The Archaeology Dig

I'm not an historian but I can get interested - obsessively interested - with any aspect of the past, whether it's palaeontology or archaeology or the very recent past. 

Penelope Lively 
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/archaeology.html#CcixYQoiIBC5wPMt.99 

And so can we!

We have just enjoyed a fabulous day with our friends of HENCAST (Home Education Network Canberra and Southern Tablelands) 

It was a day of tremendous organisation by one of our members with assistance from only one other. All her organisation and planning, resource sourcing and creativity is to be applauded.

The children had a fabulous time learning about what archaeology is by viewing a mockup scenario (a cow skeleton in a box of dirt) displaying what an archaeologist would do by stringing off the area of 'the dig' to form a grid pattern which they would then work through square by square.  The spine of the cow contained therein was then plastered by the children in order to have it keep its shape when removed. They were given a demo on how to sift through portions of soil by scraping across the top of the soil and sifting it while observing and looking for their "finds".  This was then put into practice by sifting through sand and clay, exploring and discovering.  Ess is carrying out this technique below. 

I just loved these sieves and trowels which were made for the occasion and each child had one each.  No fussing or fighting or waiting.  Each could busily sort through their own box of dirt.

The sifting and sorting and "digging" provided no end of discoveries for each and every one of the children from the youngest to the eldest.

There seemed no end to their "archaeological finds".

Here Ess proudly displays her quartz find.

Her turtle fossil.

A bone.

Teeth and coins as well!

My Unintentional Break

It's been a while hasn't it!  Don't think I haven't longed to be able to pop in to say Hi!, to share our life's adventures.  I have missed being able to be here, missed you.  Yet life has changed so much since I started blogging and I just don't seem to have the time, space, words and mental energy to be here as often as I'd like.  There are many days I have had words forming in my head, a post ready to share, yet not the moments to sit and type before I fall in a heap in the evenings.  There have also been many days when I seem to have lost my words.

When I started my blog almost 5 years ago I had just had my second baby - by precious little Eee.  We were very settled in our home in Adelaide and I needed something new to stimulate and inspire me.  It was the inspiration of Ess Cox which gave me that final jolt to start my own.  As you can see, she has found busyness in other areas of her life as well.  Little Eee was a delightful sleeping baby.  She would sleep three times a day and all through the night.   I needed to be home with her to let her sleep. I was at home with her asleep, with my Ess at Kindy, I also had a bright and rested mind which allowed me to think and reflect and share easily.

Things are different now...

Now my third baby J is 20 months old.  She has been a delightful little one to care for but is very much more hands on than my Eee was as a baby.  She has not liked to sleep ever since we moved when she was 3 months old and just starting to sleep 12 hours overnight.  She catnaps during the day  and is very wakeful at night.  It has not been uncommon for my husband and I to be up every two hours and more to attend to her.  We started to take it in shifts to nurture her as I slept early in the evening and he in the early hours of the morning.  It was how we could cope with all that was happening alongside the other issues of moving and having to go to court to resolve our house matter last year.  Thus I have not had a rested mind.  I've been sleep-deprived with more demands meaning I needed to focus on my family first.  Now Ess is at home being educated as an 8 year old and my little Eee is enjoying emerging literacy - a crucial stage of her literacy development I must be mindful of.

It is only just now that it seems baby J is able to sleep for most of the night, only waking us once or twice for a few nights a week, other nights she still wakes numerous times.  So we are starting to be able to sleep when we need to and stay asleep.  I am noticing that perhaps I do have a little more inspiration to write.  My mind is perhaps a little more rested.

As well as that, I am not at home as much as I used to be with my baby Eee in the early days.  We have connected with two very interesting and functioning networks of home educators here in the capital and we always have things to go out and do.  I am home on Mondays and every second Friday but I have to work very hard to keep those days free of outings.  We are home on the odd Thursday as well but most weeks we are out over lunch time then.  When I am out socialising I lack the energy to do so again on my blog, such a serious introvert am I. ;)

Baby J exploring autumn leaves
Honourable Mention

I've also found another online community of people I really enjoy.  When my niece was born in Belfast last year I joined Instagram so I could see pictures of her as she grew.  I subsequently found a group of people sharing photos of great quality, photos which inspired me. I found my photos were enjoyed and I became part of a couple of groups and participated in challenges. I was delighted to receive an Honourable Mention recently after entering the Autumnal_Shades_in_the_Capital competition.  So I will continue to show my pics there.  Follow along if you'd like to see a pic or two everyday.  I'm @CeeLew. :)

So that is some of the change that has happened for me in recent times.  A little of the reasoning I give myself when trying to explain why this place I have so enjoyed remains vacant for many days in a row.

