Rockpool Homeschool: Bathing Boxes

Lego Man In Space

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 09:01:22 +0000

Really not sure where to put this but it involves cameras and is on Youtube, so here seems to be an OK fit.

Two 17yo guys in Canada launched a Lego man with a helium filled weather balloon. They designed a 'capsule' to hold video and still cameras and have edited together a short clip and uploaded it to Youtube.

Watch it here:

Happy Birthday Hayley!

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 06:27:31 +0000

Hope you've had a fabulous day today!

Funnix Free Download - Reading Program

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:43:41 +0000

http://funnix.com/readingannouncement.htm

Funnix is a reading program for struggling readers. They are offering a free download until Feb 16th.

Beautiful Letter Boxes In Strathewen - 'after Black Saturday'

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 11:16:55 +0000

Did anyone see this lovely report on the ABC tonight, about people encouraging beauty back to the devasted Strathewen area? A letterbox project has started up .. and they are truely beautiful!! What a lovely gift to give the community.

http://open.abc.net.au/projects/aftermath-08vh8ac/posts/strathewen-the-letterbox-project-50sb0nq

and

http://commemoratingblacksaturday.wordpress.com/2011/04/12/mosaic-letterboxes-strathewen/

About Children's Gifts And Talents

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:20:05 +0000

I enjoyed reading this, and hope you will too:

http://momastery.com/blog/2012/01/13/on-gifts-and-talents-2/

Who's Back To The Bookwork This Week?

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 11:04:36 +0000

I know that some have already been back to their homeschooling lessons, but we're starting again tomorrow.

I can't believe that 6 weeks have already gone! We really needed the break this year, and I find it's like that more every year now that the children are older. However, I still think I could really use another week off .. but then I may just be procrastinating. Maybe it's not such a good thing that I stop for 6 weeks.

DS has been checking his new dance schedule umpteen times today.
DD has been decorating her new project book cover.
We got our calender out and marked on the dates we have already booked for appointments and activities.

I've just been trying to make sure we've got everything close by so I won't have to go searching for anything at the last minute. (Yep, we've still had some fix-it jobs to complete, so all the tools, etc. are still in boxes in the middle of our 'learning room'.)

So .. psychologically speaking, I'm gearing myself up for take-off. The children have no qualms at all.

How's everyone else going? Anyone else starting back to it tomorrow?

Free! Online Quilting Course

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:18:52 +0000

Just saw this advertised on Freely Educate.

A site offering FREE quilting lessons you can watch and participate in online.

I was planning to start doing some quilting with DD, and so this has come up at a perfect time.

http://www.freelyeducate.com/2012/02/teaching-practical-skills-heres-a-free-quilting-course.html

I Felt So Sorry For Her.

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:01:48 +0000

Schools back, it's not all the littlies that gave that away for me it was ww3 that took place in the home behind me this morning.
All the screaming and shouting and boy I felt sorry for the Mum and for the little person protesting rather loudly.
I really don't miss this part of every school day, I say that cause just a few years ago our place was that war zone each and every morning and if I'm honest every once and a while the teen still protests rather loudly as he did this morning but this morning was different.....I found his currency and I really don't know why I haven't thought of it before, LEGO "if you don't start your school work in 5 minuites I'm packing up all your lego and giving it away" Poof he was ready to go. Must remember that for next time. tee hee

Currclick Whisper Sale

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:35:02 +0000

Not sure if anyone received an email from Currclick today, so thought I'd post it in here just in cases

Seems its a secret that's intended to be not too secret - here's the link:

Whisper Sale

Free Tickets To Imax In Feb'

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:24:49 +0000

Bring a friend for free to imax in feb
http://www.imaxmelbourne.com.au/#/movie_198/synopsis/free_friend_in_feb/

Jump on and print out ASAP

Rockabilbys Creations

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:12:29 +0000

I have had 3 months to recover from the stresses of being a young sole parent. I have been getting creative and doing a lot of travelling. Australian landscapes, animals and the people inspire me to crochet dresses, skirts, bags and more! My son is very excited about making and selling finger puppets and Teddy bears when he comes back he'll use the money to buy more Lego! I hope it will be an excellent creative and learning experience for him I have created a Facebook page for our creations and I hope it's okay to share it here: www.facebook.com/rockabilby

What Did You Do Over The Weekend?

