Ponderings

but i hate doing the buggers, can’t use their website - i used it when first set up, forgot password, and somehow can’t be re-entered… and i have never filled out the self emplyed bit before, and it has all sorts of questions i can’t answer! i earnt about £1500 self employed over a year, and spent about £800. but the form has all sorts of weird bits in it!!

so i’ll blog instead. got up late, girls watching monsters inc, had shower [took ages to brush hair], did violin practice with SB - haven’t practiced for ages so lots of wails and gnashing of teeth there. read some books with BB, then lunch, and both girls did some maths and SB handwriting whilst BB did some french story with me. SB then did french conversation. i realsied what she actually got upset with on wed [or so she says] is that she couldn’t spell to write car experiment on the paper and thought j and chloe would laugh at her. no idea why, and chloe had j spell experiment for her. i will print it next time though. She does have entirely dire spelling though, and absolutely no way of working it out. since her reading is so fab, i am a bit of a loss as to why she can’t spell car… but we will make an effort to do diolch words spellings, as we let them slide a bit. i’m not overwhelmed by the fact her spelling is so bad if it doesn’t bother her, but if its going to make her wail and be miserable, then she has to learn!!

lots of running abour wildy, playing with kids k’nex and bb doing counting buddy blocks with the maths manipulatives and they wanted to go out roller skating. we got about 20 m and had to return for a wee stop but the next attempt far more successful. beautiful day for it too, and the churchyard has lots of slopy pavements to practice on. also a bit of gravestone investigation as well. should have taken the camera, as the light on the church was gorgeous, oh well! its not as if we don’t have a few photos tucked away!

returned when girls worn out, snuggled and read books - including a bit of SOTW as we have slipped a bit in it - it only takes a few seconds, but somehow… and a quickie recorder practice as well. watched a quite dire spanish lyrical video - bought ages and ages ago. but girls liked it, so i face booked!! yummy tea, and then bedtime. i am enjoying the pirates of pompeii reading to sb at the mo, and she read me some arthur in return.

PS, i am bolding again. i really miss it when i don’t do it!

oh, and BB bought me flowers

I always swore I would go old gracefully, and not bother with all the hair colouring etc etc, as at some point, you have to then grow old suddenly, or look slightly odd.

it is, of course, crunch time.

well, actually crunch time prob really was a few years ago! But my hair is now most definitely grey looking. The white streaks are now prominent enough for the over all impression from the front def to be grey, but its not uniform, and prob about 5% white?

It has become more noticeable on photos, and also today i plaited my hair in about 8 plaits after laboriously combing out the camping tangles. I haven’t plaited it since sitting the last lot of exams in 2000 - where there were hardly any white hairs! [plaiting hair a good finger distraction activity whilst revising i think!]. So, aarrgh!

I don’t feel at all older though, i’m not sure where all the time has whizzed by, but here, alongside the 40 next year milestone, is the evidence that time is marching on. All sorts of other options change. I’m not averse to change, and don’t fear the aging, just wish for another 10 years before it became noticeable! There’s the child thing. The longer i don’t consider further treatment, the less likely it is, so i guess indecision here is probably a decision. I am not, after all, racing to alter it. There is the pension thing - and in this credit crunch world, is that as sorted as i thought? after all, the equity in this house was supposed to keep us going for a bit [yep, i do have a works pension, obviously - i am anally retentive after all - but chris hasn't that much work to pension]. And i really must make the most of the next 10 years, as they will fly by too.

so, rather odd time of year for resolutions but

1. I MUST LOOSE WEIGHT/ BODY MASS

2. I REALLY SHOULD FIND SOME TIME TO EXERCISE

3. I might henna my hair, but apart from that, i think i will take greyness!

4. In planning for the future, credit crunch or not, life is lived in the here and now, so i MUST NOT STRESS!

this is obviously referenced to the previous mission statement!

Taking us to feb 2010 - ie SB 9 [2 years]

I think full formal education starts too soon. the first period is about learning learning skills, and getting the information.

i think we have set a reasonably good ground for where we wanted to be. we have had a lot of fun. we have read widely, played madly, stuck, glittered, experimented and loved each others company. Along the way SB has learnt to read, and reads very well. this skill is a huge advantage as now she reads anything and everything. She has consolidated early maths skills, started the path to music and languages.

We still plan with our education to show the world as an exciting and interesting place to live in and imparting the knowledge without being overly concerned to the most part on how long it is retained! Some skills are built on - namely literacy, language, numeracy and practical things such as art, music and sports. Others will come and go.The key thing is to view the tapestry, not count the stitches. The basic warp and weft will be forming.

Although for ease of showing consideration to areas of curriculum, i have broken this down into curriculum links, a lot of them are fairly arbitrary. the order they appear is not particularly that of precedence. ALthough we will encourage regular maths and writing within the week and music and language practice, the details and timings of what to do will remain with SB . the ‘box book’ idea seems to work ok - though we must change them more regularly! new books or books round somehing she says she wants to read are popped into a box for a week and then supposedly rotated. when she claims to be at a lose end, i suggest she reads a box book, or choses something else. she invariably reads a box book - a its either new, or something that week she has wanted to read.

