Our Plans: Such as they are...

New Year on the Horizon Alert!!

We have sat and discussed this together and this term (before the end of March) we hope to do this:

English
Emily still likes the Wizard workbooks and would like to do some more of these, so we will be continuing to use the KS1 workbooks we started last term. We enjoy our morning reading sessions, although now Emily can read we seem to have lost our way with these, so we hope to find a paperback to share. We are looking for opportunities to do useful writing as she is not keen on writing for no reason - we have joined Postcrossing, we hope to write letters to the Nannys, and I hope to get her writing my shopping lists etc. I would like her to try to form her letters correctly, but she disagrees. We will also be looking at the spellings of basic rhyming words to help Emily with her spelling which she has identified as something she would like to do.

Maths
Again Emily would like to carry on with the Little Wizard workbooks. She also enjoys Whizz.com and Education City. We also have subscriptions (via Home Ed groups) to Mathletics and Grid, which we have not yet explored.
She has identified that she would like to learn how to tell the time, we have numerous resources for this: Cards, watches, timers and a large cardbook clock to name but a few.

Science
We would like to finish our Space project and reward ourselves with a visit to the Space Centre. After this, we would like to concentrate on planet Earth. Emily is interested in Volcanoes, so we will look at these and earthquakes and if time allows we will move onto weather.

Geography
We will continue our exploration of Geography from big to small. As Emily is able to identify the Continents, we will continue to explore the countries. We will hopefully be doing this with the help of Postcrossing. We will look at the countries as we receive cards, and we will use news stories to fill in any gaps.

History
We have finished our work on the Stone Age, so moving forward our next logical step is the Bronze and Iron age. I need to think further about how we can do this, as I don't intend it to be a long project.

We will also continue to cook each week and do as many arts and crafts as we can. We will visit as many Home Ed groups as we wish to, and we will spend as much time with our friends as possible.

Panto time

Every year, we take Emily to see the Panto. We used to take James and Kate, but at 20 and 17 we doubt they'd join in - and where's the fun in a panto if you're not shouting at the stage and singing songs about Bums?
Exactly - so they stay at home and complain that we don't take them!
This year we went to Loughborough Town Hall to see their production of Beauty and the Beast. It was excellent, plenty to join in with and shout about, fake snow falling from the ceiling onto us and lots of opportunities to get squirted with water (I'm easily pleased!).
But best of all - Emily was chosen to go up on the stage, something she has been desperate to do for many years but has never been chosen. In fact it has probably been her number one wish for a couple of years, and yesterday her wish came true. I'm not certain the experience lived up to the dreams, as she didn't like it when she thought people were laughing at her, but she stood on the stage in front of a theatre full of people and spoke clealy and confidently to a very large man dressed in a frock.
Proud Mum moment.

Postcrossing

We have started Postcrossing as an addition to our work on World Geography. We have sent 3 postcards so far:

1. To Finland
2. To Luxembourg
3. To Germany

Emily has found these places on our world map and we are looking forward to receiving some cards too. We have been into Leicester to buy some more postcards, and we will send 2 more tomorrow:

1. To USA
2. To France.

Here's hoping it works...

Lots of space

We've been continuing our topic of space, we have started on a wall display which at the moment has all the planets in our Solar system on it and labelled. We are planning to find out a little more about each planet and stick notes on.
LA painted the planets, but wanted to do them in the correct colours, so she looked through an encyclopedia and found them all with no problem. It was another one of those - "where did you learn to do that?" moments. She didn't need to do worksheets and workbooks on alphabetical order to grasp the concept, and it made me realise that my thinking is still very much in the school mindset at times.
The swimming issues from last week were resolved, they now have 2 instructors in the group, which helped enormously. The child which needed the individual attention received more attention without having to resort to destructive behaviours and the rest of the group were able to continue.
We baked chocolate chip cookies yesterday, and LA's friend H came to play. LA is having a few issues with control at the moment, we are experiencing numerous tantrums and sometimes aggression on a daily basis. It's hard going, but I'm sure its just a phase. It is about control and her perceived lack of it, so we're trying to be adaptable - but obviously there are limits.

Space, TV and Swimming...

LA has decided that she doesn't want to do the "My body" project that she originally requested and I have provided! This is no surprise as she has been avoiding it since September. I rather suspect she knows most of it already, so no worries. She would like to learn about Space instead - so I've been doing my homework!

