Maths Games and Painting Patterns

Surprisingly we've had a bit of a maths day today.  Eldest and Middle both seemed to have got stuck in sections of MathsWhizz that involves rapid basic addition/ subtraction, so I've been thinking of ways to boost their confidence and make it fun again.  We have a book of photocopiable Maths games which include one that uses number bonds.  I figured it was worth a go, so printed off one to laminate and re-use with non-permanent pens - plus a few extra paper-only copies as the boys all wanted to colour in the 'treasure island' borders... Eldest even added a few extra details to make the game more interesting.  Middle particularly enjoyed playing it with me, which surprised me a bit: I hadn't expected much enthusiasm, but he loved it and really got into it.  So that's a thumbs-up from us for the 25 Super Cool Math Board Games book.

Youngest meanwhile is still fully enamoured with MathsWhizz.  I keep expecting him to hit a wall as he's so young (in my mind anyway) - but no, he's loving it.  Actually his brothers were the same at his age - Eldest used to love playing simple adding games in the car, before he ever started preschool even.  One of the things that upset me in school was seeing their natural love of maths being destroyed - it's so lovely seeing that returning - and hopefully Youngest won't ever have his natural enthusiasm curbed.  Today he had the cuisenaire rods out again... something I associate with the classroom, he just loves playing with. I love it!

Other than Maths, we had a lovely art moment today.  I was flicking through my Pinterest board and spotted some lovely paint and oil pastel animal patterns that I showed the boys.  They all wanted to have a go, and came up with their own ideas for what they wanted to do - and quickly overtook me with their enthusiasm.  I have to admit, I kick myself sometimes for giving them ideas but not being prepared.  So there we were: me trying to slow them down while we put the cloth on the table, got the paints out etc; the boys trying to mix paints in the tray before we had paper out to paint on.  They certainly weren't interested in waiting for me to demonstrate what to do, so I had to try to help Youngest and Middle to hold their templates still while dabbing paint around them, and I ended up doing mine last, while Middle had fun with more arty stuff...

"Whales" by Youngest

 "Bats" by Middle

"Slugs" by Eldest

 "Dolphins" by Mummy

"Magical Swirls" by Middle

"Complicated" by Middle

 "Spotty" by Middle

Choosing the Right Resources

We have decided that we want to learn about rocks. To be honest, this is mostly my decision, but based on things that I've seen the boys get enthused about lately (volcanoes, mountains, pebble collections, crystals etc).  I'm not expecting a project of deep and thorough academic investigation - just enough exploring every now and then to hopefully capture their innate sense of wonder in the world around them (and then stop before it gets boring for them... well that's the plan, anyway).  So I've been trying to prepare myself with at least some understanding (I know almost nothing about geology), in order to be able to help the boys learn. 

First I picked up a project book called 'Rocks and Minerals'  by Dorling Kindersley.  Given that it's aimed at ages 8-12 I wasn't anticipating too many problems, but oh my!  Did I feel thick after reading it...?! (yes I did).  I was really disillusioned and immediately felt that it was going to turn out to be too boring to be a fun project.  Fortunately it's not the only resource out there (although I'm sure those of you with children who like workbooks etc may find it really helpful).  Happily for us I also found the National Geographic book on the subject from the 'Everything' series... loads of photos and small amounts of text on the page are brilliant for Middle, my visual learner.  And my interest was re-ignited too!  We also found an 'Earth Science' DVD from the Rock n Learn series - the boys loved the Human Body DVD we had from the same series - and they all learn really well from watching TV, so I had high hopes for this DVD, although at £15 I hesitated to buy it without seeing the contents.  I'm glad we did though - another success; they loved it!  To be honest, it doesn't do much for me - but it's about what works best for them rather than myself.  Oh, and a friend recommended a lovely book called Geology Rocks, which has lots of ideas for little experiments the boys can do (eg sand sculpting, making glass out of sugar etc), that Eldest and Middle have already been through, sticking post-its on all the pages with experiments that they fancy doing.  'Hands on' projects are always a success - and memorable too.  I think we're all kinesthetic learners at least in part!  Of course, as this project was partly inspired by seeing how fascinated the boys were with the rocks on the beach while we were on holiday, I do really want to build up our own little collection - you can't beat being able to touch and handle things in order to learn!

