School Term Start

Here in New Zealand the schools close later in December than we’re used to & hence only start early February. Although we already started school straight after New Year because we still prefer to take short breaks more regularly in the year, we have to wait for the school term to start for homeschool activities to commence.

  

 

This year our first activity was stopping by the annual Auckland Home Educators picnic today. The boys met some new people there, but unfortunately none that live close by so they can see them more often.

Jesse tried his hand on some programming at The MindLab. However most of their classes are aimed at 16 & under so he got rather bored so will stick out the term & then we’ll have to find him something else to do.

Whilst waiting for Jesse, Misha & I joined another Kiwi mom & her 2 younger kids for a walk through the area & ended up doing some geocahing. Misha got to navigate on the phone whilst moms just followed along. They did find 2 caches & got very close to a third one but due to not having a special tool we weren’t able to retrieve it. We figured we’d bring some tools next time we’re in the area for that one.

June 2012 SACHS Blog ~ Extra Curricular Activities

Hi everyone it's time for the June South African Carnival of Homeschooling blog. This month our theme is Extra Curricular activities and moms from all over South Africa will be sharing their experiences.

Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education and they exist at all levels of education. Activities that often involve some time & commitment outside of the regular school day, such as band and choir, are also considered extracurricular activities.

For us these activities include Chess, Music, Junior Engineering for Africa (JEFA) and Tutur/Co-op for Technology.

Misha still goes to his old school twice a week on Monday & Wednesday for an hour of chess. On Thursdays, Jesse has Technology with a tutor and the same tutor teaches Misha art & drums. After his art & drum lessons, Misha attends a Technology co-op for 8-12 year olds in Constantia Kloof. On Fridays they both attend Junior Engineering classes in Northriding for 1 & half hours. Jesse will be taking part in the Robotics competition in July.

The boys have also done some earth science courses with Barry Byrant from Education Support which they quite enjoyed.

1. Volcanoes Day 1 (12 March) & Day 2 (26 March)
2. Earth Quakes & Working with Clay (11 June)

Last month Misha checked out the Honey Badger Club at the Johannesburg Zoo. He loved it so much that I’ve signed him up to attend there once a month as from next month as well.

My boys are not very keen on sports and the highlight of our month, is the monthly ice skating at Northgate Ice Arena. Except for once this year due to sickness, my boys won’t miss this for anything.

We’ve also tried some Geography with a twist this year by joining the World Wide Culture Swap. “What is Worldwide Culture Swap?” you may ask. It is various groups of people from across the world sharing gifts & information in order to learn more about each other’s country & culture. This adds a new incentive and great excitement to learning geography when parcels are sent and received.

This year I made it a priority to add numerous field trips in order to rekindle the boys’ love for learning & still have quite a few more planned for the rest of this year.

Field trips attended & planned:

1. Bush School Ecological Study @ Mogale’s Gate (9 March)
2. Water Purification Plant, Vereeniging (22 March)
3. Sound & Light Experiments @ Tan’ Malie se Winkel (23 March)
4. Rhino & Lion Nature Reserve & Wondercaves (3 April)
5. SAASTA Telescope Building & Science Outing (3 May)
6. Steam Train Trip & Cullinan History Tour (5 May)
7. eTV Tour (24 May)
8. SAASTA Night Sky Viewing (30 May)
9. Weather Training Centre @ Irene (31 May)
10. Museum Africa & The Market Theatre (5 June)
11. Piki Tup Robinson Deep Landfills, Waterfal Depot, Fairlands Garden Site as well as Panorama Composting Site (7 June)
12. Sci Bono Science Museum (3 July)
13. The Ann van Dyk Cheetah Centre – deWildt (4 July)
14. Nature Treasure Hunt @ Kloofendal Nature Reserve (12 July)
15. Maropeng (7 August)
16. Planetarium Day (3 September)
17. Cheese Farm & Spring Picnic (4 September)
18. Horses & Conservancy (2 October)
19. Scorpions – nocturnal walk @ Kloofendal Nature Reserve (6 October)
20. Babboon Rehabilitation (5 November)
21. Santarama Miniland (3 December)

We’ve had some hectic weeks so far but it has quietened down a bit. Next week we have 2 field trips again, but thereafter it may stay at 1 per month. Will see how it goes and what other opportunities present themselves.

