Life’s A Weekend!

 New Zealand home educators are online.

Here’s some that I found: (expanded & republished)

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/AngtheFLYingKiwi/ - Ang

http://momentsofwhimsy.blogspot.com/ - Cate

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ChrissyShads/ - Christina

http://thenewunschooler.blogspot.com/ - Colleen

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KiwiSmithFamily/ - Craig Barbara

http://www.cynthiahancox.com/blog/ - Cynthia 
http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/CynthiaH/ 

http://wonder-mints.blogspot.com/ - Darnia

http://3kiwihomeschoolers.blogspot.com/ - ‘J’s Mum’
http://kiwidigitalscrapbooking.blogspot.com/

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kiwimumoffive/ - jaybee

http://homeschoolingdiary.wordpress.com/ - Jen 

http://banquet.homeschooljournal.net/ - Johanna
http://lapbooking.wordpress.com

http://katekiwi.blogspot.com/ - Kate

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/kiwigirl/

http://www.homesteadblogger.com/atTheGoodLife - Leanne

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/OurSchoolingJourney/ - Maree

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mlaktin/ - Marilyn

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/wisdomspearls/ - Melody

http://www.rachel-larkin.com/ - Rachel L, Ak

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LittleSchoolHouse/ - Rachel L, Chch

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/4kiwigirls - Rachel R

http://www.xanga.com/Rabbits_Nest - Raewyn, top SI
http://weblog.xanga.com/Rabbits_Nest

http://watercolourdreams.blogspot.com/ - Sandra

http://sharonnz.blogspot.com/ - Sharon

http://unschoolersanonymous.blogspot.com - Shell, Wn

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/KuraKainga/ - ‘Sherena’

I shall keep looking - and adding …

http://singleparenthomeschoolingdownunder.homeschooljournal.net/

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Roses07/

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/happyathome/ -

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/NZHomeEd/

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/mum2two/ - Chch

So, it’s winter downunder !

Here’s some pics and links of our beaches…

Mt Maunganui - east coast, North Island, New Zealand

Whangamata - further up the east coast, Nth Is, NZ

New Plymouth - west coast, Nth Is, NZ  -  also here and click for larger images - gorgeous

Memories of earlier (warmer) days …
Johanna

http://aholyexperience.com/2007/05/one-piece-life.html -

“the profane is just the sacred abused” (quote from Buchanan)

“In God…we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

“God be in my head, and in my understanding,
God be in my eyes, And in my looking,
God be in my mouth, And in my speaking;
God be in my heart, And in my feeling;
God be at my death And at my departing.” ~Walford Davies, hymn
–

Quote from: http://aholyexperience.com/2008/01/seven-daily-rungs.html

First Rung ~ Listening: a way of the Spirit (Scripture reading, prayer and memorization)

Second Rung ~Love: a way of sacrificing (that which is at the the heart of everything we do)

Third Rung ~ Labour: a way of serving (farm work, household chores, creativity, ministries, volunteer work)

Fourth Rung ~ Loveliness: a way of seeing (Poetry, Nature, Music and Art)

Fifth Rung ~ Literature: a way of seeking (discovery through great books)

Sixth Rung ~ Language: a way of speaking (narrations, Latin/Greek, grammar, writing)

Seventh Rung ~ Logic: a way of scaffolding (ideas, reasoning, science, mathematics, discussing)

As the sun sets in the west, we ring the farm table, and pause to reflect on the shadow of the seven daily rungs.

Hands to ears, we ask of the first rung: Did we listen to our Lord today? Hands over hearts, we question the second rung: Did we love Jesus by loving others?

Then, holding fingers high, we mark off the five remaining rungs:
Labor: Whom did we serve today?
Loveliness: What did we see today?
Literature: What did we seek and discover in good books today?
Language: How did use we speak, written and orally, today?
Logic: How did we scaffold into new ideas and understanding today?

