Monthly Archives: August 2013

Saturday Snippets 31st August 2013

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{playing} rounders

{laughing} at the chicken book

{enjoying} our local environmental fair

{swimming}

{exploring} Claremont Landscape Garden

{picking} carrots, beetroot, onions, cabbage, sweetcorn, blackberries and strawberries at Garson’s Farm

{eating} daddy’s homemade strawberry jam

{packing}

{driving} to Wales

{feeling} tired

{snapshots} Owl and Monkey have been talking non-stop to each other, and anyone who will listen, about Star Wars, and I have been trying to keep up but failing miserably. Rabbit and Tiddler impressed me with their patience when picking the strawberries – they really stuck at it and helped us to get enough for the jam-making.

Not Back to School: Why we love Home Ed

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I have been meaning to write a post about why we home educate for a long time, so I was really pleased when I heard Jax was planning a Not Back to School Home Education carnival. And even more so when she kindly provided some questions and prompts to get me started.

Why do you home educate?

As a teacher, I was already disillusioned with the school system before I had children, so when Owl was born I knew I would prefer to home educate. However, I didn’t know anyone else who was doing it at the time and it seemed hard to imagine taking the plunge. So we tried school when he was a little over four years old. It was a bad experience, he wasn’t happy and I wish it hadn’t taken us four terms to decide to take him out – such a lot of wasted time. But ever since he left school he has been much happier, and we have had a lot of fun together, so we have just continued in the same way with the other children who have never been to school.

There are so many benefits of home education for us that it would be impossible to list them all here. In no particular order here are some of them: freedom to follow the children’s interests, much more time to play, more efficient and in-depth learning, friendships with other home educating families, more family time together, less stressful mornings and evenings, visiting attractions when they are quieter and going on holiday in term-time.

How do you home educate?

We make it up as we go along! Our approach would probably be described as semi-structured. We have some text books and work books, we also do topic work which is often suggested by the children and we read, read and read some more. We do lots of art, craft and cooking. We spend as much time outdoors as we can and join with our home educating friends for lots of outings and activities. And we play a lot.

Is there anything you’d do differently if you did it all again?

Home educate from the beginning.

What’s your favourite resource/book/website?

My two favourite home education blogs are Live Otherwise (and I’m not just saying that because this post is for Jax!) and Patch of Puddles (which I still count as a home education blog even though the Puddle chicks are currently at school.)

The book that helped me decide to home educate was Free Range Education edited by Terri Dowty. I also like Learning without School by Ross Mountney.

What’s the daftest question you have ever been asked about home education?

There are so many competing for this one it’s hard to choose, but it would probably have to be “What about socialisation?” My children have so many friends and such a busy social life that the challenge is managing to have a quiet day at home together occasionally.

Advice for those who say…

“…I’d love to home educate but I don’t have the courage.” Try it and the chances are you will love it and wonder why you didn’t do it sooner. If not, the schools will still be there.

“…I wouldn’t know where to start.” Start with whatever your child is interested in and go from there. It really doesn’t have to be complicated. Find some local home educators and see how they do it.

“…We can’t afford it.” This is the hardest one. It is an issue for almost every home educator, but we manage, and there are some inspirational home educating single parents putting the rest of us to shame with their financial juggling skills. If your child is seriously unhappy in school you will be motivated to find a way, but why let it go that far?

“…I could never do Maths.” You almost certainly could, but if you really don’t want to you could hire a tutor (if you can afford it), use learning websites (there are plenty of good ones) and/or rope in a friend/ family member/ another home educator to help you with the subjects you are less confident about teaching.

Typical day photos…

We don’t really have a typical day and certainly not in the summer, but this might be a good place for some random summer highlights.

What would your perfect home ed life look like?

I am so tempted to say we would live in a yurt in the middle of nowhere but I suspect that’s not really true. On a farm would be good, though I’d probably make a terrible farmer. Or maybe the opposite extreme – I’d quite like to live in Cairo again. But we are so lucky with what we have and where we live that I should probably stick with the here and now and be grateful. So my perfect home ed life would look pretty much like the one I am living… but maybe a bit less busy!

I’m a Chicken, Get Me Out of Here

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One of the things I have enjoyed the most about receiving books to review is that it has made me read to the older children more. Once they can read it is too easy to let them get on with it, while reading stories mainly to the little ones, but children of any age enjoy being read to, and I have loved doing more of it recently.

The latest book we have read together is I’m a Chicken, Get Me Out of Here by Anna Wilson. Titch is a chicken who has been sent to Wilf’s house by mistake, and she is not happy about being there, especially not when she finds she is sharing a home with Brian, an extremely fussy guinea pig. She is determined to escape into the big wild word and do something marvellous.

