Category Archives: Home education

Snow and Ice

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Yes, I know it was a long time ago… I was hoping to get away with it by waiting for it to snow again, and then sneaking this blogpost in so it wouldn’t look out of place, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.  So, I’m just going to publish it now anyway.  This is what we did when it snowed!

We found ice in the garden, brought it into the house and investigated it.  We discovered a beetle frozen in a block of ice, and melted the ice to get the beetle out.

Ice 1 Ice 2

We touched the ice to see what it felt like and looked at the different shaped pieces.  The circle of ice came from inside a bucket.  We found different ways to melt the ice, leaving it at room temperature, using the heat of our hands, placing it in cold, warm or hot water, and putting salt on it.  Salt was really good for breaking a thick piece of ice quickly.  We put a line of salt across the middle and that weakened it enough so we could break it with our hands.

Ice 3 Ice 4

We experimented with a variety of tools to break the ice.  The hammer was the most fun!

Ice 5 Ice 6

We played in the garden.  We made snow angels, threw snowballs, made a snowman and pulled each other on the sledge.

Snow 1 Snowman

Some of us couldn’t resist eating the ice and snow from the garden, so we made some Lego ice cubes with clean water to play with and eat!

Ice cubes 1 Ice cubes 2

Stargazing Live

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Stargazing 2 Stargazing 3

This post is written by Owl.

On Saturday 12th January, we went to Oxford.  We had lunch in Cafe Rouge, and then we went to Stargazing Live in the Physics Department of Oxford University.  When we went in, we were given a card with a picture and some information on it, and there were 19 cards to collect at the different sections of the exhibition.  Then we went to the Hands-On room and daddy pointed out a robot which was on a wooden table with a galaxy projected onto it.  When I looked more closely, I realised it was a Lego Mindstorms robot, controlled by a computer.  I had to use the arrow keys to move the robot over the galaxy, and when it was in the right position it projected a star into one of the holes in the raised edge of the table.  Next we tried an activity where you had to move coins around on a piece of paper, and they showed up on a computer screen which was divided into two parts.  On one half you could see your coins, and on the other half a picture of a galaxy based on the position of the coins.

Then we went to the Science cafe to build a virtual Lego universe, which was our favourite activity last year.  You use different coloured bricks to represent quarks.  Yellow bricks are up quarks and red bricks are down quarks.  I put some red and yellow bricks together to make neutrons and protons.  Then I put two neutrons and two protons together in a square shape to make Helium 4.  Monkey and I built towers which were stacks of Helium 4.

The Lego activity took quite a long time and the little ones were getting restless, so we took a break.  We went down to the Astro Crafts room and made spectrometers out of cereal boxes and CDs, and a model of a planetarium which showed the distance of each planet from the sun.  After that, we returned to the Science cafe to finish the Lego towers.  We also watched a demonstration of how to make a meteor, and I crushed some dry ice (made from Carbon Dioxide) with a hammer.  We ended the afternoon with some sandwiches, chocolate cake and juice for supper, before setting off on the journey home.

Castle

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castle 1 castle 2 castle 3 castle 4 castle 5 castle 6 castle 7castle 8 castle 9 castle 10

This post was written by Owl.

When we went to Granny’s house a few weeks ago, we played with the big wooden castle.  In the night, when the little ones were asleep, Monkey and I were allowed to stay up so we could make a battle scene with the castle.  We placed the drawbridge just the right distance away from the castle.  Then, we decided to make a moat out of blue paper.  Later, the scenery around the castle grew to include green grass and and a little bridge made out of brown paper leading to the prison door, so that the guards can go in and out.  Then Monkey put on some paper logs, and we both made some fish to go in the moat.  Then we put the soldiers in place, and the battle began.  It was England against Scotland, and we can’t tell you who won because the battle hasn’t finished yet.  Some battles last a very long time (like the 100 years war, which was really 101 years.)

Friday round up 30th November 2012

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On Saturday morning, Tiddler went to Dramabuds with daddy, and the big three played while I did some housework.  In the afternoon, there were two birthday parties, a real one and a pretend one, and some Maxi Hama beading.  On Sunday, Owl and Tiddler went to church with daddy, while Rabbit and I tidied and hoovered – I’m not sure what Monkey was up to, but he was quiet.  In the afternoon, we did more housework (it seems to expand to fill the weekend), and after tidying their bedrooms the children had some computer time.  We had supper at Granny’s house, and then the big three made the Christmas pudding with daddy, while I tried to get Tiddler settled to go to sleep.

