Today I made Butter from scratch!

For the past week I have been learning about farming.  I have visited the local mart during a livestock auction, visited an open farm with a shop selling locally produced foods and I've studied a variety of topics related to farm life.  One of the topics was the production and processing of milk.  As an extension of this lesson, today I made butter from scratch.

My Dad grew up on a farm in the midlands and Nana used to make butter using a rotary churn like this one

I looked up how to make butter at home on the internet and found a tutorial that showed me how to do it using a Kitchen Aid (electrical mixer).

• I used 500ml of full cream and whisked it on full speed for about 3 minutes.  You can see the fat starting to separate at this point.  
• I drained off the 'buttermilk' (which I'm going to use to make pancakes tomorrow morning)
• Then I started the process of 'rinsing the butter' with ice cold water.  It took us 3 rinses to ensure that the water ran clear off the butter.  
• Once this was done, I squeezed any excess water out of the butter with my spatula.
• Then took it out of the bowl to shape it on a board.  
• I wrapped it in baking parchment and made a little label before sealing it in a container in the fridge.  
• My homemade butter will keep for a few weeks in the fridge. 

You can follow me making the butter on my instagram stories @kids_homeschool-life 

I really enjoyed this activity and will definitely make butter again.  I like understanding where my food comes from.  I'm going to melt some and have it on my pancakes with lemon and sugar tomorrow morning.   My next lesson is researching how to make cheese.  I think my grandad Dan (who was a farmer and died when Dad was my age) and my Nana would be proud of me.

My Dad, me and Nana having my first football birthday cake in Nana's farmhouse kitchen

My Homeschool Learning and Classroom

How do I learn every day and what does my homeschool classroom look like?

I do a combination of 'classroom' based homeschooling and out & about schooling.  We follow a timetable and typically work from 9.30am to 3pm with a lunch break.  We have at least one day or part day out and about each week - visiting somewhere or doing something educational.  If it's really sunny (rare in Ireland), we head out somewhere.  Every day, I learn English, Maths, Irish and depending on the day, I might be doing science, French, geography, history, life skills, business, P.E., Art, project work or an online course. 

My classroom is my parent's home office where I have my own desk and all my 'school' stuff.  Either my mum or my dad works alongside me depending on which one is working from home that day but it's mostly my mum.  My mum is the one who teaches me but when she is working, my Dad helps me with my work too.  Crosby, my dog, is also usually at my feet as I work.

My homeschool classroom set up

Here's a rundown of what I do for each subject...

Maths
For maths, I follow the same curriculum as any other 5th class student for Maths.  Every morning I do some mental maths either in Mata Meabhrach 5 (Mental Maths) or New Wave Mental Maths 5.  I learn new topics through Magic Maths 6 and Help Your  Kid with Maths by Carol Vorderman.  I also use different websites to practise maths such as IXL.com, mathisfun.com and smartlearningforall.com

English
I read a different novel every fortnight.  I just finished A Wrinkle in Time and we are just about to start The Diary of Anne Frank.  I also attend a Junior Book Club in the local library.  I love reading.
I do lots of different creative writing using storybird and a cool book called "Writing Prompts for the Creative Scribe" and LOTS of grammer worksheets because my Mom is obsessed with good grammer.  For National Poetry Day, we studied Digging by Seamus Heaney because last week we were on a 'Farm' theme.

Irish and French
I learn French using a workbook, activity sheets, vocab games and Duolingo.  I also have a penpal in Paris and we exchange postcards regularly.  For Irish, I use books Cliste and Gleasnotaí, Duolingo, TG4 and worksheets.  I also speak Irish with my brother who goes to school in a meánscoil.  I recently started going to an Irish language youth club locally.

Science, History, Geography
I learn these subjects through project work and depending on the theme of the week.  For example, last week was 'Farming' so we've watched RTÉ's Big Week on the Farm daily, visited the local Mart to watch a livestock auction, visited a local farm shop, learned about Milk and Cheese production, completed the Agri Kids farm safety programme, made butter at home and even my maths and poetry was farm themed.   This week is a Maritime theme so we visited Arklow Maritime Museum and I'm learning about the history of ship building, the life of the fisherman, sailing technology and the RNLI.
I've done projects on Barcelona and Berlin ahead of trips there.  I've studied the Egyptians, Romans and Greeks.  Next up is Russia.

