Sep. 11, 2009 {Outdoor Lessons}
Once again we were spoilt by the fabulous weather, and once again it was far too nice to stay indoors. Once we had done the necessary jobs at home, we packed up lunch, our art supplies, a few books, and headed off down to the park.
This was our "classroom"...
We read another chapter of The Mouse and his Child whilst eating lunch. Then the children played on the play equipment for a while.
Then we started to make a few sketches of what was around us...
and I took some more photos...
 We are going through a really good spell at the moment, I'm absolutely loving all the time I am spending with the children and the conversations we are having. Idyllic really, just idyllic. Right, must go and walk the dog, and then Tiegan has been begging to do the "Egg in Vinegar experiment", so will set that up too.
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Sep. 10, 2009 {I like it at the park - no, actually, I LOVE it!}
So said dear Callum as we got to the park gate at lunchtime for our picnic. The weather here was just glorious, far too nice to be stuck indoors. We packed a bag of goodies and trundled off up the road to the local park and playground area.
I think the pictures speak for themselves...
Whilst the children were busy either eating or playing, I searched the hedgerows for things to photograph...
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Sep. 9, 2009 {Re-Organising}
Our day has been a good one so far. Chelsea has written a book review on one of her library books and reading books about the Human Body (with astounding interest I might add!) Joseph has been reading his library books and entertaining Callum on the trampoline outside (enjoying the sunshine, it's gorgeous here!) He has also helped me make the labels for the bookshelves. Tiegan has been drawing and writing lots of little stories, and all of the children have been on the laptop at some point to do various activities. We have even managed to walk the dog twice. The "school" room is looking good. I do hesitate to give it a name really as it is just another room in our house and we certainly don't refer to it as the school room! It just makes it easier to describe on the blog really. I've taken a few pictures of it in it's current state. We are just waiting for more stuff to be churned out to add to the walls. This is the view from the doorway. On the left there is a wall that you can't see in the photo - this will be the literacy wall for poems and stories, and book reviews etc. Apologies for its scruffiness. As you can see from the picture, the ceiling needs repairing and we refuse to decorate the room until it's done :o)
The science corner - the cabinet top can be used for experiments etc if necessary.
The bookshelves - all in order of subjects and labelled for ease of use. We have got a library bookshelf again - woohooo - hopefully no more lost library books! (ok ok, I'm kidding myself I know *shrug*).
Our sunny corner - can be used for anything, but the Geography work will be displayed here.
The cabinet is where we store various "learning" things like the microscope, electronics set, flashcards etc etc. The "neat" stuff is at the bottom of the glass part, the not so nice to look at stuff is hidden in the cupboard ;o)
Right must go and continue watching The Lost Land of the Volcano with the children, then go and make some french bread pizzas with the littlies... |
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I just wanted to blog our day. It has been one of those amazing "this is why we do it" kind of days. We haven't done anything special, indeed we didn't make any plans, but somehow it all fell into place and I am left grinning from ear to ear. Some days you just know that you are doing the right thing home-educating your children don't you? That is THE feeling I have right now.
The day started with a trip to the library. We live in a village, and are lucky to still have a surviving library just yards down the road. Today all four children wanted to go along and choose new books, full of enthusiasm which always makes for a good visit. The elder two chose books on World Wars 1 & 2. Where has this interest sparked from? That I'm afraid I cannot answer. All I know is that about a week ago I overheard the two of them deep in conversation about nuclear weapons and their views on war. Today they came home, arms full of books and settled straight down to read them. They each read, swapped books, asked each other questions, told each other various parts of the book that they had found interesting/absurd/funny/amazing, it really was home-edding at its best. By lunch time they had written notes and labelled the pages that they thought were of interest.
Lunch time came and went, and then we all set out to take the dog for a walk. We took a couple of empty containers hoping to fill them with blackberries. It was so very blissful. Two hours of ambling down country lanes, picking (and eating in Callums case) blackberries, strolling through the woods trying to identify various plants and berries, listening out for bird songs, spotting butterflies - it really was so lovely - like something from a story book. The weather was almost perfect, warm but not bakingly so, with a cool breeze to help us on our way. We stroked horses over the gate, and splashed in muddy puddles. We talked about the changing seasons and had easy flowing conversations. Chelsea made me smile when she mentioned how "old fashioned" it felt to be picking blackberries from the hedgerow, but how nice it was to have such a simple family time together. Oh how I love that girl.
We came home and picked apples from our tree in the garden, and made an utterly scrumptious apple and blackberry crumble with our pickings :o)
Dinner was a simple yet yummy Spaghetti Bolognese, made by Chelsea. Then after dinner Chelsea and I took Kira for another walk, this time just around the surrounding roads. It was so nice to have mother and daughter time for a good ol' natter. It's not often I get to spend one-to-one time with her, I really must make more of an effort as it is so rewarding for both of us.
Once home, Chelsea asked if we could sit and look at our Human Anatomy and Physiology book together. This is something I have been meaning to do for a while. So tonight we did - only, we didn't get very far before we went off topic. We were looking at the human body, and talked about how amazing it is. This led on to how we were created, and well, you can guess the diverse conversations that followed. We talked about the "big bang theory" and evolution, and the story of creation. Joseph came and joined in, and basically I sat in awe of the level of intellect and understanding my children showed. Their listening skills, their opinions, their choice of vocabulary, their ability to express their ideas but take on board those of others. The discussion then led onto schools, and the constraints of the National Curriculum, with Chelsea pointing out that there would be no-way you could go so off topic for over an hour in the classroom :oD Instead, we were sat in the Dining Room at 9.30pm "putting the world to rights" to coin a phrase. I sat there with a great sense of pride.
