Santa Snacks

Choc full of choccy goodness

Today we did our traditional biscuit bake in preparation for Santa's arrival. The boys made double choc chip bikkies (a slightly altered Nigella recipe). Shmoo ended up making the most biscuits. Loo made a few of various shapes/sizes and then proceeded to lick his fingers and nibble on choc bits so Shmoo made him put the biscuits he was working on at one end of the tray to keep them separate LOL. Bean had fun squishing his dough, mouthing it and flicking bits onto the tray. We put his biscuits down the other end of the tray too ;)

I made a few for the OH and I as well. I did white choc & macadamia and milk choc & pecan... a little less kid-friendly (the boys don't like nuts) so more for us.

I hope Santa enjoys his biscuits.

Learning Together - Leathercraft

   

Christmas Stars

  

Making Christmas gifts

Watching Shmoo playing outside this afternoon... digging in the dirt; throwing a ball; swinging around on the old Hills Hoist clothesline using the makeshift swing that the OH rigged up for him; drawing and making up and solving maths problems with the new pack of sidewalk chalk; and rearranging his 'Kitchen Christmas Tree' - a small, thin branch that he has propped up in front of the kitchen window and decorated with old kitchen utensils.

This afternoon Shmoo and I had to brave some rather extreme fog to head into town. First stop was the doctor's where I had to have bloods done. Shmoo was fascinated and the GP was happy to answer Shmoo's questions about how she got the blood out of my arm and into the vials.

Then it was on to the post office so that Shmoo could post the drawings he and his brothers did for their dear little friend. We bought a prepaid envelope and Shmoo carefully wrote the address on the front, sealed it up and put it in the postbox. Then he noticed all the PO boxes on the wall so we investigated those and watched as some people came to check their box. Shmoo counted along with the numbers on the boxes and puzzled over why there were some missing numbers. We then discovered that at the bottom of some of the columns there were a few unused and unnumbered boxes, so Shmoo went back and counted again, working out what the missing numbers were. We noticed that the rows of boxes were grouped into threes so were able to have a go at counting by threes and figuring out what 6 sets of three equalled.

As we exited the post office we heard a ding ding ding and Shmoo was delighted when he realised that a train was about to go through the crossing. We ran up to the end of the block so that he could stand by the fence and watch the train go whizzing past. After the last containers had gone past we raced halfway back down the block and peered up to the end of the street, watching as the train went through the next crossing.

Before heading home we stopped by the bakery and bought a special little treat to share with everyone. Back in the car I asked Shmoo to count how many biscuits were in the container (6). But, as there are only 5 of us, what should we do with the extra biscuit? Shmoo's solution: feed it to the cats. :)) I told Shmoo that I didn't think the cats would be that keen on a biscuit, plus it would be pretty tricky to divide 1 biscuit up to share between the 5 of us... so he could have the extra one to eat on the way home.

 

Play/Learn

A morning at the park and beach with another homeschooled friend. The kids had so much fun playing in the park and then exploring the beach. They searched for shells and fossils (and Loo found lots of fossilised dinosaur poo apparently); examined the little creatures growing on the rocks; played in rock pools; explored the seaweed; watched someone kitesurfing; watched a boy spearfishing and then (cautiously) examined the pufferfish that he mistakenly caught; and so much more! Natural learning in action. :)

   

 

Getting There

Arborist

Today the boys learnt what an arborist is (if arboretum means 'tree park' then an arborist must be someone who is a tree specialist!).

We have a huge 30+ year old tree that is approaching the end of it's lifespan. Considering we live in a strong wind area and the tree is right next to (and leaning towards) our power line and house, it was time to get it cut down before it fell down. We also have some trees along our front fenceline that are above the powerlines and need trimming too. They got started on it this morning and the boys were absolutely fascinated (as were the OH and I!) and eagerly watched from the safety of Shmoo & Loo's bedroom window. Shmoo and Loo watched intently for a couple of hours and Beanie watched for about an hour (I'm impressed by anything that will hold a 20 month old's attention for that long!). Shmoo had fun working out how the cherry picker worked and why the man was wearing ear muffs and had a harness strapped around him.