P.E. and Art
I do a lot of sports so it's easy to cover P.E.  I do soccer training twice a week, badminton and swimming once a week.  For P.E. during 'school' hours, I sometimes go for a walk/run with my mum in a forest, on a beach or in a park.  Recently I used an obstacle course and go-kart track at a farm.

I do online courses through the library and free MOOCS.  I mostly use my iPad with a wireless keyboard and we use a shared Google Sheet to communicate the timetable and any links or instructions for each subject.

An 'Out and About' day homeschooling

I really like the flexibility of homeschooling.  Although we do follow a timetable and we learn in our 'homeschool' classroom, we can choose what to do any day depending on the weather or if something interesting has come up.  For example, I recently discovered a robin's nest and watched an egg hatch live.  We were able to research robins and learn about that instead of what was planned that day.  I like choosing my novels and having a say in what I learn.  My favourite part of the week is our outing day.  I think I'm a hands-on person and much prefer being active. 
I'd love to hear from other homeschoolers and how you learn.

Sea Life Bray

This month I've been learning about Oceans and Seas using various internet resources and this book and then I completed a quiz on Kahoot which my mum created based on the book. 
On our outing day, we drove to Bray to visit Sealife and as it was pouring rain it was the perfect day for it.  It was my first time to visit the marine sanctuary and education centre which is on Bray Seafront.  There is a scratch-quiz for children to do while touring the exhibits which is good for encouraging children to read the information posts.  I got to touch a Starfish in the touch pool which felt far more spikey than I imagined it would!  There is a great variety of sea creatures including jellyfish in a cool light display tank, turtles, squid, lobsters, stingray, sharks and some recognisable 'characters' from kids movies such as Nemo!  My favourite creatures were the seahorses which were so cute.  There are feedings on the hour and a tour guide explains some interesting facts about the fish she is feeding.  The guides were really friendly and available to answer any questions along the route.  I really enjoyed the visit and would definitely recommend a visit to Sealife.  We had a lovely coffee and a muffin in Fimbees café next door and Bray Seafront is perfect for a walk or beachcombing.  You can walk around to the harbour to see the swans or up Bray Head or along the Cliff Walk towards Greystones.  The DART station is a stone's throw away and the train journey to Bray in either direction is particularly scenic.

Fake News

Today, in English, I'm learning about Fact vs Opinion, Media and Fake News. 

I did a Fact or Opinion worksheet followed by watching a MediaWise lesson video.  I learned about different types of journalism and sources and how to fact check an article.

Then I completed the linked activity worksheet comparing two news articles for authenticity.

I compared an article about the effects of screen time on children published on www.evoke.ie and another in the Irish Independent newspaper.  It was interesting to see how much more dramatised the Evoke article was, using click bait headlines.  "Doctors warn that too much screen time is like heroin to kids".  The Independent's article was much more balanced and studies quoted were referenced by the author.

I learned that April 2nd is World Fact Checking Day.  I found this lesson very helpful for identifying fake news from real news.  I'll be sure to put these skills into use in the future.
Don't believe everything you read! 

The video below explains the MediaWise programme by www.safefood.eu:

Frás na Seachtaine

                         This weeks phrase of the week is Míol Mór Gorm

Translation-Blue Whale

New Book - Stories for Boys who Dare to be Different

I love the Rebel Girls books which celebrate women who have achieved at a high level or made a difference to the world.  It's only fair that a book has been published to highlight the boys too!  Stories for Boys who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks has a great collection of characters from sports, writers, scientists, singers and more.  I  definitely recommend it.

April homeschooling

My homeschool classroom poster for April

As well as my usual English, Irish and Maths, I'll be working on these themes in April.

My Trip To Barcelona

                

Hola!

Today I am going to be talking about my trip to Barcelona in Spain. It was my first time in Barcelona and I really enjoyed it. We did a lot of cool things including going to Park Guell, the Gaudi Cathedral, Camp nou, The Blau Museum and Terrassa, along with exploring Barcelona City by foot.  My sister Katie is living in Barcelona working as a Teaching Assitant for 6 months so she was our tour guide.  She recommended a great app called MoveIt to help us find our way from place to place.