Here are some of the things we've been enjoying recently:

:: Finally getting to explore Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve.  On our first visit with the Discovery Club (our home education friends) we walked the Birrigai Time Trail to view a Rock Shelter used by our indigenous people.  It has been dated to 40000 years ago (although indigenous people were here prior to then).  We then found the Discovery Playground which we returned to recently to share with Dad over a BBQ lunch.

:: Completing a couple of yarn projects.  An owlet knitted for my baby J and a capelet for my eldest, Ess.  She chose the pattern herself and loves it so.  I've really enjoyed sitting down to some crochet these past days.  My ripple blanket is still in progress, waiting its turn.  It'll be there a while longer. I can't bear to finish it.  I love the process so much.

:: Making plans for changes to our garden.  My Generous Gentleman would love to get his hands into some dirty work and has some great ideas to make our lovely new backyard with beautiful well established cold-climate plants into something more useable for our family.  Let's just say lots of digging and water seems to be involved.

:: Enjoying visits from both my Mum and my Dad over Easter and beyond.  They are both 70 years old this year.  They are both wonderful with my girls and enjoy their company.

:: Reading Stradbroke Dreaming as we journey around Australia on the Australian Book Traveller.

:: Spending many days out at excursions and picnics with our home educated friends.  There is so much to do in Canberra.  So much to do that we cannot do everything and have to choose regularly what we will participate in and enjoy.  We love Questacon and the National Botanic Gardens, the National Museum and Lake Burley Griffin.  There are always extra programs on for us to attend.

:: Enjoying a new church family and small group.  My big girls love going along to their kids program.

:: Having new friends over to lunch to enjoy a Roast Vegetable Minestrone with husband-home-baked spelt bread followed by home crumbed fish and oven-baked chips on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

:: Exploring Lanyon Homestead with Mum who found it just like being back in the home of her youth.

:: Today we enjoyed holding a 1 day old chick, a little Chinese Silky.  See its little fluffy, feathery feet.

So do tell.  Have you missed my presence here in blogland? Would you like to hear from me more often?  What would you like to hear about?  I'd love to know, as I do so value your comments in this space.

Faithful Dogs: The Dog on the Tuckerbox and Ballad of the Drover

Earth's self upholds this monument

To conquerors who won her,

When wooing was dangerous

And now are gathered unto her again.

At the Dog on the Tuckerbox monument in March 2010

We have come across at least two faithful dogs in our readings over this last week.  Both stories have truly tugged at my heartstrings.  I have been left almost in tears due to the poignant writing of each of the storytellers.  This surprises me as I am not a dog lover - anyone who knows me personally will testify to that in full accord.  This trait has unfortunately been passed down to my girls to some extent, although I have tried my hardest not to do this.

My little girls have not ever liked dogs.  We have had some 'less than nice' experiences while walking in our old neighbourhood in Adelaide when big dogs roamed and barked without being on a leash, where little dogs yapped at my baby in the stroller and owners dallied wondering why my little one was not over the moon at their little ones' antics.  This last year it got to a stage where the big girls both screamed when a dog came by.  This became very difficult when we tried to enjoy an outing in public where dogs may be.  It was also difficult when we visited friend's houses - my girls' greatest concern has always been "do they have a dog?"

Last year a fellow home educating mother became aware of my girls "screaming" reaction and took action.  It became a necessity when we were to visit her family home for a filming activity by the group we are part of.  She and I explained to my girls how her puppy may be scared of their reaction, that it was just a toddler and we could pretend to be brave around the little pup.  The idea of imagined bravado and her understanding of my girls scared reaction was the key which turned them around.  By the end of the day my eldest girl was walking this puppy on a leash.  Very proud mummy here!