They'll be back to finish off the job tomorrow, bringing spikes to get to the high branches that the cherry picker couldn't reach.

Can't wait to select a few stumpy pieces to make seats in the boys' play area outside and maybe a nice longer piece to make a swing (our neighbours will take the rest for their wood heater).

 

Sunday

Shmoo practising using the hand drill.

Shmoo Bear and...

Loo Bear attaching the door knob fittings. 

Our back door has been slowly disintegrating and in the past week or so things really fell apart (literally). The OH bought a secondhand door and he and the big boys painted it. Today they finally got to put it up.

We've also been investigating 'perspective', inspired by Shmoo's drawing of the Eiffel Tower.

And we had a lovely evening - Sunday night is our 'family night'. The big boys stay up late and we play a game. Tonight it was a game of Snakes and Ladders while we snacked on rice crackers and big bowls of fruit salad.

Wet Day at the Library

We had our regular library playdate today with the lovely Allana and her daughter. A perfect place to spend a cold, rainy morning. When we got there we noticed that the kids' play area had been rearranged. A little later we realised why - a rather large corner of the library was flooded, absolutely waterlogged, and the furniture had been rearranged to block off access to the wet area. It turns out that a pipe in one of the pillars had rusted through and had flooded sections on 2 floors of the library. 

So, we had to make do without any books from the junior nonfiction section. As the kids ran around playing and browsing through the books, I selected some books for the boys to read over the next couple of weeks. As anyone with a toddler knows, you can't turn your back on them for a second. I heard one of the library workers telling a child to come out of the wet area as their socks were getting wet. I knew it would be the Bean LOL. I looked up and there was Beanie, having a ball racing the toy stroller along the puddly carpet, cold water soaking his tights and up to the  knees of his pants. He was very unimpressed that I had to take him away from his water play! Luckily he was wearing a few layers so I was able to take off his wet things and leave him in his BabyLegs.

As we were getting ready to leave the carpet cleaners turned up so we decided to stay a little longer to watch. Vacuum obsessed Shmoo was, of course, fascinated. He was a bit cautious to start with and stood a safe distance away but curiosity quickly got the better of him and he soon sat down with the other kids to get a closer look. He didn't even startle at the noise!

   

The kids had a great time watching the water get sucked up; seeing the hose move as the water went through; and looking through the clear dome as the dirty water gushed out of the pipe and into the tank. It seemed to fill up very quickly. By the time we left, they'd only been sucking up the water for about 15-20 minutes with quite a bit more to do, and they'd already emptied the tank 4 times.

Just before we left Shmoo worked up the courage and asked the man how much water could fit into the machine. The answer: about 30L. 4 lots of 30 = 120L... that's a lot of water!

EI Group

Yep, Shmoo has his fingers in his ears - they turned the siren on 

While The OH took Shmoo and Loo to a homeschool group police station visit, Beanie and I went to our first early intervention group session this morning.

Bean did much better than I expected. He was very clingy, refused to look at most of the staff and cried a little but he warmed up fairly quickly. Sitting in my lap he could be persuaded to cautiously touch a few toys, look at some books, and play with playdough. Then he was introduced to the big tray filled with multicoloured grains of rice with toy cars and trucks. After a few minutes he was happy to play at the tray with T (I think each of the staff have a one-on-one thing with each child), while I sat about a metre away. Bean was a bit freaked out by the other little ones there, only another 4 or so I think but they were loud, one cried a lot, and others pushed in a lot and snatched toys away from him.

One thing that really bothered me though was that nearly all of the comments directed at Beanie were along the lines of 'good/clever boy!', said in a really saccharine sweet voice. Not just on the odd occasion but after every single thing that he did. I really don't like constant, automatic praising of kids. It's so patronising. It's not something you notice until it's pointed out but so many people do it. Over the last few years I've made a concerted effort to cut way back on saying 'good boy' or 'good job'. Instead, I try to focus on being encouraging by asking questions about what they've done, how they feel about it etc. The occasional 'good boy' does slip through but I'm aware of it. The OH struggles with it as it is such an automatic response. Now my automatic response to 'good boy' is 'woof!'. It acts as a bit of a reminder that they don't need to receive all that empty, fake-sounding praise - they're not dogs.

