Category Archives: socialisation

Drumming

Posted on May 26, 2006 by Daddybean | 1 comment

This morning saw us head off to a local HE group meeting (arriving late due to 20 minute wait in traffic jam getting onto A1….) for an African Drumming Workshop which was great fun, and rather noisy Stringbean enjoyed the drumming, BB enjoyed the poddling about, saw Merry and Tammy and relevant children, though didn’t have that much time to chat. I was amused by Sam’s dislike of the drumming – standing there with his hands over his ears – and the desire to go off to the palyground

Enjoy !?

The groups singing at the end was good as well. SB also made shaker and helped out cutting up fruit for the fruit salad, though she didn’t like eating it for some reason.

Shaker making
Afterwards we went down to the playground for a bit. There are a couple of older girls, 11yo twins who seem to have taken a shine to SB and vice versa and they have taken her under their wing abit, so she spent some time playing with them. They went into the woods at the back of the playground for bit, building a bridge across a stream and generally getting muddy and wet feet. BB just went paddling in puddles to get wet feet…. I at and chatted with couple of other parents, until we got fed up getting damp as it had started to rain.

Once home later on, not much happened. Both ahd dozed off in the car and were a bit sleepy, so we sat and watched a bit of TV – SB watched a bit of videoed CBeebies followded by variosu schools programs on geography, something about Egypt.Soem sort of potted histroy programme was showing ‘highlights of the 1980′s – had? bit about Live Aid, the Ethiopian famine etc.? so that prompted various questions about that, don’t think she could grasp the idea that the people couldn’t just go somehere there was food, or just buy some more, or possibly even the whole concept of not having food to eat at all may? have ben beyond her, seing as it is totally outside her experince.SB did a bit of Jump Ahead Maths later before and after dinner.

Poor Helen has been very tired (we did both go to bed post 2 am last night for no good reason) and has been asleep since she gave BB her bedtime feed.

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean, IT, music, numeracy, Out and About, photos, socialisation, Stringbean

Out and about

Posted on May 24, 2006 by HHaricot | Leave a comment

today we went out with one of our local home ed groups to Denny Abbey. there was stained glass making and tile making put on, and for the older children a bit more history, but SB was having so much fun playing, that the youngest group played making arches and then sundry imaginative run around games! A huge turnout.

BB was much taken by looking through the coloured plastic to see how the world changed colour, and did this will all the colours she could grab. SB had a lollipop design for her stained glass- rofl. She was quick to answer questions, and enjoyed the tile making too – she concentrates really well on crafts.

A reproductive lesson too by a rather frisky bull in a field full of cows and calves. Ended on a sour note, as SB ran off with her friend M and hid just as I was putting BB in car. Took me 5 mins to find them. She knows she shouldn’t run off from carparks. grr! So she looked sad all the way home as she had been naughty – by which point I felt sad too!! And I hadn’t done too much of a major telling off either.

Anyway, got home. Chris went to the meeting with the council about the pubs request for musi 4 days a week. he got chatting to the owner, who prob isn’t going to use music so much, and it seems part of the deal is some kind of noise limiter device thingy. So we’ll see.

SB did some maths – difficult bit again, so we cut it short – its adding over a 10. She’s fine at adding and subtracting within the 10, and her understanding of tens and units seems fine, its just that making tens thing. Some playing with cuisinaire rods and pattern making with that and the ideal blocks. We also made a mask – it was SB’s present to me as a sorry for being naughty, she made me a make-a-mask kit and wrapped it up – ahh, all friends again, and a long cuddle! She really can be thoughtful[yep, there is one of me in the mask!]

We then spent most of the afternoon outside, running around, making up games, and SB and BB playing together beautifully. We lost track of time, so have had chips for tea listening to little toe radio – we are all enjoying the little house on the prairie adaption. We finished the day watching some more of the blue planet DVD series – shores this time. SB has become very taken by natural history DVD’s

Sporty Monday

Posted on May 8, 2006 by Daddybean | 2 comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Posted in Books, Butterbean, Out and About, Ponderings, SB-PE, science, socialisation, Stringbean, Stringbean's HE

Phew! What a scorcher :-)

Posted on May 4, 2006 by Daddybean | Leave a comment

Well it was relativley here today, really hot day. Which had SB complaining when I made her take a fleece out with us when we went out this morning. SB part did jigsaw over breakfast. Went to a local HE group meeting today. Theme was Africa, with some Africa inspired crafty things.

