What have we been up to?

Its been quite a while since I blogged last, the time just seems to fly at the moment! Weve been busy but seemingly busy doing not alot. I guess its just been one of 'those' weeks. Weve celebrated a birthday with home ed friends by going bowling ( lovely and quiet- most of the schools were back) and are getting organised with things to look forward to- a home ed drama group is starting soon and we are looking forward to  joining some schools workshops at the Hay festival  The annual trip to Glastonbury is on the horizon and Im looking into whether we can afford to attend HESFES for the first time. It would be fab if we could go and meet some of our HE friends weve made thanks to facebook and blogland.

Sophie started army cadets last week, she was taken by the worker at young carers who is a cadet leader at a different unit. She really enjoyed it and although she was a little worried about going back. She had talked herself into thinking she was 'different' because she is home educated and she had been taken by young carers( and introduced as 'one of my young carers' by the support worker) and that the other kids would therefore assume she was different from them and wouldnt want to know her.  I persuaded her that she just needed to give it a go, be herself, join in and if she had enjoyed the week before she would probably do so again. Of course we got there and she was greeted by one of the other girls with a huge grin and a "Hey!" It turns out shes also the older sister of a child with ADHD and so they had loads in common. This girl is two years older than Soph had also had involvement with young carers at about the same age as Sophie. She came home glowing and showing me the things she had learned and talking excitedly about the possibility of doing her Duke of Edinburghs award and theres the possibility of some sort of level 2 NVQ qualification when shes 16 if she works hard which can hardly be sniffed at in terms of a 'freebie' qualification( worth 4 GCSE's at a-C!). Looks like she will continue with it then! The girls also went to the library again and the staff are always pleased to see them, know they are home educated and got chatting with the librarian about home education. As a result Im going to go in and see if we can organise some home ed activities there- she suggested including the younger children in their schools and storytime programmmes!!!!
Connors been pootling about, seeing more of his friends who are home educated and live around the corner. Im really proud of him, he didnt used to want to go anywhere without me and has started broadening his horizons a bit. He spent a couple of hours with them last week when I had a hospital appointment. That was such a massive achievement for him in itself, he asked if he could go to play rather than sit in the waiting room with his books/DS and he had a lovely time too :) Theyve introduced him to KNEX and hes keen to have a go so Ill have to go get some of that for him. His mates make some really quite complicated models, including guns with cogs etc which fire elastic bands!
Hes been doing more mathletics and really enjoying "whooping" people on the live game... he doesnt realise how much better he has got at it in just a few weeks. We are aiming for him getting a certificate this week. He has such a short attention span that we havent achieved it yet! Sophies also signed up for it so Im hoping a little "in house" competition will be an incentive. Ive offered a prize if they can get a certificate before we go to center parcs!
Weve been playing games lots too, cranium conga, monopoly and chess....and Connors played masses of games on the internet... not so sure about some of them but I try and reassure myself that they have some sort of educational value and  have also led to him spending a lot of time on Bills Climate Lab Google maps ( researching his latest obsession, Alcatraz) and  Youtube led him to enjoying some new music and some whacky science/disaster videos. Ive set up a folder in favourites which he looks through if he fancies something new or whinges hes "BOOOORED" ( this happens about 50 times a day at present it seems) and I add to it when I find something interesting.

