Category Archives: numeracy

dementors on my shoulder

isn’t it so stupid being depressed about reminders of mortality. surely the response should be to get out there and enjoy life to the full. instead i have this gripping anguish. hmm.

i had a lie in, well, i am finding sleep near impossible at the moment. heard sb piano practice – she is practicing the bit before she started to find it difficult! will have a piano practice together more often i think! we did a good violin practice as well, but most of today was a lot of playing with train tracks, snuggling and watching roar, schools tv geography and walking with dinosaurs, and BB’s pod mission frenzy.

SB did do some zoombinis, with bb yelling encouragement – which is rather cute! Also she read the usborne beginners elizabeth 1, and tried to follow the quick links, they didn’t all work in firefox, so she went on to a go diego game isntead. a lot of playing outside.

BB and i read a fair number of books, and we looked at polar animals again, with the globe. which she enjoyed.she has spent quite a bit of the day being challenging. i did try and enthuse them on a science experiment, but was unsuccesful. before bed we played set and mastermind.
Chris has been trying to tame our veg patch – a job which may take a while! i beeswax polished all the wooden panels on the main staircase – that was quite a bit of effort! looks better for it.

my sister is home, which is good. i wanted to visit this weekend, but she would prefer it on tues, so the days i think are dragging because of that, and i have my own appt on wed.

candlemas

i should be at work this weekend, but a dear friend at work is doing my shifts for me, for my head and body are not fully connected. i was going to see my sister, but she would prefer i went down later in the week when she is out of hospital. I have arranged the time. Also workwise, i have had my continuing professional development record checked. i have to accumulate 250 points in 5 years, this was a 3 year spot check, although they discounted all those i had lost the evidence for, I still end up with more than double the points needed over 5 years, so they have attached a warning that they don’t expect me to stop for the next 2 years!!

erm, yes, so home ed. we seem to have a bit of a flow going on at the mo. SB is doing her violin practice and lots of reading pretty much every day. Also lots of science things going on, either with reading or experiments. The k’nex has seen alot of play, as has the train track. BB on the challenging side of 3 today, possibly because i have worked all hours this week, so that she hasn’t seen me at all some days. Neither of them wanted to share me today. Since my headspace messed up already, i found it stressful, but mostly negotiated and pleaded.

BB and i played train tracks, we all read the candlemas and end of while the bear sleeps today, and had a cursory discussion about imbolc and candlemas, and a rather longer one on what we think means spring is here. SB did a violin practice. BB was very determined to show me where we lived on the globe – so we looked at the UK, she told me the polar bears lived in the top cold bit, and the penguins on the bottom cold bit. I was quite impressed!
SB and BB painted spring pictures [well, SB did, BB experimented with putting colour on paper, and mixing] whilst i made some jelly [grape and plum] that hasn’t set well, SB doesn’t like and chris prob wont eat, so will bring it all to Melrose .

SB read to me then I took over a book about pasteur and his microbes. we then looked in a microbiology book, but i had no coloured pictures – well, the virus pictures were electron microscopy, which din’t have a colour version then! [it might do now] but we looked at my cold virus, verucca virus and the rod bacteria talked about in the book. We think when we get a microscope we are going to look at yeast cultures budding. We also had a look at the cell in her usborne science flap book.

more traintrack playing with BB whilst SB read born with a bang and then we all looked together at from lava to life. I really love those books, thanks em for the recommendation. We moved on to a bit of an embryology discussion, but i resisted the temptation to hoike out another textbook.

the sun was shining, and Chris was outside doing some garden tidying. So the girls went out and played whilst I got some sense of proportion feeling shrieked out by BB! i went out and joined them, and we looked for signs of spring – snowdrops, hellebores, primroses and one crocus!

eventually back in for hot choc and popcorn to warm up. decided to slob infront of downloads, so it was pods mission from schools tv [well i think thats where it was from!], tea in front of timeteam, and then bed. SB is having alternating stories from chris and I, he is reading gullivers travels, and i am reading ballet shoes. She says she likes the variety, and it stops chris and i getting confused!