The Horse Camp at Mookrans Equus is another long awaited event not to be missed. This year it’s scheduled from 26th August to 1st September.

All in all I think our new approach with de-schooling this year is slowly paying off. Jesse reckons he’s ready for some real learning again and has been signed up with Alpha Omega Academy to ease back into learning with English, Maths, Science, Health & Physical Education using the PC based Switched on Schoolhouse material. Misha will continue with unschooling for now until around 6th/7th grade when we’ll look into formal curriculum again. I pray that by then, the damage caused by private school will have been all repaired & he will be able to reach his full potential.

Now for some great contributions from other moms on how they supplement their kids’ learning with extra murals:

1. "Unofficial Extra-Curricular Activities" by Elize van der Merwe at  Bearakademie has this to say: “At first I thought, oh my… only one extra-curricular activity, but then I remembered the Masters are pre-schoolers, they participate in a lot of things that are seen as extra-curricular, but is termed "unofficial" – as they don’t necessarily do it as part of a group, or a group of their own peers. So here are our unofficial-official list of extra-curricular activities...”
2. Taryn Hayes from Hayes Happenings shares in her post All About Extra Murals how they supplement their much loved literature-based curriculum with various extra curricular activities and outings.
3. Jolene van Niekerk from MonstersEd submitted 3 posts about field trips they’ve attended as part of their extra curricular activities.
   • Reef Steemers ~ “We had the opportunity to go on a steam train depo tour at Reef Steamers.  We also got to go on a short ride on one of the trains.  It was an awesome experience.”
   • Douglasdale Dairy ~ “We had the opportunity to go to Douglasdale Dairy to learn about the milk bottling process.  We also go to go on a tour of the dairy.”
   • Rhino Lion Nature Reserve ~ “We took our conservationist boys to the Rhino Lion Nature Reserve.  Since Noo is such an avid wild animal lover (thanks to my parents owning and living on a game farm) this was right up his alley.”
4. Joanne Madgwick from Castle for Keeps has a family of 7 that lives in the rolling hills of KZN in South Africa. They value family and love creating their home to be a place that not only nurtures their children but provides a place for them to grow and be individually built into a Castle that will last for eternity. They blog about parenting, education, homeschooling, training, crafts, outings, special days and celebrations among other aspects. Castle For Keeps also provides me with a platform from which I can share with others the articles I write for the Witness Newspaper on Education and Parenting - all of which are daily laying stone upon stone to create our Castle Keeps. She shares her view on extra curricular activities in her post entitled The Soul of Education.
5. In her post, Assagay Coffee Farm, Bronwyn Marcus from Three Marcus Boys shares how they joined a few homeschoolers in Pinetown KZN on a tour of the coffee farm and tasting of the coffee.
6. Melanie Grant from Mel’s Mouthful on Mothering has these pages to share
   • “I have to be intentional in my approach to physical activity.  I am not a natural physically active person, it takes lots and lots of effort to get this lazy body moving, but like I have said before - you need to be who you say you are, and what you tell your children to be.  So if I expect them to be physical then I need to be too.  So my first priority,  when it comes to extra curricular activities is - sport, movement, exercise! And this is how we do it: Homeschooling and Extra-Curricular Activities: Sport”
   • “Extra curricular activities play a vital role in bringing balance to our children.  After I have ensured that the children have lots and lots of sporting and physical activities to do, I can then focus on taking my children out into a learning environment.  Learning comes alive when there is an authentic interaction with the subject and this is where our extra curricular activities for enrichment play an important role.  I want my children to love learning.  I want them to find joy in discovering and adventuring and questioning. Sometimes they do a little too much but they are thriving in this environment.  It's all about maintaining a lifestyle of learning.  Sometimes we take notes, sometimes we do report backs, sometimes we just have fun. We never do the same thing in the same way.  But if you ask them questions about what they have learnt you will be amazed at what they remember and their experiences.”
     Homeschooling and Extra-Curricular Activities: Enrichment
   • “Creativity is not one of my strengths but I love artistic expression in different forms.  The more varied, the better.  I don't just want my children to be limited to arts and crafts, though they do that too, but I want them to experience the joy of creating whether its from a piece of wood, beads, paper or wood.  The sky is the limit.  And so where there is an opportunity for creative expression, we do it.” Homeschooling and Extra Curricular Activities in Creativity
   • I believe that though one's life as a Christian cannot be compartmentalised, it's important to ensure that my children participate in extra curricular activities that are spiritual in nature - that feed their soul, remind them of who they are in God and develop good healthy relationships with the church.  I want to encourage them to enjoy fellowship, the gathering of the saints and being part of a body - at a young age.  We study the word and pray every day with our children but if we relied only our input into their lives, they would be limited in their growth.  This gives them many opportunities to grow, to be challenged, to  learn and to have fellowship. Homeschooling and Extra Curricular Activities:  Spiritual