Chloe suprised us all when she announced suddenly during the easter holiday that she intended to return to school as a weekly boarder "whoop their asses, prove them wrong and do my GCSE's( them being the staff who have been rooting for her to return all along!!!)
She helped me compose a letter to the headmaster before she returned outlining the problems she has with school which mainly involve the houseparent who in my opinion isnt a terribly nice woman- I certainly wouldnt choose her to be a stand in parent for my child. She returned to school on sunday, breezed into the boarding house, was terribly nice to this woman who isnt terribly pleasant to her (we'd had a few chats about the best way to annoy someone who isnt being nice to you by being overly nice and obliging) and within minutes was back with her mates unpacking, chattering and joining in. The letter seems to have had an effect... she reported being treated much better now and although I havent had a response from the head yet she said she didnnt want to come home this weekend as there was a birthday party and so on and could we come down and see her on sunday before we go to center parcs? Im amazed by her determination and maturity, she realises she is choosing to miss something which is a massive treat in order to pursue her chosen educational path- and it is a real choice. Id said she could de-register if thats really truly what her heart and head together told her was best. Im massively proud of her because it was a very very difficult choice.
In the week after easter I recieved some volunteer expenses I was owed from home ed group things and so decided to splash out on some books from Bananas.co.uk  Massive thanks to Lisa at The State Im in for posting about this site! I chose an assortment of books, including 'lucky dips' by age/gender - sets of 10 books for just £5. Some of the titles prices were above £10 RRP and we got almost 60 books for just the£36!Including books for me to enjoy if I get the time/peace!  Chloe dug in excitedly, chose a title and got into her new book before she headed back to school which will give her something to do if the activity levels at school get too much for her and she needs some quiet time.
The delivery also had a suprising effect at home.... Two years ago I had  purchased a Sonlight "core"  which was very expensive and  the kids enjoyed for a while but then found too onerous time/schedule wise and the sight of all these new books reminded them of the day the sonlight delivery arrived. We had had a couple of days of the kids not doing much and fighting endlessly so I suggested some "Table time" which is just really a name for time where we choose something to do while sat at the table and Im on hand to help, Ill put music on or the radio etc and we just get on calmly for a bit with whatever. Suddenly they both went "great,can we get the sonlight going again, yeah we liked that" They like the sitting and listening while I read to them so thats what were doing.... back to some structure entirely at their suggestion! Im also going to get organised with a science experiment/project each week- again at their suggestion....They are really getting involved with the garden, chickens and cooking.
 Which all just made me  think this week Ive been reading lots of stuff from the USA slating unschoolers. It seems to have started from a piece on Good Morning America which seemed to prompt something of a storm. Ive read everything from the children are lazy and unmotivated to beng denied an education and opportunities to gain skills for use in "The real world" and be employed... even down to some terrible comments passed on by Christian Home educating friends who have even had the bible used to attack their unschooling and told they arent Christians if they unschool... they cant be - allegedly according to these anti unschooling people the bible says so... GRRRRRRR- if I recall it also says lots of things about guiding and loving your children and raising them well???
 Well if you ask me, look back at our last fortnight and this "Busy doing not alot" encompassed a huge amount. You can learn alot while doing "Not alot" and my kids certainly arent lacking any motivation to choose their prefered learning style,curriculum, activities, gain skills and engage with their community!

Pics of this week to follow really..... when Ive managed to locate the card reader- another downside of all this "not doing alot"... you can never find a pen in this house when you need one and the card reader keeps getting taken off places! If they didnt have their own camera now I'd never find that either! Shame really... while looking for it I missed Connor exploring centrifugal force with a bottle of squash...... my nerves are thankful that I did and my living room/laptop/electrical stuff are thamkfully centrifugal force exists in the first place!

Happy Times

With the wonderful news that parts of the Children, schools and families bill which would have severealy blighted the lives of home educators were thrown out in the wash up !  Oh happy happy day! This also means that the government have not conferred powers upon the Welsh assembly to adopt english law/practice. The rumblings from the assembly were positive but Welsh HEers were understandably worried that we would be affected by the appallingly compiled Badman report and the legislation which the Government tried to enact on the back of it. Im undecided how I will vote yet but one thing is certain it will most definitely not be Labour who gets my vote. Im hoping I will get canvassed by my local Labour MP or his supporters so I can "engage" him on his parties views. I must look up how he voted and when on the issues that matter to me- you know, just to show we do do our "Homework" ;-)

And  another fabby surprise.... visitors this week when my cousin and her family decided to descend on us! It was a lovely suprise, they texted in the morning and arrived from Darlington at midnight! We had a lovely few days with them stayying, visited St Fagans, played in the park and just chilled out.

