Week Eight

 

This week we managed to get some work done on Bee's terms. I'm trying to keep demand low and bribes minimal. 

Monday - Bee asked to do some punctuation revision. He said he wasn't very confident with comma's and apostrophes. He wrote some sentences and used his comma's appropriately. When working on apostrophe's he wasn't very keen to use some of my/text examples and spends quite a bit of time thinking of his own. 

Tuesday  - Maths: Fractions, decimals and percentages revision. I think Bee surprised himself with how much he really did remember on this topic. 

After our work was done we went for a drive and listened to some podcasts, one on the Human Heart (only got half way through and Bee was overwhelmed thinking about it due to his recent testing) and the American Revolution.

Wednesday - Sleep issues have raised their ugly heads again (I don't think it truly goes away but rather gets to a point where Bee is unable to cope). We went for a scenic drive and finished our podcast on the American Revolution.

Thursday - Physiotherapy day. 

Week Seven

 

Now the weather is starting to cool Bee has been wanting to go for more walks and move his body about. He is still incredibly work resistant. The other day I gave him a choice between a maths worksheet and an English worksheet - he chose the math worksheet.

We had planned a trip to Augusta with some friends who also home-school, with primary focus to visit the Historical Museum. On the day our friends were unable to join us and when we arrived in Augusta the museum was closed (website said they would be open). We will try again next term. 

Week Six

 

I've been sitting here reflecting on this week; it felt like a particularly difficult week. There were two BIG emotional days, a lot of resistance. Looking at my diary though there were some educational positives.

Bee wrote (!) down some the things that are bothering him at the moment. He made a pros/cons list for our upcoming trip as he is anxious about some aspects of it. 

Podcasts we listened to this week were about Constellations, Elephants and one about the attempt to begin a New Australia in South America. 

Bee confessed he felt unsure about punctuation, so we did some revision focusing on full stops, comma's and apostrophes. 

Bee wrote his own math equation which led to us discussing different strategies, why certain strategies are important and provide the basis for further learning. I asked if he remembered BIMDAS - he said he had heard of but doesn't recall it.

We ended the week with a podcast on genetics - a topic that is close to home at the moment.

Week Five

 

Over the weekend I formulated a bit of choice plan for term two. I want to give Bee some choice and control over his learning in order to get optimal engagement. He has previously expressed interest in a more project based approach. 

I took some broad topics from the HASS and science curriculum that I know he either hasn't worked on before and I think will be of interest. If none of these grab his attention I have a more more broad approach in providing choice:

From here I can incorporate all learning area's and elements of the curriculum. 

Workwise we revised nouns, Bee completed a maths worksheet. Bee also wrote a plan for balancing work, play and mental health priorities. He wrote over half an A4 page which is HUGE for Bee, he was quite pleased with himself. Being left-handed, having hypermobility and proprioception dysfunction makes writing difficult for Bee and he often avoids writing tasks.

Bee watched several Vsauce videos - "What is the World Worth?" "What Will We Miss?" and the nothing episode:

Friday Bee baked some brownies. The only assistance he had from me was confirmation of turning on the oven and setting the temperature. Having dyspraxia means a lot of the movements required for cooking can be quite awkward for Bee. 

Bee is contemplating the project approach for next term.