Category Archives: Stringbean’s HE

just legging it

Posted on January 12, 2009 by | 13 comments

but before i blog, i am going to ask for hE absolution, or summat, and i need an HE alternative to a few hail mary;s that work on HE. my girls are entering a v bickery phase, and it completely destroys me. i look back in the blog and i see one of my advantages of HE are the fantastic relationship the girls have. we just don’t seem to have that at the mo. it is 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, and i try hard not to play ‘the oldest’ card with SB [too often!] but also there is an entire non-share thing going on as well. aarrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

SO, i thought, if we alternate who to concentrate on, do things differently with each one, but in parallel, treat them age different etc we might get somewhere, but we don’t seem to be. [tho it might be soon to tell] what words of wisdom has anyone got. i have taken an unemotional step away to focus on how to improve this. would like a few potential strategies! [leaving them too it leads to the worst possible day imaginable!] NB, my interaction with the girls always ‘full on’ and that we are prob in each others space a lot.

so, now that plea for help is done, we can get on with the day can’t we!! lots of manic running around and i had a bit of a lie in [for a bit anyway] got up, breakfasted, discussed our lovely new book

which i have displayed, cos i think you should all get it, it is so fab. i want one too!! but actually we didn’t do it, because there was a sharing issue between accessory/spare watercolour paper should we want to use some more!! [i bought 2 of the books grrr] so i calmly said that we couldn’t do it then, unless we agreed to just do it in the book…

so instead we did some recently acquired crafts. BB did a foam dinosaur craft, and SB a glitterry butterfly craft, and we were all happy again, working in parallel, and me in the middle as the no mans zone… SB did some piano with me [very nicely] whilst BB wailed that i wasn’t playing a game with her. bB and i played a game together [not-snap with her dinosaur top trumps] and did some french counting and saying hello and some colours. SB was playing with her sindy’s and not doing the baking she said she had wanted to do, as i was playing with BB. SB and I read the end of Camille ne veut pas dormir , and discussed some french, and played then Beetle Drive Game with BB [hooray we all enjoyed it! it is a good mixed age and ability game].

then, following a contretemps, we watched a prog about cuckoos [rather than the conflicting girls choices] and that was good, particularly as one of the locations is just down the road… we all thought it was a bit yuk watching the baby cuckoo push its not sibling out of the nest!

SB has read her knowledge book [The Ultimate Book of Knowledge ] that she got yesterday, well she has read some of it, as it is big! and bb and i read stories too. then we did some tidying and throwing stuff away to get 2 usuable desks and rejig the box books for SB. then while i was out for 2 secs the biggest fight of the day lead to the loss of a ds and the dinosaur duplo. hoping they might get them back tomorrow rather than lose an mp3 player and some sylvanians…

We played ludo together, SB and I did some quick revision of latin [after i had looked up pingo - no, that can't be painting!!] and somehow it was teatime.

obviously there is always in our house a fair bit of snuggling, cuddling, tickling, rousting about and general play as well. but i have left the day feeling that i could have managed it so much better.

oh, on something that did work, we did some of the cold/ winter music thought stuff yesterday, and that went well.

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, General, language, little languages, music, pre reading, science, Stringbean's HE, writing

