Focusing on the right thing

I've been feeling a bit flat lately.  Not in the run-over-by-a-steamroller way - although I have had my moments - but just less sparkly or enthusiastic than usual.  If course, there are some very good reasons for this as regular readers will know - it's understandable & I'm not beating myself up over it - just noting it.  My reason for sharing it here is that I think while all home educators have seasons of real energy and vision (by nature we have to be visionaries, to go against the flow of mainstream education), at times we also have seasons of less energy; maybe less confidence or direction.  And that is OK.  It's natural - in fact, I think it's healthy.  I was sharing with a friend recently the seasonal nature of a child's learning: periods of intense obvious growth and enthusiasm, followed by periods of quiet reflection when there appears to be no interest in anything much - but after which season, when learning becomes more active again it becomes apparent that great strides have been made in their understanding while they were resting.  Well, as with children, so with us adults: I think it's healthy to recognise the seasons in our own motivation and energy, and to run with the strengths of each season - whether the energy & drive of the high-vision moments, or the consolidating strength of the resting periods.

So that being said, I've been focusing on the strengths of where we're at.  I could give in to my slightly dissatisfied feelings of 'not doing enough'/ 'are they learning anything'... the usual wobbles - or I could acknowledge how much is actually going on.  If I was feeling negative I would say 'they just watched TV this morning'.  In actual fact, they were watching "Artzooka" (an excellent art & craft programme that really inspires their own creativity) and "Finding Stuff Out" (this morning's episode learning about the sun, solar power, solar system etc) - and "Octonauts" which helped Youngest to learn about the Mariana Trench (deepest part of the ocean).  I could be discouraged that it's taken Middle a couple of months to finish his latest lapbook - or I could rejoice that his interest in the chosen subject (volcanoes) has continued for that long, despite not having the desire/ opportunity to work on his project book... and indeed rejoice that he completed his lapbook today, still as eager to share what he knows as he was at the beginning!  (*lapbook photos to follow soon hopefully - I ran out of time this evening*)  I am occasionally tempted to worry if I am "forcing" the boys to do their online curricula, and thereby ruining their natural love of learning, despite knowing that they chose MathsWhizz and Reading Eggs themselves - but today I am just so encouraged that Eldest has finally managed to conquer an area in maths that he had come up against a few times and was finding a challenge.  He hadn't complained about it (apart from the first time when he hit the issue and needed me to reassure him that "failing" wasn't a problem: as long as he kept practicing he would get there in the end) - and today, his look of accomplishment was a joy to behold!   And I could, if I was feeling really low (I'm not actually this bad), feel guilty about the amount of time that we're spending outside, and not "doing lessons" - not that we do lessons anyway, but you know what I mean - but actually it's been such a long, cold and hard winter/ spring, we are just rejoicing in the opportunity to top up our vitamin D, to go for long rambles, interacting with nature, often while socialising with friends, before it gets cold and wet again, and we retreat to our cosy home.

Anyway, you get the point: I'm learning with my children that everything about Home Ed is seasonal and there are different strengths and weaknesses to each season.  Oh, and finally, speaking of seasons, I couldn't go without sharing Eldest's latest photos from his camera trap (inspired by the very seasonal Springwatch).  We got some more lovely photos, this time from pointing the camera towards the woodland behind our garden... we were very excited to see the results, and hope you enjoy them too...

 hooray, it's a fox!

 

Foxy's spotted something...

 

whatever it is, he's not happy about it... 

and the biggest squeals of excitement saved for...

the badger (or its bum, at any rate)

Re-focusing

Apologies for another long absence... last weekend Hubby "generously" brought home some nasty germs, and boy, did I ever succumb?!  I was completely floored for most of the week.  It was as much as I could do to get downstairs so the boys had some semblance of supervision.  They were little stars though - helped a bit more with housework, and tried not to be too noisy.  Eldest and Youngest were also fighting the lurgy for some of the week, so that slowed them down too.  So instead of the week of socialising with friends on half-term from school, we ended up at home all week, watching a lot of TV and the boys playing a lot of games.  As I said in Accidental Unschooling last month though, these kinds of hiatus are nothing to worry about.  The learning doesn't stop, just because of a change in routine.  In fact I am firmly convinced that rigid routine is more likely to hinder learning, than enable it.  It's been nice to refocus today - I think changes in routine seem to help us appreciate the routine even more...

