after the dive
Mila didn’t want to wear a hood & was freezing. I think she’ll wear one next time.

floating down stream
Learning to breath & float like a leaf as the current took them away.

YouTube Time

Usually, we don’t allow the kids to watch YouTube. Thinking about it, I can’t even remember why?! Maybe because it’s unregulated, who knows.

Lately, we’ve been seeing YouTube in a different way.

Linc has stumbled over these Aussie guys who do some pretty cool things. Mostly, blow things up, crash things & destroy things. And most probably why he likes it! It’s silly & fun and he laughs a lot. 😀

Today they had giant balloons, all in a row and were seeing how many they could pop at one time using various things they would throw at the balloons.

We kept hypothesising about how many would pop & we just had fun hanging out together. So nice.

Watch Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyBimQmMZMo

Goofy Aussie Men

Next up, was another Mark Rober video. He designs crazy Halloween costumes using his big brain & some tech. They are really cool!! Too bad Halloween was last weekend.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOQws77j_6c

Skate Ramp

We told Lincoln about the skate ramp we’re going to build in the back yard. We kept it from him at first to double check it would fit, and was doable.

I would love to tell you all about the look on his face when we told him, but I can’t because,

LIAM TOLD HIM WITHOUT ME THERE!!! 😤

I couldn’t believe it!

I came to Liam with the idea. We kept it secret, while we planned it.

I thought it was obvious we would tell him together, as a big surprise.

Mila wasn’t even there!

I was really disappointed when Lincoln casually said,

“So, when are we getting the materials for the skate ramp?”

“Huh?”

I had to go to my room to sulk for a minute. And by sulk, I mean throw myself on the bed & cry. I know, I know, it’s not a big deal. But in that moment, it was.

He stole the moment! 😭

Linc came in & cuddled me, he said,

“It’s ok mum. Do you want to look at ramps with me?”

Dad came in with a cup of tea & a heartfelt hug. I knew he didn’t mean it, but really?

You told him? 🙄

Anyway, we moved on. (Moving on is a big thing in our house. Have your say, & then move on).

So, this is the ramp he likes because it’s a trick ramp. The half pipe is for ‘dropping in & pumping?? Or something? 🤔

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_drhVduMwY4

Magazines

I left them to it and headed out to get a skateboard magazine to encourage some reading. Lincoln is an excellent reader, but he never does and balks when I ask him to read.

A home school mum suggested I get him some mags and it hadn’t crossed my mind. I thought it was worth a try.

While I was there, I grabbed an art magazine for Mila and a cat calendar. Mila says she is going to be a crazy cat lady when she moves out of home. 😬 Yay.

I grabbed a rock-climbing magazine for Liam and then as I was leaving I got Mila a ‘Cuddles’ magazine. It was packaged and had some toys in it and a book and something else…I thought she would love it & as everything has been a bit ‘Lincoln’ lately I thought she should just have it.

Our house turned into a library on the spot!

Lincoln’s eyes bulged out of his head.

“What’s this?”

Mila saw toys & squealed, and Liam took one look at the image on his mag and said,

“That’s insane!”

And then you could have heard a pin drop for the next 30 minutes.

It was like a time warp.

Ah, what just happened?

I literally didn’t know what to do with myself.

Skate Magazine
He reads!! ✌
Lincoln reading
Cosied up in bed on a Wednesday afternoon reading a skate mag, no big deal. Home school rules! (When you figure out your children & stop annoying them with text books & work sheets).

Linc & Dad reading
Quiet as a tomb.

Mila discovering her book
Squeals of delight! If your kids aren’t reading. Take them to the Newsagency! (This one came with a little book about a dog called Lily)
Mila reading her magazine
Mila got so much of out this magazine & she’s not finished yet. Animal facts, quizzes, mazes, stickers, drawings. She’s so engaged.
Mila drawing
Drawing the Llama.
Mila's Llama
The necklace, eyelash & eyebrow were Mila’s own creativity & they’re my favourite part.
Lincoln putting on stickerss
“Skate stickers!!” Lincoln ran downstairs to cover his skateboard in stickers. He was stoked.
Mila's skateboard
One of the stickers was by Meow Skateboards and he put this one on Mila’s board as a surprise. She LOVED it!

No Plan = Heaven

In the afternoon, Linc headed out to skate in the neighbourhood & Mila had a friend over for a play.

Super fun day. 🌞 🤿 📚 🛹

I really don’t want to jinx it you guys!!

But 2 awesome days in a row is feeling pretty good.

Lots of learning, lots of plans. Lots of excitement.

I’m feeling calmer about the whole de schooling thing.

I’ve got the home school, un school, de school community on my side.

And life is good. 💜💜💜

The Challenge: Home school for 1 year while not losing sanity or love for children and/or husband.
Contenders: Mila 8yrs, Lincoln 10 yrs, Me (Mum), Liam (Dad), Pepe (dog)
Home School Days: 200

This blog was inspired by the film Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep & Amy Adams.

Julie decides she will take her love of cooking to the next level by cooking every recipe in Julia Childs French cookbook, in one year! 500 & something fancy, technical recipes!! While working full time!

Julie writes a daily blog about her time in the kitchen for herself & other amateur cooks who may, or may not be, reading along. You gotta watch it (http://thehomeschoolyear.com/about/).  Or read it here. (http://thehomeschoolyear.com/book)

I loved that she wrote every day. I loved hearing about her small everyday frustrations, with the recipes & with life. It really inspired me to throw myself into something.

The timing was perfect as we have just decided to homeschool our children as a lifestyle choice and I thought…Cool! A daily blog will be perfect!

There must be other families out there wondering if there’s another way to live? Another way to do ‘family life’?

If you’re here, then hello & welcome aboard! Please feel free to sit back & watch it all unfold. Put the kettle on & check in with us each night to see what went down and how we all got over the line. I’m sure we’ll find our rhythm, right?

Are you a homeschool family? If you’re watching the wheels fall off this thing, I’m open to your emails or comments any time. I would love them! I am very friendly, & I could use the help.

Ok, come hell or high water….I’m in. A daily blog, for 12 months. I’ll be right, here.

Kindly, Lisa x

Can we be friends?!

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