What a long day! Jodie and Laura came by for a catch up this morning, with Alice taking great joy in the task of "unshying" Laura. All her own idea, which seemed to work wonderfully, Laura didn't want to leave when it was time to go!
Learning Hub today was fantastic. Several new faces, and two exciting activities. Lettuce spinner paintings and votive candle holder painting. The lettuce spinner painting covers how colours mix, as well as how the colours spread with the centripetal force. The kids (and I) found it very interesting that the closer to the centre the drops went, the less they spread. Most cool, plus we have some really groovy art to frame for presents. Painting the votive candle holders was also fun, the paint is translucent to allow the light to get through. We need to let them sit for 24 hours, then bake them for 30 minutes in a 160C oven. We will be doing more of both activities here at home tomorrow, along with toothbrush spatter painting and tennis ball painting! Fun, fun, fun!
Alice had a wonderful time choosing books at the library, and one of the staff over-heard her reading, congratulated her and gave her a sticker, which was lovely for all involved. She is moving into level two books that have a bit more of a story-line, so she's beginning to see the point of it all a bit more.
Piney-4-kids was an excellent experience, and we will enjoy our visits there each month for the next twelve months (we miss December and July...). Penny is excellent with the kids and how she delivers the material to them. In the pre-activity discussion Alice was the only child who knew that the Noongar word for willy wagtail is djitydjity. We went for a bush walk around Piney Lakes, and I am amazed that such a wonderful resource exists so close to home, FREE! and I've never utilised it. That will no longer be the case, I'm an addict. Penny found a clicking froglet to show the kids. The clicking froglet is the smallest frog in the Southern Hemisphere, and is one of the seven native frogs found in Piney Lakes. It grows to about the size of an adult thumbnail, but the one we saw today wouldn't have been half that size. We also saw fungi, lichen, banksias and many quenda holes where they dig for food. They dig quite deeply, only in one direction and they don't leave scat around the hole, whereas rabbits dig all around the hole and leave scat to mark their territory.
We have at-home work for the month, which is to make a poster about one of the plants or animals we saw or heard at Piney Lakes. Alice has already chosen to do hers on the clicking froglet. Should be interesting!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Again to Scitech
Friends from the country were down, so to Scitech we did go. The kids' play area was again the big winner, with the big ball machine the clear favourite. Alice spent rather a great amount of time dressed as a snail, gorgeous (got pics, yay!). As a matter of fact, she seemed to have a go on everything in the kids' area, I spotted her playing the thong-a-phone and having a go in the construction area that utilises ramps, pulleys, wheels and cogs.
Three activities that she went into.
1) Puppet show about adaptations. Sally the Seal is lost in the Aussie Outback, but she is not adapted for the conditions. She meets various animals that are adapted, discusses similarities and differences between her and other species, explains why she is suited to the marine environment and is lucky enough to have a ranger come to transport her home. Alice and Josh both listened attentively, and Alice was able to contribute to the initial discussion about adaptation of giraffes by telling the presenter that baby giraffes have longer tongues than their mummies, although she had to look to me for a more in-depth explanation.
2) Hi-Voltage Show. ELECTRICITY. Balloons becoming negatively charged by taking the electrons from hair, static electricity, A Van der Graf generator, Nikola Tesla, a tesla coil, Faraday cage for protection from electricity, electricity safety! Fantastic show, Alice is terrified of electricity after getting her shock from the small tesla coil at the Tesla Exhibit the other day. I can remember Nikola Tesla's birthday! 10 July, though I don't know the year. Early 1800s, I shall just check it out - 1856-1943, I was out by half a century!
3) Journey to the Stars at the Planetarium. Mike took her into that, Josh is too young. But she enjoyed it, and commented to Mike how interesting Space is. I'll see if Mike feels up to adding some info about it later.
Plus, we started Blend Phonics today, starting with /a/ and /i/. I had originally not intended on starting phonics until the beginning of next year, but Alice is ready to read now, and she's trying to guess words as she doesn't have the tools necessary to sound them out. So, daily phonics, making sure every element is well absorbed before we move on to the next stage.
Successful day, great day, happy day!
Plus, Alice decided this evening to get everything for her and Josh's breakfast ready in advance. She got Mike to measure out the oats and she poured two cups of milk and put them in the fridge. The purpose? So Mummy and Daddy can have a sleep-in. Bless her heart, she's thoughtful.
Three activities that she went into.
