African Beads and other Fun...

Hooray for the completion of all lapbooks!  I will try to post photos of them soon - all the boys are very happy - with their work, and with the chance to do no more "work" for at least a month.  Of course, they will still be learning all the time, I just get to have a break from the usual preparation etc, as they get to be entirely child-led for the Unschool Holidays!

I do have a couple of things on standby - but they are things that I know the boys will want to do at some point, so that's not so much me planning work as being prepared for the inevitable requests!  Take for example their "My Little Atelier" box, due in August.  I just know that as soon as it arrives they will be all over it, wanting to have a go.  We had July's box just over a week ago and they were so excited.  Middle remembered it from last time and said excitedly "ooh is that our art challenge?"  All three boys had stopped what they were doing to come and look, so it had to be opened immediately - and the contents had to be explored instantly - and the project commenced with instantly... lovely to see such enthusiasm.  As before the contents were excellent quality, and they had even thoughtfully included a variation for younger children, which I thought was great as technically it's a box for one child, so the fact that more than one child gets to play just shows what good value it is!

Anyway, this month's theme was African Bead Art.  Coloured pipe cleaners and pony beads were included for the little ones - and Youngest immediately set to work producing a bracelet/ wrist band for each of us (supplemented with a few beads from our own craft box)...

 

Middle had fun making a wiggly worm, and then used the kit's PVA glue (with brush), ceramic tray and seed beads to make a fish.  He went a bit overboard with the glue & it took 24hours to dry, but he was very happy with it.



 

Eldest - as usual - immediately knew what he wanted to do, and twisted the jewellery wire provided into a snake shape (complete with forked tongue), making the zigzag pattern with the seed beads.  It took him a while to get the hang of twisting the wire at the end of each section, but he stuck with it and did a really good job.

 

Of course I stayed with them and had a go too, as is my wont - I think it's important to experience new things together.  I try to go slow so as not to intimidate them by comparisons, but it's not a huge issue - they just love doing things with Mummy.  There was just one bit of jewellery wire left over so I used it with a pipe cleaner... I think this is what inspired Middle to do his PVA fish.

All in all, a simply lovely atelier... can't wait until the next one!

We're also looking forward to a group meet up next week where we have arranged to do a Science Bag Swap.  One of our local friends has organised it - allocated each of us an experiment with list of instructions and cheap inexpensive resources to make into 20 identical bags.  Then we will go to the meet-up and swap 19 of our identical bags for 19 different ones, so we end up with 20 bags containing different science experiments.  More "challenges" for Middle... we're all looking forward to that too!  Watch this space to see how we get on...

And just because we're on our 'Unschool Holidays', it doesn't mean I won't suggest things from time to time.  For example, yesterday afternoon I had to call 'time' to the boys playing Minecraft as they had been on it a while and their behaviour was deteriorating.  I didn't fancy the usual pouting and arguing session that often attends switching the computer off, so I distracted them with paints (it was raining, otherwise my usual port of call would have been the trampoline first).  We got out the oil pastels and watercolours and had a go, with the following results...

"Sun and Tree" by Youngest

 "Monster-thrower" by Middle

"Commander Cody's Helmet" by Eldest

 

"Waterside" by Mummy

For somebody who was told by their teachers I wasn't good enough to take an exam in art (and who is determined not to pass on that kind of crushing judgement to my children), I find art surprisingly therapeutic.  We never used to have time to fit it in when we were at school...I'm so glad we get to do it together now.  Here's to more arty days this holiday... and next 'term-time' too!

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...

"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!

Arty Farty

Eldest learned a hard lesson today about the difference between saving and deleting a piece of work that you think you've finished with!  Hence no pictures here of a completed lapbook (which he was hoping to finish today) - because he has had to repeat some of his work and got a bit discouraged. He's doing well though: he hasn't given up; just slowed down a bit.

We were supposed to be at our local soft play meet-up today, but our car is at the garage having its brakes sorted (they locked up the other day), and I was put off the idea of going on the bus with a bad back and three excited boys by our not-great experiences yesterday.  So we've been at home again.  The boys are now playing happily on the Wii as a thank you from Mummy for not making a fuss about missing out on Soft Play.  Mainly today I've been trying to clear the mess in the study, with the boys helping where they can.  Eldest has also been doing his lapbook, of course - and we did a lovely art project too.  I even liked my finished result for once!  I had found and pinned this Northern Lights Project the other day - and thought this morning it would make a nice cheerful little project to do as we were home.  We had a look at some Aurora Borealis footage on YouTube, and learned a bit from Wikipedia., including the colour being affected by oxygen v nitrogen - and looking up the south pole equivalent (Aurora Australis).  Then we got out our playground chalks and had a go on some sugar paper sheets.  We didn't follow the exact instructions on the link because the boys were just too keen to get stuck in - but they still enjoyed it!