Home ed thoughts for the year

Posted on January 3, 2009 by | 5 comments

I looked at my mission statement, and with relief saw that it was valid till 2010 :lol:
obviously some things change! Not the basic philosophy, but how we are approaching the nitty gritty section!
literacy: SB has declared the galore park junior english OK, so that will start us with looking at the breakdown of how ‘english works’ as we have seen she now has a requirement for learning sentence structure and names. She also is enjoying the wizard whimstaff spelling workbooks, so we will continue with these. we do less getty and dubay at the moment because of the above.
maths we are on 3a and also reading books involving maths storylines. she is finding it all easy at the moment, so i hope to do some with her and perhaps push on a bit.
history is unchanged really, with SOTW as the core [and we are half way through as predicted, as we take 2 rather than 1 year per book], and reading story books and interesting fact books. we all enjoy the reading, but i should make an effort to do more associated activities. when we did this with the vikings, we all really enjoyed it. just remembered that when she is 8 she can join the young archaeologists, so will look into this.
critical thinking and logic is by games playing, both board games and ds, with sudoku and easy kakuro too.
science is having some more formal time with the latinetc group on alternate wednesdays, which is all good fun. i don’t really think anything much there has changed. our new microscope is exciting!! oh, MUST try and sort out astronomy group, and Sarah [bless her] as given me her old science club kits now she isn’t HE-ing, that i use in the latinetc group [thnx]
geography we haven’t really got to grips with except as an adjunct to history or following NORAD tracks santa! will ponder how to usefully put in!
I am encouraged by our success really with languages, it seems that our story book plus some add on actiivities are really working for us. I’m not saying that either of the girls are having a conversation in french, just that i can see we are slowly acquiring the language in a fun way – if possibly not the most efficient! latinetc and a bit of practice inbetween is fun too.
I am a bit discouraged in our music. SB stopping the violin was a bit of a blow, but i have said we are child led, so… piano continues as does music theory. we should do more practice though for piano and recorder. a friend around the blogline reminded me about ambleside online, and perhaps we should look at its composer study
we lost drama, though did do a drama activity week. if it ever fits in again, it will be added. PE activities fine – gym has commenced and is loved, though horseriding still outstanding! SInce BB also has a bike. we should add some family biking.
arts and crafts have been done, and SB won a village painting competition with much pride. but now thinking of perhaps working in some technique! i have books about paintings, about painters and about how too, so hopefully this will be good for us!
domestic science [rofl] is fine. we sew more, and are considering a sewing project to make a needle case at the moment. perhaps starting to cook savour food – ie dinners – is a starting point now.
socialising took a bit of a hit with her broken foot and then emotional wobbles, but i think it has been enough that she is a happy girl. i aim to get my weekends out to see who wants to visit as soon as i have my work rota. i think this is something we will always need to be proactive with. we have a group holiday in both jan and feb to look forward too, however. from the HE groups, it appears that there may be a possible monday group after the sports to go too – and other weeks if wanted, and alt week thurs group attendance works out OK – it is available weekly. with the alt wed latinetc and monthlyish city 2 group, that is a fair group commitment!
with my sisters breast cancer diagnosis last year, chris’s uncles bowel cancer that has been resistant to chemo and inoperable, and the news before christmas that little nanny’s breast cancer has spread and that we should take what time we have, we have also been working hard to see and visit relatives we love, not taking the time for granted.
we have started off on some trips out and about, and as BB gets more and more out of them, we will increase them. certainly SB has loved them, as have we.

So there you go, our mid term gap analysis if you will!! we need to something about geography – [i still think geocaching mapreading and some good games would do the trick - we just need to do them], jiggle things a bit with music [ie practice more and see if we can do basic group stuff more and perhaps the ambleside online] and art [which we have the wherewithal to do - doing some technique stuff gently] and increase the socialisation and out and abouting which we all enjoy. we have been surprised and happy with our languages, and continue to be happy with maths, literacy and science – we enjoy this and find it easy and fun. don’t plan to change much there, except perhaps gently encourage more regular ‘work’ – a bit like merry’s normals perhaps – to speed through the maths a bit. history chugs along, we all like it, but don’t have the passion of other HE we know, but i think adding more practical things in and related trips would really lift it.

so not bad, i guess.

oh, and no, there is no mission statement yet for BB – she’s not the age of compulsary education!

outstanding parental tasks :lol:
1. arrange some horseriding!
2. RSPB badge scheme thingies as a fun thing to do or perhaps nature detectives club [thnx jax]
3. geocaching
4. organise diary for visiting family and friends
5. arrange trips out and about!
6. tidy the craft stuff so accessible [at least the science stuff done]
7. check resources on ambleside online wrt composer study +/- artists [thnx kirsty]
8. Astronomy group
9. young archaeologists
10. hmm, consider science equipment needs, and kirsty – unhelpfully – linked to what look to me fab books

thinks: OMG that’s rather a lot on the to do list!