On Monday, we did some Maths in the morning, starting with some workbooks (Owl – adding hundreds, Monkey – 3x table and area, Rabbit – counting and writing numbers) and finishing by playing Yahtzee.  Then we did a little bit of English (Owl and Monkey – spelling, Rabbit – writing practice), and then some work on the computer – the addition trainer on Maths is Fun, and Reading Eggs.  After a bit of playtime, Owl did some Science work on fossils, and Monkey started a bar chart about how many hours sleep he has this week (from his Science book).  In the afternoon, I went Christmas shopping while Supergirl looked after the children.  They played, had some more time on the computer and watched a Lego DVD they borrowed from their friends.

On Tuesday, the boys and I went to the Greenwich Observatory, while Rabbit stayed at home with Supergirl and went to her Dramabuds lesson in the afternoon.  On Wednesday, we did some Maths in the morning, starting with workbooks (Owl – adding 9 and 99, and Monkey – 3x table and something else I can’t remember) and ending up with the Maths is Fun website.  Owl discovered the chess game on there and spent a long time playing it.  He also wrote his blog post about his sleepover.  In the afternoon we went by bus to our friends’ house for Home Ed group.  On Thursday, I took Tiddler for his swimming lesson, and then later Supergirl took Rabbit for hers.  The boys spent part of the morning with our friend who is a childminder, and as always they had a lovely time with her.  In the afternoon, the little two went shopping with Granny and then went to her house to make cakes, while I took the big to another Home Ed group.  It was nice to see our friends there, but Monkey wasn’t feeling well and spent most of the time sitting on his own or on my knee.  In the evening, Owl went to cubs.

This morning, Supergirl took Rabbit and Tiddler to Musicbox while I had a quiet morning with the big boys.  Today it was my turn to be ill (well this is nothing new, but I felt quite a lot worse today) so we spent part of the time in my bed doing puzzle books, and then Monkey disappeared off to do some Very Secret Making.  When the little ones got back, they had a good time playing with Supergirl, and made a tree house out of chairs, cushions and blankets.  At least I have been informed it is a tree house.  I’m not sure that’s how it started out, but that’s what it is now.  The boys did some Science, and some music practice, and apart from that they spent the rest of the day playing and watching television, as I wasn’t feeling well enough to initiate anything else.  If the scene of devastation in the play room is anything to go by, they had a very good time!

A day at the Observatory

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Yesterday the boys and I went to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich with another Home Education group.  Rabbit had a Dramabuds lesson in the afternoon so she stayed at home with Supergirl for the day.  I decided to drive there, as the route by public transport was a bit complicated and not that appealing on a cold, wet day in November.  The drive wasn’t a lot of fun either, and I did get a bit lost, but I found my way there eventually (it took an hour and twenty minutes) and I was quite proud of my achievement.

It was good to meet up with some other home educators, and the children enjoyed each others’ company.  I found, as always, that it is considerably easier to have one child fewer than the usual number, though it is very hard to work out why.  Perhaps I should borrow other people’s children from time to time, so that when I give them back it will seem easy having just four!  Maybe I’ll borrow these ones – they are no trouble.  Anyway, I digress…

We started off with a “moon-walking session” aimed mainly at the younger children, but the lady who was running it was extremely good at dealing with the wide age range (about 1 to 9 years, I think.)  She started off with a presentation about the planets, and shared a few key interesting facts about each one.  She also handled it very well when Owl, Monkey and a couple of the other children kept putting their hands up to add more facts of their own, and was very patient.  We sang some songs (five little aliens, and similar) which kept the little ones entertained, then pretended to be in a rocket flying to the moon, getting out and walking on the moon and then flying back home.   It was a really good mix of interesting information, imparted in a very simple way, and active learning.  My personal highlight was probably when the lady said (after the millionth interruption) “I love having Home Ed groups, you’re all so intelligent, you know everything!”

