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...

The Learning Never Stops

Happy New Year!  Here's hoping that 2013 will be a prosperous and fun year for us all!

I was in two minds about continuing to blog - it can be time-consuming when I am busy with multiple entries on my 'to-do' list, and with the exception of one or two who are really generous with their feedback, it can be weird wondering if anyone's actually reading.  That's not a self-pitying hint for charity feedback by the way - I'm just being honest (insert winking smiley face here... why don't Blogspot have emoticons?)  Anyway, I reminded myself that I started the blog for myself primarily - and it has been REALLY helpful to have it as a diary to look back on at certain times.  I could just as easily have written it in Word, saved it to my PC and kept it private - but I thought it might help the odd person to see how it really is, warts and all (some times are more warty than others) for someone else on their own journey.  So here I am, back again - and actually, really happy to be back again.  As I (still in my PJs after we all had a rare lie-in) peeked out of the window and noticed my neighbours taking their children to school this morning I stopped and counted again the blessings of having my children at home with me.  We are so happy learning at home (and elsewhere) together!

So we've had a lovely holiday - and confirmed that our holidays look hardly any different from "term-time" (except we don't usually stuff ourselves silly with rich party food or visit all our closest relatives within a few days).
No sooner had I written my last blog post of the year and declared us "on holiday" than the boys were creating, learning and exploring some more.  Youngest has been learning about habitats, Middle launched into a new vein of creating, this time in a song-writing groove.  It was lovely listening to him and Eldest as they chatted together, exploring different tunes and sound effects on their toy electric guitar and jumbo keyboard.  I behaved myself and stayed out of it, but confess I did listen in every now and then - it was just too cute!  Eldest found a PC game where he had to go round as a penguin, solving puzzles and rescuing undersea creatures etc - and he wrote a story involving a fart in a pond of acid (there was more to it than that, but that was his favourite bit!)  Youngest has been doing a lot of 'writing' and drawing - and his fine motor skills are really improving.  Their creativity has been endless.

The boys were also given some lovely creative games for Christmas presents - we're looking forward to getting into those!  I think this is another benefit of HE: the boys get to more fully enjoy the toys etc that they are given.  In previous years they would be blessed in abundance with presents from all sorts of family members and friends - and I hate to admit it, but they never got the full benefit of all their gifts, as they just never had time to enjoy them all before going back to school and the 'new stuff' getting forgotten.  This year it's been lovely to have it all at our disposal, and know that we have all the time we want to explore their new games at our leisure.  In fact we've deliberately saved some of it until this week, so we can really take our time and enjoy it, rather than getting it out, having a quick look, and putting it away again to move on to the next thing.

So yesterday saw the return of our much-loved Pyjama Monday.  Well - except for the fact that Eldest and Middle forgot, and got dressed.  Then later in the morning we realised we were out of eggs.  We could have jumped into the car with Youngest in his PJs, and gone for a 5-minute drive, but I was determined to make the most of having time to do what we wanted - and if there's one thing I love, it's walking in the countryside, enjoying the fresh air.  So Youngest happily put his clothes on, and we all went for a stroll - trying to sing together louder than the rooks above us were cawing.  What a lovely start to the term!

Eggs purchased, and home again, we had fun making self-portraits using paper, oil pastels and wool - and Eldest made some scrummy toffee brownies for lunch while Middle carried on creating works of art and Youngest got absorbed into undersea adventures on the CBeebies website.

    

Mummy                                               Eldest

     

Middle (he did the wonky eyes on purpose    Youngest (wearing a red hat)

                   cos he thought it was funny)

hooray for home baking!

Today we have been to craft club, where the boys were happy to see old friends and make new ones - all the while having lots of fun "creating".  As I mentioned to Heather who runs the group, it's so lovely seeing them free to explore their own creativity.  Much more than when we were in school, they seem really happy to explore the resources available and come up with inventive ways of making things from their imaginations, or versions of things they have seen elsewhere.  OK so they don't always do the suggested creation for the day (though usually at least one of them does), but Heather is so encouraging and helpful in whatever they are making, they absolutely love going.

