Mama's Musings

I absolutely LOVE a new year! I love, love, love the feeling of a fresh start, a clean slate, a new plan, a fresh diary/planner, new systems, decluttering - you name it, I'm a January fan!

Keen to get organised for 2021? Take advantage of my $7 mini-course. It's 7 days of planning, 30+ pages of printables and you can use it year after year. It's great for beginners and those with teens, and it's available HERE. Enjoy!

I've just completed a workbook I started this time last year!  I sense a theme...  I'm thinking about the overwhelm as our year comes to an end (and oh my - what a year)!

Without proper support it can feel almost impossible to nurture your family relationships and maintain a home based learning journey long-term.  

To access this FREE 20 page printable workbook, click on the cover, below, and enjoy!

Sun-kissed faces and sunset races,
Sand between your toes…
Memorable picnics underneath
A tree laden with mangoes.

Garden:

Grow sunflowers planted in a circle with an opening as a doorway, or tents made with climbing beans… A living place to play! Flowers and vegetables like nasturtiums, cherry tomatoes and purple beans to pick and eat while outdoors. Make daisy or dandelion chains and mini fairy gardens.

Water Play:

Use the bath tub or paddle pool with bark, walnut or seed pod boats. Explore science with hoses, funnels, cups, coloured water and float or sink fun. In a bucket or tub wash dolls clothes and blankets or dress-up items and dry them in the sun. If you have a sandpit, recreate the beach with water, twigs and shells. Imaginative play has endless possibilities and water will entertain most children for most of a long, hot afternoon…

Craft:

Seashell windchimes using driftwood, sew buttons onto hats or dye them bright colours, watercolour painting, pinwheels, lots of butterflies....

I appreciate art & craft for kids inspired by nature, using natural and recycled ingredients. I prefer my children not be exposed to art & craft products which contain ingredients they shouldn’t be putting on their skin (or in their mouths, as they do!). I don’t want to add to landfill once the fun is over, so ideally what we consume when being creative will return to the Earth.

We don’t need to buy expensive natural kits or products to choose nature craft. Instead of looking in a discount store at the over-packaged foam, plastic and glitter items, head outdoors to find treasures you can use.

There are books in the library, and many websites dedicated to creating from nature, but it’s great to be inspired by the items you find, and your child’s imagination. Ephemeral art is a creation that happens once, not with the intention of creating something to keep. It might be a mandala created from leaves during a picnic, or a funny face made from shells and seaweed at the beach. Take a ph...

Phew!  I've been a bit quiet on the blog while I tackle my first full-time semester of uni in over 25 years!  It's been a great big learning journey.  I have just a few weeks to go before a long summer break.

When I'm not at my desk working or studying, I'm trying to pop out to my garden regularly, because it's so calming for my mind.  And harvesting great big bowlfuls of produce is also appealing...  we have snowpeas, shelling peas, a couple of varieties of green beans, some broccoli, tons of leafy greens - Asian greens, lettuces, kale, spinaches, several edible flowers, gooseberries, mulberries, black sapote, chokos, lemons and lots of herbs in abundance right now.  The chickens are also laying, and two hens had chicks recently.  So life on the farm feels great!

To read some of my writing about gardening, go here.

Zeah and I did a Wild Weed Walk the other weekend.  We both loved it!  I used to take my bigger kids to lots of gardening workshops and tours, community gardens, seed sa...

The freebie for today is one of the files from my Resources page - a book review template.

Interested in reading more about including book reviews in your home ed journey?  Interested in a TON more homeschool freebies?  Check out this collection by Sarah Shelton on the Homeschool Giveaways and Freebies site!

Wake up!

Spring is here…

It’s time for blooms,

And cleaning rooms…

Spring is time to sow the seeds of new beginnings.  Begin any family traditions you have had in mind.

Garden:

Give the garden an overhaul.  Feed it well, mulch and prepare for planting.  You may be interested in finding a guide for planting by the moon.  There are special calendars designed to show the most appropriate times for particular kinds of garden tasks.  Old gardeners simply advise – when the moon’s going up (waxing) it’s time to plant above-ground crops.  After the full moon, when it’s waning, it’s time to plant your root crops (like carrots and potatoes).  If you planted some bulbs earlier in the year, you may be lucky enough to have flowers blooming already!  Enjoy the warm afternoons and get dirty in the garden with your little ones.  If your garden is a potted one - transplant, feed and try some sweet peas in a rectangular pot with a mini-trellis.

Craft:

Spring crafts are colourful in celebration...

I've been listening to The Brave Learner on audible for a few weeks now, and I'm really enjoying it!  As I listen to each chapter, I'm thinking "Yes!"  Julie Bogart succinctly describes the learning adventure our family have lived for the past last 25+ years.  To hear her describe how she learned to create a rich learning environment (and lifestyle) for her children, and trusted their choices and abilities is a beautiful reminder of how our own home education journey was also heart-centred and adventure-driven.  Would I make the same choices again?  Absolutely!  I am, with Zeah who is 4 and will have a different experience to her siblings aged 16-26, but hopefully it will be as full of fun and love and help her to grow to be independent and brave adults like her siblings (she's already quite brave!)

Want to hear more?  The Brave Learner is on Audible (your first title is free).  It's also available as a paperback for around AUD$25 - check Booko for the latest best price including ...

I loved themed learning at any age!  From reading Teddy Bear's Picnic and eating outdoors with babies, right through to teens writing essays inspired by concepts in a sci-fi movie they watched or novel they read...  

Last week I read The Rainbow Fish to Zeah and the little ones I babysit, then we did some simple related activities.

The Rainbow Fish, with his shimmering scales, is the most beautiful fish in the ocean but he is proud and vain and none of the other fish want to be his friend—until he learns to give away some of his most prized possessions.

Sometimes the activity is so simple it's completed by the end of the story, and other times, we can spend a week or more immersed in the theme of a much-loved book.

When I looked online for activities related to The Rainbow Fish, there were hundreds of free ideas including arts & crafts, colouring pages, worksheets, games, loose parts play, snack ideas, and more!  Learning like this is a little like a themed party, but a whole l...

Have you used Khan Academy?  Our teens have used it so much over the years (and still do), especially for Maths!

I used Khan Academy myself recently as I needed some further explanation on some Maths concepts for one of my university subjects.  The lessons complimented the uni content perfectly and filled in the gaps I had so I could proceed with my assignment.

And something for my readers who aren't Aussies - they have a great section on Personal Finances with US information and links.  So if you were a little let down by the Australian-centric info I shared here on Wednesday, check out Khan Academy!  it's FREE!