Messes and Motivation

We have a set of mini-drawers in our study - drawers full of paper clips, drawing pins, elastic bands, split pins, blutack and foldback clips.  It is a sad confession, but I love these little drawers of bitty bits of stationery: they make me feel organised, and appeal to the little girl in me who always loved things in miniature.  Apparently I'm not the only one fascinated by them either, as on Friday evening I walked into the study to discover that "someone" had tipped out every single drawer (except the blutack one for some reason) onto the floor and into a huge cardboard box!  I wasn't surprised to discover later it was a certain four year old assisted and doubtless encouraged by his seven year old brother.  It's one of those sights that you walk in on and just want to turn around and walk out again.  In fact I'm pretty sure I did just that initially. A bit later I did start trying to pick it all up, then I realised that was entirely the wrong thing to do.  So when the boys woke up the next day we had a "little chat" and I explained that as they had made the mess deliberately, they would sort it all out & put everything back into the little drawers (I swept it all into a big box so they didn't tread on anything by accident).  Initially Youngest was very reluctant (I'm not surprised: it was a total mess), so they've been doing a bit every now and then, and today I sat down with them while they finished it off - miniature order restored!  It actually turned out to be fun, and a great opportunity for them to do some maths (counting into groups of ten, as that was how I motivated them to do a bit at a time) and some sorting into appropriate drawers etc... as well as the very important lesson that if you make a mess, you take responsibility for clearing it up, rather than assuming that "someone else" (Mummy) will!

As a 'thank you' for doing such a good job tidying their mess, we then made some chocolate orange & pecan cookies together.  Pecans are amongst the few nuts that the boys will eat - I think it's because they're not as hard as most other nuts.  Anyway, the cookies were totally scrumptious!

Once that was finished this morning, Youngest got onto Reading Eggs and stayed on for ages... Middle had to wait until the afternoon to have his turn, so he took some time to do some more work on his lapbook (as did Eldest).  He has been getting less and less inclined to do it lately, even though he chose it himself - and I realised it was because he was finding all the writing too arduous.  I do want him to enjoy writing, and enjoy lapbooking - so  I made a suggestion that he liked: he dictated to me what to write, and I typed it up (his typing is currently even slower than his writing), then we printed it and he cut and pasted the printed text onto the mini flapbooks etc.  That definitely put the smile back on his face, so we were all pleased.  Even so, once this lapbook is finished I think I'll hold back on letting him start another one - I want to be sure he's really interested rather than having a 'good idea for a subject' and then rapidly losing motivation.

There were a couple of friends heading to a park meet today, & having had a fairly quiet weekend I was in two minds about whether or not to join them; I thought we all might need a spot of fresh air... but the boys seemed velcroed into their pjyamas, and mindful of Friday's decision to reclaim our time at home, I just let it slide. Instead we had a picnic in front of the TV, letting the boys watch the recorded 'Got to Dance' final... lovely stuff!

Backlogged but Blossoming

I've got the most horredous blogging backlog!  Last week was so busy and I was so tired, I kept meaning to write in my blog, but then something would come up (usually my pillow calling my name!)... so apologies to my lovely faithful readers who I have neglected shamefully.  I hope you've all been having a good time!  Anyway,  for today I'm going to have to just give you the highlights of the past week, and then try harder to get back into a blogging rhythm

So we've still been carrying on in the same way: mostly child-led but with a few parent-led aspects.  Middle has spent a lot of time recording videos and playing with effects on his kidizoom camera.  He's also been just finding books and picking them up to read... more evidence of his increased confidence in his own ability  These aren't the picture-books that he previously beleved he was restricted to, but older books like The Story of the Olympics that is well within his grasp, and even Bulging Brains that he would have completely ignored up until a few weeks ago!  I still remember that in September he said he wanted to read "big books" like the ones Eldest and I read, and I was slightly baffled about the perceived block in his mind... I'm so happy for him that as per everything else in his life, it just took time with no pressure - and he has done it, by himself! He really is blossoming into the beautiful person he was created to be.  Happy boy, happy Mummy!

