Just to update you on this project.  They have kept their word and today I have received my pots and bulbs and various exciting looking goodies to link to the project and we'll be starting to grow our plants soon.

I came across this project, called Mini Pots of Care, a Marie Curie Cancer Care activity, in the local newspaper.  They say that "Mini Pots of Care is a fun and creative way for children (aged 3 to 11 years) to learn all about science and nature whilst making a positive difference to the lives of people with cancer".

The basic idea is that they send you pots and daffodil bulbs to grow through the winter and into the spring and then each group of children is asked to make a small donation to the charity.

Knowing several who have have been helped by this charity, I thought I would check out if they would accomodate home educators, as their target group is schools and groups such as Guides and Scouts. They have replied favourably to me so I thought I would pass this on to you.

If you would like to know more then follow this link.

Sarah

   I have been doing this blog now for nearly two years! (boy does time fly!) And this past week I received my very first award for the UK blog - the Excellent award!

    I was truely honored to receive this from one of our younger bloggers here in the UK. Littlesmurf is the blogger that has bestowed this wonderful award on the UK blog! So be sure to pop over and say hi to him!

   Now here are the rules!

The rules read: By accepting this Excellent Blog Award, you have to award it to 10 more people whose blogs you find Excellent Award worthy. You can give it to as many people as you want but please award at least 10. Thank you out there for having such great blogs and being such great friends! You deserve this! Feel free to award people who have already been awarded…

   So, who do I pass it on too?   Well, part of my problem is that I feel the UK blog should pass it on to bloggers here in the UK. Sounds easy, right? WRONG! Most of our bloggers here in the UK have quit blogging! So where are all you guys?

   I think I can come up with a couple though......

Classroom free - aka Devonbunny incase you didn't' know that she moved blogs and changed her name! She posts such interesting tales of their adventures in Devon!

Mamasmurf - Littlesmurf's Mum is our most prolifict blogger in the UK and also one of my only occasional commenters on the UK blog! LOL! She does a great job of telling the rest of the world a little of what is happening in our little corner of the world - and of reminding us to pray!

Learning together - She has just started homeschooling last month! And is already doing an excellent job, both at homeschooling and at blogging! 

MominIreland -  For her encouragement to us with devotions even in the midst of all that she has going on. Pray for her and her family as they wait for their new daughter's paperwork to be finished so they can bring her home!

   Well, I think that is the list for now! And if you are reading this and your blog is sitting silent - get blogging!!!! The UK is strangely silent at the moment. If I hunt around the internet there are homeschooling blogs in the UK, but almost none of the ones here at HSB are being blogged on! We need to have more good Christian blogs out there folks! So get typing!!!

   Thanks once again to littlesmurf for this award!

   Hey everyone! I just wanted to get on quickly and let you know that I'll be off for a few days untill the end of the week. Our phone lines are down and so is the internet and email.

   I'm using a very kind neighbor's computer to post this but will then have to wait till the end of the week when it all comes back on, hopefully late on Thursday.

   Hope you are having a great week and enjoying the sunshine we had today! See ya all soon.

   I know from my counter that some of you are faithfully reading this blog despite the fact I have been quite quiet on here lately! Thank you for sticking in there with it! I seem to be lacking in inspiration for it right now - sorry!

   I did just want to let you know that it will be quiet for a week or so because we are leaving this afternoon on holiday. So I'll be back sometime after the 23rd.

   I found an interesting site and I just thought I'd leave you with this one before I go. I know that most UK home eders are thankfull to be avoiding the dreaded SAT's tests with thier kids (we certainly are) but I thought some of you might be interested in this, even just for fun! There is a site for free SAT's test papers. They are 'real' formerly used SAT's tests.

   So whether you would like to see how they would have done, or use it to see if you have some gaps in thier learning so you can fill them, or just for a giggle, you can try them out from this sight! Or if you are actually choosing to take them, they can be used (as is originally intended) for extra practice in how to take them and what it would be like.

   Have fun this week in our glorious sunshine!

   I wanted to apologies to my regular readers for the boring content of this blog lately! I know that it has been mainly cut and paste information from other emails, etc. Part of this has been because we are having a few technical problems with the Homeschool Nations blogs and I don't want to take the time to write out fantastic posts, to then not be able to post them up! Some days I can't even get onto the UK blog control panel, others it just swallows my posts into cyberspace and they are never seen again!!

   The other reason has just simply been time here at home! We have been really crazy here the past couple of months or so, and I haven't had time to write, and research lengthy reports! I haven't forgotten about the Charlotte Mason posts and will get back to do that when things settle out a little - promise!

