Family Time

The presents have all been opened and exclaimed over, the paper gathered up and thrown into the recycling bin. Two days ago, here was Boxing Day. Not for us the Boxing Day sales which in Sydney started ridiculously early at 5 and 6am. No, we did as many Australians do in the Christmas holidays; we gathered the family together and went to the beach. For us, the beach is ten minutes away. Mick and I were first in even though the water felt a little cold initially, but was only the first minute or so, then it become beautifully refreshing. … Continue reading

2006 in Review: Homeschooling Blog at a Glance

As a new homeschooling blogger at Families.com, I wanted to know everything that has been discussed to date. In response to my own curiosity, and in an effort to make perusing our articles easier for you, our readers, I have compiled all of the blogs for the year 2006. Deciding to Homeschool Why homeschool Am I qualified for this? Reasons that Homeschooling Works! My Most Important Advice for Homeschoolers. The Cost of Homeschooling Instead of standing up for their own kids, why not stand up for all kids? Disclaimer: I am hardly an expert in education. Did You Know? ‘Empirical … Continue reading

The 31 Most Talked About Blogs of 2006

Although there are lots of great articles here at the home schooling blog, not everyone has time to leave a comment. However, we bloggers love comments on our blogs–or at least this one does. I also like to look for other blogs with comments as a tell tale sign of a great article! How does a blog qualify to be on the most talked about list? I have included blogs that had to have at least 3 comments on them. Here is a look at which blogs gave occasion to comments in 2006! People comment when they can relate to … Continue reading

The Week In Review: Oct. 21, 2006

Are you looking for a compiled list of links and ideas as well as measurable objectives and standards that help you to know if you’re teaching the right things at the right time? I am starting a series, “What Your _________ Should Know”. This week we focused on preschoolers academic skills, every day skills like time of day and positions, as well as motor and social skills. Keep looking for more blogs going all the way through 12th grade! I am also continuing to work my way through the homeschooling laws and statues of every state! This week we focused … Continue reading

A Slanguage Activity From Down Under.

As a fun activity, see if you can work out what these ridiculously Australian sentences mean. I’ve left a space under each sentence so that you can rewrite the sentence in your way of speaking. Have you printed out the list of words from Aussie Slanguage? I think you’ll need it to understand what’s being said. Fair dinkum, this is fun. When you visit us in Australia, if you can understand this, she’ll be apples, mate! 1) Hey, mate! Come along to our barbie this arvo. We’ve got some chook, and some bloke’s sheila is going to cook up the … Continue reading

Aussie Slanguage. An English Language Lesson from Down Under.

English is a hard language to learn. There are many words that sound the same, but are spelt differently and have different meanings, like “here” and “hear” or “bye” and “buy”. Depending on where you live in the world, the English words you use to describe something can be different too; like sweet and lollie. Thank goodness I grew up speaking English and have not had to learn it as a second language. I think I would have failed because it is too hard for me to work it all out sometimes! Australian English is a great example of speakers … Continue reading