Now if reading all these posts has left you feeling inadequate or overwhelmed please read Melanie Grant’s additional post entitled The Lowdown on Extra Mural Activities in order to bring some balance to all these articles.

For us newbies it is very important to remember these feelings result from our lack of knowledge & that these seasoned homeshool moms were also once newbies like us and through years of experience have found what works for their families. Finding that balance, takes time, sometimes through trial & error. However, their willingness to share their experiences with us will enable us to gain knowledge faster in order to eventually find that balance for our families. We shouldn’t compare ourselves with these families, instead learn from them through reading the posts in order to find ideas of what’s available to try and then set out to sift through those ideas to find those that will work for our individual families.

Thank you to all these lovely ladies for sharing their lives with us. May you go from strength to strength & be blessed in all that you do. I trust you will enjoy visiting these posts as much as I did.

This post features on the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers (SACH Bloggers) where South African home schoolers share experiences, ideas, philosophies and much more.  You can join the carnival too by heading to the South African Carnival of Homeschool Bloggers sign up page. We hope you enjoy the carnival as much as we have!

SA Home Schooling Blog Carnival June 2012 ~ Extra Curricular Activities

Horse Camp

I can’t believe the long awaited camp is over & our school holiday will also be over in a day. We’ll be kicking off the new term with a Medieval Tour at Greensleeves on Wednesday.

The time has just flown by with one mean speed & I still haven’t gotten around to doing all those other jobs around I planned on getting done whilst on break.

Clive & I got to spend a week hiding out in Wakkerstroom whilst the boys were at the camp arranged by Melinda van der Merwe together with a group of 28 homeschoolers.

Initially, I was a concerned about Misha, as this was his first camp & generally he doesn’t like to sleep out for more than one day at a time. We asked Jesse to keep an eye on him & they were going to sleep in the same room.

Melinda was very kind to arrange a birthday cake for Misha, who celebrated his 9th on Monday at camp. I sent chips & juice & they had a surprise party after lunch. According to him it was his “bestest, best birthday ever”.

When I spoke to Melinda on Wednesday morning, she teased that he’d been crying all the time & we should fetch him. However,  they were having loads of fun & were even getting along very independently of each other. I was happy to hear that they were enjoying themselves so much.

Of course when we got there on Friday, we heard camp was just “AWESOME”. Misha couldn’t wait to introduce us to Gavin, who seems to have made a great impact on him. He told us how Gavin encouraged the younger group of boys & how they were able to even sleep independently from their older siblings. He was bouncing around from sheer excitement. We could see they really loved the experience.