   We are settleing into a new routine of craziness around here, so I am finding I am able to do a 'little' more than before. I'm hoping that finding lots of new stuff for the UK blog might be one of those things!

   I did send a friend an email recently about some prescool sites, and a few of my favourite resources, and I thought I might copy and paste that email in the next post (if this one goes in!). Some of it may have been posted on here before, but some I'm sure is new! So watch this space!

   Thanks for understanding, and please don't give up on coming over to read! There is still lots of usefull information in the catagories on the side bar, so check it out! Have a great week with your kids!

  Sorry for going a bit MIA there for awhile! I just wanted to pop in and tell you that I'm still around and getting ready for a post about the Charlotte Mason method of home education! This one should be of real interest to those of us in the UK as she is an English education reformer from the 1800's.

   Most of the books and resources are now produced in the USA, but the original ideas and books are English. Thanks for being patient with me as I've had alot going on around here lately. I will copy a post from my personal blog that I wrote about a great timeline idea for now.

   And I finally heard from Laney about the magazine but I'm still looking for Anonymous!!!

   I hope you all had a great holiday season! And I'm sure everyone is with their noses back to the grind stone now. We just got back in the country a couple of days ago and are struggleing with jetlag one and all!! (Jetlagged children are not very nice!!)

   I don't really have anything earthshattering to share with you today - just wanted to say hi and tell you all that we are back up and running after my break away. So I hope you are having a great week and enjoying this unseasonably mild - though incredibly windy- weather we are having across the country at the moment.

   Did anyone do anything exciting over the holidays? Go anywhere fun? Have a 'field trip'? Find a new resource? Do tell, do tell!!! In the meantime watch this space as I've got lots to tell and I will continue the series I started before Christmas talking about different 'schooling methods'. And I've got a guest lined up to talk about the Charlotte Mason method soon!!!! (Ooooo! Aaaaaah! There is a surprise to keep you coming back to see!) I have met up with one of the authorities on CM method in the homeschool world today! And they have agreed to 'talk' to me on here for your information.

   So - as I said 'WATCH THIS SPACE!!!!!'

   I hope you are all managing to find your way around OK with all of the changes! I've already had a grumble over at my personal blog about the changes cause I don't really like them, but I won't repeat it all here!

   I need to let you all know that I won't be posting for a few weeks. I'm leaving tomorrow to go to the states for a month with my family. We are traveling alot so I may not be able to access a computer all that easily. If I can and I have something really good to post I'll try to, but no promises!!

   So this may be it now untill about the middle of January, so don't worry that I've fallen off the face of the earth or anything! I'll be back in January same as always. I've already listed lots of Christmas resources so be sure to have a good look at those. Also don't forget the sale on at the HomeschoolEStore for the rest of this month!! And if you go, click through the picture at the top of the page so I can get some credit please!

   Wishing you all a Very Merrry Christmas, and a wonderfull New Year! Enjoy some time with your families over this holiday time as you celebrate the birth of our Saviour! And I'll see you all in the New Year!

   Hey everybody! Just thought I'd point out a new feature of the UK blog. If you scroll down on the right you'll see 'catagories' and below it all of the catagories listed. I have gone back through all of the past posts and put them into catagories and all new posts will be added to them too.

   I realized that sometimes it is hard to remember when something was posted if you are trying to find it again. Also for new people who come to visit the blog (and there have been over a hundred hits this past week!) it is easier for them to find specific information that might interest them instead of having to troll through several months worth of posts.

   Well, I hope this all helps to make the site more user friendly and a helpful resource for you all on your homeschool journey! Also HUGE thanks to Kris for making the catagories actually appear and work in the sidebar!!!You're a star Kris!!!!  

   You may have noticed the new Homeschool Estore banner at the top. Well, I've joined the affiliate program.  Basically that means that everytime someone clicks on that banner or the small box in the right hand column which tells you what the free product this week is, I will get a percentage of the sale.  The banner says to 'Help support this site', and I used that because if I get sales from here I can use some of the proceeds to get prizes for the contests on the UK blog!

   Of course that would only be if anyone is interested in entering any contests! We have one ending on Saturday at midnight, so hurry!

   Out of interest, is the fact that no one is entering, at all related to the fact that everyone already has a subscription to the magazine?  If that is the case then just let me know and I can change the prize! I just thought that not many of you were subscribers, if you are then that would make the current prize kinda pointless! Let me know.