As usual it was down to line getting us out of the door, but we got there in time.

SB made a necklace, with beads made from rolled up sheets of paper glued together ,

she then spent quite sometime making a painted on ‘leather’ picture which we put into a frame (hers is on the left)

Though she did need assitance, in particular with the frame. They were very effective.

She then did a little bit of weaving with reeds/rushes:

By the end of that it was time to have some lunch, which this time I was more organised with – though BB at some point had found someone half eaten pitta bread and helped herself to that While all this was goign on, when not nicking others food BB poddled about, did bit of drawing, and kept trying to disappearr into the great blue yonder.

After the group we went down to the playground with soem others, SB complained of it being hot – it was. BB kept trying to climb up the climbing frames, and we bumped into the biggest three girls from the Puddle being given some relief from the stresses of house moving by Aunty Kate. SB was pleased as she got an Icecream out of it from AK

Home, SB rather dozey, read ‘Where’s Wally ‘ to her, out to ballet lesson, back home, dinner, tears, when somehow I had BB on my lap, arm round her, cup of tea in other hand, she somehow lurched back over my arm, I couldn’t catch her and she hit her head hard on the door behind big egg on her head but otherwise ok. not the best end to the day.

Party Time

Posted on April 30, 2006 by Daddybean | 3 comments

Yesterday we had Stringbean’s party, the excuse being her offically home educated status this term. Day started with scurrying around, stocking up at the supermarket, organising stuff, tidying, vacuuming etc. dunno why really, given the chaos that would later ensue

Soon from all points of the compass (well 3 of them, anyway, given that we live on the eastern side of the country….) friends arrived, bearing children, food and of course alcohol.

Amd jolly lovely it was too , the kids ran around and played, in the garden, in the playroom, in the bedroom, so that the grown-ups could moslty sit around and chat, catch up, eat drink etc. and that was it really, we all spent a number of hours haveing a thoroughly lovely time. Last ones heading home left at about 10 30pm or so, though we weren’t really late to bed. THe last children SB and her friend Big didn’t go to bed until about 12 though, but they were having such a lovley time palying together it seemed shame to disturb them.

This morning we sat around, had breakfast, more playing, more tea/coffee drinking, chatting, families gradually headed off home. We waved a last goodbye to the making it up team after lunch (eating our way through some of the leftovers….) and then spent the rest of the day relaxing moslty. SB, was flagging somewhat and watched video’s/TV before dinner and an earlyish bedtime. A bit of tidying up – things are moslty back to normal, well at least no more disorganised than it normally is – finished the day, and then we’ve just blobbed around. Dinner was more leftovers

So, thankyou to all those who came and made it such a lovley day, we missed those of you who couldn’t make it, I loved seeing all the kids milling about and playing together, and seeing everypne having a good time. I’m glad I’d got the swings together as they were popular with the children. This is such a good house for having parties in, lots of space inside and out – so it’s good to share it.
Here is to the next time.

Helen is currently flickring our photos as I post, so they should soon appear. Though I think this one from Mazportico sums up the day really:

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Posted in Butterbean, photos, socialisation, Stringbean, Stringbean's HE

Not such a muddle

Posted on April 6, 2006 by HHaricot | 6 comments

TBH, I expected Merry’s house to be full of boxes and in total disarray considering how soon they might be moving, but didn’t look too panicky at all! obviously Chris and I are the worst for that!

We had a lovely day there, but I am glad we saw the older 2 when they got back from their stage thing, as it did seem quiet without them. I had a lovely hug from fran, and maddy shew me the egyptian things – very nice indeed!

SB and Amelie played together, and a lot of messing about with the Ideal blocks. i have bought one from Merry, but she warned me people usually come back for a second!