Now my girls and I are still not dog lovers but we hope to be able to react calmly around them, only showing caution and concern when there are dogs off leads and dogs without owners.

So it is lovely to be able to share with my girls some stories of the wonderful attribute of faithfulness in dogs.  Indeed loyalty to their master is a trait which dogs are renowned for in Australian bush folklore.  Our studies are taking us around Australia through literature this year so perhaps I should not be surprised at all to find stories of faithful dogs surfacing twice in a week.

I have found The Dog on the Tuckerbox, by Corinne Fenton to be a fabulous read.  Lady is the faithful dog who both begins and ends the story sitting on the tuckerbox of her master, Bill.

"Lady sat on the tuckerbox watching her master, Bill.  He packed up his billy and stamped out the campfire.  It was time to get moving."

The story establishes itself very securely in its setting - the Australia of 100-150 years ago.  The language used is clearly Australian without being crass in any way.  There is mention of tucker, billy and the campfire on the first page as well as bullocks, settlers and homesteads soon thereafter.  Lady and Bill share times of great joy and sharing as well as times of great challenge.  One which sees Lady almost at the end of her days, but for the care of Bill provided so lovingly and tenderly.  Finally, in the greatest challenge of them all, we see Lady showing such loyalty to her master as brought shivers to my arms, standing the hairs on end and duly tugging at my heartstrings.

"In 1932 a monument of a dog sitting on a tuckerbox was erected five miles from Gundagai."

The illustrations by Tasmanian artist Peter Gouldthorpe are beautiful and poignantly portray a sense of the love of an Australia now past.  He pays particular attention to detail in each illustration.  I particularly enjoyed the portrayal of an aging Lady throughout the book, as did my eight year old Ess.

We borrowed this book from the library when I heard about the author, Corinne Fenton.  It will be hard to take back and when it is returned perhaps we may need to purchase a copy to hold near to our hearts in our home.

Everyone is familiar with the famous Australian bush poet Henry Lawson (pictured above) and I was excited today to find that the Australian Poem of the Day was his Ballad of the Drover.

This ballad tells the story of a drover who has been out droving for some time in Queensland.  He is on his journey home to meet his beloved.  One can hear the song he is humming and the accompanying jingling and jangling of all his campware, with two horses walking steadily side by side carrying all that is required when one is away from home for an extended period of time.  Here also is his faithful dog who has been with his master day in, day out.  However his afternoon is rather like ours here today: a storm is brewing.  He has a sturdy determination to reach home and pushes his party forward across a flooding river despite the thunder's warning.  Rover, "the best dog on the plain" and one of his "hardy horses" make their way across.  The cattle dog is seen on the river bank with the pack horse, but soon jumps back into the river to the place he last saw his master, such is his faithfulness.  He struggles and fails himself, leaving only the packhorse to return home to convey the sad tale of the drover and his mate.

I use these stories to seek narrations from Ess as part of her home education.  She is a keen and avid reader, her oration skills are still developing so I am happy for these to be oral at this stage.  She will be a wonderful writer in due course as she is exposed to so much fabulous literature.  I recently heard a comment from the Australian author Margo Lanagan referring to immersing ourselves in great literature in order to be a great writer.  I'll hold onto that comment.

Cooking with Division

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~Chili Davis

Today we spent the whole day decorating a special birthday cake for my Generous Gentleman. We worked at it from 9am until 2.30pm when my Ess was adamant she would soon be having a rest, yet at the same time so willingly helping with packing and tidying up.

Seeing as we are exploring division in our mathematical thinking at the moment I decided that baking and decorating a cake with multiples of evenly divided lollies using an old-fashioned recipe handed down to me via Mum from my Gran would be motivating and inspirational. This was just such a fabulous decision as Ess took on the whole project with ease and I took on the role of facilitator/supervisor. I just love that role and have been longing for my family to reach the stage where I could assume that.