I try to cram so much into my day that I am missing out on so much. I am running a home, being a mum, "homeschooling", trying to be a good wife, etc etc - let alone trying to do all the craft projects I want to do, chatting on support forums, running the local Home-Ed list, designing websites etc. I really need to stop and take time just to "be" with my children. To enjoy their company without feeling we should be doing x, y, or z. Sometimes we achieve so much just by talking, conveying our thoughts into words, and listening to each other. My eyes have been well and truly opened today, I need to slow down and stop trying to squeeze so much out of my time. |
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Apr. 22, 2008 Back to the Grindstone....
Well, it was our first day back "at work" today and it was quite enjoyable actually. The sun shone for most of it which always helps uplift everyones mood doesn't it?
We did a bit to celebrate Earth Day first. We read a thought-provoking story and discussed it in depth. Joseph had to fill in a form for his cub-scouts which was all about recycling and saving energy, so that fitted in nicely and led to a nice discussion about the whys, wheres, hows, and how every little helps. The children then wrote their own Earth Day stories, which Chelsea is yet to finish (as she writes in chapters rather than pages lol). We will be continuing the theme tomorrow with some art work.
Then we sat and did a bit of the MEP maths pages, followed by lunch :o)
After lunch we went out into the garden with our books and read a little, then the kids had a football match whilst I tidied the garden a bit and printed out some more things for them. Then everyone mucked in to help cook dinner, before Joe headed off to Cubs. He has got the St. Georges Day parade on Sunday. |
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Apr. 17, 2008 Phew it's hard work
all this planning stuff. I have spent what seems like the entire day at the laptop finding new websites, printing out various worksheets, posters, and snippets of information and ideas, all in preparation of the new "term". I think I was hindered somewhat by having an extremely enthusiastic 6 year old "helping" me. Tiegan was completing the worksheets almost as fast as the printer was printing them! Still, it's so nice to see her happy and working :o)
I have had to put some thought into how to best entertain Callum, as he very much wants to be involved in our schooling now. He is currently fascinated by shapes, so I have printed out some colouring and activity sheets just for him to do (with a little help of course!) I have also printed and laminated some shape flash cards, and some posters for the walls. I'm going to put together a little art and craft box for him as well. Now we are working in the craft room, there is lots of desk space for each of us to work at, so Callum will be able to spread his creativity far and wide ;-) He is also going through a real story obsession at the moment, and is liking nothing better than snuggling up with me (and often one of older siblings) whilst I churn out book after book. Once each one has been read, we talk about the story and what we thought of it, and then he will say "another book pwease" in that adorable way that only little people can. He is also going through the "But why....???" phase, and always has us laughing no matter how many times he says it, he is just too cute to find annoying.
Joseph has spent most of his day out in the garden with his dad today. They have been building a couple of planters (in the shape of a wheelbarrow and wishing well), and then they gave the garage a thoroughly good clean and tidy up. I do like it when they have "boys time" together, as Joe seems to get such a lot from it. I leave them to it as much as possible, just interrupting to provide tea and biscuits which they don't seem to mind.
I'm heading off in a minute to collate all the sheets I've printed off into the various folders. I think I'll do it in front of the TV with a cuppa :o) |
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Apr. 16, 2008 All smiles here....
We have had a lovely couple of days, so I think I will blog them. Hopefully by the end of the year I will have a positive sounding blog where the good stuff outweighs the the bad.
Yesterday we watched the BBC programme called Pompeii - The Last Day. We had watched it first time around, but it was on BBC4 recently and so was showing on Virgin Catch up TV. The kids showed a greater interest in it this time, and were able to remember snippets from the Dr Who show which made more sense to them after delving into the history. Afterwards we took the dog out for a walk to the local fields and countryside. Kira is fantastic off lead, and I don't have to worry about her once we are away from roads. I sat and threw the ball for her, whilst the kids practised for their "Olympics". They did long jump, sprinting, and javelin yesterday *smile*
When we got home again we had a marathon read-aloud session, which was great, and we all commented at how much we had missed the daily read-alouds. When I was feeling ill, the last thing I wanted to do was to read out loud, in fact, when I tried I found it almost impossible as my throat was so sore and my eyes seemed to strain. Nice to be able to put that behind us now and start our reading routine again.
Today has been fun, with lots of garden playing time. The weather has been so beautiful today. I took all of our workbook resources outside and sat on a rug sorting through them. I made a note of which suited which child, and got rid of those that were filled up or no longer suitable for our working style. The children kept coming over and checking on my progress, and with dh and my dad working on the car, and the dog running around like a loon begging people to throw her ball for her, it made the time quite fun and not at all like the usual humdrum task :o)
Once that was done, I surprised the children by suddenly jumping up on the trampoline, it was such fun! The first (and consequently only) time I went on our trampoline, I felt sick. A sea-sickness type feeling, which was horrid. This time I felt absolutely fine though, and I realised what a fab stress release it would be! At one point there were 5 of us on the trampoline and I was so worried that someone would fall off! Fortunately we were all very sensible though, taking care that the younger ones were away from the edge and we all just bounced lightly. We still had a good laugh.
After lunch we sat on the trampoline, basking in the sunshine, and read 2 chapters of Little Women. Being the classic version, it does have rather long and sometimes complicated words in the text, but Chelsea and Joseph both handled them brilliantly. I liked the fact that they both asked for an explanation if they didn't understand a certain word. Joseph sometimes has the habit of just skimming over things and wanting to get his reading over as quickly as possible, pretending he understands everything.
