Fun Friday - Icy Fun

It is yet again Fun Friday and how convenient that it coincided with the last day of term (wooohooo!). As I mentioned last Fun Friday, two weeks ago, the plan was for an Antarctic Fun Friday and so today was born. 

This morning when the kids walked into the schoolroom their faces lit up when they saw how our room had been transformed. Miss Yr6 thought the room even looked cold like Antarctica. She has been studying Antarctica as part of her school work which is where the idea originated from. Earlier in the week Miss Yr6 was lucky enough to be able to talk to a man who had been to Antarctica, thanks to a friend of a relative of mine. She loved it and we learnt all kinds of interesting information about living there. 

Miss Yr6 shared some interesting things she had learnt with the others and we did various activities like cooking, craft and games (all after the small amount of school work left to be done today was finished, of cause). Over all I think it was a success and the kids agree.

Our view from Antarctica, clear blue waters and ice burgs

View from the other side of Antarctica.

Antarctica ... the kids loved the streamers at the door. I would have loved to do a white sheet floor for the ice but there were none to be found plus that equals more washing YUCK!

The kids cooked an Igloo cake with Boss Lady R. They iced it in whipped cream and covered in in blue tinted snow.

The kids cake Igloo. Very creative and very tasty.

Making seal masks. The kids chose what materials and colours they wanted and we ended up with four very different looking seals.

Miss Yr6 working on her seal mask. Our piece of plastic for the floor is very handy.

Mr Preppy's seal mask. In the background you can see the paint equipment box, we keep all our craft stuff in boxes so you can pull out what you want.

Mr Preppy making a penguin.

We thought we would give making an igloo from ice cubes a go. It wasn't very successful but it was plenty of fun. It was a good lesson in problem solving.

It takes lots of concentration to get icecubes to stack.

Our icy blackboard.

We added to our window dioramas. The kids made origami whales and some penguins. This penguin is ready for a swim.

After we added to our Antarctica schoolroom.

The kids all working away this morning.

Even though our day is done the kids are still hiding out in our cool looking schoolroom playing, so today must have been a good day ... either that or it is just the allure of the new train set that they have set up all over the floor. Not even the temptation of drawing all over the blackboard could get them away from it.

The teachers are coming out on a home visit first day back next term so I think I'll leave our lovely creations up until the kids have proudly shown them off, and it saves me packing it up.

How we get our school work

I thought it was time I explained how we get our school work.

The photos shown are in our old, very messy schoolroom and were taken for who knows what reason ... I am sure I had one but I don't know what it was.

The school does lovely parcels up for us with a terms worth or units in it, well that is the plan (units go for 2 weeks). They are then delivered to us either on the mail or at clusters. If you happen to be in at school when the curriculum boxes are ready you are advised politely to take the boot load home.

 Then comes the joyful task of unpacking the boxes and finding somewhere to keep all the units until needed.

Lucky for us we will no longer have the problem of trying to find the space like we did in the old schoolroom.

The year levels are colour coded. We have orange for prep, blue for year 3 and green for year 6. It depends on the year level and the unit what you get but as a general rule you get booklets of the school work and a packet of books to with it.

In year 3 for each unit you get a learning guide, an activity book and a send in book for Maths, CLC and English as well as a handwriting book. Then the books, CDs and DVDs needed are packaged with two units together.

In year 6 however we are still working with curriculum that was put together in 1996. In these packs we get a home tutor guide, an instruction paper (for the student) and an assignment book for both Maths and LAC. We also get a handwriting and grammar book that comes with and answer book.

 Prep has a learning guide, activity sheets, supportive learning cards and feedback sheets. They do pretty much all their work in a scrapbook.

Then after all that we work through the units. I mark the maths, check spelling and try to get the kids to work as independently as possible. Then after making sure I have filled in all the feedback sheets in their various forms we send our units back on the mail or I take them into town with me and drop them in the bin at school.

It is very satisfying putting the unit in the mail bag and sending it on its way, never to be seen again. Well that is until it returns in the mail after about a month with corrections and feedback from the teachers.

The school has a 10 day turn around policy on school work and despite the fact that it only takes a week (or less) for our mail to get to school it for some unknown reason takes it about 2 weeks to get back to us.  

Yard Work

Yet again this week the smell of seared hair, flesh and woodsmoke filled our nostrils while dust and smoke gritted up our eyes and mouths.

Branding irons in the fire.

The men found about 100 head of cows and 60+ calves in a paddock that was cleared out last muster so we had some impromptu yard work to do.

Calves all ready to go.

All I can say is those cows must be good at hiding as it was done by chopper that muster. Our light aircraft whiz found them though and the Bosses brought them in by bike (very unusual as they normally do it all on horse).

The flying machine whiz.

On Thursday morning we did school as per usual, although there were many on airs missing from our day as teachers were out on home visits.

Mr T, sorry Captain T sailing his ship while waiting to go to the yards.

After lunch the kids and I armed with waddies headed down to the yards to help out with branding. Miss S and Miss E helped Boss Lady H push the calves into the race.