With that in mind, we had a couple of 'hands-on' moments today, to see if interest would spark... and it did!  First we did an underwater volcano experiment from Middle's Booms, Bangs & Fizzes kit that he was given for Christmas.  Chemical reactions are always fun to watch!  Then we broke open some geodes that we had bought for just over £1 each online.  It's a lovely activity because the boys needed to exercise patience, and then finding out what was inside each boring-looking little rock was really exciting for them.  I found a lovely page on the web that explained a bit more about them too, without going into excessive detail.

the hammer and chisel (or in our case screwdriver) method was preferred over putting the geode in a sock and smacking it on a chopping board... safety goggles a must, though!

 The boys were all thrilled with their findings... obviously I had to share all of them on my blog!

 Eldest's findings

 

 Middle's findings

 Youngest's findings

Starting a new project has made me think again of the importance of finding out which learning styles most suit each little learner - they may not be the same styles as our own, of course - and they may all be different from each other too.  Having explored a few options now, I'm happy that the variety of resources we have should be enough to get us going... and then if their curiosity really takes off, we'll follow their interest wherever it leads!  If not, I at least have already learned things that I didn't know before, and we've all had fun - so that's got to be a success!

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...

Excitement in Pyjamas

Given that today was a low-key pyjama day as has become our habit, it was still a pretty exciting day, most especially for Middle.  Today he "graduated" from Reading Eggs (aimed at 3-7 year olds) to Reading Eggspress (aimed at 7-13 year olds).  He did several lessons in one hit on the last level today as he was so excited to see that he was nearly at the end, and he couldn't wait to be on the same programme as his big brother.  Great was the rejoicing in the house when the Reading Eggspress screen flashed up, and he got to choose his new avatar!  Definitely a proud Mummy moment.  See, Middle struggled academically at school.  He was easily bright enough to do the work, he just didn't fit in the system, and eventually became so depressed that he wouldn't even try.    In six months he has gone from being slightly behind according to Reading Eggs, to ahead for his age.  Now that doesn't actually mean a lot as far as I'm concerned - I always knew he was capable, and I really don't set much store on performance age etc - that's a trap perpetuated by the league tables etc found in the state school system  It's just nice to have a kind of measurable evidence of progress for those who aren't sure of HE, and of course for me if I'm having a wobble.  What means much more to me is that since starting our home education journey Middle has relaxed so fully, I feel like I have my gorgeous, happy, loving boy back.  And quite simply, he was really happy at starting Reading Eggspress - so I am happy for him!

All three boys are now total "Wild Tales" (CBBC) addicts, as evidenced by their excitement at the start of the week being equal to the start of another series - and this week's stars are families of caribou, African wild dogs and polar bears.  There was an entertaining (for me) moment when the caribou gave birth to the baby star of the show, and Eldest asked me what that big red thing was, still hanging from between the caribou's legs.  I explained about placentas etc, and confirmed when asked that yes, I had one for each of my babies - but when I offered to find a picture online to show him, I was answered with an unequivocal "Ewww NO THANKS!".  Apparently that's an education too far right now!  (boys are weird: I am expected to come running to admire the size of their latest toilet-blocking faecal product, but looking at a picture of a placenta online is gross?  Go figure...)
Anyway (moving right along), following Wild Tales we watched an episode of the fun and informative Richard Hammond's Blast Lab, and learned about the surface tension of water.  We did a quick impromptu demonstration of water filled to the brim of a glass, to see if the boys could see the slight dome shape made by the water surface as we added a little more water.  They could, and were dutifully impressed... but were more excited by the splashes made when Mummy accidentally dropped too much water in suddenly - who said education isn't allowed to be exciting?

A different kind of excitement was also provided today by our Christmas Decorations book.  Normally I would prefer something less prescriptive - something that we could design ourselves and be a bit more organic in our creating - but this weekend was pretty full of house-sorting (we culled the toys in Middle and Youngest's room ready for Christmas, and are trying to restore the study into a functional space, rather than the dumping ground it has become) - and I ran out of time to have a look for some more creative crafts or other activities, so we grabbed this book off the shelf, and got the scissors & sellotape out.  It may not have seemed that exciting to me, but anything that reminds the boys of the fast-approaching season is guaranteed to riase the levels of enthusiasm in the house!  And an hour or so later, we had quite a few pretty Christmas decorations ready to be hung/ stuck to windows...