More trampoline jumping after that, and then I left the kids to it as I set about sorting through some of our other resources and trying to make room for everything. I currently have a craft room, which I adore, but want to somehow incorporate some of the school things into it as well. At the moment most of our school stuff is in the room downstairs which is a fab space, but I do tend to think we don't use it to it's full potential as you can't access it from the house. Often we use the dining room to work in. Our main two bookcases are stored in the shed and we just go out and fetch in what we need. It works well for us and it saves us being surrounded by hundreds (I'm not exaggerating) of books that get very little use, and gives us extra storage space inside the house. We use the library such a lot, so many of our books are redundant really, I just can't bear to let them go as I know they will be of use *someday*. After my re-arranging today, I now have many of the school resources in my "craft room" along with a couple of desks and a table, perfect for working in :o)
Tonight I am hoping for a good sit down and plan type session, with lots of typing, printing, and sorting out to do. I actually enjoy it once I am in full swing, but the thought of getting started fills me with dread and I know I would prefer to just sit and relax and watch the TV! It WILL be done tonight though, of that I am certain (unless the children conspire together and decide otherwise!) I know it will all be done by the time we are starting the new term (the schools are on holiday down here at the moment, and I am not going to start trying to get my lot into their full school-work routine until the girl from nextdoor stops calling for them to play! ;-) )
Chelsea is staying over at my parents house tonight, so I'm not expecting her back until Friday. We are having to make some sad decisions at the moment, concerning Scouts and what Chelsea is experiencing there, but she has made me very proud with the way she is dealing with things.
Joseph is playing on his football game on the Playstation, and Tiegan is doing the Mario Olympics with Callum on the Wii. I'm cooking dinner (roast chicken tonight that smells yum!) whilst I'm blog surfing and forum reading, so I apologise for any errors in this posting but I'm multi-tasking *grin* |
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Apr. 14, 2008 Getting Back on Track
With all the bugs and stuff that we have been suffering with over the past few months, it appears 2008 has got off to a pretty slow start for us.
We have been pretty much back to full health for a few weeks now, which is a relief. We have been struggling to get back into our "school" routine though, but I think we are getting there.
Yesterday I sat and talked through things with the children as to our goals and expectations. We also discussed the topics that they may like to work on and they came up with:
- The history of Pompeii (sparked off by good ol' Dr Who on Saturday!)
- A project on Italy, to include landmarks, foods, populations, events in history, famous people etc.
- The Olympics; History of, events, countries, etc. They want to do a running report on the 2008 olympics, with details of teams and results etc. We are also going to hold our own Olympic re-enactment in the garden and park ;-)
- Space exploration through the ages.
- A more in-depth study of the Human Body.
I have set up another blog (I won't link to it yet as there is nothing on it) that will include details of our plans and work, and a list of resources we used, in case they are of any use to anyone else.
We are still without a car which is a bit of a pain in the backside as I feel as though we are missing out on a few meet-ups which is a shame. Still, we have been enjoying our life as it stands, with nice picnics and walks with Kira, which incorporate exercise and nature study. Next time we are going to go armed with sketch pads and various media to do some artwork, we are just waiting for a dry day.
We went to the local library this morning and stocked up on a variety of books. I got a couple about Nature as it is something I know little about but would love to know more. Chelsea is sat next to me as I type this, reading about ancient mummies and telling me all that she is learning as she reads.
I'm hoping to get back into the swing of blogging again as I've missed having that record to look back on. |
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Jan. 27, 2008 Torquay, Devon (UK)
The weather here in Devon has been glorious today. The sun has shone, and it has been so mild. When we saw how beautiful it was, we knew we couldn't spend the day indoors. So after breakfast we all headed off for a stroll around Torquay. I wanted to check to see if I could find a knitting magazine I wanted, and Callum (2 year old) wanted to go to see the boats in the harbour.
Whilst looking around the shops I treated myself to two new crafting books (as well as the knitting magazine) - Bags, Bags, Bags (a bargain at £4.99), and The Book of Crafts (£2.99). Both look rather inspirational, and I can't wait until the kids are in bed and I can have a good ol' gander.
Once we had run out of shops to explore, we took Callum down to the harbour to see his beloved boats. I was armed with my camera, so prepare to be bored with pictures from our day.
Torquay Harbour...
The Marina...
Along the Seafront...
The Sun was bright :o)
but the sea was oh so calm.
This little fella was enjoying a stroll in the sunshine too...
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Jan. 25, 2008 Sad News and Knit Wits
The sad news came in the form of finding out what happened to cause such a disturbance yesterday. Sadly an 85 year old gentleman was involved in a motor cycling accident and he lost his life. My thoughts and prayers are with all concerned.
Other than that, today has been another good one. Schoolwork went well and to plan this morning, meaning the afternoon was free for, well, whatever. I went through all my knitting stuff, found a huge amount of wool stash that I'm embarrassed to admit to, and sorted out all my needles, patterns, and other bits and pieces. Much of my knitting gear came to me from my mother-in-law when she passed away, and I have always thought that I must keep it in use or find it a new worthy home. I'm absolutely determined that 2008 is going to be a year for **FINISHING WHAT GETS STARTED** and I will keep posting my projects on here so you can all nag me about them.
Due to my sort out, the girls both gained a renewed interest in knitting, so this is what the sofa looked like for much of the afternoon (in between trampolining in the garden)...
Tiegan took it straight away, whilst it seems Chelsea will take a little more time to be proficient. No doubt it will come though, she has the determination to succeed in anything she puts her mind to.