Youngest has also been blossoming - he is starting to make more sense of the world around him, particularly regarding how the skills he has been learning (mostly on Reading Eggs) apply to everyday life.  He has started to blend the letter sounds on labels of things in the kitchen cupboard, and titles on books and boxes around the house.  In one sense, reading is such an abstract skill to learn, but it is one that it is very difficult to live without - and it's just lovely to see him applying that concept to life in general.  He's also been learning everyday life skills... there's been a lot of wrestling with scissors and sellotape, buttons, zips and other things that I would usually ask if he wanted help with.  To be fair, he usually says no anyway, he's such an independent little thing - but lately I have consciously held back from asking as I don't want him to get the message that I don't believe he can do it - and it does seem to have increased his confidence (if such a thing were possible)... or maybe it's just increased my awareness of what he can manage by himself!

Eldest has been enjoying a bit (OK a lot) of a nature documentary-fest on TV.  Every now and then I catch mysef thinking he's "not doing anything", but that's ridiculous.  It's well known within the family that if you want to know anything about undersea creatures (and an increasing number of other wildlife), we ask Eldest: he knows way more than any of the rest of us, and how does he know so much?  simply because it's his favourite subject, so he absorbs like a sponge the information presented in books and on his beloved documentaries.  It really is easy learning!  Fortunately as we've gone on in our HE journey I'm getting better at recognising my illogical twitches  (such as 'learning is supposed to involve hard study'), and am getting faster at silencing them before I try to make the boys conform to my old mental programming - yay!  Oh and Eldest also found an electric circuit-maker that produces animal sounds - it was given to him a while ago, and he just found it and decided he wanted to have a go.  I was glad he found it as it was amongst the things that were buried in piles in the study where we've been sorting out ready for our new shelf unit to arrive and be installed in the front room (much more accessible for spontaneous inspiration).

Of course, I was over-the-moon at a beautiful new storage unit (I feel like I've turned into Anne from Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five'), and the boys were even more happy when I told them they could have the four 6ft boxes that the unit was delivered in. First they got some paper and blue felt-pen to draw up some blue-prints (I didn't even know they knew what blue prints are.. gotta love HE) and then they commenced construction.  I even managed NOT to tell them "don't waste the parcel tape" - see, Mummy's learning too!  The only problem is, we now have a cardboard structure that almost entirely fills the front room, so I'm not going to get to enjoy the longed-for sense of order in my lounge for a while yet until the fort has been removed (I want to try and get it upstairs, but that's going to be a 2-person job at least!) 

Other than that, the boys have also been continuing with Reading Eggspress (which they all really enjoy and more often that not, spend more time on it than their required thirty minutes) - and MathsWhizz (not quite so loved, but they have still been known to be on it for hours)... and the lapbooks are a continuing succes story.  Middle is getting onto a roll, he's been thinking of loads of subjects that he wants to do, and seems to be really gathering momentum.  It's just so lovely to see, given what he was like (depressed, anxious and zero-confidence) this time last year when we were about to start home educating.  So today I'm going to leave you with Middle's completed "My Body" lapbook.  He calls it the "biggest, most flappiest lapbook ever".  Most of the flap templates inside came from Jodi Small's Human Body unit, on the HomeSchool Share website, and a few from the My Body unit by Friedrich, Franks and Sako.  I actually prefer the bits that Middle does entirely by himself, they're so cute - but the HSS templates are awesome for when he runs out of ideas!

Happy Monday everyone!  Have a lovely week - and I'll try to be back here sooner than I was last week!

front cover

inside front cover

middle

inside right flap

 right flap

And some of the fold-outs/ flaps...

Middle's depiction of the body's various systems (top left to right: digestive, skeletal, nervous, muscular, circulatory, urinary, respiratory) - he did these entirely off his own back, after watching our Human Body DVD

 This was Middle's favourite bit: he loved having me measure him

 cue much sniggering...

"A bad day home educating...

... is still better than a bad day at school!"  That's how the saying goes - and I'm so grateful that it's true!  To be fair, today wasn't really that bad - it was mostly down to my mood (isn't it always?)

You see, last week we had a good week.  I kept meaning to update the blog, but we were too busy or I was too tired.  Middle and Youngest started the week fighting off some kind of lurgy, but it wasn't too serious.  We had to cancel one playdate for Monday because Youngest was really miserable that day, but for the rest of the week they were OK and our time was chock-a-block full of socialising.  It was half-term for schools in Herts - and while I don't particularly feel the need to take breaks at the same time as the school holidays, it is a great opportunity for the boys to catch up with their friends who are still in school.  So we dropped all parent-led activities, and they had a lovely week full of playing with friends, playing computer games, watching TV, and just playing - while Mummy got to grips with some serious sorting out that was badly overdue!