The book is well-written and very funny – I often had to pause while reading it as the children were laughing so much! It particularly appealed to the older boys, who are 9 and 7, and I think this is the age group it is aimed at.

Rabbit’s review

What is the story about? A chicken who wants to escape into the big wide world.

Do you like this book? Why? A bit, because I like the chicken.

Monkey’s review

What is the story about? A hen that comes in a parcel and wins a poultry show.

Do you like this book? Why? I love it because it’s funny.

Owl’s review

What is the story about? A chicken who gets sent from the chicken run to the Peasbodys’ house where she befriends a cat and a guinea pig.

Do you like this book? Why? Yes, I like the funny storyline.

Thank you Macmillan – another great hit!

The book was sent to us for free to review.

Messy Play: Oat Cuisine

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Apologies for the terrible pun but we play with oats so much that it is getting hard to think of a different title for each post. For our latest messy play session, I started off with the idea of creating a messy kitchen. I wanted to keep it fairly simple but as always the children had other ideas!

I gave them some measuring jugs, spoons, scoops and funnels and Rabbit added a cake tin and cases and a lot of cardboard tubes. She started off by making cakes, which included pouring the oats down a tube. Tiddler had fun experimenting with the funnels and discovered it was much easier to get the oats to go through the big one.

Monkey took the play in a totally different direction when he added two Lego Minifigures, the Dark Knight and the Conquistador, who had a battle over some gold in the oats. After that he played with the last spare pack of rolling icing left over from the Birthday season, and of course he needed some flour to go with it.

While Monkey rolled and cut out lots of different shapes, Rabbit and Tiddler made some circles to put on their cakes.

Rabbit and Tiddler decorated their cakes with foam hearts and candles.

Owl experimented with the flour and discovered that if you pack it tightly enough into a plastic cup you can hold it upside down for ages. I’m glad it worked! And then he made castles with the flour. Rabbit made a hedgehog using yellow icing and straws, and Monkey went back to playing with the minifigures. The Conquistador defeated the Dark Knight convincingly by knocking him into a yoghurt pot and covering him with oats!

Then a lot of things happened at once. Rabbit poured some oats through a funnel and down a tube, somebody (Owl?) made a Hello Kitty bow out of icing and Tiddler made a – thing – out of icing and flour. And Owl and Monkey played together with the oats and the Lego minifigures. There was some complex engineering going on with straws and wool but I’m not sure exactly what they did!

The thing acquired a flag, and Monkey did some tipping and pouring.

The Dark Knight emerged from the flour, and suddenly a lot of other minifigures got involved and there was a scene of devastation left at the end. (Guess who cleared it up?!)

Silent Sunday 25th August 2013

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Saturday Snippets 24th August 2013

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{practising} origami, still at a rather basic level

{braving} Ikea

{making} a mess with oats again

{playing} in the woods

{organising} the dining room and making progress with the laundry room and sitting room

{hoovering} a lot of cobwebs

{creating} topic boxes

(releasing} butterflies

{exploring} Chastleton House and Garden

{snapshots} Owl has been reading as many books as he can find about World War I and World War II. Monkey made a great picture of an owl with the Hammer and Tap set (one of the many toys we have rediscovered since I have been decluttering.) Rabbit has been making towers with Multilink Cubes which has led to some good addition and multiplication practice. Tiddler has been playing with number tiles and can easily identify all his numbers now.

Linking to Jax again for some more Saturday Snippets.

Building dens and climbing trees

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On Wednesday we went for a walk in the woods with our Home Education group. We hadn’t gone far when the children discovered two dens which had been partly built and started to add to them.

Monkey and Rabbit were especially keen on this and carried on for some time while the others were exploring the woods and collecting bugs. We also spotted some interesting fungi.

After a while we moved on a little further, to a tree which the children love to climb because someone has helpfully built a platform with a den underneath. This kept them busy for so long that, after a quick snack, it was time to leave. It made for a rather short walk but they had a great time playing with their friends. I think we will have to find some creative ways to get them wanting to explore further next time, or we will never get past the tree house again!

Little Mouse’s Big Book of Beasts

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We have been sent another lovely book to review by Macmillan and this one has inspired us so much that it was hard to know when to write this post as we have more ideas we would like to follow up. However, we have had the book a while so I thought we should let you know what we think of it, and what we’ve been up to so far.

Little Mouse’s Big Book of Beasts by Emily Gravett is a picture book with a difference. It is the follow up to the multi-award-winning Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears which was published in 2007.

Little Mouse has found a book about the world’s most terrifying and ferocious beasts, but they are all a bit too scary for him. So he changes the book to make it less frightening.

He gives the lion some pretty mittens to cover up his sharp claws, and removes his loud roar.

He removes part of the instructions for making an origami shark, and adds his own for making an origami mouse instead.

