Instructions for India will be given in sections. Here is the first section.
What is the main religion of India?
Name three places you’d like to visit in India and give a reason why for each one.
Make sure you buy enough food and keep up your fluids, only drink bottled water though, you don’t want to get sick again.

You now fly from Helsinki, Finland to Bombay, India. Keep track of your expenses and don’t forget to list them in your diary. Convert money amounts into Australian dollars too.

If anyone would like a copy of the Amazing Race complete with all the answers please leave me a comment and I’ll email it to you. I can’t put it up here or on my website yet because we’re not quite finished doing it yet. When we’ve finished I can put it up somewhere online in its entirety. I’d love others to use it. Also if anyone has made something similar of their own I’d love to hear about it.

I love making resources for our family to use and if others can use them too then that’s a bonus. To me this is one of the cool, fun things about homeschooling. I get to make the learning resources and then use them with my kids! Being a free software user I’m also into other types of sharing and free content, sharing ideas etc too.

What do others share?

Today Jessica and I did some geography – we had some maps and a book on cats (because we like cats) and looked up when and where cats were first domesticated and then where different cat breeds came from. We marked on the maps where the cats came from and coloured in the countries.

We have 1 Japanese Bobtail cat now and have owned quite a few previously. It was good to find out that their beautiful nature is part of the breed and not just the cats we’ve had. The kids have taught our cats to do little tricks and that apparently is peculiar to this breed too. I still miss my bobtail cat Nuffink who died two years ago from cancer.

This was a fun and interesting way of doing geography.

homeschool geography, cat breeds, sharing resources

You now fly from Vancouver International Airport to Helsinki, Finland. Keep track of your expenses and don’t forget to list them in your diary. Convert money amounts into Australian dollars too.

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Where and in what year was Linus Torvalds born?
According to www.answers.com what is he best known for? Include a photo for your diary.

Describe the climate of Finland.
What are the main languages of Finland?
What are traditional Finnish foods?
What are the main religions in Finland?

Bring all your things to the checkpoint-diary, map, photos and answers to questions.

Helsinki, Linus Torvalds, Finland

A friend read some of this poetry to us (Jessica and I) and we loved it. Stanley Holloway made these poems popular when he recorded them. The poems are on this site Stanley Holloway Monologues in text and some in mp3. Today we enjoyed taking turns reading them together. We might even make up some of our own poems in this style.

This is Jessica’s favourite.

The Lion And Albert

There’s a famous seaside place called Blackpool,
That’s noted for fresh air and fun,
And Mr and Mrs Ramsbottom
Went there with young Albert, their son.

A grand little lad was young Albert,
All dressed in his best; quite a swell
With a stick with an ‘orse’s ‘ead ‘andle,
The finest that Woolworth’s could sell.

They didn’t think much to the Ocean:
The waves, they was fiddlin’ and small,
There was no wrecks and nobody drownded,
Fact, nothing to laugh at at all.

So, seeking for further amusement,
They paid and went into the Zoo,
Where they’d Lions and Tigers and Camels,
And old ale and sandwiches too.

There were one great big Lion called Wallace;
His nose were all covered with scars –
He lay in a somnolent posture,
With the side of his face on the bars.

Now Aibert had heard about Lions,
How they was ferocious and wild –
To see Wallace lying so peaceful,
Well, it didn’t seem right to the child.

So straightway the brave little feller,
Not showing a morsel of fear,
Took his stick with its ‘orse’s ‘ead ‘andle
And pushed it in Wallace’s ear.

You could see that the Lion didn’t like it,
For giving a kind of a roll,
He pulled Albert inside the cage with ‘im,
And swallowed the little lad ‘ole.

Then Pa, who had seen the occurrence,
And didn’t know what to do next,
Said ‘Mother! Yon Lion’s ‘et Albert’,
And Mother said ‘Well, I am vexed!’

Then Mr and Mrs Ramshottom –
Quite rightly, when all’s said and done –
Complained to the Animal Keeper,
That the Lion had eaten their son.

The keeper was quite nice ahout it;
He said ‘What a nasty mishap.
Arc you sure that it’s your boy he’s eaten?’
Pa said ‘Am I sure? There’s his cap!’

The manager had to he sent for.
He came and he said ‘What’s to do?’
Pa said ‘Yon Lion’s ‘et. Albert,’
And ‘im in his Sunday clothes, too.’

Then Mother said, ‘Right’s right, young feller;
I think it’s a shame and a sin,
For a lion to go and eat AIbert,
And after we’ve paid to come in.’

The manager wanted no trouble,
He took out his purse right away,
Saying ‘How much to settle the matter?’
And Pa said ‘What do you usually pay?’

But Mother had turned a bit awkward
When she thought where her Albert had gone.
She said ‘No! someone’s got to be summonsed’ –
So that was decided upon.

Then off they went to the Police Station,
In front of the Magistrate chap;
They told ‘im what happened to Albert
And proved it by showing his cap.

The Magistrate gave his opinion
That no one was really to blame
And he said that he hoped the Ramsbottoms
Would have further sons to their name.

At that Mother got proper blazing,
‘And thank you, sir, kindly,’ said she.
‘What waste all our lives raising children
To feed ruddy Lions? Not me!’

Stanley Holloway, poetry, download audio poetry

We participated in Software Freedom Day this year. It was good fun 🙂 My sister is in Southern Vales Linux Users Group (SVLUG) who hosted the event at Hallet Cove Baptist Church. Jessica and I demonstrated on our laptops what we use Linux for at Teen Challenge. Jess also played games 🙂 of course. I was able to help some people with their queries about Linux eg. Open Office questions but some I had to pass on to others such as getting a wireless modem working in Linux. I made some cds of all the issues of Tux Magazine and gave them away. There was plenty of info on what software freedom is and Ubuntu cds were given away too.

Lee Salvemini, who was one of the Lead Artists for the world’s first open movie “Elephants Dream”, came and talked to people about his movie and gave demos of how he uses Blender.

There are photos at the software freedom day website.

software freedom day, linux