It has been almost eleven years since I was able to just get on with tidying up etc, as ever since Eldest was born, I have had babies/ toddlers to keep an eye on.  To this day I maintain that if you have a child (or more) aged 3 or under, there is no point trying to keep a tidy house as they create chaos faster than you can sort it out!  Some children are reportedly good at entertaining themselves safely without requiring much supervision (apparently my brother-in-law as a baby could be left in a room playing with toys and when his Mum came back into the room he would be exactly where she left him... I cannot even begin to imagine it!)  None of mine were like that - and especially not Youngest!  However, now he has reached the grand old age of four, he is calming down slightly.  He even voluntarily took my hand and walked with me instead of running off the other day while we were out shopping (I was simultaneously shocked and thrilled).  So anyway, now he is slowing down a little I have found myself better able to get on with jobs around the house while he is happily occupied elsewhere.  Of course, my ears are on high-alert like ultra sensitive satellite dishes so that if it goes ominously quiet I can leap into search-and-retrieve mode immediately - but the fact is, last week I not only maintained the necessary level of housework but also got some boxes of stuff sorted (y'know - the "stuff" that gets shoved in a box/ cupboard/ shelf/ room somewhere in a hurry when people drop by, and then stays in said box for weeks... months... (years?) on end).  I was greatly pleased with myself!

By the weekend though, I confess I was really tired from all the hosting playdates, tidying/ sorting  and being solely responsible for the boys all week as Hubby had had a really busy week of very long days at work.  So by Saturday we were both fairly wiped out, and somehow managed to not only do hardly any tidying up all weekend, but also not have any family time together in the great outdoors.  Big mistake.  Today I woke up to a kitchen full of mess, an erupting laundry bin and a house-full of inhabitants who are going more than a bit stir-crazy.  Enter the "bad day home educating": I just want to be outside, walking through my beloved woods, not stuck indoors moving from dishwasher to washing machine and back again (although I am really grateful for said machines of course).  However, the boys are adamant that it is Monday and therefore pyjama day - grrrrrr, for once I am not having such a lovely Monday!  I'm trying not to be grumpy Mummy, but I do feel really cooped up.  Unfortunately it's a vicious cycle as to persuade the boys to get dressed and go outdoors would take a lot of 'jollying along' - and jolly seems to have disappeared from my repertoire today. I have suggested going to the park a couple of times but they're not keen (except Youngest, bless him) - and I know if I tried to force it, it would turn into a major battle.  Hey ho - at least we can go out tomorrow!

It has to be said - in "educational terms" the boys have done just fine: they've all had some time on Reading Eggs(press); Eldest and Middle have spent some time on their lapbooks; Youngest did a jigsaw puzzle and made a marble run; we all experimented with separating colours using felt pens and filter paper - a good day really.  However, the Reading Eggspress was more taxing than I expected as they all hit issues and needed my input (Eldest needed me to find the right books; Middle got too many answers wrong on his comprehension bit so had to redo it (which is never encouraging) - he did fine the second time though as doing it with me makes him slow down and read the questions properly; Youngest managed to accidentally switch off our ancient home computer three times!  Given that it takes 20-30 minutes to get from 'start' to having loaded an online programe, that was enormously frustrating)  Eldest is starting a new lapbook and even though he already knew what subject he wanted to do (Life in the Rainforest) it took him ages to get started as he kept hitting problems with loading Youtube clips of his chosen creatures or finding a good photo for the cover etc.  Middle is just finishing his 'My Body' lapbook - having had a week off he had run out of momentum on it, but we think it's important that they learn to see jobs through to completion, so I shamelessly bribed him with a glowstick from their treasure box of goodies-they-receive-for-doing-good-work (their idea, not mine), and eventually he did a bit more - hooray!  Hopefully it will be finished soon!  Oh, and the lovely ink/water experiment didn't work as well as the examples show in the book, although the boys thought it was cool - and it didn't go down well when somebody knocked over the glass of inky water all over Mummy's lap just when I was trying to tidy up!