The highlight was Friday, when they received their certificates & were able to show off their newly attained riding skills to the parents during the horse show.

Unfortunately they didn’t have electricity on Thursday so Melinda wasn’t able to finish the Photo CDs on time for our arrival. I can hardly wait for it’s arrival & will post more photos when I receive it. For now, I’ve only posted my photos taken on Friday.

		Mooikrans Equus VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Misha, was quite upset about having to leave “Bakkies”

Hovever, after about an hour’s sleep in the car on the way home & a promise to print him a photo of him & Bakkies for his wall, he chirped up again.

Gavin, Elna & Nico

Thank you for your contribution to the kids having such an awesome time.

Mooikrans Equus ~ Mooikrans Equus is a horse riding centre and holiday farm, situated on the escarpment of the Mpumalanga Highveld, 27km from Morgenzon on the R35 route to Amersfoort.

• A variety of educational, psychotherapy and social programs are available.
• A broad spectrum of programs is compiled for schools, groups and individual youth- or child to choose from. Programs include leadership development and training, educational programs, a series courses which also include all aspects of natural horsemanship (Western/cowboy) and DIY programs for youth/children groups.
• The goals of all the programs are to build the character of each visitor through the development of self-image and self-confidence simultaneously enjoying a holiday. Here the horse and horse riding plays a significant role. The horse is used, as the horse needs the rider’s attention during all times: brain and body work together to achieve success. Mastering the horse during this process leads to a healthy self-image.

Benefits of Horse Riding

If you have a child with low muscle tone, riding horses is one of the best things you can do is get them to do. Horse riding will improve balance and also force the toning of the core muscles. Teachers often suggest gymnastics or martial arts but with these the child must put in the effort for it to work. On a horse, however, they have less effort but get more for their effort. A 30 minute lesson for a 5-7 year old will do plenty, especially over 6 or more months.

Visit the sites below to read more about the benefits of horse riding:

• Horse Healing ~ “To those who have seen their child healed almost subliminally, the science of therapeutic riding rings true By Shannon Neill” What horses can do for children…
• Therapeutic Riding ~ Therapeutic Horse Riding is an emerging field in which horses are used to treat children of all ages with physical, cognitive, emotional, behavioural and social developmental needs.

Horse Riding Venues:

Some venues referred by parents on homeschoolers eloops are:

Pretoria & Surrounds:

• Avondrus ~ is well established and situated east of Pretoria in tranquil surroundings with a relaxed atmosphere. Email Marian or contact +27 (82) 780-8276.

West Rand:

• Equiteam ~ is based at Kloofzicht, a five star venue in the hart of the Cradle of Humankind. Email  Carlette or contact +27 (82) 855-3298
• Eduride Therapy ~ is based at 466 Pierre Rd, Ruimsig North West Johannesburg. Email Margreet Ludewig, or contact +27 (11) 475-9360 / +27 (82) 825-9843
• Maple Ridge Equestrian Farm ~ Kromdraai area Contact Verity on +27 (81) 379-8519
• Honeydew (down Johan Rd just pass Honeydew Police Station) Carina specialises in children with needs as she has one herself. She is brilliant and I can't say enough for her. She is no walk over lady but very encouraging and patient with the children. She is a Christian albeit a young one. I highly recommend her.” Contact Carina on +27 (83) 310-2720
• Litchfield Equestrian Centre ~ Riding school with a difference, that makes learning fun! Cater for beginner to advance, able and disabled riders, problem children, nervous riders and pony rides. Situated in Tarlton close to local shows & near Krugersdorp Game Reserve Contact Jenny on +27 (11) 958-1812, +27 (82) 333-3073 or +27 (82) 577-4304

East Rand:

• Weltmeyer ~ Alberton Contact Esmarie on +27 (82) 493-8912
• Southern Riding Centre ~ out Eikenhof, Southern Suburbs way. Contact Jenny on +28 (82) 461-3428

Page Updates:

I have added quite a few links to several of my resource pages. Amended pages are indicated with ~*~ below.

