How delicious!

Those who receive this award are of the sweetest nature. They are kind, friendly, funny, loving, eager to share their love for Jesus with others, and brave in their efforts to reflect Him to this darkened world. They are the kind of folks you're blessed to know, even if it's only in the bloggy-sphere.

Words of Affirmation is my primary Love Language. That's why I love receiving your comments so much. They make me feel wanted and needed and well...yeah...loved. It's the way I am. That's why I am so humbled and gratified when you say nice things about me. I may not believe them, but that's another story.

An absolutely huge thank you, therefore, must go to my friend Homeschoolmum4Christ from Homeschooling4Christ, for presenting A Peaceful Day with the True Heart Award! I feel incredibly honoured and slightly overwhelmed! If you saw me some days you wouldn't think I had a sweet nature at all. I do love chocolate hearts though - does that count?

After considerable thought, I'm passing the True Heart Award on to the following terrific bloggers, who I do believe meet the lofty criteria listed above:

Richele from Barefoot Voyage.

Richele is a true kindred spirit. I value her friendship highly, and her blog is one of my daily must reads. I fret if I don't hear from her for a few days.

Ruby from Mumma's Place.

Ruby and I share both a Reformed faith as well as similar approaches to almost everything else. She's still singing the Scottish Metrical Psalms, but I try not to let that colour my opinion of her...

Sarah from Eternity in your Heart.

A relatively new blogger, my friend Sarah really does fit the definition for this award. She's kind, friendly, funny, loving, and eager to share her love for Christ. She is one of the happiest people I have ever had the privilege of meeting.

Homegrownkids from Kerugma.

What can I say about this incredible lady? Homeschooling in Australia would truly grind to a halt if it weren't for her. She's an administrator of almost everything - take time to take a good look at her website and follow the links! Thanks for all that you do for us. You're a wonder.

Sue from Living and Learning.

I love living vicariously through the pages of Sue's blog. Life's sometimes hard for this lovely lady, but she never lets anything get her down. The love she has both for Christ and for her beautiful family in evident as you browse the pages of her blog.

That's five. There are heaps more. Like the ladies I gave the "One Lovely Blog Award" to. I still really appreciate all of you too. You'll find them under Awards in the sidebar. Oh, and Laura and Emma who gave them to me... and...

and...

...and you too!

Thanks everyone.

Motherland

A gorgeous May Gibbs cover for the Department of Health's Handbook for Mothers, current from 1931-1959.

Love it.

Freedom and flexibility

School holidays have started in our neck of the woods.

From today, and for the next two weeks, we'll have school kids calling and knocking on our front door wanting Jemimah to come and play with them. There are holiday clubs to choose from, new exhibitions opening, and lots of things to occupy small children for much of everyday until school resumes. Television schedules have even changed so that kids can watch kid's TV all day if they want to. Wow.

The problem is, we don't follow the public school schedule. It's still school as usual chez nous.

Well, it should be anyhow. That's what my yearly schedule has set down for the week commencing 28/06/09...

The reality is somewhat different.

Jemimah's very bestest friend in the whole world, her cousin, P, is staying with us this week. These two girls are two peas in a pod. P is public schooled, and is very much looking forward to discovering what Jemimah's homeschooling day looks like. The plan is to school them both together. I'm hoping that her appreciation of Jemimah's day will give Jemimah something to think about. I'm hoping that P will be impressed and that this will rub off on Jemimah. Here's hoping...

From tomorrow, P's daddy and little brother, M, are arriving. My brother-in-law is our IT guru, and he's planning on ironing out the inevitable glitches that have occurred since he gave our computer an overhaul and installed I.E.8 while we were on hols. I guess that means that I'll get M to entertain as well.

On Thursday we have to travel the 3 hours to Melbourne for a funeral. On Friday we'll be coming back home.

So how much work are we going to actually get done? Only time will tell, I suppose. It doesn't matter, really. After all, it is this freedom and flexibility is what makes homeschooling work for our family.

Our general overview is three 12 week Ambleside Online terms followed by one week of exams and then a break. We plan breaks to fit holiday observances, special family events, Daddy's work schedule, and extended family holidays. When Daddy gets a rare day off, so do we. It works this way.

If we then had to schedule in school holiday breaks, then we wouldn't get much time for actually learning.

Like everything else, there are advantages and disadvantages to both methods:

Advantages:

1. We aim to finish school be the beginning of November and break until after Daddy's Christmas-New Year holiday. This way we can spend time enjoying the lead up to Christmas (yes, this RP gal celebrates Christmas - sorry Ruby and Lucila) and frolic in the early summer weather before it gets too hot. We would much prefer to be inside in airconditioned comfort during January and February.
2. We actually finish our term's work before we break rather than fitting our work into somebody else's schedule.
3. We take a short break if and when we need it. Sometimes to prevent total meltdown, we schedule a long family holiday at short notice.
4. We don't need to take school holidays into account when we plan our vacations. We visit family in the UK for a couple of months every three years. What would public school think of that, eh?
5. We have every second Friday afternoon free to travel to Melbourne. (Actually, we have most afternoons free, but we use the Friday ones.) We couldn't take Jemimah out of school every Friday, could we?
6. We can factor things like funerals into our schedule with the minimum of fuss. We wouldn't want to do it too often, but then again, I'm hoping we won't have that many funerals to go to.

Disadvantages:

1. Disruptions like this week. I'm planning on turning P's visit into an advantage though...
2. We have to plan carefully in order to fit school holiday activities into our school day. We do VicSwim every morning for three weeks in summer, for example. We actually enjoy this though, since it makes those days a bit exciting, despite having to do school into the afternoons.
3. Our system wouldn't work if we had other children in the family who were enrolled in public or if we attended a homeschool group of some kind. We don't...

Actually, I can't really find many disadvantages at all. That's why our system works for us. I'm aware that there must be some, though, or otherwise all homeschoolers would do as I do, and let's face it, you don't. Not all of you, anyhow.

So what about you? Break or no break? Follow the school terms or not? Long summer holiday or school year round?

It's over to you, girls. What do you do?

