Still here...

... just a little busy.
We had a lovely time at Twin Lakes with friends last week, they have free pumpkin carving available in the run up to Halloween so we came home smelling of pumpkins.
Then we went to the best party EVER! A halloween party organised by some Home Ed friends. Wow, what a party - a magician, dancing, McDonalds, Pizza, Icecream, Fireworks, and Lanterns! We came home very happy but very knackered. Eoin and Emma - you definately get the award for best party of the year!
On Saturday we went to see the Firework display at Abbey Park. A beautiful evening and as always a brilliant fireworks display.

LA has continued to exceed all my expectations (child number 3 - why do I have expectations???) in her reading ability. She is now on the (dreadful) Rainbow Fairy books and has read the first 4 books in the last 3 weeks. She really enjoys them, so we're going along with it, but the stories are awful! Any recommendations for a 5 year old would be very welcome!

Its still not so easy to get her to write, but we're not pushing this, I'm sure the time will come.

She now has her own website - its a blog on which I have listed lots of sites that I feel are relevant for the week ahead - she loves the independence of being able to go to the computer and get on with it, so its working well.

Holiday Number 4: SPAIN!!!

We have just returned from our final holiday of the year, we borrowed my brothers apartment in Fuengirola on the south coast of Spain for a week.

The weather was for the most part beautiful, and we spent 5 days on the beach and in the sea.

LA has learnt some Spanish and was able to see differences between the Spanish Culture and our own. I could, I suppose if I was pushed, list all the wonderful educational opportunities that presented themselves - but bugger it - we had a lovely time, we spent much needed time together as a family and we all learnt loads!

Holiday Number 3: Butlins, Skegness

LA and I have just returned from a very hectic 5 days at Butlins. We went last year, but had to come home early as LA was unwell, so I promised we'd return this year.

We did have a lovely time, very busy but good fun. I find that I really enjoy being able to give her all my time without other commitments getting in the way.

I also find, that having a break at this time of year, puts us in a good mental place to begin working, LA is fired up and ready to get on with it. Whilst we have been away we have also agreed on several ground rules that will help us throughout the year.

We watched Sooty in Space and we got to meet Richard!

We had lovely weather, so we spent time on the beach and in the sea.

On the way home we called in to Natureland, the seal sanctuary in Skegness. This knowledgable chap, told us all about the seals and the penguins (who were busy building a nest, and looked really funny with huge stones in their beaks).

Tree-mendous

LA and Rich have been to "Tree-mendous", the local Wildlife Trust's annual event.
They certainly seem to have had a good time.

They made a tree hanging.............................................and hung it in a tree (obviously!)

They made willow wands.

and no day out would be complete without pretending to be a tiger... would it?

Why we Home Educate...

This post was inspired by the HE blog carnival.

I have 3 children, although the 2 oldest aren't strictly 'children' anymore. James is 20 this week and Kate is 17. They are both still studying full time at college. They both went through the entire school system, we had our ups and downs - but they got through it.
I didn't know about Home Education then, and even if I had I don't think I would have considered it as a viable option. I believed that school was the place for learning...oh my goodness how I resented the time it took away from my family, and the rules they imposed, and the useless teaching during the daytime which ended with piles of homework in the evening...which my children never did, because I never made them...because I didn't approve...but still, I continued to send them, unthinkingly, to school.
When LA was born, James was 14 and Kate was 12. We had already stepped someway outside of 'normal' society by becoming involved in Paganism. We remained unaware of Home Education, believing that we had to send children to school. However, as the time approached for LA to start school I became increasingly concerned about it. She seemed so young. I started investigating the law on the Internet and that's how we discovered that WE DIDN'T HAVE TO SEND HER TO SCHOOL!!!
We didn't have to let our family disintegrate and become absorbed by the routines of school, we didn't have to dance to that tune at all. We didn't have to return to the time where we failed to encourage our child to do homework as we felt that they had spent enough hours of their precious childhood on school work, then they would get told off for our failings... We didn't have to resent the fact that as parents we only had the tired grumpy times with our child as school demanded all the best parts of the day, every day. We didn't have to put up with the bad behaviour that was copied from classmates, or the bigoted teaching that had led our older children to come home with some decidedly odd ideas. Whats more, as intelligent caring parents - we knew we could do it better...
LA spent sometime at playschool and nursery, but didn't really like it so we took her out.
Last week was when LA should officially have started school. We just continued as usual.
We have a very vague structure to our days, we do spend time each day doing some reading, writing and maths. Everything else is optional, but we do have "topics" available and LA does enjoy them.
We haven't ruled school out for the future, we have said we will consider it when she is 7 if she requests to go, but we continue to believe that we can do better so it will depend on her ability to overcome the obstacles to learning and living that school places in children's way!

Grimes Graves

LA and I have just returned from a trip to Thetford (£9 travelodge bargain!!) to see Grimes Graves, as part of our current focus on Early Man. We went to the bottom of a flint mine which early man dug with stones and antlers. This is all the more amazing when you stand and look at the landscape, it looks as if its had a very bad case of acne! There is evidence of numerous mines here, well worth a visit if you are in the area. LA was very brave climbing down the vertical ladder with me into the darkness.

Then we spent some time walking in the forest, we were lucky enough to get very close to a deer grazing on a bank which didn't see us for some time. We also discussed adders and how humans fear of them had led us to destroy them and how they were now returning to the countryside. We talked about why dogs were at risk from them, but of the small risk they posed to humans and how we could get help if we were unlucky enough to be bitten by one.

Dinosaurs

We've been visiting the dinosaurs with our HE friends. We had a lovely time at the museum, learning about the dinosaurs (and loving the look of horror on LA's face when she discovered that she was holding fossilized dinosaur poo).
It was nice for both of us to catch up with old friends who we haven't seen all summer.
It was also a convenient time for us, as we are about to start looking at history. We planned to begin with the Stone Age and early man - but dinosaurs definitely fit right there, at the very beginning!!