Museum Africa & Moyo Market Theatre

Today we joined the Jedi Knights Homeschoolers for a  visit to Museum Africa formerly known as the Africana Museum, one of the most beautiful buildings where it lies right next door to the Market Theatre complex in Bree Street, Newtown, Johannesburg’s city centre’s western edge & is located opposite Mary Fitzgerald Square. This building was formerly the city’s fruit & vegetable market. It was originally built in 1913 and was then the largest building of its kind in the country with the railway which brought food into the city, running behind it.  The story of many migrant miners as well as others connected with Johannesburg are told through the Museum’s collections.

Museum Africa Field Trip VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The museum houses various long-term exhibitions which include “Cartoons in Context” and “Ghandi’s Johannesburg; The birthplace of Satayagraha”. There are also various objects, pictures & documents depicting the boundaries of South African cultural groups.

The museum also houses various other museums which include the “Geology Museum”, the “Bensusan Museum of Photography” as well as the “Workers’ Museum.

• The Bensusan Museum of Photography collects rare and valuable precision-made photographic equipment and pictures made using this equipment including wet-plate prints, stereoscopic views and digital images. This museum on it’s own can provide the serious photography fanatic hours of of fascinating viewing of photography equipment.
• The Geology Museum collection consists of over 17000 rock and mineral samples from Southern Africa including many type samples and samples from the Tsumeb area of Namibia, the Witwatersrand reefs and Okiep area. This museum too can provide hours of viewing & would make an awesome field trip for those studying the theme of geology.
• The Workers Museum tells the story of migrants who came to Johannesburg from across southern Africa, leaving behind their homes & families.

Personally I found there’s just way to much information here to do all the exhibits in one day. I would re-schedule a visit of certain areas at times when it fits in with the theme the kids are studying.

Moyo Market Theatre Field Trip VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After our visit to the museum we also had an opportunity to tour the Market Theatre. We got to see the inside of the “Laager Theatre” as well as the “Main Theatre”. Since they were busy setting up in the “Barney Simon” theatre, we were only allowed a sneak peak though the entrance. The Market Theatre also houses the Market Theatre Laboratory for skills training. The Laboratory is a platform for young artists in this country, to meet, interact, engage and discuss issues affecting the arts industry and creative processes. The Lab hosts community theatre showcases nationally weekly. Groups in and around Gauteng can book showcases with the Lab office, while groups nationally can send a request to be visited by a fieldworker to showcase their new plays for the Lab.

A huge thank you to Danielle Johnson for arranging this great outing.

Craft Day

On Saturday afternoon I ditched my boys for a tea date at Clearwater Mall with some homeschool moms. Unfortunately our visit at Mug & Bean got cut short, so I stopped by the Crafters Market to find some crafting materials for Misha. I found some lettering & mosaics which I thought might work to make some name plates for their bedroom doors. After finishing the washing this morning I figured we might as well do something creative for school…

First the boys arranged all the items on their boards to plan what they want the name board look like…

Then we painted the board & all the items. Misha painted his own, but I did Jesse’s since he doesn’t care for arts & crafts much. He did however choose the colours & draw the lines for his background.

Finally the boards are complete & have been hung on the bedroom doors with huge excitement…

they added the bandannas that they painted for the horse camp last year & woalla, they have character on their doors.

Irene Weather Station

WoW, this has been quite a hectic month where field trips are concerned. We’ve done SAASTA Telescope Building & Science Outing; Steam Train Trip & Cullinan History Tour; eTV Tour; SAASTA Night Sky Viewing as well as the Weather Training Centre in Irene. That’s 5 Field trips in one month & more than I can remember doing in all of my schooling career. Obviously in the process I’m also re-learning a whole lot of stuff that I learnt for the test many years ago but remember none of…

Irene Weather Station VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

This afternoon we visited the Irene Weather Station, one of the 23 weather stations in our country. We met Hendrik, a technician with an absolute passion for the job he’s doing. Very patiently, & with the simplest of terms, he explained how they measure air temperature, humidity, air pressure, wind speed & direction as well as direction are measured & sent to their Head Office where the information is processed to supply the public with climate & weather reports.

I was quite surprised at how simple it all is. Now here is one area where the digital collection is still verified daily by taking daily measurements the old primitive way & checking it with the automated readings. We also had the privilege of seeing a radiosonde that measures various atmospheric parameters and transmits them to a fixed receiver, being attached to a balloon & released for a daily reading taken for the aviation industry.

Although this may not have been a very WoW experience we still enjoyed this field trip & learnt a lot.

Star Gazing at SAASTA Johannesburg Observatory

Today we went star gazing at SAASTA Johannesburg observatory. Although it was very cold & the queue for the telescope was long, we still enjoyed the experience and got to see the moon, Saturn and Mars up close.

Star Gazing at SAASTA Johannesburg Observatory VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

 

Another huge thank you to Lynda for arranging another great field trip.