In between keeping a watchful eye on them, I did these simple bits and pieces:
A pair of baby booties, which Tiegan has claimed for her Baby Chou Chou doll...
A few tiny booties suitable for cardmaking or scrapbooking etc,
and I've made a start on a cropped jumper for Tiegan, this is the back so far...
Eventually it will be long-sleeved, and have picot-edging. Or that's the plan.
We haven't got much planned for the weekend, other than rushing around going to the places that will be awkward to reach without a car. We are going to have to be car-less for **enter random figure here** as the MOT expires on Monday and there is no way we can find the money to get everything done on it before then. Still, by making use of all the online services available now, and the occasional bus ride, we will be fine. |
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Apart from wanting to scream at the car situation, things are good here.
This morning didn't start off too well when I received my monthly statement from the catalogue. It showed a £12.00 "administration fee", which when I investigated further, was a late payment charge. I wasn't very happy. I knew that I had paid two payments in December, one at the start and one at the end of the month. I had received the next statement and it showed £0.00 as being the minimum requested payment because of this. So I rang them up to complain. I was ready to fight my corner, but really didn't need to. Apart form the patronizing "are you sure you read your last statement correctly madam?" they didn't put up much of a fight. It turned out to be an error (of course) and the charge has been removed. Only £12.00 I know, but it was the principal. I could smile again :-)
The new schoolwork routine is (I'm frightened to say it) working really well. I'm desperately trying not to feel smug whilst experiencing the "Yippee, we've cracked it!" feeling at the end of each day. It's hard not to though, as it really does feel like we have finally found a do-able routine that works for us, and it pleases us all. I keep telling myself that it's all too easy, but at the same time I'm kicking myself for not implementing it before. I can already see a difference in the children and their attitudes, particularly in Tiegan. She is absolutely thriving with the one-to-one attention and gets a lot out of it. It's odd because she has become a lot more "loving" if that is the right word. Lots more cuddles and "I love you mummy" being heard. That was something I hadn't bargained for, but I'm not going to complain about!
The independent working side of things is also working well for us. The children are settling into it nicely, knowing what area are meant to be doing at what time. They are no longer waiting to have things explained to them, or having to hang around whilst I explain something or help the younger ones. They are perfectly capable of getting on with their own project or computer work on their own, and are proving that daily. 'Tis Good.
Our afternoon routine is also slotting into place nicely, without being forced. After lunch we go off and do our own thing; the kids often reading, playing a game, or watching a documentary, whilst I clean out cages or sort out washing or ironing. Then we all take a walk together with the dog, before coming home and doing our family reading (currently Anne Franks Diary), or discussing some current affair or other. Yesterday we had a long (hour or so?) discussion about crime and punishment. It led on to capital punishment and we all put our thoughts forward and discussed the for and against arguments. All very thought provoking, and interesting for me to hear what my children think of such a subject. This afternoon we had a break and just played on the Wii *grin*.
We were somewhat distracted by *something* occuring almost right outside our house though. I have no idea what. Our first thought was a car accident, but we haven't heard anything on the news so can't say for sure. There were dozens of police swarming the area, one lane of the road closed off, numerous emergency vehicles bombing this way and that, and (most exciting for Callum) the police helicopter literally hovering over our house for ages. The police were outside from approximately 3.45pm until 10-30pm ish, and it meant that the children just had to keep checking on things from the upstairs window and provide us with progress reports every couple of minutes of course *rolls eyes*. I do hope and pray that it was nothing too awful, although gut feeling is obviously preparing to hear the worst. |
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Jan. 22, 2008 Something New?
I haven't posted for a few days because things haven't exactly been running smoothly. Our wonderful (so we thought) car, failed it's MOT. In quite spectacular style actually. It is going to cost around £500 to get it through the test, and then we still have to have some work on the clutch done at some point (not for the MOT test, but a necessity all the same). That will cost a further £300-£400. Argh! Still, it has to be done, and we couldn't get a car as nice and great in all other ways for the price of the repairs, so we have no choice really. I had a couple of migraines due to worrying about our finances, which really knocked me back a bit as I haven't suffered with one for a while. I'm back to feeling positive about things now though and the migraines have once again ceased :-)
We suffered another sad knockback when we found dear Miss Molly (Chelsea's Budgie) not quite her normal self on Saturday morning. We didn't really know what it was, as the usual signs of bird illness weren't there. Her eyes were clear, as were her nostrils, and she wasn't fluffed up in any way. She was however at the bottom of the cage and easy to pick up. There was a small half broken feather, which pointed to the possibility of her suffering a night fright. We separated her from the others, covered her cage to dim the light, and kept her warm. On Sunday the signs were good. She was lively and very eager to get back with the other birds. We returned her to them on Sunday evening after a full day of observation, but found her unwell again on Monday morning. Sadly, despite our best efforts, she passed away on Monday afternoon. She was just a baby.
Over the past few days, I have been evaluating how things work for our family. I've been making mental notes during our "average days" to see if there is anything that could be changed in order to make things run smoother in our household. I try to fit so much into each day; the obvious daily essentials - schoolwork, pet care, household chores etc, as well as the non-essentials that are pretty important to me, such as my running and crafting. I'm not thinking about the times when we go out to meet friends or visit somewhere, just our "at home" days, which I think we could organise a little better and hopefully get into a less chaotic sort of daily routine.
My conclusion? Well, the morning schoolwork routine works well for us. The children enjoy working in the morning, knowing that they have the afternoon to do (almost) what they wish. I say almost as I do limit their TV and gaming time, and sometimes we do things like science experiments and arts or crafts together after lunch. I do think that there is room for improvement though, so we are trying something a little different.