So we will remain child led rather than completely autonomous. I see it continuing that there are activities we try and accomplish on a regular basis, be this daily, weekly, fortnightly or what seems reasonable . The actual minutiae will not be programmed, and will be child interest led. Although I have rough idea of what we may get through as such in the next 2 years, it isn’t ‘must do or else’, and often I skip bits : more a guide to where i see us being. SB has a wide ranging thirst at the moment, and so it seems unreasonable to fix her attention on something she truly deems boring when there are many other things to catch her spark.

Play activities are still vital at this stage - as when else in the future are you given the chance to have free play without some pangs of guilt? Lets get rid of the guilt, so that is something that is part of the balance. many of the toys can be seen to have all sorts of possible educational benefits, as I think there is very little ‘play’ that doesn’t have some learning potential - from rehearsing life scenarios, honing imagination, fine motor control, etc etc.

the Nitty Gritty

literacy:

to read herself a wide a varied amount of literature, encouraging her to try new genres and authors, and to stretch her imagination. to still read aloud to her a variety of stories, again across different genres and writing styles.

to start to discuss the mechanics of style and writing in the books, stories, poetry etc we come across. not much to start with -don’t want to impede the reading explosion! but to start thinking about why she liked bits, what the story is about, what interests are sparked from it, and perhaps the use of language.

to start her on the path to writing her own stories - encouraging the use of grammer and spelling!

writing: SB has stated an interest in writing more legibly, and we are gradually working through getty and dubay. We are half way through c. i hope we carry on with this. i hope to add some story writing or copywork activitities if she fancies it.

maths: singapore maths 2b at the moment, and hoping to move through a year of singapore with each calendar year, so perhaps starting 4a. it just depends really! . we also plan to use some CIMT maths for different perspectives. Also incorporating lots of time just fiddling with manipulatives, and bring maths into the every day.

History: we have commenced the second story of the world as a reader, and perhaps aim to complete this, just seeing how it goes. alongside this we have lots of great usborne books and good piccies in DK eyewitness [the text is too rich at the moment]

Also readers set in different time periods, and myths and legends seem to go down well. we can use this to spark interest and discuss as and when she fancies
we may start to introduce timelines, and see where this gets us .

critical thinking: I would like to do some critical thinking. May buy a sonlight book! However, i think lots of games playing will be helpful here, learning to plan moves ahead etc. SHe has taken up chess recently, and we play lots of games together

science: I would STILL like to join the young scientists club, and use those and our usborne pocket series. crystal kits, dig it out kits, and general messing about kits - lovely! SB has a real interest in doing experiments and seeing how things work, and i plan to facilitate this regularly.

at present the magic school bus chapter books and programmes are a hit, and contain solid wodges of info in easily accessible formats. i think as she loves them, this is definitely something to encourage.

i would like us to get round to joining the astronomy group, and hopefully hiring one of their telescopes, as she is keen to do this, and we would all enjoy it.

Geography: will still be predominantly history and holiday based, but perhaps something such as geocaching may take SB’s interest? it also gets covered alot as part of other things.

languages: SB would very much like to give more attention to languages. we have good resources for french, german and spanish to start, and also i need to practice the latin in between sessions. it is something she needs our help and encouragement with.

we will try and back this up with local groups to encourage the skills, and consider camping holidays in france to make them practical.

music :- piano is probably SB’s favourite, and we will encourage regular practice

we will do violin and at some point in the next 2 years, i might pass the tuition on to the county music service

certainly we wish to utilise the county music service for their early ensemble string groups. I think SB would get a lot out of this.

we will also do lots of singing, and listen to a wide range of music methinks.

drama: at present she does this with the home-ed group, and does enjoy it. the timing of the session is poor for me, and i think it might go after this term. we should look potentially for something else.

PE: is covered well at the moment, and we will continue to encourage a core sports practice and trying out all sorts of new ideas.

current activities are ballet, swimming and judo. She goes for gym taster sessions, so we hope to add that.

she would also like to at least try horse riding, and see if she enjoys it.

the local group has a monthly mixed sports group, which she loves and will continue to attend

more ad hoc are yoga and dance videos [which i should do too!!], and perhaps finding someone to get her started with in line skating. half term and holiday leisure centre taster events also popular

IT: well!! whatever really. we have the internet, a variety of cd’s and webland to be getting on with. i won’t renew education city unless she has a sudden mad rush at it!

Arts and crafts: obviously a huge component of our days! we are a bit low on feathers and glittery bits…

I would like to add in some art appreciation, look at different artists and styles, and ‘have a go’

Domestic Science!!: slight rofl at title, but a fair bit of baking and cooking, gardening, some tidying and laying the table. SHe is interested in sewing and knitting too, so it is just about making sure the basics are available and accessible for her to do when the mood strikes, or re-introducing if there has been a gap.