Ohhh and another thing that annoyed me... what the heck is the deal with saying 'Ta for X' when you want a child to give you something?!? Poor Bean had no idea what she was on about and then saw she was holding out her hand and made the connection that she wanted him to hand the toy/car etc to her. What's wrong with saying 'may I have that please?'. I'm not really a fan of 'Ta' for thank you either but accept that some other people think it's easier for little kids to say. We've never taught any of our boys 'Ta', it's always been 'thank you' which they learned to say fine (Bean's been saying it for ages now) and before they could say it they would just use the Auslan sign for thank you. No big deal really I guess, it's just one of those little things that I find mildly annoying LOL.

Japan

We're doing Japan at the moment. Today the boys made/drew Japanese flags, we read and discussed a couple of library books about Japan, and we folded little origami cats and 'talking' dogs. Then for dinner we had miso soup, and chicken katsu served with rice, cabbage and tonkatsu sauce. The boys had little Japanese chocolate coated biscuit sticks for dessert. And the OH and I have been munching on wasabi peas

 

We've been discussing advertising a lot lately. This morning Shmoo designed his own vacuum brand: 'Zip Zap'. We then discussed logos, symbols and trademarks, and Shmoo designed a symbol for the Zip Zap brand. He loves Dyson vacuums but aspires to one day create the Zip Zap. He hasn't decided yet whether the Zip Zap will be it's own brand or if he'll work for Dyson and design a model called the Zip Zap. Today he also designed a small vacuum cleaner that's only for beds - he said that it vacuums up wee LOL!!

Sunny Daze

A warm, sunny day... a perfect morning for drawing and writing on the concrete outside with chalk, cuddling kitties, making puddy muddles muddy puddles, mud pies topped with grass for the cats' lunch, watching Daddy mow the grass, sword (stick) fighting, nearly dying (or so it sounded like) from a slightly stick-grazed finger, unearthing nature's hidden treasures, and so much more.

 

Some days learning happens like this. Other days Shmoo wants to know how to add 3-digit numbers together, or to count the syllables in words, or he just wants to sit and read one (or a dozen) of the 40-odd library books that we've borrowed for the fortnight. And some days, like today, he just wants to sit at the activity table all afternoon and carefully draw all the vacuums out of a treasured Harvey Norman catalogue that came in the day's newspaper

An Exhausting Day in India

It's been one of those days.


We've been researching India lately... reading books on India from the library, watching travel documentaries, listening to Bollywood music. Today the plan was to have fun dressing up in saris and turbans, find out about Hinduism and have an India themed dinner.


Things didn't quite go to plan. Small but important things got us sidetracked during the day and then Shmoo had a major meltdown in the afternoon. Major meltdown. As in close to 3 hours of shrieking, screaming, crying, hypochondria, slamming doors, threatening his brothers, calling me names (hideous, stupid, idiot etc), and throwing things around. Somehow I managed to stay calm despite having heaps to do, 2 other kids to look after and dinner to make (with the OH in Burnie for the afternoon). Mostly calm anyway. The only time I yelled at him was when Beanie was in immediate danger of being injured.


The OH was home for the last half hour or so of the meltdown. The only way we could get Shmoo to snap out of it was to bribe him with the Dyson vacuum catalogue that the OH had picked up for him at Harvey Norman. Shmoo has a bit of a love/hate relationship with vacuums. He is absolutely terrified of them, panics if the vacuum comes near him at home, screams if we try and walk past a display at the shops. But he is also intensely fascinated with them, I think it's his way of trying to work through his fear of them. He will analyse them in catalogues, compare the different types and their parts, and try and figure out how they work and what each part does. And then he goes through phases of drawing vacuums. He can sit at the table for hours every day, for days at a time, drawing page after page of vacuums in great detail. So the vacuum catalogue was a good distraction for him.


Funnily enough, in the middle of Shmoo's meltdown the phone rang. I nearly laughed when the woman on the other end said that she was from the Tasmanian Autism Spectrum Diagnostic Service. I was trying to focus on what she was saying but it was kinda hard with Shmoo screaming in the next room and the loud thuds as hard objects hit the bedroom wall. Actually I did laugh when she asked if I felt the assessments were urgent. She could hear Shmoo's meltdown. I said "Um, at the moment it feels very urgent."