   And thanks for shopping with Homeschool Estore through my link! I really appriciate the support!

   Has anyone noticed the nice red London phonebox that has become our new avatar? I decided that the rocking chair on the porch wasn't all that appopriate for the UK, especially since we don't have porches here!!!! I don't think you can get much more English than a red phonebox! I took the picture of this one on our trip to London this summer. Anyway, just wanted to point it out since it has just taken me over an hour to figure out how to make it small enough to use on there!!! (I'm a bit hopeless at the technical stuff!) Also, if I comment on your blogs, you'll know who it is. Hope you're having a great day!

Help promote The Oldschoolhouse Magazine's overseas subsciption offer and you can get freebies too! You will get a years free subscription for yourself, and all of the 19 freebies on offer to new subscribers!! You can go back to here to see what was included in the offer!If you promote it at your group or on your blog then just email Gena at publisher@theoldhomeschoolhouse.com and tell her about it! She will arrange your freebies!

   OK! So the traffic report on this site tells me that we are getting quite a few visitors each week. So that begs the question why no one is answering the question about 'Your favorite place you visited this summer!'????? Just look down about 4 posts and you will find the question and the critieria for answering it!

   Come on folks! Let's get a little interaction here! I'm sure you are all a bit bored of my voice, so let's here what everyone else has been up to! It would be great to have a database of places to visit all over the country, and although we seem to travel alot, my experience is quite limited. So those of you who live elsewhere, let us know what is worth the visit!!

   I'm beginning to wonder whether I need to 'bribe' everyone into taking part with a contest of some sort!?  I'll have to see what I have that could be a prize. Maybe that will get you all interested! Off now to hunt for contest prizes!

   It has been brought to my attention today that the email I posted about Mars being really close to earth this month was actually a hoax! It really did happen but back in 2003!!!! So if any of you (like myself) were planning to wake the kids up this weekend to see this once in a lifetime event - please don't!!!! I have informed my source (Hi Mom!) and she apologises too!  This was sent to us by a friend who is usually very reliable, but she must have been caught out this time too. Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know!

   Pop on over to MomInIreland (link in friends list). She has some terrific news that someone has given them a gift to cover the cost of the adoption they were waiting for!! Let's celebrate with her!

   Also she is looking for families to 'test run' a new unit study that she has written. Any takers? Come on folks! Free (my favorite word again!) curriculum and a chance to help a fellow homeschool Mom? What more could you ask?!?!

   Just a quickie to let everyone know about a small change to the UK blogg. It has been suggested that it might be a more usefull resource if it could be viewed by everyone and not just registered users. So I have changed the settings (I think) to let it be viewed by everyone. If we have any problems with unwanted comments or anything else, I will review the situation immediatly - promise! Just wanted to warn you all that any comments you make can now be viewed by people other than HSB bloggers. Hope everyone is OK with the change. Hope too that you are enjoying this unseasonably warm weather! Who needs exotic holiday destinations with this weather here at home?

Hiya Everybody! Hope you're all enjoying this beautiful (non-british) weather we are having this weekend! Let's hope this continues for at least part of our summer.

  Let me draw your attention to something posted by Steen. She found a great activity on the cbeebies site for the little ones. It is a spring watch, and a list of things for them to watch out for!

   So, what is everyone else up to? All of the UK bloggs seem to have gone a bit quiet lately. I have put a new counter on the UK blogg so I can tell if anyone is coming to see it or not! I don't mind if people aren't commenting, I just want to know that someone is reading this and if it is being usefull to anyone!

   This is not a pity party for me or anything! I just want to make sure this is meeting the needs of the UK bloggers. If it isn't please tell me so I can try and adjust it to scratch where folks are itching!

  First of all, please tell me if the information I've posted so far has been usefull or not. Secondly, what would be usefull to have on here. Thirdly, if you have any information that would be usefull to others please let me know and I'll let you post or I'll link back to your blogg.

  I just want to be a usefull resource for the UK homeschoolers. Some of you are much further down the road than I am, so I'm not trying to say that I know it all. I want to learn from all of you as well! In the family of God we should be able to learn from and support one another. As the body, we all have different strengths and weaknesses, and can work together to build something that will be honoring to God as UK christain homeschoolers.

   So let me know! Thanks - Deedee

Has anyone noticed that our very own Clare from BattlementsofRubies is the featured blogger?!?!? So go on over and give your congratulations. It's not everyday that one of the UK bloggers makes it to the company porch!! Well done Clare!