We had planned lots of gardening, that didnt happen so we have spent this weekend catching up a little. Weve planted up strawberries and potatoes and have lots of seedlings almost ready to get transplanted.

We have bits and pieces ready to start the fencing off tomorrow, better late than never! Once thats done we can plant veggies out in the garden. The kids were inspired by seeing the vegetable patches at St Fagans all ready for planting I think. We have masses of seeds. I dont think we will have space to grow them all and we'll be supplementing the space with the containers we used last year

The chickens are laying well now, well enough for me to sell about a dozen eggs a week. The inital ones were given away but its nice to know Im getting a return for the effort, even if it just make our eggs free by funding their feed and bedding stuff!

Im trying hard to get into the habit of blogging more often, I find it so useful to keep a record of what weve been getting up to, its so easy to forget and its nice to look back. The kids have been having a couple of weeks of a different routine really since its been the easter school holidays. Theyve bought some funky stickers to liven up their bedrooms instead of decorating throughout (far cheaper and they didnt need repainting) and this week Im going to have a great big sort out and ebay some stuff.Im also looking into making some chutneys to possibly sell at a local farmers market which is run by the food co-op we belong to. I need to go and investigate the possibilities Were really getting into being thrifty and the kids are entering into it too.Ive been reading this site Love food,hate waste and will be following loads of the tips on there, its really useful. Im also trying to cut our shopping bill right down.

The kids have been getting into some new things lately.Chloe went off to her first under 18's disco at a local nightclub with some of her mates from primary school who she stays in touch with via facebook. She looked gorgeous going off out, even if I did gulp and realise just how grown up she looks, she had a blast and is looking forward to the next one in June, shes already bagged a bargain dress on ebay and booked an appointment to have her hair done!. Shes still unsure about returning to school but needs to decide soon whats going to be happening one way or the other as shes been away half a term now.

Sophie is going to try Army Cadets tomorrow, Im wondering if she will enjoy it as shes one of the least organised kids in the world ( shes a real ditzy soul) They do lots of outdoor stuff which she enjoys and hopefully she will meet some nice local friends. She is keen to start volunteering at the food co-op with another HE child who lives nearby. Im also going to enquire whether its possible for her to do an NVQ level 1 in Animal care locally or by distance learning if we can arrange her a placement. The training agency here takes referrals from schools for 14-16 year olds on some courses so Im wondering if there may be some flexibility or possibilities there.

Connors been enjoying his Mathletics. Im still pushing for him to get a certificate every week, he has a short attention span so loses interest quickly. Im also going to get the kids involved in the ebaying/boot sale stuff and hope we can get enough by June to pay for our holiday in Spain in August. I managed to get 2 nights in the travelodge in Barcelona as part of the holiday for just 40 Euros! I was amazed. I also want us to start learning some spanish in readiness. Sophie already knows a little from her recent time at school.I did learning at home ed group but was so busy helping out I didnt manage to keep it up.

So yes, were busy but were also very happy and enjoying the sunshine and the new possibilities the simpler life holds for us!

Happy Easter!

The kids enjoyed a fun introduction to chemistry with this wonderful video made by the clever and rather mad scientists at Nottingham university! Its got them into the idea that everyday items are connected with chemistry and that cooking is a chemical reaction. Im hoping they will watch more over time!

We've had a bit of an icky easter. Matt came back on leave after three weeks,which thankfully this time seemed to fly, the kids couldnt wait to see him which was a relief. You know, you do wonder when you start a relationship with kids who are older involved if you are doing the right thing and whether they like your partner or whether they are just being polite and tolerating them but the excitement when he arrived back was proof that they were very happy to see him!
I took the kids to the cinema on saturday afternoon while Matt did some work for his course. We watched "The Spy Next door" which was fun, an all action comedy/family film with three very spirited and mischievous children who my three readily identified with! It was a shame Matt didnt come, I think he would have enjoyed it too. Sadly he had to go back to Lincolnshire on sunday afternoon, no bank hols for him but we had a nice weekend doing not alot regardless.