A nice little example of this was today's MathsWhizz.  The boys - at least the older two - still have attitude issues regarding Maths from time to time - they really were put off it at school.  So today when I suggested they have a turn and they all readily agreed, I was pleased.  What I wasn't expecting was that Eldest and Middle would still be engrossed a couple of hours later on their respective computers.  They had done a few activities, and then both of them gravitated toward a kind of design board, that each of them played on for ages, coming up with quite involved games and patterns.

Eventually they left their computers to come and play with lolly sticks with Mummy.  I had read instructions in one of my favourite blogs, An Ordinary Life , for a potential & kinetic energy activity using said lolly sticks.  I knew we needed to do it asap because the minute the boys found the lolly sticks, they wanted to use them for art/ craft/ general playing.  Anyway, we laid them out as per the excellent instructions (see link above) - but didn't get all hundred sticks in place as many had been squirrelled away into secret hoards elsewhere - so we had a layout of about fifty, I reckon.  Still, it was enough - the boys were delighted with the springing action, and although I didn't get a decent photo, I think I've saved enough sticks that we can have another go soon :)

Very happily though, we do have photos of something else.  Eldest has been really inspired by watching Springwatch this year, and has got a camera trap (also known as a trail cam) - which is basically a camera, triggered to take photos when something moves past.  We gave it a trial run in the garden, and once we got it to work (it's not an expensive model), we got some lovely shots from a couple of nights ago.  Eldest is very excited (as am I!), and we can't wait to see what else we can capture on it next.  For now though, we're just pleased to have it confirmed that our local hedgehogs are still visiting the garden & it's not just the neighbourhood scavengers eating all their food!  Hopefully we'll have more exciting photos to share soon, but for now, maybe you might enjoy seeing these...

our first, naughty visitor...

hooray for the first hedgehog shot...

 

we had lots of hedgehog shots - I think two or three different hedgehogs, judging by the time stamps...

 

last one of the night (morning) - a surprise for us...

Snow Motivation

I couldn't get motivated this morning.  At all.  I think a lot of that was to do with the fact that having looked forward to having Hubby home for the weekend, we then ended up with him having to go out a lot, so I was on my own with the boys again for most of Saturday and Sunday, with them waiting for him to get back from the various places he had to go to.  Don't get me wrong, I totally love being with them - but I ended the weekend more worn-out than revived.  Also there was an accumulation of mess over the weekend, and as I have been learning since we started HE, that really, really affects me: it just depresses me to be surrounded by mess.  That makes me sound terribly houseproud - I'm not at all.  I suspect I'm just too lazy to be really house-proud.  But it's true: messy rooms get me down.

It wasn't all bad though: when we woke this morning it was to see a beautiful layer of snow everywhere, which is always exciting (I'm as childish as the boys in that respect) - so they all got dressed (instead of staying in pyjamas - well it is Monday) so we could go out for a walk in it.  Having checked the forecast I saw there was more snow forecast for the afternoon, so we stayed in in the morning and tidied up while the boys also did Reading Eggspress etc, then after lunch we went out for a glorious walk in the snow: throwing snowballs, trying to catch snowflakes on our tongues, making snow angels and patterns in the snow with our footprints etc.  And then to have a tidy house to come back to after having fun outdoors in the beautiful, soul-restoring snowy countryside... well, I felt much better!  They're now snuggled up together under a blanket on the sofa, hot chocolates in hand, watching the Tigger Movie (the snowstorm on the film matching the snow still falling outside our window) while I go through the photos I took... lovely jubbly!

Another benefit of the cold weather is that finally Squidge has decided to join her brother Midge in hibernating.  (If you're a newcomer to my blog you may not know that we have two rescue hedgehogs in our shed, waiting to be released in the spring)  Hooray for hibernation! Midge seems to wake slightly about once a week, have a little snack and then return to his nest - so I check on them every day to see if I need to refill their water and dried food, and to put more hay in their boxes in case they need to make their nests warmer.  Generally though, they take very little work now they're both hibernating, so that's a blessing!

