Silent Sunday 20th October 2013
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Monthly Archives: October 2013
Saturday Snippets 19th October 2013
{enjoying} the peace and quiet of an unexpected day at home alone and getting lots done, but not quite shaking off the feeling that whatever I do is not enough
{feeling} thankful but exhausted and unable to find the words to get things out of my head
{snapshots} Owl built two Lego Technics models without any help and modified one of them using the motor from his Lego train, Monkey read a bedtime story to the little ones, Rabbit did some lovely work on 3D shapes and Tiddler has built some really good train tracks.
Magic Science Kit – Review
On Tuesday afternoon our friends from 3 Kids and a Gluestick came to our house to test the Science kits we had been given at the Junior Scholars event on Saturday.
The kit we chose was Magic Science, because the children love pretending to do Magic shows, and any practical Science activities are always popular, so it was the perfect combination.
The full price of the kit is £12.99, and it is currently on sale on the Junior Scholars website for £11.99. The kit includes ten activities, so I think that is very good value for money.
The kit contains a detailed and informative leaflet, with advice for supervising adults, safety rules and information, a history of wizards and clear instructions for completing each of the activities. The history of wizards feels a bit random among the practical information, but it is quite good fun!
Once the safety goggles had been thoroughly tested and modelled by several of the children, we got started on making our shimmering purple magic wand!
First we dropped a blue colour tablet into a test tube of water, then we added a red colour tablet to make the water turn purple.
Next, we put in a teaspoon of polyacrylamide, and at that point we had to wait for an hour for the crystals to soak up all the purple water.
In the meantime, we started on another activity called Fizzing Frenzy. First we mixed citric acid and bicarbonate of soda in a test tube, and then we poured water in. As you can see from the video, the children were suitably impressed!
Later, when the purple crystals were ready we played with them for a bit and then used them to fill the wand tube.
We have had many Science kits over the years, and I would recommend this one as it is particularly good value for money. It has plenty of activities, a large number of items included and very clear instructions. There is also an explanation of the Science behind each activity. Thank you, Junior Scholars, it’s a great success!
We were given the kit for free by Junior Scholars. All opinions are our own.
CVC Word Activity Sheets
Rabbit is making very rapid progress with her reading and writing at the moment, as she is suddenly much more interested. I’m glad I held my nerve and didn’t put any pressure on, even though she is grasping it about a year later than the boys did. It is lovely to watch her getting excited about it – learning at your own pace is so much more fun!
I printed off some CVC word activity sheets from twinkl, knowing that they would be very easy for her. I wanted to try out this type of activity with her, without it being too challenging, and it was perfect. She did all the sheets in one day and really enjoyed them, so we’ll be back to look for more tricky ones soon.
We’ve also been making and playing a compound word game using more lovely twinkl resources – blog post to follow when I manage to take some pictures of the children playing it!
We were given a free subscription to twinkl premium for the purpose of reviewing this and other resources.
An afternoon with the cousins
After our morning at Junior Scholars on Saturday, we spent the rest of the day with our cousins in Watford.
After lunch, the children played together in the garden for a while, and then we went out to the park.
The children played really well together with their three cousins, and it was lovely to watch.
On the way back, we indulged in a bit more impromptu foraging!
After a quick dash back into town to visit the Lego shop (and Junior Scholars again) we went back to their house for supper (and baths!) and the children played together while the adults chatted until it was time to come home.
We came home with just enough brambles to add to some apples from our garden to make a crumble for Sunday evening…
…and elderberries, rosehips and haws which I have finally made into syrup this evening. Tiddler was very proud of his acorn collection so I have to mention that too!
Junior Scholars Bloggers Event
Last Saturday we were invited to attend a bloggers event at the Junior Scholars shop in Watford. We had a very enjoyable morning meeting the owners and staff of the shop and some other lovely bloggers, and our friends from 3 Kids and a Gluestick were there too.
The children enjoyed playing with and testing lots of toys – and the crisps, biscuits and juice were popular too!
We were offered some products to take home and we chose a Magic Science kit and Design and Drill set (reviews to follow.)
We then had a tour around the shop which is a home educators’ paradise…
…so we just had to buy a “few” extra things while we were there 🙂
Next we had a tour of the Sound Cube in the basement, which offers recording studio parties for children, teenagers and adults.
After that there was a little more time to play, mainly with the Zoobs which are brilliant, and then it was time to leave. Thank you to all at Junior Scholars – we had a great time and I’m sure we’ll be back soon!
Gruffalo Story Sack
We have made story sacks before, but not for a long time and I’ve been meaning to do some more, so I was really pleased when I found this excellent resource pack while browsing on twinkl. We love the Gruffalo, and have read it hundreds of times over the years. It has stood the test of time, as it still appeals to all the children now, so I knew it would be a good one to get them all involved in. Since Monkey has decided that Friday should be book day, we have set aside time on the last couple of Friday afternoons to make and play with our Gruffalo story sack.