Iconically Australian

The Art Gallery by May Gibbs from Snugglepot and Cuddlepie 1918

It's impossible, I think, to compile a list of Classic Australian Children's Literature without including May Gibbs' The Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie. Her gumnut babies are iconic - like Vegemite, or the Hill's Hoist, or a Four'N'Twenty pie. They're a unique part of what makes us Australian.

Her expressions have entered our National vocabulary too: "Stone and bone her"; "Rack and crack him"; "String and ring him"; even "Deadibones as a doorknob" - our language would surely be the poorer without them. Certainly our family's speech would.

It is difficult to walk though our Australian bush without finding evidence of the gumnut babies, their hats and their skirts lying discarded under the gum trees, and those big, bad banksia men, eyes open and staring menacingly at everything. You can even see their scribbly writing on the trees!

To me, May Gibbs is Australia's Beatrix Potter. A childhood without either one would be unthinkable.

The Tales of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie is her best known book. It's A story about the eponymously named gumnut babies, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, on a journey towards Gumnut Town. Their fantastical adventures and strange travelling companions, like the anthropomorphised kookaburra or Mr Lizard, make for exciting reading - a world where good always triumphs over evil - as it should.

May Gibbs wrote lots of books about the Gumnut Babies. Read as many of them as you can.

We read the first three books in the Snugglepot and Cunnlepie series in AO1. The three, entitled: Snugglepot and Cuddlepie; Little Ragged Blossom; and Little Obelia are available in one volume called The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie by Angus and Robertson. It's a beautiful book. We read another of the series, Scotty in Gumnut Land in AO2. It doesn't matter which ones you choose; they're all good.

Although not so well known as Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, our very favourite Gumnut Baby story is The Story of Chucklebud and Wunkydoo. If you read it aloud you'll know why - it just sounds good, that's why! Here's a teaser...

Now, these little Nuts were the most inquisitive little Nuts that ever sat in a gumtree. All day long they went about saying 'Why?' and 'How?' and 'When?' and 'What for?' till their parents grew quite tired of answering them and even the Bush Creatures would hide when they saw them coming, or pretend to be deaf.

One day Chucklebud said to Wunkydoo, 'Oh, I do wish I knew a lot of things.' 'So do I,' said Wunkydoo. 'Everybody knows something,' said Chucklebud. 'But nobody knows everything.' said Wunkydoo.

As they talked, a breeze swayed a leaf on which they were sitting, and away down in the valley they heard the voice of Mr Wackasmack, the Kookaburra.

It was a loud voice, and they heard quite plainly what he said.

This is what they heard:

'There's some thinks they know a lot, and a lot as knows they thinks some, but nobody knows what I know because I never tell.'

Chucklebud looked at Wunkydoo and Wunkydoo looked at Chucklebud till their blue eyes grew very round; then they nodded and put their faces close together till their small noses touched.

The breeze swayed the leaf again, and again the voice of Mr Wackasmack wafted up from the Valley. There were no words this time, only a low chuckle.

The blue eyes of Wunkydoo twinkled. 'Shall we go?' he whispered.

'Yes,' whispered Chucklebud.

Get a life

If you read this month's Australian House & Garden magazine, you'll be able to meet Christine and David and their children, 15 year old Sophie and 11 year old Ben. The family live in a beautiful home in Sydney with every available mod-con. Like 44 audiospeakers and... wait for it...

...11 televisions.

11.

So, what's life like with 44 audiospeakers and 11 TVs? Here are some quotes from the article to give you some idea:

"We wanted music in every room, but different music at the one time, so the kids could have theirs and we could have ours," says Christine. While the couple has eclectic tastes, which run from Beethoven to the Rolling Stones, Sophie prefers artists like Beyoncé and Pink, and Ben loves rock group Linkin Park. The family's differing TV-viewing habits also reinforced the need for a multizone approach.

Okay, got it.

"I wanted to be able to sit in the swimming pool and watch the cricket," says Christine.

Right...

As well as a TV, each (living) hub has its own DVD player and amplifier, while three have a Foxtel set-top box. The remaining three bedrooms each have their own DVD player and a TV.

I could go on, but I won't. To be honest the whole article horrified me. What are these people thinking?

We do own a television. One. You can see it in the pic. We absolutely love our family movie nights tucked up on our sofa with slice of take-away pizza on our knees. Jemimah has some favourite DVDs too, and she loves to watch these while we have our weekly homegroup friends over on Wednesday nights. It's a much anticipated treat for her. She cuddles up under a rug and has a lovely time.

Generally we're too busy living life to have time for television. Mostly you'll find Jemimah outside in her cubby, or weeding the kitchen garden, or swinging in the swing, or climbing trees, or jumping on the trampoline. On rainy days you'll find us working together on a jigsaw, or reading books, or baking and eating the result, listening to music...together, or talking. In this way we interact with each other. We communicate. We get along together. We have fun as a family.

Christine and David, what are you playing at? You don't even seem to be able to watch television together - you're not even in the same room! Get a life! Get outside and have some fun. Together.

So what is your opinion on television? Do you have one? Do you watch the ABC with no ads or do you have Pay TV with all the hundred extra channels and lots of football? What works for your fam?

Are Christine and David wrong or am I? Or is there no wrong?

I can't wait to hear what you think.

Just a little bit rude...

...but a whole heap funny...

If any of you have bothered to watch my Thimphu slide show carefully, you'll notice a photo of colourfully decorated house. Most of the buildings in Bhutan are decorated in this way, with symbols of special significance. Swastikas, floral patterns, whirling clouds, and mythical animals are most common.

The design I want to draw your attention to is the one on the centre of the wall...see it? Variations of these are everywhere too...

It's a picture of a...well, never mind...this is a clean family blog. Let's just say that in our culture we'd probably refer to it as a fertility symbol - a male fertility symbol. (Is this tactful enough? I hope so.)

Jemimah found these pictures very, very funny - as only a seven year old girl could, I guess.

I am telling you all this because I want to tell you something amusing. When kids are young, they say funny things all the time. With Jemimah - she of the long words and large vocabulary - these times are becoming rarer and rarer - which is why this exchange was so priceless...

Her (excitedly): Oh mummy, M (her 5yo cousin) would absolutely love Bhutan. It would be his very favourite country.

Me (curiously): Why would M like Bhutan, do you think?