1) Puppet show about adaptations. Sally the Seal is lost in the Aussie Outback, but she is not adapted for the conditions. She meets various animals that are adapted, discusses similarities and differences between her and other species, explains why she is suited to the marine environment and is lucky enough to have a ranger come to transport her home. Alice and Josh both listened attentively, and Alice was able to contribute to the initial discussion about adaptation of giraffes by telling the presenter that baby giraffes have longer tongues than their mummies, although she had to look to me for a more in-depth explanation.
2) Hi-Voltage Show. ELECTRICITY. Balloons becoming negatively charged by taking the electrons from hair, static electricity, A Van der Graf generator, Nikola Tesla, a tesla coil, Faraday cage for protection from electricity, electricity safety! Fantastic show, Alice is terrified of electricity after getting her shock from the small tesla coil at the Tesla Exhibit the other day. I can remember Nikola Tesla's birthday! 10 July, though I don't know the year. Early 1800s, I shall just check it out - 1856-1943, I was out by half a century!
3) Journey to the Stars at the Planetarium. Mike took her into that, Josh is too young. But she enjoyed it, and commented to Mike how interesting Space is. I'll see if Mike feels up to adding some info about it later.
Plus, we started Blend Phonics today, starting with /a/ and /i/. I had originally not intended on starting phonics until the beginning of next year, but Alice is ready to read now, and she's trying to guess words as she doesn't have the tools necessary to sound them out. So, daily phonics, making sure every element is well absorbed before we move on to the next stage.
Successful day, great day, happy day!
Plus, Alice decided this evening to get everything for her and Josh's breakfast ready in advance. She got Mike to measure out the oats and she poured two cups of milk and put them in the fridge. The purpose? So Mummy and Daddy can have a sleep-in. Bless her heart, she's thoughtful.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Trip into town and SCITECH!
Yesterday saw us back into town and back out again to Scitech. We spent a good four hours there, and had a wonderful time. We saw the Super Cool show, all about liquid nitrogen, which gave Alice a start on understanding how molecules behave when they are cooled or heated (balloons shrink in liquid nitrogen, and expand again as they warm!). We spent a great deal of time in the play room, and Alice's favourite activity was the ball transporter, which uses augers, baskets and cranks to move balls around.
Scitech is great for a day out, and science concepts - Alice enjoys the computer programs that allow you to manipulate them to make music. We saw the hatched chicks. There is a very cool robot that takes a photo, converts it to simple lines and then draws that picture, very cool. We all enjoyed jumping up and down on cushions to operate the pneumatic message tubes.
We saw the stained glass windows on the second level of Forest Place again, a simple beauty that amazes me every time I see them. They are so beautiful, and most people have no idea they are there. Had another good look at Haul Pack - unfortunately it has had to be fenced off as it was getting damaged by people climbing on it. We spent quite a bit of time at the model shop trying to decide what to do for Joshua - he's a train kid, and I don't see that changing, so we are going to get him a starter train set for his next birthday. It's a big expense, but seeing as we've always planned on starting a model railway sooner or later it's not such a big deal!
Scitech is great for a day out, and science concepts - Alice enjoys the computer programs that allow you to manipulate them to make music. We saw the hatched chicks. There is a very cool robot that takes a photo, converts it to simple lines and then draws that picture, very cool. We all enjoyed jumping up and down on cushions to operate the pneumatic message tubes.
We saw the stained glass windows on the second level of Forest Place again, a simple beauty that amazes me every time I see them. They are so beautiful, and most people have no idea they are there. Had another good look at Haul Pack - unfortunately it has had to be fenced off as it was getting damaged by people climbing on it. We spent quite a bit of time at the model shop trying to decide what to do for Joshua - he's a train kid, and I don't see that changing, so we are going to get him a starter train set for his next birthday. It's a big expense, but seeing as we've always planned on starting a model railway sooner or later it's not such a big deal!
Friday, July 1, 2011
Museum of Western Australia
We had a fantastic excursion to the Museum yesterday. Started with the meteorites, which was an excellent follow on from Alice seeing a "shooting star" while we were up at Ningaloo. We first saw the huge ones that are outside the museum, and discussed terminology again, as well as the make up of those meteorites being iron. We then went through the space display, seeing more meteorites and a great example of different results of meteors falling, whether are big enough to make a crater, small, a shower or burn up in the atmosphere. Alice enjoyed that, and the display that showed cut edges of meteorites that had been polished, making it very obvious that they were made of metal.
