Dave Pommier
I am a homeschooling dad with a wife and two boys. I'm not quite sure what I'm doing, so I feel compelled to write it all down. In my spare time, I work as a manager for the local health district, drink too much coffee, and am an overenthusiastic martial artist.
Top Posts & Pages
Tags
- age of discovery
- algebra
- anatomy and physiology
- ancient greece
- ANZAC
- archery
- art
- assessment
- bali
- bees
- bird
- board game
- bush turkey
- candles
- chess
- chook
- climate change
- collaboration
- confidence
- cooking
- cost
- cuisenaire rods
- curriculum
- day in the life
- dragon box
- drawing
- easy complexity
- evolution
- experimentation
- felt
- fire
- flexibility
- flying fox
- gender
- geometry
- herb
- history
- imagination
- learning in context
- Lego
- life experience
- local history
- maps
- math
- music
- mythology
- nature
- negotiation
- ocean
- painting
- parenting
- Pemuteran
- philosophy
- piano
- planning
- play
- radial symmetry
- reflection
- registration
- rhythm
- safety
- science
- self determination
- shells
- ship
- socialisation
- stealing
- Stradbroke Island
- test
- The Lord of the Rings
- travel
- ubud
- why homeschool
- world war 1
- writing
Categories
Tag Archives: play
The catapult
After a week of heavy rains, he had cabin fever. The day lurched along in a not very productive fashion, and then stopped. Lessons were clearly over. I acquiesced, and we settled in to play with Lego. Inspired by a … Continue reading
Posted in Math, Science
Tagged bloke, experimentation, homeschool, learning in context, Lego, math, play, science
11 Comments
Teddy bears picnic
I had never considered that a teddy bears picnic would be something I would be involved in with the boys. The other day, however, it surfaced that the two teddies, Hottie and Licorice Bone, were having a birthday. It was unclear … Continue reading
Posted in History, Nature
Tagged bloke, confidence, flexibility, homeschool, local history, nature, ocean, play
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It’s not part of the syllabus
I found myself having a barely restrained argument earlier in the year. A retired school teacher was standing in my kitchen, and we had just gotten onto the subject of cuisinaire rods. I had just been showing off the new … Continue reading
Posted in Math, Science, Teaching and learning
Tagged bloke, cuisenaire rods, curriculum, homeschool, learning in context, math, play, science
16 Comments
Playing with bark
I have been looking at local history in a fairly half hearted fashion lately. These history lessons come about partly because I wanted to instill the idea in the boys that the world they look at is both very new … Continue reading
Posted in History
Tagged bloke, experimentation, history, homeschool, local history, nature, play, science
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Teaching themselves algebra
In purely practical terms, I have never actually had to know the adjusted speed of a 40 tonne submarine previously travelling at 50 km/hr through a friction-less ocean, having just discharged a 100 kg torpedo with a velocity of 80 … Continue reading
Posted in Math, Teaching and learning
Tagged algebra, bloke, dragon box, easy complexity, flexibility, homeschool, math, play
7 Comments
Easy complexity
Although our maths lessons contain basics like counting, adding, subtracting, and grouping things, I find it much more interesting to explore mathematical concepts. I have seen quite a lot of people discussing moebius noodles, and have just recently managed to … Continue reading
Posted in Experimentation, Math
Tagged bloke, easy complexity, experimentation, homeschool, math, play, radial symmetry
2 Comments
I’ve made paint
Walking outside to investigate a suspicious silence, I stepped into the verandah to be met with a eureka-like ‘Dad. I’ve made paint!’ There he stood with a bucket and paintbrush. One of the trees, a fair few of the verandah … Continue reading
Posted in Experimentation
Tagged bloke, confidence, experimentation, homeschool, imagination, learning in context, painting, play, science
7 Comments
How to steal stuff from Bunnings.
In this part of the world, hardware stores are dominated by the chain store Bunnings. Like many big chain stores, they are large, soulless places. I dislike them for a number of reasons. They sell stuff cheaply, however, and because … Continue reading
Posted in Experimentation, Life experiences
Tagged bloke, confidence, homeschool, imagination, philosophy, play, stealing
2 Comments