noises and sounds

Since we went to the tate modern in jan, and admired some of matisse, SB and I had thought we could have a thought about looking at making art ‘in the style of…’ starting with Matisse this year. Art is not my strongest point [ ] but I do enjoy it. SO we planned that for today. before we began, however, some tidying was in order. We all hate tidying, it is true, so it was well past midday before the room was enough tidy to move on! then as the kitchen wasn’t, we had to do other things first!

SB and I did a great recorder practice, the scales [though not arpeggios] and the 3 exam pieces. gradually coming together. mostly notes and rhythms right, so now to work on phrasing and dynamics! BB and I also did a recorder practice together, and SB did some french.

BB started with her own craft project, which she tells me daddy musn’t know anything about, and SB and I looked at a few matisse pictures and she said she knew what she had in mind and didn’t need to see any more, thankyou very much! BB also had a clear plan, so they got on with that whilst i read

The Pasteur book fits nicely with the science i plan to do later in the week as well. SB and BB both liked these books, and periodically stopped cutting/glueing/sticking to peer at the pictures and have a snuggle. The we moved onto story of the world and queen elizabeth 1. i corrected the succession order from henry VIII story, and then we enjoyed reading it, and then a bit about francis drake and sir walter raleigh from these books

BB’s has gone up on the wall, but SB’s has rather a lot of glue on it, so should be placed on the wall tomorrow! Having covered the kitchen table in Matisse style art, we ate our stirfry watching Dr Who in the living room before off to bed!!

As ppl might have read below, on monday chris bought fish from the fishmonger at the market. Today we dissected them at latinetc! i was really impressed, particularly by the younger [and more sensible group] at how carefully this was done in the main. i think the younger group were aided by being on 4 wanting to do it and 2 adults, to the older groups impatient 6! We started with looking at the beauty of the mackerel, the camouflage elements, and how we thought these might work, at the shape and dynamics of the fish - muscled and bullet shaped, likely to be a fast swimmer we thought. at the various external features - vent, protected eyes and gills, the various fins and the fabulous mouth. Then we started cutting!

we started with gills, talked about their purpose and investigated them - they are v beautiful! then we did our eviscerating slit - careful mostly not to eviscerated! amazingly we found the swim bladder, gonads, stomach and heart. may have found liver! def found lots of muscle and spine. and then after discussing those, they merrily set to on destruction! actually, that’s not entirely true, E did a beautiful dissection in the littlies, BB was a bit wilder! in the older group i think J and J did well to hang in their, being uncertain about dissection [and i have promised that will be the only one this term - so no eyeballs yet!] and the smell got to chloe. SB and maddy really enjoyed gutting etc their fishes…

other than that, they did music theory and latin and for the littlies french. we stayed and chatted whilst katy went to baby music, which was nice, i like the opportunity for a good natter. i listed to M and then J doiing their violin practises. we brought Maddy home with us, and she did brownies and judo v happily with SB, watched charlottes web with tea, and now all is finally quiet upstairs…

today was a latinetc day, always enjoyable for all of us. we were still late, because somehow our kids don’t get out of the house, and my poor sleeping is making me just want to curl up in bed unless matter transported! We started with SB doing some music theory, which apparently she struggled to do there, but at home raced through the sheet, so as gina says, prob due to arriving half way thro. BB similarly shy in french, doing opposites, but got going, and for the rest of the morning toddling about quite happily!

I like being in the kitchen with michelle, though think she may have been a bit more dubious about our proximity as we were looking at bacteria! i reassured everyone that they were actually dead! fixed on a microscope slide in fact, and we had a peer at some, but my microscope not really powered quite highly enough. we did a fun bacteria division game with peas and paper ‘cells’ obviously these were intracellular bacteria! and that was enjoyed. then i got out the petri dishes and swabs and we all thought of somewhere that might harbour bacteria, swabbed and plated it. now, with any luck, the petri dishes are in airing cupboards gently warming! the plan is to look every day and draw what you see. we may, or may not, have the older group try and make a microscope slide depending on how well it goes! unfortunately, it used up way more agar than i imagined! so i have had to buy lots more, and am waiting for it before we do part 2 - grow bugs and then put in something we think is bacteriocidal - what do you think? teatree, lavender, breast milk, alcohol gel, soap?? oh and an antibiotic and see if we can kill them! so we will dissect a fish next time instead. we had lots of discussions about bacteria, and it is always great to see what info kids already have and can pull together, we had a bit of evolution, yoghurt making, pasteurisation, ‘good and bad’ bacteria…

latin and music also happened, tho not clarinet - will happen 2moro. we came home, and sb did the clarinet and theory sheet whilst BB got going with painting a plaster of paris frame she had made. she really paints v carefully, and acrylic paints are so much better for this!! just as SB was about to get a kit to finish out, we had the deependers arrive after baby music, so supplied tea and refreshments. M very taken by that maze ball thing we all have! J,K and SB played bohnanza for a bit, and L and BB played together v happily. apparently the frame is prob for L, but don’t get too excited, as BB often keeps the things she makes for others…

Other things this week - SB had and really enjoyed her first golf lesson. she has done loads of maths on angles. BB done lots of crafting and finally starting to learn some letters!! chris put up the new bookcases, so looks fab in hallway, and currently he has started on room of doom! work been stressful as always, but have some time off coming up - woohoo!! oh, and it snowed - somehow that is no longer newsworthy, and i have hardly mentioned this prolonged cold snap in the blog, but it hasn’t really affected us, not like so many others!

I apologise to all Kits out there, not Kits were maimed in the process of the day!

I was a bit blurgy with some droopy virus and am having problems with both insomnia and recurring nigtmares, not altogether sure that it isn’t the nightmares that are causing the insomnia. last night the cats bought it v unpleasantly. Anyhoo…

Girls started with watching some nature prog on the tv, then SB did piano with me - her new upgrade book, thanks sarah, and recorder. BB also did a bit of piano. Bit more ds-ing - mostly cooking mama - and then we got out the kits pile! SB has finished her egg cups and horses, and BB her dinosaur. SHe then started her zebra kit, though sand one unfinished, as she told me she was just going to pour sand over all of it. seemed like a waste - these kids foil me at every turn!!