One day I might get round to making a beautiful drawstring bag for our story sack, but for now we are using a pillowcase! I do, however, have a nice little bag for some of the smaller pieces – I can’t claim the credit as it was made by a friend and given to us years ago when Owl was very small.
In our story sack, we have two copies of The Gruffalo, a board book and a much-loved, dog-eared paperback. We also have a copy of The Gruffalo’s Child. I have added some non-fiction books about owls and mice. I thought we had one about snakes but I can’t find it, so maybe I was too ruthless in my clear-out in the summer holidays – on the other hand, it might turn up. We have a lot of books in this house which is wonderful, but it can make it hard to find the one you want sometimes!
We also have some conkers in the picture, which is a bit random but they were on the table at the time and we thought they were quite appropriate for a woodland story and fun to play with. We might keep a few in our story sack, and maybe add some acorns and nuts.
We have cut out and laminated the word mat and describing words, story scenes and characters, and also the animal masks, though we haven’t added elastic yet. Owl made and laminated the names of the characters, and gave them to Rabbit and Monkey to match with the animals.
Owl and Monkey played with the story scenes, and Monkey made a tree to add to one of them. It’s a really lovely way of retelling and talking about the story, and I need to do it with Tiddler as well when he is in the mood, as he loves telling stories!
The big three children then drew pictures and labelled them using the word mat. This was obviously easy for the boys, but Rabbit really made use of it, working out how to write “owl ice-cream” and “mouse on bread” without any help, so it was perfect for her.
We had also printed out the colouring pages, and the big three did one each. Tiddler coloured in two (the mouse and the snake) and I was really pleased with his concentration and effort – he took it very seriously, especially the mouse’s tail for some reason!
We have really enjoyed making our story sack, and it has sparked off lots of creative ideas so I’m sure we’ll be adding to it. Monkey made a brilliant model of a tree which somehow didn’t make it to the photos, so we might continue that and make some 3D story scenes. It has also reminded Monkey that he really really wants a Gruffalo cuddly toy for Christmas. He’s asked for one several times before, and now that we have made our story sack I think we might be getting one!
We were given a free subscription to twinkl premium for the purpose of reviewing this and other resources.
New Heinemann Maths Books – Review
In common with many home educators, my approach has become less structured over the years. The children benefit so much from time to play, read, write, create and get wet and muddy outdoors, and I don’t want to interfere with that too much. I haven’t quite gone down the autonomous route, though I think that’s more about me than the children. I like a bit of structure, a bit of visible progress, but I’m well aware that the real learning happens mainly elsewhere. So I try to strike a balance, and the children have plenty of freedom, but we do tend to do a bit of formal Maths and English (among other subjects) several days a week.
There are many ways to learn and practise Maths, and using workbooks is only one of them. It’s probably not a good idea to get too hung up on them, but they have their place, and there are some really good ones among the droves of mediocre versions. A lot of the most commonly available workbooks are too busy and cluttered looking, with very little content and generally a waste of money, so I was really pleased to be offered the chance to review these ones from the excellent New Heinemann Maths series instead. They were sent to us by Junior Scholars – more about them to follow as we have since been to a lovely bloggers event at their shop in Watford. But for now, back to the Maths books…
Owl was sent the assessment book for (the end of) Year 5, which is the school year he would have just started, and he has completed the first few pages easily. I rarely seek to compare their work with school levels, as I don’t think it matters in the long run, and it is much better for children to learn at their own pace. However it is obviously nice to discover by chance that he seems to be well ahead!
Monkey received the Year 3 assessment book. Although he is not as confident as Owl, with a little encouragement he completed a couple of pages – he needed hardly any help, although he thought he did! So I’m pleased with what he can do, and I just need to find some ways to help him believe in his ability.
Rabbit has been given five year 1 activity books, and she chose to start working on one about Shape, Measure and Data Handling. She completed the first section about 3D shapes easily and confidently.
We had fun assembling a collection of 3D shapes from around the house too!
I am really pleased with the New Heinemann Maths series because they are simple, clear and easy to use, while covering a lot of detail. Highly recommended 🙂
We were sent the workbooks by Junior Scholars free for the purpose of this review.
Silent Sunday 13th October 2013
Saturday Snippets 12th October 2013
{driving} to Watford, slowly on the M25 with a 40mph speed limit
{chatting} to bloggers at the Junior Scholars event this morning, while the children tried out some great toys and educational resources
{missing} the chance to meet up with Jax and feeling a little disappointed about that
{relaxing} with our cousins in the afternoon, playing in the park, foraging for more berries and then nipping back into town to visit the Lego shop, and Junior Scholars again
{arriving} home at half past nine and managing to do day 12 of the 30 day shred after 10pm – it was hard to get started but I felt amazing afterwards!
{snapshots} Owl can tie his own shoelaces, Monkey can wash his own hair, Rabbit can read more words than I realised and Tiddler can count to 22!