Mess mess messy mess

One of the drawbacks of having a child (or three) who loves making collages, crafts and science experiments is that it really doesn't take long before your house is overrun with - ahem - fabulous creations!  Our house was in such a state by the end of this week that Hubby donned his superhero alter-ego this morning and took the boys out for breakfast and then to visit family, so I had chance to have a good tidy-up without the depressing knowledge that no matter where I was clearing, the boys were generating mess elsewhere :/

This afternoon they went out again for a bike-ride to the park.  We had wanted to go swimming, but I'm not keen on them getting cold and wet when they're still at the end of a cough & cold - so we waited until a break in the rain, and Daddy took them out on their bikes (it was actually quite warm when it wasn't raining).  They were really overdue time outside, thanks to being stuck indoors lately.  As Ross Mountney commented in a blogpost this week,  Leaping and Learning, time spent out of doors is always beneficial, on a whole range of levels - but thanks to this past week being very wet (and two of the boys being under-the-weather by the end of the week), we didn't get out much at all.  Consequently every square inch of the house has been used for exploring/ creating/ hands-on learning.  So I'm adding another benefit of getting into the fresh air outdoors: that the house is a bit less messy afterwards... unless you count the mud that gets trekked in after a lovely long woodland walk or bike ride of course...

So I don't have much to report today, because the boys have had a really lovely time off out with Daddy while Mummy did some serious sorting and cleaning (and cleared a bit more shelf space for our new books)!  I did make sure I got to do their bedtime stories etc though - I had to get my fix of snuggles!  And no, the house still isn't finished, but it's looking a lot better, so I'm sitting down with choc-ice and DVD now, in my lounge that may not be immaculate, but at least I can see the floor!

Normal service resumed

Sorry to those of you who were hoping for something a little more sensational after yesterday's stroppy blog - we're back to the beautiful, small highlights (no real lows today, just a minor squeak) of our day-to-day Home Ed journey.  So here we go...

Our caterpillars have graduated - yay!  They are no longer teeny creeping caterpillars; they have all fully entered the pupal stage - so this morning Eldest and I took a moment while the younger two boys were occupied elsewhere, to carry out the delicate procedure of transferring the chrysalises from their little plastic pot into the large net container.  It was very fiddly as the paper disk under the lid that they were attached to was quite holey and fragile - and the pupae had lots of sticky threads joining them to the rest of the pot, that all needed to be teased apart.  We got there in the end though, and then pinned it to the inside of the large container.  One of the chrysalises was wiggling energetically after the transfer, but apparently that's normal, and it calmed down again soon afterwards.

 

the new, bigger home                    chrysalises close up 

I'm really glad that we took this 'live experiment' on - the boys are learning so much more through it than they would by just reading or being told about it.  They all knew that caterpillars turn into chrysalises and then butterflies, but by having it happen in front of us they have observed so much more - such as the rate that the caterpillars grow at, the J-shape they assume when entering the pupal stage (and the fact that they shed their skins at this point), the wiggling that they do as pupae - and of course there will be more revelations to come when the butterflies finally emerge.  It all reminds me of the Benjamin Franklin quote:

"Tell me and I forget; Teach me and I remember; involve me and I learn"

Today we had a quiet day at home - partly because Eldest and Youngest are fighting off colds, and partly because it rained pretty much all day! This morning Middle spent a long time on Maths Whizz and then the CBeebies website, Youngest then had a turn on Reading Eggs and again, CBeebies (at one point I heard all three boys giggling over something the Teletubbies were doing on the computer... I mean, Teletubbies... really??), and Eldest mooched for a bit and read some of his Deadly 60 book, before watching more Deadly 60 on TV followed by 'Kid Detectives'... all very scientific!

This afternoon Eldest had his turn on the computer (Maths Whizz) while Middle, Youngest and I made some 'Rock-and-Roll Eggs' (like home-made Weebles, for those of you of a certain age), from our fabulous new Science Things to Make and Do book. We're really enjoying this book - each page has a short, child-friendly explanation as to the scientific principle being explored in the activity (the boys thought it was really funny that the information on their 'Rock-and-Roll Eggs' was titled "Heavy Bottoms"). 

left - Youngest; right - Middle

While we waited for the glue to dry on the eggs, the two younger ones made a tissue-paper 'under-sea collage' with Mummy while we waited...