Mummy

Eldest

Middle

Youngest (it started as the Northern Lights, but ended up as a picture of the car getting stuck when Mummy tried to drive it - it must have made a big impact on him on Tuesday if he's still reliving it!)

I have noticed through blogging that we seem to do a lot of art - and I wondered why that is.  After all, I'm supposed to be rubbish at it - I certainly wasn't allowed to take it at O'level (showing my age there).  I decided it's down to at least two things: firstly, I like it.  In fact, I love it.  I am rarely pleased with what I produce, but then, I don't expect myself to make anything that would qualify as art ("art" in my mind being something that sells for lots of money to people who supposedly know what they're looking at).  However I do love looking at it, being inspired by it, and just the process of having a go - it's creative, fun and therapeutic (although admittedly the clearing up isn't always so soothing).  Secondly, I think part of me is rebelling against being told I wasn't allowed to do it - and that shows itself by my determination that my boys will never hear they are "not good enough".  Now they may never have careers as artists (although Middle is obviously passionate about it - I may need to consider proper lessons when he's older), but that's not the point: right now, I just want them to be free to do whatever they want to do.   As long as they enjoy it, we will carry on painting, chalking, sketching, modelling, pastelling, marbling, collage-ing etc to our hearts' content.  It kind of sums up for me one of the things I dislike about school (being labelled as 'good' or 'bad' at something) and what I love about HE (being free to do something just because you enjoy it).  And by doing as much arty stuff as we do, it's my way of blowing a raspberry at the system that by enforcing some kind of skill evaluation, suppresses all sense of enjoyment.

So on that arty-farty note, I will leave you with Eldest's painting. He was reading one of his Calvin & Hobbes book, and saw a rare cartoon that was drawn almost entirely in black and white.  This inspired him to come and get the paints out for himself and do his own monochromatic picture.  It's called "Birds Migrating in the Winter"  I love the little hedgehog and badger at the bottom - and even more, I love that he saw something he liked, got inspired, and just had a go.  That's my boy!

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!

Under the Sea...

My brain is still whirring on how to home educate three different boys with different skills, passions and styles of learning - so hopefully there will be more on that when I've found something approaching a solution! Meanwhile, knowing how much it helps me to write down what we have done in a day, here goes today's 'doings'...

First of all we watched Curious Cat on how electricity gets to our homes, and how sewage is treated.  Then Eldest got his brothers to sit down & watch a documentary on the Barrier Reef - going into more detail than CBBC's 'Barney's Barrier Reef' (which we also watched later). I loved ths way he asked them questions to get them involved... if he's learned that from copying my example, I 'll be happy.  At one point the boys argued about who got which blanket to snuggle under, and we talked about them finding peaceful solutions (not expecting me to intervene all the time)...  this is becoming a theme at the moment!

Following the programme, Eldest and Middle decided to do some Barrier Reef art of their own making.  Free reign of the craft box was permitted, with the usual rule that they tidy up after themselves!  Youngest was enthused by the craft box contents, and had a merry old time exploring and creating.  No set plan - he was just enjoying himself.

Eldest's "Manta Ray from Above"

(he put a lot of thought into how to get the right effect of the waves over the  top of the ray).

 

Eldest's "Black-tipped Reef Shark"

Middle's "Undersea World" 

(using sellotape and glitter to get his under-water effect)

... and another little pictoral note for Mummy from Middle, showing both of us and a love heart

Youngest's arty creation

 

Then they all wrote some sea-themed poems (Youngest dictated - as did Middle, who wasn't in the mood for writing today - he still shies away from written 'work', although he loves leaving me little "I love you" messages).  Poems included at the end...

Middle found some leftover party balloons and played with static electricity making his hair stick up, sticking it to the wall, and then using it to move water like this...  it was quite tricky getting the right strength flow of water, but we did see it work in the end...

We've also been watching birds in our garden & hoping they all come back on Saturday morning when we do the RSPB's Big Garden Birdwatch.  This morning we had ten long-tailed tits and a female greater spotted woodpecker, among many others.  I also took some photos of the prints in the snow to see if we could work out what they belonged to... it's not as easy as you'd think!  We did see some nice wing prints though...

 

 mystery prints (the big trainer prints are mine, for scale - I'm guessing the first ones may be squirrels...)

 we think these are blackbird footprints...

 can you see the wing prints on the right?