I don't know what to do with him when he has such intense meltdowns. It goes so far beyond a typical tantrum. I'm much better at putting on an calm outward appearance myself these days but it takes it's toll. I feel so frustrated and so helpless. It's so physically and emotionally exhausting. Why is it so hard to get any kind of help once they're over 6?!

Indulgence

Vanilla cake with lemon cream cheese icing. Extra icing. Gluten, dairy and egg! Mmm. The OH's birthday cake

The OH's taking Shmoo and Loo to a Slipstream Circus show tomorrow. Part of our homeschool group's programme. Poor Shmoo couldn't get to sleep tonight. He called me into his room to tell me he was scared. After chatting to him for a bit I managed to work out what it was about - he was worried that it was going to be like last time, overwhelming, lots of kids, and a class that he would be expected to participate in. I reassured him that it would just be a show, that other people would be performing and all he had to do was watch, like at the Playschool Concert. He must have been reassured as he happily went to sleep. A 2 hour show is a bit beyond the attention span of an 18 month old so Beanie and I are looking forward to some quiet time whilst they're out.

ECIS Update

We had the visit with SJ from the Early Childhood Intervention Service a couple of days ago. It was just the initial contact so she could meet the Bean and discuss where we go from here.


No surprises in the way Beanie reacted to her. He buried his face into my chest and refused to look at her.


SJ is going to talk to the other people she works with and come up with a plan for us.


Funny coincidence: one of the people that SJ works with is F... who organises the homeschool group meets.

Homeschool Group Fire Station Visit

I wanted to get some better pics of the boys but it was really hard to get far enough away from Shmoo. He was very curious about the fire station but was a bit freaked at the new environment and loud, sudden noises. He clung to my side for a good deal of the visit. But both he and Loo enjoyed the visit.


Beanie spent the visit on my back in the Ergo, desperately trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone. Kinda hard when standing in the middle of the big group with people all around so, for the most part, he buried his face into my back.

So Proud of My Boys

- I am so impressed with how Shmoo's and Loo's reading and comprehension skills are coming along. They absolutely love books (and so does Beanie, for that matter). Shmoo and Loo usually wake about 1-1.5 hours before the rest of us and we often find find them drawing or reading (still in their PJs and night nappy no matter how many times I tell them to get changed first LOL). But I'm so glad that they all have a love of reading, especially as boys aren't supposed to as good at or as interested in reading as girls. Yesterday we went to the library and Shmoo chose about a dozen books on astronomy, the ocean and inventions. Loo chose a few books about robots and cleared the entire junior non-fiction section of dinosaur books (of course!). They are in heaven with all the new reading material (plus the 15-odd fiction books that I chose for them to read).


- Loo has been able to write his name for a while and now he is attempting to write other words. He is so proud of himself when he shows us the words that he's written.


- Beanie always amazes me with how advanced he seems in a lot of areas compared with the other two at the same age. He is clumsy as anything but geez he's clever! I've done baby signing (Auslan) with all the boys and they've all picked up on the signs relatively quickly and easily. But Beanie's just awesome at it, he's even started putting 2 signs together. Like this morning in bed I was doing up my PJ top and he started tugging at it, obviously wanting booby. I wanted to get up so I did the signs for 'finished' and 'breastfeed'. Beanie then shook his head, put on a really cute expression and did the sign for 'please' and 'breastfeed'. Adorable!

Random

- Now that Shmoo looks older we often get people asking him if he's at school. When I tell them that we homeschool we inevitably get some comment like 'wow, you're brave', like it's something incredibly difficult. I guess they probably picture something like school-at-home rather than natural learning. I reckon it would be a lot more difficult juggling all the kids' different needs whilst doing school drop-offs and pick-ups, worrying about getting the kids up/dressed/breakfasted in time, uniforms, lunches, homework etc :)


- The boys are doing pretty well at swimming, especially Shmoo. Today the other 2 kids weren't there so it was just our 2. The instructor stayed out of the pool so that she could see and guide what they were doing better. And the boys did great, doing laps of the entire length of the pool holding on to a kickboard, practicing their freestyle arm strokes and backstroke.


