Satay Chicken With Veggie Slaw

For dinner today the children made satay chicken with veggie slaw and jacket potatoes. Of course they refused to try the veggies.

Night Owls

Night Owls by R

R drew this picture of some owls using oil pastels. He was inspired by this postcard in our collection.

Owl postcard

Testing Materials

This week we have carried out 2 more experiments with our collection of different materials. The children sorted materials into 3 groups: transparent, translucent and opaque. There was some discussion about materials which you could see through due there being holes in them. The children decided to put these in a group on their own. We discussed what materials would be good for windows, bathroom windows, curtains etc.

The children also tested the materials to see which were waterproof. We discussed how to make the test fair and decided to use one syringe of water for each sample. You can get plastic syringes from the chemist.

We used food colouring to make it easier to see the water. The materials were stretched across a jar and held in place with an elastic band. Any water seeping through the material could be seen dripping into the jar. A baking tray collected all the spills.

L adds water to some sponge. 

R tests metal to see if it is waterproof.

We discussed which materials would be suitable for umbrellas, coats, roofing etc.

Magnetic Materials

As part of our science project the children tested a range of materials to see which were magnetic. R already had a good idea of which ones would be and which wouldn't.

Sorting materials into magnetic and non-magnetic.

First we established that only metals are magnetic. Next I asked them if all metals are magnetic. We went for a hunt around the house, first identifying metals and then testing to see which ones were magnetic. We had an interesting discussion about materials that looked like they were made from only 1 type of metal but were clearly made from different types as only certain parts were magnetic. We also investigated a pipe-cleaner which if touched in a certain way (where the wire inside was slightly exposed) could be held by a magnet

A funny picture of L getting a close up look at a magnetic cylinder

This cutter is magnetic

STOP

The children made these stop signs to help us with our tricky words. I read the children a story and they had to listen out for this week's tricky words "I" and "the". Each time the word came up they had to show the stop sign and say the word, the aim being to recognise how the words are used in sentences.

Family Jigsaws

I wanted L to become familiar with written family names so I decided to make these jigsaws. The undecorated puzzle pieces were found at Spotlight craft store. I used scrapbook papers and photographs to decorate them. They are stuck down and sealed with Mod Podge. For great ideas with this product visit Mod Podge Rocks

Carousel Horse

Carousel horse by R age 4.5

Today we tried another lesson from Drawing With Children by Mona Brookes. R produced this fantastic carousel horse. As usual we started off by practising the elements of shapes. R and L's doodles are below.

Describing And Sorting Materials

As part of our science project we have been exploring materials. I made a collection of different things from around the house. We talked about what the word "material" means and the children freely explored the samples.

Exploring materials

Lots of vocabulary came up straight away. I extended this by playing a feely bag game.  The children had to use at least 3 words to describe the material in the bag before guessing what it was.

R feels inside the bag

L feels inside the bag

Next I asked the children to sort the materials into groups any way they wanted. They mainly focused on what type of material the item was made from but they also had a group of stretchy things. I had included some tricky items like foiled plastic.

Sorting materials into groups

I gave them some preprepared vocabulary to label their groups with, encouraging them to read the words and discuss their meaning. The words are now on display in the project area.

Vocabulary labels added to the groups

Soon we will be testing the properties of some of these materials. Check back soon.

Focus on English

This term I am going to try to be more consistent with English lessons. L is working on Jolly Phonics (see previous post), and I have just started R with Jolly Grammar.

Jolly Grammar handbook

The 2 books go together well. Both focus on phonics but also include tricky words (those that cannot be sounded out). L is learning how to read the words whilst R is moving onto spelling them correctly. We are also using ideas from the book "Success With Sight Words". All the books are available on Amazon.

This week we are working on the tricky words "I" and "the". R is working on the sound "sh" and Lilly is working on blending. We have made the words by drawing them with gluey fingers and covering them with glitter. The children also used stamps to write the words. 

Using stamps to write "I" and "the"

R also completes the worksheets from the grammar book, works on handwriting, crosswords and word-searches. Download a word-search maker here and crossword maker here. R will have spellings and dictation each week.

R works on a word-search

Both children read aloud most days and R continues his diary. English also comes up in all other subjects and we have a vocabulary list for our topic on display. 

Dessert Pizza

Today we made this lovely dessert pizza. It's basically a sweet pizza base topped with ricotta cheese and fruits. 

Kneading the dough

Adding cheese and fruits

Just out of the oven

Canberra

Black Mountain Tower

Dad had an unexpected day off so we decide to travel from Sydney to the capital city of Australia; Canberra. We stayed for 3 days to give us time to visit some of the many attractions. First port of call was Questacon the National Science and Technology Centre. Here we spent the whole day trying out the many hands-on experiments. We also managed to fit in the rocket show and see 10 rockets blast off.

Experimenting at Questacon

Ball run at Questacon

Experimenting at Questacon

Experimenting at Questacon

Experimenting at Questacon

Experimenting at Questacon

Dad tries out the free fall

Dad tries out the free fall

Dad tries out the free fall

On our second day the weather held out and we visited Cockington Green Gardens model village. This was a great opportunity to talk about different buildings and fitted in well with our architecture project. There was also a huge dolls house with many rooms. It was interesting to imagine how people lived in the past. The house had only one bathroom but lots of other unusual rooms like the stronghold (treasure room), music room, silver room and day nursery.

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

Model Village

The Dolls House

Inside The Dolls House

Inside The Dolls House

Inside The Dolls House

We went to have a look at the art works at the National Gallery of Australia. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of the works inside which included lots of Aboriginal artworks. However we enjoyed the sculpture gardens outside the gallery.

Sculpture Gardens

Sculpture Gardens

Trying to roll the sculpture

Sculpture Gardens

Sculpture Gardens

Sculpture Gardens

This is a "Fog" sculpture

Sculpture Gardens

Sculpture Gardens

Sculpture Gardens

From the sculpture gardens we were able to see across Lake Burley Griffin to the National Carillon. This is actually an instrument containing 55 bells. We were lucky to arrive just as it was playing.

National Carillon

Next we headed up to the Australian War Memorial. We arrived just in time to see the guards marching up to the tomb of the unknown soldier. R was fascinated. The memorial has a huge museum underneath about all the wars Australia has been involved in. R loved looking at the guns and army vehicles.

Australian War Memorial

Roll of Honour

One of the cannons in the museum

On our last day we went to have a look at the Australian National Botanic Gardens. The weather was chilly but thankfully not raining. The children followed the kids trail to discover lots of creepy crawlies. We also  looked closely at lichens. The highlight of the morning was the discovery of 2 large kangaroos in the undergrowth, very close to the path.

Botanic gardens

Botanic gardens

Sundial but no sun to tell the time by

Botanic gardens

Lichens

Kangaroo

Kangaroo

We finally said goodbye to Canberra for the 2.5 hour drive back to Sydney. We hope to visit again as there are lots more museums and attractions that we didn't have time to see. For cheap accommodation try Canberra Motor Village