Socialising: regular attendance at not quite local groups, local clubs [ie rainbows], national camps and making sure we have a steady stream of houseguests.

we probably should have a look at what we go to and when, as with the increase in after school activity groups, we probably should do a bit more staying at home to accomplish some of the above.

family is also important, and maintaining close family ties and bonds.

trips and outings: i think we should be a bit more proactive now BB more amenable to going out and about to places for experiential learning opportunities. this would add a bit of sparkle and pizazz to the whole thing, add external excitement for looking at some things, and generally be fun for all.

practicalities: we have lots of resources and opportunities, i think in the next 2 years we parents have to hone our presentation skills, storage solutions etc, so that they are all readily accessible for SB to find . i think we need a ruthless look at groups that work or not for SB, and keep an eye on the opportunities to play and socialise.

obviously we do a lot of ed by conversation and seeing where that goes - sometimes quite tricky, so the other thing is to make sure that we are available , enthusiastic partners in the educational process.

this is a boring bare bones thought. chris needs to look, add and ponder. it is harder to really look at this in any more detail, as SB really will become more and more the driving force for her education, depending on her interest. I think for me, it is enough to know that i think we have resources and information and enthusiasm to back her up, but also to at this stage continue to encourage and lead and offer where necessary. by 9, i would hope that for the most part she will be autonomous and enthused about continuing to learn and find out. That we will have facilitated her spending ages on minutiae, and whipping through huge subjects in nano seconds where less interesting to her.

i had a chat with a local HE-er today, also wrote a reply to a list and realised we were overdue a overhaul!

this was our last look at what we were doing, and i think we should sit and think about what we need to do to improve things

SB at drama - she really has enjoyed the 2 taster sessions she has had so far, so fingers crossed there will be more opportunities for the younger group. ALso hoping they don’t continue to be on Wed - a bad day for us!

BB and i did some more musical instrument making, looked at vibrating rubber bands and saw how the sounds differed as stretched it out, and how ‘fat’ the vibration was. wish we had a copy of fantasia!

We went outside to sow broad beans - v windy. She had been desperate to go outside and do it, and it looked sunny, so no persuading her it was cold coat weather until she got buffetted by a particularly huge blast, and then she put a coat on! We are sowing the broad beans through cardboard again, as they did OK that way, and it significantly reduced the weed growth - weeding is not a forte of mine! Came back in and watched magic school bus arctic.

She then went back to the music experiment box, and we did the filling loads of glasses with water. she was v careful as they are ‘breakaful’ but onfortunately with one of her dongs did put a crack in a glass, so experiment over! Did demonstrate that immediately loses power to make a note. We then did some general messing about!

SB and Chris came home in time for lunch and then watched some dora the explora both singing and actioning along. The goggles have arrived, and SB is trying out some similar to ernests, and a back up plan to whip ‘bb’s’ if the above don’t work. We all played Hisss, though BB got grumpy towards the end when SB got ‘her’ snake. SB chose to do some maths and then was off to rainbows. Seemed like i hardly got to see her.

BB knows its baking when SB off at rainbows, so this time we have baked pink and chocolate cupcakes. yummy. SHe particularly enjoyed the lickings… We played peebo, read a book and then it disintegrated a bit… So we painted her large coil pot and got things temporarily back into balance.
SB returned and there was general raucousness, a bit of horseplay and tea. BB nearly got put in the cellar [ok she didn't but it feels tempting! goggles on a high shelf for whacking SB with, numerous toys in a similar position for being thrown etc] So after tea I took BB to bed for snuggle and story and she fell asleep v quickly.

Sb has been reading and teaching chris landlock in the meantime. time for her bed. We have had a lot of lovely music on during the day, which the girls have danced to etc. They enjoyed looking at some of the utube clips. [no music practice again!]
Back to work for me tomorrow. These last few days off have been a bonus for me. BB is v challenging to parent at the moment. She is utterly adorable but 20% destructiveness and temper, often taken out on SB. It is totally knocking my confidence as a parent and I am concerned about balancing the needs of each. It is clear that only 100% attention really improves BB, but this wouldn’t be achievable if she was an only, as it means 100% full on. However, stretching her with activities and having something at the ready does seem to make a difference, both to BB’s behaviour and the amount of positive attention both girls get. So having this time has helped me see I can still get a rhythm, and although its not perfect, it feels positive. It might be exhausting, but I only do it 3 times a week.

We seem to have been incredibly science-y, bit that is what was requested!! Must make more of an effort to suggest the lovely french reading books again, and a few language vids…

external validation of home ed is always a difficult idea for me. i am uncertain under which conditions it would actually have any validity, which is why we don’t seek it! i think that the only current people who have a valid opinion on how well we are doing to provide an education suitable for age, ability and aptitude are me and chris. what about SB? well, she obviously has a v great say in the educational process, what she wants to do, as we are child led [a bit autonomous with some formal maths!] I think - defining our hE practice with regards to other peoples is a slippery fish! its easy to say you school at home, sonlight etc, and its easy to be completely autonomous, but we aren’t either. much more on the autonomous side, with lots of educational strewing going on! Anyway, if she likes something,w e do it [even timetabling, which has now stopped!] if she doesn’t like something, we don’t. So, if we assume that we educate in a way that suits SB and she enjoys, it will usually meet the 3 a’s for her. But is it any good?

well, for that we need some goals perhaps to see if we are on a path to achieve? hmm, goal setting then seems much more cagey.