The rhinoceros is given a selection of dainty shoes.

The jellyfish is crossed out and replaced with a dish of jelly.

And at the end, the mouse is cleverly transformed into a monster using parts he has torn from the previous pages.

When I first shared the book with the little ones (aged three and five) I think they were a bit bemused, and I felt I had to do a lot of explaining. The older boys (aged seven and nine) liked it immediately, so I thought it might appeal more to this age group despite being a picture book. However, the younger children did enjoy it and it definitely grew on them. I liked it because it sparked off so many ideas for activities we could do together.

We talked about how it would be fun to draw our own pictures of animals with a difference and we decided to play heads, bodies and legs (like consequences but with pictures.)

Then we decided to have a go at some origami. First we made some origami planes using an excellent kit from Djeco.

Then Rabbit and I tried out the much more fiddly Safari Origami kit from 4M. We just about managed the butterflies and birds which are for beginners but quite hard. We haven’t tried the rest of the animals yet but we will!

The following day we had another go with the much easier Djeco origami animals kit.

Next, Owl wants to try following the origami instructions in the book to see if they work. Will they make a shark or a mouse or something else?!

And we are also planning to draw some animals and then change them in the way the Little Mouse has done. That should suit all the children, as the older ones love drawing and the little ones love cutting and sticking!

So what else would you do? Any more ideas gratefully received. I have a feeling that this book is going to be keeping us busy for a while!

The book was given to us free to review. The origami kits were our own but I have linked to Craft Merrily because that is where I would go to buy Djeco products.

Pond dipping and playing with trains

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We are lucky to have some brilliant places to visit within walking distance from our house. Two weeks ago, when daddy’s cousin and her son were staying with us for a few days, we had a lovely afternoon out in our local area. We walked to the Ecology Centre first, where the children did some pond dipping.

They really enjoyed spending time with their big cousin, and also with our friends from Three Kids and a Gluestick who were there too.

There was a lot of leaning over into the water, but this time Tiddler managed not to fall in!

When we had finished pond dipping we explored the grounds some more and found some big stepping stones and a den.

We then moved on to the small museum next door, where all the children started by playing with the trains. Some of them explored the museum further, but Owl and Tiddler were having such a good time at the train table that they didn’t move until it was time to go.

The museum looks out over the ponds and it is very peaceful and relaxing.

At the end of the afternoon we went to the park. The children had fun testing out the outdoor gym equipment, before finishing with a quick play in the playground.

It was a lovely afternoon and looking back on it now makes me realise how lucky we are with our friends, our family and the area where we live.

Messy Play: from Oats to Moon Sand

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Looking back through my photos of the Summer holidays so far, it is clear that of the many posts I wrote in my head, the majority never made it to the blog. A couple of weeks ago, we decided to play with oats which is one of our favourite messy play materials. I knew that the little ones would want to add water and get into a lovely sticky mess, but Monkey would not enjoy it. So I divided the oats between two Tuff Spots and made it clear that one was to remain dry. They managed to keep them separate, so all the children had a wonderful time playing in the way they wanted.

In the dry Tuff Spot, Monkey spent a long time setting up a farm with some help from Owl. They really enjoyed their intricate, careful play while the two younger children were happily occupied with their messy kitchen. With help from Supergirl, Rabbit and Tiddler stirred and poured, made porridge and enjoyed the texture of the wet oaty mess. They also collected apples from the garden and rolled out some pink icing to make cakes. I love seeing the different ways my children play and the way it reflects their personalities.

We haven’t done quite as much of this type of play recently as we usually do, but looking through the photos from this activity reminded me how much we love it so we need to get back into the habit. We have saved the dry oats, so we’ll be playing with them again soon. And yesterday the children played with moon sand, which they haven’t done for ages. I was about to put it in a Tuff Spot in the garden when it started to rain, so we came inside and played with it at the table. They were having such a lovely time that I let them (the younger three) climb on the table and feel the sand between their toes. It was fun, but without the Tuff Spot to contain it, a lot ended up on the floor so they really haven’t got much left. I think it will be on the Christmas list, but before then I need to get round to making some because I’m sure it’s not that difficult.

I’m linking up with Jennie’s Messy Play for Matilda Mae, a great place to look for ideas and inspiration.

Caterpillar Tales

Reading, Learning and Growing

Monthly Archives: August 2013

Saturday Snippets 31st August 2013

Not Back to School: Why we love Home Ed

I’m a Chicken, Get Me Out of Here

Messy Play: Oat Cuisine

Silent Sunday 25th August 2013

Saturday Snippets 24th August 2013

Building dens and climbing trees

Little Mouse’s Big Book of Beasts

Pond dipping and playing with trains

Messy Play: from Oats to Moon Sand