Eldest by now had finished with Maths Whizz so then he got to grips with a Glow-in-the-dark art project that we found online a while ago, from Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop - a great site, packed with fab Home Ed resources and ideas.  He used pastels and glow-in-the-dark paint to produce a really nice piece of art - and then Middle decided he wanted to do it too... it was so lovely listening to them chatting while they worked - Eldest telling Middle all about what the different deep-sea creatures did etc.  I love it when they share their knowledge & enthusiasm, and educate each other :)

top - Eldest; bottom - Middle

So today was another good day: gently paced, and even though no work was scheduled (yes, we're still deschooling!), we achieved a fair bit, which always helps to dispel any angst that might be lurking.  And it does still lurk at times... this time I think it was because of the novel I've recently finished reading where the protagonist decides to 'home-school' her daughter to meet her own selfish needs.  Unfortunately I think that as a story it would encourage the perception of those who think that HE is just a cover for neglectful parenting.  True Home Edders will know that if the child in the story was being home educated by a loving and attentive parent she would have thrived - but it left me feeling slightly uneasy, as if an underlying message of the book could be that bringing children up out of the norm is an inherently bad thing.  Although it was a good read (you know I love my books), I was just a little discouraged by being reminded that not everyone thinks Home Ed is as fab as we do!  So, I'm particularly glad for blog posts like this one: A Home-educating Parent Looks Back, where a real Mum shares the successes of her own HE journey, now that she has reached the end of it.  As we're at the beginning of our journey, full of questions, it's just so encouraging to hear from people who have gone ahead of us, and who have seen that Home Ed really does work.  Not to forget that we're already seeing little shoots of success ourselves in our own children as they relax and are starting to demonstrate a returning enthusiasm for questioning, experimenting and learning.  So, minor squeaks notiwthstanding, we are seeing real progress, and that is what makes this journey so worthwhile :)

Society gone insane

It's not often that I get a bee in my bonnet, politically speaking, but this has really got my goat...

Insurance millionaire Theodore Agnew has donated enough money to a school in Great Yarmouth to enable the school's year five and year six students to stay at school until 6pm every weekday (and when I said 'enable' - it's not an optional after-school club - it's timetabled education for every student).  Not only that, but after October, the plan is for years three and four to join in as well - that's a 9-hour working day for a seven-year old (leaving them too exhausted to concentrate, and with barely enough time to eat tea before going to bed once they get home from school every day)!  Read the story here.  Michael Gove, this country's Education Secretary (who has never been a teacher, nor does he have children of his own, from what I can make out) has said this is a "brilliant idea"!!!  I was temporarily rendered speechless by the sheer scale of this insanity.  However, the speechlessness has worn off, so I figure "it's my blog and I'll rant if I want to"

What on earth is our society coming to?  I mean, ok - not everyone has the ability or the desire to home educate.  There are two types of parents apparently - those who breathe a sigh of relief when the school holidays are over and the children go back to school, and those (most home educators fit here) who miss their children while they're not at home.  I'm definitely the latter, but I'm not passing judgement on the former type: it doesn't make me a better or worse parent - just a different one.   But I think we all agree that children need their families.  In most cases it's true that both parents need to work so they can afford the cost of living, and obviously most families arrange that so that the working hours of at least one parent fall inside school hours - not least because the cost of after-school care is extortionate, but also because as parents who love our children we know it's good for our children's sense of security and well-being to have time chatting with them about their day, helping them with homework, sharing a nutritious meal around the table, even - dare I say it - playing with them.  And all I remember from our own school days was how frantic it all was, trying to fit it into the couple of hours I did have with them between the school-run and bedtime.  Yet somehow Mr Agnew, Mr Gove and Mr Holledge (the headmaster at the school concerned) are all patting themselves on the back for providing a way for children to spend even more time away from their families!  Michael Gove was quoted as saying, "It also helps parents, actually, making it easier for them to get promoted at work or move jobs in the town".  How did our society ever get to the place where promotion was more important than family values?  Have none of them ever heard of the famous quote, "On their deathbed, no one ever said, 'I wish I had spent more time with my business.'."  The reasoning behind this quote is that we all know what matters far, far more than success in business is building strong family relationships, raising our children to be stable, well-rounded members of society.  Research has repeatedly shown this to be so - a good example of this being the article, A Wise Investment: Benefits From Families Spending Time Together.  Some, but not all, of the points raised cite sharing 'religious activities' together as being beneficial, but even if that doesn't apply to you (and I doubt it would impress Messrs Gove et al), the other points are still really pertinent.  I was particularly drawn to the fourth point: "Children’s academic success is associated with having mothers who frequently communicated with them."  That's mothers - not teachers or even well-meaning headmasters!!!  Academic success is not down to children being segregated from their families and kept at school for longer hours so they can have horse-riding lessons!
This ludicrous scheme is apparently being so well-received because of the poverty of the area that the school is in.  These supposedly educated men think that by taking already deprived children away from their families for even longer hours every day, they are somehow going to give them a better future.  (For those of you who are wondering, yes I know there are some poor families where neglect and abuse mean that the child is deprived of the kind of family support that I'm talking about - but there are also some wealthy families where the same can be said - and anyway, that's a matter for the welfare system, not the education system.)  As a society we need to be pouring money into building families, not giving them more reasons to spend time apart!  David Cameron said he was going to invest in families as the "building blocks of a strong, cohesive society".  Well, tell that to the Education Secretary!!!  If we're serious about investing in familes, and we have parents who are so poor that they have to work a nine-hour day in order to survive, we need to be looking at better ways to support them in the family - and that's not by treating the children as a problem to be removed so that the parents can earn more money.  Children need time at home with family - they do not need a 45-hour working week!!!

