getting a bit behind with blogging, as real life intervened! anyway, we had a fab weekend this weekend, having nipped up to sheffield to see some muddlepuddle friends there. i say nipped, but with all the fri eve traffic, and the roadworks, i did more plodding than nipping! the girls are now wired in with in flight entertainment for long solo flights, so that was fine. chris stayed at home to decrease his job list.
started off well, with despatching tired children to bed, and then playing caylus with my hosts. i obviously lost big style, i rarely, if ever, beat Team Sheffield! i really enjoyed it, so played 3 more times in the time we were there – never won though!
we did stay up until 3am, and as thurs had been a working night, i was somewhat tired, and unable to rouse the next morning, so we were rather later into sheffield than planned! we were off to weston park museum however, when we arrived, the children saw a helter skelter in the park, and it became apparent there was a free event on! so we watched a few acts, the children had a helter skelter ride, the older ones went up the climbing wall and the younger ones a bouncy slide thingy. panning for gold and badge making also happened, so it was 2 well spent hours later we went into the museum.
the museum was fab. thanks for taking us there. i stayed with the little 2, E and SB went round by themselves, so i missed seeing what they did, but SB was VERY enthusiastic, as was BB. i will get photos up in the usual place eventually! hoe via tescos where we bought tubs of icecream and suitable sprinkles and sauces to make children v happy. i cooked camp curry, then shipped children upstairs so we could game again!
Another late rise, pancakes with all the trimmings – yummy – and though we had debated a small farm open day, the kids were having a ball, and so… A1 lovely trip, thanks to my hosts. though the travelling back shew how badly people can drive when they put their minds to it…
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.
well, its not happening, its 23:45 so i have bowed to the inevitable and am watching back eurekas whilst hoping she will fall asleep lying on me snuggled in a duvet. humph. we are more or less ready to go on hols, ok, a bit less, but hey! i can manage about 30 mins of something before requiring a rest, but at least i did do several 30 minute bursts, as though chris is better, he isn’t precisely well…
anyway, the girls have been playing a lovely babies game, slinging their babies around the place and generally getting on well, except when i ask them to pack… to tidy their bedroom… etc etc anyway, i am going to copy kirsty’s today motto and only blog the good!!
SB did some HE spontaneously today, she did some maths, some music theory and some of her mediaeval project book, and we watched the mesopotamian what the ancients did for you [v fab] and sb then watched some of shakespeares stories as bb and i had fallen asleep on the sofa [hence current awake bb prob - well, actually, shhh, but i think she is nearly asleep!]
ermmm, slight contretemps about the not at all tidied playroom, ermmmmm that’s it i think. exhausted, but we are holidaying – woohoo!! expect to hear of torrential rain and flash floods along the loire…
today i have had another sofa day. am feeling better, but has we should have gone on hols this eve and pushed it back to thurs, didn’t want to push my luck!!
the girls have mostly played with baby dolls today. bb devastated cos she can’t find her baby sling, so rustled up one with a fleece scarf. sb adapted my hugababy. would like to say this was accomplished with out wails,tears and gnashing of teeth… but compromises made, peace restored and game continued on and off for most of day. at some point the girls might realise we never interfere or interupt a good game…
in between this lovely sibling play were peppered some HE moments. BB did some real and unreal maths, SB did some galore park english and science [bitesize] and piano practice.
Both girls at swimming lesson now.
edited to add – found babysling in airing cupboard, so today v happy
This is the next mission statement for SB, to last jan 2010 to 2012 [oh my goodness!!] when she will be just short of 11th birthday. But an initial immediate disclaimer!
THIS IS NOT A YEARLY [OR 2 YEARLY PLAN] THAT WE WILL LOOK TO ACHIEVE, TO TICK OFF ACHIEVEMENTS AGAINST OR SUBMIT TO ANY LICENSING AUTHORITY! IT IS AN AIDE MEMOIRE TO ME ON WHAT WE MAY CHOOSE TO USE FOR THE THINGS SB WISHES TO COVER AT THE MOMENT, THINGS SHE CURRENTLY ENJOYS. I ANTICIPATE SHE WILL CHANGE HER MIND, AND WE WILL CHANGE OUR PLAN! I DO NOT *VALUE* ANY SPECIFIC NUGGET OF INFORMATION INPARTED OR ABSORBED MORE THAN ANY OTHER. I PLAN OUR EDUCATION TO BE SITUATIONAL AND RESPONSIBLE IN THE MOST.