Poor Connor has spent the whole of the Easter weekend really suffering from some sort of nasty tummy bug so was distinctly unenthusiastic about choccy! ( most unlike him!) thankfully he now seems to be recovering! After lots of flat coke and not alot else.. the easter eggs are still pretty much untouched! The washing machine hasnt stopped and thankfully the corner shop had calpol in stock!
Today we've had a PJ day after a night of no sleep as Connor was awake all night poor thing crying but weve still managed to get some education in! The kids really enjoyed watching an episode of "River Cottage" and are really inspired now to get the area were are going to use as a veggie patch fenced off, plant out our seedlings and make some beer slug traps. They did make me promise that I wouldnt make them try eating the slugs that Hugh Fernley Whittingstall had made into fritters and satay!!! NO worries there at all! We bought the River Cottage everyday book recently( thankfully no mention of slugs but the one recipe does mention grey squirrel!!!)
We're all ready now to start growing some of our own food for free/almost free.Our 'Dig In' seeds have arrived from the BBC so they are really inspired to get growing, our potato planter and seed potatoes were free for postage cost from Thompson and Morgan online who also threw in 5 packets of vegetable seeds! A real bargain for around £3. We also got some fence posts from a kind freecycler and swapped some strawberry plants with a friend for some of our surplus supply of eggs which saved me quite a bit on buying some!

Despite being under the weather Connor spent a happy hour on the laptop doing Mathletics. He hadnt tried playing live before but really enjoyed it. Im hoping he will use it more and more. Its a fantastic site, definitely worth the subscription! Im trying to encourage Chloe to play more and she did have a go, playing against Connor and of course beating him hands down ( she was playing at his level!) Sophies keen to join in now too.
Theyve also watched some Horrible Histories and are happily singing the song about Henry IIIV and his wives divorced beheaded and so on, weve played Ancient Egyptian Top Trumps.... and have saved "The Pacific' at Connors request on sky+ for tomorrow. He loves WWII
Its days like this that I really appreciate what my kids get from Home education, even on a 'holiday' time or when they are ill they dont stop learning because they dont see most of it as "work"... after all work is for grown ups isnt it? ;-)

Bye bye Thumper :-(

This week we lost our beloved little dwarf lop eared rabbit, Thumper. He was 4 and we'd had him three years, he was found in a friends garden in somerset just after bonfire night. His poor little whiskers were all singed. Someone had obviously loved him at some point but somehow he ended up in Leza's garden and thankfully was found by someone before her dog did!
He came to live with us and was quite a character, happy hopping round the garden most days, he was very tame and cheeky and would come into the house and help himself to the salad! He was much more like a puppy than a rabbit and would climb up onto our shoulders and lick our ears!
I noticed he wasnt eating on thursday afternoon, he had been quiet and that was most unlike him! When we fed him we'd usually have to be careful to whip our hands out fast or he might mistake your fingers for the food! I got him to the vets within the hour and he was given some injections and we left with instructions on how to care for him but sadly despite syringe feeding him every half an hour he deteriorated and he slipped away at 3am in my arms. Understandably the kids were devastated. We'd had a really hard week and Connors behaviour has been dreadful as it was... then this. He really didnt seem to comprehend that thumper really wasnt going to wake up no matter how much he begged and pleaded. In the end he settled on tucking his cuddly bunny in between thumpers paws so he wouldnt be on his own when we buried him.
Anyway weve laid him to rest in the garden, under the rose bush and the honeysuckle. The kids have put a windmill on his grave which keeps the chickens at bay most of the time.!
Im not sure if he will be replaced at any point, I dont think hes replaceable! Sleep well little Thumper, we will miss you dreadfully.

Busy week!

Weve been busy this week and by thursday I was pretty much worn thin! Sophie missed her climbing session as I was just too tired to get her there. Im still ill although my asthma is much better, Im into week three of being under the weather, sore throat and stuff and Im really fed up! I also completely forgot to get to the vet with the bunny- DOH I really am pretty rubbish memory wise at the mo!