Youngest made the weather mobile that was suggested - and did a really good job, I thought.  I keep forgetting that he is growing in ability, and am often surprised at his improvement in controlling a paintbrush or pair of scissors.  I claim responsibility for the raindrops - he ran out of patience for those - but he came back to make the sun, and finish the mobile... 

Middle made a 'happy aeroplane' and painted a 'spooky picture'...

and Eldest made a balloon squid head...

Sometimes I wonder if I should get them to improve their work, or be more accurate, or finish it better... but then I wonder why?  True, it may help them to do "better work" - but for whom?  If they are happy with it, why can't I be?  I always remember being told at school that I was no good at art, & consequently losing my love of it for decades.  I don't want to put my boys off by being critical - and at the end of the day, where there's a sentence with a 'should' in it, that is enough for me to blow a metaphorical raspberry at the notion.  I celebrate my children's art, not because they are gifted Artists-with-a-capital-A, but because they are happy and confident to express themselves - and if that's all they learn from me, I'll be happy with that.

And now I'm out of time again.  There's so much more to say - there always is; this learning business never really stops, whether it's stuff we're trying to learn (such as how to make a balloon squid head) or the stuff we learn while learning how to make a balloon squid head (such as confidence to express ourselves without fear of criticism).  I'll try to write more soon, but suffice it to say, we're really enjoying the "start of term".  Though it's not that different to 'holiday-time',  it's just another chance to relish again this funny but oh-so-rewarding journey that is Home Education.

Things I Learned Today

I learned a few things today, some of which have changed the way I see things.  As you will know if you read yesterday's post, I have been feeling bad about how stressed I've been, shouting at the children at times etc.  Last night I was asking myself why I was so stressed, and came to the conclusion that as I didn't stop to process the whole asthma thing with Youngest when it happened, I just went into 'coping mode', and since the nurse has now said it was probably just a viral wheeze, not full-on asthma, maybe I'm just dealing with delayed stress.  Anyway, I was telling that to a friend this morning and I learned again the value of friendship, epsecially with people who know a bit of your history.  She looked straight at me and said, "well it is that time of year" - and the penny dropped.  You see, I've had two miscarriages - the first one saw me in hospital on Christmas Eve, with the staff trying to stop the hemorrhaging while a band played 'Away in a Manger' to the ward outside my room.  The second one was my baby whose due date was Christmas Eve.  So - it's a difficult time of year for me, and although I made a conscious choice at the time that I refuse to let all my Christmases be ruined for the sake of my children and everyone around me, it is true to say that every year the grief sneaks up and bites me on the bum, so to speak.  Grief manifests in so many different ways for every person, but for me in this case, it usually appears as a build-up of stress that sneaks up on me subconsciously, until I register what's going on, acknowledge my babies who aren't with me (usually have a little weep), and then usually feel more peaceful again.  So I learned again that it's time to be kind to myself.

I've learned that those who truly love you are really accepting of you, just the way you are - and boy, do I appreciate that!

I learned that even when you go back to the dentist to have another mould made for your new crown, it still doesn't guarantee that it will fit well.

I also learned that I've been so busy and preoccupied that I've gone and missed the last posting date for Christmas cards!  I guess our friends and relatives are going to be getting late ones this year.  Kicking myself a bit, but there's nothing I can do about it now  - I'm going to be kind to myself!

I learned that cancer isn't that easy to get rid of (not me, but a family member)

I learned that when someone shouts at Eldest, he looks like he's not bothered, but his behaviour goes a bit loopy afterwards.  I learned that when someone shouts at Middle, he takes it on himself to try to make everyone happy again (such a middle child thing!).  While this understanding makes me sad (especially in the light of this week), all understanding of how your child works is a positive thing.  I'm not going to give myself a hard time about the past few days, I'm being kind to myself - and actually, that makes it so much easier to be extra kind to the boys too.