Rant over - for now ;)

We love Books!

A few years ago I used to sell Usborne books - mainly because they are fabulous, and I (and my friends) got a nice discount on the books by being a distributor. For some reason I fell off their system though, so recently I joined once more, and am now an Usborne distributor again - yay for discounted books!  My parcel of books, catalogues etc arrived last night, but because I had a boy who couldn't sleep (Middle had painful legs), I never got round to opening the parcel... until this morning.  Well, great was the excitement when we opened it up!  Youngest was particularly excited by the Wind-up Train Book and the Noisy Animals book; Middle was fascinated by the Lift-the-flap Art book, and he enjoyed the Run, Rabbit, Run book from their Very First Reading series (he still sees himself as a learner reader, even though he's now a very competent reader - I just go along with the level he's confident at, figuring that if I try to push him, he could back right off, and I really don't want that); Eldest has always loved visual puzzle books, so was very happy to see The Great Animal Search book, and despite being one who usually much prefers reference books over fiction, he really enjoyed the funny Don Quixote retelling - again it was a bit young for him, but it meant he could read and enjoy it in one sitting :)

There is one problem with all of this though: we have now utterly run out of bookshelf space to keep all our books in!  Even though I periodically have a cull of all the ones I'm not necessarily going to read again, we need more shelves!!!  But that's OK: I saw a quote the other day that said,

"A house that has a library in it has a soul" - Plato

Well that's nice - according to that, our house has a big soul (albeit not contained in a single 'library' room, but scattered about the house on shelves in pretty much every room).  You see, where some women hoard shoes and others collect handbags, my shopping weakness is - and always has been -books!  I just love them.  And I am enormously grateful that my boys are (perhaps unsurprisingly) growing up loving books too.  We have always included reading a story in their bedtime routines - and now that we have the time in the mornings, it's not uncommon to find us snuggled up in bed starting the day with a book together too!  As I've mentioned before, books are some of my favourite things to strew, because there's something about a book laying out on a table that says "look at my nice shiny cover... don't you just want to pick me up and see what fascinating facts or wonderful stories can be found inside...?"  Some of the boys' favourite projects and experiments have been inspired by those found inside a book :)
I don't force reading on my children - but I am enthusiastic about reading, and that kind of enthusiasm is infectious.  If I said to Eldest, "Do you want to do some reading today?" (like it's a chore/ lesson/ duty to perform), he would probably reply (in bored voice): "Nah"... but if - as happened earlier - I pull a book off a shelf (or out of a parcel) and casually say, "I think you'd really like this one..." and then leave it, apparently not caring whether he picks it up or not, chances are he'll at least flick through, if not (as today), be unable to put it down until he's finished!  It made me smile seeing him engrossed in 'Don Quixote' earlier - it really reminded me of myself as a child (my family used to say that I could be in the middle of an earthquake and not notice, if I was engrossed in a book).  With Middle and Youngest it's even easier - if they see me reading, they'll come to see what I've found, in the hope that they can join me in my reading adventures :)
Some people have said that with the internet making information as easily accessible as it now is, reference books have become almsot redundant.  I have to say, I disagree entirely (well I would: I'm one of those people who shun electronic books in favour of holding a real book in my hands with real pages to turn and the real smell of ink on paper to inhale). To find information on the internet you have to make a choice - to turn the computer on, to log on to the web and to hunt for the right page (which can be a bit overwhelming when presented with a long list of possible sites).  A book can be idly picked up in passing (especially if strewn there by a cunning educator) and can then inspire curiosity where you did not realise you had any interest.  I do stumble across interesting things online (I'm obviously an internet fan, otherwise I wouldn't be sat here writing my blog), but I'm just saying that books still have their place, and always will in any house of mine! :)
So, in the spirit of my book-loving day, I thought I'd share some more quotes with you, if for no other reason than to make me feel better about my 'bulging at the seams' bookshelves ;)