Her: Well mummy, M just loves doodles.

Me (tactfully): And why do you think that, darling?

Her: (conspiratorially): Well mummy, he's got one you know!!

Hmmm I think we'll leave it at that.

Thimphu slideshow

Someone I'd like you to meet

Recital dress / haiku 15x20cm

People call me many things - not all of them flattering, I'm sure - but nobody would call me creative. I do, however like to surround myself with creative and artistic friends - my husband, for example, or my mother-in-law. (You can see one of her mixed media embroideries here if you scroll down a little.)

One of my very good and incredibly creative friends, Jeana Marie, has just done something really exciting. She's launched her very own Etsy store! Now she's what I call creative. Right now, she's also what I called excited...drunk on adrenaline excited...dancing around the house with her husband excited.

It's Jeana Marie who created the beautiful miniature dress in the picture above. I'm sure you'll agree that it's covetously beautiful. It is also the very fist listing in Jeana's store.

Do pop along and take a look. You'll find her at unbecominglily.etsy.com.

Jeana Marie also has a deliciously beautiful blog that I follow religiously. If you go and visit her soon you'll have the opportunity to enter her very special give away.

The four little petticoats in this photo are destined for Jeana Marie's shop later this week. The littlest one on the right, recital dress / haiku is already there. Jeana Marie is offering visitors to her blog a chance to win one of these dresses, simply by leaving her a comment telling her which petticoat they like the very best and why. Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

Do pop by and visit - and if you do, tell her I sent you, okay? That way I might get a chance to win one of these beautiful dresses too.

Three Wise Monkeys

This is a photo of Jemimah's Daddy and two Bhutanese friends. Her Daddy is Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil. On the left, Jigme is Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil. On the right, Sangey is Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil.

For those of you who, like me, wouldn't recognise the stuff if they were crouching in a field of it, our sanzaru (wise monkeys) are crouching in a field of wild marijuana.

The Bhutanese call it 'pig feed' and, yep, you guessed it, they feed it to their pigs. No drug problem at all.... or so they say...

P.S. One more Bhutan post and I'm finished. Hope you're not too bored.

Smarties

MEP maths is even more fun when the counters are Smarties!!

A novel idea

Oh, I totally want a set of these gorgeous penguin mugs.

I'd get these ones:

Country Life - blue
A Room of One's Own - purple
Pride and Prejudice - orange
Jane Eyre - orange
Nineteen Eighty Four - orange
The Body in the Library - green

Note the combination of great reads and good colour design in my choices...

Which would you choose to make your set of six - or would you get eight? Do let us know!

MEP 101

So you're intrigued by the idea of MEP maths. You've read my blog posts and you've decided to take the plunge. After all, it's free - what've you got to lose? So far so good, but what do you do next?

In a departure from my usual blogging style, I'm going to walk you through the process. It seems so simple, but you can't believe how confused some people seem to get when things are simple...

So choose your starting point:

What is MEP anyway?

MEP stands for the Mathematics Enhancement Programme. It is a maths curriculum developed by the CIMT - Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching - at the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom. It is currently undergoing trial in British schools.

MEP is free for non-profit use and while not specifically designed for home schoolers, the programme works well with a little modification for a 1-on-1 teaching style.

You'll find the programme at their website.


What makes MEP different?

This is from the MEP website - adapted slightly for homeschoolers by moi. You can read the original on the Primary information sheet linked below.

• It has very high expectations of teachers and pupils.Maths is taught in an integrated subject in a spiral, ever widening curriculum through the Primary years, with continual revision of facts and concepts.
• Lessons are highly interactive and have many activities.
• The logical foundation of mathematics is stressed, with correct, concise mathematical notation and language used at all times.
• Visualising mentally and through the use of models and manipulatives, and relating concepts to real life situations where relevant, are important aspects.
• Creative thinking and critical evaluation and discussion are encouraged.

Most importantly, MEP aims to make all pupils mathematical thinkers and to make mathematics lessons challenging and fun for both teacher and pupils.

You're interested in learning more about MEP.

• Join the MEP-homeschooler's yahoo group moderated by the amazing Carol Hepburn and ask lots of questions.
• Read the Primary information sheet.
• Watch the video of how it's done in Hungary where the programme was first developed.

You don't know where to place your kids.

This is always a bit of a challenge. I just started Jemimah from the beginning. If you've already begun maths using another programme, then this is my two-bob's worth of advice...for what that's worth...

• Print off the Scheme of Work. This shows you exactly what MEP will be covering and when.
• It is better to begin at the start of a year. Which one suits, do you reckon? If you find your kids know many of the earlier concepts, you can always do two or three lessons per day until the work begins to challenge them once again. Then slow to one a day.
• Many people find that MEP is ahead of other programmes, especially those written expressely for homeschool like MUS, for example. I don't know - MEP is the only maths we've ever done.
• Once you've decided on a level, print off the relevant IPMA test. You'll need an access code to access the test, and the details on how to obtain one are on that page. .. Kids generally do this at the end of each year. You should expect your kids to get close to 100% on this test before you select a level. Clear as mud? What I mean is this: Say you've chosen to commence little Johnny at Year 3. Open IPMA the test for Year 2. These are not placement tests. They do not cover all the work that has already been taught for a particular year. If your child doesn't get close to 100% he or she will find the next year's work too difficult.
• Remember that is is okay to tweak your child's level. If it all gets too difficult, then just adopt the 'pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey method and give a year a go. You can always go back or forwards!

You've decided to give MEP a burl.
Congratulations. I don't think you'll be sorry. After all - it's free, right!
Now comes the fun bit. You'll be giving your printer a bit of a workout for a few hours - do you have enough paper and ink? Beetle out and get those before you start. While you're at the newsagents, pick up a folder - we use this one (pictured above)because it contains a pencil case as well as pockets for manipulatives; some dividers; an exercise book; some felt tip pens in bright primary colours; and a ruler. While you're gone, send your children outside to start a collection of counters. Shells, pretty pebbles, sticks, pretty much anything that interests them, really. We use the counters from our Go board game.