Big sigh.  Never mind!  I hope I haven't depressed you... I wanted to be honest and faithfully record the ups and downs of home educating - but at the end of the day, that saying is true: a bad day home educating really is still better than a bad day at school.  Bad days at school never left space for precious cuddles with loving little boys; at school we couldn't make allowances for feeling tired/ fed up, and adjust our workload accordingly; if we'd been at school that mountain of washing-up & laundry would still have been waiting for me when I got back, even more exhausted than I started the day.  If Middle had had to redo a lesson in school he would have ground to a halt, he was so low in confidence.  At least today he was happy to try again with me next to him - that's real progress!  They are not being asked to do mindless exercises; they are not having their behaviour scrutinised; they are not subject to the anti-social pressures of hostile peers; they are not being tested on things that will be forgotten after the tests are completed.  They are free to learn through play and exploration; they have space to move about and stretch; if they want to spend hours on end just experimenting with their camera (Middle this afternoon) they can.  Even though Mummy has had her grumpy moments today, they are still in an environment where their worth as individuals is unquestioned and they are loved for being who they are.  It's got to be said - for all my petty complaints, that's still a pretty good day!

Proud Mummy Day

We had a very successful Reading Eggs(press) morning today. Eldest just storms through his allocated time - he tends to go through a couple of books at a time, plus further games/ exercises; Middle had no problems today - yesterday I printed out a little chart with the definitions and examples of the parts of speech that he seemed most likely to come up against to start with (noun, verb, adjective, pronoun).  Given that he has never learned about the parts of speech, he seemed to grasp the concept really quickly - very proud Mummy moment.  Once he'd worked his way through his online book, he couldn't wait to get onto the Quote Quest and other games.  And Youngest - well, he finished another world today!  He is now on world five, and doing brilliantly.  I've already mentioned how much he benefitted from a few months off to assimilate everything he had learned before he got stuck... and today he experienced that again in a smaller way.  He had done a few exercises and reached the test at the end of the 'world' or level.  I was in another room with one of his brothers, and he had a go by himself but gave up, saying it was too hard.  Once I was available about an hour later, I asked him if he would show me the tricky test.  We sat down together and again - having just had an hour away from the computer he was able to focus, and just whizzed through it, getting them all right with ease.  Definite Reading Eggs(press) fans here!

After that, Eldest and Middle both did some more work on their lapbooks.  Again Middle ended up doing some really quite advanced work, writing about and illustrating the different types of muscles.  Bless him, I hadn't realised that some of the downloaded flap templates were harder than others until we started on this one, but as he had started it I just waited to see if he would give up - and he didn't.  The little star!  Eldest has almost finished his too - he had a couple of days off when he ran out of steam, but is almost finished now - he wants it finished by the weekend, so hopefuly we'll have photos to share on Friday.

All of this while Youngest and I baked some Smartie cookies for lunch...

This afternoon  was very lazy.  Hubby has started a new job this week which is further away than the previous one, so he needs to get up earlier in the morning, and so far the boys have been waking up with him, and consequently getting tired earlier.  So this afternoon after all their hard work they just wanted to flop on the sofa, watching TV for a while before disappearing upstairs to build battlefields out of lego and recreate the island of Madagascar in duplo.  It was a bit odd watching about the hottest place on earth (Death Valley) with snow still on the ground outside our window, courtesy of CBBC's Fierce Planet. We had a lovely moment when Eldest and I were excited to spot a songthrush that briefly visited our garden... I love that we're so often at home during the day and can call each other if we see something out of the ordinary, to have a little shared moment together.

Finally it was time for tea: lentil bolognese, cooked almost entirely by Eldest...

Happy sigh - this really has been a proud Mummy Day.  I don't like giving the impression that all of our days are glowing and perfect (they really aren't), but a little bragging comes with the maternal territory, doesn't it?  And hopefully my boys' progress as recorded today might be encouraging to those needing reassurance that HE really can and does work!

Mellow Monday

We had a busy weekend away this weekend, visiting family, meeting up with old friends from the church we were part of when we got married a LONG time ago, and then celebrating my brilliant nephew's 18th birthday with more family.  It was a lovely weekend, although I was glad to get home having had to drive through heavy snow in the dark on the way back.  I'm always so happy every time I stop and register that weekends away are no problem, because tired boys (and Mummy) can have a lay-in and lazy day the next day if necessary.

