Week three of homeschool

Hey Thinking out loud here xx :D

This week is a long post so grabs drink and a snack find a comfy seat, sit back and take some time our for you and the new busy that you are navigating around, I hope everyone who like me is homeschooling is doing good, we are all in this together, no one is alone or should feel like they are, we have this and we are doing everything we can to help our little learners alongside with what their teachers are planning for them.

We have now ended the school holidays here in Australia, and we are back into homeschooling for the third week but second full week. This is also what it's going to be like now for the next five weeks or so, as like every country we battle this virus. It's been made easier by schooling now being done online, though it seems to not be working at the moment, we are taking this first week as the settling in stage and everyone learning this new way of schooling. Though I am thankful for this as my little cousin will benefit and thrive more from her teacher giving her work to do, the websites we used had been helpful, but I know they wouldn't have been any good in the long run.

As we get closer to the end of the week the system that the school is using is starting to settle down, it's still not working correctly, but it is beginning to work, we though for this week have been using previous websites, I can tell my little cousin is starting to get bored of the same learning games and activities. Still, we are both doing what we can do, I am beginning to see just how long these five weeks are going to be, but I know we have got this, and we will learn as the days go on. I have split the online learning up with baking and crafting something that we both enjoy and the baking can, of course, be shared with the rest of our family wh are essential workers so its a nice treat for when they get home. Today we made banana bread our second batch as last weeks went down pretty well, I think next week we will have to bake some cookies as my little cousin can not wait to bake some cookies.

For craft, we have been using a box that my cousin got for Christmas it has been fantastic to use so many different things to create. We do though need to get on to doing some more p.e. Hoping to incorporate that into next week as we find our feet more. I, of course, know that I am not replacing her teacher and I know I never could, but hoping to keep her somewhat on track of where she would be were she at school, I think when my cousin can, she is going to go to school but for the time being it's all a bit of a not knowing whats going on with other children and what the school has in place for more students than its already two hundred pupils it has attending.

Five weeks is a long time for any child to not be at school especially one who loves to learn, gets a buzz from being around people her own age and thrives off being given something to do, I know there are a lot of children in the same boat, some might be finding it more comfortable than others, I know for us adults it's hard at times to comprehend what's happening and how vast things are changing around us. I hope that this in some way teaches the younger generations to be kind, to not only people but to nature, to our planet and that what we do ultimately affects everything from people to animals, to plants trees and the greater planet. What we add to the earth and what we take away affects every ecosystem, I hope through homeschooling and on the return to going to school, they learn the different effects of what being at home did to how they travel to and from school.

If anyone has any tips for homeschooling maybe for when the internet is down, and we aren't able to use websites, please od let me know, I have some ideas, but some more ideas would be greatly taken, I have a friend who was a teacher who is sending me links daily, and it is so helpful and hoping ot in the coming weeks incorporate them into our school day, even if we are ending an hour before what the actual school day is but hey we're at home so why not aye. But please do send me links on what you have found useful if you are also homeschooling or even if you are a teacher and have some ideas.

Thank you again to every essential worker today lets thank the banks, and to the fantastic people who are keeping money flowing and making us able to still spend money and buy the essentials that we still need to maintain day to day life as normal as it can be, you are all appreciated so Thank You

As always thank you for taking the time to read this weeks post.

Love always Thinking out loud xx :D

First week of homeschooling and holidays

Hi Thinking out loud here xx :D

This post is going to be two in one as the first half I was going to post last week but changed my mind halfway through, typical writer problems and too many ideas jumping around at the same time. So get yourself comfy grab a drink and take some time out to have a read.

First part is the first week of homeschooling my little cousin and was written as if I was writing it for uploading last week.

(Let’s start back in time a week ago.) We are coming up to the end of our first full week of homeschooling here in Queensland, and it’s been going pretty well, I’m trying to stick as close as I can to my little cousins class schedule and keeping the school days as structured as I can. This means no iPad until three o’clock, which I think is going pretty good, we’ve conquered the no iPad at lunch by my little cousin sitting next to me and chatting while she eats, even getting her on to make her own lunch.