“A mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge.” - George R R Martin

"To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries." - A C Grayling

"A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others." - Abraham Lincoln

"You're the same today as you'll be in five years except for the people you meet and the books you read." - Charlie 'Tremendous' Jones

"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” - Maya Angelou

PS I just had to add this - regular readers of the blog will understand why the following made me so happy: I came downstairs at bedtime to find Spongebob on TV in the front room - no surprises there - but unlike Middle who was watching, Eldest was reading!  Yes, reading!  He chose to read rather than watching TV!  In fact, he had completely zoned Spongebob out & was engrossed in his book while his brother watched TV next to him!  Happy Mummy :)

Encouragement to New Home Educators regarding Deschooling

The subject of deschooling keeps coming up in conversation lately, often from those just starting their HE journey who aren't sure if it's the right way to go - I  know I'm only a few months into our own journey, but I'm already a firm convert, so I found my blog post from a couple of months ago where I was trying to work out whether or not we needed to deschool, ("To deschool - or not?"), and it did make me smile. At the time we had only been out of school for a few weeks, and I wrote, "Chances are, by the time 6 months is up, I'll know whether deschooling would have been a good idea". Well, I'm glad it didn't take me six months to work it out - it took less than three! And we are definitely deschooling! I really would recommend it to anyone just taking their child out of school and starting out on their Home Ed journey - it has given each of the boys (at least Eldest and Middle) a chance to rediscover their natural curiosity, regain confidence in themselves as learners, re-engage with their imagination and inventiveness, and just relax - while I have space to think - and think - and think some more about what Home Education means to us... and I have grown in confidence about not only the choice we have made to educate the boys at home but also the way we are proceeding with it. The more we meet with other Home Edders, read HE blogs and just discuss it ourselves, the clearer it all becomes - but it does take time, and time is exactly what deschooling has given us. There really is no race, no pressure, no danger of a child 'falling behind' - because true learning is neither a comparison nor competition. Deschooling has been the biggest gift to us as home educators, and I just wanted to share that with any other new Home Edders who might come across this post, before I wrote about any of the more usual 'diary stuff'...
So to today: well, Tuesday usually means craft club for us - and this morning was no exception.  Frustratingly we were a bit late getting out of the house.  It's a very relaxed group, so getting there slightly late isn't really a problem except that I do like to get there early enough to manoevre my big car into a parking space in the small carpark, and the less cars already there when I arrive, the better!  I did find a parking space when I eventually got there today, but it was an awkward one, and I ended up being blocked in after group finished, which wasn't much fun: trying to find the owner of the other car while loading my own car and trying to keep tabs on my children = stress city :(  Thanks to the ladies who helped us - otherwise I might still be there now!
Anyway, the boys had a veritable craft-fest this morning.  We made 'things that pop, shake and rattle'.  Youngest was the only one who occasionally lost concentration today, but he was quite happy to come back and finish off what he had made.  All three boys made popping cups, then Youngest decorated a shaker instrument and made a rainstick (with quite a bit of help from Mummy to focus on finishing the latter)...

After Eldest had made his popping cup, he found a page in the craft book there, Eco friendly Crafting for Kids, that showed him how to make a kind of catapult-propelled paper aeroplane - it proved so successful that a few of the other children made one too, even though it wasn't necessarily on the plans for this morning!  Then at the end while I was waiting to find out who owned the car that was blocking us in, he used some of the left over cardboard tubes to make a lightsaber and gun - because as Heather the group leader wryly commented, 'you can never have too many of those!' 