So this morning we got up very slowly and gently.  The boys drifted downstairs and were allowed one programme before breakfast (they chose a programme they had recorded called Splatalot), then breakfast, then Reading Eggspress.  I don't want them to feel crowded or harrassed, so more often than not I tend to leave the boys to it and let them know they can call me if they need help - but today I stayed with Middle to have a look at it together, and I'm glad I did - he had got stuck and was playing the games rather than ask for help.  He had still been learning while playing, so it wasn't a disaster, but I was glad for the opportunity to go through it together.  He obviously still has a problem with feeling bad if he can't do something first time (even something he has never learned, bless him).  Anyway, we went through it togethe and chatted about the bits he was getting stuck on, then he whizzed through the other bits, happy to be progressing.  He had got stuck on not knowing the definitions of nouns, pronouns, verbs etc, so I'm going to print off a sheet for him with the definitions so he can stick it to the desk and have it to refer to all the time.  So that was lovely, seeing his confidence grow - and making a mental note for Mummy to keep a closer eye on him to check that he isn't struggling but not asking for help (it's hereditary it seems: I never asked for help at school/ college either).  Well after that he carried on with some of the Reading Eggspress games while Youngest and I went on Reading Eggs on my laptop.  Youngest totally whizzed through it again - he picked it back up again last week after a good few months off - and I'm still astounded at how, during his time off, he has mastered the thing that he was stuck on!  I know it's true that we all need time off to process things and that children given that space really do progress naturally without needing to be drilled - but it's still amazing to see it happen before your eyes!

Other than their online curricula we watched "321 Go" (a Maths programme recorded from BBC's Learning Zone) on fractals and symmetry, which was lovely, because it tied in really well with the art I had planned for today.  Following on from our 'painting with scissors' art on Friday in Moodswings, Muffins and Matisse, we did some more cutting out, but this time using lines of symmetry to create 'positive' and 'negative' images:  We used an A4 piece of paper as a background sheet with a line down the middle (the line of symmetry), and then an A5 piece of paper to draw one half of a symmetrical shape/ image, and then cut it out and flipped it over the line of symmetry - and then glued the pieces down.  I think the pictures show more clearly what I mean...

 Mummy's 'Face' - the example I made to show the boys what I meant

Middle's 'Ball'

Eldest's 'Lightsaber Duel'

Youngest's 'Shapes'

Middle's 'Octopus'

Eldest's 'Squid'

 Mummy's 'Snowflake' (that took AGES!)

Following that, the boys wanted to watch "Fierce Earth:Tsunami", recorded from CBBC.  I wasn't at all sure because for some weird reason tsunamis - more than any other natural disaster - give me nightmares, & I was concerned for the boys.  They were all sure they wanted to see it though, and it was a children's programme after all so on it went.  Actually it turned out to be quite positive for me too as it focused on survivor stories... so next time I dream about a tsunami I can just climb a palm tree in my dream & all will be well! (I know, there aren't many palm trees in Hertfordshire - but then we're not exactly on the coast either... nobody said fears had to be rational!)

And that was it!  The rest of the day mostly involved pottering, relaxing and playing, cosying up inside and looking at the snow outsaide (we weren't even tempted to go outside in it, we were that tired!) - basically, the perfect Monday after a busy weekend away!

Mood Swings, Muffins and Matisse

Eldest is having a growth spurt.  I had noticed some hefty mood swings recently, and his appetite (which is usually tiny) has increased several times over... he eats more than me at the moment!  As with all times when my children exhibit unusual behaviour, I take it as a sign that I need to draw closer to them - and this week I have really enjoyed the chance to spend time together working on his lapbook.  He had quite a few really lovely comments made about his first lapbook (as shared in "We Love Mondays"), and that spurred him on to do an even better book next time, for his "fans"!  Perfect opportunity for Mummy to sit down with him and spend time working on it together.  He still did all the work, but I gave him a few tips, like for every animal pictured, include their name, where they're from and an interesting fact about them.  I don't want to load work onto him so it becomes a chore, but I do feel that he is ready to be stretched a bit, and left to himself he has great ideas, but tends to rush them through a bit - so I've sat with him this week and helped him to focus on getting each page exactly as he wants, not rushing over mistakes.  We've had so much fun going through it together, giggling over mispronounced words and funny facts found while researching, it's been lovely!  I'm so grateful for Home Ed once again - the chance to spend quality time with my boy when he most needs to be reminded that he's loved.