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 02:17:01 +0000

For us Australia day turned into a long weekend, where dh actully took time off . Chuckle

We drove to a burb of Sydney (don't ask me which one all I know is we got off the freeway just before the tolls started) and stayed with dh's bestie and his family. Was nice to get to know his wife a bit better.

We drove up there Thursday. Poor dh I thought he would explode as the baby was sitting on my bladder and we had to stop every 50km or so for a loo break. Was a slow and painful drive!

We went to the zoo on Friday. The hills were a killer. We took the ferry there and a train. Was dd's first time on a train and ferry. Saw the bridge and oprah house but was covered in cloud so we couldn't get picks of the oprah house:( But managed to be at the zoo in time for the seal show. Which we all enjoyed.

Just chilled on Saturday. and drove home on Sunday and we made better time ;)
It was a good weekend although I'm not in a hurry to repeat it or the swelling of my feet and ankles. Maybe after the birth.

What did you do over the weekend? Was it a long weekend for you?

Posting Hot Deals

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:50:55 +0000

When you create a new post here on the Rockpool, you will notice now that there are three text boxes. The First box is called "Topic Title" and that is where you put the title of your post. The second text box under that is called "Topic Tags" and this is the box where you create any labels or tags for your post.

If your post is about a "Bargain", "Freebie" or "Limited Time Offer" please use one of these phrases as your first topic tag.

Simply type the phrase for example freebie followed by a comma , in the topic tag text box. This should turn the phrase into a little grey coloured text box with a tiny 'x' on the right hand side. If you have made a mistake with the tag you have created, just click on the tiny 'x' to delete it and type it again. Now, to use the topic tag as a label for your post you need to ALSO click the check box on the right hand side that says "Use first tag as prefix". When you do this, the phrase in the grey tag box will turn a lovely bright blue!

It should look like this...

Then just go ahead and create your post as normal.

If you need to add a label or tag after you have already posted, when you click on "edit my post" you will then need to select the option to "use full editor" in order to see all of the text boxes again. Note that only the first post in a topic can have a label or tags.

If it is a limited time offer or something that has an expiry date, it would be a really huge mega help to put the expiry date of the offer (if there is one) in the topic description to help us prune out of date offers easily.

Three Little Pigs - Shakespearean Style

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:20:09 +0000

Luke at Sonlight has posted a very funny YouTube link to a version of 'Three Little Pigs' told in Shakespearean style.

Blog post: http://www.sonlight.com/blog/2012/01/literature-language-and-vocabulary.html

You Tube:

Happy Birthday, Fliztea!

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 20:07:11 +0000

Hope you have a great day today!

10 Websites For Free Audio Books

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:00:40 +0000

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/easy-listening-pleasures-10-websites-free-audio-book-downloads/

Covering all age groups!

A Tribute To Books

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 23:50:04 +0000

YouTube link

Healthy Fats

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:24:25 +0000

Hi all, following bunny trails I came across a new type of fat I hadn't seen before: interesterified fats. I'm not sure how new this is, but it seems that it is the food industry's answer to the idea that trans fats are bad. Here's a summary: interesterified fats Apparently a lot of commercial baked goods proudly labelled "no trans fats" will contain interesterified fats. Nobody needs trans fats or interesterified fats or any kind of processed fats in their diet!

I've had lots of questions from friends lately about healthy fats, and I've done quite a lot of research on it, so I thought I'd share a summary I wrote for another site. This is from a paleo perspective, so it's assuming the reader has already accepted that natural saturated fats are safe, and that too much omega-6 causes problems. And obviously if you're vegetarian the stuff about meat fats isn't relevant to you.

When you get rid of sugar and grains, you need to get a higher proportion of calories from fat. If you can't eat enough fatty meats to stay satisfied, you'll need to add other fats to your diet.

- for frying, the best fats are still animal fats, as they have a healthy fat profile and are more stable at high temperatures than most vegetable fats. Beef tallow is best for high temperatures. If you can get grass-fed beef fat and make your own it's easy to do and that's probably the healthiest fat you can get. Thankfully most cattle in Australia are grass-fed. Lard has a neutral flavour and crisps things beautifully but it has a lower smoke point and often it comes from pigs that have been fed on rubbish like soy. (Garbage in, garbage out.) Lard is excellent for deep-frying in a thermostat-regulated deep-fryer. If you can get fat from pigs eating a natural diet and make your own lard that is the healthiest way to get it again. But even commercially-produced tallow (sold as "dripping" in supermarkets here, next to the butter) and unhydrogenated lard are still a lot better for you than most vege oils! So use them if you have to.

