Good Day Mate’
Welcome back to school !!! Today has been a busy day . We tried to pack a few of the things I had planned for Monday and Tuesday into as well as the lesson plans for today. The day started out with our normal family time. We do high fives and hugs but today we added a new greeting. Addam’s new family in Australia is Italian. They greet with kisses on the sides of the face and most times both sides. Today the kids had fun practicing that as a greeting and saying ” Good Day Mate’ ” They thought it was quite funny. Immediately following family time we had breakfast or brekkie. In Australia many of the words are shortened.
The kids had really missed each other and enjoyed all the free play they were allowed today.
Small groups sorted Australian animals and counted them. ( Koalas , kangaroos, dingoes and wombats )
One of the stables of the Aussie diet is a meat pie. It is much like a chicken pot pie here, only with ground beef and a meat gravy. The kids helped me to assemble the meat pies for lunch. With the meat pies we had chips ( french fries ) with tomato sauce ( ketchup ). Most of the kids enjoyed the meat pies .
In circle time we talked about riding on a plane and we graphed who had flown before. We talked about how long I was on the plane and what I did while I was on it. ( Movies on demand, games, breakfast, lunch, sleep, use the restroom . ) We talked about the animals I saw there and I showed them the puppets I brought back. The kids didnt know what a Tasmanian Devil was. Sadly he is from a cartoon from my childhood.
We also talked about the weather there. When it is winter here it is summer in Australia. G went swimming at Josie’s home while we were there. We also discussed when it is day time here, it is night in Australia. All of that is a little hard to understand when you are 4.
We talked about how candy in Australia is called lollies and of course tasted some. We also ate some fairy floss ( cotton candy ) .
I brought back prezzies ( presents ) for all the kids. Each child got a small Koala and an Australian fifty cent piece. It was hard to explain that that money cant be spent here. And Mrs Dallas got a boomerang !
One of the instruments I bought back is called a didgeridoo. It is an instrument of the native aborigines. We watched a video of the instruments being played and then we made our own.
It was a very full day. It was even a loud today. My decision to add sugar ( from the candy ) and making a musical instrument didnt help but I cant think of a better place I would rather be than right here with your kids today.