Rich has splashed out and brought a new (very posh) TV and Sky, both of which are now installed and working. It is nice to get the huge old TV out of the room, there seems to be so much more space now. Although we are having problems getting rid of the old one, I always struggle with Freecycle (or Freegle, as it calls itself now). Whatever I do, I seem to get my posts rejected. I tried again last night. I tried really hard and I'm sure I finally got all the information in the right places for them. But no, it came back to me. It seems that there is now an even more local group than the local group, so I'm not allowed to offer on the old local group until I have advertised on the new local group. Of course I'm not a member of the new local group - so I can't do that until I join... and to be honest, I really can't be bothered, because next time I wish to offer something, something else will have changed and I'll have to start all over again. So we still have the old TV. Any ideas, ideas that don't involve the little Hitlers at Freegle/Freecycle?

It was LAs swimming lesson tonight, but she only managed to swim for 10 minutes before banging her head on the wall and getting a huge bump. In her group there is a small (5 ish) girl who is totally unable to behave. I and the other parents spend time trying to conceal our "tuts" each week, but her Mother doesn't notice anyway, she's got her paperwork to do! She jumps on the instructor, physically stops the other children swimming by deliberately blocking them, spends enormous amounts of time playing the fool to get the instructors attention, throws her floats away, and refuses to stay in the same area of the pool to the rest of the group - all of which mean that the other children get less time. Well, today she decided that she would spit water at LA and wouldn't stop. LA backed off but she followed, LA tried to get out of the pool, but slipped and banged her head. I have asked for the head instructor to call me tomorrow, but I have concerns that I'm over-reacting. I would not send a child of mine who behaved like that to swimming lessons, I couldn't. So I'm hoping to be able to express my concerns about the child in an appropriate manner. I'm hoping to go down the "The instructor is trying very hard, but I think maybe there are reasons why the group needs a little more support". But I know I'll probably say something more like "There's a horrid little brat in the group, who caused my child to hurt her head, it could have been much worse! I strongly suggest you look at the safety of the children in the group if this child is to continue swimming..." Blagh!

Redecorating

I think I like this template. I'll give it a test run.

Reassuring myself...

... I think its the climate, no not the weather but the political climate. I pretend it doesn't really have any relevance to our daily life, but it does, in a sneaky sinister unspoken way.
I have been worrying that we are achieving very little. We seem to socialise an awful lot, but education? Nope none of that happening here!
So, I took stock.
Since September 2009:
LA has taught herself to read - really read, not that faltering monotonous reading that 5 years olds often adopt  for their adults, but real reading with tone and emotion, both loudly and silently.
She is working on writing  - but has little interest at the moment. Well, no that's not true - she will eagerly write memos and lists.
We have explored the Stone Age using books, games, videos and visits.
We have looked at Evolution, the big bang, and various religions.
We have been to Spain and learnt a little Spanish and about air travel.
LA has been able to label all the continents and many (15) countries on our big map of the world and is able to identify these countries on different maps.
She continues to work eagerly with numbers. I'd find this difficult to describe in more detail, because she does bits and bobs of lots of different maths topics, addition, subtraction, times tables, shape, time, measuring ...
We have learnt about Guy Fawkes, Gunpowder and fireworks.
She has learnt to swim 5 metres.
As well as all the usual crafts, cooking, shopping, playing etc etc etc.

I'm feeling better now. We've done quite a lot in 2 months. I'll stop worrying.

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!!

Reading, reading, reading...

LA loves books, always has done. I suppose living in a house that is wallpapered with them makes it easier.
However, I was quite unprepared for the giant leap in her reading ability that we witnessed yesterday.
Before the summer holidays, we were reading level 4 of the Oxford reading tree, and other books of the same difficulty. Yesterday, she picked up a level 8 book and read it from start to finish with no problem...
OOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!
So I've put the level 5 books I did have planned, back into the cupboard until I find time to put them on ebay and I'd better go off in search of something more appropriate.

Holiday Number 2: Wiltshire

We're back from our camping expedition in Wiltshire.

We visited Avebury and Woodhenge, but we gave Stonehenge a miss due to the crowds. LA and I will visit at a more sensible time later in the year. Stonehenge seems to be one of those things that people consider "has" to be visited. The crowds of bored looking folks, listening intently to the audio "Guided tour" gadgets, put us off visiting. I guess they do the same to St Pauls Cathedral, so fairs fair.

So we visited Woodhenge instead, and then visited Avebury. I adore Avebury, it has a lovely peaceful feel to it and we had a beautiful day.

On the way home, we visited Danebury Hill fort. LA and Daddy explored the earthworks whilst Holly and I took a long but very pleasant walk around the hill.