As I left weighted down with hama – well I needed to top up so much has been used, SB bought the princess, and I couldn’t resist an egg board after seeing Merry’s designs , though I did manage to resist the chick as well. So thats the educational budget blown out of the water! BB and Josie had fun playing together, and I even saw some patting and not just poking and pushing! In fact, they got on so well, we were able to have a nice natter.
Before we went, SB sat down and easily did her explode the code 2. I was rather proud of her, as when she got cross with the sled [instead of her preferred sledge], she decided it was a sledge, so wrote slej. i was so proud of the sounding it in her head and writing, I didn’t have the heart to mention the real spelling, but just congratulated her on working out it was a j, and actually writing one! I do get periodicvally grumpy with the American, like slip – and its a petticoat!

When we got back, both beans were tired, i read to SB whilst feeding BB, and then we had our treat chip supper. After that, BB played with the winnie the pooh stickers that she had got way back for her birthday, and SB and I played build a beetle. Nighttime was again thomas the tank engine stories and hopefully asleep!

Have taken a couple – but not many – photos.

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Posted in General, literacy, Out and About, socialisation, writing

Just another manic monday

Posted on March 20, 2006 by HHaricot | Leave a comment

I will let chris add in the morning as he and the girls went to the local[ish] home ed group for an egyptians session.

Your wish……

Good start to the day, BB slept through which is the first for a while – but of little benefit to us since we didn’t got to bed until 2am…. First thing SB wanted to do was finisish of the last bit of the end of the book ‘test’ in the Explode the Code book 1. So she sat and finished that and had breakfast. could cope perfectly well with the sentences they finished with. she was pleased and wanted sticker becuase she was such a good girl

Then it was quick scurry round, getting dressed and ready to go out, we wer wout by 9.30, as we had to go via Tesco for some sugar cubes, for making sugar cube pyramids. Of course i forget that it is ginormous Tesco extra and so of course buying half a dozen items require a mile walk or somesuch. so were were about 10 -15 mins late to the hall. But all got set up, pyramid building was popular, even if some were more of ruined sort – authentic I guess. Unfortunately BB nor totally perky as she has had nasty cold and wanted a carry much of the time, which when you are trying to keep and eye on what SB is doing, help out what the pyramid builders are doing, chat to soem other parents etc. was bit tiring. Sb also made a hippopotamus out of dough, and a mummy/cask mask. All good fun, and a nice ‘potluck’ Eyptian (very -ish) lunch to finish. A few photos, not brilliant as I was more often than not distracted by something else.

On the way out we bought a sort of Triops Aquapolis from an US family who are moving back home and getting rid of various bits?

While the girls went home with Helen, I went via a couple of shops. I bought soem clocks in Argos. A couple of basic ones for downstairs and Disney Princess one for SB’s room. Relaised we didn’t really have any proper dial clocks around now, and so it’s bit harder for SB to actually learn to tell the time so easily. The two downstairs clocks are both ‘radio controlled’ – they set their time by the rugby time signal or whatever it is. Rather spooky, turning them on and then watching the hands turn to the right time. It wasn’t a feature I’d gone looking for, but the chips must now be very cheap, to find in in the mechanisms of cheap Argos clocks.

This was the Hippo

I had a fairly crappy work morning and then hurried to join them as BB very grumbly, not at all well and ravenous for a feed, so I said hello to everyone cleaning up as i gave sustenance. It is only 5 mins from where I work on Mon, so convenient for emergency feeds. Anyway, nice to see SB in the middle of a gaggle of children having great fun, playing all sorts of games together.

In fact I fed BB all afteroon, or she slept in my arms. SB a good lass though, and we played some games, read 3 different books about egypt and ancient egyptians. She also started explode the code 2 – woohoo! I read some of ulysses, and she then nick juniored.

I had a brief respite from permafeeding and sowed cauliflower autumn giant, and sweetcorn.

We finished the evening with chips from the chippy, and watched the planet.

BB has come alive a bit now – little hope for a good night!!