The lovely thing was that even though I personally found the ready-to-cut patterns a bit uninspiring, the boys really got into it - and very quickly came up with further ideas of their own.  Eldest made a rather complicated 3D Christmas tree model that took him a while (cue much muttering), but he persevered with his design and the end product looked great.  Then he followed it with a stand-up santa hat, and a star decoration.  Middle made some decorations out of cellophane and card - and Youngest flitted between making decorations and drawing letters with a stencil he had found.  He was so excited by producing his own letters, bless him - I guess he's ready to learn to write then!  Sadly I can't post photos of the boys' original decorations as they seem to have been squirreled away, probably in the boys' bedrooms... well, I suppose I should be impressed that the bedroom-tidyness lasted a whole day!

Not-so-helpful Suggestions...

Much as I love our little routine that we've been getting into, I feel it needs a tweak.  The problem is, where we've had a "no TV or games console until after lunch" rule, it seems to have created a false appetite for those things that I don't remember being there before.  Or maybe it was there - I can't remember if they actually watched a lot of TV & played on the Wii a lot over the holidays, or if that's just how it felt at the time...?! Anyway, regardless of that, we do now have the rule in place, and it does seem that as soon as we have lunch, the TV now goes on automatically.  So I'm just wondering: have I brought that about by having the rule in the first place?  You know how it goes: if you tell a child "don't touch that" they are immediately tempted to touch whatever it is, even though they may not have even noticed it before.  Perhaps by restricting TV access I have made them more aware of its appeal...?
Further to this, I have also noticed that they have not been so forthcoming with their own ideas of things they want to do as they were before the summer.  I have a feeling this has something to do with the slight structure that we have in place.  I ask them to do a bit (about an hour in total) of MathsWhizz and Reading Eggs every week - but other than that we are generally fairly unstructured.  Also, I've been making more suggestions this 'term', which is more of a habit than a structure but still significant.  You see, when they first came out of school they found it very hard to think of what they wanted to do - they were totally used to having entertainment/ learning processes set in front of them.  Through the deschooling process they learned more about themselves and where their interests actually lay: they learned how to think for themselves - they worked out what they wanted to learn about, and just got on with exploring, finding, enjoying etc - and we all loved it.  This term (our first real term of HE if you discount the deschooling) I have asked very little of them, but have made suggestions based largely on things they have previously mentioned or things that I think will interest them.  I saw it as a kind of verbal strewing - just putting the ideas out there and seeing what the children pick up on.  To be honest though - they generally like anything I suggest (I do try to suggest fun things!); we have been busy, learned lots and had lots of fun.  I am just a little concerned that they aren't thinking for themselves so much again, but rather depending on my suggestions before lunch & reverting to screen time after lunch.  It's certainly not a disaster as far as Home Education goes - but it is food for thought.
So I'm off again - pondering; musing - not wobbling exactly, just considering... and thinking we may have our 'half-term' now: we have a VERY busy two weeks coming up anyway, so we may just use that time to back right off from any structure again, and see what happens.  I don't want to extend the 'no TV' hours, or ban it totally, but I really do want to encourage them away from depending on it to entertain them. (Learning on the TV is another matter - we love that!) We currently have nothing at all planned for half-term, so maybe we'll resume a bit of structure then - it depends what I learn from the next week or two...

Meanwhile we've been having a lovely week.  Craft club on Tuesday saw the boys painting the clay models they made earlier this month, and then making "fossils" (as they called them) out of clay, plaster-of-paris, and little toy creatures.  Their clay models are being re-fired, but we were able to bring the fossils home - and today we used a paint-wash to give them a bit of colour (one of just two suggestions that Mummy made today).  The boys are all really pleased; they look great :)

  

     Middle's "Fossils"                                Eldest's "Fossils"  

 

Youngest's "Fossils"

Yesterday we went to visit some new HE friends, and had a really good time with them.  It took up most of the day, so we had no time for anything else, but we didn't care - it was just lovely for me to see the boys socialising so easily... and of course, Mummy and the other grown-ups had a lovely natter too!  I realised that one of the things I have really appreciated since we started our journey has been the support of people around us who haven't tried to tell us what to do (even when the experienced Home Ed'ors could doubtless see all of my naive mistakes right here in my blog), but have just stood alongside us and encouraged us that we could find the right way for us. Thank you everyone!