Whilst they did their kits, i read some SoTW - Council of Trent, and we then had a discussion about all the pathways christionity has taken, and if we were to be anything, we would be on the protestant side and the more minimalist the better - quakers have always struck me as quite a good idea, but dad a methodist, and chris’s parents baptists [tho not so keen on that myself] and i have had friens of ‘all persuasions’ and they all now get on - as there were bits about catholics and protestants killing each other! We also read a nice book about a viking family [which i will link to when i get home]

I felt interacted out, so we then watched some walking with dinosaurs whilst chris sorted out the pipe leak in the garage - aargh!! luckilly nothing ruined, but a nuisance none the less, and v cold for poor chris. BB and SB both did some maths as well.

SB has her first golf lesson tomorrow, so hoping that goes OK!

I think he will! blog, that is, as there was another fab trip out this week to a waterworks, and also various other bits and pieces.

me, i have been migrainous and grumpy. really not sleeping properly! AMongst all the exciting trips HE goes on, lots of maths, fair bit of science, music, reading etc etc. actually, i am going to digress. i think i read somewhere that penny whatsit of dcsf independent schools said one of the advantages of us being forcibly registered was that we may avail ourselves of school trips.

1. what, with schools?? no thankyou
2. we already do ’school trips’, but without schools, without crocodiles, in small groups with plenty of adults getting loads more value.
3. does anyone at the dcsf actually have any idea about home education ‘for real’?

back again from minor rantlet!

anyway, back from work earlier today, and caught SB doing her galore park science, which was fun. we got out various rocks - prev birthday presents, picked up etc and did the compare and contrast thing, which was kinda similar to our identify the chemical previously. she got really into it! maths, clarinet, english also happily done.

As blog readers will know, in the summer SB chose to revisit the idea of timetables so she knew what there was, we minimised and ameliorated the unmanageable, and had a list of about 50 things for her to choose 20 from a week - most of the 15-20 mins, or as long as she fancied. [this includes all her favourite things such as reading books, watching fact dvd, art, craft, baking, yoga , maths, english, science, music practice and french, plus whatever! ]this has been going really well. so well, that she wanted some rewards thrown on top! my nephew gets a mars bar for doing something well at school in the week. we hummed and ha-ed, and decided doing 30 things was our mars bar equivalent. she has done this every week for the last month. [why do i feel slightly soiled by this bribery? it was def not initiated by us - effectively it is 'normals' rather than school at home?]

today, bb finally cottoned on to the fact that she was being done out of a sweet!! massively massive tantrum, and with calming her down, but not making light of the work sb has put in to ‘achieve’ hers. so i thought 5 ‘things’ for a chupa chup, and 10 for an equivalent sweet [50p] to sb. cue massive more wials that she couldn’t do 10 and she needed a big sweet. [cue parent v tightly holding onto temper, as feeling cornered in the wrong place on the wrong foot]. Anyway, she now has a list too, where 5 is almost guarenteed, and 10 with the minimum of effort. so both got a sweet.

now, this is working really well for sb, in the way she can see a spread of what there is, chooses what she fancies, according to mood, time avail etc, and actually although i have asked for 3 music practices and maths a week is otherwise entirely hers to sort out and organise, and there are no ‘penalties’ for not doing the 3 i suggested - i only pointed out it lets her move forward, and she has noticed that if she does or more, she gets on more easily. no box other than above is stipulated as more valuable for her learning, and that above is only done so in a rational way. so her gluing window is equally valued to french for example. And I am really proud of the way SB looks, chooses, gets on with things and enjoys her home ed. But i guess today, with bb’s outburst, i wondered what juggernaut was on the loose! going to make sure sb is the only foot on the accelerator, and that i make sure occasionally that a brake is suggested! I really don’t want her to be confined by lists and expectation! but i guess, it is things she loves, we have always done them. hmmm.

BB had such a major strop, actually, that she didn’t go to football, too busy drumming on the floor with hands and feet. this too will pass, i am sure. But she did do some piano, read a few words and did some before the code with me, determined to get her 50p of sweets.

SB and I played games, hugged and then she finished her mecchano radio controlled car, which she is v v proud of. [thats on the list as 'making things']

Thursday was Tots and Nots.  Bit late getting going in the morning, but SB managed to get a piano pratice in before we left just a little late. Once we got there SB was straight into Philosophy Club - apparently this week it was about the difference beteen hearing and listening. Me and BB sat and made a cardboard cutout digger  that Gina had provided the materials for. Sat and read with BB, played with Megablocks and playdough, had snacks, some playing etc., SB did a poem activity with Katy and some of the other kids. Recorders all round with Gina. Had intended to leave early enough to get home for a bit for SB to do a bit more preperation for her presentation for the next days HE group. But she wanted to do French as well so we ende up staying on for that.

Went straight onto gym via Pets a Home for cat food and Monster nibbles. Had the traditional ‘whats the best deal on catfood this time ‘  activity since they always seem to have a couple of  brands or another on a BOGOF or somesuch. This time, one of ou preferred brands was on a BOGOF that menat that buying multiple small packets was cheaper than buying a big sack. So me and SB pondered those for a bit.

Then we looked at fish, ahhh-ed over hamsters and other small furry things, found suitable treats/nibbles for Monster, put BB off from trying to buy uneccessary rabbit tat. Off to drop SB at gym and then me and SB headed off into town for a little bit of shopping (went into Millets for boot laces, BB came out with a fluffy fleece jacket….)  Sainsburys and then to the playground.

They are extending the gym, and the upstairs viewing balcony is mostly closed off. So me and BB have stopped staying at gym and watching SB as there isn’t much space. But it will soon be too dark to be going to the park and things so not sure what we will do if they haven’t reopened it soon.

Home for a boring dinner of pasta (not organised enough in the mornign to have anything else) and me and SB sat and sorted out final things for her presentation - some photos for a slideshow and questions for a quiz she wanted to do.