And today it wasn't just Eldest, either - I had some precious one-on-one time with each of my boys, while their siblings were occupied elsewhere (it would be lovely if it were like that every day, but usually we just muddle along, bouncing between rooms, children and activities).  Eldest and I worked on his lapbook as mentioned above, and later I also "helped" Middle with his lapbook.  Whereas Eldest's lapbook is almost entirely done on the computer (with a bit of cutting and sticking) and our working together involves researching, some dictation etc (him to me), Middle's is a lot more practical and hands-on: I've printed off lots of little folded-books, flap-books etc for him from the Homeschool Share templates, some of which already had the information written inside, and we had lovely some snuggles this morning with Middle reading the amazing body facts out to me (he particularly enjoyed boasting that he had more bones and better hearing than me because he's younger).  Then once Youngest had finished his puzzles and time on Reading Eggs (in the same room as Eldest and me, so I could marvel at how much he has progressed while having time off), he and I went to bake some muffins - "just you and me".  He particularly wanted to make some that our lactose-intolerant lodger could share, so we made some carrot muffins.  I thought they were lovely, but Youngest couldn't get past the thought of vegetables inside a cake, and has decided that he doesn't like them.  He loved grating the carrots though - we used the grating attachment on the foodmixer, and he relished pushing the carrots down with the plunger while watching the sharp grater holes do their thing.  He loves gadgets generally, so it was a real winner (apart from not liking the taste of the end result!)

After all the individual work we had some Mummy-led together time where we looked at some art by Matisse, using one of the Smart about Art books that we have - we really like that series.  We talked about how Matisse used just scissors, paper and glue in his later pictures, and how he liked bright colours... and we grabbed our own scissors, glue and brightly coloured paper to have a go for ourselves.  It is harder than it looks, not to use pencils for details or to draw outlines to cut along, but again, we were all pleased with our finished art...
 

"Insect Hill", by Eldest

 



"Underwater Creatures" by Middle

he took extra care over his Sea Hare (top left corner), complete with anatomically correct 'poo-cannon'!

"Zoo" by Youngest

"Jungle Flower" by Mummy

Finally we had a game of Animal Families (like 'Happy Families', but based on animals grouped by classification).  Another lovely day - but for those of you who may be tempted to compare yourselves unfavourably, you'll be relieved to hear that yesterday was nowhere near like this.  Our HE group that we were looking forward to was cancelled at the last minute, and we all felt a bit "flobberly" (it's a family word!) without that focus to the day.  So we basically did very little, which somehow resulted in a lot of mess.  I can't actually remember any of what we did - it was that 'good'!  But I'm including it here for the sake of balance: a little inspiration (hopefully) for those who could use it, and commiserations with anyone else experiencing a non-productive 'flobberly day'.  Whichever applies to you, I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Hooray for the Trampoline!

The boys are definitely showing signs that they've been cooped up indoors for too long!  Because my back has been painful for a couple of weeks now, we have been significantly hindered from getting out and about as much as we would normally like - but yesterday it wasn't too bad, so we decided we would try again to get to craft club.  We had a lovely time, the boys all made some cute snakes (as  Chinese Year of the Snake begins in a few days), but you could tell they hadn't been out for a while: they went quite loopy, running about and yelling - generally being boys with excess energy.  Fortunately there is an enclosed garden outside, so they were able to let off steam with friends before we came home.  Unfortunately my back complained for the rest of the day so I was pretty much confined to my chair, printing off lapbook resources etc.  The boys had calmed down by then, so thy occupied themselves nicely (mostly with lapbook activities and general happy playtime.

Snakes, top to bottom: Eldest's; Youngest's; Middle's

This morning, having restocked on playdough yesterday, we were able to make lots of little 'people' (and the odd alien, baby and pancake-man) to complete our Gormley-inspired sculpting, prompted by this blog, and started the other day in We Love Mondays.  It was fascinating to note the care taken over each little 'blob', how each was invested with a personality, and how fond of each individual we became.  Considering it was such a simple activity, I would definitely do it again, and spend more time talking about individuals making up a whole etc.  As it was, the boys were keen to get on to their next activity today, so we didn't chat about it as much as I would have liked.  I do hope the boys are keen to do it again...

 our version of Gormley's "Field for the British Isles"

Reading Eggspress followed our "art lesson" - Eldest and Middle had both found an activity that they really enjoyed... they spent well over the required thirty minutes on there (more like ninety minutes each).  Youngest wasn't interested in Reading Eggs today though - he just wanted Reading Eggspess like his big brothers.  We spent time reading and playing jigsaws etc instead, but it's made me think - maybe I just need to let him have a go at Reading Eggspress so he can see for himself that he's not ready for it yet, rather than trying to reason with him.