I guess, this is going to be a slight change in pace for our mission statement. We are moving out of our first period of home ed, and into the second, consolidating and expanding phase. This is where we hopefully make sure she has a solid ground start, and then gradually work on accelerating the learning/doing pace vs the fiddle faddle space for when secondary school age. We absolutely reserve the right though to change this mission statement dependent on SB’s preferences as this 2 year period passes.
we have, I think, delivered more or less on our basic mission statement for SB. She has, i believe, gained a basic warp and weft tapestry of knowledge that now we should start to embroider with extension of the things that she loves. Not that we have tested her knowledge in anyway, and it is possible that she retains no knowledge of anything. She reads fluently, enjoys and progresses with maths, has a wide enjoyment of learning, including history, science and biographies. We have started out the path to music, with some hitches along the way, and SB is developing a clear idea of music styles she enjoys, including jazz. We have also started out with languages. We have had a lot of fun, done a lot of playing, visiting, messing about and forming bonds with other home educators who have become her friends and peers.
We need to encourage her to see the need to strengthen the areas of weakness, so that learning is not prone to unravel unexpectedly in the future. Since this is is something she doesn’t enjoy so much, we need to find and agree levels that will incrementally lead to improvement, but don’t make it an unbearable chore, scaffolding and encouraging. this is most noticeable in the area of english language, grammar and spelling. At present we don’t write or record many of the things we do, because of the dislike and difficulty writing. I think that we gradually should start to encourage a record, be it lap book, mostly drawings or photos and a few words of some of the experiments/trips out and about, and ‘topics’ should we do them. This isn’t something that will come naturally, so we will consider how this might work for us – perhaps a learning journal?
In progressing forward, we hope that SB will more and more choose what to concentrate on, and what are the resources she likes to use and how. We hope that she will now begin determine the shape that the fabric of her education will take. Certainly, when we find the right resource for her – like currently the dk project books – she is capable of prolonged focused study and discussion. This is a period of emotional growth and change as well, and our home ed will aim to support personal development too.
One of the problems of home educating and blogging is seeing the best of other peoples home ed, and contrasting it with your areas of weakness or vacillation. we have more structured friends, whose children appear to be romping ahead in all areas very happily, we have more autonomous friends whose children appear to be having more fun, creating a very individual identity, we have friends who extrovertly educate, going to lots of workshops, events and just knocking my socks off with the wow factor, and those that lapbook and project and those whose children are driven by special interests… We can’t be all these different people, but will try and use their expertise and influence to perhaps balance our home ed, being a check to whether we can do anything better than we are.
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 will stillskip 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. but i think we will gradually be encouraging some structure – for her to find her own best patterns within it, but that she develops a balance that suits between pure play, enjoyed, enriching learning and the targeted ‘hard slog’ learning.
I think the other key issue, which runs as a theme throughout, is that as parents we need to be tidier, keeping resources tidy and accessible – we can be helped and enabled by SB.
As before, i will do a nitty gritty consideration of curriculum , and am putting in links to some of the resources. Again, i reiterate that this is a rough draft planning of possible goals, but i do not tie myself or SB down to achieving them, and we may change our minds completely over course. it is a rough working for us to see what might be. It is unlikely to submitted to the LA
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. This might be aided by a book club or group?
SB is also doing a small amount regularly of the galore park english, being on book 1 at the moment, and we would perhaps like to have finished this and be nearing the end of book 2 perhaps if all goes well. this is one of her areas of struggle though, so just doing a tiny bit regularly is the aim. If we find something she prefers to do to this, we will swap!
writing:
SB has stated an interest in writing more legibly, and was gradually working through getty and dubay. this has stopped for a while, but we have discussed it and plan to carry on with this. i hope to add some story writing or copywork activitities if she fancies it.to start her on the path to writing her own stories – encouraging the use of grammer and spelling! Writing could perhaps also be encouraged in a learning journal for experiments and trips out and about.
drama:
we don’t do any drama at the moment, which i think is a bit of a shame. I am hopeful that we can look at some opportunities in the next 2 years. i would also like to start visiting the theatre more again, now BB is older.
maths:
singapore maths we are halfway through 3b at the moment, and hoping to move through a year of singapore with each calendar year, so perhaps starting 6a. it just depends really! SB loves this series, has no interest, she says, in trying anything else.