Anyway, I took loads of photos (of course!), but most are of the boys (again: of course!)  However, to give a taste of our lovely walk, here are a few that I'm happy to share - 'til next time... xx

More from Mini-blogger

Eldest (aka Mini-blogger) has been busy lately, so here are some more excerpts from his diary...

18th Oct 2012
7:23pm
Another normal day
GIVE ME EXCITEMENT!
/sigh/ Bored, bored and more bored /sigh/
......
I'll play... well I don't know what it's called I'll just play it
"OKAY Rocket 5 you're clear for lift-off"
5... 4... 3... 2... 1... blast off
ckhchhkkckhckhcck
"Hey what's that button do?"...
"Don't tou-beeep-ch that.
That was the self-destruct button"...
"Oh no"
boom boom kapow

19th Oct
8:05am
I'm beyond bored.  I'm beyored.
Gooey-flooey-mooey
That's me right now
"Phlpht" "chohct" "blemse"

8:54am
I know I'll make a secret code
a - 1          b - 2
c - 4          d - 6
e - 8          f - 10
g - 12         h - 14
i - 16         j - 18
k - 20         l - 22
m - 24         n - 26
o - 28         p - 30
q - 32         r - 34
s - 36         t - 38
u - 40         v - 42
w - 44         x - 46
y - 48         z - 50

CODE
16 - 26/8/8/6 - 8/46/4/16/38/8/24/8/26/38

2:49pm
shhhh.  Don't tell (Middle)
16'/24 - 30/22/1/48/16/26/12 - 30/34/8/6/1/38/28/34!
so shhhhhhhhh!
he he he.

As well as his diary, Eldest has spent a long time going through his photos, playing about with effects, and making his first very own photobook.  Initially he wasn't very discerning about which were his best photos: he liked all of them, even the blurry ones! I can understand his attachment, but I said I would only pay £5 for the smallest size photobook (which has twenty pages) - if he wanted more pages or a bigger size to fit more photos in, he would have to pay the rest.  That helped him to be more selective over the photos he chose!!  A few included here...

 

 

 

I have asked him if he'd like to have his own blog (for diary and photos etc) but he's still not convinced, so I'll just do the edited highlights here for a bit longer - for his fans, and also because it's really boosting his confidence to be told that people like reading what he's written (and to hear Mummy giggling at the funny bits).

Meanwhile, I've been reading A Funny Kind of Education - and finished it today (didn't want to put it down).  As I quickly discovered the other day when I started reading it in Normal Service to be Resumed Shortly, it was a lovely, humorous, moving & encouraging read.  I do recommend it, especially for people just starting out or considering Home Ed - but more experienced HEors will identify and enjoy it too, I'm sure!  The thing with being generously and warmly welcomed into someone's home like that is you really don't want to stop reading, so I'm really grateful for Ross's blog here, where we get to read about her girls' continuing success :)

Early on in her book, Ross mentions that she sent off for the BBC schedule of educational programmes, which prompted me to do the internet equivalent, and look up their TV programmes online.  I disovered that primary programmes are aired on BBC2 at 5am, so I've been through the next week setting our planner to record.  Not that we'll get time to watch any programmes before the week after, but I like having things lined up for when the boys ask to watch TV, to save me from the seemingly endless froth that is Spongebob Squarepants...

Anyway, it's really late now, so that's it for now.  I'll be back when I stop to catch breath in my busy week coming up!

Normal Service to be Resumed Shortly

Hooray for time off!  My brain is starting to return to normal again - we've had a lovely week just enjoying being together, with no pressure - I guess it was a sort of half-term, in that we had got to a point of needing a break.  It kind of felt a little naughty, as the schools here aren't on half-term for another week and a half - but then, the boys were gearing up their 'learning' before the schools went back in September, so it's not really surprising that we were a bit tired sooner.  And anyway, one of the many things that I love about HE is that we can just take a break whenever we need to, rather than dragging our feet for weeks until we get scheduled time off :)

So anyway, if you've been following, you'll know I've been thinking about restrictions, suggestions, structure etc, and I think I've decided on the 'tweaks' that I started suspecting we needed a week ago in Not-so-helpful Suggestions. 