Reading Eggs

Review     Hello Everyone, I thought you and your little one might like to trial the ABC Reading Eggs and Eggspress programs for two weeks absolutely FREE. Those of you who have followed our journey into home education will remember that we took up home educating our then 7-year old 2nd grader because he was struggling at private school and unable to read. Reading time was always a huge challenge & whenever I brought out a book for reading he’d tense up completely because he absolutely hated it. I kept on trying during the course of last year & finally, in June just gave it up & left all reading. No more books, no more tension & no more frustration. Then in January this year I stumbled on the Reading Eggs site & decided to give learning to read another try. This program caters for 7 – 13 year olds & addresses the way Misha learns best. I started him on Level 2 “Beginning to Read for emerging readers” on the 19th January & for the first week I just left him as he spent 6 to 8 hours a day working the programme. By the 26th January he had mastered 20 lessons & moved up to Level 3. Since then he’s completed a lesson a day & finished Level 3 reading on the 19th April. Reading Eggs activities include a Skills Bank with 96 lessons to teach spelling the fun way. There’s a Story Factory to encourage writing stories as well as Driving tests to assess student knowledge in one of three essential reading skills. For the little ones it includes a Play Room & a Puzzle park. When I checked his reports in at the end of April, he was still at 7 years reading age, but by last Friday when I checked again he had improved to 9 years reading age. I’m amazed at how much his confidence has grown & his hatred towards reading has reduced. Lately he’s insisted on reading the Clinker Castle stories to me before going ahead with the comprehension exercises. Today I was quite surprised that he wanted to read eNews to the group on our Field Trip to eTV. Although some of the words were a bit difficult for his current reading level, he wasn’t deterred… This afternoon he finished the last lesson at Storylands, Clinker Castle & will be moving on to Reading Express with its 200 lesson Comprehension gym & Library with its 650 levelled books with reading ages from 6 – 12+ years, next week. Finally learning to read is no longer a chore & completing his lessons is done in about 40 minutes each day. Finally, after 21 months of home education, we’re making a breakthrough with reading. Letting go & trusting God & Misha to pick it up when he’s ready, is finally paying off… Reading Eggs is working really well for Misha and registering is quick and easy. Give it a go, it really works! Blessings, Patrizia (a.k.a. Trys/Trixi) Schwartz Mom to Jesse (14) & Misha (9)     testimonials       Parents At first we thought that this is not suitable for ou… Teachers Reading Eggs is wonderful for early and beginning re… Special needs Hi I am the Curriculum Co-ordinator at an independen…       contact       Send us an email Tel: +44 1173 600246        9am - 5pm        Monday - Friday

ABC Reading Eggs is 100% Australian and is designed for 3 to 7 year olds who are learning to read. The program is successful because it makes learning phonics and basic reading skills a truly enjoyable experience, through a range of educationally sound, fun and interactive activities. Over 200 000 parents and 4000 teachers across Australia are using ABC Reading Eggs with their children. Be one of the 90% of parents who have reported seeing a noticeable improvement in their child’s reading skills and register for your 2 week FREE trial NOW! To receive your 2 weeks FREE access simply click on the provided link and complete the registration form provided > Register now for my FREE 2 week trial To see what parents and teachers have to say about the program click here > Testimonials Click here to visit www.readingeggs.com Yours sincerely Matthew Sandblom Chief Eggsploring Officer www.readingeggs.com   news       We are very proud to announce the launch of our NEW Storylands destination. The first 20 lessons of Clinker Castle are open to play! Storylands opens after lesson 60 with 4 exciting maps, 20 wonderful books and lots of new rewards. This area build…

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eTV Tour

WoW, what an experience we had today. We joined Misha’s technology group for a tour of the eTV premises in Randburg.

In the training room we learnt a how images are transported from the camera to the TV towers & then redistributed to our homes. We learnt that the signal is sent to  the towers, encoded & then sent to the decoders in our homes where it is decoded into the images we see. We also learnt about analogue & digital television, ENG & SNG, Standard Definition (SD) & High Definition (HD) as well as Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT). Much of it is way beyond my understanding, but it seems the kids enjoyed it thoroughly.

Misha reading eNews…

Then we were taken on a tour to the Studio, Server Room & Control Room. We saw the very expensive, fancy equipment that is used for producing television. Whilst in the Control Room 3 students had an opportunity to go back to the studio & do some news reading. With Misha’s history of reading struggles, I was quite surprised when he said he also wanted to read. He has only just mastered Level 3 reading on Reading Eggs & I was quite amazed at his confidence reading to the group & although some of the were a bit difficult for his current reading level, he wasn’t deterred…

We also got a glimpse of the behind the scenes workings of the news channel with a live broadcast in the making.

		eTV Tour VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

A huge thank you Lynda, the coordinator of our technology group, for arranging another great learning experience…