- coconut fat is very good for you - it's mostly a healthy saturated fat, but most people can only eat so much before they get some type of digestive distress. Don't start by eating a bucket-full! You need to adapt to eating coconut gradually. Coconut fat is stable at high temperatures so can be used for frying, but it has a flavour that doesn't go with everything. It's very good for Asian dishes like stir-fries and curries. Only buy cold-pressed oil, preferably organic. If you can tolerate much of it, fresh coconut or pure creamed coconut (sold in compressed blocks at Asian markets) makes a great high-fat snack. Some people also use coconut milk or cream for smoothies - I can't do that as it gives me the runs, it's too much for me! If you use coconut milk or cream, look for a brand that has no thickeners. In Australia, Ayam brand has thickener-free canned coconut milk and cream.

- natural palm oil is quite healthy but the way most of it is produced is an ecological disaster, so I don't use it.

- dairy fat is not paleo but quite a lot of paleo eaters use it anyway, as the fat in dairy is quite similar to beef fat. Clarified butter and ghee have no protein or milk sugar in them so they're quite safe, and they are stable at high temperatures so can be used for high-temperature frying. Ghee gives Indian dishes an authentic taste. Clarified butter is mild in flavour and is very versatile for frying. Butter is less safe as it does contain some milk solids, but I find I have no problem with it even though I have lactose intolerance. It burns at low temperatures so shouldn't be used for high-temperature frying. It's good for cooking things like delicate white fish where you want a little browning at low temperatures. I also use it for omelettes, fried eggs, mushrooms, sweating (gently sauteeing) the aromatics for soups where I want the buttery taste, and stuffing into whole baked fish with herbs and slices of lemon. I make garlic butter and put dobs of it on field mushrooms and tomatoes for grilling. I also add a slab of butter to cooked veges if my meal looks like it doesn't have enough fat in it.

- oils from olive, avocado and macadamia aren't strict paleo but are decent alternatives for salad dressings. They are high in monounsaturates and low in anti-nutrients compared to other vege oils. I also use macadamia oil for marinades as it has a high smoke point. Olive oil shouldn't be used for high-temperature frying, but it can add an authentic flavour to low-temperature dishes like ratatouille and Mediterranean-type soups. Buy only cold-pressed oils.

- nut oils other than macadamia are too high in omega-6 fats to use for every day. I occasionally use walnut oil for salad dressing as it has a lovely flavour. It goes rancid very easily, so if you want to use it, buy it from a source you trust and keep it in the fridge. Almond oil has the best flavour for rare dessert treats.

- The fats to avoid if you want to stay healthy: do not eat canola, soy, corn, peanut, sunflower, safflower, flax seed, rice bran, grape seed, or "vegetable" oils. Do not eat any kind of fat that has been hexane or heat extracted. (That means any vegetable oil that doesn't claim to be cold-pressed.) Do not eat fats that have been hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, interesterified, or processed in any way. Do not eat anything that contains or has has been cooked in any of these fats, which means most "junk" and convenience foods. They all have major problems of one kind or another associated with them: heart disease, cancer, inflammatory conditions, leaky gut, goitrogens ...

- avocado is a good way to add fat but there's only so many avocados I want to eat, and they're expensive at some times of the year.

- nuts are high in fat but most types have too much omega-6 fat to eat large quantities of them. Macadamias are OK. Other nuts should be limited to one handful per day.

I make more special effort to get healthy fats than I make for any other food group. The reason it's important to make a real effort to eat healthy fats is that in the diets of most successful long-term paleo eaters, fat makes up at least 50% of calories, so it's a large part of your food rather than an add-on.

Even if you're eating grains and sugar, it's still worth the effort to avoid unhealthy fats. For baked goods, real butter is better for your family than any kind of processed fat. Pastry comes out flakiest with a good old-fashioned mixture of butter and lard. Beef tallow ("dripping") is the safest kind of fat you can buy for frying.