Having noted how difficult it sometimes is to combine the teaching of such diverse age groups and skill levels, I wanted to come up with a way of providing some one-to-one teaching. Chelsea and Joseph are both at the stage now where they are making real leaps in their schoolwork, but sometimes it feels as if they are being held back by the younger ones being around. Because of this, it has been decided that each child will spend one hour with me alone each morning. During this time, the other 2 children (not including Callum in this as he will just be mingling!), will each have an hour on the computer (with breaks) and an hour of doing reading and/or project work. The computer time will be spent either on one of our many CD-Roms, doing research for their project, and/or visiting educational websites.
We tried this for the first time today, and *touch wood* it worked like a dream. Tiegan adored having me all to herself for her lessons, and thrived on the attention. We did lots of reading at her request (her reading to me) and she is picking it up really well. We also did handwriting practice (again at her request), using one of her workbooks. During my time with Tiegan, Chelsea and Joseph settled well into their work. Working independently is not something that they particularly enjoy, but I'm hoping that if the new routine works out, independent working is something that will become easier for them and they won't be quite so reliant on me looking over their shoulder.
With Joseph, I did some handwriting practice, reading, and a spelling test. Joe can read superbly, but written and oral spelling he struggles with. This term we are going to focus on getting his handwriting a little neater, and his spelling a little better.
Chelsea did some poetry, reading, and story writing. She also set up a prayer diary.
All in all, it was a very positive first day. I felt able to relax with each child, as I wasn't constantly flitting from child to child, and it was also easier to give praise for good work / efforts because of that individual focus. Each child left the table with a grin on his/her face, so that is a positive sign to take away from today. It has been easier to plan for, as I haven't had to divide the work into easy/hard/and harder categories, but instead I have been able to choose work for the individual, and it hasn't had to relate to the others in any way.
We won't completely stop working together, as we all enjoy our family projects. The younger ones gain so much from being around the older ones during work times and they learn so much from them. But after today I can see that there is another way of doing things that may suit us, and the one-to-one time will be positive for both the children and myself.
We were all done and dusted by noon. After lunch, Joseph went off to read his football encyclopedia, Tiegan went to watch a documentary on Animal Planet, and Chelsea helped me to clean out the rabbit and guinea pig hutches.
This evening Joseph went to cub-scouts and got his seconder badge, and another for being at cubs for a year. He is absolutely loving Cubs at the moment, it gives me a real buzz to see him so happy when he comes out. Tiegan had her second evening at Rainbows yesterday (and my purse is £40 lighter for the privilage!) Fortunately my brother is going to pay for her uniform, so I don't have to worry about that expense this month. She is absolutely loving it too, and even more so this week as she got her Rainbows bag and was chosen to bring the teddybear home for the week. We are still going through the counting down the days to the next session stage :-) |
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I have been feeling absolutely dreadful all day. I have spent much of it on the sofa asleep I'm afraid. I did venture upstairs and nearly fell back down again when my legs gave way and I missed my footing, and I almost passed out whilst making a cup of tea. With sickness and a headache thrown in, along with using a loo roll full of tissue, I've not felt at all good.
I am happy to report that I am feeling a whole lot better now though, so I think my laziness throughout the day has paid off. I confess I have hated it though, and kept thinking about all of the jobs that needed doing, such as room clearing and cage cleaning. Hopefully those jobs can take place tomorrow.
The kids were pretty good this morning, and didn't really take too much advantage of my unfit state. They went off to the school room to do a bit of schoolwork, and both made a start on their projects. Chelsea is doing the Human Body, and Joseph is doing sealife. They looked things up on the internet and did a couple of pages of writing each. Joseph did illustrations to go with his and I was quite amazed at the improvement in his drawings. He has never been interested in drawing (unlike Chelsea) and we have only just got passed the stickman stage! Today he drew a crab and a rather nice fish, I was pretty impressed with his effort. All done without my supervising too :o) The kids have each read to me, and Chelsea has had computer time.
I will be very glad to be back on my feet again though (tomorrow please) and back to a normal routine. |
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Jan. 10, 2008 Sniffle Sniffle
Urgh, I've got a horrid horrid cold and I'm feeling aches and shivers all over. It's really not nice.
Today has been a little busy, but has been a whole lot better than yesterday, so for that I am very thankful.
I took Callum to another Mums and Toddlers group in the village this morning. It is one I have been to before (just the once), and I knew it was much busier than the group I went to yesterday. It was busy, very busy, but nice. Callum behaved like a dream again bless him, and I think if we give it a chance, we will make friends there. There were one or two friendly people, but I think it will take a while to become "accepted".
Dh took the role of child-carer and educator to the other 3 in my absence, and in great contrast to yesterday, I had happy faces greeting me on my return. The children had done all that I had asked them to do, and dh had even done the ironing! The children had done their maths, reading, and spelling practice. They have decided on a project topic each, and have listed what they wish to write/learn about. Chelsea had also written a poem about Home-Education. I shall ask her if I can put it on here. Pretty good going, and I was pleased to see that taking Callum to toddler groups regularly may well be workable.
Having being inspired by other blogs (thanks everyone), I now set aside 120 minutes each day to give one-to-one undivided attention to each of the children. Each child gets 30 minutes with me to do something of their choice; play games, read books, go for a walk, go to the park, chat, etc. Having individual time with each child is something I have always strived to do, but never actually set aside particular time for, meaning that I often failed. Hopefully that will change now. I've been surprised at how easy it has been to fit in just half an hour here or there when I'm organised enough to be able to think about it.