There is plenty to keep a young boy entertained at the cattle yards.

I kept them going up the race and into the calf cradle. Mr R lifted the gate that stops the first calf going backwards to let them through. Then Mr E helped Boss Lady R to put tags onto the tagger while Bosses H and R tagged, branded, castrated and dipped.


Branding and tagging.



Boss Lady H giving branding a go once the pen was empty.

We had four escape artists. One that was determined to go back through the fence to get back in with its mates. It had us all up the rails fending it off with our feet, trying to encourage it to turn around ... friendly encouragement of cause. There were a couple of calves that got themselves into interesting positions in the calf cradle, they weren't at all eager to have their turn.

Castrating and tagging, now that's a bit awkward.

Silly calf

We had one that had to be put up the crush to be branded which then means the brand needs to be run from one end of the yards to the other. Steer clear or you could find yourself marked.


Pushing the calves into the next yard.



Calves going back to their mummies.

The fellas also found the missing bulls who had been hiding out. They obviously thought they were getting too much of a good thing so decided to stay put. Most were quiet, we were walking in and out of the yard they were in and they didn't blink an eye. One however was not such a happy chappy.

Fred's bull, a longhorn

Fred's Bull belongs to a relative of the family and the last time they brought him into the yards he had to be dipped. Being too big to fit up the plunge dip he had to be sprayed. One minute Boss H was spraying him and the next he was flying through the air. Turns out he didn't like his shower.

Attitude problem.

Fred's Bull then rammed through the gate into the drafting circle and proceeded to use a calf as a battering ram to get through another gate. So basically he is a really nice piece of work. This meant that this time he got to go into a yard by himself. See if you can't play nice you don't get to play at all. I don't think he stopped watching us the whole time and whenever someone so much as looked at him down went his head while he kicked up dust.

Kicking up dust.

Best News

I haven't written a new post in a while so there is a bit to cover ... or I could just skip to the best bit. Now that sounds like a good idea to me.
So here goes ... tomorrow is the BIG DAY, the first day in our new schoolroom. Finally after waiting nearly 2 years the kids and I finally have a new school room with space and storage WOOHOO!

The outside doesn't look much different to this ... still needs a bit of work.

After moving most of the stuff from the old schoolroom over yesterday and Friday I am amazed at how much we managed to fit in our tiny little room (which by the way doesn't look anywhere near as tiny now that all that stuff and the desks has been moved out).

This boss tried out the blackboard.

A bit messy while moving.

Our old schoolroom was a small room off the kitchen in the main house. It had a walkway through it into the house and a servery that went into the kitchen = constant distractions. I don't know what I will do though when all the kids are working independently because now the boss won't be there to chat to. She doesn't know what she'll do either without me distracting her and with all the quiet.

The cupboards.

The shelves were for the computers

I am sure we will rearrange everything a few times until we work out what works best.

Now I am just waiting on the quarters. I think I have a bit of waiting left. Now back to moving in.

Mud, Oranges and Willie Wagtails

I am sitting here, with a Willie Wagtail flying in the rafters above me and the residue of mud from the house dam drying on my feet, thinking that what was a so called ordinary day has gotten a little interesting this afternoon.

'Mud! Dam! Its not that far into spring, has she lost her marbles?' You are all thinking it, I know. It is possible that I have (lost my marbles that is, if I had any to start with) but you can't choose when the pipe for the windmill will decide to embed itself in the muddy shore of the dam. After no water running into the tank all day boss lady 1 and I decided to check out the situation down at the dam. Just as suspected the wind had blown the pipe up to the bank so the windmill was effectively pumping air. Not so useful for showers I can tell you. Being the hobo that I am, sloshing down there in my boots that I had hurriedly put on because shoes just aren't my style, I was volunteered (ok, so I volunteered myself) to get my feet wet to move the pipe back out a bit. That water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be but don't count me in for swimming just yet. I have the feeling however that we might be heading down there again tomorrow because that sneaky snake of a pipe was slowly heading back in with the wind.


The water pipe in the dam ... the end is where the milk bottles are.



The kids decided to put on a show for us at lunch time today ... one of their lovely, completely unrehearsed ad lib shows that involved jumping on the trampoline, singing and playing air guitar and pot drums. You gotta love 'em. I don't think I know anyone with as many talents as they have. It was such a pity that it was time for school to start again ;). They even made us a yummy after show sand cake with mud punch ... yummy!
 

The feast the kids made for us.





My first coffee cake ... sorry kids this one wins



The kids showing off their talents



Today was a same old same old kinda day in the schoolroom. Our usually busy Monday with so many overlaps and swap overs for on airs that the morning speeds by. The Mr and Miss in year 3 have just started more work on area and are having to write an autobiography ... hard work when you are 8. Miss in year 6 is working away on a unit on Antarctica. She has till the end of term to get it done so we are in no hurry whatsoever. Mr Preppy constructed a truck with cardboard boxes complete with "the chimney thing that blows out the smoke and lights". 