So I'm taking a break (I learned that lesson in the summer, and am revisiting now).  Our holidays don't look all that different from term-time - the boys will still be free to explore and create wherever inspiration takes them, but I will be relaxing the expectation on the boys to do Maths-Whizz/ Reading Eggs, and basically just not being so much 'on duty', feeling the need to be aware of their 'learning' all the time.  Also I'm going to have time off blogging - simply because we're going to be very busy for a week or so now...

So that's me, I'm off for a bit.  I know this post hasn't been all sunshine and laughter, but don't worry, I have three 'babies' here to cuddle, I have good friends and family around me - and as Christians, it is a blessing for us spiritually too... and I simply love it!  So I leave you with my Christmas gift to you: the easiest recipe in the world for making a last-minute tasty snack (we made them the other day & were very glad we did - yummy)!

Cheat's Cheese Straws

Ingredients:
ready-made puff pastry
bowl of grated cheese

Heat the oven to 180C (ish)

Method:
1) roll the puff pastry into a rectangle shape
2) sprinkle grated cheese over half the pastry
3) fold it in half
4) repeat steps 1, 2 and 3 a few times
5) cut into straws or use pastry cutters to make shapes
6) bake for about 10 mins, or until they look cooked (golden-brown on top)

Try not to eat them all at once.

 

So wherever you are, and whatever you're dong, I hope you all have a happy Christmas, and a prosperous New Year!  See you in 2013...

PS This will make you laugh: I also learned that if you try to blog while making the tea, you could end up with soggy pasta and burnt pasta sauce!  Merry Christmas everyone :) xxx

 

Rollercoaster Days

It's been a funny week so far.  Some of it really pants, and some of it heart-warmingly lovely.

The horrible bits have largely revolved around me: my stress; me losing my temper; my guilt at shouting at the boys... with other challenges thrown in such as one boy drawing on the beige stair carpet with lead pencil, another boy having a complete hissy fit over something apparently tiny, and general sibling squabbles and other petty problems as well. 

BUT, as another HE Mum whose blog I love posted earlier this week, in One Of Those Days, it's how you deal with horrible days/ weeks that makes the difference.  So if I focus on the positives and brag slightly on my boys, it's not because I want you to feel inadequate (I REALLY don't!): it's because to focus on the negatives would depress me and make things worse.  I don't want to live in denial, or try to maintain an illusion of perfection - I just want to acknowledge the rotten stuff, try to learn from it - and then focus on the good stuff and acknowledge that actually, despite the stuff that I get wrong, every day that we home educate is a good day.

By the way, a lovely quote for those of you who find HE blogs discouraging at times...

"The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else's highlight reel" - Steve Furtick

So on our manic Monday, after I had a sudden and stressful need to clean the house top-to-bottom (obviously apart from the room that all the mess was shoved into!), and after the carpet graffiti 'artist' had had a long enough time-out for me to calm down, followed by him trying to clean the carpet himself (lesson in consequences of destructive behaviour - I did help him after he'd realised the seriousness of what he'd done), and after the mega tantrum had passed, and peace was restored... after all that stress, we had quite a nice afternoon: the house was now beautifully tidy, and I felt the need for a nice cosy time, for all of our sakes... so we snuggled up together on the sofa and watched a Christmas Movie with popcorn and no lights on except the twinkling tree.  Oh it was lovely: such a peace-restoring time... and actually, it was the first time this year that I have taken time to breathe deeply and enjoy the beginning of the festive season, gathering my precious ones around me and indulging in the warmth of our family closeness as we make plans and celebrate Christmas.

Tuesday started well: we were all up early, dressed and looking forward to the last Craft Club of the season - we even made some gingerbread cookies to share there.  Then we got in the car - and it wouldn't start.  Flat battery.  We were all really upset, but nothing could be done.  A taxi would have been too expensive; going by bus was too involved - by the time we got there it would have been time to come home.  So after dealing with tears and pouting, I decided we would go out for a walk to blow the cobwebs away (it was a lovely mild day) - so we walked through the local lanes to the smallholding where we buy our free-range eggs (proper free-range, not the sort that claim to be free-range in supermarkets but turn out to be a con).  Eggs purchased, we strolled home again, talked to the horses in the fields, planning Middle's birthday party next month, and I just enjoyed having Youngest's little hand in mine, while listening to Eldest and Middle have a really lovely brotherly conversation.  Peace was restored.