If you're doing Primary maths, on this page you'll find the entire MEP programme to print out...well almost all. There is a text book that is available for purchase. You don't need it - really - but if you want to buy one, here's the order form.
Regardless of grade, you'll need to print the following:

• Practice book - these are the pages that the children complete - the worksheets as it were. Warning - you can't do MEP with these pages alone. You'll also need...
• Lesson plans - these are your sheets. They tell you how to teach the programme; give the answers; and introduce new concepts. They also contain mental maths drills. You need to do MEP with your children.
• Copymasters - Some of the copymasters are contained in the practice book; others are not. I print them all, and don't use everything. Other mums only print out the pages they need. It is up to you. I need to be organised before I begin, and this way I only need to print at the beginning of a new practice book.

You'll notice that some files on the website have a small red P beside them. These are password protected files. Interestingly, if you use an older version of some software you may find that you can view the files without a password. For the rest of us, you'll find the password in the files of the yahoo group here.
I print off a section of pages at a time, not the whole practice book. There's about 30 lessons in each, and that amount fits well in my folder.

Label your dividers with something like these headings and place the relevant pages behind each:

1. Practice Book
2. Lesson plans
3. Copy masters
4. Mum's pages

I have a fifth divider that I call French maths. We do our maths bilingually using pages that complement MEP. If you are teaching Spanish, MEP is available in that language here.
Under Mum's pages I keep:

• The scheme of work
• Notes on the lesson plans Years 1 and 2
• The posters I only used these for Year 1. In Year 2 we found things around our schoolroom instead. Note also that the posters aren't in the correct order. You need to use your nouse a little to work out which poster the lesson plans actually refer to. at some stage I'll correctly number them and pop it in another post.)
• The OHP transparency collection. You'll need 1-5 for year 1 and the rest for year 2. You'll find reference to them in the lesson plans when you need them. I print them all off at once. Print in colour.

Finally organise your manipulatives.

You'll find most of the manipulatives you'll require supplied. Print all cards on cardstock. You can laminate them if your kids are hard on their things. I didn't bother but we did take care of them.

• Number cards Years 1 and 2. You'll need two sets.
• Number lines Years 1-3. Print on card stock, colour each line a different colour and laminate. You'll only need one, and it's very useful.
• Sign cards Year 1. You may use these in Year 2, but less often.
• Shape cards Year 1 and 2 (and maybe later years?)
• Shape cards with dots Year 2 (and maybe later years?)
• Purchase some cheap plastic dominoes - two sets preferably. Year 1 and 2
• Some cuisinaire type rods would be nice. Jemimah got some for her first birthday from an uncle with high expectations. You don't need them, but they beat cutting up strips of paper IMHO. Year 1 and 2
• A purse with coins of your own currency. Year 2
• A packet of toothpicks. Year 1 and 2
• Finally, you'll need the counters we discussed earlier. MEP says this:

Encourage pupils to collect their own materials for use in maths lessons. (eg pebbles, shells, buttons, sweets, trinkets) to make maths for relevant to them individually.

Getting started
Now it's time to start.

• Allocate a time early in the day when your mind is fresh (and so are your kids!!).
• The first few lessons may take a while. don't panic. Soon you should get finished in 20-25 minutes. Less sometimes, slightly more when a new concept is introduced.
• Don't allow procrastination. If you do find it occuring, investigate why. For us it happens when Jemimah thinks she can't do something (even if she can).
• If a lesson does take too long split it up. don't allow maths to become a hard slog that everyone dreads.
• Use coloured textas to answer questions and to liven up the page. colour things in if you like.
• Have fun!

And now folks, I think that's it. MEP 101. Do let me know if I've left something out. I'm happy to edit and make it useful. Also, don't forget this is MEP à la Jeanne. You may find it works differently in your home. Doesn't matter, really. There are no MEP police...not in Australia anyhow!!

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Post Script 12/08/09

There have been literally hundreds of visitors to this post. Some of you have come from the MEP or AO Yahoo groups, others from the Well Trained Mind Forums, and even others from an Aussie group. I hope you have found what I have written useful to get you started with MEP.

Be sure to read my follow-up post MEP minute-by-minute, which shows what an MEP lesson actually looks like in our home. You'll get to see Jemimah counting on her toes there as well!

Hey, you now know lots about us, but I don't even know who you are! Please leave me a comment to let me know you've visited!

Please do.

A really WILD Wild Things

Oh my goodness! A fur-covered Wild Things. What will they think of next?

PS It's the book of the film by Dave Eggers, not the original by Maurice Sendak.

This summary of the book worries me...

...about the confusions of a boy, Max, making his way in a world he can’t control. His father is gone, his mother is spending time with a younger boyfriend, his sister is becoming a teenager and no longer has interest in him. At the same time, he finds himself capable of startling acts of wildness — he wears a wolf suit, bites his mom, can’t always control his outbursts. During a fight at home, Max flees and runs away into the woods...

I think I like Sendak's version better.

Cyclone Aila

Thank you everyone who prayed for us during our recent holiday.

Cyclone Aila claimed many lives in Bhutan during those few days, including a number of children. One family from the village of Bumthang where we were staying lost six members when a land slide destroyed their car. Only two survived.

I thought you might like to see some photos and videos...

Tang River Bumthang

The river rises at the back of Bumthang's main shopping street.

A new road is created around a huge landslide.

The main road beween the Capital, Thimphu, and Paro where the Country's only airport is situated. (Look at the road, not the water... )


A land slide - and an opportunity for you to listen to our accents...


More of the Tang River


At least someone was having FUN...

Jeanneton prend sa faucille

See my StatCounter in the right sidebar? I Like it. It lets met know where you're coming from, and I find that pretty cool. It lets me know who I should be extra nice to, you know. It also makes me curious - who is my mystery reader from Fukushima, for example - drop me a line some time - I'd love to have a chat!

Anyway, if you press the Keyword Analysis tab, my StatCounter tells me aside from the obvious Charlotte Mason+Australia type searches, the most common way of people finding A Peaceful Day from a Google search is by typing in Youtube+learn French.

So for those people who have no interest in any of the other scintillating stuff that makes up the minutiae of our day chez nous, here are a couple more of our French Youtube faves...



This is our current french folksong.



We're learning to tell the time, so this one's perfect - funky too. You should see us grooving around the study to this little number!