1. i would like her to be in a place to choose what and how and when for exams and further ed, and that I shouldn’t have limited her options. but of course i will have done. school limited mine - what did or didn’t clash etc. so i hope that i can keep a broad base of options until it is clear where she wishes to direct her path. I think that is my present goal. [can't answer for chris]. both of us went to uni, and although i ‘m not saying now she has to go, i want that option to be most definitely there. and its this that muddies my autonomous approach! [maths - and handwriting, though SB has specifically requested that = autonomous perhaps!] . so they are my deepest darkest goals!
2. my more apparent ones are that i want her to see learning and acquiring knowledge fun and interesting, to not lose the thirst and spark about it. At the moment she wants to rampage through the magic school bus books [so i had better buy some then!] and this is what i love, seeing her head in a book, and then proudly telling me facts, and making me guess -testing me! and this goal at present complements the other. what i’ll do if they ever don’t run in tandem waits to be seen!
3. and i want her to enjoy her childhood, that this education and learning stuff isn’t pressurised. that she plays and grows up at her own pace rather than in response to peer pressure

so, i guess by my goal setting we are OK too. but i always think we could do it ‘a bit better’ , that a bit more organisation on our part, of the day, of the resources, of tidyness would waste less precious time and present more options.

Of course, if i did have to submit to external validation, i could talk and present stuff and gloss and spin, and i imagine they would walk away perfectly satisfied even if i’m not. [they might surprise me! we have no written proof of anything except maths] it would be totally irrelevant to me/us though as a validation [or not] of our methods. It could never be more than a tick box exercise. i would ignore criticisms as well as commendations.

BTW, this is not a criticism of those that do have meetings, provide evidence etc. but in a round about way, a criticism of those bodies that think they can measure home ed at all. the only people that can with a true heart say whether the education provided is suitable are those intimately involved. and it is us, the parents responsibility that no complacency or external tick box allows us to not follow up on our niggles and try and iron them out, to be true facilitators of the learning process, however it suits our own family.

The Nuffield Review paper concludes that we should recognise, and value, many different aims for education.

These include: critical thinking and an introduction to knowledge in the physical and social sciences, the humanities and the arts; development of practical capabilities; preparation for citizenship; and development of the ideals and values needed to face the big issues affecting our communities.

Taking us back to consider the big question - “what is education for?” - may seem like an academic frippery compared to the day-to-day hard questions about the curriculum and testing.

But at a time when 14-19 education in England is going through its biggest upheaval for over 50 years, it is an essential reminder of the need to keep an eye on the bigger picture.

i think that sounds like a decent stab at educational though. link to nuffield website

I think one of the most fantastic gifts my parents ever gave me was the gift of music. I asked and receive a violin from father christmas aged 5. my mother made sure I practiced all the time, and being a musician, and teacher at the local music centre, we frequently listed in to the lessons there and also to show rehearsals in the evening whilst dad worked shifts. It was a wonderful opportunity. I got to join an orchestra by the time I was SB’s age, and just went on from there, every saturday morning.

I got to have a fantastic musical childhood, residential courses, international travel, solo’s at the royal albert hall, playing concertos with various orchestras as well as being in the orchestras for all sorts of stunning occasions.

The perhaps most magical thing was being involved with initially the setting up of a baroque string group and then a full concert orchestra with my mother and her friends. At the time I was the only student allowed [I was rather good] and it was an experience of ‘high performance’ orchestral playing. Being in an orchestra consisting entirely of music teacher peers and some semiprofessional orchestral players was something else.

My mother says I was lucky enough to catch the dizzy heights of musical ambition by LEA’s and then a wave of local optimism.

What reminded me of this? A programme chris found of the orchestra’s 10th anniversary in 1996. Mum, me and my sister in the same orchestral concert, with loads of old friends and teachers. how fab was that. My Mum has ‘retired’ this season from the orchestra, my sister and I don’t practice enough, nor live geographically near each other. The experience wont happen again. [well, we did all play in the 20th reunion concert! ] One day I would like to be able to perhaps sit with pride in an orchestra with my girls.

I haven’t followed my own musical dream, and I can’t believe it is right to impress it on my children, but it would be lovely.

OK, doing this slightly early, but november hits me like that! It was written Jan 2006 when SB approaching 5th birthday

Taking us to feb 2008 - ie SB 7 [2 years]

I think full formal education starts too soon. this first period is about learning learning skills, and getting the information - so reading is something we will build on! making the world an exciting and interesting place to live in and imparting the knowledge without being overly concerned to the most part on how long it is retained! Some skills are built on - namely literacy, language, numeracy and practical things such as art, music and sports. Others will come and go.The key thing is to view the tapestry, not count the stitches. The basic warp and weft will be forming.In this, we are likely to be child led rather than completely autonomous. I see it panning out that there are activities we try and accomplish on a regular basis, be this daily, weekly, fortnightly or what seems reasonable . The actual minutiae will not be programmed, and will be child interest led. Although I have rough idea of what we may get through as such in the next 2 years, it isn’t ‘must do or else’, and often I skip bits : more a guide to where i see us being. SB has a wide ranging thirst at the moment, and so it seems unreasonable to fix her attention on something she truly deems boring when there are many other things to catch her spark.
Play activities are equally vital if not more so at this stage - as when else in the future are you given the chance to have free play without some pangs of guilt? Lets get rid of the guilt, so that is something that is part of the balance. many of the toys can be seen to have all sorts of possible educational benefits, as I think there is very little ‘play’ that doesn’t have some learning potential - from rehearsing life scenarios, honing imagination, fine motor control, etc etc.