Then they had some time working on lapbooks while Youngest taught himself how to burp words (I know)... he didn't burp the alphabet, he burped "I ... love ... you ... Mummy" - I was simultaneously revolted and charmed!  It is his own accomplishment though - not what I had in mind when we started to Home Ed, and neither of his brothers can do it (thankfully), but he was inspired, went for it and taught himself - so, "well done son" (I think).  Anyway, back to the more refined subject of lapbooks, and I have to say, the Homeschool Share website is a totally awesome resource - we just keep going back to it to find inspiration and helpful tools, like the downloadable 'flap-book' templates, and free lapbooks.

We had friends coming round in the afternoon, and as I still wasn't able to whizz around and tidy for myself, I shamelessly resorted to bribery.  At 11.30 I told the boys if they could tidy the front room by 12noon they could play on the Wii for an hour (we've been having a Wii-free week).  Well I have to say, they've never worked as a team so well to tidy up so quickly!  What might normally take an hour (with fifty minutes of feet-dragging, distractions and complaining) took just under fifteen minutes - job done!  Happiness all round.

Our friends arrived, and we had a lovely time chatting and playing, particularly enjoying the fact that my big boys thought nothing of playing with two-year old twin girls.  The only problem was that when our guests left, the boys were still thoroughly into the toddler style of shrieking, running about and having fun, so they were sent out into the garden, rejoicing at being reunited with the trampoline (it's been either buried in snow or too muddy out there for them to play on it for quite a while).  They had such a lovely time leaping about together, they could have stayed out a lot longer (they were outside for an hour), but then it started hailing, so they came in to get cosy & warm, being grossed out by the hagfish on 'Naomi's Nightmares of Nature' (CBBC), with it now snowing outside.  All energy was burned off once again, and Mummy thanks God for the trampoline!

Loving Lapbooks

It's such a relief having a sense of direction again!  The house is a complete state (owing to my back not cooperating with my need to tidy), but I'm still enjoying the week because we're having such a positive time!  Even when the car broke down on Tuesday, preventing us from going to our lovely craft club, the boys bounced back from the disappointment much quicker than they would have done otherwise, as they have been enjoying working on their lapbooks!  I know!  Project work actually gripping them with enthusiasm!  Even Middle who usually has an allergic reaction to anything that looks remotely work-like!

For those who don't know, lapbooks - as far as I understand them - are a kind of topic-based scrapbook/ folder with all sorts of flaps, pockets and interactive treasures.  It is much easier to show what they are than describe, so I will show you Middle's shortly (he finished his first one today), but there are lots of different ways to make them too.  Eg Eldest has one on the go that is a lot more of a book than Middle's folder.  There are some helpful ideas on Squidoo, and also on page 10 of this issue of EOS  (Education Ourside School).  Some parents make them for their child to interact with (especially those with preschool children); some get downloadable projects online for their chld to assemble - we love the Homeschool Share  website for great resources; some (especially those who are familiar with the concept) just let their child loose to completely wing it - make their own folder/ notebook/ scrapbook put in whtever they like.  Middle's first lapbook was based on his suggestion on Saturday that he wanted to learn about growing - he drew some pictures and diagrams, and I suggested we could make it into a sort of 'lift-the-flap' book (if I had called it a lapbook at that point he would have not understood what I meant and just refused on principle).  As we have gone along I have called it his lap-book, and he now associates the term with something fun, like making your own lift-the-flap book!  I have done lots of searching online for ideas to suggest, and found lots of great resources on the Enchanted Learning website.  He hasn't gone for all the suggestions, but the finished result I think is really impressive for a first attempt!

So here it is - pause for proud Mummy drum-roll - Middle's first lapbook:

front cover

inside front cover

 

middle 'page' (he's not a fan of colouring, but he was happy to do some with Mummy helping)

 inside back flap

back flap (final page)

"I want to be a dad like my Dad"

I simpy love it!  He s really proud of it as well.  Eldest is still working on his - like I said, it is a lot more of a book than folder - and his has more text and photos, with fewer flaps... but as far as I'm concerned, it's not about copying somebody else's idea of what a good lapbook looks like - it's about finding what inspires your child, and encouraging them in it.  So I will be equally proudly displaying Eldest's lapbook once he has completed it, too.

The older boys haven't just been working on their lapbooks this week - amongst other things they've been keeping up with their online curricula, watching interesting TV Programmes ('Your Paintings' recorded from BBC2 being a particular favourite of Middle's), and doing our own artwork... today's art was inspired by Van Gogh's "The Starry Night".  We looked at our Smart about Art book on Van Gogh, and then I showed the boys the Happy Hooligans link of a Van-Gogh inspired piece of art using paint and melted wax crayons.  We pretty much did as directed on the blog post - but I have to say, the first bit (using our fingers in the paint) was a lot more fun than the second bit which gave my hands cramp while grating crayons.  I think I preferred my painting before I added the crayons too - but the boys were all happy with their finished art, so it was all good!