Viking and Saxon History

Another HE group, in another town. They have been doing monthly history session, where any kids that want to present something on the theme of the session. They started earlier in the year, but last month was the first one we got to and this was the first one that we have presented at. SB was inspired by a Making Viking Bread’ article in the latest issue of the Young Archgeologists Club magazine, so we used that as the focus. Though we couldn’t find the magazine last weeend and had to look up a recipe on the web.

H made the bread and butter with the girls last weekend. So we took that.  We took photos which SB wanted to display whilst she talked about how she made the bread.

She did very well at explaining what she did I thought, thought had to be reminded to speak up enough so people could hear. After that her and BB did a True or False quiz with soem questions relating to the food viking ate. BB was being the ‘glamorous assistant’ and showing the answers.

Though it was a bit of a comedy moment really as they hadn’t practised this. SB had coloured coded the True and False cards for BB green and purple, but BB didn’t quite have the hang of it

We handed round the bread and butter which all went down well

Other presentations included a Story and soup,  models of viking longhouses, about the battle of Hastings, the tale of Beowulf.

After the presentations was lunch and playing outside/chatting before hometime.

Home for a bit of playing and pottering about. They both got into a good Bob the Builder lego game so I left to quietly too it.

Then it was off out to BB’s football skills session and home to get dinner ready,  followed by a bit of flopping in the sitting room. Me and SB did a bit of her Meccano remote controled car before bedtime.

Tune in next month for the next thrilling instalment of ‘Daddybean does Blogging’

chris is blogging thurs and fri - hopefully - as they were really great days! so i am going to make a start on today!

i got up really late as work has had my nose most definitely to the grindstone, and i had some sleep deprivation to catch up on! the girls were playing beautifully together, and although it is prob the KOD to blog it, they seem to have gone through their grumpy with each other patch and are enjoying each others company again. i *could* worry that this means SB is playing lots of ‘baby’ games with BB, but I like the games they play together, and i am not in a rush to push her game playing older!

We had some postcrossing cards arrive - woohoo!! so put them up on our display. this is gradually encouraging sb to remember continents, and what countries may be found where. OK, so we have not had any arrive from africa, antartica, australasia or asia, but we have sent one to taiwan and australia! SB has started writing more of them as well.

will start the day and perhaps rewrite as i recall! oh i think we started with SB doing recorder prac, and then duets with me as i had got a yamaha recorder treble to match hers. we love duetting. though gina says sb practiced stuff she has been able to do for ages rather than the new things! whilst we were doing this, BB got out a science kit - first electronics, and worked through the book making all the circuits [they are v simple, but i was still v proud as this includes putting batteries in!]
SB did some verbal reasoning and then galore park science - which had an experiment-recipe to make, so we got ingredients. SB fancied crafting before that though, and BB and chris went outside to mend her bike burst tyre from too much skidding!! SB made some dried flower pics which we laminated. unfortunately we seem to have destroyed the laminator when tried to laminate a sweetie wrapper pic. hopefullly chris will take apart and it will work again? we did a short piano practice, concetrating on rhythms.

we then made the rock cakes - these show sediment being laid down over time and creating dinosaur fossils. good fun to make and eat! might remember that idea for a group geology session one day!

so we collapsed infront of tv to cuddle and snuggle, and sb broke the video - it has been a breaking kind of day! so i read rome in cross section to her and bB and we looked for and spotted things and related them to the roman mysteries books. finally watched some mickey mouse dvd, had dinner and then it was bedtime.

my evening work, again, has been home ed politics. making sure i have done as much as i can, writing to mp, dscf, select committee, filling out consultations etc and asking others too.

please, if you haven’t

the petition

the review

and my sense told me to panic!! It was another latinetc wednesday, and i decided we would do spy writing [since i think all the children have destroyed their copies, they are on googledocs!]. so i bundled together a number of reasonably hazardous rather than outright dangerous chemicals, and set off! i turned out to be not so successful for the younger group, as the paper wasn’t starchy enough, but they enjoyed it anyway, and were remarkably dextrous at pipetting and measuring. [they didn't get to have really hazardous chemicals! citric acid, acetic acid and iodine!]

the older group was far more successful, mixing up chemical solutions, being v careful. they got some fabulous results, and are gradually being led into the ways of being a chemist! i haven’t done a great many chemical equations, because i am hoping that they get chemical safe yet interesting stuff skills first to build on! but do throw in the technical words and terms, and i think they are all starting to associate copper with blue, iodine and starch and we even precipitated out some iron today. so i think it is working! a bit out of my comfort zone though, exploring chemistry with the so young!! but they have all done so much ’safe’ chemistry, that a few chemicals seemed the logical next step! [see the chem 2 page in the sidebar]

SB as always loved music, and her and chloe put on a fab latin doctor play. actually 4 other children in pairs did too. BB loves her french and science, so at the moment it does run v successfully. SB had a wobble today though - it has been a while since she has been so easily wobbled, and it reminds me how far she has come in personal resource and strength in the last few years, and how proud of that i am. we had a hug, did some 1:1 chemistry, sorted out the issue, and happiness restored. phew! A bit of discussion going on about the latinetc group, to try and make it work well for all children, and what compromises and adjustments may make a globally better picture. i am always change resistant, but can see that a few tweaks here and there may benefit!! We listened to a max and maxin french story on the way home, to maximise the french!!

home and SB and BB were thrown into the bath and had their hair washed. they were showered after swimming last night, but somehow still looked really grubby all over!! SB did a bit of general home ed stuff, a bit of maths, a bit of preparation for her viking presentation on friday [wish i could be there, chris better blog!], some of her mecchano car and her DK mediaeval project book. We had another postcrossing card to send, so SB had a look at the various maps on our walls, and was struck by the few roads in the scottish isles… I like postcrossing for random map moments!

BB and i went to rainbows, she is loving it. she is by far the tiniest, and she wants someone to stay, which is ok for now. but she joined in readily and loved the guessing game and the bubble blowing. the rainbow leader is v good here, and her daughter also helping out was fun. BB got her rainbow top, so was v happy. passed SB and Chris coming up as we were going home for SB’s brownies and then judo.

