Term 4

We are now into the first week back in Term 4.

(Yup, even though we homeschool, we still have to follow the school term system.)

For most of the two-week holiday break we were over in Sydney, Australia.  It was my first time there in 25 years, while Mama and the girls had never been there.  I wrote a travel diary while we were away.  I'll probably post it here in the near future.

This term, our big focus (once again) is ballet.  The girls' ballet school will be doing a performance (Alice in Wonderland) in December, and they are learning dances for that.  Mulan is having 8 1/4 hours of lessons each week (four days a week), while Miya is having 4 1/2 hours of lessons (three days a week).  They often do ballet at home, too, including teaching the cousins.

As part of getting the girls more independent, last term we were often catching the bus to ballet rather than taking the car.  At first I went with them in the bus, but they are starting to go on their own now, too.  We bought a basic mobile phone for them to take while out and about.

The girls are still doing their music, though lessons don't start until next week.  Mulan is still learning flute, cello, recorder and ukulele.  Miya is still learning violin, recorder and ukulele.  They practice daily, alternating instruments.

Both Mulan and Miya still love the water, and are continuing with their swimming lessons.  In addition to lessons, we go to the public pools once a week for a fun/training session.

The girls are both still doing gymnastics once a week.

And finally, we have (sort-of) started athletics.  I say sort-of, because it clashes with ballet.  Both girls have chosen to prioritise their ballet, but they squeeze in a bit of athletics when they can.  Miya can attend the last half of Wednesday clubnight as well as some of the Monday coaching session.  Mulan may attend the occasional athletics evening when ballet is not on.

Oh, and our "schooling" stuff?  Yeah, that gets done quickly and easily, squeezed into our day:

For maths, both girls are still doing Khan Academy daily, and both are still about two years ahead of their ages.

Both girls are reading heaps -- both our own books and borrowed books from the library.

I continue to read aloud daily to the girls.  At the moment we are (unsurprisingly) reading Alice in Wonderland.

The girls still practice their typing daily.  Mulan gets up to 80 words per minute while Miya gets up to 60 words per minute.

We watch a YouTube video each day while eating lunch.  This varies depending on what jumps out at us.  Sometimes it is from Crash Course.  Sometimes it is ballet.

Both girls are still having Chinese lessons daily with Mama.  They have now joined Mama's Chinese teaching business as paid assistant teachers.  They work with the preschool students, doing Chinese language games and activities.

Our other subjects are typically done more "unschooling" style.