Middle as always had a whale of a time, making his popping cup and then just experimenting with various materials, until he had made a sort of ball and another larger ball-and-cup with 'holes in the bottom for the rain to fall through' (!).  It's that freedom to experiment that he particularly loves - and is great for expanding their thinking :)

When we got back we noticed that three of our Butterfly Garden caterpillars had assumed the 'J-position' to begin to pupate!  We kept checking again throughout the day, and by teatime the three that started this morning had already formed the chrysalis skin, another had taken on the J-shape, and the last one was on the paper disk under the lid of their pot.  It's all very exciting :)

photo taken this morning

This afternoon we went to visit some lovely new HE friends who live near us.  That made five boys in total, all marauding to their hearts' content - we all had a great time and stayed longer than we intended to, everyone was having so much fun :)  While we were there, Middle found the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and brought it to me to read together.  I said that as we had it at home, we could read it later, seeing as Mummy was talking to a friend, so he was quite happy to sit and read it to himself on my lap... and then at home he got it again for his beddtime story, particularly enjoying it because of the stage our own caterpillars are in.  He wanted to take it in turns to read pages - I love hearing the expression he puts into his reading! I guess he's used to Mummy doing all sorts of funny voices, reading expressively etc - and I'm so glad he's adopted that to be utterly un-self-conscious when reading to me :)
So that was our day!  Yet another fab one - and all that fun and learning was taking place while deschooling! (hint hint) :)

Busy "Lazy Monday"

How many people do you know who LOVE Mondays?   Me and some other Home Edders, probably!  Today was a lovely relaxed day (the rain outside just heightened the enjoyment of being cosied up at home and not having to go out), and as is becoming tradition, it was a 'pyjama day' for Middle and Youngest (Eldest seems to have inherited my compulsion to get dressed as soon we get up).  We all snuggled in bed for a story, The Snail and the Whale (we love pretty much all books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler)  Not only is it beneficial to open a book together just to enjoy the experience together, we also appreciate the clever rhymes and detailed illustrations - and today we got to have a little wordplay of our own.  I was explaining what 'itchy foot' means as an expression (someone who likes to travel and explore), and Eldest asked if there was an expression for someone with an 'itchy bum' meaning someone who just liked to sit down all the time.  We loved this idea - and although it seems such a small thing, that kind of play with words expands their vocabulary and ability to connect with language.  You see, even the tiny moments can be significant!
Talking of tiny (or not so tiny any more), today while we ate breakfast we spent quite a while watching the caterpillars who are much, much bigger than they were a week ago! 

  

this was them last Monday, for comparison...

                        

I don't like seeing them cooped up in the little pot now, but they look like they're getting ready to form into chrysalises soon, then we'll be able to get them out of it. Middle and Youngest got very excited every time a caterpillar crawled to the top, and kept yelling (even though I was sat right next to them), "Mummy, look: they might be making a 'J-shape'!" (the shape they assume when forming their pupal casing).  Science is so exciting!
Eldest has found a couple of new TV programmes that he enjoys: Secrets of our Living Planet (currently on Sunday evenings, BBC2) and Barney's Barrier Reef from CBBC, both of which are great at showing the way all creatures within an environment relate to each other, so we've set both series to record, and the boys all enjoyed watching the latter one this morning, followed by another Deadly Art episode, which inspired Middle to draw another picture - this time of a Rattlesnake :)

Time for a quick break for us all to put the groceries away that had just arrived, and then Eldest got stuck into making a fabulous grasshopper cake!  I really try to be as 'hands-off' as possible and just cast an overseeing eye on proceedings, although there was a bit of a testing moment for me when Eldest cracked an egg and completely missed the glass he was supposed to be cracking it into, thus wasting the egg.  I was SO tempted to take over and not risk wasting any more eggs, but I managed to suppress the instinct because I knew that if I did, it would really knock his confidence.  It was much better for him to think of an improved way to do it and try again immediately (he cracked the next one into a bigger bowl).  It worked fine, and I was so glad that I'd managed to stay chilled and help him learn from the mistake, rather than giving up :)  And of course, the finished cake was de-lic-ious!!!