OK,OK, I still agree with that as a mission statement, and think that we followed it!

the Nitty Gritty

literacy: and that is that we will be leading up to increased stuff in the next 2 years, hopefully running through the explode the codes - possibly 2 rather than 3 a year! Find as many early readers that fire the imagination without being too awful, and ebay the rest! Encouraging a love of reading from the books - sepearte perhaps the architecture of reading into the explode the code, so the books aren’t so tedious from the language lessons! Continue to read aloud a wide and varied story matter that pleases SB and is chosen by her. On the language arts front perhaps try the first language lessons from susan wise bauer

well, we got to explode the code 4, at which point it achieved what we wanted, and she read and read and read. we have no schemes particularly now [well, magic tree house I guess, because she likes it!] . hmm to first language lessons. we have tried it and it is tedious. might just do grammar when she is interested enough to start writing things. We still read aloud lots of books and stories, and she loves reading. so yes, def happy there.

maths: singapore maths 1a, 1b and starting 2a . Using our miquon if we start to get on with it better [or ebay it] and the ‘exeter’ maths for different perspectives. Also incorporating lots of time just fiddling with manipulatives, and bring maths into the every day. may purchase some cuisinaire books and the pattern blocks to play with.

yep, ticking over here, just starting singapore 2B, miquon has never made it in our family, and waiting for some CIMT books [which exeter maths has become] we do lots of fiddling with maths on an every day basis anyway that isn’t book related. Cuisinaire books at pattern blocks both purchased and used.

History: we have commenced the first story of the world as a reader, and perhaps aim for midway into the second 2 story of the worlds, just seeing how it goes. alongside this we have lots of great usborne books and good piccies in DK eyewitness [the text is too rich at the moment] Also readers set in different time periods, and myths and legends seem to go down well. As I’ve said, we will not be testing recall. In fact, I have decided we probably won’t do timelines etc as yet unless SB develops the idea from elsewhere, and leave them till later on. The story of the world does basic chronology, but we won’t be bound by this on a daily basis, rather following the spark of interest. The Muddlepuddle curriculum will sit nicely in both this and the literacy categories, and we aim to be semi following it.

we have finished the first SOTW. I think halfway through the second was a bit optimistic for us - though highly acheivable for the more focussed! I am glad I decided not to worry about recall, as I imagine there is very little! But you know, there are the threads there, that with interest and future interest and readings will flare into patterns. we have read lots of other books, looked at pictures, enjoyed stories and not worried about timelines.

writing: SB is not so keen on writing any large amounts at the moment, but does like to write small notes and cards to people. At the moment we are not planning any additional writing, but as she gets more confident and keen, we have the getty and dubay series to hone things.

we have started with writing now as SB has requested to learn. in this we are following her pace. She is not a natural pen holder! But, now she has started, I am hoping that one day her writing might be nicer than both parents - you never know! very much work in progress. we are using getty and dubay B at the moment.

critical thinking: I would like to do some critical thinking. May buy a sonlight book!

have bought a book - might even use it one day!

science: I would like to join the young scientists club, and use those and our usborne pocket series. crystal kits, dig it out kits, and general messing about - lovely! our gears and hopefully a brainbox kit will sit nicely here too.

hmm, we go through in and out phases of science. I don’t think we experiment enough really, but she loves reading the books and fiddling about with experiments when we do them. this is a parents could do better category really. Her interest is certainly there.

Geography: will be predominantly history and holiday based, but perhaps something such as geocaching may take SB’s interest?

Actually, we have done more of this than I had thought. a fair bit of map reading and looking, interested in where things are.We have looked at habitats, and since she is very keen on reading about animals and habitats, a lot just comes in with this. still think geocaching would be a good idea.

We should give languages a good crack - german as we have resources and ? Spanish as some of those too. We have the latin is easy [or whatever!] but have not done this in any organised way, and wont unless SB very keen until a bit older.

ermm - ducks and runs. possibly the bit of our educational provision I am most negative about. We will do better!

music :- piano has been requested, and we will do violin as some fun. lots of singing, and listen to a wide range of music methinks.

yep, learning violin and piano, and she is certainly enthusiastic [and has enthused others] . we do far less practice than I would like, but I think we will gradually build up a better and better routine there.

PE: well, she has requested swimming and ballet, we have Katy’s yoga DVD, and I’m sure cycling and walking will occur. She loved gym in Leeds, so if our busy timetable allows it…

gym still awaited, but swimming, ballet, cycling and walking all frequent!