The Divine Madman

Since now I am so loquacious,
Once I must have been a woman;
But I cannot tell you if this is really true.
Consider the matter yourselves.
What is your opinion?

Drukpa Kunley

Dangbo..o..o Dingbo..o..o there were two brothers. They were neljorpa - yogis - and they travelled Bhutan teaching people the truth of the Buddha. The older brother was very pious on the outside, but his insides were not so admirable. The younger was a strange man -outrageous on the outside, but a true disciple of the Buddha on the inside...where it mattered. He was Lama Drukpa Kunley.

They called him the Divine Madman.

One day the Divine Madman was talking to a large group of people who had gathered together to witness his magical powers. The people wanted to see the lama perform a miracle.

The Divine Madman declared that he was hungry. First they must feed him a goat and a cow for lunch, and then he would show his powers. The people prepared the animals with care and presented them to the teacher. He ate them with relish, throwing the bones aside on the ground. After letting out a loud and satisfied burp, the lama bend down and began gathering the bones together. He placed the bones of the goat in one pile; the bones of the cow in the other. When he had finished collecting the bones, he discovered that the head of the cow was missing.

The Divine Madman took the head of the goat, and stuck it on the body of the cow. Then, with a snap of his fingers he commanded the strange beast to get up and to graze on the mountainside. Much to the astonishment of the people, the animal began to arise. It stood unsteadily for a moment, and then with a shake of his strange head, cantered off to eat.



The animal became known as the dong gyem tsey - or takin - and you know it can still be seen, grazing on the mountainsides of Bhutan, to this very day.

Sunny winter days

Nature study on the trampoline

What concentration!

In winter the White Garden looks more green than white. The bare trellises are covered with wisteria for the rest of the year, but let much needed winter sun through to the English Garden during the colder months.

You can just glimpse the beginning of the Native Garden in the background.

An Awesome Book

Do you dream about 'matching silverware' or 'rocket powered unicorns'; 'furniture' or 'magic watermelon boats'?

The Awesome Book by Dallas Clayton gets New Living Book status from me...for sure.

View the whole book online - awesome!

Here is Oz you can buy The Awesome Book from we ♥ books - one of my favourite online bookstores for $29.95.

While you're visiting, take a look at their range of Charley Harper books and flashcards for kids. We love them! Jemimah took his colouring book on hols with her - it is not your usual colour within the lines mindless colouring book, that's for sure. (Even I can produce something pretty stylish with this book!)

Flower posies

A flowerless room is a soulless room, to my way of thinking; but even one solitary little vase of a living flower may redeem it. Vita Sackville-West

My favourite garden author, Vita Sackville-West always kept a tussie mussie of flowers collected from her beautiful garden, Sissinghurst, next to her as she wrote her garden columns. It's a lovely habit - one I've maintained for about 20 years (oh dear!).

What little treasures are flowering away in your garden? Pick a few and pop them in a pretty vase. If you can find scented ones so much the better! Tonight I smell the fragrance of rose, daffodil and lemon balm...spring is only just around the corner.

Time

Sometimes it is good for me to remember that homeschooling's not a race. If I don't get through to the end of the work I've planned for the year, no homeschooling policeman is going to be standing at my front door, big stick in hand to take me away. Often I allow my stress to become Jemimah's stress too, and that makes life unpleasant for everybody.

That's why holidays are good. Everything is so much more relaxed on your return, and you're able to focus more clearly on the things that matter in life. Like having fun.

Maths had stopped being fun in our home before we went away. We were galloping through it, aiming to get through to the end of Year 2 in our MEP programme before we left, and it had become a drag. Both Jemimah and I dreaded our maths time each day, despite the fact that it is probably her best subject and she was doing way better than I could have dreamed she would.

Instead of jumping straight back in with Year 3 last week, I pulled out something that I had been meaning to try for a while but 'couldn't find the time' for: Math Mammoth: Clock.

Mine was a freebie from Currclick. You have all subscribed to their weekly newsletters, haven't you? If not, stop reading this and do it now...this instant. If you'd done it back in March this year, you'd have Math Mammoth: Clock as well. As it is, you'll have to shell out a whole AUD$4.30 (that's A$3.50) for a non free copy. Hah!

Click here to see their current newsletter and to sign up for your own copy.

If you do decide to purchase Math Mammoth: Clock - for a whole three-fifty, you'll find it a good purchase...well we've enjoyed it anyhow.

Math Mammoth Clock is a worksheet based book that covers telling time and reading the clock, telling time intervals, and understanding the calendar. It covers first grade to third grade levels, and we covered only the first grade level this past week. It was fun, it was interesting and Jemimah can now tell the time...pretty much.

So far we've covered "x o'clock" and "half past x"; the idea that there are two 12 hour periods each day divided into am and pm, the idea of dividing the time into five minute intervals - 4:55 or 3.23, for example. It's fun. That's what we wanted to be; that's what we got.

After a week off, we started back into MEP year 3 this week. We're enjoying it again. It is a fantastic programme. I'm more relaxed, and we're covering past stuff as a review, so Jemimah is enjoying a lazy few days. It'll soon get hard again, but by that time we'll have forgotten that maths had become a drudgery and we'll get on with mastering our new concepts with enthusiasm.

When it becomes a bore again, then we'll know that it's 'time for more time' as it were. I'm glad there's still 2/3 of Math Mammoth: Clock still to go!

15 Books in 15 Minutes

I was tagged to do this list on Facebook by my friend Hopewell Mom over at Hopewell Takes on Life.

I'm posting it here in the hope that some of you might like to join us. It's designed to be quick, so don't take too long to think about it.

Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes.

1. The Bible
2. Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan
3. Anne of Green Gables by L M Montgomery
4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
5. Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock
6. For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
7. The Story of John G Paton by James Paton
8. The Vogue Book of Etiquette and Good Manners (Weird, I know!)
9. Holiness by J C Ryle
10. The Lighthorsemen by Elyne Mitchell
11. The Little Black Princess by Jeannie Gunn
12. Lost Japan by Alex Kerr
13. God's Best Secrets by Andrew Murray
14. A True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
15. The Box of Delights by John Masefield

So guys, what's your list? Be sure to let us know!!

