Ashleigh Whaley
Activities:
Homeschooling.
We had only two weeks of schooling in September, as the month started with a three day horse polo clinic, followed by a 3 day tennis tournament. One week’s schooling, before and after a week’s camping trip to the Zambezi River, competed the month. It is so wonderful to be able to take breaks, as and when we can fit around Douglas’ farming activities. It’s a challenge for me to pack to go away as well as manage the children’s schooling, however, with the years of being ordered and disciplined, the children have learnt to work on their own. They have also realized that, in order to go away, they need to help me by quietly getting on with their school work. I was very proud of them, as they managed to complete a week’s schooling, whilst I concentrated on packing for the trip.
Paula Joy turned 10 this month. Such an awesome milestone for her! Her birthday treat was a trip to the Zambezi River. Paula Joy and Murray John also attended their friend Sasha’s birthday party at the ‘Tree of Life’ in Ruwa. Such an adventure -with loads of climbing, swinging and enjoying the outdoors.
Zimbabwe Economy.
Zimbabwe is going through such a stressful time, with finances being short for everyone. Finding commodities is another stress, as the prices between shops can vary enormously. With the Zimbabwe dollar devaluing daily, the prices change accordingly, which makes any kind of budgeting nearly impossible! One has to either immediately spend, or exchange the Zim dollars -for US dollars, as soon as money is deposited into one’s bank account. Valuable time and energy is wasted, just trying to keep ahead of the game! We all long for stability to arrive in our country, however, we put our trust in the Lord who guides and sustains us through these difficulties.
Horses.
We ended the polo season with a three day polo clinic for the children. I organized the clinic and had fourteen participants of all ages. We played games, improved our horsemanship and finished with a polo team match. Great fun was had by all and the improvement was very evident, during the final polo match. Paula Joy and Murray John both received prizes at the end of the weekend, from our Minister of Sport Kirsty Coventry. Paula Joy won her polo match and Murray John got the award for the best turned out player. The children then spent the rest of their polo clinic days, improving their commentating skills. They are now becoming rather good at it! The horses will now be rested for the rest of the month and given their African Horse sickness vaccinations.
Homeschool Sports.
Paula Joy and Murray John decided to enter a three day tennis tournament at the beginning of the month, just for the fun of playing tennis. It was Murray John’s last ‘orange ball’, under 10 tournament. He went on to win the tournament and learnt a great deal about bad sportsmanship and cheating, by his opponents! It is so sad to see children cheating and behaving badly. It makes for a bad tournament and one we don’t want to return to… Paula Joy had fun competing in the under 10 ‘green ball’. She still struggles with growing pains, however she battled on, to come second in the doubles. She enjoyed her tennis, despite also having to deal with cheating opponents. Generally, however, it was a good way to get back into the swing of tennis.
Once we returned from our trip away, the children started with gym, tennis, golf, vaulting and swimming. We have also added cricket into the mix, with Paula Joy also learning to play the game, alongside her brother. I just love the fact that cricket is now both a girls and boys sport.
Adventures:
Farm life.
Due to the various sporting activities and the trip we took this month, we have not spent much time on the farm. However, the combine harvesters arrived during the last week of the month, leading to Murray John rushing through his school work, so that he could go and spend the rest of his day inside a combine harvester!
Travels.
We took a week out and traveled to the Zambezi River, for week of camping and fishing. Chewore campsite is a lovely place to spend a week in the bush. (You can read a detailed account of this trip in my travel post about the trip). It was an awesome trip, with the children getting an education on how to take a long road trip, set up camp, manage the campsite, refuel the boat and learn how to catch tiger fish. We spent those days on the river, right out in the wilds of Zimbabwe, just having excellent fun as a family.
We took a week out and traveled to the Zambezi River, for week of camping and fishing. Chewore campsite is a lovely place to spend a week in the bush. Read Our Trip to Chewore Travel post.
It was an awesome trip, with the children getting an education on how to take a long road trip, set up camp, manage the campsite, refuel the boat and learn how to catch tiger fish. We spent those days on the river, right out in the wilds of Zimbabwe, just having excellent fun as a family.
For the full account of this trip will be out next week.
“The LORD is my strength and my song; He has given me victory. This is my God, and I will praise Him.” Exodus 15:2.
- Our Victoria Falls Celebration Trip.
- Our Homeschooling Adventures and Activities for May-June 2024.
- What is a Healthy Homeschooling Culture?
- Our Homeschooling Adventures and Activities for March-April 2024.
- Developing Life Skills through a Houseboat Adventure.
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