Houses and Castles

Little Acorn and Daddy have been busy.
They've made cardboard houses...

And then, they made a huge cardboard castle...

HOLIDAY!!!

We've been off on our holidays. We are lucky, we manage to get away several times a year. This year our first holiday was to Norfolk. We went camping in Scratby, and had a wonderful time.

LA had a fantastic time, she made friends wherever we went.

Thankfully there are no photos of my experience with the clowns at the circus.

Fox-ton

On the way home, we met this little fella, with his sibling, playing by the road.
Old Mother Fox was watching nearby.

Foxton Locks

We met with a group of other home educators to celebrate I's 6th Birthday.

A lovely day. Happy Birthday I.

We continue...

...despite the horrors that have emerged from the Badman Review into Home Education. What on Earth is that man thinking???
We are not autonomous in our approach to Home Education, we do have some structure, albeit loose and open to instant change! We have a slack routine, because that is what suits us best.

Each day, we start by reading a book to each other. LA is currently reading Level 4 on the Oxford Reading Tree. She enjoys these books, so we mainly use them, although we will read anything else that takes our fancy.
We then plan our day. I tend to have ideas which I offer to LA and she chooses which we will do, obviously often, as is the way of a 5 year old - she has the ideas and I choose!
Today we played a few board games, made various solid shapes with the magnetixs, watched a little TV, we looked at the tadpoles in our pond, some of which are still tadpoles, and some of which have become minifrogs, we marvelled at the stages inbetween and we talked about the order in which these things happen.
Then we found a very strange looking insect on the Hazel Tree, we spent about an hour looking it up on the Internet - but failed to find out what it is. I shall continue to look after she goes to bed.
Then we looked at the plants we are growing in our vegetable patch, and noticed how they are changing. We looked closely at the peppers emerging from the flowers. LA then wanted to draw a picture of one of the flowers, so got out the pastels and did so.
She then got the inks and stamps out and stamped a garden picture.
We have sung several songs, played clapping games and played the drum. We have talked about temperature and placed a thermometer in the garden so that we can record the temperature. Obviously when it thundered we took the opportunity to discuss thunder and lightening and how the sound moves slower than the light.
LA has written all about this in her diary. She's now experimenting with bubble solution in the garden.

What a waste of a day, she hasn't had any opportunity to fulfill her potential - better send her to school.

Oh, I forgot, she learnt how to sew too - picture of her first piece arriving shortly.

Have to tell you about this site...

never mind LA, this is gonna keep me amused for hours!
http://cp.c-ij.com/en/contents/1006/

Settling down

Life has began to settle back down here now. It has been very trying and stressful few weeks, but hopefully we have all learnt from it and can now move on.

LA has had a couple of difficult days, reacting to all the stress around her, but remains as eager and keen to experience life to the absolute full as ever.

We've been enjoying the gorgeous weather, she has almost mastered her bike and her drawing and writing are improving day by day. I love to see the changes in her as her interests change and something new takes her attention. I cannot imagine how different life would be if she were in school and constrained by a timetable.
Thank goodness I discovered Home Education!

Difficult times

Livings not easy here at the moment.
Too many stressors and insufficient pleasures.
Difficult times.

Birthday Party

LA's birthday party...

James and Kate came too!

Play Day

LA and I have spent the day playing.
We have played with her new playdough, beads and playmobile.
We have been to the park (LA dressed in her police officer outfit, she has hardly taken it off since Tuesday!), played ball, football, and on the swings.
We have read books, played with stickers and posted the last of LAs party invitations.
A lovely day.

Happy 5th Birthday

It's LA 5th Birthday. "Excited" simply doesn't describe it.

Unfortunately as I still can't drive (health not alcohol), I haven't been able to take her out for the day as I had planned, but we have had a lovely time playing together with her new presents.

We have also baked and decorated her cake.
It's family tradition that the birthday person gets to pick where we eat so we all went out to McD's for dinner.

She's just (at 9.15pm) gone to bed, looking forward to her party on Sunday.

A Weekend at Nanny Frogs

Rich, LA and I have spent the weekend in Rochester, Kent visiting Richs Mum.

The "Sweeps Festival" was on and we had a lovely few hours wandering through the town watching the dancing. LA joined in by copying the dance whilst watching.

Then Nanny surprised LA with an early birthday treat.

Sunday 26th April

We've been for a walk in Swithland Woods, to see the Bluebells.


A beautiful day.
LA has had a wonderful time climbing the rocks and trees and taking photographs.