From space we went to ancient life - Josh had spurred the trip because he wanted to see the dinosaur bones again. Given that on our last trip to the museum Josh was terrified of the dinosaurs to the point that I had to carry him out, I was happy that this time he was excited! Alice particularly liked the fossilised eggs from the sauropod, and the thylacine fossil. She seems to be mostly over her dinosaur excitement, so I'm thinking we will save the activities I have for that for when it next flares again, whether it is Alice, or in a couple of years Josh, that shows the interest. She was quite interested in the development of humans, from homonids and australopithecines through to Homo Erectus. The skeleton display was very effective!
Next came the Mammals exhibit, with a quick detour through the birds. Alice's interest in the birds was limited, Josh very interested to know the difference between magpies and crows. The mammal exhibit was Alice's big favourite. She had a think about why an elephant skeleton has no trunk, compared a human skeleton to a gorilla's and generally had a great time reading the display cards.
From the mammals to under the sea! It's a bright, airy display that is topical given our recent trip to Ningaloo. Alice enjoyed looking at the different examples of marine environments. Then she got distracted by the the butterflies, and who could blame her?
Finally, the Discovery centre. Musical instruments, frogs and insects abounded. Alice seemed to be more interested in people by this stage of the proceedings. I did pick up some information sheets about some of the things we had looked at, so we can review our learning later in the week.
I've just asked Alice about the best part of the trip to the museum yesterday. Her answer: "Dinosaur bones because they are fossilised and stuff. Because they are rocks now." Asked what else she enjoyed the reply was "butterflies! Because they are so colourful." I asked Alice what she wanted to look at next time: "butterflies! Because they are colourful."
I must add that we spent a great deal of time at the wetlands next to the art gallery, talking about the habitat. We found a TWENTY-FOUR spotted ladybird, and Alice was able to state that that showed the environment was getting healthier. Mike and Alice spent a great deal of time identifying different plants in the wetlands, and what animals do (and may, in the future) live there. We talked about the amazing benches that have the various names (botanical, common and indigenous) carved into them. Did a walk-through of the kitchen garden in Cultural Square, identifying the various plants (and as always effervescing enthusiasm for the concept in general). Spoke at some length with the artist of a piece of urban art in Hay St called Haul Pack (a front end loader made of clip together foam, absolutely amazing!). Mike took Alice to see the elephant art exhibit at enx100 (Eleart).
From space we went to ancient life - Josh had spurred the trip because he wanted to see the dinosaur bones again. Given that on our last trip to the museum Josh was terrified of the dinosaurs to the point that I had to carry him out, I was happy that this time he was excited! Alice particularly liked the fossilised eggs from the sauropod, and the thylacine fossil. She seems to be mostly over her dinosaur excitement, so I'm thinking we will save the activities I have for that for when it next flares again, whether it is Alice, or in a couple of years Josh, that shows the interest. She was quite interested in the development of humans, from homonids and australopithecines through to Homo Erectus. The skeleton display was very effective!
Next came the Mammals exhibit, with a quick detour through the birds. Alice's interest in the birds was limited, Josh very interested to know the difference between magpies and crows. The mammal exhibit was Alice's big favourite. She had a think about why an elephant skeleton has no trunk, compared a human skeleton to a gorilla's and generally had a great time reading the display cards.
From the mammals to under the sea! It's a bright, airy display that is topical given our recent trip to Ningaloo. Alice enjoyed looking at the different examples of marine environments. Then she got distracted by the the butterflies, and who could blame her?
Finally, the Discovery centre. Musical instruments, frogs and insects abounded. Alice seemed to be more interested in people by this stage of the proceedings. I did pick up some information sheets about some of the things we had looked at, so we can review our learning later in the week.
I've just asked Alice about the best part of the trip to the museum yesterday. Her answer: "Dinosaur bones because they are fossilised and stuff. Because they are rocks now." Asked what else she enjoyed the reply was "butterflies! Because they are so colourful." I asked Alice what she wanted to look at next time: "butterflies! Because they are colourful."
I must add that we spent a great deal of time at the wetlands next to the art gallery, talking about the habitat. We found a TWENTY-FOUR spotted ladybird, and Alice was able to state that that showed the environment was getting healthier. Mike and Alice spent a great deal of time identifying different plants in the wetlands, and what animals do (and may, in the future) live there. We talked about the amazing benches that have the various names (botanical, common and indigenous) carved into them. Did a walk-through of the kitchen garden in Cultural Square, identifying the various plants (and as always effervescing enthusiasm for the concept in general). Spoke at some length with the artist of a piece of urban art in Hay St called Haul Pack (a front end loader made of clip together foam, absolutely amazing!). Mike took Alice to see the elephant art exhibit at enx100 (Eleart).