After that, we ate our packed lunches and had some free time to look around the exhibitions, and go to the shop.  Then we had another session in the planetarium.  I thought that Monkey and Tiddler might be afraid of the dark, but they were fine and they loved it.  All three boys wanted to see it all over again, so I think we’ll have to go back with Rabbit and daddy sometime.  We had a final quick look at the exhibitions, and they didn’t want to leave, but we had to.  The journey home was better because I took an alternative route and didn’t get lost, but it was dark before we got back and the traffic was heavy so I was glad to get home.  I asked the boys if they wanted to draw or write anything about the day, and Owl wasn’t in the mood, but Monkey made this model of a space shuttle.

Friday round up 23rd November 2012

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I’ve had a week of sleepless nights and it’s very late now so I might have forgotten some things, but this is what we’ve been up to this week.  On Saturday I had a particularly bad night (it was getting light before I even fell asleep) so on Sunday morning I had a lie in, while Suburban dad took all all the children to church.  I was very grateful and I made the most of it.  I slept from around half past nine until ten to midday.  It was a bit like being a student again.  Granny (Suburban dad’s mum) came round for lunch and we had roast pheasant which was delicious (and cheap, which was why we had it.)  The afternoon was mostly spent on  housework, while the children played and had stories with Granny.  We had another go at learning to use our new sewing machine, and managed to make two lavender bags.

On Monday the children did Maths and English (the big three), piano lessons and Bible reading, piano and violin practice (Owl and Monkey), made a car out of chairs (the little three with Supergirl) and helped to cook pasta with pesto (Owl).  On Tuesday Owl and Monkey went shopping with Granny while Supergirl and I took the little ones to Toddler group.  In the afternoon the children did Maths, English and music practice and lots of reading.

On Wednesday, Owl spent a lot of time engrossed in a Horrible Geography book about weather, as well as doing some Maths and English with Monkey and Rabbit.  Granny (my mum) came for lunch and took Owl to London overnight.  He enjoyed staying at the flat with Granny and Grandpa, visiting the Museum of Childhood and the Transport Museum and especially going to the Lego shop!  He also did some very good writing while he was there and I think he is planning to finish it and put it on here (if we get round to it.)  The rest of us went to Home Ed group on Wednesday afternoon, where the little ones and I enjoyed meeting some new friends, playing/ chatting and doing some lovely craft activities (making pictures out of lentils and seeds on sackcloth, and salt dough candle holders.)  Monkey didn’t join in much as he was feeling ill again, and just wanted to go home.  He wasn’t up to going to Beavers so we had a nice quiet table time before bed with all the little three doing sticker/ colouring/ activity books together.

On Thursday, Rabbit went to our childminder’s house – she is a friend from church and going there is an occasional treat for the children, and they are always asking when they can go.  Rabbit had a lovely time there as always, then went to her swimming lesson with Supergirl.  Monkey did lots of drawing in his “oodles of doodles” book and Tiddler did some of his Diggers and Christmas sticker books.  Rabbit did magic painting, a 3rd and bird sticker book, and her “nursery activity book” which she chose at the bookshop last week and has been working on a lot since then.   Monkey did some of his Beavers Christmas worksheet.  Owl and Granny came back from London, and Owl did some Science research about rocks, while the little three played with the Lego Duplo railway.

Today, Owl went to his violin lesson, but Monkey stayed at home because he was not well.  The little three made a den in the playroom with Supergirl, then Owl, Monkey and Rabbit did some Maths and English.  We then had a doctor’s appointment for the three younger ones which took up the rest of the morning.  In the afternoon, while the little three were playing, Owl and I got into my bed and read the section about fossils in his Science book.  He then spent the rest of the afternoon digging fossils out of plaster of paris (a kit which I’d forgotten he had from the Natural History Museum.)  The week has had its ups and downs, but I thought it had ended quite well, with a good home cooked supper, daddy home in time to eat with us, computer time, bedtime stories and the children settled easily, if late.  However, a very short time later Rabbit was sick in her bed and has been in our bed since.  She is still coughing a lot and it looks like it will be another disturbed night.

