So, two weeks into home-schooling and how are we all feeling? It’s not easy being mummy, teacher, cook, general dogsbody, but so far we are still managing to stay argument-free and not get on each other’s nerves (unless Steve is at home…the third child has been known to occasionally tip me over the edge 🤣)
Anyway, we had another Disney week planned. I’ve actually remembered to attach my planner this time for you to see. We stuck loosely to this in terms of activities, but once again if the girls were happily playing something/ doing a task that carried on longer than expected I left them to it. I mean, I’m not completely crazy (yet!!)
Maths was once again a mixture of games and key skills, and we stuck to doing that first thing when brains were turned on.
The girls loved the Literacy this week. They often sit having conversations with each other as if they are hosting a TV programme, so this was right up their street!
The first task was to look at different rides and associated tag lines before creating their own advertising posters. We decided to stick with a vintage style. Polly created a huge list of tag lines before finally settling on ‘Around the World in 15 minutes’ for her It’s a Small World poster (although she did want to add ‘unless it breaks down’ in brackets!) Winnie knew immediately that she wanted to do a poster for Frozen Ever After, so went through Frozen lyrics to find something suitable, finally settling on The Drop Never Bothered Me Anyway’ (although the drop most definitely does bother her!!)
Next, we watched a few YouTube vlogs and reviews and talked about what we liked/ disliked about them. The girls then worked together to create notes for their own Disney review on the Bon Voyage breakfast at Trattoria al Forno on Disney’s Boardwalk.
They clearly had the breakfast on the brain as I was frantically trying to get tea in the slow-cooker before school started on Wednesday when the girls suddenly appeared, grinning from ear-to-ear because they smelt food and thought I was making them a surprise replica Bon-Voyage breakfast! Rather than disappoint them I quickly hunted for anything that might pass as similar and found some frozen pain au chocolate which I served up with bacon, sausage and scrambled eggs. They loved it but I think I developed even more grey hairs!
They then turned their notes into an actual script which they practised reading with expression. Finally, they worked to create a video review using a mixture of film footage and photos from previous trips, editing it all together on my laptop (I tried not to take over even though I had to practically tie my hands behind my back at one-point 🤣).
We then. Worked together to create a video intro which they enjoyed, although deciding which photos to use wasn’t easy!! If you’d like to watch the final product you can find it here:
The afternoon lessons were also a big hit. They loved playing detective to try and work out what each country in World Showcase was, and then worked really well together using the Atlas to find and mark the countries on a world map.
They love research so finding out about each country was a lot of fun for them. They’ve hardly been on the iPad since they finished school and so really enjoy tasks when they get to use it. The leaflets they produced are really nice too.
For music, we listened to a selection of Chinese music (thank you Spotify!!) and looked at pentatonic scales and where the notes sit on the stave. We then recapped the work from last week on note length before the girls composed their own pieces and practised them on the piano. This lesson was lovely, and Winnie is still playing her composition now!
The last topic lesson of the week was to look at and draw traditional costumes. The girls both love costume design and so this was perfect for them. I also bought them sticker books to do whilst we listened to the Circle Round podcasts, which are a selection of stories from Around the World, acted out by professionals. They are lovely!
Another thing we’ve tried to do is a different country inspired meal each night. The girls created a menu at the start of the week which made teatime fun!
We also did lots of PE (dance based on different countries and outdoor games) and some baking (we went for Funnel cake from the USA part of World Showcase which was delicious!)
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/funnel-cakes
We used this recipe but doubled the amount of icing sugar!
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/funnel-cakes
It should be break up day today, but we are working until next Thursday (on fun, craft/ project activities) as the girls said they’d prefer that to two weeks of lazy days. We’ll see if they change their minds!!
I’ve added a Dropbox link to the resources I made. Please feel free to use anything if it helps you in any way. We are, after all…
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nt4rmmlx6etn6gk/AADt3GlvtNi_OBMpf1liar4ja?dl=0
https://www.facebook.com/Doodle-Peg-Do-Disney-995181830816038/
Doodle & Peg Do Disney 