BB and i watched toystory as we ate our dinner [spinach, potato and cauli curry, yummy] and when SB returned, she watched the egyptian what the ancients did for you.

now i am catching up with the select committee and home ed activism. i really never pegged myself as someone likely to be an activist!!

sorry about hopeless blogging. life is feeling v short on time, and blogging and reading others blogs is a casualty! wouldn’t be so bad if the man himself - whose blog this is remember! - did some catching up too!!

me - well, with the girls went and visited mum and dad for the weekend. always good to catch up, relax and be loved and spoiled!! though did have one of the most horrendous journeys down for roadworks, diversions and parkedness!! also saw my BIL and nephew and niece for sunday, which we all enjoyed. a flying visit from sis too. returned late on sunday. chris had a weekend of tidying, though i really wish it had been windowing. i am sure it is going to fall in one of these days.

monday girls did some shopping for ballet stuff and new cycling helmet for BB. SB had ballet, a bit of home ed type stuff done i think. tues is library day, and a visit to chris’s parents, with swimming then for both girls. i played some games in the evening, and we watched a rather boring fact dvd on ice age survivors.

so to today. latinetc! it seems ages since the last one, and i have really missed them! it looks like we might be making a few changes to structure and layout, a dynamic process! today i did science - as always - and slightly shorter sessions, which i think worked better. i had 4 mystery chemicals, and descriptions of properties of 4 chemicals, and we had to identify which was which. think it worked v well!! merry did some fab fimo craft - though sb did a beheaded version!! a latin refresher by katy. think sb has forgotten vast swathes! and some music from gina and our busy morning was busy! we were going to go to the park in the afternoon, but it got chilly, so merry and girls came back to ours, and there was fancy dress going on.

excitement for bb’s first rainbows! she thinks one of us will have to go until she is 7 we’ll see!! she loved it though. sb is currently in brownies, and getting more badges probably, then judo. we did a really good piano practice today as well.

the other thing we are doing is postcrossing towards some geography!! actually working currently, in that each of our sent postcards has been looked up on a map, and more excitement over the current 2 received.

i had managed to be mostly organised yesterday, sorting out an acid/bases science and picnic stuff, so setting off this morning ok. introduced myself to the temporary french child at the deependers, drank tea with katy, and eagerly awaited gina and her composing special occasion.

the children divvied themselves into groups with an adult, and i was with jjm combo, plus bb who was sulking because we hadn’t done the day in the right order with littlies science first. it was great fun, and loosely based around petroushka. i think we were probably more ‘loose’ than anticipated! all the children bar bb enjoyed it, and fran conducted the concert at the end. the children all had snack and watched petroushka on you tube, which they were all enjoying.

i hesitantly suggested if science was to happen, it should start, and they all raced at me like loons. i wanted to do it outside, but we had numerous too colds, so went into the deependers home ed kitchen. it was a bit of a squish doing all the kids science together, and reminded me why i wouldn’t want to be a class teacher, as lots of crowd control involved! i think it went really well though, and only had to be ’slightly’ shouty! we had a solution of acid [distilled vinegar] and we made a solution of base [bicarb and water] and i told them that these were dangerous chemicals, and we were going to practice being v careful - it is a good thing they weren’t, and actually, i think i need to be able to tell m in french things like dangerous chemical. i might print off some hazard signs! i had some red and blue litmus paper - which is more obviously pink and purple! and we worked out that they changed to ‘the other one’s colour’ to detect acid and bases. fab. so some went off to find some other fluids to test, and those remaining looked to see if turmeric really was an indicator too. it was supposed to go red, and not dramatically convincing, but i think it did! the children then all did a litmus blue and red, and chose which of the fluids to test. you would have thought that they might notice i don’t necessarily choose the loudest jumpy up and down one to have a go, but ask the quieter ones! [trying to remember so that all really get a first choice]. we found wine to be acidic, and also hand gel - good explanation from sb for that, and maybe milk to be alkaline.

the last bit didn’t work quite so well due to a lack in my number of eyes, ears and hands! basically each child was to put 10 drops of either acid or base in a well with the pipette [divided into 2 sides] and then swap the acid/base and put a specified number of drops in, hoping to then have solutions of different alkalinity/acidity. then drop a tiny bit of indicator paper in. having looked at the results, we didn’t exactly have a range, possibly because some of the young scientists didn’t count, splurged in etc. but on the whole, those starting with the acid were in the acid spectrum of pH paper, and those starting with the base were in the alkaline. and there was a bit of differentiation within them. maybe something to try in smaller groups/individuals.

quick pasta lunch and off to the not back to school picnic, as co-ordinated across the uk by ali - thankyou! we weren’t sure of the turnout, so hadn’t organised press, but in view of the bbc piece, may send something to local paper in case they have a gap! we actually had 10 families attend, which i thought was fantastic - thankyou all! and, a greater suprise, 4 of them were new, 3 had deregistered this term, and 1 new to the area. we are hoping to all see more of each other, and i realised what a good thing a relaxed intro like this is for newly deregged parents! a party to celebrate our childrens’ right to a uniquely tailored education, following their age, ability and aptitude, without having to norm reference within a class of 30. their right to learn in a way that suits them, makes the experience worth it, fun, informative and brings the family closer together. hip hooray for the ability to home ed, and a pantomine boo for dscf for trying to regulate it away.

i don’t really feel that i have been normal for quite a while now, and i am probably still not normal. i am still grieving for little nanny, and worrying for my sister. but have made a clear decision that life just must go on as normally as poss for the family, as i feel i wobbled a bit too much last year, with far less justification. so having had a number of exciting weekends and exciting weeks, we have settled this week to trying to be a bit more ‘normal’ and actually get some HE done!! I know, we have had lots of fab experiences which are all educational and have loved them all, but wanted to touch a reality base!