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Posted in General, Ponderings, Stringbean's HE

Happy New Year!!

Posted on January 3, 2009 by | 7 comments

SORRY for my tardy blogging, extenuating circumstances ‘n all!!
where did I get to – reads own blog – ah thanks for all the well wishes! only Monday. i really am dreadful if there are a few days to catch up on. i had better read brightkite as well for clues!! [it wasn't that helpful]

SO, tues was a working day for me, and chris took the girls to his parents for a final play with uncle and cousins. much enjoyed! i got home v late!! [that was quick wasn't it!]

wed we did some home ed type stuff, as BB v keen to be able to read by 5 and win her DS. nearly everyone she knows seems to have one or access to one now, and she is most put out. however, entirely in her favour, she isn’t being grumpy, but pro-active. i liked the fact she got out her get ready for the code and said she was doing the whole book that wed! she didn’t – obviously! but did 4 pages, and can recognise a t now!! She also did more writing – being v keen on that, even with limited letters. they do look like words, though obviously not in a language i use! she also did various drawings and craftings. Oh, and a fair amount of ‘putering – mostly on poisson rouge.

SB did a bit of her spelling book, and read some of the crusaders book and then mostly got on with making chocolates, wrapping chocolates and decorating a box for the puddle girls. it took her most of the day, and she received negligible amounts of help. she thought to use the molds of the advent chocs, and made plain and milk choc. i was most impressed!

I made the thankyou card on publisher, unfortunately no photo printer paper, so relying on chris to get that so we can get thankyous out quickly – the girls have to write a smidge in them, rather than a whole wallop, so gets it done easily. i also cut bb’s hair at her great insistence at it was getting too long. SB doing some magic trick demonstration put her off sitting still, so a snotch later and adjustment it is shorter than planned, oh well, it does grow quickly.

in the afternoon, waiting for the puddles arrival we read loads of books. we did some french – based around a french book initially, but then cherchez le all over the rooming! we read lots of nice readers with bB – those quentin blake illustrated books from the book people [ Fantastic Daisy Artichoke , Zagazoo , Cockatoos (Red Fox picture books) ]Just So Stories stories and a rather lovely book The Glass Heart

merry and girls [and max – sorry] arrived – woohoo, though i still miss the merrymobile. and we got started!! the girls all ran off and played, with ds then dressing up and generally having fun. BB and josie took a bit more getting going, though the happy street and blokus seemed to help [merry won]. kids had a make your own pizza, toasted marshmallows, chocolates from SB and then watched fireworks provided by Max [we forgot this year - oops] . it was a touch cold!

packed off the younger 2 to bed, the older 4 got ready and ds-ed and very quietly got on with it – no idea when they fell asleep, but before midnight! merry and i played more blokus [my left hand playing as BB won] and we had a take away curry. Chris and i were not au fait with time, so we missed toasting the new year! – oops, but we did have baileys, mulled wine, ‘real’ wine and cups of tea [rofl] and a lovely evening. [we really know how to party, but...] anyway we chatted, chilled and were aspirational

Thurs morning i toddled off to work, but got back before lunch, and in fact before everyone was up. the girls were rampaging about, and ready for second breakfast. Josie and BB integrating well after a good sleep. CHris cooked about 2 billion pancakes for brunch, which were all devoured in the end. The Babs and family arrived during devoural phase, having heard via brightkite that some might be in the offing and nipping down the A14! We waved goodbye to the puddles having seen the new year in in lovely fashion – thanks v much for coming.

they were just going to stay for afternoon tea, but our new Agricola proved too tempting. we set up, puzzle over the rules, and decided to just get on with it. it took 5 hours to play the first game :lol: . During that time the children played fabulously, got their own food and drinks, and sorted things out. they were obviously v aware that parents were not likely to intervene. even more fabulously, when they did get parental attention, we were pleased to find the house still in one piece! bB and R are real cuties together, and BB has joined the throng of small girls with a crush on B – tempting him to play lego with her with the promise of dinosaurs! lots of dr who games in play anyway.