Ok So I Reverted Back To My Usual Safety Valve!

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:54:37 +0000

Warning warning - bit of a vent coming on

Had one of those days, surgery on a drafted tooth again, with still no resolution.
Family stuff surrounding me that i am almost managing to ward off.

Went and borrowed the entire libraries content of books on Aspergers/ tourettes/autism as I have decided if you can't beat em join em, better learn all I can about this journey I am being ~~dragged through~~ taken on.

The first ped specialist appointment I can get for DD is April 18th *sigh* I guess until then we must cope with the 40 degree plus fevers every 2nd day and projectile vomiting that the exorcist would be impressed by.

I have had the chat with DH and told him I must replace myself at work this year and focus on HSing the kids, just can't do it all.
After a week that has settled and he's stepped up to the plate, albeit a little shaken at replacing me in the business.

I have put on 2 staff members to replace me and interviewing a third tomorrow.
That possibly means that 70% of the business income will now cover staff wages just to replace me, so I'm certainly hoping the 30% is still enough to make it work.

I was getting there, I was in the groove, booked another 8 HS events that my kids were interested in today (I'll share them with you soon, once all finalised)
Massive calendar and papers all over the kitchen table trying to piece it all together.
But hey I was getting there.

Until, yes, the dreaded 4 page "you suck" email from a rather unawakened soul *sigh*
That was it, equilibrium unbalanced
All came crashing down.........

Please insert fond hug here, sadly required

However, here i sit 6 hours later, into the wee hours of the night, and I have managed to make it alright again, how, well, pretty much my usual coping mechanism, I bought airline tickets............

Well, not exactly yet, but I sent the email to the agent (who shamedly wasn't working at 2am) saying "book em danno"

To where?
Ah, I'll tell you when the agent says yes it's ok.

Ahhhh, feel much better now, worry about the credit card later on and besides it's all part of schooling and studying, um, geography/ humanitarian studies / social studies /languages, yeah, right, that's true isn't it?

Free Ebook For Teens About Online Safety

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 23:39:48 +0000

The cover looks oh so much more exciting than the actual content, however it is a good resource that actually provides more in depth explanations of what these things are rather than just naming them.

You can download the whole book for free or just relevant chapters.
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=1522

Virtual Classroom Software?

Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:03:20 +0000

Hello techy friends, I'm hoping some of you may be able to help me.

I am going to be doing some tutoring online, and I'll be wanting to use some virtual classroom/web conferencing software before too long. I don't need multiple users or anything too flashy. In fact, the fewer extraneous options there are (to make it easy to use) the better. Basic audio/video conferencing, file sharing and an interactive whiteboard is all I think we'll use. I just need to be able to do stuff like show them the pictures and video clips we're going to talk about without jumping through lots of hoops. Ideally I'd like it to be easy for my pupils to print out any worksheets I upload, at the click of a button. It needs to be really easy to use at the pupil end as my pupils are young, and I want it to be easy for me to set up all my files and stuff before the class and not need a degree in IT to quickly learn to manage it real time. I'm happy to pay a little extra to get something easier to use, but of course reasonable cost is always good too.

Have You Thought About New Years Resolutions?

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:40:03 +0000

Like them, love that, hate them, think they are a waste of time cause you're just going to break them anyway.........

Ah yes, new years resolutions, by this time next year what would you like to have achieved?

Have thought long and hard over this and have firmly decided in 2012 I will:

Put on more team members and remove myself from some of the work (interestingly having afternoon tea today with my husbands best friend and he said if you're looking for a part time packer I'd really like the opportunity - wow that was easy)

Actively home school my children with dedication

Organise more fantastic home school events we can all join in on

Organise more retreat weekends away for carers and another overseas healing tour to our qi gong centre on Hainan island china

Offer more free or inexpensive classes/ lectures/ get togethers

Open another eBay store (had it registered since last year but haven't done so as yet)

And lastly - be strong enough and resolute enough to remove certain people from around me who are not dedicated to my higher good/ upliftment

I think these are manageable goals.

Great to hear some others and thanks for the opportunity to put them in writing and give them more energy.

I E W 12 Days Of Christmas Freebies

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 10:01:02 +0000

Sorry everyone .. I'm late putting this up. It's day 4 on this Christmas freebie special, so jump in if you want to grab any.