SO, chris has been tidying - well, it seems a bit like the firth of forth bridge really! BB has moved onto the next maths book - singapore earlibird 2A and is v happy with herself, and SB also moved onto the next one - singapore 3B, which seems a bit revisiony at the moment - no bad thing considering what slowcoaches at maths we have been!! She has also been doing some piano and recorder practice, and is v proud to play one of the pieces in Recorder from the Beginning: Tune Book 3. As always she is reading, and has also done a small section in each of Junior English Book 1 and Junior Science Book 1. today we have also done a bit of french, reading this book from a fab series Jill and the Beanstalk and

I read these whilst the girls were hama beading to make cards for their cousin’s 9th birthday. also - at SB’s request, some story of the world. we rather liked the imagery of mehmed’s boats in the taking of constantinople. it appears we have come to the end of the middle ages, and not really done much english based since the battle of hastings! luckilly we have other books… BB and i did some more french - spotting the picture for the word from a 1000 words book, and also some lego, whilst SB and chris shopped.

so there, a normal, boring but oh so lovely day! full of conversation, cuddles and time. now i am flickring - aaargh!! oh, and we are harvesting potatoes and beans and courgette/marrows!

i love this, and think it is such a fab idea. really more people should join us!! the site has upped its shower and portaloo numbers further, and they were immaculate. we went camping at wicksteed park, joined by nic etc, jax etc and a brief portico. we got there in good time to tent up, eat, settle and get that holiday vibe. i was still migrainous, but standing - as it were! and SB - bless her - was really helpful putting up the tent. none of my children are perfect [just like their parents!] but i have to say how impressed i can be with SB’s thoughtfulness and helpfulness. nic was late, so got to stay in the guest wing of our tent -

Friday chris and girls went out to the park to have a go on some rides, and i joined them after a particularly bad shower when the migraine tabs kicked in - you know i really hate migraines. work takes loads of days out of my life, and then migraine attempts to decimate the rest. i just refuse to be ground down. i arrived to see them all on the carousel with rain pouring off the sides and just roared with laughter for the duration of the ride. i took BB, as neither of us are particularly keen riders!! and SB and chris gallivanted off. this tends to work well, with a few moments joined together, so i could watch SB and teeny be scary on the umbrella ride, but mostly BB wanted to play in the free park. we still have some of the ride tickets left from last year! i do love that wicksteed lets you carry these on. meant bb and i were ‘free’ effectively this year.

eventually we slumped off back to the tent, and jax and kids joined a bit later. SB demonstrated her helpfulness again putting the tent up [well, a bit of pegging anyway!] before all children ran amok. i got dinner started and had all 4 kids in the tent whilst jax and chris went off shopping. unfortunately the petrol ran out, and chris had the spare in the boot. darn! i earned my brownie helpfulness badge by rescuing a family [and their dog!!] and letting them wait in our tent for torrential rain to pass before they could put up their own. dinner did get cooked, friendly chit chat evening and then all up bright and early for kelmarsh

Saturday i was v excited this year, as noticed that instead of the trenches was an agincourt re-enactment. something a bit different hey! and so had planned to start the day with the siege of harfleur part 1. unfortunately an hour on the slip road scuppered that! but part 2 was fab, and i LOVED the raining arrows. thankyou thankyou the english bowmen! SB heckled harry, king of england AND FRANCE by suggesting he should, after all, hang the citizens of harfleur - where do they get this bloodthirtiness from?? thought he did v well with his speech and prancing on horse etc. once more into the breach indeed! so we chatted then to various re-enactors and then met up at the victorian beach and punch and judy. BB v happy with beach, SB with punch and judy, me with meeting up with friends, including unexpected ones from wales! SB wandered off to BZents - always a firm fav. we had already watched the robin hood one, and she went for what ho henry, with chris whilst i supervised BB jumping and playing with Shannon from going against the flow. they had a whale of a time.

SB specifically wanted to talk to people in tents and watch the jousting, so that is what we did, but she got taken by the boer war commentary, so we sat and watched that too. shame we didn’t get to see the balloon up, and we were all on the side of the plucky bitterienders, and discussed the meaning of concentration camp. one of the things i like about lifelong learning and wikipedia are the fact that i have just been whizzling around boer war sites for about an hour, and now know much more than before! it was not something that i had planned to watch, imagining it to be a bit jingoistic [it was], but have been glad that i did, as now have an increased understanding of that bit of history - something i guess festival of history wants to encourage!

anyway, we then hotfooted to the jousting arena, were entertained by peterkin the fool [very funny man] watched our french knight dress, and then really loved the joust. v different from previous jousts we have watched. SB entertained by the idea that there were 2 king henry’s on the field! BB was a grumpalump of immense proportions by this stage, but turning the buggy into a den kept her v entertained. after the joust i called it a day. it was very hot, and it was my first post migraine day, and i really didn’t want migraine to return! so back to wicksteed for dinner and children playing - not quite as smoothly, prob because all tired. Poor SB ended up on the wrong end of some of the fall out, and so i hugged her to sleep as she was all upset and washed out. She hadn’t been perfect to start with, but had had a fright. so she chose the secret garden for me to read to her to calm her down. i did point out that this book starts quite badly, and she said she knew, as listened to story cd. so we had more trauma, because she ‘needed’ to know who would look after her and BB, and would we ever forget they were there etc - i think not! just as i popped out to relax, became aware jax’s big unwell, so a mad dash to get them all packed and in car to drive off home. life is all go here!! did i say the portico’s had arrived?? they had guest wing facilities.