i have to say, harking back to agricola, that we all really enjoyed the game. the possible strategies became clearer. we doh-ed over various rules when we got it wrong, and although it took 5 hours playing the simple version [2 decks missing - wow what a game with the other 2 in!!] i think one hour of that was setting up and working out the rules and confirming them and just fiddling, and then we prob could knock another hour off for not knowing what things did etc. so a 3 hour game on the simple rules. AM strongly thinking of taking it to Manor Borns tomorrow, but i think they prefer the shorter games?

chris is suggesting more games : 10 days in… under the ‘will be educational’ ruse!! [a ruse i obviously never use!]. ooh, there is a europe version as well 10 Days in Europe . i think Em is raving about the Stone Age game she got as a birthday present…

Where was I. oh yes, we took so long playing the game, that it was a late dinner for the kids. ANd also declared too late for The Babs and co to go home, so sleepover declared – woohoo! the children seemed to have found a number of sweet and savoury options in the day however, so not too dreadful over late dinner rustled up from left overs – not our best catering acheivement. we had them playing outside with headtorches to use up some energy before dinner and then bed. B was excited by SB’s The Magic Tree House Library: Books 1-28 collection – so went ot bed with one of those, whilst E and SB ds-ed. cutely, when we adults went upstairs, E was asleep clutching open ds – obviously had just collapsed asleep mid play!

Fri: unfotunately despite earlyish night and no alcohol due to work [and luckilly not called in] i awoke with storming migraine, and took every med at my disposal, so missed saying goodbye to Barbara and chris – sorry. it was really lovely having you over. I slept until about 2, and have taken more meds constantly since then, so am in ‘bearable but grouchy’ condition. the house was tidied, and children did some home ed things – sb pulled out the Junior English Book 1 she hadn’t been keen on before and did the first section of the first chapter. [i didn't realise galore park was available from amazon too] BB did some more Get Ready for the Code – Book a which she enjoys, and both girls did some writing. SB did a smidgen of singapore maths. BB practiced counting to 40 [as this is her new 'stair' target] and they both counted to 40 in french. we pretended this is SB’s stair target – not that she really ever gets sent to the stairs!! [we only introduced this as BB required different parenting, mainly because she is so strong willed and determined that sometimes we each need a short break to remember we are adults, so a count to 20 [now 40] on the stairs and return and both say sorry accomplishes this]

BB fancied doing a science kit, and chose the music one [University of Oxford Kids Pocket Science Kit MUSIC ]. SB and chris set up the lap top and her new microscope [ link for kirsty: QX-5 Computer Microscope ] in the kitchen. this was her main xmas pressie, and she was v delighted by it. she looked at salt, bicarb, hair, prev made crystals and their slide. it worked perfectly and easily so happiness all round. since at least one person out their is looking to buy something along that lines, 2 things really – at 200 the lighting isn’t quite bright enough. it is oK, but could be a bit brighter. and the clips to hold the slide aren’t brill – though OK. i could be being picky, as the only microscopes i have used in a long while are particularly top of range! i can’t remember altering a slide’s position by hand for example, so i may have a high bar here!! SB found it v easy and intuitive to use, and quickly started to use the computer interface too, so i think ideal for her for quite a while. we are certainly all pleased with the purchase! BB also wanted a go, but was firmly discouraged – at least for now – as this is SB’s present. she did enjoy looking at the pics though [ah donner and blitzen, migraine returned full force suddenly, will wrap this up.]

both did a bit of xmas xraft presenting – felt flowers precut to be threaded to make jewellery for BB, and a felt crafting kit for SB. SB tested me on my french knowledge today – she chose words from the Picture Dictionary in French (Picture Dictionaries) , and I had to get the french. only one wrong out of 10 – oops. she thinks i may need more practice… [it was fire engine as i guessed with lorry of firemen]

i have just gone back and bolded. i just prefer my long blogs to be BOLD!! :lol:

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, Cooking, daubing and making, early maths skills, General, language, literacy, little languages, numeracy, pre reading, science, socialisation, Stringbean's HE, writing

back at work

Posted on December 29, 2008 by | 9 comments

but while i was out, chris has done a fab job with tidying up the house. the girls have played alot with their castle, and i managed to pick up a quick bargain at tescos – a coffee table to play games on! our front room being the warmest at night due to fire] and dining room coldest [due to radiators on minimal] playing games in these christmas nights has been a chilly affair. £7 later and we are all set!!

on coming home from work we read a french book altogether, and SB and i did a bit of story of the world together – crusaders. we also read our come look with me book on modern art , Exploring Modern Art (Come Look with Me) , together [sb partic fond of modern art] And this fitted in well with the Matisse: The King of Color (Anholt’s Artists Books for Children Series) book bb got for xmas, and both have enjoyed reading. this year i am fired up with enthusiasm for art! i am also tempted by the following books, Artrageous (Klutz) , Drawing for the Artistically Undiscovered (Klutz) , and Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad . I think i am def going to get this one, Watercolour (Klutz) , and was wondering if any of the latinetc bunch also liked it?? cos it could be done in the french immersion session, but it would need one book each…


anyway! after that i played some build a beetle with BB – her rules, and fell asleep! [only a short while, but when i woke up chris had the girls in the bath!! and then some puerto rico with SB. it isn’t really playable as 2 player properly, but it gives us both a brush up on the rules etc.

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, General, geography, history, language, little languages, Ponderings, Stringbean's HE

yay! i am on annual leave!!

Posted on December 21, 2008 by | 1 comment

and feeling lurgified. today was brought to you by a diet of diet coke and ibrupofen! the girls woke up early, and i was somewhat more tardy. however, when i heard the brass band play on the triangle, i hopped out of bed, and got the girls dressed so that we could go out and hear them. nothing like hearing christmas carols by a brass band outside! the girls both enjoyed listening too.

we came back in, looked at the house, and decided that we couldn’t make it look much worse! so we did some wrapping up in the front room, and finishing off cards for the muddlepuddle list, which we sent out. we then did some christmas crafting – ‘glass’ painting plastic christmas themed keyrings and decorations for the tree. I am always amazed at how careful BB is. i think i forget she is 4 now!

Whilst the girls did this, i read them the Mary’s Story up to the point that they leave bethlehem, and also the hannukah section in While the Bear Sleeps: Winter Tales and Traditions . both lovely books! we also read one of our Camille ne veut pas dormir camille books from little linguist books. i have to say that at the moment I think this way of learning french is suiting us. I enjoy doing it, the girls appear to be picking up vocab. goodness knows what we will do when i start running out of vocab! – lots of dictionary work and ? rosetta stone??

obviously we then had lunch! chris , meanwhile was trying to put up the curtain my mum made when she was last here, but obviously fates were against us! we didn’t have the right hooks :roll: mum arrives tomorrow. kinda magically hoping that a tidying up christmas angel takes pity on us overnight as well.

After lunch we made chocolate brazils for grandad. SB was entirely self contained for this, she uses the microwave safely to melt the chocolate and all i have to do is carry the bowl to the table [nor repeating katy's mistake!] bB also fiddled with the microwave and i carried, and she also did some lovely choc brazils [well i did QA one of them!] M dad always puts the emphasis on brazils when they are choc brazils [his fav xmas pressie of all time] on the bra, so i think BB thinks thats how they are pronounced now, as when we are making them, that is what I say too!!

leaving them to cool we return to the front room [we all can't bear to look at the playroom yet] as we fancy listening too and watching carols on youtube, so i flick around allsorts. SB particularly wants tbirds fav ickle donkeeeey! we then dec curry takeaway boxes [we only have the takeaway for the boxes you understand!] with fake jewels to put dad’s choc brazzuls in. BB then plays a happy game being Jesus in my tummy, and SB rather faithfully reenacts the angel gabriel telling me the good news. however when i ask angel gabriel whether my baby will have a long and happy life, she scarpers! When she returns as SB, she explains that she thought telling me whilst i was pregnant that my baby would be crucified at easter might have upset me! luckilly BB is being baby Jesus to distract me, and then somehow morphs into a puppy. [after she has 'hatched' 2 or 3 times - childbirth may come as a shock to her!]. SB did a quick bit of piano. We read Katie and the Sunflowers
. Then the girls start making christmas crackers – actually SB also completes. I fear BB might be following me as an abject failure as completer finisher. I think only Marcus ,that I know, has scored worse.