Firstly, we had been running a "no-screen-time until after lunch" rule, which kind of bit me on the bum as it seemed to generate a desire for screen-time AS SOON AS allowed.  I'm going to tweak that so that although Mummy will still have no laptop time before lunch (otherwise blogging/ facebook/ photobooks would leech all my time with the boys), the boys are free to watch TV/ go on the PC whenever they like.  After all, it really wasn't an issue when they were deschooling: they watched less then than they do now.  The thing I do have an issue with is the games consoles.  A chat with my wise friend helped me to realise that PC time is actually OK - pretty much the whole time they are on it, they are learning something valuable.  Games consoles however seem to shut down their ability to think creatively.  They're OK for encouraging teamwork occasionally (depending on the game), but on the whole they seem pretty mind-numbing.  So I'm not going to ban them or place set restrictions specifically - but I am hoping to just try to distract the boys away from playng on them if they are mentioned - with the aim that maybe we'll save them for weekends/ holidays... we'll see how it goes, anyway.

Secondly, I was concerned that by making suggestions so frequently, the boys were depending on me for ideas instead of thinking creatively for themselves, and finding their own inspiration.  Where I had viewed suggestions as just a verbal kind of strewing, it turns out that actually they carry more weight than books/ resources just left hanging about, as the boys perceive that I want them to do the things I'm suggesting.  And it's true, I do - although usually just because it looks like fun, and we do usually have fun - but by relying on my suggestions every day they were making noticeably less effort to discover their own interests.  It's not the worst thing in the world in terms of Home Education, but it's just not what I want for them.  So I think I'm going to restrict myself.  Some kind of schedule really does help me, albeit a very gentle, flexible one - so I think I'm going to limit my suggestions to my favourite days, Mondays, and see how it goes.  Tuesday - Friday it will be all about the boys finding/ developing their own ideas, but that still leaves me with a day when I get to suggest things that I've seen that I think they'd like that they otherwise wouldn't have thought of.  I'm not totally convinced about this, but we'll give it a go and see what we learn :)

Thirdly I was thinking about structure: the small amount of online curriculum that I ask of them.  I never get into a fight about it with them - if they really resist, I don't push it - but I do ask them to do an hour each of Reading Eggs & MathsWhizz per week, and I still feel that for us, that is about right.  I've been reading comments from people who home educate in a much-more structured way, and I have to say, it does appeal to my routine-loving teacher-head; I'm just not convinced that the boys would go for it...  actually, I'm convinced one of them would really struggle - so we're going to keep it light and do the minimum that I am happy with, leaving them the rest of the time to be as "autonomous" as they like (as long as that doesn't involve games consoles!!!)

So that's where we're at now - hooray for wobbles that cause me to step back and reboot :)  Tomorrow we have our regular '360 soft play' HE group trip, which is always lovely, and then next week is going to be really busy with Legoland (hooray for them letting Home Educators visit at school prices!), visiting best friends, HE coffee morning & Usborne book sale, barbers visit and non-school photos - so all of the above is on hold until the following week anyway, but I feel better for having had the chance to sort my brain out!

Also, today I received my copy of A Funny Kind of Education by Ross Mountney.  Ross wrote the first book I ever read on HE, Learning without School, when we were first serously considering Home Education early this year.  It was absolutely the best book I could have read at the time - answered all of our practical questions and encouraged me that we could do it.  Ross's experience as well as her practical, humorous, non-judgemental style makes her one of my favourite Home Ed authors (she has a brilliant blog too: here), so I'm really looking forward to reading this new book, a more personal account of her HE journey with her own family.  Actually *whispers* I read a few chapters earlier when the boys were occupied with other things - I couldn't resist - and I can already see that it's going to be a fun and encouraging read.  Having met Ross online since reading her first book, I know she is such a lovely person that she often reads other HE blogs and offers encouragement, so I'm fairly sure she'll be reading this, blushing away (Hi Ross, *cheeky grin*) - but this isn't flattery: I honestly and strongly recommend her books!

Finally, mini-blogger's fans will be pleased to know he has written some more in his diary (so much for my concerns in September that he wasn't interested in writing) - so I'll leave you in his entertaining little hands...

