Closer

Time is progressing along, and I'm starting to feel quite pregnant.  So it was nice over the holidays to take it very quiet this time.  Willow spent the second week volunteering at City Farm, as she often does, and really enjoyed it again this time.  Gabriel, Arden and I had a fairly quiet time, and we managed to also catch up with some friends.

Some of the classes we've been doing ran over the holidays, so we still had a few of those outings happening.  Willow's flute classes were still happening, and we all kept up with our dancing lessons with Cool Cats- rockabilly and kick step.  We managed to also get out and see a demonstration of Swing Dancing at Northbridge piazza on Anzac day, and Damien was asking them about swing dancing at the Mustang Bar.  Willow and Gabriel also got out to use their second surfing lesson, and both found it a little more familiar this time; I'm thinking it might be worth organising surfing lessons for them both over next summer, and finally getting Arden onto swimming lessons.

So we all started back into school routine for the next little bit, before the baby is due this week.  Willow is finishing off some chemistry with Damien, Gabriel and I have been doing physics and Arden and I are doing some more stories, and letters.  This week saw Gabriel and I working on sound, with a selection of experiments out of Physics is Fun by Robert Trostli.  We looked at instruments, and objects that would create and allow sound to travel.  Arden listened to 'Rapunzel', and we focused on the letters, 'f', 't' and 'p' this week.

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2025

We never did end up doing more surfing.  Arden learnt to swim at home in our pool, and Irving did too mostly, but has also done some vacswim classes, and enjoyed them so much that he has been doing nippers the last two years.

Irving at nippers a couple of years ago.

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2023/12/end-of-term.html

Nippers and swimming last year.

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2024/04/welcome-to-2024-four-months-in.html

Autumn

Gabriel's first sock .

More Zebra sketches- this reminds me of art deco drawings.

Some recent geometry, Gabriel's dodecagon, followed by my dodecagon.

 Gabriel's been busy working on geology these last couple of weeks, as his main lesson.  There's been quite a lot of writing work, and we've been focusing on his cursive.  Today we discussed the evolution of alchemy into chemistry, and elements.  We've been using 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth' by Jules Verne, as our story for this block. Since Gabriel has finished his first sock, we've had a couple of weeks off, so he can focus on his main project for this year- making a zebra- before he gets onto doing sock no 2.  Gabriel and I finished reading the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets together, and so we've moved on to the Lord of the Rings- The Fellowship of the Ring.  Gabriel's goal is to improve his reading enough, that after reading the first book with me, he'll be able to do the others by himself.

Willow's geometry from the last week- making a variety of stars.

Willow is moving onto chemistry this block, and has also been busy progressing along  her doll.  She was hoping to finish the doll's hair last week, but unfortunately they'd run out of black wool.  I've also ordered a square loom, so that Willow can do some weaving; she was thinking of doing a blanket out of squares.  Last weekend Willow and Gabriel got to try out surfing at Trigg beach, as Willow won a voucher to try surfing.

Arden has been working on numbers and reading and writing them this block.  Previously I'd done more of a creative maths block for class 1, as in the waldorf style, but I really like the JUMP programme and how well it's worked for Willow and Gabriel, so I'm using it as the focus of our maths with plans to complement it with some of the creativity that accompanies waldorf.

We're coming to the end of term one, so I'm looking forward to a couple of weeks off.  Will have to spend a bit of time, getting baby stuff sorted, so that we're ready for June.  We've all still been learning rockabilly dancing, and have been getting a few lessons of kick step in before Gabriel has musicianship lessons back on.  We've all been loving the dancing, and I've been trying to get lots in before the baby is born, as it will be tricky to get to lessons then.

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2025

We actually continued to do a lot of dancing once Irving was born, as it seemed he was accustomed to music, and so he just slept through it.  Later on we all learnt some blues and kick step rock and roll too.  Plus when towards the end of high school for Gabriel, Willow and Gabriel, did some swing lessons, and Willow also did some ballroom.  All this was part of our plan to complement her desire to be an opera singer/performer.

Some posts discussing our dancing experiences....

Highland dancing

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2008/11/whats-been-on.html

Lessons with Cool Cats

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2013/05/closer.html

Rockabilly

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2013/06/dancing-numbers-astronomy.html

Tap dancing and rockabilly with Arden.

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2018/04/summer-holidays-finally-here.html

Willow and Gabriel doing swing lessons

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2018/01/gradually-planning-2018.html

Swing dancing scence.

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2015/10/timetables-part-2.html

Arden trying cossack dancing at Womadelaide.

https://unicorn-pegasus.blogspot.com/2019/04/trip-to-adelaide.html