 Eldest

Mummy

 Middle

Youngest

Once we'd done our art, Eldest and Middle were on Reading Eggspress and Youngest decided that he wanted to go on it too! So after a break of several months, Youngest got back onto Reading Eggs (snuggled up with me, playing it in my laptop). Given that he took a break because it got a bit hard from him, he absolutely whizzed through the pages. Proof yet again (as if we needed it) that times to rest are just as important as times to work.  After he'd had anough for the day he was still looking a bit lost, with his brothers doing their lapbooks.  He says he wants to do one, but every time we sit down to do it he loses interest immediately - so I'm not going to push it.  Anyway, he was enthusiastic about baking chocolate muffins with Mummy, so that's what we did... just in time for lunch, yummy!

Not-so-boring Routine

We're fully into our "normal" routine now (if there is such a thing as normal).  That said, we didn't make it to to craft club yesterday:  I just couldn't get the boys all ready in time. Well... I probably could have, if I'd reverted to the Sergeant Major alter-ego of our school days, hustling them and barking orders to get them all up, dressed, fed & ready in time.  But the truth is, I really don't like the shouty version of me - I'm trying to lay her to rest!  And anyhow the boys are usually up and ready in time, so I guess there must have been a reason for their lethargy yesterday morning - most likely how cold it was outside (I found it hard to leave my duvet too!)  Once we were all up, there was the usual MathsWhizz for the older two while I played a Maths game with Youngest.  This time we played Bus Stop, helping him to master counting skills, spotting the patterns of dots on a dice, counting on spaces as he moved around the board, recognising the plus and minus symbols etc - and he got Mummy to himself, which always goes down well!

After that it was time to pop to the local shops for a few bits, so we got wellied-up, hats & ski-gloves on etc, and off we went.  There's something about snow that just transforms a normal 'boring' walk; they loved it (again).  Once home again, it was Youngest's turn to do some baking: gorgeous choc chip cookies...

 

 ...and then we got the paints out to do some snowy paintings inspired by our wintry walk.  We started with these Easy winter landscape instructions, that I had bookmarked a few days ago, and added a few extra bits of our own, using strips of cardboard to make the trunks & branches, and lastly adding falling snow by dipping paintbrushes in watered-down paint, and tapping the paintbrushes - another tip found on the Deep Space Sparkle website.

Mummy's snowy landscape

Eldest's snowy landscape (using a brush to paint the trees, not cardboard strips)

 

Middle's snowy landscape

 Youngest's snowy landscape

(he wasn't inspired by the snowmen, so he painted a red snail with a scarf instead.)

After that Eldest was still in full arty mode, so took himself off to do some sketching...

"Winter at Night"

"Robert the Owl"

Today we had a bit of reading with Youngest while Eldest and Middle were on Reading Eggs. Eldest was pleased to find a book to read on there today about three hedgehogs.  He's also very happy that he's collected 58 out of  214 printable animal collecting cards on the program.  Middle's favourite at the moment is the 'Quote Quest' part... well, anything that looks like a game is a winner for him!  After that we had another wintry walk, this time round our local park, to feed the ducks and geese (with peas out of the freezer - bread is really not good food for them when it's this cold).

 

      

 

Then we came home for the obligatory mugs of hot chocolate, while watching recorded episodes of "Got to Dance" (Sky) - because the boys love it, and it shows a great cross-section of different dance styles - followed by "Winterwatch" (currently showing on BBC2 each evening this week) which I had recorded last night.  There was a sad bit where a baby seal died (or was about to), but the boys coped OK - they're getting more used to the harsher side of wildlife documentaries, I think.  They loved the shot where the humpback whale breached behind the guys on the boat, who were all looking the wrong way.

At home we have our own mini-version of Winterwatch too... we were hoping for some visitors to find our new nesting box, and this morning we had our first one (as far as we know).  He had a good look round, and we even got some video footage, although unfortunately it picked up my calling one of the boys (by name) to have a look, so I can't post it here.  I can show you a couple of stills though...  it's very exciting!  It is too soon for them to be making a nest and getting broody, but still, it's nice to know that they've found it!

   

So we may be back into our "routine", but it's anything but boring.  We're having lots of fun - long may it continue!