The Revival of a Rebel Jew

Dr. Richard Ganz is the Senior Pastor of the Ottawa Reformed Presbyterian Church, one of our sister churches in Canada. He was born in New York City, and raised in a Jewish home.

To read his amazing testimony, click here and be inspired.

In a bad mood

I just spent several hours blogging about our trip to the Dali exhibition at the NGV and it has disappeared. Kaputsky. It is enough to stop me blogging for ever.

Do take your kids to see the exhibition though. It's good. Dali's weird; the exhibition is too, but good weird, not warped weird - you know what I mean?

I'm going to watch some mindless television and sulk now. Don't try to talk to me - I won't answer.

I may cry though.

Mr Pourquoi

Le français est très drôle à ce moment. Pourquoi? Parce que...



I only wish she didn't call him un idiot. Mind you, M. Pourquoi soon accuses her of worse...

Reading out loud

This is just priceless...


You know, I always thought I was pretty good at telling Children's Stories. Wrong. This is how it's done...

I totally underestimated We're Going on a Bear Hunt when Jemimah was a preschooler. I thought it was twaddle. I was wrong...again. Years later, she can still recite it word perfectly - not as well as Michael Rosen, but pretty well. It has certainly made a lasting impression on her.

Here is my confession in writing:

We're Going on a Bear Hunt is truly a Living Book. I'm sorry I never bought it for you, Jemimah...

Don't leave this off your list, will you?

Chilli and Cheese

“Addictions to ema are formed early in life and the victims, I for one, never recovered,” said Abi Sonam Kitsho, 85, from Zhemgang. “On cold winter days, I get such a passionate yearning for a bowl of ema datsi that I nearly lose my mind.” Kuenselonline

I'm just sitting down with a nice cup of Twinings Lemon and Ginger Tea, as I begin this post. You can see it in the photo above. It's a pretty cup - a Christmas present - but that's not why I'm showing it to you. It's the brownie I want you to see. It's the last one of a batch that were given to us as we left our hotel in Paro, Bhutan...well, actually, it's the second to last, but I do have to share...and yes, we did declare them through Customs...

The reason that I'm showing you this piece of deliciousness, is because despite its inoccuous appearence, this brownie is loaded with chilli. Hot chilli. The kind that make you sweat. It's delicious, but you need to drink lots of tea, and I mean lots.

No food in Bhutan is prepared without chilli - not brownies - not even food for toddlers. Parents encourage their kids to eat chilli, and their children take great pride in their ability to do so, seeing it as being grown up, and the Bhutanese thing to do.

A Bhutanese cook will look bewildered and say, "I don't know how to cook without chilli," and, more seriously, most Bhutanese will declare: "I cannot eat food without chilli."

The Bhutanese consider ema datse to be their National Dish. It translates as Chilli and Cheese. Not cheese with chilli, you'll note; chilli with cheese. Bhutanese cooks are particularly proud of their ema datse. You are served it everywhere, and everyone has their favourite variation: fresh Bhutanese green chillis with cheese; dried red chillis and cheese; blanched dried white chillis with cheese; green Indian chillis and dried red chillis with cheese; green chillis and tomato with cheese...you get the idea.


You eat ema datse with side dishes: ezay, a decicious chilli dip, and gen hogay, a cucumber, tomato and chilli salad. A dish of condiments is served along side: dried ground chilli and a couple of chilli and cheese dips. I'm not kidding, you know - here's a photo...


This pic proves that Jemimah has eaten ema datse. As you can see, she prefers chocolate...

PS The quote above about Bhutanese cooks is from a book of Bhutanese Food and Society by Kunzang Choden. It's called...yep, you guessed it...Chilli and Cheese.

AO1 Term Two Exams

Here's term 2...

Exam Questions Year 1 Term 2

Bible

1. In your own words, tell as much as you can remember about Jacob.
2. What can you tell me about covenants – can you name two and tell me anything about them?
3. Can you tell me anything about the books that we studied that were written by Paul?

Memory

1. Recite Notre Père to Daddy.
2. Westminster Catechism questions. How many can you get right?
3. Can you recite the books of the New Testament in order?

Writing

1. Write the alphabet in lower case letters in your very best writing.
2., Please write, using your very best writing: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Watch punctuation, slope and spacing.

Reading

1. Read for 5 minutes from Frog and Toad Together. (Level 2)
2. Read for 5 minutes from The Outside Dog. (Level 3)

U.S. History

1. What do you know remember about when George Washington was a boy??
2. Why is he called the father of America?

World History

1. Who was Antonio Canova and what did he do that was so remarkable?
2. What can you tell me about why King Arthur made a round table for his knights?
3. Tell of what you can remember of the story Picciola.
4. Illustrate one of the following:

a. Whittington and his Cat,
b. Washington and his Hatchet or
c. Grace Darling.

5. What is a martyr?
6. Tell me about Monica and Augustine, the Christian mother and son; Ambrose, Bishop of Milan or Athanasius against the world.

Geography

1. Using your map, please explain Paddle’s journey so far.
2. Which of the Great Lakes can you name?
3. What is the name of the country to the north and south?
3b Which country does Auntie Meriel live in?
4. Tell me the part of Paddle’s journey that you have liked best so far?
5. What is the capital of France?
6 Do you know any countries where they speak French?

Natural History and General Science

1. Why did Mr Dakin have to sell Old Blossom? Why was he sad to see her go?
2. What is your favourite story from Old Bob’s birds?
3. Tell as much as you can about one of the birds we have learned about.
4. What has been your favourite nature study topic?
4b. Draw a picture of this animal and label it in French and English.
5. Show your nature study book to Daddy and explain it to him.

Literature and Tales

1. Tell the story of “As You Like It” or “The Winter’s Tale”. You may use Little People to help you illustrate the story if you wish.
2. Tell the story, Oh Best Beloved, of how the first letter was written.
3. Please retell one of the fables you have heard this term and what you think it is trying to teach.
4. Can you draw a picture about one of the fairy tales we have read about this term?
5. Can you tell the story of the flowers and the wind in Training and Restraining?

Mathematics

1. Complete review sheet 40.
2. Complete French maths sheet.
3. Explain what the terms “plus que”, “moins que” and “autant que” mean and give a demonstration with counters.
4. Count as high as you can in French in units and tens.
5. Count backwards in English from 100 to 0 in fives.