13th October
11:02am
played predator with (Middle).  I was
     1st - snowleopard
     2nd - octopus
     3rd - lion. 
     Yep, (Middle) was the prey and would not survive in the wild.

17th October
8:08am 
at the 14th, 15th and 16th I didn't feel writey!  Feel a bit writey now.

7:05pm 
normal day.  I did
two days ago - waking up, eating, sleeping
one day ago - waking up, eating, sleeping
today - waking up, eating, sleeping
tomorrow - waking up, eating, sleeping
Where's entertainment when you NEED IT!

7:26pm
calmed down
Bored, have a cold, and MESSY room.  "BOOOO!"
I'm so annoyed that my room is a mess, I'm reduced to a puddle.

7:41pm
froze to normal shape, no longer puddle

18th October
9:12am
at night, hedgehog in garden - amazing
morning, woodpecker in woods - amazing
5 min ago, tidy up - not amazing
VERY WRITEY ME

System is Rebooting...

Rebooting my internal system that is (not a schedule kind of system) - just a complete "switch off and restart".  When my laptop/ PC freezes or starts 'throwing a wobbly' (usually because there are too many processes being computed - hmmm...), the first thing I do is switch off and start again.  So I'm doing the same for myself after my HE wobble last week - just switching off and starting again.  Switching off = no restrictions, no expectations, no suggestions - as mentioned on Saturday's post, Deschooling Top-up.  And just enjoying my boys and celebrating who they are... that's what I call starting again: focusing on the main thing, which is my beautiful children.  So I'm deliberately avoiding looking at the so-called "educational achievements" of today, & focusing instead on the fun we had together (none of which, I hasten to add, was instigated by me - hooray)...

I had some lovely cuddly time with Youngest: enjoying tickles and giggles; reading 'Percy the Park-keeper stories (his current favourite); playing at puppies and tigers; and having quite a surreal conversation where our socked feet turned into aliens who had got here from space via a flying van.  We also spent some time together on my laptop, printing off pictures to colour in, and playing the Alphablocks game on the CBeebies website, which he loves.

Middle and I had some cute little chats (very sincere on his part while I just tried not to kiss his serious little face) about when he can go camping with Daddy again and have a campfire - and also about thinking we should do some more cooking (sadly no baking possible until the groceries arrive tomorrow)... and we had a lovely snuggly time making up stories with each other - starting off fairly innocuously with a a hedgehog who farted his way almost to the moon and back (inspired partly I think by the awesome Felix Baumgartner's stratosphere jump that we watched live yesterday - altough I suspect his fuel was a little more refined).  Our story then progressed to a whole new level of surrealism.  I'll spare you the details, but just mention that it involved shrink-rays, butt-holes and exploding eyeballs.  It was such a precious time with my boy, having him giggling so much that he was struggling to get the words out to finish the story :)

Eldest has spent most of the day on the computer, which is not as isolating as it sounds.  He has a little notepad computer that has a broken screen so he hasn't been able to use it for a while.  Clever Daddy hooked it up to a normal monitor for him yesterday, so he can still use the laptop & all the things he had saved on it.  So today we spent some time together uploading all of his photos, and I showed him how to edit them & play around with effects etc in Picasa - my favourite free downloadable photo-editing (and sharing) software.  He had a great time - has been waiting to do it for ages, so it was lovely to get some time to spend helping him make it happen.  This was one of his favourite works of art, called "my alien Daddy"...

At one point today I did ask them to come away from their respective screens, so they could rest their eyes - otherwise they'd have stayed on the various computers etc all day which would not have been healthy.  Not a set restriction, just common sense in my opinion...  Anyway, Youngest found my set of cuisenaire rods and they all played with those for a while, then Middle and Youngest went and jumped in the leaves that are accumulating rapidly on the trampoline (hooray for fresh air) while Eldest found more things to take photos of.  He also drew some comic-strips that beautifully capture the juxtaposed realities found in his beloved Calvin & Hobbes, but the first one of which sadly I can't share here as he mentions himself and his brother by name.  I will have to transcribe & hope you catch some of the fun:
box 1: picture of snow leopard, with caption: "(Eldest) the snow-leopard creeps up on his prey"
box 2: picture of snow leopard leaping, with caption: "and then pounces on his prey"
box 3: picture of snow leopard on top of deer, with caption: "he grabs his prey tightly"
box 4: picture identical to box 3, except it is two boys, named as Eldest on top of Middle
Hmmm, it definitely loses something by not being able to see it. Well, here's his second one...

