Butterfly Life Cycle

We found the tiniest caterpillar at the park the other day. Then we received a link from ClickSchooling with this video showing the complete transformation from egg to butterfly. The kids loved it, especially the “gross” part where the skin splits and the chrysalis emerges… like something from another planet!

It’s pretty amazing to see how something can transform so radically in such a relatively short period of time… inspiring, eh?!

For more videos or details on butterfly & moth life cycles, visit the website. http://lifecycle.onenessbecomesus.com

What’s Your Biggest Mistake?

Mine would be ignoring my gut instinct, in favour of well intentioned advice that wasn’t quite the right fit.

Our Inner Voice

We watched Joyce DiDonato’s Juilliard Masterclass Q&A video today.

We loved her honesty and frankness sharing her experiences in her career as a professional performer.

We especially liked her insights about being fully engaged, doing the work and dealing with the “harsh, critical & destructive inner voice”.

Sometimes, when we are trying so hard to do something to the very best of our ability, this inner voice gets in the way, so it was helpful to hear her talk openly about it and her strategies about how to put it on hold.

Keyboard Skills

After trying out MANY different typing / keyboarding apps & programs, 2 firm favourites materialised…

1. BBC School’s DanceMat Typing is a free & fun basic typing tutor.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

2. TypingWeb is our preferred online program for advancing our keyboard skills, and allows us to track our progress. The kids are gaining a real sense of satisfaction earning their “trophies” and watching their typing speed & accuracy increase. It’s free with ads, but we liked it so much we upgraded to ad-free.

http://www.typingweb.com

Midweek Musing: Gratitude

“Louie Schwartzberg is an award-winning cinematographer, director, and producer whose notable career spans more than three decades providing breathtaking imagery for feature films, television shows, documentaries and commercials.

This piece includes his short film on Gratitude and Happiness. Brother David Steindl-Rast’s spoken words, Gary Malkin’s musical compositions and Louie’s cinematography make this a stunningly beautiful piece, reminding us of the precious gift of life, and the beauty all around us.”

Being Cybersmart

The kids use computers and the internet extensively as part of their learning.

Learning how to be safe online is an essential part of their education.

The Australian government’s Cybersmart website was a great resource to kickstart their learning.

http://www.cybersmart.gov.au

It has different sections for different ages, with fun activities, games & videos that help the kids understand safe vs unsafe behaviour online.

The kids enjoyed exploring the website and we revisit it from time to time to refresh our skills.

We also have a lot of ad-hoc discussions about various aspects of internet safety in our day to day interactions. A report on this week’s “Behind the News” prompted a big debate about the benefits of sharing vs the protection of privacy.

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3845649.htm

Most people aren’t aware of the digital footprint they leave behind in their daily activities online. They often share valuable personal data with websites and apps they know little about. The kids are learning to query why a website or app is requesting personal information, what is and isn’t appropriate to share, and that it’s ok to choose NOT to share information.

Put A Smile On Your Mind!

It’s easy for us to get caught up in everything we think we need to get done. This stops us being fully present, which can make our day to day life more stressful and less satisfying.

We decided to try starting our day with a few minutes meditation, to help us focus our attention, and settle the myriad of other thoughts swirling around in our minds.

It doesn’t come naturally to us, so it’s really helpful to use the Smiling Mind* app – it makes regular meditation practice easy and enjoyable.

http://smilingmind.com.au

*Smiling Mind is a not-for-profit program which is made possible by the generosity of like minded people – please feel free to show your support by donating. – See more at: http://smilingmind.com.au/#sthash.tzgUraSp.dpuf

Friday Funny

What REALLY happened at Stonehenge

Behind The News

Each week, we watch the latest “Behind The News” episode online.

http://www.abc.net.au/btn/

BtN does a great job of reporting the past week’s news events and explaining them to older kids in an engaging way, without sugarcoating the issues. It helps the kids develop their “world view”, without being exposed to inappropriate content of many adult news shows.

The kids enjoy participating in the quizzes & polls, and will often pause the show for to discuss their views of particular topics.

Midweek Musing