Term 4 in New Zealand is always a short and fast one. My youngest daughter gleefully reminded me that Christmas Day is fast approaching – and there’s me thinking that surely we’re still in September – but one look at our dog, on pick up from his pre-summer groom, and there’s no denying the festive […]
Last week was one of those weeks when I was surprised from Monday through to Friday with the ideas and creations presented to me by my children. Alice woke up on Monday morning telling me how to make a lava lamp in a glass (she’d discovered this on YouTube) and wanted to know if I […]
The past week and a half we’ve seen spring drift into autumn, with the weather pendulum swinging more erratically. Hot days, reminiscent of the record summer that we’ve had still linger, as the nights draw in, interspersed with sudden plunges in temperature and days of rain and wind. Our learning days are changing along with the season, as indoor […]
We’ve all enjoyed some amazing learning experiences this week (as well as watching the last week of the Winter Olympics!). Here’s some snapshots from our two home educated learners and our school going daughter… Science I enjoyed an amazing experience at Victoria University’s science labs this week, with my 12 year old daughter. We went to […]
So little time to reflect and review, and so freeing to not have to either! We really have been living and loving in the moment for most of this year, what with new adventures in horse riding, skiing and an early summer making us yearn for sea dips and boogie boarding, but as it draws […]
The New World Little Kitchen is continuing to inspire and prompt experimentation in our kitchen at home. We had a lot of fun boiling up a red cabbage to make a dark red, nearly black, liquid. We used the liquid, once drained, to make some colour changing drinks and ‘potions’ ! We experimented with milk, […]
We nipped away to Martinborough this Saturday and Sunday. The winter weather wasn’t too harsh, milder than it has been, but there were still plenty of showers between the sunny moments. The lambs in the fields and rainbows in the sky definitely hinted a change in the seasons. Spring is coming… (just hurry up already!). […]
I adore the downtime of the school holidays and the opportunity it gives my children to be creative without any constrains on their time. It’s also wonderful to see them create with the freedom to go with whatever is currently in their hearts and minds, rather than have to work on something within the guidelines […]
‘One Word’ is this week’s theme over on ‘The Photo Gallery‘ at Sticky Fingers blog and I’m going with ‘Metamorphosis’, after a magical visit to the recently opened ‘Butterflies Alive!’ exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. I visited on with my youngest daughter, age four. She entered the magical world of the […]
Our dear sensory seeking eight year old, how we love you so much. You seek out love, hugs, contact & friendship with such openness; just like your appetite for food is varied and sometimes exotic. You are the one to take the craziest roller coaster ride, seek out thrills and push your body to the […]
When you get out of the habit of writing about the little slices of life, that make it worth living, it’s hard to know where to start. Everything I write, which means so much to me, will be trivial to others; but I share it all the same, as I’ve learned that there’s a wonderful […]
It’s Friday. The weekend is nearly here, which means family time with the man of the house. It’s so much easier to keep all three of our children entertained when he’s at home. As much as I am enjoying having the girls all at home, I do have moments of feeling like I’m being held […]
I’ve been reading a lovely book with Miss 3 about the way the Chumash Indian people used to live in Santa Barbara ‘The Chumash Through a Child’s Eyes‘. The book compares their life to our modern day life in a lovely way that young children can comprehend. On one page is a Chumash Indian child […]
We’ve seen the groundhogs, (also known as woodchucks), playing peek-a-boo, we’ve stopped in our tracks as a little (or not so little) lizard dashes across our path (or up a wall of the house) and we’ve noticed the colourful, varied birdlife and numerous damsel-flys and dragon-flys. Living in a new country offers great opportunity for […]