Hands reach out to lace fingers together.
…
In the quiet coming down, we crown the day with laughter, taking our daily heart medicine of joy. … But from each of the seven daily rungs in a holistic homeschooling education— listening, loving, labouring, looking on loveliness, learning literature, language and logic– we’ve kept our eyes on our reward. The Lord Himself.

Who is the Way through everyday.

– start the day with … (http://mamahooper.blogspot.com/2008/01/invitation.html)

An Invitation

Lord, please be with us today-
Bless our school in every way.
We promise to
Listen to
Everything You say!

Help us as we learn new things,
Guide us as we count and sing.
When Mama speaks
We’ll be meek
To honor You, our King!

Lord, we want to learn and grow,
Because You gave us minds, and so
We’ll begin
Following
The way that we should go!

–
http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz/archives/smash_communion.php - read about a different styled communion service.

‘Colliding Worlds’ is about a Christian worldview meeting/clashing with a secular world view. Expectations and opinions that don’t match, mesh, or meet well - if at all.

–
Enjoy reading more of these blogs above.

Blessings on your and your household,
Johanna

http://www.nz.com/new-zealand/guide-book/ - facts, weather, history, food, etc 

Scenery - http://images.google.co.nz/images?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENNZ243&q=zealand+scenery - our beautiful scenery - click more pages …
http://images.google.co.nz/images?q=zealand+scenery+waikato&um=1&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENNZ243&sa=2 -a  search for Waikato pics, but more than my region is represented amongst these images.
Also here: http://images.google.co.nz/images?um=1&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENNZ243&q=scenery+waikato&btnG=Search+Images

Birds - http://nzbirds.com/birds/birdsong.html - my favourite NZ bird is piwakawaka = fantail
Kiwi - http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/NativeBirdsAndBats/Kiwi
http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/NativeBirdsAndBats/Kiwi/en?shortstory=true - easy read
Images + Media - http://www.teara.govt.nz/TheBush/NativeBirdsAndBats/Kiwi/en?shortstory=true

http://grantfinlay.podomatic.com/ - sounds recorded in New Zealand, mainly around Auckland 

Traffic Cameras - http://traffic.transit.govt.nz/Traffic.do?view=cctv - check the traffic and the weather in Auckland, NZ’s main city.

God Defend New Zealand (national anthem - and hear it here. More info here.)

I love my country!

PS: Must mention my absolute favourite comedian - I will watch anything he was in (yes, sadly he died in 1991 - too soon) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_T_James
Check YouTube for “Billy T. James” - also check related videos.

A blast from the past - http://www.time.com/time/2005/websites/

Enjoy trolling the list.

Useful? :  http://lifehacker.com/

Different : http://www.boingboing.net/

Photos : http://flickr.com/ - search a topic; join a group

Social networking has taken off since 2005!

manana, apopo, tomorrow …

Lapbooking is a fantastic way to present unit studies or projects.

Lapbooking 101 - www.lapbooking.wordpress.com

Lapbook folders, ideas, and photos from last week:

http://paper-basket.blogspot.com/

http://thehomeschoolingblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/socalval/

http://littlehomeschoolonthehill.com/

http://tropicalmom.blogspot.com/2008/04/lap-books.html

http://talibiddeenjr.wordpress.com/

http://yankeegal.geeksforchrist.com/

http://scooterandb.blogspot.com/

http://islamicunitstudies.wordpress.com/

http://jetihoja.blogspot.com/

http://thecoxscorner.blogspot.com/ - first lapbook

http://banquet.homeschooljournal.net/ - Johanna’s blog

Digital lapbooking is relatively new and emerging. 
Here are some examples of different styles :

http://karatekidkast.tumblr.com/ (by 3x 9+10 year olds) using a tumblr blog

http://lapbooks.wordpress.com/dogs/  (8yo) using wordpress with linked through files

http://www.slimeandgrime.co.nr (16yo) using macromedia shockwave flash (swf movie)

http://www.digitallapbooking.com/ - the original site
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digitalLapbooking/
http://lapbooks.wordpress.com/online/ - add your digital lapbook link in the Comments

Hello to everyone interested in Lapbooking :

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lapbooking7up/ and
http://lapbooks.wordpress.com - the brand new Lapbooking 201 site for older students doing lapbooking
are stirring up the lapbooking nest
- encouraging people to write and brag about lapbooking - yay!