IT: well!! whatever really, would like to get hold of a zoombinis cd, but think it might yet be a bit difficult. we have the internet, a variety of cd’s and webland to be getting on with.

thanks to kirsty for zoombinis - much enjoyed. education city still debatable. on balance probably not, but luckilly we got 2 years in the end for price of one, so doesn’t feel so bad! She still enjoys webland - now the older edition. Also a lot of mileage from jump ahead

Arts and crafts: obviously a huge component of our days! we are a bit low on feathers and glittery bits…

no probs here!!!

Domestic Science!!: slight rofl at title, but a fair bit of baking and cooking, gardening, some tidying and laying the table. May start some sewing and later on she would like to learn to knit [from Nana!]

knitting might have to wait a bit, but we still bake and make!

Socialising: regular attendance at not quite local groups, local clubs [ie rainbows], national camps and making sure we have a steady stream of houseguests. Thanks Heather for the tip of selected holiday clubs. Pestering anyone vaguely local!

success on a plate with rainbows and a village friend that she plays with most weeks. with local HE families and groups, as well as meeting with the muddlepuddle groups we are fine - not excessive numbers, but enough! Rainbows friend has settled my mind though, as a walkable distance friend is very valuable!

What after 7 - well, i have to say I might consider sonlight core 2! I like the look of so many books that it becomes as near as dammit to buy the core and ebay the biblical stuff. Not entirely sure whether we would follow the timetable though, but if we had it, could always give it a whirl. Not commiting myself to that far in the future though.

hmm, much future pondering here! think sonlight less likely. 7 suddenly seems like an important age, where we should be starting to feel in control of our destiny type thing. am aware of a disatisfaction with the process of HE at the moment - needs a bit of sparkle. not sure we are doing the best we can for SB. At her request, we are experimenting with a timetable - which feels weird, and seeing if that encourages the filling in of gaps! No doubt thought will eventually turn into our next mission statement. Not sure what Chris is thinking about this…

I’ve been  member of the John Muir Trust for years now.
They run something called the John Muir Award which is an environmental award scheme aimed at encouraging the discovery and conservation of wild places. Though primarily aimed at organised groups, it is open to individuals, families and small informal groups as well.
I’m pondering trying to organise a group of home edders to do it, it sounds like it could be interesting and fun.

A job I’ve been putting off for many months at the very least, is sorting through the extremely large pile of kiddies clothes we have collected over the last 6 years. They were mostly sorted out before we moved, but BB of course has been through a lot of them since then, and there were a lot that had got mixed up during that time, or SB has been through since we moved.

But one, it was raining today so couldn’t work outside, two, I want to take some down for my cousins baby. So I bit the bullet. It has taken me literally hours, though bar some putting into bags, and a heap of socks and odd gloves etc. it is all sorted now.

I’m not especially attached to kiddies clothes etc. , but a few items I just couldn’t put in the passing on pile. One of them was a cardigan knitted by my Aunty Barbara when SB was baby She has suffered with dreadful polymyalgia for some years now - she had it then when SB was little, though nowhere so bad as now, and there was still hope they would be able to treat it successfully. It must have been an effort for to have knitted this cardigan.

But most of all for me is a little fleecy oversuit, hat and blanket set that we bought for SB before she was born. Seen here being worn by BB at our first Melrose in Feb 2005:

I can remember buying it, we’d gone out a couple of months before she was due to Mothercare for a big shop for stuff (odd in instself now, surely we’d do it online now?). They had this little set, it looked so cute, we succumbed to buying it (we didn’t buy many clothes for her, got given loads). The blanket at least, was used to when SB came home  from hospital - it was cold, it’s been snowing, she was so wrapped up you could hardly see a baby :-). I can remember taking her out dressed up in it to our favourite park in Leeds. I can’t part with it yet - soppy and daft I know.
I think it in some way sums up all that excitement and anticipation of planning for the approaching birth of your first child, and those first few month with the new baby. And  the memories of those happy times.

One of the nice things about living here, is all the people round us growing things, esp. the orchards. A common situation is a house built in an orchard, which is always rather appealing. There is one place outside the village whch the woman runs as a buisness, she seels various plants for gardens, as well as apples and pears from the orchard, and some veg and top fruit she grows there as well, eggs from the chickens etc.. She has couple of fenced off areas as fruit/veg beds, and a nice big polytunnel. It’s Helen’s perfect place really, and it always looks nice, well maintained, nicely mowed bewtween the trees etc.

Yesterday popped in there for a few bits, got some nice plums - always much nicer as they can be picked much riper I think as they don’t have to travel. - BB eaten most of them this morning, Raspberries, which the kids devoured, also got some of the first English apples of the season - some Discovery and Beauty of Bath, which were lovely and crisp and fresh (the BoB were pretty sharp actually, I quite like that though). I only really buy imported apples in the English off season for the kids, I try not to otherwise. This makes those first apples taste so much nicer.

I do think we miss something when we can just go and buy anything at anytime, imported from somewhere or other in the world.

Down side of those first apples, is that it reminds me that Autumn is lurking a little way over the horizon

Hi, I’m aged 43, married to Helen, with 2 daughters - SB 5 3/4 and BB almost 2.

We are home educating, and I am the parent who is at home mostly with our daughters.