Home again, and having stressed myself (and the boys) silly the day before, trying to get the house immaculate, I did what any normally insane person would do: I got the glitter out (and some stencils, metallic markers etc).  Oh my goodness, we had a good time!  I deliberately made no plans, set no expectations - didn't even tell them not to waste the glitter (after all, I had bought two big tubs of it, and we're not likely to use it again this year)... we just got creative and had fun.  There was so much glitter over the bench that Youngest stood up in it and made like a camel doing a happy little sand dance.  It didn't even take that long to clean up again afterwards!  It was such a happy time, even finding the glitter today that has spread to every corner of the house makes me smile.

 

 Middle's "Christmas" and "Tree"

 

   

 Eldest's "Christmas Fish" and "Macaroni Penguins"

 

 Youngest's "Do Not Disturb" (apparently) and "Candle"

Today has happily been a bit less tempestuous.  There has been more time to notice the 'little' things from the week so far.  For example today's word play, first making a Christmas crossword on the fridge out of magnetic letters, and then a game that Eldest and Middle love, where every word has to start with the same letter (inlcuding names) - so if everything starts with P, they would call me Pummy, eating a Panana etc. Youngest (age 4) has always hated this game, especially if his brothers changed his name, but today when they played it he suddenly 'got it', and was delighted to change everyone's names, working them out for himself - he especially loved it when he got to call me 'Dummy', 'Bummy' 'Gummy' etc. He just suddenly clicked with letter sounds as components of whole words. That's proper literacy right there - but they were all just having fun playing a game (as it should be)! 

Eldest was "bored" at one point, but instead of moaning at me to find entertainment for him (he seems to have learned that that usually results in him being asked to tidy his room - spot Mummy's cunning ploy), he disappeared off to his room and invented a game that is a kind of cross between chess and Gogos (cheap weird plastic collectible figures).  He calls it 'Gogo chess', and although the name may not be very inventive, the game certainly is.  It has clear rules and is kind of and is absorbing to play... clever chappie!

And Middle has totally grown in confidence with his drawing.  He rarely wants to colour his creations in - I'm not sure if that's our of preference or because he runs out of steam, but regardless, his pictures are increasingly noticeably in detail, and more importantly, he loves it - he's found his 'happy place' - ie sat at a table (or on the floor, or leaning on a book), with a pen/ pencil in hand, drawing a picture.

  

  

 

There's another blog that I follow, and the author posted this week about criticism that she had received making her re-evaluate her home education/ lifestyle, in Still Learning.  Readers here will know how little time I have for the 'shoulds', aka, other people's narrow-minded judgements (or our own subconscious ones) on our parenting/ education/ life choices - but this lovely blogger goes further and states the things that she does value about their life.  I encourage you to have a read, it's really uplifting.  Sometimes the things that people think are important, turn out to be the least important.  And I'm not just saying that because I'm a fan of hers who aspires to a similar lifestyle!