(This bit is for my records!  Maths: pictograms, bar charts, frequency graphs, adding tens (Owl); addition, comparing lengths, shapes, 3x table, money (Monkey); dot-to-dots and colour by numbers, counting and writing numbers, shapes (Rabbit)

English: reading comprehension, writing a recipe, commas in lists, contractions and spelling, report about his visit to London (Owl); writing about Lego for the Beavers Hobby badge, joined up writing, anagrams and spelling, (Monkey); mazes, writing practice, and the Gruffalo activity book (Rabbit); Reading Eggs (all, I think, though I’m not sure – definitely Rabbit)

Science: rocks and fossils)

Random round up

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I’ve been so far behind that I’ve forgotten a lot of what we have done in the last couple of weeks, but this is some of it.  Some of the photos may be assigned to the wrong days but they are approximately right!

Monday 5th November was a quiet day at home, with music lessons cancelled because of Owl’s tummy bug and Monkey’s cough.  In the evening I attempted to go to choir with Suburban Dad but gave up because my back was really bad, and I couldn’t sit, or even stand still, so I walked home, took some strong painkillers and went to bed.

Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th November were mostly spent at home as well, but Monkey went  to London to stay the night with Granny and Grandpa at the flat.  He went to the Museum of Childhood and the Lego shop with Granny.

Somebody (might have been Rabbit with help from Supergirl?) wrote some lovely numbers on a blackboard, Monkey drew a shape man on the easel blackboard and he and Rabbit produced lots and lots of sticker pictures.

Thursday 8th November started off quite peacefully but ended up being rather an eventful day.  Supergirl took Rabbit to her swimming lesson by train while the boys and I had a productive time at home.  Owl made a Bronze Age lunula, brooch and shield.

The afternoon ended with a trip to A&E, because Monkey fell and knocked out his two front teeth.  I thought they were baby teeth, but I just couldn’t be certain.  He does have some adult teeth, and I couldn’t remember which ones, so it was a big relief when the doctor reassured us they were baby teeth.  He was very brave and stoical, even though he missed the fireworks at the Scout group bonfire night.  He and Suburban dad arrived at the end, just in time for a hot dog, and to meet with Owl, Supergirl and some friends of ours.

Friday 9th November started early with violin lessons, and the rest of the morning was spent at home with the children being quite busy and productive.  A friend came to visit us and then came back later to look after the other children while I took Monkey to the dentist for an x-ray.  At the end of the afternoon I took all of the children to the doctor’s because Monkey and Tiddler’s coughs were quite bad, but their chests were clear which was reassuring.  Over a week later they still have the coughs though.

Saturday 10th – Sunday 11th November was a fairly quiet weekend.  I’m not sure what happened when but I think these photos might have been from the Saturday (or maybe not!)  Monkey spent a long time drawing alphabet pictures on the easel, Owl played with a Lego Education set and Rabbit and I made a Bendaroos mermaid.  On Sunday we went to church and in the evening some friends came round and we had more fireworks and a bonfire which the children had helped to build.

Monday 12th November started with some Maths work on shape and symmetry, which led to a long session of all the children playing with the wooden blocks, shape sorter and clock, and doing some symmetrical paintings.  For some reason I didn’t photograph the paintings, and now I don’t know where they are, but I do have a random picture of one of Monkey’s wooden block creations.

I took Owl and Monkey to their piano lessons, and then in the afternoon we had our LEA visit, during which the children made some more Hama bead creations.

In the evening, Owl went to Strings group and then Suburban dad and I went to choir.

Tuesday 13th November started with a rush to get the children smartly dressed for photographs at the Toddler group.  After they were done, Owl and Monkey went home with Supergirl while I stayed with the little ones for the rest of the session.  While we were there, Rabbit started to feel unwell, and later that day she was sick several times.  Owl and Monkey went to their swimming lessons by train with Supergirl, and then in the evening Monkey and Tiddler made a Christmas cake with daddy while I went to Pilates.

Wednesday 14th November was a beautiful sunny day, and Supergirl looked after Rabbit while I took the boys to the park with our Home Education group.  They had a great time playing with their friends in the playground and feeding the ducks.  In the evening, Monkey went to Beavers, and then I went to my Rosemary Conley exercise class.

Thursday 15th November was another day which started off with a Maths lesson that took most of the morning.  Monkey did some addition practice, then got the blocks out again and made a crab.  Owl did some work about Carroll diagrams, and we made one using some stars, then took them off so that Monkey could have a go.  Tiddler did some drawings and told me what each one was.  He started with a hot air balloon with a basket, and then there was another hot air balloon, a boat and a trailer, and a LOT of “horseys”.  Monkey made lots of interesting 3D shapes using Magnext.

