The annual Australian Homeschool Summit begins soon! A roundup of 30 presentations on a variety of Home Education topics. Most exciting is the speakers are Aussies focusing on Home Education in Australia! It’s all online, so watchable from the comfort of your home.   I’ll be speaking once again this year and I have some special guests joining me. All shall be revealed shortly.   Dates are: Giveaway of 3 tickets: March 3 – March 13th Tickets go on sale from March 6th (tomorrow) Showtime: March 23- April 3   Related Summits: I’ve spoken before at the previous Aussie Summits. Nurturing a Love of Literature 2017 Centering Your Education Around…

A Tradition begun way back in 2013 is still beating strong. As with every 4th Term for the past six years we enjoyed reading our way through piles of picture books, a tradition we look forward to each year. Our Leaping into Literature immersion as per usual was accompanied by the children giving their opinions and star ratings. This year’s participating children shrunk to only four; 13, 11, 8 & 5 years.  Due to the growing ages of the children we also included short chapter books, as the interest of some in picture books is beginning to wane just a little, my heart begins to break. Short Chapter Mr Pettigrew’s…

Outside my window… it’s a dark night, all is still. The benefits of living in the country, no city lights nor noises I am thankful… for good health, for my own and a beloved family member. Mine was a scare, all good but concerning at the time. Our dear family member’s condition is still unknown but the worse case scenario has at least been ruled out. Good health is never something I take for granted, I grew up with an invalid parent and know first hand the far reaching implications for all involved, for the patient and their family I am thinking… about family. My youngest brother, his wife and two…

We have finally found the perfect solution on how to tackle DVD & BluRay Organisation!! 🙂 Wrestling our ever expanding DVD & Blu Rays into some semblance of organisation has long been the bane of my existence. We have tried a few different solutions over the years, some with better success than others. When my friend Jenn over at Wildflowers and Marbles shared that she had THE solution to DVD & Blu-Ray Organisation you better believe I paid attention. Jenn is the Queen of organisation, furthermore she had trialed this for months before sharing.  We’ve now had this method in place for a year, so I can verify this is the solution…

ANZAC Day is tomorrow, a day in which we commemorate our fallen, returned and current Service men and women, a day in which we remember their sacrifices past and present. In honour of the occasion I set out to gather titles of Children’s Chapter Books for Anzac Day as books are a fantastic gateway to discussions and the beginning of understanding the many complex issues that arise from War. I focused on collating only books written by Australian and New Zealand authors – ANZACs; Australian New Zealand Army Corps. I had no idea that I’d end up with 60 titles! and I’m sure there are likely more still to find.…

ANZAC Day is this week, a day in which we commemorate our fallen, returned and current Service men and women, we remember their sacrifices past and present. I have been gathering picture books to assist and answer questions that are sure to arise as books are always a great gateway to discussions. Imagine my shock when I easily discovered 58 picture books for ANZAC Day!! Truth is I had to call a halt and stop looking for anymore! In this collection I have included both Australian and New Zealand authors – ANZACs; Australian New Zealand Army Corps. ANZAC Day is this week, a day in which we commemorate our fallen, returned and…

Most Australian children know the names of George Bass and Matthew Flinders, great explorers and navigators of the coastline of early Australia. My interest in Bass and Flinders’ explorations has been renewed as I’ve search for children’s historical fiction books about them, what courage and tenacity they had! This book search has been part of my ongoing project of organising Australian history fiction for children into chronological order, a collation of both in print and out of print living books. I have been working my booklist within the framework of the time periods organised in Our Sunburnt Country, a favourite core Australian history books.  I have gathered both picture and chapter books for each chapter, mainly sharing…

Outside my window… it’s early morning, the paddocks are brown as the drought continues. There are no kangaroos this morning, they must be searching for shoots further afield, nor are there chooks scratching, I lost my patience with the chook poo around the yard, they are free range no longer I am thankful… for an Awesome Saviour who died on the Cross for me! As we head into the final days of Lent, with Holy Week beginning today on Palm Sunday, I’m reflecting how incredible it is that Jesus died an agonising death for me! how great His love is!!…. “for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,…