First task was to make icing. The recipe required Ess to measure ¼lb butter providing a fabulous mathematical thinking opportunity. Having just completed a unit on measurement whereby Ess had learnt all about grams and kilograms, there could be no better opportunity to extend that learning into incorporating the old imperial system used by her grandparents (and myself in my childhood), just after a visit from Granny. Armed with the information I provided her that one pound of butter (1lb) is equal to 16 ounces (oz) she quickly counted out her favourite pip squeak pencils to discover she needed to weigh out 4oz butter.

Then came the fun part: creaming the butter with a pound of icing sugar, and some stiffly beaten egg whites to make the icing.

Each carriage of the train required a different coloured icing to yet again Ess was required to measure and divide her icing before she coloured it. One whole bowl of icing needed to become four even bowls of icing. This she did entirely independently.

After watching her mother ice most of the carriages, with a whinge or two of frustration thrown in here and there, (I just find the placing of the icing onto the cake the most horrible part of cake decorating!) Ess quickly took over the role and finished icing a carriage by herself while I attended my baby.

Upon assembly of the cake my older pair of girls each assumed mathematical roles. Little Eee counted out the paddle pop sticks and laid them as train tracks. She also sorted the smarties into colours, while Ess counted out and multiplied and divided her sweets until she had an appropriate number per carriage. "Hmmm, one pack of mint slice biscuits divided between four carriages. Do I need to open the second pack? Will there be enough bikkies for each of us to have a bikky now?

Little Eee is randomly decorating the engine with her smarties here. :)

The jellybeans loaded up on each carriage were great to use as counters as we explored division a little further with our Singapore Maths workbooks, concretely representing the pictorial division problems contained therein. Receiving a jellybean per each correct maths problem proved great motivation as well. I was amused when Ess decided she had completed enough maths problems because she now had enough jelly beans. It just happened to be before one of the more complex division word problems...conveniently.

Happy Birthday my dear beloved!

Oh the joys of home education.

We are able to spend our whole day delighting in how much you mean to us, by creating something special for you, and still have such a meaningful day of education.

Lots of thought was also put into planning and preparation of cakes for upcoming birthdays as well. ;)

Home Education in Canberra

We have had our challenges in Canberra since moving here in January but one thing has not presented us with any difficulty - our home education. In fact we've had some lovely experiences due to our connections with some lovely networks of home educating families. We have become members of both HENCAST (Home Education Network of Canberra and the Southern Tablelands) and CHEC (Christian Home Education Canberra). I am so thrilled with our choice to home educate which is continually reinforced by numerous experiences - socially, educationally, statistically.

This week we had our home visit from the Non Govt Education Department here in the ACT which followed the provisional registration I gained upon our arrival in this state. All went really well and it should result in two full years of registration which is wonderful. I was really encouraged to hear comments about how the report I wrote was very comprehensive, with much attention paid to detail and all criteria addressed thoroughly. I was also delighted to see the joy in Ess' persona as she shared the work she has completed over the last six months.

I was very pleasantly surprised to hear about what the Government is looking for in these visits. They are not hunting for families who have a relaxed, natural and flexible approach to learning. They are more concerned about families who are very pedantic and perhaps lean towards controlling their children, always telling them what to do, not allowing free play and thus not developing and instilling a sense of independence in their learning. This was definitely a breath of fresh air for me as it was totally opposite to what I, and many others I believe, expect of the Government. Somehow we expect to be told we are not doing enough work. This was certainly contrary to my experience. I heard the comment "you have been doing a lot!".

This year, due to our circumstances, my approach to learning has been very natural. In the suitcases we flew over here with, we had our Singapore Maths books to work through. Yet all other components of learning simply came from the groups we were involved with, literature borrowed from the library and excursions we participated in. I simply didn't pack workbooks and teacher's guides etc. when we anticipated moving straight into a new home. And of course we didn't have internet access so all learning resources and inspirational ideas I gain from blog reading etc. didn't happen.

I am very much looking forward to being more settled, to snuggling up and reading literature relating to our Five in a Row studies, to having paints out for the children to enjoy, to being able to enjoy watching related YouTube videos, to being able to research new places with Google Maps etc. etc.

In the meantime Canberra has welcomed us with excursions, activities, parks and playgrounds, friendships and bright sunny days albeit very cool, very very cool.

I'll be able to share some things more specifically with you nowadays.