Whilst I remember, here is a link to the Matisse, King of Colour (Anholts Artists) book, that didn’t come in the book people set. BB has it in her xmas book pile, but i read and enjoyed it!

chris’s parents came round for some extra bedding for their guests over christmas and a chat. they also brought some curtain hooks, but they didn’t fit into the ring things, never mind.

Eventually we had tea and sent the girls packing to bed. i have made the veggie filling for the lasagne, and having panicked that there wasn’t enough initially, there may now be too much. i have also made the veggie sausage and chilli bean hotpot and sag paneer. i think that is enough! trying to have enough energy after I have written this [after midnight] to do some more wrapping, or line the curtains, or tidy the front room or flickr [all jobs i had hoped to do before going to bed] i think the ones that allow me to stay collapsed on sofa are more likely to be winners here. [wrapping and starting to sort photos won the day]

Anyway, just have to say SB was a star of wonder today, helpful, happy, lovely. bB has obviously missed me… But i enjoyed lots of cuddles with both. Cuddles with SB are – during the daytime anyway – becoming rarer, so something to particularly cherish.

on the agenda for tomorrow: make up the lasagne; pour and mould soaps to make; christmas muffins; stollen; more glass painted decs? ; in eve, camp curry, dahl and ? leek and potato soup.

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, Cooking, daubing and making, DIY/ house renovation, General, language, little languages, music, pre reading, Stringbean's HE, writing

I am appraised!

Posted on December 18, 2008 by | 3 comments

and was not found wanting, thank goodness!!

so what have we been doing – checks to seen when anything blogly written!

AH yes, well the brownies christmas carol concert went well, though i wasn’t there to see it. chris took his mum and nephew instead. it was apparently much fun to sing in, and it didn’t matter that she didn’t sing her solo bt – good. bb joined in with all the carols too. i got home very very late, and then had to do lots of appraisal related stuff.

wed was latinetc, which i enjoyed as always. was a bit tired, but the children had fun. they listened to their hearts with a stethoscope and then excercised and listened again – always easier than failing to find pulses, though we had a go at that. unfortunately the sphygmanometer failed to work after the littlies session, but still with some effort we proved blood flow!! we talked about the names of the vessels, red blood cells, oxygen and lactic acid. All the kids got together to do the horrible hearts and similar kits in the garden, and giggled about them, as they don’t do multiple use well!! [and i got pink hands - which are still pink!]

SB said she really enjoyed the latin, always good. we must have a resume obviously of grammar words, as we haven;t done much on that having been bored with language lessons, but i will jump ahead and find bits for her! BB was v v in need of hugs and cuddles, and i didn’t think we were going to be separated, but she did stay to hear katy read meg et mog, and then play the french game. Katy, i think we left the book at your house?? [no urgency for return, but don't want to have lost it!]

Children did lots of outdoor play, and some did crafting indoors – including bB. when we went home I was VERY impressed that i fitted the whole suma order into the car, as well as the girls! When we got home, BB insisted on doing recorder practice, so SB did some maths. we then cuddled, read books and generally chilled.

Last night i went out with work colleagues to a turkish restaurant not far from here. and it was utterly delicious. apparently there is belly dancing on a thurs night…

today the girls are with grandparents. chris is feeling a bit better having been quite under the weather. we are planning to wrap the girls pressies tonight, do xmas cards for work and perhaps have an early night for a change…

edited to add – still wrapping, and chris has a lovely haircut!!

