We have been doing these home ed photo-meme days every year since 2005. This was the year we officially started home educating and when Jax started the meme going we were v happy to take part and have a look around. Every year since , some or other of us on the early years blog ring have completed a photo meme. This year Merry is drawing them altogether into a carnival. I have done a number of days this month as our offering, but have been rather inconvenienced by the breakdown of our adobe photoshop. So this time this one has been done with i-phone – so dreadful pics! [and a lot of effort getting them into the post.] we might pop one of the other days in when the pics are available. this post is a post that shows that our home educated days are not spent all inside or on our own but quite often in collaboration with others. This is obvious from the blog!
Today was a notlatinetc day and remarkably depleted since Merry and K were under the weather G and family have other weds commitments and the manorborns visiting family. So just me and Z today. We were slightly late due to a phone call from work, and last minute remembering of SB’s viennese biscuits. We listened to our Italian CD on the way there, happily singing the songs.
Z had the first activity all ready on the table, making fairy tealight holders. we painted the jam jars and put beaded wires around them. V easy and v v effective and the children did all enjoy it. They all spent some time crafting and chatting together whilst Z and I also chatted and drank tea!
They then did the questions in a jar, with z pulling out the questions, and the children deciding on the answer. I am sometimes surprised by the odd mix of things they know, which are unexpected and the things they tell me they dont – like how many weeks in a year?? General knowledge useful for Home Educated children doesn’t involve so much timetable, and when at school the number of weeks may have relevance. Not that i dont want my children to learn these things of course…
Then as the different children finished at different times, they gradually peeled off to do some workbooky things whilst waiting for the ‘next moment’ .
BB has nearly finished explode the code book 1 which has definitely become a lot easier for her has we have gone through it. She had a bit of a grouchy moment with it, but a hug and a cuddle soon made things better 
SB brought some music theory, as she is sure C from the manor borns is going to get ahead of her 
She is learning her grade 3 theory stuff, and not seeming to have any problems with it so may sit that next christmas term. SB then added the whipped cream into her biscuits – yummy!
Z’s girls did some english and spelling. It was perhaps 20 mins and then lunch was ready – pasta! some bouncing about on the trampoline and playing. realised the deependers weren’t going to be able to make it 
hmm, these pictures are really rubbish aren’t they! must replace at some time. After lunch we did chapter 8 of real science for kids. this was about nutrients and mostly carbohydrates. we read the chapter last night and the experiment was done today all together. Basically using dilute iodine to see which foodstuffs contain starch [and paper!]
At the end for fun we made some invisible ink pictures with lemon juice.
We sat on sofas to discuss our findings, writing our objectives, hypothesis, results and conclusions. even BB wrote a little bit of hers before giving it to me to do
our final planned activity for the day was french. I read with BB one french book, with her repeating with me some of the words, and extrapolating on food words. SB, P and S took turns reading from 2 other books [which also have english translations] and seemed to get in the swing of this and enjoy it. One of my key things is for there to be no embarrassment to speaking in a foreign language, so i am v keen to encourage the oral/aural compenent of learning a language.
After that Z and I tidied up a bit and the girls played and also ‘developed’ their lemon juice pics with the diluted iodine. A lovely day, though we did miss all those that couldnt attend for one reason or another, as always more fun with more. Hoping they all feel better soon.
Then, all too soon we needed to be off as SB had a play date with a guides friend. We listened to classic fm on the way home. She had a fab time playing, and is pleased that they are both going on the guiders camp. hoping we maintain the playdate thing really.
SB is back, BB has been a bit snoozy so we have snuggled under the comfort duvet chatting, blogging, watching ice age 3. I am about to do a piano prac with SB, she will then go off to Judo and I will go for a works dinner to say goodbye to a colleague. Hopefully this blog has been a nice different one showing how family cooperatives get together. i had planned to showcase historyetc instead, but ppl will just have to read it instead I had also suggested to DH as the main home educator he might like to be the one to do the photomeme…
Anyway! resources used in the planning and outcome of today [i am an amazon affiliate btw etc etc]
i hope you have enjoyed this peek inside home ed, feel fre to read more on our blog or the home ed blog ring.