This afternoon we headed out to do our weekly shop at Tescos. I am very much enjoying our new routine of buying a weeks worth of food, milk, bread etc, instead of popping to the shop each day to buy dinner and the essentials. It is also much cheaper - £93 today, including a set of bathroom scales. We are eating loads healthier as I'm making things from scratch, and I think we are all feeling better for it.
Talking of healthier, I'm taking up running again. I used to run a great deal when I was younger, I was one of those annoying girls at school that grinned from ear to ear when cross-country running was mentioned for PE lessons. I used to love the mud, the tough terrain, the challenge. When I left school I continued running. Distance running was my love and I promised myself that one day I would do the London Marathon. I applied a couple of times but never got a place. Then the children came along. I was never organised enough (or bothered enough) to arrange childcare whilst I ran, so I gave it up and settled into a mother gives up everything to have children type of lifestyle. One year I did apply to the marathon again in the hope that should I be accepted the training would inspire me to run again, but I failed to get a place once more and my trainers were thrown away.
I've got a brand spanking new pair now. I've only tried them on in the house, but it felt stupidly good to have some running shoes on my feet again lol. Once I've got over this silly cold (typical timing) I will be out there once again, and who knows, I may still get to do that marathon one day afterall. I've got to be careful as I don't want to lose any weight. I need to sort out my food regime and will have to start eating breakfast and lunch, instead of just dinner each day.
I was hoping to go to the local home-ed photography group tomorrow, but I may have to give it a miss if I am still feeling like I do at the moment. I'm going to curl up under my blanket and try to get some sleep and see how I feel in the morning. |
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Jan. 9, 2008 Making the first move.
All things considered, it's not been too bad a day today. The morning started with the usual clean up - Hoovering, Mopping, Dish washing etc. Then I took Tiegan out as we ran a few errands together, before returning home and setting everyone up to do "school".
Not such a positive vibe from the eldest 2 today. Plenty of eye-rolling and huffing and puffing when asked to go to the table. I said something to them today that I promised myself I would never say, "You just don't know how lucky you are!" *scream*. After a rant about how many children would love to be able to stay at home, and how they knew the choice was theirs if they wanted to go school, the dear darlings settled down quite nicely. I, on the other hand, sat cross at myself for saying such things.
After maths (Joseph), literacy (Chelsea), and handwriting practice (Tiegan, who incidentally NEVER moans about doing schoolwork and actually begs to do more!) we read a few pages of Anne Franks Diary.
Then it was time for lunch, after which I set out to achieve one of my New Year resolutions.
- Make more effort to meet new people and keep in touch with friends.
I took Callum off to a new Mother and Toddler group that has started up in the village. Eeeek. All those new people! Will Callum behave with the other children?! Will the other children accept him? Do I have to walk into a room full of strangers and have everyone turn to check on the newcomer with curious stares?!
Erm, not quite.
In fact, there was only me there! Well, me and the group leader of course. A very nice lady she was too, with an 8 month old (very very gorgeous) daughter. Callum was in his element with all the wheeled things there - cars, pushchairs, trains, fire-engines, nee-nah nee-nahs (ambulances and police cars to you and I), etc. He was exceptionally well behaved, and it was oddly lovely to sit down and have a long natter with a stranger. By the end of the 2 hours I was feeling very relaxed and almost reluctant to go back home! I did apologise for my endless rambling which I tend to do when I'm nervous. Of course, it didn't really help that there were just the 2 of us and I didn't want any of those awkward pauses. I did get invited back though, so I can't have been that bad (or maybe she was just desperate for members?)
Home again to find that peace had certainly not broken out in the household and both Chelsea and Joseph had totally driven their dad bananas in my absence. It's a shame that my relaxed feeling didn't last for very long as I was playing referee and listening to all sides of the story. After agreeing with their dad that their behaviour was indeed unacceptable, I threw all of the ingredients for a Macaroni Cheese into the Crock Pot and bundled Chelsea out the door with me to take Kira for a walk. How I love that pot.
During the walk, Chelsea and I had a few discussions about how things were going and what her thoughts were on our emerging family routine. She told me things that she would like to see changed, so we had a family meeting after dinner and discussed a few of the raised issues. Joe suggested that each of them have a file or box of work that I wish them to do each day, so that is something I am going to work on tonight. Sometimes the children are ready for work before I have finished the few morning chores, and they would like to get on with what they can instead of hanging around waiting for me. This is something I had thought of in the past, but had never got around to putting into practice. As it was suggested by one of the children, hopefully the idea will be better received by them. I am fed up of trying ideas and routines and always failing. How difficult it is to find things that actually work for us.
Today has been another one for me to look at my priorities, and I have stepped down from being Chief Designer on a crafting team. The time needed to fulfill the role I found a struggle to find, and I no longer felt I could give it 100%. I'm an all or nothing sort of person, and if I don't think I can offer full commitment at something then I would rather not do it at all. I am fortunate in that the "boss lady" understood completely and was actually going through the same priorities all wrong sort of feeling herself. |
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Jan. 8, 2008 It's all shiny... Jan. 4, 2008 Domestic Goddess? Moi?
Domestic Goddess? Moi?? Well, maybe one in-training ;o) I have no idea how, or even why, but I have become a cleanaholic, a tidyaholic, and a cookaholic overnight. I have been on a domestic chores marathon, and have (scarily) very much enjoyed it.