Flying visits

Posted on March 19, 2006 by HHaricot | 4 comments

We had Jax and family overnight on their way to relatives. That was fun. SB was desperate on friday waiting for them to arrive, and when they did, she Big and Small vanished. The all slept in her bedroom without too much kerfuffle as well. We adults had wine and chat…

The next day we had the odd ‘stayed up too late and woke up too early’ melting moments, but on the whole they all still got on. Some stickering as a firebreak unfortunately was not entirely succesful, as I hadn’t realised SB’s attachement to some flowery thingy stickers – bad mummy! A short pause of story reading [barefoot animal stories] restored SB’s equanimity. Its clear that Big and SB get on like a house on fire, and have many character similarities. It was also good to see them and Small all playing together inmaginatively upstairs – lots of picnics, dollies and happy street. Small was desperately cute persuading BB to play with him. Unfortunately she is post MMR and with cold, so not at her peak!

So, when we saw them, they had fun with the wacky wigglers – small was totally engrossed. Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of him roller skating down the hallway later on.

SB and Big really enjoyed sowing seeds together [summer sprouting broc [wok brok], broccoli romanescu and asparagus peas.]

But mostly there was a lot of noise and mayhem!

What fun. SB collapsed in bed tonight with angelina ballerina stories and barefoot princess. No such luck with BB – she has permafeeded and snoozed her way through the day, and resitance to sleep very high indeed!

PS, which 8 of you are up as dreadfully late as me? few minutes after posting this, there are 8 views on the linked flickr pictures!!

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Posted in art and crafts, Books, Butterbean, gardening, General, socialisation, Stringbean

Monday, Tuesday …..

Posted on March 15, 2006 by Daddybean | 1 comment

Time to catch up, so what happened on Monday then? a bit of black hole memory wise.

Monday morning – me and SB played her ‘Build a Beetle ‘ game for ages, before during and after breakfast – and er, not sure what else, there was some reading of books as well. We also tided the sitting room – wel l i tidied, BB untidied and SB persched on sofa and watched CBeebies moslty

Afternoon we were going out to a home ed social gathering at a another house a couple of villages away. Luckilly Helen was able to make it from work as well. Rather a nice time, got to sit and meet chat with some more/new/different home edders/play with some other children. Though SB not quite herself the last few days and was a bit reticent to join in as much as she normally does. But didn’t want to go home , so take that as a sign she was enjoying herself. Took place in a rather nice ‘room ‘ they ahev in their garden. Bit like a very large shed, but all fitted out nicely inside, with an office room as well – rather nice.

Tuesday me and SB started off by having good look at one of here Picturepedia books on space. Spent quite a long time looking ta things in in chatting about variosu things such as star life cycles, gogin to the Moon, planets, space stations, living on the Moon, Mars etc.

Then we played with the Wacky Wigglers, made one from the instructions, later on SB made her one ‘monster’ with it. There was little bit of Hamaing over breakfats, and then it wa tiem to get organised/dressed and go to the library for storytime and book changing. Helen and found one of the books (Huggly’s Pizza) which had gone AWOL so we don’t have to pay for another lost book. As usual, SB was the last to finish doing her crafty stuff.

Home, lunch, lots of reading of library books, more more Hama-ing. SB did start on following a Dinosaur pattern, but decided to use her own colours, then I think got mixed up and then got fed up so stopped. Then started on a large heart board with a complicated pattern that she is still working on. Told me to make a giraffe, but that is still unfinished as well.

Did some maths, this time using Miquon maths, mostly working on doing numbers up to a hundred. Then it was tiem to get dinner ready, the girls pottered about a bit doigng this and that, then dinner in the oven while we went off to SB’s swimming lesson, hoem from that to dinner, and then a bit of long stretch before Helen got home at about half 8

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Posted in art and crafts, General, numeracy, SB-PE, science, socialisation

Drop Dead Exhausted

Posted on March 10, 2006 by HHaricot | 2 comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Posted in art and crafts, Butterbean, General, numeracy, Out and About, Ponderings, science, socialisation, Stringbean's HE

Category Archives: socialisation

Drumming

Out and about

Sporty Monday

Phew! What a scorcher :-)

Party Time

Not such a muddle

Just another manic monday

Flying visits

Monday, Tuesday …..

Drop Dead Exhausted

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