Sunday morning tent went down fine, the bigger kids went to park on their own - cue MASSIVE meltdown from BB. luckilly portico parent took pity on her and took her off to the park. we all finished detenting and set off for kelmarsh. no traffic at all, so got there pretty much at the same time. I was determined to bring back the legions, so singing the terry deary song we parked ourself infront of the excellent ermine street guard. we were initially with porticos, but ernest immed got stung by wasp - aargh! but ability to swallow nurofen helped. we loved the romans. sb again enthralled, bb not so. since bb so obviously not really wanting to re-enact, we often divided and conquered. we all mosied up to agincourt, talking to redcross and russians on the way. SB being pegged as a lad got offered far more guns to hold than she ever does as a girl . the weaponsmaster v patiently took them through 1 1/2 swords etc and both girls signed up for childrens drill. we admired the calligraphy.

children’s drill saw BB looking cute. she knew she didn’t have to do it, and just as i said to chris, i think that BB’s had enough and moved forwards, she burst into tears and ran into my arms. awww. i took her off to the craft tent whilst chris watched the rest of the drill, which sb enjoyed. was v impressed by the kaleidoscope craft. it was easy and it worked. on being joined by other family members we said hello to the deependers and then bought icecream and went to the beach~! BB had more fun in the sand, but SB was tempted by the dancers to join in georgian dancing. SB elected to watch another punch and judy, and BB to bob between that and the sand. our final plea from SB was to watch the parachute drop event, so we went down and did that whilst chris and BB stayed in the family zone. we had a good spot, and were impressed, as always, with the parachutes. from this vantage point also watched the grand parade, when the rain started. met up with chris and went via shop [pretty much all gone to bb's disgust] and finally home.

things i missed - the actual agincourt battle. the roman charioteers, the victorian gymkhana, the whole of the parade ground stuff and the archaeol tents. but i think we got loads out of it, again!

we went on a jaunt to london today [yes, i took an annual leave day!] to see the LSO in action as they whizzed around the world. we really enjoyed it. early start from the manor instead of ultra-early from ours! got to meet her friend B and R again - which was lovely. and got to chat more this time. the girls played in the water at the barbican, nearly getting drowned, and only not on the promise of being able to play again afterwards.

The concert was really enjoyable, and SB said she really loved it, did wish that we had had Ode to Joy so she could have recordered, as we didn’t - i hadn’t managed to def work out whether we would or wouldn’t. she liked seeing the harry potter music she said, as she could see who made the wind whirl. [lovely way with words]. she was grumpy with me for only playing her winter before BB wasn’t quite so sure. she enjoyed the first 2, found petroushka a bit harder to deal with [as anticipated] and went out in bamboozled. we might try a family one/key stage 1 and see how she does. me, i just loved the jumping sheep in candide…

glad to see so many friends - when your friends are e-friends more often than not, it is lovely to catch them in the real. and actually, we have had a social may for catching friends in the real - june will seem really weird in comparison! and thanks to the organiser. well done!

of course, writing this on monday, I am not quite sure I can remember saturday! at my poor memory. this is why i blog!!

sat was an outside day anyway, though SB snuck off to computer game. lets think [ie look at the mess, and like an archaeologist, go for a lower level!] ah yes, both girls did some more of their artwork for the village fair - a frog for BB and a green man for SB. both have boomwhackered, and SB made up a trio for her chris and me to play, whcih was fun! SB did some making things with an idea wooden set. [like first mecchano i guess].

Outside i planted out some artichokes, and read to BB some more bee related books and we looked to see what bees we could find in the garden. SB read a french book [her choice]. both the looked to press some more flowers, and just generally had a lazy playing sort of day. [ah, and as mentioned in the post below, i did some reading!]

chris cooked me a lovely tea of mushrooms in a cream sauce pasta, utterly delicious, but the quorn thing has passed on to wild mushrooms, and i had stomach cramps then all evening! we did watch the human journey - which i am enjoying. think we might get walking with cavemen for the girls to watch [but don't think they will be reading the clan of the cave bear any day quite yet!]

sun saw us go to the RSPB for a nature walk with the manor borns. chris and marcus both cycled there, and arrived a smidge before us dreadful car drivers [though set off somewhat significantly ahead, and without us, there would have been less picnic!] we picnicked - and ogled the roast dinner on the table next to us - before setting out. it was a scorching day, so we were well suncreamed, and took the favourite walk - has to involve the quarry - so BB was mostly happy. i thought she did really well. all the girls charmed the volunteers before we left as well [always a good thing - especially since sb lost her clipboard somewhere half way round!!] we found lots of good places to put our memorial benches - view good, shade better!

Back to the manor for a lovely evening. i think the heat had got the the girls, so they got an earlier bedtime than they expected - suprising michelle, who rode out the storm by sequestering herself in the bathroom!! obviously, none of ours stayed in the room they started, but that was fine, and the new bed arrangements in the spare room are v comfortable - thanks to SOTP

ooh! end of the weekend reached. not so hard!! [may have to add]

i had a compassionate day off work today to go and say goodbye to uncle r. unfortunately he wasn’t well enough for all of us. and when i suggested yesterday at work that i didn’t need it, i think the sobbing went against me, so i was told not to come in. actually i should have gone in, as i had loads to sort out: otoh, actually in my job i need a fully functioning headspace, so could see their point.

SO i have had the bliss of part time working this week, and i really like it! hmm, to whether i will ever manage to negotiate it for a full time thing, and then how the money would stretch, but hey, one thing at a time!

i got up late, after having listened to sb playing her recorder. when i got down, she was doing some Junior Science Book 1 [we are still on chapter one, as it is an as and when thing! we plan to skip 2 and go onto 3 in the hopes that it ties in with our june holiday], and she happilly wrote through that. BB meanwhile got out her Get Set for the Code - Book B, and in her own way chose what she wanted to do! we then read some books together, whilst SB did some handwriting Italic Handwriting Series Book D

then total mayhem as my amazon order for me arrived. i decided to treat myself to an escape route, so have bought The Clan of the Cave Bear + The Valley of Horses (Earth’s Children series) on jax and merry’s recommendations, and these Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt) Dragonfly Falling (Shadows of the Apt) cos they looked interesting!
I didn’t forget the girls entirely, i bought SB this The Roman Mysteries Treasury as she really has been loving the roman mysteries, BB this French is Fun with Serge, the Cheeky Monkey! (Salut Serge) oh, and i also bought these!!Boomwhacker - Pentatonic Set Although I agree with Gina more = better, SB often makes up her tunes in various modal styles, and thought the pentatonic might keep this musical awareness going.