- I had to use my hand to clean the invisible dirt off the shower floor at the pool today so that Shmoo would get in. He didn't want to touch any dirt and he was worried that any dirt would feel rough on his feet. Part of the changeroom floor was too cold apparently so I had to hold his hand and help him jump over it into the shower. And he didn't like the feel of the towel again. *sigh*


- Beanie worries me sometimes. I don't know if there's something genuinely there or if I'm just reading too much into it because of the other ASD stuff. But... he freaks out over people he doesn't know, even kids and babies. He's very particular about things being clean and flat/straight/smooth (I am sooo not like that, a bit of mess doesn't bother me!). If a poster has slipped a little he insists it's straightened. If one of the other boys drops food on the floor during a meal Beanie will point and get upset if I don't pick it up straight away. If little droplets of milk from his sippy cup get onto the table he wants it wiped up ASAP. He gets upset if something he's unsure of gets on his hands. He got upset today at the pool because he saw a few little bits of something on the floor near where we were sitting and I kept telling him it didn't matter and they could stay there. He goes around the house and points out all the bits of fluff etc on the floor and sooks until someone comes and picks it up or gets him to pick it up and takes him to the bin. He cleans (yes, at 17 months!). He will grab a face washer or hanky off the bench or clothes airer and wipe down the floor/tables/walls. And the face washer/hanky must be flat and not folded over. He gets very distressed if it doesn't sit perfectly flat or if it bumps up against anything and a corner folds over. Same with books/magazines/paper. If a book or page won't sit flat he gets really upset. Same if he crumples a page when he turns it. And if he's drawing and we fold the piece of paper in half he will try to smooth the crease out and cry when he realises that it's not working. Things like clothing tags and zippers also bother him. Tonight he kept whinging and tugging at one of his sleeves like there was something hurting him. Couldn't see anything but it was probably a seam or thread annoying him. He was only happy when the shirt was taken off. And he doesn't like changes in routine. Even small things bother him. Like, when putting him into his sleeping bag for naps, I always used to put his arms in first but he would then kick me with his legs. I figured out a month or 2 ago that if I put his legs in first he doesn't kick me. But he gets really upset that his arms haven't gone in first! I think I'll mention it next time he has a health check. I feel bad that I never thought Shmoo's issues were anything serious and that he has potentially missed out on some critical early intervention. I don't want to make the same mistake with Beanie.

Look What Arrived in the Mail Today...

Our official card!!

Conversational Learning

With everything that's going on lately, we haven't done any 'formal' school work. But you can't stop kids learning, and that's what natural learning's all about. Both Shmoo and Loo love reading books and we feel both are progressing very well. Loo is starting to read sentences and Shmoo can pretty much read most things independently (he is doing the Premier's Reading Challenge). Shmoo also loves reading catalogues and working out what things are, how much they cost, what's the cheapest or most expensive item etc.


Shmoo has also recently developed a passion for drawing and colouring in and his skills in both are very impressive. He loves colouring in books but also has taken to drawing his own pictures and colouring them in. He gets obsessive about particular themes and spends days drawing one thing, in incredible detail, until he's satisfied. He's done double decker buses, normal buses, cars, vacuums, houses, churches and other things that escape my memory at the moment. Downside is that we go through heaps of paper.


Conversational learning plays a huge part in their learning, just talking with them, listening to them and being responsive to them. Like the other night at dinner our conversation started with Shmoo asking if humans were there before the dinosaurs' extinction or after. We talked about how many millions of years ago the dinosaurs existed and then how many millions of years ago humans appeared and the difference between the two. That lead to a discussion about how evolution occurs and the origin of humans (and all life, for that matter). Then we got to talking about different beliefs and religions, people's varying beliefs about how the world was created, 'God' and the gods and goddesses. Which lead to what happens after death, some people's belief of a 'heaven' or afterlife of some kind and what reincarnation means. And then we discussed having respect for other people's beliefs and what that means. And how it's important to have respect for other people, the earth, and one's self, and what all that entails. We ended the conversation on the different meanings of  the words 'respect', 'except', 'expect', and 'accept'. That's a lot of learning packed into an hour.


