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Responding to Readers' Questions || Life as a Homeschooler

I received another comment in response to the one I responded to here. I'm going to address three of the questions from it here: 1) Do I like homeschooling? 2) Do I ever wish I went to school? and 3) What kind of things do I do in each day? 

1) No, I don't like homeschooling. I LOVE it. Haha. My years of formal homeschooling (academics) are nearly over, but I am, and likely always will be, a homeschooler at heart.

2) Are you kidding me?! I'm nearly eighteen and more interested in job opportunities actually! :) But in the past . . . Well, for a short time before entering high school (level, that is) I did. But otherwise, no. I loved life as a homeschooler too much! :)

3) My average day would involve school work, music practice (flute especially, maybe guitar as well), folding washing (we all have assigned chores and that's my daily one), teaching (recorder) and some free time. One day a week I work with my dad in our family-owned import/wholesale business dispatching orders and doing some data entry, invoicing, taking/editing images, and updating catalogues and various other documents. Currently I'm designing a new catalogue as well. 

So there are my thoughts on those three questions. And if anything isn't clear, well then there's a comment section. ;) haha

{10 on 10}

: : Working on a recipe post for all my followers on here : : 

: : Life's better with a soundtrack, right? : :

: : Sorry, another music theory pic. My exam's on Saturday so I can stop after that! : :

: : Little Miss Poser! : :
(4 years)

: : Doo, doo, doo : :
Working on her singing early!

: : Partners in school work (lol) : :

: : So don't try the rule of thirds too closely on this one, but isn't it cool?! : :

: : Maria's artwork : :
(She actually did a different one but I guess I forgot to snap it!)

: : Caption this pic? : :

: : Aww, cutie : :

10 on 10

Those of you who stop by regularly will have noticed that this post is late. Sorry about that. And yes, I have back-dated this post so it will be easy to find in my archives. Admittedly these shots aren't all from the same day; I started snapping on Saturday but never got finished. {Yes, I may have fallen asleep on the couch before getting through my to-do list and then woken up at 1am.}

: : Some cards I made on Friday {partly why I wasn't shooting for this post. Oops} : :

: : And this one gives a better view of the matching envelopes : :

: : Someone talks on a puzzle piece : :
Did you know they make good phones?!

: : My flute : :

: : Sewing time! : :

: : The healthiest cookie recipe ever. Not. :P : :

: : Snow White, anyone? : :
In case you're wondering, my sisters wear this when they swim.

: : Music theory exam booked. Study, here I come! : :

: : My all-time fav cookies ;) : :

: : Abstract or not-so cookies : :
{Are you salivating yet?} haha

Response to a Comment || Of Homeschooling and What It's Like

A while ago a commenter suggested I post about what it's like to be homeschooled, what I use, and how I/we do it. 

So, what is it like? For me, normal. I've been homeschooled since I was five years old, and have never been to school, so I don't know any different! But that's not very specific so here goes. I love the flexibility it provides. We can get up, start, finish, and eat whenever it suits. We can visit places or go on holiday during less busy times while most people are at school; it's so much easier to get jobs done quickly if there isn't a maze of people to work your way through! I can easily book appointments or music lessons during school time and study before and/or after them.

What do I use? I love Apologia science (Junior series by Jeannie Fulbright, high-school texts by Dr. Jay L. Wile). The books are written in a conversational style, which I find much more interesting than a bland presentation-of-facts approach, making it easier to remember the content.

For my other subjects I use publications from BJU Press. Before I started their English curriculum (during intermediate), I certainly didn't find workbooks on the subject easy! I think I may have known nouns and verbs, but adjectives and adverbs were foreign to me. Although my inherent English was, I think, pretty good, I had little understanding of the mechanics behind the subject. I've since completed their grade 12 (NZ year 13) text, and for the past several years, English has been my favourite subject!

How do I/my family do it? Well, it's in my nature to be independent, so once I learned to read it wasn't uncommon for me to work alone. Basically, I (and now also many of my siblings) complete various textbooks as our core curriculum (much the same as school students complete homework I suppose). While we generally work alone, Mum is available to assist in either providing or locating a source of help if need be. We regularly use the library and internet for research projects. 

And extra-curricular activities? All but two of us currently take music lessons of some sort, and some of my siblings regularly take swimming lessons. Throughout the years we have enjoyed gymnastics, pottery and art classes, athletics, soccer, dance, and attended a knitting club, homeschool sports club, and book club at a local library.

I think that about sums up my thoughts on the topic for now. Thanks for reading!

Card-Making Spree!

Once a regular crafter, I rarely make the time for such things nowadays. What with school {work}, music, and other commitments, I usually can't justify some of my old hobbies.

On December 25th though, I decided to throw away all justifications and have a relaxing day of card-making (after I'd done some tidying and things :P) I produced 16 cards and two bookmarks (not counting the mess!!). The little ones joined me from time to time during the day, while Mum worked on sorting the clothes boxes. It was quite a nice way to spend the day, and afterwards I was pleased with my efforts. :)

Yesterday

To the Americans on here...
Happy thanksgiving for yesterday!

Some things I am thankful for:

• blog readers ;)
• family
• friends (love you :))
• computers/internet
• pets
• music

Music School Concert

Hey!

Last week Saturday I played in a concert for all students of MJSM - Manurewa Junior School of Music - where I have been learning flute for the last 3 years.

Five of us played together - 3 classes. Me and the girl next to me (Tofu - if that's how you spell her name) have been in the same class for all 3 years that i have been learning there. The next two girls are from the same class, and i'm not sure whether the last girl (in the pink sweater) was on a class on her own or whether she was in a class with other students who played after us in the concert - I'll get to them later!

I think most of us were a bit nervous, we had a few wrong notes!
Anyway, we played O Little Town of Bethlehem and Come Back to Sorrento. Both songs had 3 parts.

Here are some photo's of us. The first 2 are us warming up/practising. The other 3 are of us playing in the concert. Oh yea, and by the way, the lady in the 2nd photo is our teacher - Agi. She plays REALLY well!!





And after us played my friend - Annie - and i can't remember how many other students, and Agi played too. They played Carmen ( By Thaikovsky??). Unfortunately we didn't video them, but the sounded SSSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOO good!!! There must have been about 3 or 4 parts the piece (of music).

By the way, this was my last year at the music school, it only goes up to intermediete age, and next year I will be first year highschool.
But I'm hoping to have private lessons with Agi!!

Anyway, better go do some maths, now that it is 10:58pm, and we have a trial triathlon (in preparation for the Weet-bix kids triathlon) at 10 / 10:30 am tomorrow morning,
'Night,
Bee