HomeEducation Resources

• Learning Styles ~*~
• Brain Dominance ~*~
• Home Educating the Struggling Learner
• Curricula ~*~
  • Bible
  • English ~*~
  • Foreign Languages ~*~
  • Mathematics ~*~
  • Science ~*~
  • Technology
  • Accounting
  • Computers
  • Handwriting
  • Life Orientation (Life Skills)
• Tutors ~*~
• Grades 8-12/Matric
• Online Schools ~*~
• Matric Support
• Free Educational Games & Software ~*~
• Teaching Aids
• Extra Murals ~*~

Extra Murals

Junior Engineering for Africa (JEFA/LabratZ)

Courses covered are:

• Foundations 1-3 (Ages 5-7)
• Junior Technician 1 & 2 (Ages 6-8)
• Challenger 1 & 2 (Ages 6-9)
• Builder 1 – 4 (Ages 7-9)
• Technical Machines 1 & 2 (Ages 7-9)
• Inventor 1 -4 (Ages 9-15)
• Junior Mechanic 1 & 2 (Ages 7-15)
• Technical Models 1 & 2 (Ages 10-16)
• Pneumatics 1 & 2 (Ages 11-15)
• Mechanical Systems 1 – 4 (Ages 10-15)
• Mechanical Engineer 1 & 2 (Ages 12-16)
• Designer 1 & 2 (Ages 12-16)
• Robotics & Programming (Ages 11 – 16)

For more information email or contact Brenda Windram on 072 345-1192.

Art

• Little Picasso Holiday
• Art Boxes ~ Keep your kids busy with an awesome Art Box consisting of 8 art projects suitable for ages 5-12. ALL materials included. Step-by-step age-related instructions. These art boxes are available all year round & come in various themes. They are packaged in a great storage box with lid, that can be used to store all special artwork and supplies.
• Classes ~ Art classes, ceramic & pottery classes, picture framing & holiday clubs are also offered. For more information email or contact Kathy Bigham on 082 899-5087.

• Learn & Master by Legacy Learning Systems will enhance your creativity and provide the foundational painting techniques you need to create beautiful artwork. The course consists of 20 professionally produced DVDs, 3 Music CDs (to listen to while you paint), a thorough Lesson Book with supplemental information, and access to a free online student support site.

Music

• Learn & Master Homeschool Editions by Legacy Learning Systems offers a  complete 2-year curriculum for homeschool families.
• Learn & Master Guitar consists of 20 professionally produced DVDs filmed in HD with over 40 hours of instruction. 5 Jam-Along CDs. 100+ page lesson book. Unlimited access to our online student support site. 68-Page Teacher’s Guide. 2-DVD Teacher’s Resource to help with guided study. (We are using this one for our boys & it’s absolutely awesome)
• Learn & Master  Piano has been widely recognized as the best home instruction course for learning piano available anywhere. It consists of 14 professionally produced DVDs, 5 Play-Along CDs, a 100+ page lesson book, and a free online student support site.
• Learn & Master Drums is by far the world’s most complete video instruction course for learning to play the drums. Designed to guide you from the very basics of setting up the drumset to expert playing techniques, it is the only instructional tool you’ll need — even if you’re sitting down to the drumset for the very first time. It is designed primarily for young adults on. Unlike some courses or private instruction, you’ll begin playing popular songs right away and then develop your skills with a simple step-by-step progression. It consists of 12 DVDs, 5 play-along CDs and a 100+ page lesson book, all crammed with in-depth instruction, clear demonstrations, and popular songs you already know.
• Drums/Guitar and Piano lessons in Discovery, Florida - close to the Discovery Hospital and Discovery Methodist Church, on the West Rand. Individual drum, guitar and Piano lessons as well as group guitar and keyboard lessons. Lessons are a half an hour once a week, Monday to Friday from 14h00 to 18h00 at very reasonable prices for ages 5 and up. Email Louise dos Santos (Nat. Dip. Light Music '97- Pretoria Tech) or contact 082 301 4797 or 011 674 3022
• Melody/ie Makers Home School Choir @ Christ Church Horison – Cnr of Cutten & Raath streets in Horison, Roodepoort. For more information email or contact Magda Pieterse on 082 546 8555.
• 4 – 6 Year Olds – Music appreciation and singing group
• 7 – 12 Year Olds – Melody/ie Makers Home School Choir
• Over 12′s – Senior Choir