To add a bit of sparkle and interest, we will try and do some maths experimentation from our DK book.
we have quite a few maths story books that we all enjoy.
A friend is contemplating primary maths challenge, and maybe we will consider that next year.
History:
we haven’t completed the second story of the world as a reader, although we had planned too. We are still enjoying it, however, and will finish that and commence the third. We will hope to do more of the activities as well – perhaps a bit of parental pre-planning! alongside this we have lots of great usborne books, other good books and good piccies in DK eyewitness
I would like us to consider pulling out a few things to do larger topic work on, as we did the vikings, mixing crafts, history, visiting, dvd’s etc. SB is currently really enjoying a DK mediaeval project book, which suggests this might be a place to start. certainly we are near enough a few castles!
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 .
Historical re-enactments and visits should add some external WOW to learning, and we will try and make the most of opportunities.
critical thinking:
We are working our way through the bond verbal and non verbal reasoning books, which SB enjoys – particularly the non verbal, where she is working on the 9-10 book, as opposed to the 8-9 for verbal. the problems with spelling and grammar hinder the verbal reasoning. ALthough this may sound dull and dry, she really enjoys them, like her mum there!
We play lots of board games as well.
science:
this is a multipronged pronged event. We read a fair number of easy access science books – such as those by jaquie bailey and meredith hooper. 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. Science is a no brainer subject for us, she loves it, we love it and great enjoyment had fiddling and learning! may have to kit out a lab one day!
SB is also doing a small amount regularly of the galore park science book, being on book 1 at the moment, and we would perhaps like to have finished this and be nearing the end of book 2 if not on book 3, depending on whether she continues to like this series. At the moment she is also racing through schofield and simms science workbooks for key stage 2 after picking one up casually!
We are aiming to do regular experiments at home, and have a number of kits and resources. i am hoping to encourage at least a small write up in a learning journal. We are also part of a fortnightly meeting where we do more science experiments with a bit of a theme.
We try to go to a number of RI events in the year, as well as the local science festival to add some external WOW to this area.
We have joined the astronomy group, but need to go more regularly and hopefully hiring one of their telescopes again, as we all learned a lot last time and really enjoyed it.
Geography:
will still be predominantly history and holiday based, but perhaps something such as geocaching may take SB’s interest if we do it more regularly, and also working out cycling routes? it also gets covered alot as part of other things.
Actually, since writing that, we have started postcrossing, and all the excitement of writing and sending, then receiving postcards and plotting them on our map is proving quite thrilling at the mo.
languages:
we have good resources for french, and we are trying to regularly use french for a small conversation, and also to read some toddler french books and base words around this. we have enjoyed doing this, and some words are retained. I am not sure this is the most efficient or best way of learning french, but we are are least learning some and enjoying it.
I am trying to supplement this with dvd/video/cd’s and may, hopefully, have some french sessions with a friend on perhaps a fortnightly basis,
we have for the last 2 years had a short camping holiday in france, and plan to continue this. i am not sure about sending SB on an en famille camp, but may host.
We perhaps need to work a bit more regularly at latin. this is done on a fortnightly basis, but possibly a look in between times would be useful!
music :-
piano is probably SB’s favourite, and we will encourage regular practice recorder is also practiced, and am hoping SB can attend a local venue regularly enough for Gina to continue teaching
i have some first duet books to add a bit of a difference with our playing, and hope to regularly write group music for SB and friends to a level they are comfortable with.
we will also do lots of singing, and listen to a wide range of music – i don’t think we have enough background music on in the house, and since we have so much…
At some point, we may possibly add a bit of composer study, should SB show inclination or interest.
for the out and about WOW factor, SB has really enjoyed holiday orchestra, doing singing, musical games and recorder, and is v keen to do again. there are a number of events nearly locally that she can participate in.
i also want us to start going out to more concerts. BB is def not interested, and i think for sb too they would still have to be short, but she did enjoy the LSO
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, gym, swimming and judo on a weekly basis
She also goes to a variety of HE group sports as and when they happen.
she still like to at least try horse riding, and see if she enjoys it.