Park Guell

Park Guell

My sister, Katie, and I at Parc Guell

In case you don't know about Park Guell I can tell you it has some amazing gardens and mosaic buildings.  I loved the gardens and thought they were really beautiful.You have to pay in to see the mosaic buildings but I saw some of it from a distance and they
looked amazing. You can also go into a museum of the house
Gaudi lived in which we did and it was so cool. I would definitely
recommend it. Get tickets for Park Guell Here                                                                                                              

Sagrada Familia Cathedral
This church is probably Barcelona's most famous building and it was designed by architect, Antoni Gaudi, who worked on Sagrada Familia until his death.  Building began in 1882 and it is estimated that it will be completed by 2026.

Katie and I at Gaudi Cathedral

                                                                                                           

Me at Camp Nou

Camp Nou 
Camp Nou is it is the Stadium of F.C. Barcelona. When we went to the stadium we did the full
tour which included the museum,the pitch side and you go up         
into the stand. It was amazing and it is definitely a must if you are
into soccer like me. My Dad and I watched the Barcelona vs Roma game in our hotel room later that same day.  Unfortunately they lost 3-0.
Get tickets for the tour here

The Blau Museum
I did a project about architect, Herzog de Meuron before my trip so I really wanted to see Museu Blau which he designed.  It is a distinctive blue box building suspended over the path.  My favourite parts were these tunnels lined with angled metal through the roof when you looked up, you could see the sky.  It was like a kaleidescope.  It's really cool.

Terrassa

We visited this lovely town to enjoy a relaxed day walking around, drinking coffee and looking in the shops.  Find out more about Terassa here:

http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/wv3/en/page/568/terrassa.html

Terrassa

I really enjoyed my four days in Barcelona with my Dad and sister, Katie.  There is so much to see and do in this city.  It was my first time to eat Tapas and I really loved the croissants dipped in chocolate in the local cafes for breakfast.  I would definitely love to go back again to visit Barcelona.  Lots more photos going up on my Instagram now.

I'm back to normal homeschooling again and I'll be writing more blogs about the work and activities that I'm doing soon.                                                                                                   

                                                                                                     

My New Vivofit Jr 2

Hi there,
Today I am going to be talking about my new Garmin Vivofit Jr 2 watch which is a fitness watch that was made to encourage kids to do more exercise. I have had this watch for a week now and have found it very useful. It has loads of cool features on it as well as all the features a normal watch would have, these are some of its features:

• A step counter
• A fitness counter (which tells you how many minutes of exercise you have done that day
• A chore list were you can earn coins by doing chores around the house
• A system were you can cash in coins to earn for rewards
• A sleep counter 
• An app which can give you detail on sleep, activities etc.
• A game were you can only move level when you have done your 60 min of activity each day
• An alarm system 
• It is completely water proof so you can actually swim in it
• It has up to a one year long battery
• It has a timer/ a stopwatch
• A two minute challange

and you can have all your families watches attached to the one device.

They also have a range of  different bands which you can see here: The minnie mouse bands  The captain america bands and The star wars bands.  You can get the Garmin Vivofit Jr 2 app here for apple users and here for android users, you can also buy the watch here on the official garmin website

#bekind

Hi there,

Today I'm going to be talking about the #BeKind campaign, which is inspired by the book "Wonder" by R.J. Palacio. 

Wonder is the story of a boy with a disfigured face who gets bullied a lot because of what he looks like.  My favourite quote from the book is "You can't blend in when you were born to stand out."  The book has also been made into a movie.  Watch the trailer here:

The #BeKind campaign is asking children around the World to CHOOSE KIND.  Here are some small ways we can all show kindness:

• Smile
• Hold open the door 
• Be on time
• Compliment others
• Strike up a conversation 
• Bite your tongue
• Check in with your loved ones
• Use your manners
• Be kind to someone you dislike

Engineers Week

Hi there,
As you probably know it was Engineers Week last week so I decided to do a little experiment/challenge using spaghetti and marshmallows. The challenge is to build the tallest structure possible in a set time using only spaghetti and marshmallows.  Afterwards, I had to perform the 'earthquake' test on a tray of jelly.  This is what happened...

Now that I've done it I think it's your turn - my challenge to you is to build a spaghetti and marshmallow contraption and then send me your photos through my contact area on the right 👉 of the page. I'm looking forward to seeing your attempts and Good Luck 😊