Drama

• Drama Buzz The Drama Buzz Group is putting on Alice in Wonderland this year for children over the age of 8. All members of the group from previous years should already be registered with Felicity. Old members may register by going to the website,  www.dramabuzz.co.za, login and register. The group meets in Roodepoort (Horison area) at a church to practice every Wednesday from 11:00 – 13:00. For more info email contact Felicity.

Chess

• Lessons offered at Valley Vineyard Church, Northriding. For more information email or contact Brenda Windram on 072 345-1192.
• ChessKid.com is the #1 Site for Kids under 13. Dedicated to being a safe place for kids to learn and play chess!

• Chess.com Play chess for FREE at the #1 Chess Site! Unlimited chess games and free tournaments. Challenge your friends and meet new players. Improve your rating with training videos.

Safety No contact with strangers. Parents manage their kids’ access and friendships online and can monitor their activity.

Learn & Improve Discover the rules and strategies of chess! Improve your game, memorization skills, patience, and sportsmanship!

Play & Have Fun Free online games with other kids from around the world! Enjoy tournaments & club matches too!

Ice Skating

Once a month there’s ice skating at Northgate Ice Rink for homeschoolers at reduced rates.. Scheduled dates for 2013 are 11/1; 8/2; 8/3; 12/4; 10/5; 14/6; 19/7; 16/8; 13/9; 11/10; 8/11 & 6/12 at R40 per person which includes skate hire.

Ballroom Dancing

• Learn & Master Homeschool Editions by Legacy Learning Systems. All of the dances covered in the course — Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, Rumba, Cha Cha, and Swing — are tailored for the beginning dancer. It consists of 13 DVDs full of beautiful choreography and easily learned dance figures, 6 CDs of music to dance to, a 75+ page workbook outlining each dance, and an online community to encourage and support you.
  
  

• Every 2nd Wednesday there’s Ballroom Dancing from 13h30 – 14h30 for homeschoolers at the Dance Palace in Roodepoort. 336 Ontdekkers Rd, Discovery, Roodepoort,1724
  Phone 011 672 2288 or email goldenbay@telkomsa.net

Sport

• Active Education Home School coaching is non-competitive and provides regular activity and social interaction for home-schooled children, who all too often lack exercise and the opportunity to play team sports.

Camps

• Mooikrans Equus Horse Camp is a horse riding centre and holiday farm, situated on the escarpment of the Mpumalanga Highveld, 27km from Morgenzon on the R35 route to Amersfoort. Our boys have attended these camps for the past 3 years and with every camp we’ve seen some awesome personal growth.
• A variety of educational, psychotherapy and social programs are available.
• A broad spectrum of programs is compiled for schools, groups and individual youth- or child to choose from. Programs include leadership development and training, educational programs, a series courses which also include all aspects of natural horsemanship (Western/cowboy) and DIY programs for youth/children groups.
• The goals of all the programs are to build the character of each visitor through the development of self-image and self-confidence simultaneously enjoying a holiday. Here the horse and horse riding plays a significant role. The horse is used, as the horse needs the rider’s attention during all times: brain and body work together to achieve success. Mastering the horse during this process leads to a healthy self-image.

• HomeSchool Kamp or follow them on Facebook

Courses Offered Include:

• Music Instruments
• Dance
• Drama
• MicroBotics

E-mail them for more information on courses available.

Please visit this page frequently as I will be posting regular updates as I find more resources.