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Posted in Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, early maths skills, General, language, literacy, little languages, noises and sounds, numeracy, science, socialisation, Stringbean's HE

briefly as time is short

Posted on December 16, 2008 by | 5 comments

and it really is, the full OMG of what needs doing hit me when i updated our christmas planning list! i am going to see how many of the meals i can make whilst glittering with the girls from sat onwards!! chris will prob do the mince pies and perhaps cheese scones for the freezer, but he isn’t well at the moment. i am not allowed to make him laugh as he then has this weird woofing cough.

brr, it is cold in here tonight, missing the fire, and my insomnia struck again last night grr! today the girls seem to have done bits and pieces. SB has done her piano practice and maths and handwriting. she also appears to have told the leader of brownies that she doesn;t want to do her solo at brownies party last wed. apparently it didn’t go down well and she was told off. i suggested that next time she discuss with us, as i had no idea she wasn’t doing it, and nor did chris, until sunday. i think it because she lost the words. anyway, i am being proud of her for telling the leader her self, headbanging that she has done it so late, and made life tricky, but tbh, if i was brownie leader, i would prob have backup plans for things like this, so not too bothered. shame she didn’t tell us though!

and i think they have spent a vast amount of time doing xmas cards. they watched some science clips or other which they both enjoyed, and we all played games. i read – a bit late – the st lucia bit of While the Bear Sleeps: Winter Tales and Traditions to them. SB has really enjoyed the usborne books we bought from joanna. SHe has now started the Crusaders (Usborne Young Reading: Series Three) one, after we read the start of the section on crusaders in SOTW2 [The Story of the World: Middle Ages from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance v. 2: History for the Classical Child (Story of the World: History for the Classical Child (Paperback)) ]. I see what you mean Merry!! I think the Usborne version is a bit more even handed!! we had also finished the samurai section, which went well with one of the other books Samurai (Young Reading (Series 3))
from jo. i would really recommend the usborne young readers books. they seem to have a nice reading style, enough pictures for the facts! we have also been dipping into Crusaders, Samurai and Aztecs (The Childrens Picture World History) that we got as a remaindered book from a library.
bit more french practice in a mild way, and the day was done. chris is doing the big sainsbury order at the mo. i should still be doing appraisal stuff [boohoo]

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, General, geography, history, language, little languages, music, numeracy, pre reading, science, Stringbean's HE, writing

let the glitterfest begin!!

Posted on December 14, 2008 by | Leave a comment

well, we all got up late, as the girls were up till 1am last night – in spite of having a v grumpy mum and dad!! [and unfortunately they are pestering this eve too.] BB and I did some maths and writing practice and read a read nose reader [all at her insistance] SB spent ages making presents [and i am keeping stumm until given] she was doing it so dedicatedly and happily that i made no mention of piano practice!! at meal breaks they got to watch some magic school bus – BB wanted to watch it in french [!]. their french is coming on a treat. when i ask in french what an x says [eg cow] they can both quickly make the right noises. our french conversation as is is off pat, so time to dig out some more vocab. we did some french yesterday and today. A hiatus as i decided the playroom was way over my tolerance levels, and the repeated use of the word bin chivvied the girls into action. it’s not exactly [or even nearly] tidy, but it it is bearable to me.

the baker ross order was finally delivered! so BB was desperate to glass paint the plastic christmas themed keyrings that some members of the family will be blessed with. SB declined to follow suit, and instead made angels from an old template we had. TBH, i think the freestyle paper plates at helmsley were a better design, but hey ho! BB joined in, and then there was a glitter fest plus feathers. we haven’t decided whether to hang them on the tree, or make a decoration with them.

a bit of xmas card making – must post some out since there are a lot done, and whilst we were crafting, i went over the second and third chapters of minimus with SB, and she seems to have remembered a fair bit. she did correct my pronunciation twice :lol: .

we had tea watching Merlin and then they went to bed – initially seemingly succesful, letting me get on with more of the appraisal bumf. i must do some music with them both next week.