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:
surprisingly, this is an area which we are not using much at the moment. SB prefers reading and playing to IT. our computers did break, which was prob v unhelpful, and we have not got back into using them. perhaps a few new and interesting cdroms will kickstart.
Arts and crafts:
we do a fair amount of art and crafting, using fimo and hama beads, kits and paints in a freestyle way
I would like to add in some art appreciation, look at different artists and styles, and ‘have a go’ now SB is getting more confident in painting
SB periodically is interested in tuesday sketch, so I might encourage this as well
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.
personal development
we will think about supporting her through the hormones and body changes to come, taking advice from people that have been there before! getting good books, and hopefully building on the groundwork of loving family and good friends to give her confidence in who she is.
Socialising:
regular attendance at not quite local groups, local clubs [ie rainbows], national camps and making sure we have a steady stream of houseguests.
family is also very 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.
If we actually did achieve what i have listed above, i would be a very happy bunny! The devil is in the implementation! life gets in the way etc etc, but i think we really must try.
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.
various internet friends, and my DH, have suggested that overdoing it may have slowed down my recovery!! humph! so i have tried *really* hard to do nothing today and totally hated it.
i did nothing whilst the girls played a long, convoluted game of sylvanians mostly beautifully together [i heart sylvanians] , i did nothing whilst SB did her maths next to me on the sofa, and bb tried to make up the same maths to do in her little writing pad, ‘i have 2 bananas and 11 peaches so that will come to 15 pounds – rofl!’ – she didn’t want to do her real maths as she was too busy adding for 5 pages!!
i still did nothing whilst sb did her piano practice – v hard that! but she has finally finished bach’s air. i did nothing whilst they did more sylvanians, and i did nothing whilst sb did music theory.
finally i thought i was allowed to do something!! and watched with them the aztec and the egyptian what the ancients did for you. woohoo to doing something! the girls have really loved this. i followed it up with reading 2 chapters of the gladiator of capua and 1 of story of the world [joan of arc] to SB – and am being resolutely defiant!
actually feeling sorry for girls, espec bb. its not much fun when your parents are lying on sofa doing the most minimal of caring and nurturing. in fact, bb has been, on the whole. v loving – coming to stroke my arm etc. the persistent raspberries on my belly less humorous, as she follows this with telling me off for not saying pardon me sb today also trying to be good, but with an older childs knowledge that if they cunningly stay out of the way and quiet, they wont be asked to do anything.
TBH, i think i am worsening rather than improving, and v fed up at that. chris, luckilly, is improving, though seal like cough awful. in fact he was well enough to do a quick forage for food. and some plaster of paris, but i ended up too unwell to use it. mind you, i did try and call him back because i had keeled over to find he had left mobile at home
so what did happen? well sb piled into her mediaeval project book for over an hour – guess that is approval!! she has decided she wants to do the ancient egyptian one next as has really enjoyed working on this one.
BB and i made another fimo duck/goose so that she has the ‘full set’ like on the page! and SB also did some more hama.
bb desperately wanted to do yesterdays colour mixer experiment by herself, so did that, and then made some crystals. we have an ex ebay part used no instructions smithsonian crystal set, and started that. sb wants to make the geode though, and not sure how to put the outside bit on – has anyone out there got a similar type set with instructions for that?? HELP?? we are nominating an old saucepan as a crystal pan for dissolving anyway.
so, both girls then had to play, because i staggered indoors with home grown corn on the cob, popped it in the water and collapsed. it is lovely native american style corn on the cob, and bb still wont eat it! 1 hour i managed of being up. hopeless. chris returned and i napped whilst sb did some maths.
i awoke in time for tea and we watched what the ancients did for us – rome – which was fascinating for all. sb did a piano practice, and has gone to bed clutching a number of box book of the Jacqui bailey
sort to read as she loves those.
time to nap again.