It’s a Chris catch up post

Never seem to have the energy to get a blog out of my head to the ‘puter by the time I settle down of an evening.

Friday, a bit of Milkshake/CBeebies TV before breakie. Over breakie BB got me to help her make a ‘man’ with some wooden sticks. Then they have made cars (well SB’s was a trike) using their K’nex – Sb made one mostly herself following the plan in the booklet, I helped BB with her Kids K’nex – hers of course had to have eyes – she likes her creations to have eyes. SB’s car used the friction motor unit which is very good – the cars is quite speedy and goes a long way – good to have a nice long wooden floored hallway.

K'Nex Bug Eyed Car K'Nex Trike

SB has done some Getty and Dubay handwriting, some Webland and reading and an online page of Exeter maths, I finally found the missing Singapore “B maths book – hiding underneath some other books. They went outside to run a around for a bit, and feed fish and birds – rather cold and windy – though sunny. In between times they have played with the wooden train track, that has been out on the playroom floor for the last few days (it has managed to move from one end of the room to the other whilst staying in the same layout) BB kept asking SB to play, but then wouldn’t let her have any trains :roll: – SB – “she wants me to play but only lets me have the turntable…”

This afternoon we cycled (it’s not far) up to the farm shop for veg, cold and windy. I did suggest the tandem, but SB wanted to take her bike. She was fed up with a headwind on the way home though – she’s learnt that lesson now though. Home to warming hot chocs and cups of tea. Watched a couple of episodes of Pods Mission – about food chains and temperature sitting on the hard drive. One of them had some character is wearing a space suit or something speaking in a funny voice saying they needed to go to the loo – BB thought this very funny and wanted to rewatch it a number of times. Me and SB read chapter of SOTW – on medieval India, looked at the gloe to find India, and where the Byzantine Empire has been. She then coloured a SOTW picture of a Roman soldier – complete with blood on his sword – he’d been in a battle and hadn’t cleaned it yet.

After dinner, while Helen put BB to bed I sat down with SB to read to her – i was reading Fairytale News – but I kept stopping and dozing off so she gave up and read it herself :-)

Other bits of the week:

BB has had a couple of half day sessions at a local playgroup. She seems to be enjoying it – she especially likes the trikes that she gets to ride outside. First time we stayed for about 30 minutes, and then she was happy for me to go – though when i picked her up she said she had cried a few times – though she seemed to have done plenty as well, so I don’t imagine it was anything major. Second time she was not letting me go anywhere at first, but we sat playing, and after about 20-30 minutes she was happy for us to leave her. Seemed fine while we were away.

We’ve told her it’s ‘her group’, as we think she feels she misses out a bit with SB going to Rainbows, ballet, swimming etc. So she is pleased to have her own group to go to. They get given a playgroup t-shirt, which BB is very pleased with as now she has special shirt like Sb has for Rainbows – she had fun posing with it once we got home, and went to bed in Thursday and wore it most of Friday as well.

Showing off my new playgroup top Showing off my new playgroup top Showing off my new playgroup top Showing off my new playgroup top Showing off my new playgroup top

Other Thursday things, – having to get BB to playgroup for 9 am means we are up and at it nice and early. Was funny going to playgroup as it coincided with the school run for the local primary school so we wandered down the road pretending to join in – kids causing havoc madly scootering down the road.. SB glad we don’t have to up and down the road this time of the day every day.

On way home went into bakers. Most of them in their know that we home educate, but someone had obviously missed it, as they asked SB about not being in school, this wandered into a conversation about home ed, primarily about how we do it – tried to explain how we approach it, but i suspect that most people never really grasp it as we have the whole school model so ingrained  that it’s hard to imagine anything else. Back home (it’s so quiet when only one of them is in the house) helped SB do one of the reduced Science Museum kits – the magnetic calendar:

Magnetic Calendar Kit

Carefully does it. Almost there
One tiny bit was missing, but not crucial, and i can make one if necessary – doesn’t seem worth contacting the makers. I think these Science Museum kits are good value as they do seem to do what they say on the tin, unlike some others.

