Week 27 - Our Barefoot School House

It has been a slow week for us here at Our Barefoot School House. I say slow because I think know we are tired. It has been a long school year and with three weeks left of our third term - a break from it all seems so very inviting.

English, Afrikaans and the Learning subjects seem to pass without too much fuss, we actually enjoyed the themes, but Mathematics seemed to carry on for way too long. The usual unit a week that is expected from the curriculum doubled to two for this week. That in itself seem to rattle Garren's confidence. It is not that he struggles with the subject, no not at all. What I think has happened is that he has heard from his peers, from the schoolyard last year and the soccer field as well as others talk about how tedious it all is and he has got it into his head that this is how it should be. We are working on showing him that it really isn't that way at all and that a slight change of attitude will alter the mood of the subject. Today went a little smoother and he seemed to focus more at the task at hand than that of the whole week. He may also be excited and trying to get the tasks done so that he can start on his Science project 😉.

For Science we have been learning about Movement and Energy - Input & Output Energy. This week we focused on Movement and Energy found in Musical Instruments. He will have to design and construct a homemade musical instrument with recycled materials. I'll let you know how that goes in the week ahead. 

Themes For Week 27:

English - Caring For Our World.
This theme is carried over two weeks. We have touched on the topic of poverty and global warming. Focusing on reading and interpreting text with visuals. Writing information text and translating and organising graphic information. Our Core Reader is "Working Children" with spelling learnt from the theme itself. Language practice is on Stems, Verb Clauses, Colons, and simple and complex sentences.

Afrikaans - Waarheen Gaan Jy? (Where Are You Going?)
This theme is carried over two weeks. We have touched on Directions and placing sentences in the correct order as per text read. Our core reader for the week was "Liewe Heksie en die roomys" (The Little Witch and The Ice cream). Our poem was "Die Apie"(The Monkey) with spelling practice about "Die Kombuis"(The Kitchen).

Mathematics - Number Patterns and Adding & Subtracting.
Plenty of revision on what has been learnt through the year so far. 

Geography - Processed and Unprocessed Foods.
This week the theme learnt more on Agriculture and Farming but focusing on Unprocessed and Processed Foods. Subject touched on the meaning of processing food and a few ways on how food can be processed. 

History - Transport on Water.
This week we moved forward with the general theme of Transport and focused on Modern forms of water transport. 

Science - Movement and Energy in a System (Musical Instruments).
Moving forward with Movement and Energy - we were focusing this week on Musical Instruments. We covered many African handmade stringed and wind instruments such as the Uguhu (a stringed bow) and the Gorah (a reed pipe). Through the next week Garren will work on making his own musical energy while focusing on the design and solution. He has to use recycled material.

Danika and I built puzzle after puzzle. I think it is time to invest in new ones. The ones we have are of no challenge to her anymore. She is deliberately placing the pieces in the wrong holes and sighing "Oh No!..." then I have to find the correct place for her. How my nearly two year old is testing me to ensure that I am paying attention to her next moves astounds me. There has been ample outside free play too. The weather has been beautiful, all for one day, this week. I have let the younger two play for a little longer in the backyard after sunset before calling them in. We have also replaced the sand in her sandpit in the hope that the transition from my herb garden to her raised pit will go smoothly. I have seeds sprouting that will need to be planted in there soon. We also constructed a very rustic obstacle course to keep her busy on. It is now put away and plans for new wooden pallets to be used are in the works. A little safer than the ones used here as they are really old and weak.

There wasn't in the way of much extramural activities this past week. Garren was recovering from a bout of flu so we thought it best to keep him away from the rest of his soccer mates. But he does have a couple of matches this weekend that he will be playing.

So that's a wrap for our week in homeschooling. How did your week go?
What are you working on on your school desk?

Happy Friday
Love as always, Angela ♥