Today has been lovely too.  Apart from the fossil paint-washing, my only other suggestion (I am going to try not to make them for the time being) was to ask Eldest if he still wanted to do some baking (he did) as I had some soured cream to use up, so we made some gorgeous Cinnamon Squares - it made the kitchen smell all Christmassy and we got to eat cake at lunch-time - hoorah!

Also today Middle has been making different types of paper aeroplane.  He has somehow memorised how to make four different types ('bug', 'dart', 'glider' and 'super-cool short plane'!) - three of which were in a book he had months ago, and one of his own invention.  I am really impressed that he's remembered all the differently precise folds - but he's such a visual person, I needn't really be surprised.  He even taught our lodger how to make her first paper plane this morning!  Now that's mastery - when you can impart a skill that you have learned to someone else!

As I deliberately stepped back from making suggestions today, the boys found their own activities - and there was a LOT of imaginative play going on today - Middle and Youngest spent a lovely long time playing with playdough, making all sorts of things - meals, planets, animals and using them in role-play.  Eldest spent a long time in his room, making things with his lego and orchestrating battles etc.  Once upon a time my teacher-brain would not have handled them "just playing" like that (except for maybe Youngest), but the further we go on this journey, the more I see how vital it is: for them to be able to explore in their own worlds causes all the little neurons in their brains to make new connections, and can lead to who-knows-how-many fascinating discoveries.  This is genuine learning.  As Albert Einstein said,

"Imagination is more important than knowledge"
 

It is not an indulgence, nor is it a cop-out to try to justify them playing as if we feel they "should" be studying (in a more academically acceptable way): it is VITAL  that we allow our children the space for imaginative play.  How else can we provide them with the opportunity to naturally expand their minds?  Feeding them facts is OK if that is what they are interested in, but in encouraging them to explore their imaginations and the world around them, we are presenting them with endless possibilities.  Another one from Einstein:

"The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent or absorbing positive knowledge"

Finally, speaking of Neurons, I thought I'd share Eldest's quiz question for Daddy that he left stuck to his bedroom door yesterday:

For those who didn't already know, the answer is (a) - and I tell you what: if we have that many neurons, and learning new things causes them to connect in new way, no wonder I can feel my brain stretching!

Getting there...

Happily, things seem to be improving here now, although it wasn't immediate.  I took Eldest to see the Doctor again first thing yesterday (was given a new prescription) while Hubby took Middle and Youngest to the soft play meet, and enjoyed meeting some of the lovely HE people I've been talking about.  Eldest really wilted when we caught up with them there though, and couldn't even handle sitting with us - he just needed to be at home, so he went back with Daddy, and I stayed to chat with my friends while the younger two played.  My painkillers seem to be working most of the time, so it was a nice time (trying not to think about Root Canal on Monday though). 

I'm relieved to say that Eldest's new prescription seems to be really helping now: he slept really well last night and is definitely looking brighter and showing interest in things again, hooray!  I can handle my own pain (admittedly with the help of drugs at the moment), but I really don't like my boys being so under-the-weather!

We were also cheered up yesterday evening by the delivery of our most recent Book People order.  I can't recommend this bargainiferous company enough... Eldest was very happy to receive a lovely set of ten Horrible Science books, Middle was really excited about his set of ten Star Wars readers books, and Youngest even got a bag included with his set of ten 'Winter Wonderland' picturebooks - he was thrilled :)  That was thirty books that cost us less than £30, and felt a like a bit of Christmas had come early - mind, it always does when we get new books :)  All of the books were delved into immediately, read for snuggly bedtime stories, and carried on with today - perfect!

Oh, and for further medicine, my most-loved of invisible friends, the Kitchen-fairy (who I suspect looks a little bit like my lodger) came and tidied the kitchen while I was asleep.  I LOVE the kitchen-fairy :)

So anyway, today has been a gentle day with Eldest and I needing to pace ourselves. We actually managed a bit of a lie-in this morning (!), followed by a lovely visit to family.  Then the boys had some nintendo time this afternoon while I had a good giggle with friends online - based largely around this most excellent book : Pants, by Giles Andrae and Nick Sharrat (it is one of our most read books here, and is so loved that we haven't ordered the sequel in case it just doesn't match up to the genius of its predecessor). I am getting restless though - gorgeous books & hilarious online chats notwithstanding, I really want to be outside, wandering in some misty Autumn woods!  Still, hopefully once Monday's over we'll be feeling more active again...

Busy busy...