Over the past few days I have thoroughly cleaned the arts and crafts room downstairs, cleaned and rearranged the school room, moved the girls back to an upstairs bedroom, scrubbed and rearranged the kitchen cupboards, and cleaned and sorted out the boys bedroom. I am up-to-date with all the washing and ironing (and put it all away instead of leaving in the usual heap), and baked cakes!!! Oh, and I'm still smiling. It's very odd, but it feels as though the more things I do, the longer the day is (in a good way). I'm managing to do all the things I want to do cleaning and baking wise, and to take the dog for a walk of an hour or more, and still having time for other things. Goodness, I've even had time to play games with the children! How does that work then? Maybe my prayers are being answered.
We had a little bit of disappointing news yesterday, when we were informed that we weren't eligible for a local allotment because we don't live in the right town. We live in what is classed as a village, but our postcode is the towns, and we use the town in our address. But we still can't get an allotment. We wanted one where we lived previously, but they had closed the plots down years ago and were battling to get them opened again. When we moved here we thought we would have more success as there are many allotment sites around this area, but our hopes were dashed yesterday with a "sorry, we can't help you" message from the allotments manager. We will obviously probe things a little further, but it looks doubtful that they will change their minds.
The meal planning is working well. We are spending about £100 a week on food and household stuff (including nappies etc) and that's it. Considering I was spending about £30 a day previously when popping to the (expensive because we can be) nearby store, and it's quite a considerable saving. Having a list and sticking to it is working well. We are into our second week now. The first we went to Tesco, but this week we did it online. I have stocked up on a few things that can be frozen for later dates, taking advantage of what's been on offer. I have been very good though and just stuck to things that we would buy anyway, and not got tempted by the treats. We have a trolley full of fruit and vegetables now, and our two fridges are looking very healthy. We are on the look out for a chest freezer so that I can start doubling up on the recipes and freezing them. See, I told you I was a domestic goddess in-training ;o)
Well I'm off as I have more things to do. We are settling back into our school routine on Monday, so I'm busy preparing for that.
Oh, and before anyone comments about my changes being due to being pregnant, you're wrong (I think!) We are still pondering on that one :o)
I have been asked if I have any resolutions to keep to this year, so here is my list...
New Year Resolutions 2008
I want to...
- Be more patient with the children (and husband!)
- Keep up with the organising/cleaning/tidying/baking.
- Start up a local Home-Ed group.
- Play more games with the children.
- Take more photos and do more crafting.
- Make more effort to meet new people and keep in touch with friends.
- Acknowledge my blessings each day.
- Follow our schoolwork plan (I've failed every year so far...)
- Continue with the less computer time (I'm not missing it).
- More reading, less TV watching.
I also want to prepare throughout the year for Christmas instead of it ending up as a last minute rush and expense. |
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Dec. 26, 2007 2 Birthdays and Christmas, over for another year...
Well, as many people know, it isn't just Christmas going on in our household at this time of year. My eldest son Joseph was born on the 24th December 10 years ago. Joseph was the main reason for us choosing to home-educate. He went from being a cheerful, confident, happy-go-lucky child to becoming withdrawn, unhappy, and extremely shy after just a few weeks at primary school. The change in him at that time were dramatic and heartbreaking. I started searching online for school phobia and bullying, and fortunately for us, Education-Otherwise kept popping up at the top of the search engines. Until that point I didn't know that Home-Education was a legal alternative to school in this country.
Looking back, making the decision to de-register Joe from school was an easy one, but a little daunting. Our original plan was to just help him regain his confidence and for him to return to school a year of so later on. We removed Chelsea at the same time for various reasons. Of course it was easier for us to home-educate both children at the same time, but we had other reasons for her being taught at home too. We were fast becoming disillusioned with the school system, and we didn't feel that Chelsea was getting the help and support she needed in a few of the subject areas. Again, we had no intention to home-educate permanently, it was just a short-term solution for us to help her "catch up" with things.
Nearly 5 years later, here we are...
Joseph has grown into a kind, caring, responsible boy. He has overcome a fairly severe speech problem (the speed of which has surprised us all, including the speech therapist. She even remarked that it almost certainly wouldn't have been so swift had Joseph still been in school). Joseph is fun-loving, with a wicked quick sense of humour. Hardly a day goes by that he doesn't crack a joke or say something witty that has me laughing aloud. His confidence has been restored, and it is a great relief to have "my boy" back again.
So, 2007 has seen Joseph turn 10 years old. Trying to organise anything at this time of year is difficult, so we usually settle on just having a quiet time at home, with family visiting. I keep meaning to organise something a little bit special, but having it a week or so before his birthday. We try so hard to make sure that his birthday doesn't get wrapped up with all the goings-on at Christmas time, and now it almost seems that Christmas gets all wrapped up in birthdays instead! We put on a little party spread, and my parents came over to give gifts and spend some time with us. Joe had chosen a Golden Compass birthday cake (I am going to try and make a cake for next year, if I remember!) For his main present, Joe chose his own budgie. So we have to introduce Scrufty...
We cleared away all of the birthday food and the children had baths and put on their pyjamas and cosy dressing gowns. Whilst they drank hot-chocolate, we snuggled together and read from this book. We have been reading a shortened version of The Night Before Christmas for a few years now, but I wanted to introduce a family tradition and thought a new book could be part of it. It is such a lovely heartwarming poem, and the accompanying illustrations really made reading it a pleasure. Afterwards it was a quick dash outside to lay a trail of the "reindeer food" (oats mixed with sparkly glitter) outside. The children then laid out the traditional feast for Father Christmas, consisting of mince pies, milk (we are alcohol conscious here!), a carrot and a bowl of water for Rudolph, and a piece of birthday cake. Then it was time for bed.