Helen’s car wouldn’t start this morning - battery was very flat, so I had to get up to push it out of the drive so she could take the other car. So I was up (about 7.30 - normally I am up first and before then anyhow), so enjoyed my cup of tea (or 2) in peace and quiet. Catching up on friends blogs, reading news on the BBC and Guardian websites. But it wasn’t long before youngest was up. Breakfast of cereal for her (Rice Crispies), milk, toast, and fruit. Eldest had a lie in - catching up on sleep missed with friends staying for the weekend. So me and BB had a nice time to play together, drawing and colouring, reading, playing silly giggling games, she ‘helped’ wash up. Then we all went to the library

On the way back, did notice exactly how old the old school building is (now an electronic subcontractors). It has a plaque over the door saying it was founded in 1749. Though the building was built in I think it said 1784. The were also 3 bricks high up in the wall with the date and the initials of (presumably) some of the builders. All around the doorway are scratched intials in the brick - presumably of children attending the school. I wonder just how old they are? Must be one of the oldest building in the village. Most around this bit seem to be Victorian, and are built of different brick. Also wandered back through the parish church yard, where SB likes me to read the graves stones, while I try to put the dates into some sort of context. So plenty of reflection on history, change and permanence there. Much has changed in the intervening decades and centuries, but also much is depressingly the same.

Home to coffee, reading of library books, lunch (listening to the Little Toe Radio Show via the computer). It was going to be baked beans, but no beans, so had a treat of fried eggs on toast followed by yoghurt and fruit - youngest is on real Clementine hit at the moment. We do like to eat seasonal and local produce - and we do have great local apples, plums and pears - Cambridgeshire was real plum country and there are still quite a few orchards around. Ok clementines are local, but I do try to at least wait for the European ones to come in. The first Satsumas and Clementines being an early herald of Christmas. We’ll gloss over the Bananas though.

Afternoon passed with BB having a nap, while me and SB did some maths, some of her reading to me, watched a bit of a DVD of the old David Attenborough Living Planet programme, did a few domestic tasks like sorting out some washing. Our house is failry old 150 -200 years - in parts. So often reminded of history as I move around it. Youngest wanted some grapes (we have a 100+ year old grapevine in the conservatory). We went and cut a bunch and I am reminded of the woman (who was in her 90s then) who the previous owners met in the 1980’s. Who remembered the vine being here when she lived here as child. Did she enjoy the grapes like our two?

We finished off with a drive (6 miles) to the swimming pool, for SB’s swimming lesson. Home to pasta and tomato sauce for dinner. Once children were in bed we relaxed by writing our 1 Day in History blogs. One of our friends has had a baby today. I wonder what sort of history they will be looking back on in 40 years time?

A local HE group is having a monthly ’sports’ session, we didn’t go last month as SB was ill but made it this time. Though a 9.30 start and a 40 min journey meant getting going in the morning. BB helped by getting me up before 6 am

Basically it is a ‘teacher’ doing various games etc. using balls, hoops, skittles etc. and lost of running about. SB enjoyed it, BB kept wanting to join in - running and chasing games are her favourites. Though SB also wanted to join in the older session (nominally 7yo, but some were younger i think) afterwards as well as she liked the look of the netball. Spent another hour afterwards while she played with various children and I drank tea, chatted etc. You know the score. Someone we’ve met a few times is moving from their house to buy a boat (with a ‘little bit of?? land attached’ ) sound that was interesting to chat about.

Their headed up your way Merry, so will likley appear at local stuff there.

Headed off eventually. Rain put paid to vague ideas I had of? bit of? walk somewhere. We headed of homewards, via a bit of shopping . Looking for? wholefood shop, since we don’t have? a decent one in the nearer towns (H&B is not a decent wholefood shop…. In fact it seems to be all pills and potions moslty nowadays). anyway, found a different one than the one I was looking for, so stocked up on a few things, and? nice bit of halva for an evening treat. SB entertained/or was enterntained, i’m not sure which, by the man up packing various boxes of stock as she peered at what he had and nattered away. I over heard her counting up in 2’s as well. It was a rather wholesome wholefood shop, which was rather nice, not haveing been in one sicne we moved house really. I took the oppurtunity to peruse the rack of green/right on publications that they had and was left feeling somewhat? unfaithful to? a former self as I was for? moment or two back? 15-20 years ago (that long), shopping in wholesome shops, persuing similar magazines. I used to be? a pretty strict vegan, among other things, which has gone by the way side, that former self did try to care about things, even? if as is the way of things it was naive at times. I’m not sure the current self really does care much any more.

Still raingin, som popped into a cafe, for a ‘pretty cheap, but shouldn’y have really’ lunch (but the plan of something sat on the grass was out due to rain), and Beans were getting hungry. SB wooed the counter staff buy asking for? a straw in the most polite-est way possible. Then via a chinese grocers for some noodles. Spent some time just persuing the various options as this was new experince for SB as opposed to the standard Sharwoods ones from the supermarket. she then just went around the shop going, what’s this what’s that at the various interesting things in jars and tins and packages. I resisted the urge to buy various interesting things.

