Wii in school?

In our school year we have 36 weeks of school and by week 9, 18 and 27 we are .... tired!  :)  We give it al we have!!  :0  We need a good break every now and again from school,  BUT we might not be able to take a break just then as the timing may be wrong because of other things or we cannot go someplace nice (rainy season) or whatever, so i have to be creative! Here are a few things we have done out here in the bush.

If i know we have a break coming up in, say week 12, and by week 9 we are a bit less motivated we follow Our Routine, as the boys call it. I use The Routine to stretch out our time until we can take a break and it works really well!  This is how it works:  after Bible reading and memory verse we have an hour and a half of more fun activities.  Each one starts with either a Wii word game, or half an hour of art or a fun computer game (just for fun!) and then rotate after the half hour is up until everyone has a nice art picture, has had a time on Minecraft or other popular game and has worked on their vocabulary playing Wii!  This way they have fun while learning and it is something different and they are ready for other school work again.  My motto is if you can't have a vacation then do something out of the ordinary!  We do this for a week and then everyone's up to being back to normal again.  ;)

Another thing we have done - especially when they were younger and we all did the same Science program - we would have a Week of Science!  We do all the experiments one after the other.  It sounds like not much fun, but it really works well if you are studying magnetism or electricity.  You build your little circuit and then do all kinds of fun things with it. Or you get out the magnets and have some fun!

And then finally one more idea - Lego's!  Need i say more?  We have used them when the boys were sick but bored, when our house was filled with kids, to build when being read to, to invent, to replicate and copy historical things (great Wall of China, Castles, spacecraft, etc!!)- bottom line - bottomless ideas with Lego's in school!!  :0

What do you do to get your students going again?  Share some of your ideas!

Shalom!
Bella

Poetry on a Monday

When my boys were younger i  found it easy to keep school interesting.  Just whip out some play dough and off they go!  Or take out the paints and away they paint!  Even old boxes of corn flakes, empty paper rolls, some glue could help a morning pass or help a cranky little one forget he is actually doing "school".  But as they grew older i had to think a bit harder and i confess, sometimes didn't do much to make school fun.  Some days it is just work, work and tick off the boxes!

I have said that we live very remote (not to the people who live here, of course) but very remote to likeminded people - not many of those around - none to be accurate!  We go to our nearest town maybe 2 times a month, where we visit friends and do some shopping and so we have to invent most of our entertainment.  Here is one that is quite new but was a hit from the start!  :)

The curriculum we use is Sonlight and so every year we get new poetry books and i rarely get through them!  Not that i don't like poetry, but somehow it falls off our list of things to do and books to read....and since i come from a guilt culture, i felt very, very guilty about not finishing these wonderful poems.  And so i borrowed a title from a movie and the Dead Poets Society was born!

Monday evenings we all have to dress up some way or the other - a hat, a cloak, a mask - or bring something, like a chocolate.  And then we read poetry!  We prepare some poems and while we have a candle-lit supper we enjoy the richness of poets old and new.  Sometimes the boys are inspired to write their own poems or memorize one and recite it proudly to us!

My biggest worry now is that we could soon run out of poetry books!!  :)  The boys love it and i don't feel guilty anymore!  Viva Poetry!

Bella

Homeschooling in the bush!

We live in a very remote village in Africa.  There are 3 students in my "school" this year - a gr8, a gr 7 and a grade 5.  All boys!  They have lots of fun out here.....

Homeschool is a choice for us.  It is not the only option but it is the option we like!  Our boys are part of our life and ministry here.  And so with this blog i would like to share some things we do for fun here, especialy with limited resources!  Also some encouragements, struggles and some victories! Hope you enjoy this blog!

Bella