We were fortunate with the children not waking until 7am this year. Actually, Callum didn't wake until after 9am, but the other 3 had opened their presents by then :o) It was lovely watching them all opening their presents in front of the fire. We hadn't had a fire before moving to this house, and the novelty of instant warmth hasn't worn off yet.
Chelsea had dyed her hair pink for the Scouts Christmas Party as she went as a punk. She actually loves it so much that I doubt she will return to being a blonde for a while yet. Here she is opening a few of her presents on Christmas morning...
Joseph opened some of his presents...
and got rather excited at having his own camera...
Tiegan opened her presents...
and eventually, Callum opened his (with the others being "helpers")...
The children had already had one of their big presents for this year, a laptop, but we had another one for them. We had (at the last minute!) managed to get hold of a Nintendo Wii. They were thrilled, and couldn't wait to get started. After we had worn them out with the boxing game, we headed on over to my parents house for Christmas dinner :o)
Once again there was a pressie opening ceremony...
and Tiegan got hold of her much wanted and long awaited for "Make me better" Chou Chou doll. She hasn't left her alone since, and has named her "Princess Belle". Here she is being the wonderful mummy...
and Chelsea looking scarily grown-up...
Callum had an absolute ball, surrounded by his favourite things...
After a rather scrummy dinner, we settled down to more Wii playing, and then had a stroll around the neighbourhood for a look at the spectacular light displays many of the houses have. I stupidly didn't take my camera though.
We packed up the car with goodies, and returned home to watch Dr Who. The children then went to bed and after watching the Christmas versions of the soaps, we started to get organised for Tiegan's birthday. Phew.
I got awoken this morning by a rather excited new 6 year old, jumping around the bedroom at the delight of it being her birthday.
Tiegan had also chosen a budgie for her birthday, which she has also called Belle (it was named before she got her doll, so it may well get changed).
We have had a lovely family day, with my parents visiting again for a party type lunch. We have played on the Wii, and had a game of Family Fortunes, and Tiegan has spent much of the day caring for her new doll. Very sweet to see her playing with dolls actually, as she rarely does.
I am so proud of my gorgeous youngest daughter. She is very kindhearted, thoughtful, and considerate of others. She spends much of her day looking serious and deep in thought, but has a smile that lights up the room. She has a really contagious giggle, and hates to think of people being upset. She is generous to a fault, and would happily give away anything she owns if she thought it would make someone else happy. I can't believe that it was 6 years ago that I was at home anxiously awaiting the midwife to arrive so I could go and give birth to my baby in the local maternity suite. It was less than 5 minutes drive away, and I had been sure all along that we would get there. Instead, the midwife arrived so late there was no time. My first home-birth, unplanned at that. It was that experience that led me to planning a home-birth for my next child.
It's quite a relief to think that the festivities are almost over for another year. Although I have very much enjoyed the past 3 days, they have also being rather exhausting and it will be good to get back into our normal routine. I have been spending a lot of time thinking about priorities, and making plans. I have been easily spending less time on the computer which I'm really pleased about. Now that I have cut back on my online commitments, particularly the Freecycle group, I don't feel the need to keep checking things on the computer and I am loving the extra time I have to spend with the children or doing things around the house. I know that this will continue into the coming year. |
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Dec. 17, 2007 All coming along nicely...
I have been having a good think about things over the past few days, and decided that changes needed to be made. I know that I spend far too much time on the PC, so I have re-focused my priorities and slimmed down my commitments. The biggest time hogger was the local Freecycle list that I was co-owner of. People just don't realise all that goes on behind the scenes so to speak. It isn't just about approving and deleting messages. There are queries to be answered, arguments to be defused, and many moans to be addressed. Goodness, we even got threatened with legal action *rolls eyes*. I am still a firm believer in what Freecycle stands for, but when volunteering begins to inflict on time spent with your family, enough is enough. Since standing down I have felt a real sense of relief. I no longer feel guilty for not going on the computer, and indeed I have no *need* to go on the computer at all. Freedom :o)
We went to my brothers house yesterday evening for an early Christmas celebration. My brother works on the oil rigs and will be away for Christmas this year. His life has changed dramatically recently, as his girlfriend and her two children moved in with him. He understandably wanted to share a family Christmas before he went. Sadly before we left home, we went to feed the animals and settle them for the night and discovered Lennon, one of our rescue rats had died. Joseph was devastated as we had always said that Lennon belonged to him (and he had named him), and it was difficult for any of us to get into the party mood after that. That said, we still had a lovely time, properly meeting my brothers girlfriends' parents, and all playing on the Nintendo Wii. What a great ice-breaker that is! We *NEED* one. Pressies were exchanged (but not opened), and food and drink merrily consumed.
Today we hit the town for (hopefully) the last time before Christmas. I think we have got all the presents bought and wrapped, except two which we had to order and are hoping will arrive before the big day. It won't be a huge big deal if they are late though, so I'm not fretting about it. We do need to pop to Tescos though to buy a bit of food and the all important birthday cakes though, but I quite enjoy festive food buying so look forward to it every year.
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Dec. 15, 2007 Never Major on the Minors
I am currently reading Life Management for Busy Women and these 5 words have touched me.
"Never major on the Minors"
Can I spend my time more fruitfully?
Does what I'm doing fit into the Lords plan for my life?
Does what I'm doing contribute to my good and to the good of others?
Is this worthy of my time?
By asking myself these and other questions as I go through my day, I am able to use my time for more worthwhile causes. It really helps you to stop and think. Well it helps me, I hope it helps someone out there too 
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