The first week went well ... and some interesting facts on Aussie animals:-)

Well we have officially finished our first week of home schooling and I am very encouraged by how well it's going. I've only had a couple of moments of frustration with Jaden which is much better than I expected. I love the flexibility of working when he is at his best. I can tell when his morning meds are wearing out and we stop until after he has had lunch and tablets and can then pick up later when he is able to concentrate again, except on days like today when the maths he did this morning was frustrating for him and so once we got through that and some other work on animals I could tell his brain was fried and declared school done for the day!!! He is now making use of the brand new foxtel we got connected yetserday and is watching cartoons while Bethany is asleep and mummy is having computer time, all is well with the world :-)

I'm actually realising just how hard school has been for Jaden. He brought home his work when we visited the school on Tuesday and when I looked through it I saw rushed, messy work, unfinished worksheets, doodling all over everything, workbooks with pages crossed out.... I don't think he actually got much done at school at all cause he was always so distracted or frustrated. No wonder his mid year report showed him being behind. The maths we worked on this morning should've been revision for him and yet he really struggled with it. I am now more confident than ever that this was definately the right decision for my boy and I think he will thrive with the one on one help and attention!!!!

I also love the fact that we are doing Bible lessons together too and this morning I tied in our work on Australian animals with looking at the wonder of creation and it provided a great opportunity to talk about evolution with Jaden too as this comes up in books a lot. We were able to discuss that some people choose not to believe in a Creator despite the amazing intricacies of life that point quite clearly to God, and we most definately have not descended from apes, we are created in God's image!

I am also loving the fact that I am learning heaps of new stuff too. These are some interesting facts I learnt today:
# Australia has the worst extinction record for mammals of any country in the world (not an encouraging fact).
#Australia has 416 species of butterflies.
#Only the male Funnel Web is lethal and the venom doesn't affect dogs or cats.
# We have the most venomous snake in the world and it's not the Brown snake, it's the Inland Taipan. A single bite can produce enough venom to kill 100 people! (no wonder tourists freak out about our animlas LOL)
# Budgerigar is an Aboriginal word for 'good eating' (poor birdies :-( ).
# Rainforest survival depends on the Cassowary spreading seeds in their poop .
# Even grosser poop fact: the first solid food baby Koalas eat is their mother's poo, this is because they need the bacteria in it to make their guts able to later digest Eucalyptus leaves which are actually poisonous!
# Wombats can run at speeds of up to 40 km/hr.

Now you all know some new facts too. Have a great weekend :-)