SO BB bashed away with the boomwhackers, sounding surprisingly gamelan or chinese and SB stuck her nose in the flavia gemina book!! i did some work emails. following a melt when BB got rather too enthusiastic with the boomwhackers [Gina, exactly how robust are they] she retired to watch the french is fun DVD and SB did some maths. I read loads of fairy stories, then lunchtime [late!]

Afternoon for SB and I was a long game of Puerto Rico. you can’t really play it properly with 2, but it is OK for an child and adult scenario [or even 2 children] money much easier to come by! BB wandered off into the garden with chris, and then came back for some ivor the engine.

it being sunny, we then all decamped into the garden, bb had some flower seeds she wanted to scatter across the veg patch, i had cucurbits and beans to get out, and SB was keen to help. so that was what we did this pm. not got all the beans out, as had to spend some time untangling them from each other!

girls settled down to playing and chalking [ie making shapes out of hunks of chalk just like at the sustainability. and i read Honey in a Hive (Let's-Read-And-Find-Out Science: Stage 2) while they worked. we had dinner out in the garden, bathtime [obviously indoors!] and SB had more of Black Ships Before Troy - The Story of the Iliad

A quick yesterday summary:
SB and Maddy had a great time playing together, lots of games where got out and played, and SB loved it. BB also pottered along, either with them or with chris, quite happy. BB had a gym taster session, and was really ecstatic about that. unfortunately M’s ear started to hurt and she went home before i got in from work, and so missed the astronomy night. we, however, all looked at the moon again, and some of the stars, seeing if we could find galaxies [no - must look more at the map next time!!]

I didn’t do so well today. firstly, i thought we were having people come to show off their dvd, so had planned to do non-newtonian fluid mess in the garden. they didn’t come, and it was raining! and secondly, i was rather thrown off kilter by a family phone call.

luckilly, Merry came with a basket of fimo, gina with boomwhackers [Boomwhacker - Pentatonic Set] , and katy with latin games. [those boomwhackers are tempting aren't they!!] SO the children had a lovely time rotating through the 3 rooms. I was Merry’s teaching assistant today, and def enjoyed it. I was also majorly impressed by the care and effort in fimo creating. And i LOVED the boomwhackers.

Today could have been so difficult, and i did nip off to do some piano practice, and field calls, but having good and understanding friends around was really helpful. snacks and playings took place, and we had a go at extracting dna from kiwi. this was successful in the stuff i whizzed up, but not as visible as i would have liked, so may fiddle with the experiment, and we will do it again at some point. [as an aside, i am watching that human evolution progra,,e on the tv, and am rather impressed at my 6 finger touch typing skills!]

everyone eventually left at 5, and we have maddy on a sleepover. the girls all played some more, initially a variety of imaginative games, then beetle drive and then monopoly. we looked up the lso concert for next monday, and SB and Maddy had a go playing ode to joy on the recorder with me - not bad, but diff to get up to speed, so we have a back up plan of playing an A. SB then got the trumpet out, and they trumpetted, recordered and jingled through the leonard bernstein version. dinner and eventually bedtime, which SB and Maddy seem to have done without any hitches.

we were lucky enough to be part of a guinea-pig group of Home Educators on a ‘musical pilgrimage’ to ely cathedral - rather fabulous! we started off in a side room listening to plainsong and discussing its changing to mediaeval music, and the different musical notations. then some settings of psalm 23. following that we learnt our own plain chant and in 2’s went down the full length of the cathedral to choir stalls singing [with all tourists watching - giggle!]

there a fab organist took the children [and adults] through the working of an organ [and a weird short video] then in groups they got to go up to the organ loft or blow down various pies. sb and i were in the first group with a couple of deependers and a biff. he demonstrated the organ, they asked questions and pulled out a stop or 6 and then sb asked if she could play and he said yes! she was v thrilled by this [and i v jealous!!]

we then went down and made execrable noises blowing the various pipes whilst the other groups went up [including bb and chris]. I think the various [few] tourists and and religious attenders were relieved when the 12 o clock bell went for 1 hour quiet time! we had lunch - initially planned as a picnic, but the heavens opened almost the instant we went out! so we backtracked to a classroom.

after lunch we had the final portion of the pilgrimage. we listened to some other versions of psalm 23 [including vicar of dibley version] and sang some modern hymns from around the world, and then went and had a mini candle service in the lady chapel [who i must confess looked a bit like a clothed aphrodite]. excellent day.

BB and SB finished with football and swimming respectively.

we have had a busy and productive day here chez haricot. i had today off work - yippee!! and having worked the weekend, decided to use it well - ie stay at home. really i should have gone into town and done some fairly urgent banking stuff, but don’t know where the forms are

SO we thought we would start with a bit of normals. SB keen to show me she had moved onto the next piano piece [i am trying to play this v cool - cf violin!] and she has played it v nicely. BB was a tad jealous, so brought me her maffs to do - so we did that, and SB went onto Junior English Book 1 [we are doing this in tiny bites so on 1.5! but we are at least considering things]. I suggested that for the galore park, that although i am unbothered by her spelling elsewhere, she might want to use the dictionary to spell things for this [cue wails as couldn't find circus]. bb and i did jigsaws and then a marble run and sb did some maths - see we have been productive! then we had lunch

both girls wanted to do some science, but ‘on their own’ and bb chose to investigate magnets and sb an eino burglar alarm that she has done before. after this they fancied craft. BB chose air drying clay and initially made more fossils. SB looked at a Middle Ages Activity Book (Crafty History)
and chose to play 3 mens merrels. we decided it was a fun game, so she has made a board and counters out of air drying clay too. then they have both spent ages sticking jewels into air drying clay as middle ages treasures!!

Now BB is watching magic school bus and SB is at ballet. plan to make some scones when chris comes back with cheese. actually chris been gone a while - might have forgotten and gone into hayloft. hayloft currently has a dead animal aroma [something of a concern] so he is investigating!

edited to complete! we made cheese scones - yummy - as planning to visit science museum wed unless things go pear shaped! BB did a short nice recorder practice and then a v long hideous one, so banned to the stairs!! SB grumpilly did 5 mins recorder practice, and then decided to make up music for me to copy, and then made up some more etc etc so did about 40 mins in the end!! i love the fact she is so unthinkingly confident about making it up, and also often modal rather than modern tonal. much reading - she is working through the roald dahl books she happily got for her birthday.