We're definitely getting back into our stride now :)

Yesterday we had a lovely trip with a few other Home Ed families to one of our favourite woodland haunts.  It was a lovely ramble, and the boys had LOTS of fun playing with friends on a rope swing and in the root system of the coolest tree in the world (in our opinion - see photo below to decide for yourself), learning by experience all about how the root system of a tree works, without consciously thinking about it.  I wasn't so happy when we eventually got back to the car park only to discover that Youngest had left his back-pack at the cool tree - but I am blessed with a lovely friend who took all my boys to her home down the road so I could quickly get back to the tree on my own to retrieve it, rather than having to drag three tired boys with me!  When I picked the boys up after, they were having a great time - Youngest in particular didn't want to leave, and kept asking throughout the afternoon if we could go back, or if our friend could come to us.  It's the first time I've felt able to leave the three of them playing anywhere other than at home or at Grandma's - and I was really happy at how well they did :)

Coolest Tree in the World?

Other than that, we've been busy at home too - Youngest keeps revisiting Reading Eggs at every opportunity, as well as the CBeebies website, and also drawing, looking at books - and today it was his turn to bake, making an impressive "Dotty Cake" with Mummy's help...

Dotty Cake

Eldest has also had a couple of really good days - he's been doing well on MathsWhizz, reading like books are about to disappear, and practicing his sketching techniques, re-visiting the How to Draw Rainforest and Ocean Animals DVD kit that he used a few months ago.  Funnily enough I had only looked at it the other day and wondered if he was ever going to open it again, or if it was a 'single-use' product in Eldest's eyes.  I didn't even have to 'strew' though - he pulled it off the shelf himself that same day and asked to have a go.  This time not only did he draw the four animals as demonstrated on the DVD, he also had a go at a couple of extra animals from the accompanying booklet, and then he tried drawing one of his own toys - for someone with no confidence in his ability to draw, it was lovely to see him so 'hooked' :)

Top l to r: 'Gorilla', 'Shark', 'Macaw' and 'Elephant'

 

'Toucan' and 'Dolphin' - not attempted before

 

'Stingray' - portrait of a toy

 

Middle has also been having fun on Reading Eggs and drawing (see self-portrait below), playing with dice and experimenting with magnets (he really liked the extra-strong magnet that worked "through him" - ie he held the magnet on one side of his thumb and it held a washer in place on the other side of his thumb! We hit a hiccup with MathsWhizz today though - he was apparently being tested on subtraction and addition using carrying - well, he was just staring blankly at the questions, and when I tried to help jog his memory it was clear he had no recollection of ever learning how to do it.  I have emailed the helpdesk as I can't immediately find how to help him on their programme - but every other topic he finds really easy, so I think I'm just going to help him myself, until he's confident enough to rejoin the program.

Self-portrait by Middle

Today we also all sat down and painted our now dry clay creations (as made last week in "Art and Structured Autonomy".  Eldest wasn't interested in anything other than getting his gun finished - although he's happy with the end result, so that's fair enough. 

'"Pistol" by Eldest

 

Youngest had a whale of a time painting his snowman - at one point it looked like a gory horror film victim, with black and red everywhere - and then he enlisted Mummy's help to smother it with LOTS of white paint until it looked like a snowman again (I think he was disappointed that as the clay dried white, he didn't need to paint much, so he painted it multi-coloured before restoring it to snowy-white with more paint!

"Snowman" by Youngest

Middle (as always when doing arty things) took his time to get his works of art just the way he wanted them.  It's times like this when his absolute focus-on-only-one-thing-at-a-time comes in handy - he didn't care that everyone else had finished; he was happy just to keep painting until he felt he was done :)

"Bob", "Burger and Chips on plates" and "Loveheart", all by Middle

And I had fun too - painting is quite therapeutic, although it would probably be more so if I didn't have to keep getting up and down to change water, wash out pots, wipe up spills, check that boys who have wandered off are in fact paint-free... etc etc!

"Barn Owl" and "Hedgehog" by Mummy

Desite all the busy-ness though, I do still feel as if we're not quite settled though - I think it's mostly because I have no idea where the boys' learning is going - and while I keep reminding myself that that isn't really a bad thing (as we're not the fully-structured type), there is obviously something niggling at me that I haven't put my finger on yet - I'll let you know if I figure it out!  Meanwhile, for a family who don't seem to have a clear direction, we're having lots of fun learning - and that's my number one priority.