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean's HE, daubing and making, early maths skills, language, little languages, pre reading, Stringbean's HE

hearting

Posted on December 10, 2008 by | 11 comments

today i took my first and second anatomy classes ever! and no-one managed to accidentally dissect off their own fingers either. no fainting, and i think they all did well. we did have some ground rules – if you stopped wanting to do it, stop doing it and tell me. if you want me to do it and show you, tell me, and when you’ve ‘found something’ let me tell you what it is. so we found lots of things. I just managed without gloves as there was only enough for kids by going ‘in role’ and that way i could also block out the smell of the abbatoir! not that i have ever been in one, but still… since the majority of the kids were veggies like me i think we all have a pat on the back. but they did all seem to v much enjoy it, and they found everything. we only had one leaver, and that was after everything found, and i think the smell was becoming a bit much. hopefully no nightmares… the littlies did other stuff as well with listening to hearts etc, and i must listen to one of them again, as well as getting the biguns to do it. this is a rather fab website with various sounds on it, as is this one, and i will revise before next week!.

Michelle kindly took all the pictures this time, as my hands were somewhat too mucky for the camera – though actually they didn’t make much mess at all [to my surprise]. hopefully i will get a juicy big email of them, or something!! ANyway, the piece de resistance came at the end, as one had a lung attached and most people had a go at inflating it with a straw. [ady mr health and safety prob wouldn't think this such a good idea, but they each had their own straw!] anyway, c and SB inflated one side fully to everyone’s delight. i def did not want a go – yuk!

we cleared it all away and opened windows and doors, and maybe i should have taken a scented candle, but the smell did dissipate, and thanks katy for hosting something that wasn’t particularly pleasant! the biguns did latin – sb said it was chapter 4, and v happy with that, and the littlies did french – bb even stayed in the french, which made life easier for me.

J had made a fab cake to celebrate gina’s birthday, so we sang to her and enjoyed the cake! some playing and we came home to find the loft insulators leaving – hoping to cut down on a few bills. must put up the curtains for doors as well.

SB had a brownies party and then received her judo certificate. I have to say the judo cert is fab. i must photo and flickr. it is a work of art [and free]. i am still migrainous, but settling, so back to work tomorrow, so i must do some stuff for work [hence early blog, as a distraction!]

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Posted in Butterbean's HE, early maths skills, General, language, little languages, online resources, pre reading, SB-PE, science, socialisation, Stringbean's HE

A post with some HE in it!

Posted on December 10, 2008 by | 1 comment

it looks like it has been a while :blush: . luckilly, some HE has been going on!! SB has done a fair bit of maths, piano practice and handwriting, and a bit of spelling and music theory. she has read her new usborne books on samurai and aztecs and crusaders. She as also read hundreds [ok i exaggerate] of library books, done a lizard picture for sketch tuesday.
on Sat SB had her judo party, and really enjoyed the disco, and we have some fab photos at some point to flikr [well behind on helmsley though] and she has had a swimming lesson today and an HE playdate yesterday.
BB has carried on with loads of letter writing, some maths – she is considering how adding works at the moment. i really must remember her phraseology! she is deciding whether it makes sense anyway. but what if i add 2 things? will it still be 6?? [after 5 plus 1]. and also poisson rouging, jigsawing and crafting – an angel at library crafts, and painting all the animal picture frames she got as a birthday present. she wants to do recordering and music theory too now. there is no holding her!
we have as a family read some french books and had some french conversations – bb suspiciously asking – are you doing that in french again :roll: [ :lol: ] mind you, she has chosen to watch 2 videos in german – heidi and some crazy fairy story one.
As a family we have put up and decorated 2 christmas trees and got out the nativity scene. BB insisted the baby had to go in it as it might cry. i have been to a rather excellent planning meeting for the wednesdqay stuff, and chris is off to a planning meeting tomorrow. so, amidst the excitement of violin case buying, other stuff has happened!!

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Posted in Butterbean's HE, Dance/drama, daubing and making, early maths skills, history, language, literacy, little languages, music, numeracy, pre reading, SB-PE, socialisation, Stringbean's HE, writing