Then home to playing, Mummy home from work time, and dinner.? Stir fry with the aforesaid noodles, we also had? a bit of Arame with it(it’s a dried Japanse seaweed in case you wondered). SB was intrigued when she relaised it was proper seawed, not the fried cabbage called seaweed that chinese retaurants do. She gamley tried some at dinner time as well. She professed not to like it - but it’s not really at it’s best eaten by itself, but she was munching in with vegetables a bit later, she just didn’t want to be seen liking it

Before bed we watched another epsiode of the DVD of the ‘Life of Mammals’ (it was meant to be half, but I dozed off…).? SB has really got into all these sort of things since she watched the recent Planet Earth series so we are working our way through various ones. Have watched some of the Blue Planet as well - from which she has remembered among othe things that the Blue Whale is the biggest animal that ever lived, and also that there are lots of recently discovered things deep in the ocean, also is very taken with the idea that there might be somethign even bigger lurking in the depths.

Then a quick ‘Thomas’? story (the originals - not the modern pap) for bedtime

Seem to have lost things a bit re blogging lately - a lack of inspiration? various concerns/stresses here re work finances, house never seems to progress beyond the slighty less disorganised state etc. even when an effort to knock some things into shape is made. Kids seem to be in a getting to bed bit too late mode at the moment - not enough evening time. A short update.

Yesterday Elinor’s Nanny, (Helens Mum) called in for a day, so she was much enjoyed. At the moment that’s about all I have in my brain about yesterday. Hmm, there was some maths and some more Explode the Code, she made a Hama flower for Little Nanny.

Today there was some more Hama-ing- SB did another butterfly, she carefully matched the pattern on both wings so we had bit of a discussion about symmetry. Might intoduce bit of stuff about that next week. BB was stacking the big Duplo bits carefully on top of each other, they both played nicely together with Lego/Duplo. SB did some maths - easy stuff really, but she wanted to finish off the book. We tried to amke some inroads into the enormous backlog of washed clothes around the place - the problem when you ahev blitz on the dirty pile…..

Played outside for bit. BB is desperate to be able to climb up onto the large climbing frame.

Went shopping for few bits, dragged the swings we got secondhand in Leeds before we moved and have yet to be reassembled (needs various rusty bolts replacing) out and now have bits all over the lawn. Try to get it together for tomorrow.

Ballet class this afternoon.

Trying to get head/house organised for the’ SB Offically HE party’ party on Saturday and failing somewhat. Ah well whatever state the house is in on Saturday morning, but Saturday afternoon, 28 children will returned it to it’s normal entropic state no doubt …….

I did manage to upset SB a bit, when she thought I said we might send her to school She was calling her party her ‘Home Ed Birthday Party’, so we ended up talking about why we were having the party, talked about the law saying that at her age she has to offically ‘be educated’, that most children go to school, etc. she got the wrong end of the stick somewhat and seemed ‘But I don’t want to go to school’ . I do wonder what she imagines school is like. We don’t really talk about it much, if it comes up we talk about it, but we don’t say a lot of negative things about school.

When I looked at the clock at 6;20-ish, and realised there was only about 20 minues of the night I couldn’t account for I wondered what i was doing.

Well, SB seems to have insomnia. SHe drops off reasonably in the evening, and then wakes up - this time at 11-ish with coughing - and just couldn’t get back to sleep again. She was really upset about this, and tried to keep here eyes shut and breathe slowly and pretend to be asleep, but it wasn’t working. We put a story tape on and I cuddled and soothed her until she fell asleep at approx 2.30. I just had chance to breathe a sigh of relief and wonder how soon I could roll SB of my arm when BB set off. Chris went to her, so she screeched even more loudly, and woke SB - aargh!

I fed BB on and off for the next 4 hours.

I can’t go on in this way, over the last 3 nights things have got worse and worse. SO tonight we are going to shut all doors between BB and everyone else, so that SB hopefully not woken by her. If she wakes, Chris is going to confort her in guest room with all doors shut, and i a going to pretend not to hear her, not to get wound up about feeding her/cuddling and just hope. SB can sleep or not with me at that point.

SO we got up late, I didn’t see Merry’s message, when organising Chris, 30 mins just vansihed somewhere so we were late and chaotic. really sorry Merry. We did all get to puddlers though, and although we hadn’t managed to bring anything, tammy had done fantastically, so lots of recycled sculptures got made. SB and I made a windmill and a crown, and she then made a tin thing for my Dad’s birthday.

BB loved the fun Blox and the dough to roll out.

Merry - unfortunately for me - now stocks those Ideal Blocks! So will be taking her money for one of those, as have fancied them since Alison [portico] first posted a link to them! SB is going to use some of her birthday money to by the princess pegboard. All the children had a great go with the ideal blox/fun blox. the other Dad there thought he might buy some for himself!

We then went to spend some of SB’s birthday money - for me a totally shoot-me-now scenario as we surveyed the shelves of sheer pink! Hopefully for the next few years we can persuade her catalogue is best - and restrict the catalogues! in the end she got a beanie puppy in a plastic kennel, and a make your own jewelry box from plaster of paris kit. She also got a dr suess book from wh smiths with a book token.

oh, I did buy a game of UNO at the same time, so we played that this evening as well as read her new book.