Much fiddling and general playing about with magnets afterwards. Then it chucked it down with rain, so SB put on her waterproofs and went out to have a splash in the puddles:

Rain is fun :-) Splash !


Then it was time to get BB – luckily the rain had mostly stopped by then.

in the afternoon, Sb spent ages making a birthday card:

Birthday card - outsideBirthday Card - inside

Me and BB wrapped the pressie, she put a few a stickers on the wrapping:

Just a few stickers here then.

Posted these, then not sure what happened after that. There was some piano practice at some point.
On the topic of Science kits, we did a very cheap from Yellow Moon Horrible Science heart kit on Tuesday – which wasn’t so successful, though entertaining . It had round tubes which go into square holes so leaked a lot of ‘blood’ , and it has small valves, which unfortunately once they got wet stuck open due to the surface tension, so the blood didn’t really circulate.

Best bit was when SB first squeezed it and we had jets of blood squirting out all over the place.

IMG_3235 IMG_3233 IMG_3238 IMG_3240 IMG_3241

SB is reading loads at the moment -forever has her nose in a  book. Been polishing off various Rainbow Fairy books lately from the library, and some other things about Unicorns, or magical ponies or some such. In the library at story time on Tuesday she was complimented by one of the other Mums on her reading (she’d been sitting reading something out the other week) – said she thought she must have been about 8.

Saturday morning – Nice and sunny, but I guess cold day, must get something done in the garden this weekend – no snow :-(

to pack or not to pack

well, we mostly have! BB was so excited she immediately found all the swimming things, but on a swimming costume, sunhat, and some toys in a backpack. she was ready!! in fact was far too ready all days! I am having a small wibble with the cut of my cossie after eating much to much in my customary stress release. aargh. anyway, clothes all packed, have 2 meal options ready.

we did lots of mucking about playing, SB rattled off some handwriting and maths. she also did violin practice, and we read about the byzantine [buyzantine or bizantine?] empire and emperor justinian out of SOTW. we all enjoyed another of the i can read french books. BB and i read a fair number of books together as well. more block building, hide and seek and simon says. SB watched the ice dance competition, but all the talking bored her. Chris did some baking with BB
remembered to pay for the cars tax disc too – fantastic! little nanny not so well at the moment, and this is a hard time of year for her.

Well, I'm all set for Centre Parcs :-)

Burnt offerings

Well, late back yesterday from work, and work has been so stressful this last week, that it seemed the week would never end. however, at least got back in time to see both girls before they went to bed -BB has been consistently asleep. So we did some playing [tummy ache], read more lucie chat books – these from the book people have been a total hit! Read another usborne dragon story, SB and I read some more saxon stuff when BB asleep.

today I had a late start. BB and SB up with the larks watching kids terrestrial tv. I dragged myself out somewhat later… however, SB and I did a violin practice, leading to the post below! all 3 of us read lucie chat, this time all having a go at saying the french and the english all the way through. we also enjoyed a same kind of idea i can read french book. SB and I read about ALfred the great, BB and i did some stickerbooking. We all played various games on the floor, made block castles and towers [with BB rather keen to knock down] hide and seek, tummy ache etc. I did some piano practice [shock horror!]. Girls rampaged about a bit, SB settling on cbeebies website [she doesn't ever seem to grow out of it] and BB and I made a chocolate cake. SB then did some CIMT maths and BB bathed [necessary after making cake!] Dinner and BB to bed – sigh of release. SB and I made peanut butter cookies to share next week. unfortunately, i left them for CHris to take out when took SB up to bed… [yep, burnt offerings] she is going to be VERY unhappy. we read some knight stories, and she read to me a DK reader children through time.

having felt suitably educational, i am prepared to slump infront of the opium of the masses.

notes

not-v-local tots group with crafts and latin for girls

Panis romanae

Some Stirring
SB been good at piano practice this week, also done some maths and handwriting. both girls watching muzzy german.
fun playsession with rainbowsR

all done by chris as i have had dreadful week of slog! SB been up late, and have played games together

Return of the absent blogger?

