Sunday, March 14, 2010

My 11yo does our shopping!

Inspired by a BBC show, Boys and Girls Alone, I allowed my 11.5yo son to do up a menu plan for this week and to do the grocery shopping through an online service while sticking to a budget. He did very well, juggling how many treats and what treats to get for his younger brother's upcoming birthday as well as meeting our family's needs such as TP and tissues in this season of colds and snuffly noses.

I have 4 boys and the long term plan is that by the time they leave home they will be fully confident in cooking at least 5 different types of main meals, 3 desserts, baking of biscuits and cakes and be able to do all that on a budget. I do not want to send my kids off to University (which is likely to be in another town) without these essential skills.

We do our children a great disservice by doing things for them. With our training from a young age they can go through the teenage years and into adulthood with confidence in their ability to look after themselves, and to share in the load of making a home with flat mates and in the future with a wife, and hopefully children.

I do not want them coming home to get their washing done. I do not want to be cooking all day long to feed hungry teenage boys. They are adults in the making and adults should be able to be independant, but that depends a lot on the training I do now.

Best wishes
Jen in Oz

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Our (My?) Favourite Subject

I have been reviewing my homeschool records. I think we may be showing an unusual tendency in the subjects we cover. Admittedly our bias may be due to being an all boys school or it may be due to my personal preferences.

Any day that we sit down and do formal school you can guarantee we will do maths. That is right! Maths! Most people's most dreaded subject, and it is our first choice. Not so that we can get it out of the way, but because we love maths. It really isn't hard.

Maybe that is due to curriculum choice (Singapore Maths 3rd Edition) or maybe it is due to me having a great love of logic and love that maths is so black and white. There are no confusing shades of grey, just beautiful, clear wrong and right answers. I love maths.

My eldest the other day was commenting that he was not looking forward to Algebra. I replied, why not, you have already been doing it? and showed him a question out of his level 2 book written in algebraic terms. Light bulb moment! He is now looking forward to Algebra. lol

I wish I could just sit down with those of you who hate maths and show you the beauty of numbers.

Best wishes
Jen in Oz