Oh, and I've discovered Pinterest.  I joined a few weeks ago, and am really getting the hang of it now.  I love having a one-stop place I can go to to stash all the ideas I find online, neatly grouped, and easy to find again... perfect for Home Ed!  My back hasn't been feeling good this week (especially today), so I've been spending a lot of time sitting still - and Pinterest is making me feel better about not being so active as usual, as I can track down ideas for future HE projects and store them somewhere where I know I can find them all again - it's great :)  In fact, the static electricity/ water experiment above was one that I had pinned earlier this week, so it's working already - hooray!

That's it for now - I'll leave you with the boys' poems while I go & top up the hot water bottle for my back ;)

Sharks - by Eldest
The goblin shark
lives in the dark
The mako shark is fast,
It moves with a blast
The great white
Likes a big fight
The whale shark
is bigger than a park
The sleeping shark is blind
Like most sharks it has a tail on its behind

Sea Poem - by Middle
I like it underwater because there's not any thunder.
It is pretty and peaceful.
There are beautiful fish all different colours and shapes, like the silvery sunfish and the spotty clown triggerfish
The jellyfish come in all sizes, some small and some big.
They are see-through and pinkish.
I like the beautiful coral that makes lots of beautiful fish come towards it. 
It makes me feel calm and joyful

Under The Sea - by Youngest
I would love to be under the sea
but not the sea with sharks in it.
I want to go in the sea
but not with piranhas in it
I want to be underwater in the sea
Just with lovely fish that don't eat us - that's all.

Gentle Pace = Time to Focus

I'm really enjoying getting back into the gentle swing of things.  Christmas and the New Year was even more chaotic than usual, with an increase in parties, plus a few family members needing surgery/ medical tests etc - oh, and we went to the local pantomime, which the boys loved, but then we lost Youngest after (it was late, and his tiredness combined with pantomime-induced excitement sent him even loopier than his normal energetic state.  He didn't want the experience to end, and the only way he found to protest at our leaving was to do a runner.  At least ten minutes of searching later, and he was eventually found outside the theatre!  You know, I really value his zest for life and unquenchable determination - they are such great qualities to have - but sometimes he makes me look with admiration (and sympathy) not at the great explorers and adventurers of history, but rather their mothers, who must have wondered at times if their unstoppable youngsters would ever make it to adulthood!

Anyway, I digress.  He was returned to us (still in full-on stroppy mode), we got the boys home and into bed as quickly as possible - and then sat and stared at inane TV while our adrenaline levels returned to normal!  Since then, things have calmed considerably.  The family members undergoing surgery and tests are all doing well, and I am really grateful for the slightly manic cleaning that I did right at the start of the year.  My house is clean and tidy (apart from the obligatory room-whose-door-must-remain-shut-at-all-times-to-hide-the-accumulated-junk) - and as I blogged in early September, it makes a HUGE difference to me.  We are back in our lovely routine of getting up; making sure bedrooms are tidy before going downstairs; having breakfast (without the TV going on first), and then having the day stretching ahead of us, full of possibilities, with only a few daily chores that we all share.  I can't really explain how peaceful it makes things for me, but I just knew from the beginning of last term that if this term was to get off to a good start, we would need a tidy house.  As soon as it gets beyond a certain level of mess, I seem doomed to spend my time endlessly trying to catch up on tidying and never actually getting to focus on the boys.

Anyway, so that is I've been doing: focusing on the boys.  Other than a mercifully successful (and therefore short) shopping trip this morning (Middle and Youngest have both suddenly and strangely ran out of socks), we have been at home, enjoying hanging out together.  Often this involves learning academically: such as my having one-on-one time with both Middle and Youngest at different parts of today, showing Youngest how to form letters, and helping Middle to make a start with cursive letters, and Eldest showing me part of a grasshopper leg and bicarbonate of soda (his favourite experimental material) through his new microscope (fab Christmas present).  There was also time spent learning valuable life skills: such as when wanting to negotiate for the game any one of them wants to play, they are (slowly) learning that gentle persuasion and kind words are more effective than shouting and dictating... also that working together makes a team more likely to conquer a certain difficult level on a computer game than getting frustrated and shouting if one's brother doesn't do what he "should"! (imagine that!).

Oh, and I received a parcel in the post that I'm very excited about... it's a nesting box with a built-in webcam!  We can put it up in our garden, hope for some bluetits (or similar) to move in - and then ideally via my laptop screen, watch them raise a family...!  We loved the nest cams that we followed last year - but how much more exciting to have our 'own' birds to follow!  I can't wait to get it up outside...

What Hibernating?