Friday, June 17, 2011
2011.06.17 The Zoo
We went to the zoo today. We took public transport, the kids love that. While we were on the bus on the way in Alice and I counted how much money she and Josh had to bank on the way home, and figured out what their new balances would be after they had made their deposits. While we were on the train a lady offered Alice a biscuit because her manners were so good.
We missed our bus from the bus port because I continued downstairs while Mike took Josh to the toilet and Mike thought Alice and I were in the toilets, too. He was waiting for us upstairs. We were still only five minutes late to the zoo, which was good as Jodie was waiting for us!
Our first stop was at the Variety Club playground so the kids could eat their morning tea. Laura saw what we all assumed was a fake frog set into the wall we were sitting on. But Jodie touched it, it jumped and Jodie and I screamed, freaking out Laura. It was a big brown frog, which we all enjoyed looking at, pointing it out to one of the school groups that passed. Then Mike picked it up and moved it into one of the garden beds so it would be safe. Alice and I had a talk about how finding a wild frog meant that the zoo had a very healthy ecosystem, as frogs absorb all sorts of things through their skin and get sick very easily. We then had a lovely chat with a docent who told us that the male wombat was running around his exhibit, so we decided to make the Australian Wildlife exhibit our first stop.
In actual fact we wound up going into the walk-through aviary first, which is one of the displays we rarely make it to (what do you want to see kids? Nocturnal house, tigers, elephants!!! All up the other end of the zoo). We all really enjoyed seeing the different birds, it's amazing the way each section is set up with the right foods and habitat for each type of bird, and they just stay put. I can't remember most of the names, but there were wading birds with long legs and long beaks that can't swim, they just walk around in the shallows for food. There were quite big birds that stood very still on the ground and looked like tree stumps. We saw a female fairy wren and a couple of different types of parrot. The information that was available was also great. On the way out there was a crank handle that played different sounds so the kids could try to identify bird noises from other noises, and information on the different foods birds eat, and how that related to their beak shapes. I was very impressed by that exhibit.
Next we went into the Bushwalk. The dingo pups were asleep. We could just see their backs and the tips of their ears. The echidnas were asleep too, all curled up in a bundle. The kangaroos were reasonably active. We spoke with a couple of docents who gave us some info on where the different varieties of kangaroos live and also some of the facial differences of the different breeds. I spotted the wallabies on the way out. We saw a numbat and quokkas. On the way out we went past the wombats and the male was wandering all around his enclosure, scratching his back and running to and fro. That was definitely a highlight in a day of amazing occurrences. We also saw the crocodile on our way past, and the dingo pups were up and running around by this point.
I'm not going to list everything in great detail, and I'm not going to attempt to get it all chronologically correct! We lunched at the cafe, Mike and I got coffee, yum! We saw pelicans that had just been fed, elephants (one of them pooed, something I doubt any of the kids will ever forget!), tigers, the baby sunbear who is now in his own enclosure and otters. At this point Jodie and Laura had to head off to get Aiden from school. The golden gibbons, who were making friend with a bunch of highschool boys. We talked there again with another docent who told us that in twenty minutes she was going to be opening the cotton top tamarin walk though! Now, we've never made that particular activity before, so we went via the orang-utans to the primates and went into the exhibit, with the monkeys jumping into branches right in front of our faces. By this stage Joshua was exhausted. We went out through the African savannah, checked out the radiated tortoises, the meerkats and the lions. One lion was sitting right next to the glass and one was walking back and forth, brushing right up against the glass. Another truly amazing highlight to an amazing day.
I'm sure I've missed things that we did and saw, but I've covered the main points. Oh, we went up to the homestead also, had a look around and a quick talk about solar power and passive solar design.
On our way to the ferry we stopped to do the kids' banking. Alice did hers, with excellent manners. I will attempt to ensure that even if it is only a small amount that the kids bank money once a fortnight. It will do Alice good to see the money accruing.
The ferry was a joy as always. Josh and I saw a water bird of some description bobbing down under the water, staying down for ages and then popping up for a second or two, only to disappear again. And we saw another pelican just before we pulled away from the jetty.
We missed the Blue Cat as we got off the ferry. I spotted some bronze swans on a little grassed area just over the other side of the car park, and as the bus had just left decided we could go and have a look. Not only were there more sculptures than the initial two I saw, there were also several REAL black swans. I got a photo with great composition of the two kids sitting on sculptures with real swans in the background. Unfortunately I need to either get a real camera that can take rapid shots so I can get good expressions on the kids, or they need to learn to sit still! They both have weird expressions on their faces, but it's a lovely photo all the same.