To find out more about getting started with Lapbooks :
wade through the pages at : www.lapbooking.wordpress.com - plenty of links, some pics, and generally a one-stop-shop.
Read the comments about it at : http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/eclecticeducation/504975/

http://lapbooking.tumblr.com/ is a series of webquests and a ‘dump site’ for my lapbooking ideas and topics. See RHS for list of topics with links and ideas to get your lapbook underway.

Yahoo groups for Lapbooking include :
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lapbooking101/ 
- 271 members, great Q&A, tips and ideas for beginners
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lapbooking7up/ 
- more than doubled in size in a year, 418+, for those lapbooking with teens
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lapbooking/ 
- the huge original group that I joined when it was less than 1/4 the size, 4681+, about 1000 posts per month, search the archives for a gold mine (or 3)
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/lapbookingUK/ 
- 95, sparking back into life again

A few gems among the plethora of LAPBOOKING pages :
http://www.squidoo.com/lapbooking - Jimmie’s pages
http://highland.hitcho.com.au/ 
- forms, unit studies, creating books, school units outlines
http://www.sdmart.org/education-plans.html 
- and scroll down and down (and click on links) - lesson plans, portraits,
http://www.sdmart.org/education-plans.html#book 
-  creating artistic books

PHOTOS for the visual learners at :
join the group too, at present 29 members - http://www.flickr.com/groups/lapbooking/ 
http://www.flickr.com/groups/lapbooking/pool/ 
- rows and rows of pics
With discussion pages too - http://www.flickr.com/groups/lapbooking/discuss/

Oh, such fun!
Johanna
Please leave a comment (at end of the post) and also your weblink at http://lapbooks.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/carnival/

http://lapbooks.wordpress.com/2008/04/22/carnival/

http://www.wordworx.co.nz/seriously.html

- only one weblink today, but this one may be enough to keep you occupied for 2 minutes …  54 one-liners to tell your friends.

My favourite : I feel like I’m diagonally parked in a parallel universe.

V8s are coming our way in a couple of days,
Blessings on your going to sleep and on your getting up,
Johanna

This is a one page booklet folded into eight pages (my Lapbooking friends will recognise it)

http://pocketmod.com/v2/

 http://pocketmod.com/app/ - older version

http://www.speechtx.com/technology/one_sheet_book.htm - instructions on making the one sheet eight page booklet

A useful booklet I made for both of my children when young with personal info, address, favourites, added in photos or pictures. Did it two sided, so they had two books in one. Great to keep them occupied in the van, church, or visiting. Helped their emerging reading skills too.

The pocketmod has become a grown-up version for them now.

Enjoy!

There are 2 tricks that work with Gmail (and possibly other email providers) to let you use one email address as though it were several different addresses.

1. Gmail lets you add “+something” to your mailbox name and still get your mail. For example, joe@gmail.com and joe+wordpress@gmail.com and joe+secretblog@gmail.com each look like different addresses to our system but they all route mail to the same inbox: joe@gmail.com.

2. You can reformat your existing Gmail address by inserting dots (periods) anywhere within your Gmail username. The Gmail Help pages explain:

Because Gmail doesn’t recognize dots as characters within usernames, adding or removing dots from a Gmail address won’t change the actual destination address. Messages sent to yourusername@gmail.com and y.o.u.r.u.s.e.r.n.a.m.e@gmail.com are all delivered to your Inbox, and only yours.