I’ve found that I’m still able to do writing when my cousin is doing work, I figured if I write when she works then take a break when she does it works out pretty well, though I tend to no take breaks unless its a day when words aren’t flowing then it’s a full day of breaking. This new found structure to my day though is working pretty well. I am finding that since she has been home, I have been a lot more productive. I’ve found that there is a lot of people who are doing a lot of things online for children, we can do p.e with Joe wicks aka The Body Coach. We have websites that the school use during some of the school week that we can log on at home they have been amazing, we luckily already had a science book at home that we have been working from and doing some of the experiments some have been hit and miss, but just need a bit more practice.

Along with the homeschooling indoors we’ve just moved. Hence, there is plenty to do outdoors as well, we have an acre of land that needs a lot of love and attention, my older cousin has been taking the little one out with him and getting her to collect firewood for the fires on a night when it drops cold, cold for us has been 22 degrees I know it’s not freezing, but in Australia anything 22 and below is cold. This last week we found some possums living in our granny flat so some of the time was spent painting a new home for them that is now safely in a tree we are just waiting for them to find their way to it, there is a light on where they have taken up residence hopefully in the next few nights we will know if they have left. As it’s coming up to the last day of homeschooling I can safely say we haven’t done bad, so far it’s only been a week and a half, but we’ve made this new normal work for us, and managed to have some fun along the way fingers crossed this continues.

Now time for part two, let’s get onto this week.

We are now on the two week school holidays, so homeschooling, for now, is on hold, we have books ordered for if homeschooling continues after these two weeks. We got told that the principle is still saying the school will be back to normal after the hols crazy I know, but what can you do when the government is taking the country to a full lockdown. Given that we aren’t on lockdown and only on semi-isolation we have deemed it ok for the neighbours’ kids to hang out, there are only three kids at any one time and had stopped going to school long before we had. This is making the school hols much easier meaning I still have time for writing and at the moment don’t need to be doing any while in bed, result means the Netflix watching can still go on. I really can’t complain the kids are lovely and have taken my little cousin into their small group like they’ve known her their whole lives, I’m writing this as they are currently running around playing hide and seek.

This though is a bit of a weird week mentally, physically. I guess emotionally, I had planned a trip back home to NZ back at the beginning of Feb before everything got crazy but like everything my flight got cancelled and rightly so if im honest even the short three and a half hour flight I wouldn’t want to be taking for risking my family back home or risking my family on my return to Aus. But while I physically know I’m not going home my mind is still set for flying out on Thursday which is hard to try and get it onto the fact that I won’t be going to the airport and stepping on a plane, it’s hard, but this is the reality of what we are all facing in the next little while. I know though that where I am is safe and I’m with family which makes this whole new crazy a lot easier than if I weren’t with family. I know I’m luckier than most and I am so thankful to be safe and in a position where it doesn’t matter how long im in Aus for as luckily NZ and Aus reciprocate with not needing to have visas so very thankful for that right now, even if our government seem to be a bit slow and quiet on the lockdown situation I realise we are a big country. Still, we’ve seen how it spreads quick, and I know if we don’t do something other than closing our borders it has still got room to spread.

On a lighter note though I am starting to see the beauty in everyday life bugs are thriving. We are happy and healthy, it’s not what was expected for this month, but we are getting there, my mind is slowly getting there, and that’s ok, come Thursday it could be completely different and I not be ok with the fact I won’t be home for a month. For now, I’m doing ok. I am ok with hanging out with my little cousin for the next month, I’d rather be able to go outside than knowing I’d be on quarantine and putting my family into quarantine for two weeks at either end of my trip so staying right now is worth any kind of risk and stopping unnecessary travel is part of keeping us all safe and stopping the spread of this horrible virus.

I hope you are all keeping safe, I know these past few blogs I’ve thanked essential works but I’m going to continue thanking them at the end of every blog post for now as they are risking their lives and their families to help us to help keep us safe if we get sick so please do the bare minimum and stay homestay with the people you are isolating with don’t go out unless you need to for medical help or getting your weekly shopping done. Please keep washing your hands something we should always be doing regardless of having a virus going around. And please if you have the chance to thank essential workers, not enough people are thanking them, they will appreciate it if you do thank them it goes a long way with letting them know they are doing a fantastic job.

As always thank you for reading stay kind, stay safe and stay happy

love always Thinking out loud xx:D