How to participate:
* Create an account with IEW: http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/about-us
This is for free and you're under no obligation to purchase anything. You do need an account to have the freebies added to, though, otherwise it won't work.

* Bookmark this link and use to grab the day's freebies: http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/Christmas11
You can continue to accumulate the freebies from the time of opening your account, but won't be able to access previous freebie links.

* Please respect their rule:

Quote

While you are free to share the link to this page with friends and colleagues so they may have access to this promotion, we are trusting you to be on your honor not to share the actual codes or files that will appear on this page. Thank you!

Today, Fri 30th Dec, is an mp3 lecture - Mastery Learning, Ability Development, and Individualized Education. Be quick if you want to grab this as the clock will tick over to another day in the U.S. very soon!!

The Orange Fairy Book .. Oh, And There's A Blue Fairy Book Too!

Tue, 27 Dec 2011 04:21:13 +0000

Look what I found!

https://www.classicalhomeeducation.com/The-Orange-Fairy-Book_p_290.html

https://www.classicalhomeeducation.com/The-Blue-Fairy-Book_p_255.html

Just Saw The News - Everyone Ok In Melbourne And Darwin?

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 06:15:30 +0000

You guys have had a rough ride for Christmas!

Y'all okay??

Wishing Everyone A Safe And Happy Holiday Season

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 03:08:04 +0000

(and apologies for not being able to find a pic that also included Solstice and Hannukah). Whatever festival you celebrate or not as the case may be, I hope you all enjoy the time with your families and that e very one gets a well earned break.

Buying An Ipad Plus Comparision To Samsung Ipad

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 04:23:18 +0000

We are looking at buying an IPAD and i was wondering those who own one, where have you bought yours from. Are there any online stores that will give you a better deal than your local Apple or JB HI FI shop. I have shopped around locally and JB HI FI are cheaper by $1 but the guy said that on Boxing Day he could do me a great deal but wouldn't tell me how great!!

Also does anyone own the Samsung IPAD or are they even available in Australia. I have tried to research them online but it just gets all to techy for me. If they are available are they as good as the IPAD with a cheaper price tag? Is the only real difference the amount of Apps that are available for each? Do you have to be a tech head to be able to make them work, something i am most certainly not.

Thanks in advance.
Rachel

Charlotte Mason Helper - Weekly Freebies

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:56:15 +0000

Quote

We are offering a new service...providing you with an ebook or audio each week to add to your homeschool library, at no cost. We will also occasionally give you an opportunity to support our work in Africa through special offers, such as we did with the CM Helper.

We will be sending your way literature, poetry, history, nature studies, and lots more. These books and audios will not be available anywhere else. Our promise to you is that each CM Helper Freebie will be:
High-quality--We will personally design each offering, no junky text files or MP3s with poor audio quality.
Easy to use--each offering will be ready-to-go, with little or no preparation.
Charlotte Mason--in accord with Miss Mason's timeless method of teaching.
All freebies will be a CM Helper subscriber exclusive. We will continue our newsletter, Parents' Journal, with helpful articles for using the Charlotte Mason method.

SIGN UP AND RECEIVE YOUR FIRST FREEBIE: Stories and Legends of the Christmas Season (MP3)

http://forms.aweber.com/form/57/1134055557.htm

When you join the CM Helper list, you will receive at no charge Stories of the Long Christmas, a 45-minute audio (MP3) collection of Christmas stories performed by Sheila, accompanied with dulcimer music. Read more about it HERE.

JOIN NOW and begin receiving your weekly freebies.

Pantone Announces 2012 Colour Of The Year...

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 23:10:44 +0000

And it's a win for orange!!!

http://www.curbly.com/users/diy-maven/posts/13201-pantone-s-2012-color-of-the-year-is

Oh well, better get my campaign for 2013 in motion now

My Hens Have Stopped Laying!

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:23:33 +0000

The 'girls' are brown hens around 2.5 years old.

They have been fairly prolific layers until now. They did slow down during winter which I know was normal, during their molt etc.,

But now we have one laying incredibly fragile egss, which is always crushed by the subsequent layer... and that's it.

So every day now we get one crushed, smashed egg and one 'nice' egg.

The other girls are obviously not laying at all.

Is there anything I can do to promote them again or is that about the 'laying span' of a chooken??