Problem I have is that it just seems rather boring – but I did bold things :-)
Morning started with Sb doing some of the music theory book she started the other day with Helen . BB got me to help her with the Ikea wooden construction toy thing making a helicopter. Then they both moved on to the polyhedrons for a – BB wanted a house for lizard and then some general playing about with things. We sorted out books for returning to the library and then had breakfast, SB catching up on a few of the library books, chased them up trying to speed up the getting dressed and sorted procedure which can take forever left to their own devices.

Off to the library in the rain and wind, BB pleased to be using her umbrella to keep her dry. Storytime, selecting new books, home again in the rain via the shops for lunch supplies.

Home, SB settled down with a Rainbow Fairies book, which she knocked of in the hour or so before lunch. I drank coffee and read books with BB and did boring household tasks. After lunch they both did a bit of stuff on various websites, SB piano practised and then entered some kind of educational limbo where she spent 2 – 21/2 hours doing maths and handwriting that should have taken a lot lot less, so we didn’t really get onto anything else much before it was time to cook dinner.

After dinner, I rapidly chased BB up to bed. In one of her Jekyll and Hyde moments, one minute she was sitting happily eating dinner, next minute she was being some sort of annoying mad dervish, out to annoy SB in as many ways as possible. When she chased after SB waving a pair of scissors a swift intervention and imposition of bedtime was deemed appropriate.

SB watched a Roar episode, and then we did the Roman city jigsaw whilst awaiting Helen’s too late return from work.

Roman City Jigsaw

So she had late bedtime. Tonights excuse for coming down when she should really have been asleep was that she wasn’t warm enough (gloss over that it’s been much colder than tonight before) – told her to wear her fleecy bunny suit.

Miserable monday

was somewhat hit by emotional and crap viral unwellness, feeling v sick and dizzy, stuffed up, and bleurgy. SO I didn’t go into work, and for once didn’t feel guilty [i am good at guilt] because i feel i have nothing left to give in botheredness, its already attributed. I read another lucie chat book to both girls, SB read to me about dinosaurs. they all then cycled off on a playdate and i collapsed in heap on sofa with duvet and tablets.

Much playing went on, and when they returned we had a violin practice. BB played katanimo and then then the ikea building things with screwdrivers etc- think it was bjgga or somesuch nonsense. SB made some shapes with polyhedrons – she was seeing how many she could do and we talked about their names. She found the theory made easy book one very easy, and enjoyed racing through until I said enough!
SB then has her ballet and swimming run. Very proud of her for doing all the swimming today, as she has been very worried. BB and i watched bob the builder, did bob the builder jigsaws and played mother and baby games. on SB’s return we read radius and the king of angleland all together, with BB doing actions with papo people- cute! SB then had a thought about angles.

lots of bedtime stories, but she is still frightened of aliens.

quick catch up blog

well, this weekend I have mostly been eating potatoes. no, this isn’t some new years faddy diet [though heaven knows that I need to shift a fair bit of weight and get fitter this year – I may have said something similar last year. in fact, o the subject of new years resolutions, I made 3 last year, and I’ll try with them again this year], instead this is the try to chase migraine away diet. my job goes through cycles of stressful and majorly and exorbitantly stressful. We are in the latter phase… This tends to increase frequency of migraines, and also seems to reduce the success of any medication. Everything taken thus far has been totally pointless. A bullet in the left temporal region would be far more effective. Anyway, I am blogging, thus the potatoes would seem to have finally won [and plenty of fluids]

However, it being typical that my migraine occurs when off work, I have tried to great levels to still have some interaction with my lovely offspring. ooh, btw, there seems to have been a great reduction in baggy poo poos since normal service has resumed. A low level of them is tolerable!

