Our Year in Review

As the end of the Australian school year comes to a close, it is great to reflect on how much the boys have grown and learnt. So, here is our year in review!

The boys have working amazingly hard with their schoolwork. As well as completing over 100 PACEs each, we have been blessed with the opportunity to review 29 amazing products through the Schoolhouse Review Crew. You can read the reviews here: Reviews

Having completed more than the 60 PACE’s per year they need to complete as part of the ACE Curriculum, while still managing to score a very high average on all tests, the boys were able to get a head start on their books for next year, starting grades 5 (R) and 3 (B) at the beginning of October.

We also signed up the boys to the library, so now they have their own library card, which they use when they take their laptops to the library, to sign into the wi-fi and to borrow the colossal amount of books we borrow each fortnight. I ended up having to purchase a shopping trolley bag to carry all the books to and from the library in. 

R

R has grown a lot this year, not only taller (only 9 inches or 22cm to go and he will be as tall as me) but, for a shy kid, he has become so much more confident and willing to take on more challenges. He has also become very independent and loves to spend time in the kitchen baking.

R has always loved golf and this year we were able to find a Junior Golf Program for him. Though it is not what we expected, he absolutely loves it and have won many prizes over the course of the year. They have been teaming up in teams of 3 or 4, playing ambrose style, but recently they decided that R needed a little more of a challenge and asked him to play on his own against everyone else who were in teams of 2 and 3. Out of the five teams, he came third. He was so excited when he won that prize, as he had done it all on his own. We have also purchased him quite a few new (for him) clubs and bag which has greatly improved his distance. The junior clubs he had were just getting too small and light for him. His second time on his own and he won by 7 points, now they are trying to get him to go up to the next level, but they start really early, which is not good for the parent that has to take him. I am definitely not a morning person.

 

B

B also has grown a lot. He is starting to catch R with only 10cm or 4 inches separating them in height. He is more outgoing than R and is always into something. He can’t walk past anything without touching it, and he still can’t sit still for long periods, but he is getting better.  He is also growing to love golf, with getting R’s old clubs, he has been out with the boys, playing at the golf course. He is thinking about maybe joining the same Junior Golf Program next year as well.

He loves art, creating things and painting. He sold his first painting! (Gotta love Grandmas!) He also loves to help me in the garden, growing the fruit and vegetables and watering them. He even asked for his own pot plant which is an indoor flowering plant with bright red/orange flowers.  Lately he has also been creating his own lego creations. He loves to work with his hands.

         

We have completed many fun activities such as Elephant’s Toothpaste, Red Bull and Milk Chemical Reaction,  Growing Gummy Bears , Space Explorers and our biggest unit ever: The Human Body, which our boys absolutely loved! 

We have been part of the Poppins Book Nook that has three months left (ends in March) which has been wonderful, though difficult at times, trying to find books for a specific topic and then finding an activity that our boys would enjoy to go with these books.

So what’s in store for next year?

We are currently doing a big clean out of all of our school supplies as I still had so much stuff from the lower grades. We are looking for more ‘big’ boy supplies now, like telescopes, microscopes, chemistry/biology supplies and building materials.  The boys have also started completing their schoolwork on the dining room table, which we have found works extremely well. With the layout of our house, I am able to clean the kitchen and lounge room and fold the washing (among other things) while the boys do their schoolwork, so the house is looking a lot cleaner more of the time than it used to.

We have decided to stay enrolled with Unit 1- Distance Education with Jubilee Christian College, so the boys will still have access to the ACE Curriculum. Though it may seem like a bit of writing, the way the program is written, the information is really reinforced which we have found great for the boys. They are able to retain so much for the information by learning this way. When we had a couple of weeks off, R said he really missed completing the PACE’s, so why not stay if they are happy.

We will also be back with the Schoolhouse Review Crew, so it will be exciting to see what products we receive and review throughout 2015.

What have you been up to this year? and what are your plans for next year?