French

1. Can you tell me the months of the year in French and English?
2. Do you know the seasons in French and English?
3. What about the days of the week?
4. Greet Daddy in French and ask him how he is feeling.

Picture Study

1. What is the name of the artist we studies this term? Where did he live?
2. Describe your favourite picture from this term's picture study.
3. Can you think of any others?

Composer study

1. What is the name of the composer we have been studying this term? What can you tell me about his life?
2. Tell me the real story of “The Heroic Symphony”.

Singing

1. Sing all the songs from this term in front of Daddy.

Handicrafts

1. Show your tapestry to Daddy and explain how you do it.

AO1 Term 1 Examination Questions

Our Northern Hemisphere friends are beginning to chuckle with misplaced glee as the warm weather arrives and along with it the promise of long summer holidays and days lazing in the sun.

Fortunately, she says enviously - and tongue in cheek - the pleasure of some of you will be tempered somewhat by the prospect of examinations looming, and with that comforting thought I offer you some long awaited exam questions for AO1.

Seriously, the prospect of writing Charlotte Masonesque Examinations for our kiddywinks brings some of us out in a cold sweat. These are the questions I used for Jemimah in AO1 Term 1. AO1 Term 2 will follow. I hope they're useful for some.

Enjoy the warm weather for me, will you!

AO1 Term 2
AO1 Term 3
AO2 Term 1

Exam Questions Year 1 Term 1

Bible

1. In your own words, tell about your favourite character that you read in your Bible reading this term.
2. In your own words, tell about your favourite event that you read in your Bible reading this term.

Memory

1. Recite as much of Notre Père as you are able to Daddy.
2. Recite 1 Corinthians 13 to Daddy.
3. Recite The Lord’s Prayer to Daddy.
4. Westminster Catechism questions. How many can you get right?

Writing

1. Write the alphabet in lower case letters in your very best writing.
2. Complete “Review” page 22 “New Wave Handwriting”.

Reading

1. Read for 5 minutes from Little Bear’s Friend.
2. Read 100 key words and count number read correctly.

U.S. History

1. What do you know about Benjamin Franklin?
2. Can you tell me about one of his inventions?

World History

1. What can you tell me about Boadicea?
2. What were Cornelia’s jewels?
2b. Why did she call them that?
3. Illustrate one of the following:

a. The Sword of Damocles,

b. Androclus and the Lion or

c. The Story of William Tell.

4. What is a martyr?
5. Can you tell me about St Alban, the first Christian martyr in Britain?
6. Tell me about Caligula and the shells on the beach.
7. Tell me about Polycarp, the witness in the arena; Blandina, the martyr of Lyons; or Constantine, defender of the church.

Geography

1. Using your map, please explain Paddle’s journey so far.
2. Which of the lakes can you name?
3. What is the name of the country to the north and south?
3b Which country does Auntie Meriel live in?
4. Tell me the part of Paddle’s journey that you have liked best so far?
5. What shape is France?
5b . Can you find it on the map and colour it pink?

Natural History and General Science

1. Do you remember the stories “Moses the Cat” or “Only One Woof”? Please retell one of these.
2. What is your favourite story from Old Bob’s birds?
2b. Tell as much as you can about one of the birds we have read about.
3. What has been your favourite nature study topic?
3b. Draw a picture of this animal and label it in French and English.
4. Show your nature study book to Daddy and explain it to him.

Literature and Tales

1. Tell the story of “A Mid-Summer Night’s Dream” or “The Tempest”. You may use Little People to help you illustrate the story if you wish.
2. In “Just So Stories” we have read some very silly stories about animals and how they came to be. Which story have you liked most? Why?
3. Aesop wrote a lot of short stories designed to teach a lesson. What are these stories called?
3b What is the lesson called?
4. Please narrate your favourite including the moral.
5. Can you draw a picture about one of the fairy tales we have read about this term?
6. Can you tell the story of the butterflies’ children; the unhappy bees or the Sedge Warblers and the Unknown Land?

Mathematics

1. Complete test page 154

French

1. Count as high as you can in French.
2. How many parts of the body can you name?
3. How many colours do you know?
4. Greet Daddy in French and ask him how he is feeling.

Picture Study

1. What is the name of the artist we studies this term? Where did he live?
2. Describe your favourite picture from this term's picture study.
3. Can you think of any others?

Composer study

1. What is the name of the composer we have been studying this term?
2. Tell Daddy the real story of “The Magic Flute”

Singing

1. Sing all the songs from this term in front of Daddy.

Handicrafts

1. Show your tapestry to Daddy and explain how you do it.

Kindling

Doesn't this look like a beautiful book? There are more photos of it on James' blog, Process Recess.

Gorgeous.

Greensleeves

Greensleeves

Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
to cast me off discourteously,
And I have loved you oh so long,
delighting in your company.

Chorus:

Greensleeves was all my joy,
Greensleeves was my delight;
Greensleeves was my heart of gold,
and who but my lady Greensleeves.

If you intend to be this way,
it does the more enrapture me,
And even so, I still remain
a lover in captivity.

Chorus

Greensleeves, now farewell, adieu,
God I pray he will prosper thee;
For I am still thy lover true,
come once again and love me.

Chorus

Our folksong, placed here for ease of finding!! we're studying folksongs of England this term in deference to Daddy's heritage. This is his favourite!! (The video's a bit cheesy, but we enjoy it...)

The Tale of the Three Friends

or Why there are always cows sitting at the edge of Bhutanese roads.

Dangbo..o..o Dingbo..o..o there were three friends, a horse, a sheep and a cow. They needed to travel from their home in Bumtang to the Capital, Thimphu, for the Thimphu Tshechu, or festival, which was due to begin that week.

The bus fare for the journey was 50 Nu. Now the horse had his 50 Nu, and the cow had 100 Nu. The sheep didn't have any money at all, but he didn't let this stop him (Since when has a lack of finances prevented a sheep doing exactly what he wants to do anyway?). The three friends boarded the bus and travelled the long and windy roads to their destination.