In the afternoon, Rabbit stayed at home with Supergirl again, while I took the boys to another Home Ed group.  In the evening, Owl went to cubs, and I went to a knitting group meeting in the pub.  It was a little daunting, as my knitting skills are rather basic, but it was interesting to meet some new people, and I really enjoyed catching up with my lovely friend who blogs here – it was nice to talk to her in person for a change instead of online.

Friday 16th November was quiet and peaceful in the morning, and the children did a lot of Maths and English.  After lunch we went one stop on the train – oh the excitement – to the bookshop, to buy Monkey a joined-up handwriting workbook which he has been wanting for a while.  On the way there, I remembered that we had a dentist appointment later in the afternoon, so it was a rather short outing as we didn’t have time to go to any other shops, but the children enjoyed it anyway.  In the evening we went to our local Italian restaurant for supper, and ordered far too much pizza, most of which we took home with us.

Today (Saturday 17th November) Tiddler went to Dramabuds with daddy, Owl made a rubber-band powered aeroplane, and Monkey and Rabbit sorted through their trays of half-finished work and pictures.  Rabbit did some of her Nativity colouring book, and Monkey found a story he had started writing over a year ago and finished it.  It is about a pig who wants to know what Lego is like so he goes to Legoland.  I love it and would like to post it on here, but I need to ask him if he wants me to or not, and he is asleep now.  Anyway, if he wants to, it probably deserves a separate post!  At lunchtime we went to Granny’s church fair, and then Owl went to his choir practice.  In the afternoon all the boys had haircuts and we did some shopping, and then came home for supper, which was the pizza from yesterday – more than enough for another meal.

Okay, finally up to date, so I can go to bed now…

A mini round up

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I’m blogging this week now because I won’t have time over the weekend, and I’ve already posted about Monday, so just three days to round up.

On Tuesday, I went to Toddler group with Tiddler, leaving Rabbit at home with Supergirl and the boys, as she wasn’t feeling well, again.  I met a lovely mum, new to the area, who is home educating and I enjoyed chatting with her, and some of the other mums.  We spent most of the rest of the day at home.  Among other things, Rabbit made a lovely sparkly door hanger, Tiddler tipped the glitter on the floor and Monkey and Rabbit made an ice cream van, more detailed than Monday’s one but I failed to get a photo.  At the end of the afternoon, Owl and Monkey had their swimming lessons.

On Wednesday, after several nights with Rabbit in our bed coughing all night, I took her to the doctor’s.  Although she was, of course, feeling better by the time we got there, my suspicions were confirmed and she was diagnosed with a chest infection.  At least we now have antibiotics, so I hope she will be better soon.  She has had enough of being ill, poor thing.   In the afternoon, Owl, Tiddler and I went for a walk in the woods with Home Education group.  We had a lot of fun, got very muddy and enjoyed the company of our friends.  The children had fun splashing in puddles, collected a few more (rather damp) leaves and looked at lots of interesting mushrooms.  In the evening, Monkey went to Beavers.

Today we had a day at home.  The big three wrote Autumn poems and did a bit more of their Prehistory project.  Rabbit did some knitting, Monkey did some Hama beads and I read Bible stories to both of them.  In the evening, Owl was invested at cubs.

Over the three days they have done Reading Eggs, Conquer Maths, Mathletics and Spellodrome, and music practice.  Tiddler did some colouring and the big three did quite a lot of Maths.  Owl finished the chapter on Time in his Galore Park book, Monkey worked on the three times table with Multilink cubes, and Rabbit did a page about circles in her Thomas shapes workbook, and continued writing numbers and drawing pictures to match.  Monkey and Rabbit also drew numbers using templates, and did some weighing with the balance scales.  They have also done some French (clothes, days of the week and food.)

I feel that this post needs something more, but it’s nearly 2am and I have to be up in three hours, so I just need to publish it now.  I have photos to add but don’t know when I’ll find time to do it.  So, for now, I’ll leave you with a joke made up by Monkey.

What do you call a pig in the bushes? A hedgehog.