Before you ask (not that you would), I'm not sharing this as an academic achievement - I'm sharing it cos it's my blog and I'll brag if I want to... because he's my boy and he makes me laugh :)
In fact, laughs have figured highly in today's rebooting session... so that's the rest of the week planned out then: laughter!

Lovely Morning, Not-so-lovely Afternoon

A lovely start to the day today :)

With Eldest feeling much better, and my antibiotics working, everyone was much more energetic/ enthusiastic than we have been for a while, so after breakfast we got creating straight away.  First of all we made some dough for bread, then while it was proving we got straight on with painting today's pictures.  "Mummy, this is art!" Youngest told me seriously while covering his paper with broad strokes :)  We painted a background of grass and sky, then while it dried we cut out some elephant shapes from the sheets of painted paper that we made last week.  The shapes were glued onto the background sheets, then details added with oil pastels.  We got the idea from (surprise surprise) the Deep Space Sparkle website, and were again quite pleased with the results...

 

Eldest's Elephant                              Middle's Elephant 

 

  

Youngest's Elephant                                   Mummy's Elephant

After cleaning the paint away, the bread dough was fully proved, so we then made our bread rolls.  We were thinking of making one bigger loaf, but all the boys enjoy kneading and shaping their own bit, so rolls it was :)

nom nom nom

After those two 'all of us' activities (suggested by me, based on recent comments made by the boys), I busied myself with some washing and waited to see what the boys would choose to do next.  Middle got on to Reading Eggs while Eldest read some picture books to Youngest.  Then it was Eldest's turn on Reading Eggspress, and Youngest was obviously inspired by his brothers so I put my laptop on to sit with him and have another go at the Reading Eggs level he had last got stuck at.  Obviously he was in the zone today, because he whizzed through and finally passed the level - hooray!  The level he is now on requires proper reading skills - some word recognition and some phonic blending..  It is definitely a stretch for him, but he can do it!  And of course, doing it with me on my laptop just added to the fun, especially as Mummy kept marvelling at how well he was doing!  Eldest then found some of his books to read - including The Terrible Tudors, Middle did some drawing, and Youngest found our Magnetic Anatomy Set to play with again - he has barely stopped playing with it since we got it last week :).  Next Eldest made a Treasure Hunt and gave the rest of us clues to hunt around the house for some little darts (mini-planes) that he had made with left over card and pastels this morning!  Home-made bread rolls for lunch, and then we were looking up some obscure facts so that we can quiz Daddy when he comes home.  This is a new game that the boys have started: see if we can learn something during the day that Daddy doesn't know (I LOVE this game!)

This afternoon I had the delightful (spot the sarcasm) experience that is root canal treatment, so the boys were very happy to have their grandparents visit while I went to the dentists.  Lego Star Wars on the Wii, followed by a Wildlife documentary that Eldest had previously recorded (Land of the Lost Volcano) - and Mummy was home again :)  I have to say, once the anaesthetic wore off I was feeling very sorry for myself indeed & was just trying to stay sane, so I dosed myself up fully and the boys quietly watched more TV - this time 'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the Gene Wilder one).  It was lovely having them all engrossed (they hadn't seen it before) - especially once my painkillers started working! 

If memory serves, I should be feeling much better tomorrow, so I'm thinking the boys will be having an early night this evening, then I have a date with the TV and a bar of chocolate!  Oh, and some photo books to work on...  Anyone who knows me will know how much I love my family photos (I have been called 'obsessed' by some) and in case anyone out there feels the same I'm passing on my recommendation: not really to do with Home Ed, but hey... The best photo books I have ever found are those made by Snapfish.  Being 'the best' (in my opinion) means they aren't cheap, but for the next two weeks they are doing them at half-price - so that's me busy for a while ;)