Meanwhile, Youngest was back on Reading Eggs.  I noticed that he'd been stalling on taking the quiz at the end of the level (because it had been a negative experience for him at the end of level one), so once Eldest's cake was in the oven, I sat with Youngest on Reading Eggs and made it a nice cosy moment, going through the quiz together.  Obviously I didn't help him answer the questions as the purpose of the quiz is to establish what sounds and words he has mastered himself, but I did take over the mouse, as he had a habit of clicking on any old answer without stopping to work it out.  I gave him space to work out his own answer, and then I clicked on his chosen answer (even when I knew it was incorrect), just so he and I knew that he'd read/ heard the answer and had time to think about it, rather than him being trigger-happy with the mouse!  Anyway, he got 13 out of 15 right first time, clever sausage - so he has gone on to the next level, and hopefully won't be so reluctant by the time he gets to the level three quiz...
While all of this was going on, Middle was making another collage of an undersea scene, complete with different zones...

Eldest had by now found 'Backyard Science' on our recorded TV programme list, and was watching an experiment using oil, water, and food dye, so he promptly decided he wanted a try... well all the boys were fascinated by the way the oil couldn't be mixed with the water without separating again immediately - and then had great fun, trying to guess when the 'bubble' of food colouring was going to 'pop' and disperse once it reached the water layer. 

It reminded me of something I'd seen in another blog: make your own toroidal vortex - so we had a go at that too, but because we didn't have a pipette our drops were a bit big (and heavy), so although it did kind of happen as it should, it all happened a bit too quickly - we'll try again when we've got better equipment :)
Middle then decided he wanted to do an experiment he'd seen with water, food colouring, bicarb and vinegar... he was suitably impressed with the immediate reaction (and would have carried on repeating it all day had we not run low of ingredients).

Finally, Eldest took his turn on the computer (Maths Whizz) while Youngest and Middle made some 'Zappy Zoomers' with Mummy, from our Big Book of Science Things to Make and Do

So that was one very busy "Lazy Monday" - I felt like a pinball bouncing from one learning area to another - and I absolutely loved it!  It felt like a nice balance of the more passive learning such as watching documentaries on TV and playing on computer-based learning games, and more hands on learning like creating art projects and experiencing practical experiments, recipes etc.  Happily for me it all flowed naturally so there were no clashes over who wanted to use the computer/ TV/ craft table etc.  In fact, I think I might bookmark this blog entry to re-read next time I have an 'off day', just to remind myself of how good it can be :)

Experiencing and Learning Together

Hooray for a successfully planned fun day :)  We went to our church group this morning - was lovely to see everyone as always - even if the boys' socialising there does seem to comprise almost entirely of heads bent over the various nintendo d/s consoles... :/
This afternoon there was a big 'birthday party' to go to: Mill Green (Hatfield) was 250 years old (in its present guise), so there was a big celebration with children's activities, re-enactments, demonstrations of Georgian crafts and music, and an exploration of the working watermill... it was all fascinating and we had a lovely time there. 
We heard some very noisy guns as we arrived (the boys couldn't wait to see them but Youngest was glad they didn't fire them again - he's really not keen on very loud noises). Inside the building, we really liked the model of the whole mill so we could see how it all linked together. 

Youngest was utterly enthralled by the perspex panel in the floor at the top of the mill, that allowed you to look through between your feet, and see the watermill going around.  All three boys were fascinated by the crafts being demonstrated around the place especially the spinning wheel; Eldest also enjoyed the bread-making (and I was a bit in awe of the cooks in those days who had to prepare the oven four hours before they could use it - and then had to get the week's cooking and baking done in the folowing 24hours!); Middle liked watching the woman churning butter, and they all had fun making their own paper crafts in the children's craft area:)  Finally just before we left, to Eldest's joy, we finally found the brick that we'd been looking out for, laid by the chap who restored the mill 250 years ago...

Given that none of my children seem to be that bothered about history in general (so far), the costumes and demonstrations of today certainly held their attention for a good while.   As usual, we grown-ups learned lots too (e.g. did you know that British people were eating curry and kebabs 250 years ago?) - I do love learning alongside the children, and I personally believe that showing them our own enthusiasm for learning is one of the best ways to get them interested as well!  If I was more confident in structured Home Ed, I'd probably be able to get a good few extra 'lessons' in next week off the back of today's visit.  As it is though, I'm just glad that they had a really good time today and  that Eldest and Middle were really interested (Youngest was too, but just not for as long, which is understandable given his age).  Anyway, we'll definitely go back another day (and hopefully it'll hopefully be quieter which will give Mummy an excuse to indulge in a cream tea)!