Over all then, it's been such an up-and-down few days - a proper rollercoaster (no, I am NOT the rollercoaster-enjoying type), and it got me thinking.  We can have days that I rate as rubbish because it's too easy to fall back into schoolteacher mode, and I wobble, and make the mistake of comparing the 'labours' (or lack of) of our HE day with the labours of a typical school day - but nowadays I am getting quicker at ignoring that out-dated 'teacher-voice' because when I think of the lesson plans that I have written in the past, all of them always focused around one main point that I wanted the children to remember or achieve, if nothing else.  And if they could get that one point in a few minutes, what was the point in the rest of the lesson? (was it to fill time while their class-mates also got it? was it to keep reiterating it in different ways to make sure it really goes in, in case they weren't paying full attention?)  I look back at my own time at school and think about what I actually learned.  I learned that I'm rubbish at History, Science, Geography, Art, average at Maths, and ok with English and languages  (notice it is all performance-based, nothing to do with what did I love or what inspired me and brought me to life).  The facts that I learned I have largely forgotten - and if you ask Joe Public what he was taught at school, chances are you'll get the same response: "nothing much".  We remember the teachers, and how they made us feel.  we remember the bad ones who made us feel lower than low, and we remember the good ones, who encouraged us to reach for the stars, to believe in ourselves.  But do we remember, do my students remember those 'key points' that were the focus of each lesson plan?  Not often (and I really tried to be an inspiring teacher).  All of which brings me full-circle to now, home educating my own children.  To be frank, their appetite for learning far exceeds my ability to "teach" - and that being the case, I just need to make sure they have the resources they need to go as far as they like, unhindered by the 'single-point' focus of a lesson-plan.  If my boys are inspired and take just a few minutes to learn one piece of information or grasp a new concept or get absorbed in a new experience, why should I expect them to then spend the rest of their day in a forced learning environment?  Quite simply, there is no need.  If they then want to go on learning as much as they can about one subject, why would I try to restrict them to my idea of what they ought to achieve in one session?  Again, there is no need.  The Home Ed lark really makes a lot of sense.

Wow, what was a lengthy post!  I'll stop now... thank you for sticking with me through my rambles! 

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

Day of Gentle Hibernation

Hubby came home in time to put Middle and Youngest to bed last night, so I had a nice snuggly time with Eldest, watching an episode of Lego Star Wars (Padawan Menace) together.  He'd been asking to watch it together for a while, but I wanted to vet it before I let the younger two watch, so it had to wait until they were in bed.  Anyway, last night was the night - and to Eldest's delight it was deemed appropriate for his brothers' viewing.  So this morning Eldest and Middle spent a surprisingly long time on Reading Eggspress, and then asked if they could watch the approved Lego Star Wars episode.  I reminded Eldest that I had said he would be able to watch it after he tidied his room (he has supposedly been tidying this room every day this week, but not actually making any real progress).  Anyway, Middle grabbed him enthusiastically and said, "come on [Eldest], I'll help you!"  (It took me a while to register what he had said, I was so shocked!)  So off they went, while Youngest made the most of the opportunity to get on the computer & his beloved CBeebies website, where he learned about bowheaded whales amongst other things.  Much raucous laughter was heard coming from Eldest's bedroom, and I did wonder how much tidying up was actually being achieved - but it was so nice hearing them having fun together that I didn't disturb them.  Well, it wasn't a lot later when Eldest and Middle appeared downstairs, obviously plotting something as Eldest counted in a whisper "1...2...3...", and they both chorused loudly "Tidy, Eldest's room is!"  It was so sweet, just one of those moments that I wish I could replay on video.  That's why I've written it down here really - not much to do with HE, but I just wanted to record the memory.

This afternoon we watched some Blast Lab and Horrible Histories.  TV may seem like a lesser method of learning, but the facts that the boys come out with after watching are really encouraging, such as the boys' reasoning on which objects would float or sink, and remembering details about the Suffragettes.  Eldest also experienced the realisation for himself that some theories which are absolutely held to be true today will be looked back on as stupid by people in the future, which led to a really interesting discussion on generally-accepted scientific "fact".  If it's encouraging to have the boys remembering things they learned off their own backs, seeing them starting to think critically for themselves is really exciting to me.

Later there were some nativity re-enactments with the playmobil, Christmas sticker-book stickering - oh, and the neighbours locked themselves out, so they came round to borrow a boy or two to help break in to their house.  The breaking-in lesson was sadly unsuccessful, but we did then get to have our neighbours round for a cup of tea while they waited for the locksmith to arrive, so that was a nice spontaneous bit of socialising.  Middle was particularly excited to show his photo book off, Eldest was thrilled to have someone new to discuss 'Lego Star Wars' with and Youngest just kept talking at anyone who would listen.