Well I wasn't expecting that!  What a day crammed with fun and learning we have had!  (warning, this kind of day happens less frequently than the proverbial blue moon - please don't read if you're feeling insecure!)  Unusually the house was in a fairly ordered state this morning, so I wasn't distracted by a load of jobs that needed doing - and I was up before the boys, and therefore able to usher them straight into the kitchen for breakfast, so they weren't distracted by the temptation of TV or computer (their default at the moment).  Well, we hadn't all finished breakfast before the table was being cleared ready for an experiment, prompted by the episode of Blast Lab that we watched the other day, on buoyancy.  We had a tub filled with water on the table, and the boys went hunting for various objects that they could test to see whether they thought they would float or sink.  Eldest and Middle were quite good at predicting the buoyancy of most of the items - Youngest was a bit more 'hit and miss', which wasn't surprising given his age, but I could see his mind trying to work it out, so that was still a valuable experience for him.  And there were a few surpirses for everyone, like the lemon that they all thought would sink, but actually floated low in the water, and the egg that they expected would float, but actually sank. (I'm glad the egg sank - as I told them later, if it had floated it would have been a bad 'un!)... 

 

(this last photo was the experiment to see how many minifigures we could get onto Eldest's lego raft before it started sinking.  Actually, although it was letting on water & became partially submerged, it continued to float regardless of number of passengers)

That same egg then led us on to our next activity.  While it was "carefully" being put way, it got damaged, so we then had to have a bit of impromptu baking, to use it up.  I remembered a recipe for Christmas buns in our Yummy Little Cookbook.  I should have listened to instinct though, as I thought twenty minutes was a bit long to bake them for.  The boys were already moving on to the next activity though, so I didn't really think about it, just put them in the oven for the prescribed amount of time - and yes, they came out very well done!  Not burnt, mind - but pretty dry.  Still, they looked lovely after the boys had had fun decorating them...

The next activity was found in our Big Book of Christmas Things to Make and Do - a hand-printed angel that Youngest and Middle wanted to do.  Eldest wasn't keen, but he really wanted to paint a sheep - then Middle decided we needed a painting of the baby Jesus to go with the other Nativity characters.

 Middle's 'Angel'

 

 Youngest's 'Angel' (Mummy helped with the face after Youngest got distracted)

 

Eldest's 'Sheep' 

Middle's 'Baby Jesus'

By this point the boys were getting really carried away with what they could do next.  Eldest wanted to do an experiment with baby oil that he'd seen somewhere.  I had no idea what he was talking about, but was happy for him to educate me.  It was a really cool experiment - we put a small glass tumbler inside a glass jug, and filled the space between them with baby oil.  When it was half-full we looked through the side of jug, and were excited to see that the tumbler was disappearing!  We had to fill the tumbler with water as it was more buoyant than expected, and then finished filling the gap with baby oil until it completely disappeared!  very cool - and a proud Mummy when Eldest explained to us that it was all an "optical illusion" made by the oil bending the light.  If you fancy having a go and want a more 'in-depth' explanation, follow this link.

Now you see it... 

... now you don't.

Middle then wanted to try an experment that he had seen - he coloured a black fel-tip shape onto a paper coffee filter, and put the end of the paper in water.  As trhe water was absorbed up the filter paper, the ink bled and showed that as Middle said, the colour black is actually made up of different colurs (in this case, blue and green)...

By this point Youngest had gone off by himself, and I found him flooding the downstairs wc, playing with the water - so Mummy called time-out on the experimenting while we mopped up - and then put the TV on for a bit of non-messy learning (disapprove if you will, but I know my limits: there's only so much my sanity can take - and a mad Mummy is not something that is conducive to a positive leanring experience!)

So the learning carried on courtesy of the recorded programmes on our sky box.  We had lessons on the natural world, thanks to 'Naomi's Nightmares of Nature' (CBBC) and 'Frozen Planet' (Eden); we learned more about art, via 'Your Paintings' (BBC2 learning zone); we learned about the Human Body, courtesy of 'Operation Ouch' (CBBC) - and all this by lunchtime!  This afternoon the learning has been continuing on a history theme, with 'History Hunt' (BBC2 learning zone again) and 'Horrible Histories' (CBBC) - and then we're going to do some gift-wrapping & finish decorating the house - getting a bit more hands-on again. 

Finally, I was hoping to get out for a frosty walk today, but the weather has turned & it's been raining all day.  Sad though I am not to get out, I've obviously enjoyed our busy morning in - and there's another benefit too: Midge and Squidge (our rescued hedgehogs) have been in the garage for a week, acclimatising to lower temperatures, waiting for a mild spell so I can put them into the garden shed, hopefully to hibernate.  It looks like tonight's the night, as we have at least a few nights of mild temperatures forecast.  So I thought I'd post some photos of them here for those of you who have been interested in our hedgehog adventures - if all goes to plan, there will be nothing to report on the prickly front for a good few months now.

 

Midge when he arrived, weighing 430g     Midge as he is now, weighing 882g

  

 Squidge when she arrived, at 432g      Squidge as she is now, at 807g