The Tshechu was in full swing when they arrived. The sheep got down from the bus, collected his luggage and melted into the crowds. The horse also left the bus. He paid his 50 Nu fare, collected his bags and walked away. The cow was next. He too paid his fare - 50 Nu, you'll remember - with his 100 Nu coin. The conductor took the coin, thanked the cow and pocketed the coin.

The cow was flabergasted. (Have you ever seen a flabergasted cow then? No, neither have I, but he was certainly not smiling...) He needed his change. He wanted his change. He was going to have his change. The cow didn't go anywhere. He sat down by the side of the road and he waited. He waited for his 50 Nu.

The Tshechu ended, and the horse and the sheep hitched rides home on the back of a lorry. Not the cow. He was waiting for his change. He waited.

The cow still waits. On the side of every road in Bhutan you'll see him. He's no longer flabergasted - in fact he looks quite tranquil as he sits there, chewing on grass. But he still waits.

Until he gets his 50 Nu, he always will.

_____________________________________

Every Bhutanese story begins with Dangbo and Dingbo. Together they equate to Once upon a time. The length of time ago depends on the length of the words, hence in my little tale above, Dangbo..o..o Dingbo..o..o indicates that a long long time has past since the three friends boarded their bus to Thimphu.

The story was told to us by a young man in Bhutan. Thanks, Sangay Dorji. We miss you.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival

One of my very bestest bloggy pals, Richele from Barefoot Voyage, is hosting this month's Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival.

Hop on over and take a peek. While you're there, have a look at the rest of her blog. It's one of my daily must reads. She is really an inspirational homeschool mum.

Thanks Richele...you're great!

Multiculturalism

A much younger Jemimah with some truly multicultural friends in Yemen, 2007

The best part of school is that it has forced me to expand my horizons, to depart from my comfort zone and gain a better understanding of the world we live in.

I suppose you all know Mama Squirrel and the squirrelings over at Dewey's Treehouse. If not, climb up there right now and have a good rummage around. There is no end to the treasures to be found amongst the branches of that there tree.

Oh good! You're back then...

Before we left on our holidays, Mama Squirrel wrote some comments about this article, written by a former homeschooled teenager now at public school. You can read Mama Squirrel's take here. I've thought about this young teen's views quite a lot while we've been away - particularly her remarks about multiculturalism. You can see part of it at the beginning of this post. Here's the rest of it:

Even though I have studied the theory of multiculturalism, I never had a proper comprehension of what the word meant until I stepped through the doors of my high school. Our cafeteria is festooned with flags representing the ethnic origins of the school's population. It is comforting to be in a place where such an amazing variety and wealth of history, ethnicity, religion, and ideas can coexist not only peacefully, but also constructively. The best part of school is that it has forced me to expand my horizons, to depart from my comfort zone and gain a better understanding of the world we live in.

As we've travelled these last few weeks, I've come to the obvious conclusion that young Kassandra's homeschooling - all fifteen years of it - must have been very different from Jemimah's. Now I'll admit that Jemimah probably doesn't know the flags of the countries that she's seen but ah! the history, ethnicity and religion that she's seen - and experienced. Jemimah has been further out of her comfort zone at seven than many public school educated kids will ever get - even after they leave school. Now Jemimah's overseas travels have been pretty extensive, but they're not unique. Just imagine what Amy's kids learn while they live as a missionary family in Peru, or the Hunsucker kids in Ukraine, or Jimmie's daughter Sprite in China. That's what I call multiculturalism.

Now relax, I can hear your howls of protest from here. You don't live in an exotic land; you live in Melbourne or Brisbane or Manchester or Los Angeles or in a little town in country Victoria. That's precisely my point. You see, most of every year, so do we.

Jemimah still lives a multicultural life though. This past weekend, for example, she ate phở in Vietnam...well, actually it was Victoria Street Richmond, not Vietnam SE Asia, but it was full of Vietnamese people speaking Vietnamese. Afterwards she wandered the aisles of Minh Phat, the IKEA of Asian supermarkets. Another day she hung out at Kazari and ate tori no karasage followed by green tea icecream washed down with honeydew melon juice while she listened to her parents discuss Miao festival headdresses from Southwest China and their latest Bhutanese textile purchases with owners Jo and Robert. While there she watched their in-house conservator remount a 17th C six panel Japanese screen depicting the coming of spring and learned how to tell the seasons by the trees and vegetation and the motifs on the clothing. Last night back at home, she ate Hainan chicken rice and gai lan with oyster sauce before settling down to a story from her latest read-aloud, Folktales of Bhutan by Kunzang Choden. The throw she covered herself with was a Bhutanese yatra; the cushions were Japanese; the music in the background was Vivaldi. While she listened she tried unsuccessfully to do a tim tam slam. You can't get more Australian that that... (You can see Natalie Imbruglia showing how to do it on Youtube here, but sadly it is adult tele and contains a bit of blasphemy, so don't show it to your kids. You can, however, demonstrate the technique to them once you know how yourself...)

Then there's language. As well as her French, which she's been learning since she began to talk, Jemimah can speak a smattering of Arabic, Indonesian and Japanese. She can say 'Hello' and count to ten in another half a dozen languages and sing folk songs in even more. She orders her buckwheat galettes and crêpes in French from Leslie, her favourite Breton waitress at Breizoz and knows that Leslie will only speak in French back to her so she'd better listen hard to her reply.

Enough, already - I think you get the idea. Multiculturalism doesn't happen amongst the flags in a school cafeteria; multiculturalism happens on the street of any big city I've ever been in. If Jemimah went to our local public school, she would be in a room with kids almost all the same as her. The kids in her year are all Australians. They're all white, all Anglo Saxon, all nominally Christian. There's not even an Aborigine amongst them, let alone someone from Asia or Europe. Some of them are her good friends, but they're not multicultural.

Stepping through the doors of a school doesn't force you to expand your horizons, depart from your comfort zone and gain a better understanding of the world you live in, Kassandra, it's stepping outside onto the streets that does that.

Get outside and see what your city has to offer. Read about the world, sure, but don't forget to experience it too - warts and all. That, for me is what a liberal homeschooling education is all about...and we love it!

The Wonderful World of Disney...

Meeting the cast at breakfast...magical!

Snow White and that Apple...

Careful, Snow White...

No, that's not a good idea...

Oh dear...now look what you've done!!