Gotta love how they are naturally curious and keen to learn when they are supported, believed in and just allowed to be.

Afternoon in the Park

Don't worry, be happy! The OH's cuppa the other night.

Shmoo's always loved doing things like somersaults and trying to juggle so when I heard that Slipstream Circus were running some holiday classes for 5-9 year olds I signed him up for a couple. The OH and I thought that he'd love it and that it would be a great homeschooling 'extracurricular activity'. (Have I mentioned before that Shmoo and Loo are now doing a performing arts class through TPAC every Friday during term, and loving it?)

Shmoo's first class was this afternoon so I took Loo and Beanie to the park in Penguin whilst The OH took Shmoo to Slipstream.

The OH and I should have known better. Shmoo has only been, well, Shmoo for the past 6 years. We've known for a long time that he is a Highly Sensitive Child. It takes him a looooong time to get used to new environments, situations and people... he gets overwhelmed very easily. Apparently when The OH and Shmoo got to Slipstream they discovered it was held in one very large room (recreation centre I think), it was very cold and had lots of very loud children running around everywhere. Poor Shmoo. It was everything he can't handle rolled into one, sensory overload. He freaked. He was terrified and wouldn't join in. Oh well. Lesson learned.

So The OH and Shmoo met up with us at the park. Shmoo had much more fun playing with his brothers in the parkWe asked him if he wanted to go back to the Slipstream class on Thursday and got a definite 'no!'.

After playing in the park we walked up to the GP's surgery to pick up a prescription and then stopped by the bakery on the way back to the car and got the boys a little treat to eat on the way home. A lovely family afternoon.

THEAC Monitoring Visit

We had our first homeschool monitoring visit today and... it went really well! We had a lovely THEAC rep who homeschooled 5 children herself and is very supportive of natural learning. We had a chat about what we have been doing and I showed her Shmoo's work samples (random writing and art samples plus lapbook projects); his weather recording folder and graphs; our homeschooling photo album; unit study checklists; and our term 1 progress report.

She loved all of what we showed her and said that she knew that the council would be 'very impressed' with what we've done. So, yay! Such a relief! I was pretty sure we'd be okay but it's just nice to know that we're doing alright because sometimes I feel like I'm just not doing enough, you know? Especially since we've dropped a lot of the workbooks as it just wasn't working for Shmoo.

We're officially approved homeschoolers!

[Although, I had one of those frazzled moments at first as the Bean was screaming the whole time because he's at that separation anxiety stage and objects to strangers in his home and then Shmoo refused to say hello and hid behind the curtain in his bedroom for the first 10 minutes. Gotta love 'em LOL.]

Home Ed Friends

We had a playdate today with the lovely Allana and her gorgeous daughter. The kids had a great time chasing each other around, bouncing on the trampoline and playing with the kittens.

Allana made some funky trousers for Shmoo and Look so will have to get the boys to model them and post some pics!

Wings Wildlife Park

Our friends, L & P with their kids J (2) & D(9m), from Launnie were holidaying in the area for Easter so we met up with them at Wings Wildlife Park today...

  

Dinosaur Egg Fossils

We bought a couple of dinosaur egg 'fossils' from the QVMAG shop yesterday so that the boys could pretend to be paleontologists.

Lesson #1: Paleontology is definitely not an indoor activity.

Lesson #2: My 4 & 5 year olds do not have the patience or strength to be paleontologists.

Banging the eggs together to crack them didn't work but a little assistance from Daddy armed with a screwdriver made the exercise a little shorter. Revealing... a triceratops!

Lesson #3: Screwdrivers and paleontology do not mix... Oops, a double amputee, beheaded Seismosaurus.

Superglue fixes everything!

QVMAG

Today we went to the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery in Launceston.

The perception tunnel. Very cool. The bridge is perfectly stable and still but the tunnel around it moves and makes you feel like you're swaying from side to side.

   

The boys loved the old diesel train.

There was also a dinosaur eggs & babies exhibit on but it was $15 (the other stuff was free) and it was the same exhibit that we visited at the Imaginarium last year (which I could have sworn I blogged about but stuffed if I can find it!). Anyway, instead of redoing the same exhibit we just got some extra dinosaur stuff from the gift shop :)