Yesterday we all went to the panto [may I state for the record that pantos are not ideal with a migraine, but the one hour journey each way was the major stupidity!] I actually enjoyed the panto [yep, even with a migraine, s must have been good]. The cast were enthusiastic, the audience keen and participatory, the story near negligible, just enough to run the gags and music. SB and BB loved it. Their faces shone with excitement, SB in particular loved all the shouting and clapping, BB also got into it. It was so worth it. Arranged by the rainbows – thankyou! I have to say that the look on SB’s face of sheer thrills and enjoyment was worth the hideous journey for me each way. She really loved it.
on return home, to be honest, I just died and went to bed. No idea what chris and the girls did , he thinks they played a game. I got up just before they were going to bed, and delayed things a it. but it felt better to play a game with them and read a story before chris took them up.

Today, still feeling in need of trepaning, i thought I would do better, so got up, read some history to SB, and we did french and latin conversation, times tables and read some barefoot stories all snuggled on the sofa. She then did some violin practice – now we have lost the other blasted book! Anyway, it was lovely to have such a snuggly time with SB. I get to have less snuggles with her now as she gets older they are only on her terms! She is such a lovely girl to snuggle and cuddle.
ermm, oh yes, SB did some webland. BB and I did jigsaws, read books, snuggled and did counting practice. BB amazed me by spelling today. she was spelling zoo lane and said zz oh is zoo!!! She also did some plasticining.

The final decs came down today, and the girls had a joint final present of a jousting papo set to go with the castle stuff. they were ecstatic and had great fun playing. we decided that we all loved christmas, but that the house needs lots of people in it to actually be christmas [BB's wisdom!] . Actually, BB has gone round being ‘wise’ on all sorts of topics recently. She is mostly seriously adorable.

we watched various natury things on tv, SB practiced various dance steps, we all played a few games all together, and generally had an enjoyable day.

my migraine has decreased somewhat this eve, but I have the usual worky nerves. Bah. i hope this is just a phase! Will look forward instead to centreparcs hols – not far away now!

finally hosanna in excelsis

SB seems to have given up on the salmon cheese and chelsea version :roll: and that reminds me, she can now roll her eyes perfectly – a key life skill in this family, and one that HE particularly is suitable for imparting!!

So today has been crazy and noisy. we needed a bit of a rest day after yesterdays multi-jauntings, and BB was ‘wired’ throughout – always restful! SB – bless her – has been an angel [well nearly].

We started with making boxes for the sweeties we made last night – papier mache with tissue paper and PVA around margarine tubs. They are looking fab. Both girls had great fun doing them, and I drank lots of fluids to try and chase away a migraine. We then did a bit of a tidy up – just in time as Sainsbury’s delivered a huge order [all bar veg, bread and milk]. We were also massively organised to put all away, and our pantry looks like a dream come true. I love a pantry that can see us through a month in case of avian flu, snow drifts etc etc!! SB played shops for a bitm, and both girls helped.

IMG_2096

Sb has also done some more piano practice, and is concert ready for good king wenceslas – even BB and I singing didn’t put her off! And she has done some maths, and BB some ‘match and sort‘ – some wipe clean books we got ages and ages ago from the book people, she was practicing writing – v cute. i have read 3 different versions of the nativity story - while the bear sleeps, usborne first nativity and a ladybird version. Obviously with added carols. The girls have spent ages playing with the farm and Bob the Builder duplo – the farm is obviously now part of the set! Shame I haven’t managed to get a duplo muck. Never mind – something to get at a later date. Both girls were also playing with a cheap not quite spirograph set. i have played scrabulous – Tim is pretty much unbeatable i think!!

We also did some fimo-ing, to make coasters as Christmas presents. SB’s got more and more elaborate. BB’s is much simpler. I am sure they will be well received. Both girls now having bath, and Chris doing it as I had reached my BB tolerance limit. Baggy poo poo being her favourite saying for anything she doesn’t like or want to do – charming!

As mentioned below, am at a bit of a loss as no room to put more baking or food in the freezer, and still have some to do. A wack of it will have come out by sun, so will prob do some baking then. Def getting excited, but can’t imagine where the time has gone?