Mr Preppy and his truck





Mr Preppy writing on air today

This afternoon the kids were given the job of chucking the oranges that were on the ground over the fence. I know sounds like a waste but we just haven't been able to keep up and the tree is flowering again. The goats have been enjoying them anyway. While on their mission the kids came up with the idea of using a spoon from the sandpit to catapult the oranges over the fence. I tell you there is nothing like kids inventiveness. They always seem to make themselves some fun ... well until it gets old anyway. That was when they come up asking if they can do the rest tomorrow ... haha I don't think so.

Orange Catapult

And now to address the Willie Wagtail ... well he decided to take up residence in my room today and roused at me every time I came in. You got it wrong Mr Willie Wagtail. It's MY room.

A beautiful end to the day.

Job Description

After a smarty pants told me that I could add that to my job description today I thought it was high time I actually wrote it down, so here goes.

(Please note that much if this would never be found on a piece of actual paper)

• teacher
• child minder
• referee
• councillor (...really, now how does that make you feel?)
• nurse, no lets make it doctor
• apprentice builder (it is a hard life holding things in place)
• fencing contractor

• station hand (including yard work, lick runs)
• art critic (Oh that looks nice, very colourful. I love the shapes you used ...)
• chef extraordinaire (ummm dinner? Sausages are on top so curried sausages it is.)
• cleaner
• first aid officer
• disciplinarian
• secretary (I swear I spend as much time answering the phone as I do teaching school)
• gardener
• painter
• baker(yummm cake)
• hair dresser
• technical officer (well you know how to use yours so you must know whats wrong with mine)
• artist

• resource developer (someone has to come up with the fun number and alphabet games)
• photographer
• weather presenter
• furniture removalist
• rubbish disposalist (well burner)
• examiner
• story teller
• shop assistant
• editor
• producer
• audience (sometime reluctant)
• detective
• treasure hunter
• personal shopper (The first day I went shopping with my boss we got four trolleys full ... then we had to fit it in the car. Since that fateful day I have done many a shop myself)
• packer
• taxi (getting kids to cluster is such hard work)
• coach
• tow vehicle/rescue
• spotter (for roos, boggy patches, how close)
• animal husbandry expert

• butchers apprentice
• emergency carer
• electrician (darn powers out, nope not the fuses, bloody generator)
• plumber
• diesel mechanic (well checking the water, oil and filling the generator with diesel must count for something)
• parts photographer (so they can repair the stinking generator so we don't have to use the crank one)
• scientist
• metal detector
• life saver (I'm the Queen of the dam)
• supervisor
• events manager (how else would we get Fun Friday ... and I do share knowledge about coming events)

• official wet season gate person (VERY important job, I swear the only reason I was invited on the emergency shopping trips was to open the gates)
• repair person
• computer technician (honestly if you know one thing about a computer you must know everything)
• freight carrier (who else would bring all that important stuff home)
• DJ

• washer woman
• goat wrangler (the stinking things got into the yard AGAIN)
• judge ( I don't care who was on there first the rule is one at a time so you a banned for the rest of the day ... hmmm harsh)
• mail lady
• entertainer/hostess
• musterer (okay so that one is really stretching the truth, I walked and trotted on a horse to the creek and back but then again I have helped out in a ute)
• dog trainer
• maid

Well the list keeps going

(some things may be stretching the truth just a bit)

Fun Friday

Ahh Friday ... and as the kids conveniently remembered it was FUN FRIDAY today. They can't remember their jobs or to brush their hair but they can, without fail, remember which Friday is Fun Friday.Today was one of my lesser inspired Fun Fridays. In other words I flew by the seat of my pants ... but wait a minute I do that all the time ... hmmm.

A picnic smoko with yummy piklets.

We do Fun Friday once a fortnight as a kind of celebration for finishing the unit the kids are working on and for them working well during it. However it seems that somewhere along the track out Fun Fridays have come unstuck from the end of the unit. We do a bit of school in the morning, all depending on how much needs to be done then after that we break out the fun, or what I hope is fun (not that we don't have fun the rest of the time). In the past we have had a Roman Day, Spotty Day, Aztec Day, a trip to Kops in Kilts, a Science Day, Fairytale Day and more I have forgotten.

Scavenger hunt goodies.

Today didn't have a theme, in fact I made it up as the day went along, but we had a picnic morning tea, made stress balls, had a scavenger hunt race, had an egg and spoon race using the stress balls as well as having other races such as a horse race using the first thing they could find to use as a horse (we had a blanket, a small stick, a tennis racket and a croquet mallet) and crab race, which was the kids particular favourite. So there you go it just adopted itself the name of Children's Picnic Race Day. It did have a theme after all, I just didn't know it.

Crab races ... they were on a collision course

Impromptu horse race

'Egg' and spoon race.

Shh don't tell the kids but the next one in planning (yes, I said planning) is an Antarctic/Arctic Day. I guess I'll let you know how it goes.