edited to add – i thought i had lost this blog post with a server crash, phew to autosave!! and have looked and other peoples outings to framlingham and to rockingham with jealousy, though know we wouldn’t make it to car without me needing to go to bed! will have to remember for next year
grump and grump. i have found myself exceptionally challenged by vertical, noise, physical contact and sibling squabbles today. i even resorted to hiding under the sofa duvet. i am not well!!
bb has been desperate to play with sb, having missed her loads and her being out and about a lot of last week and then an impromptu sleepover. so could they do it?? absolutely no. both being miserable and waily, not agreeing to any compromise, so got sent out. came back and have been toddler playing – ie beside each other rather than with. so i have hama-ed with both girls, fimo-ed with bb, read to sb. sb read a bit of her mediaeval project book [a few posts below] and also wrote a letter to a magazine – spontaneous writing!! wonders will never cease. well done sb!
i tried a change of position and went outside. managed to do a science kit with both girls. typically sb was the one to spill her solution, but easily sorted. we liked the kit, though tbh easily replicated with food dye and ice cube tray for those wanting to save money! SB in particular loved doing it, and was a good way of teaching pipette control, and drop counting. covered both colour mixing, something on light and wavelengths, and then a bit on dilution. we did like the little tray though!! was a charity shop [at work] find though so ok! the correct response to this link is … HOW MUCH!!!
edited to add: if you do want to buy it, buy this one from a mate of mine, much cheaper!
i painted bb’s face as a tiger, chris messed about with our new camping acquisition – see below and i realised vertical was not my thing. so i slumped big style, and still haven’t left the horizantal. girls watched a fair bit of oceans dvd and then robinson crusoe.
aah thank goodness for pills, diet coke and the evening, i hope to watch eureka and wake up tomorrow with a bit more patience. sb has tried v hard to be patient and loving to me, as has bb. the both of them together is just over my limit, and it is so unfair to them. chris well on the mend
bah humbug to swineflu. as far as i a concerned i have a viral URTI with cough, headache and a bit of a temp – common with viruses. just because DH has swine flu, doesn’t mean that this is. after all, even if mild, surely i would feel more dead on my feet.
humph, puter having a problem with m and v – having to hit keyboard especially firmly.
so took sb to holiday orchestra, and gina and katy still spoke to me – which was v nice! and SB still v enthusiastic. made me wish to be a child again and take my instrument and join in! SB again had a lovely day, really enjoying singing today, and sang all the songs on the way home.
bB had another not so fun day – chris with swine flu! so when i got home we played together and did a craft kit, which proved to be a bit on the difficult and disappointing side of things, and bb gave up on it. craft kits can be so variable!! why i like hama and fimo! they are exactly what they set out to be. But she had fun with her hatched turtle egg anyway.
we had home grown sweetcorn for lunch – lots of purple and blue corns, and bb had a strop about that too… sb and i v happy tho! sb got on with some box book reading
and then we read the bit about henry V from SotW and discussed the reenactment of harfleurs at FoH, and at that moment my order from the little linguist arrived [v promptly, fab company!] NIC was right, bb just wants to read the farm books herself, not in french, but SB and I read the berthe book. i really like the berthe series! and then played the where is game with a way way older edition of this book!!
both girls keen on tv, so we watched walking with beasts. sb had loads of asparagus soup for tea and toast. bb had toast and yoghurt. shrug!! chris is looking a little bit better, and i am having a little slump!!
well, swine flu wasn’t the only thing that happened whilst i went to work SB went to holiday orchestra – i dropped her off to the deependers who kindly took her in and out, and then let her play at their house all afternoon. she LOVED it. apparently she gave it 28/30 to Katy, but 30/30 to me. she said her recorder part a bit too easy as only 3 notes, but that was fine for her first go. musical games her fav thing, followed by singing. excellent!
i went to pick her up post tamiflu collection, and she refused to come home – having too much fun. so i had a cup of tea and admired katy’s fence. BB unfortunately missed her gym taster. on coming home SB had a french nintendo game waiting. not sure how good it is [given the v cheap price!] but she had a go, and was annoyed she had to spell.
BB had had a fairly unremarkable day at home with chris. they did a bit of math, looking at a space resource – vaguely – and she then bimbled about.
i note that i almost certainly bought at the right time – rofl at the used price! good pack tho
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.
mind you, i did try and call him back because i had keeled over to find he had left mobile at home 