We got home after 5 pm. Mike lit a fire in the brazier and we toasted marshmallows with Jessica. Today was a wonderful day.
We missed our bus from the bus port because I continued downstairs while Mike took Josh to the toilet and Mike thought Alice and I were in the toilets, too. He was waiting for us upstairs. We were still only five minutes late to the zoo, which was good as Jodie was waiting for us!
Our first stop was at the Variety Club playground so the kids could eat their morning tea. Laura saw what we all assumed was a fake frog set into the wall we were sitting on. But Jodie touched it, it jumped and Jodie and I screamed, freaking out Laura. It was a big brown frog, which we all enjoyed looking at, pointing it out to one of the school groups that passed. Then Mike picked it up and moved it into one of the garden beds so it would be safe. Alice and I had a talk about how finding a wild frog meant that the zoo had a very healthy ecosystem, as frogs absorb all sorts of things through their skin and get sick very easily. We then had a lovely chat with a docent who told us that the male wombat was running around his exhibit, so we decided to make the Australian Wildlife exhibit our first stop.
In actual fact we wound up going into the walk-through aviary first, which is one of the displays we rarely make it to (what do you want to see kids? Nocturnal house, tigers, elephants!!! All up the other end of the zoo). We all really enjoyed seeing the different birds, it's amazing the way each section is set up with the right foods and habitat for each type of bird, and they just stay put. I can't remember most of the names, but there were wading birds with long legs and long beaks that can't swim, they just walk around in the shallows for food. There were quite big birds that stood very still on the ground and looked like tree stumps. We saw a female fairy wren and a couple of different types of parrot. The information that was available was also great. On the way out there was a crank handle that played different sounds so the kids could try to identify bird noises from other noises, and information on the different foods birds eat, and how that related to their beak shapes. I was very impressed by that exhibit.
Next we went into the Bushwalk. The dingo pups were asleep. We could just see their backs and the tips of their ears. The echidnas were asleep too, all curled up in a bundle. The kangaroos were reasonably active. We spoke with a couple of docents who gave us some info on where the different varieties of kangaroos live and also some of the facial differences of the different breeds. I spotted the wallabies on the way out. We saw a numbat and quokkas. On the way out we went past the wombats and the male was wandering all around his enclosure, scratching his back and running to and fro. That was definitely a highlight in a day of amazing occurrences. We also saw the crocodile on our way past, and the dingo pups were up and running around by this point.
I'm not going to list everything in great detail, and I'm not going to attempt to get it all chronologically correct! We lunched at the cafe, Mike and I got coffee, yum! We saw pelicans that had just been fed, elephants (one of them pooed, something I doubt any of the kids will ever forget!), tigers, the baby sunbear who is now in his own enclosure and otters. At this point Jodie and Laura had to head off to get Aiden from school. The golden gibbons, who were making friend with a bunch of highschool boys. We talked there again with another docent who told us that in twenty minutes she was going to be opening the cotton top tamarin walk though! Now, we've never made that particular activity before, so we went via the orang-utans to the primates and went into the exhibit, with the monkeys jumping into branches right in front of our faces. By this stage Joshua was exhausted. We went out through the African savannah, checked out the radiated tortoises, the meerkats and the lions. One lion was sitting right next to the glass and one was walking back and forth, brushing right up against the glass. Another truly amazing highlight to an amazing day.
I'm sure I've missed things that we did and saw, but I've covered the main points. Oh, we went up to the homestead also, had a look around and a quick talk about solar power and passive solar design.
On our way to the ferry we stopped to do the kids' banking. Alice did hers, with excellent manners. I will attempt to ensure that even if it is only a small amount that the kids bank money once a fortnight. It will do Alice good to see the money accruing.
The ferry was a joy as always. Josh and I saw a water bird of some description bobbing down under the water, staying down for ages and then popping up for a second or two, only to disappear again. And we saw another pelican just before we pulled away from the jetty.
We missed the Blue Cat as we got off the ferry. I spotted some bronze swans on a little grassed area just over the other side of the car park, and as the bus had just left decided we could go and have a look. Not only were there more sculptures than the initial two I saw, there were also several REAL black swans. I got a photo with great composition of the two kids sitting on sculptures with real swans in the background. Unfortunately I need to either get a real camera that can take rapid shots so I can get good expressions on the kids, or they need to learn to sit still! They both have weird expressions on their faces, but it's a lovely photo all the same.
We got home after 5 pm. Mike lit a fire in the brazier and we toasted marshmallows with Jessica. Today was a wonderful day.
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