BB was particularly spectacularly ‘not tired’ at tea tonight and after screaming and shrieking in the pantry for about 10 minutes while we all pretended she didn’t exist, came back and let me feed her before falling asleep at the table - so not tired! tho she woke up and pretended she had been pretending and was again not tired, so we got the whole rigmarole 2ce!

very quick actually, am going to see whether i can do one of these fabulous 10 min blogs, the craze of which is sweeping the early years blogring in that typical blog meme way!! [23:10]

so thurs is chris’s day, so will be swift for me to write! nots and tots, both girls told me lots about recordering - and rather fabulously they have both practiced every day since!! BB is somewhat challenged to keep all her tiny fingers over the holes, and i am somewhat challenged by 10 mins of b’s and a’s, but hey! SB working on her low d at the mo, and just enjoys playing through book 1 - long may it last. actually, she has also done piano every day too. sb made sausage rolls, she def prefers them with linda mccartney sausages [good as much quicker to make!] i think she also did some french.
thurs also gym for both girls - i believe all costumes present and correct! and i did something with them when i got home ? read stories?? and then panicked about my friday!

Fri, i think was a sorting at home day, sb doing lots of reading, both music practices and some maths, and then lots of playing with polydrons and geomags. bB has done lots of fimo-ing. merry left us a fimo booklet thingy, and BB is gradually making them all - i think this is a sales technique! we watched dr who, and BB impressed us by knowing it was going to have the Ood in it! SB has enjoyed reading The Battle for Radio: Marconi’s Story (Science Stories) and Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude and Antarctic Adventure: Exploring the Frozen Continent (DK Eyewitness Readers: Level 4)
My friday wasn’t as bad as it could have been, and i will leave it as that on the blog.

Today I have been working. SB spent AGES doing some maths, and has again piano-ed and recordered. A fair bit of sylvanians playing and reading also. BB and I have fimo-ed [again!] read a lot together [ including this series Duckling (DK Watch Me Grow)] and recordered [more a's and b's] SB wrote BB a recorder piece in a’s and b’s - lovely of her. we read some french alltogether, did a fair bit of playing and reading altogether. watched the second ood thing, read some SOTW [ages since we did that, are reading about gengis khan] and SB currently in bed listing to our island story vol 2. [23:28 - but interruptions from chris - also blogging same days - and SB - can't sleep as windy]

what a fab title! today was latinetc, and we should have been on time, but a section of the road we were travelling down was being lifted up, and it was only when we got to the front of a several mile tailback that we found this out. harrumph.

As usuall SB enjoyed the latin - and apparently did know more than one word! and loved the music and bells, and was trying to tell me all about the hand signals - is that the doh a dear stuff? thanks gina for link!] the littlies started with a fimo workshop from Merry, where they made snowmen. BB was most happy, and impressive snowmen turned out by all. we then did science. we have put chicken bones in jars of vinegar and sealed, and in 2 weeks will see what has happened. we discussed the properties of bone, what it might be made out of, and then made wild guesses about what might happen to it in the vinegar. A little segue, and i got out some of our fossils - a lot of belemnites, some gryphea and some ammonites. much impressed by ancientness - though obviously the many stones in the garden they have touched are ancient also!! [could side track into ramble on relativeness of ancientness]. we looked at pictures of what it is imagined they looked like, different ways fossils are made and then we got to work making our own fossils out of air drying clay, real or imagined! when i did the bigger group, pretty much along the same lines, but with more detail J had fossil designers block. I suggested instead he could contemplate what might be fossilised today for the future. so he as done a dalek! rofl!! I had in my head that i would get loads of ammonites, trilobites and a few extras, but i should have known that this group has their imagination always on!!

an interesting aside, is that we always have some free questions and answerings in science, and the biguns surprised me by asking about madeleine mccann, and the evidence her parents killed her. I am of the opinion that they didn’t, and that there is no evidence to say otherwise. we talked about how it focuses minds of parents to keep children safe, and not leaving them completely unsupervised, however ‘free’ it might seem. they then moved onto shannon, it is always an honour to hear a group of children discuss these things with you as an equal. i do wonder whether some of them knowing about the current consultation has perhaps kickstarted some thinking.

some fab playing, some french games for the littlies - bb now doesn’t have a problem with staying glued to me, which is nice! BB found a newt in the garden, which she thought was a toy [like her stretchy lizards!] but C then took charge, and all the children got to hold and have a look before it was released into mud world. BB was quite liberally covered in mudworld…

SB was getting a bit worn though, as she wasn’t at her best [though this has meant lots of bonus cuddles for me, always nice!] but she had a bad night on mon, so i slept with her last night, and she did wake and stir most of the night [so not so good for me! but it did settle her more quickly]. SO for once she asked to go home, and so we did. Some of the group were moving on to a museums thing, and we had considered going, but SB was too fragile really for crowds and tramping about.

Merry and co came back with us, as she had a late pass!! and a bit more fimo-ing was done by the children - another fab snowman by BB. She really has quite an eye for detail, and is keen to get things right. playing around and about. but merry’s girls had loved the music at melrose, and were keen to repeat, so a quick sort out of merrily we row, and off we went! a full house of players. J is obviously another keen glockenspiel player, BB had SB’s violin, she recordered, and Merry, ahh, she brought a viola. it was fab. we will hopefully keep this going, and perhaps this will enthuse and encourage.

BB went to bed without too much wailing [ok, i fib slightly] chris read The Beagle with Charles Darwin (Inside) to SB, and she carried on, having really enjoyed it. we are looking forward to Darwin and Evolution for Kids: With 21 Activities: His Life and Ideas (For Kids Series) and The Evolution Revolution arriving. talking of arrivals, my rspb order arrived with ripped packaging - sigh - so now going to get a replacement. the felt also arrived ready for next latinetc.