Finally at tea-time we continued the "food we eat" learning with a discussion concerning meat and beans: which was the best for protein and muscle-building, which made the most 'bottom-burps', and which made the worst smelling farts.  This was not an exhaustive study, but I'm happy to take the boys' word for it!

All in all, considering we're kind of gently hibernating now, & it still really doesn't feel like we "did much", that was a pretty successful day!

Doing Nothing in a Festive Way

I've discovered a few set-backs to Home Education that I hadn't anticipated.  This time last year we were all at school, but Youngest and I were mornings-only, so I would bring him home at lunchtime, put him to bed for a nap, and then get the lights up ready to surprise the older boys when they came home from school later.  This year I don't get that lovely sense of looking forward to their delighted response.  However, we do have a lot more time together to just enjoy all the loveliness of the season, so I figure I can't complain really!  Also, as they are at home all the time they have persuaded me to put the tree up sooner that I usually would.  That's not such a bad thing either - I just know from experience that I usually get fed up of the decorations cluttering up the house within a couple of weeks, so it does mean I'll need to be patient, waiting for my 'undecorating' day.

The other drawback I discovered after writing my previous post: apparently the seasonal slow-down is not only common, but it seems that rather than Home Edders being all jolly at this time of year, 'tis the season to be "wobbly".  Of course, we are a pretty jolly lot - why wouldn't we be?  We get to immerse ourselves in the season as much as we like, without having to run around sorting out last-minute nativity costumes, gifts for the school staff, and enough Christmas cards for every child in the class/ school, as well as trying to persuade tired grumpy children that they do want to get up when it's dark, go to school in the cold and not come home until it's dark again.  But - the wobbles, so I am told, are really common at this time of year.  I wonder if that's a result of the slow-down.  Certainly in this house our HE experience includes a lot of getting out and about, experiencing nature etc - and I think that inevitably brings a greater sense of being in tune with the seasons.  So as I wrote previously, we have slowed down, are doing less trips out and group activities, cosying down more at home, doing more passive learning such as on the TV or computer - all of which makes it feel like we're not doing much of value - and there's no quicker way to bring on the wobbles, or make you question your ability as a home educator, than to assess your progress in terms of "haven't done much lately"  Well, the upside to that is that thanks to the lovely online communities, I am now aware that it's a common HE phenomenon - so it makes it much easier to roll with it, and give in to the desire to just hibernate.  It's just a season - and seasonal living is the most natural way to live.

So this week we're indulging ourselves in Christmas preparations.  So far we've been making LOTS of cards (it's really lovely to have the time to make them ourselves)...

my favourites are the ones at the front, made using the paper we marbled ourselves

We've been looking again at the First Christmas (using DVDs, our Playmobil nativity set etc - we liked this Beatbox version on Youtube); we've decorated the tree...

We've made Christmas biscuits from this book...



We've learned about some Christmas traditions (my current favourite one being that naughty Dutch children don't get coal in their stocking, they get taken off to Spain!); we've drawn Christmas pictures (like this one of "Fat Santa" by Middle)...

We've read christmas stories; we've listened to Christmas music and learned some Christmas songs (especially Eldest, who loves singing along to the radio)... we've even lit Christmas candles to complete the full five-senses experience! 

And if you're having a "done nothing" kind of day & are feeling inadequate in comparison to that impressive list, let me reassure you that I didn't think we'd done anything either until I wrote it down, so maybe you've done more than you think too - but even if you haven't, don't worry: it's just a seasonal thing.  Pour yourself a glass of mulled wine or raid the selection box and just enjoy your hibernation... see you in the Spring!

PS Just after I'd posted this blog entry the boys found the tinsel that we haven't used anywhere yet this year, and they started playing with it. Middle and Youngest are making letters, numbers, words etc out of it on the floor.  So of course I had to post some photos... how very HE!