Chloes not gone back to school, insisitent she doesnt want to do it any more, shes sick of boarding... seems theres no mind changing happening there then! So shes started on Oxford GCSE Maths in a year which we got from Amazon and seems to be doing well. She enjoys Maths even if she finds it tricky and is determined to do well. She'd started GCSE's at school and it doesnt seem we will be able to continue them here from initial enquiries but we'll find a way! I cant see the book taking a year to complete for a home educated student though, she completed half a unit today and was only working for about an hour and a half in total!

I also signed them up to Mathletics which is only £10 a year for home educated children ( enter homeed2010 as the discount code) and Connor and Chloe love it.. will sign Sophie up if she shows any interest but she prefers to work from books.

Weve been digging over the veggie patch and our seedlings are doing well. Just got to get some fencing sorted to keep the chickens off. The Hens have made light work of all the weeds and are starting to lay. Weve had two eggs each morning this week :-)

Matt was back last weekend for his weekend leave and booked us a break at Center Parcs for his next leave period so the kids are really excited.
Im really looking forward to it too, it will be nice to get away and spend some time together. Connors decided he has to learn to ride his new bike by the time we go so he was nonplussed with the bad weather today! There is also talk of high ropes too, Im not fond of heights at all so Im a little nervous at the prospect! I just keep thinking "Spa treatments, spa... yeah, spa, nice... swimming nice, high ropes?? errrr!"

Weve had lots of fun this week though, visiting friends and having friends visit us too which has been lovely kids have seen Granny and Sophs been out with Young Carers which she really enjoyed, theyve said they are going to try and get her to start going to cadets or something locally to make some more friends.
Connors off out with the local student volunteers tomorrow so the girls and I will see if we can get out and do something while hes occupied.... I so wish I had some respite care... exhausted by the end of the week isnt the word!

A nice pic from this week.... Soph and My friends little girl. It was lovely to see them laughing. Really lifted my spirits after all the stress thats happening at the mo.

regrouping, recharging, reassessing,renewing

Weve had a horrendous few weeks, for various reasons. Many people who know me personally will know why, I dont feel the need to go into it. Lets just say I hope a healthy dose of karma will satisfy the urges I have to strike back! Regardless- I just dont have the energy!
Weve had friends staying for several weeks who have now left us- it was lovely to have them but towards the end of their stay it became very stressful. Its nice to get 'our' space back, routine,interests, food and so on.
Its all sapped our emotional energy to the extreme, I know my health has suffered, Ive been ill for three weeks now, have lost almost a stone and have only just managed to stay out of hospital when my asthmas been bad. Its my lovely friends who have given me strength to see this last couple of weeks through. I especially was so glad when Matt ( My man) came back on leave this week from the RAF and provided some hugely needed TLC for us all, lots of cuddles, fun and laughter, silliness in the park with the kids.
The kids seem anxious and sad and I decided no more! On and up and we deserve to shut ourselves off from "committments" and do our own thing for a while.
So Ive decided this week there wont be any 'work' Im actively banning it. Not very unschooly granted but no maths, english, nothing which doesnt make us feel good and nothing which has any room for failure which might sap our spirits. Early beds, long walks, lots of crafts and cooking , gardening, time spent with friends and the camera coming along for documenting it all.
Will report back on its effects at the end of the week I guess!

Chickens!

Introducing..... Yoko,Henrietta,Brittney and Shelley..... the girls
Weve only had them two days and already they have started to lay! They have spent lots of happy hours wandering around the garden pecking at the moss and grass between the patio slabs and munching their way through the weeds in the newly turned over veggie patch! The cat wasnt too sure, especially when Yoko who is 'boss hen' decided to see him off in quite spectacular fashion! They are now happily avoiding each other! She also isnt adverse to coming into the house and dislikes being shown the door!
The chickens are sooo easy! Put themselves in to bed at night, come out when you open the door in the morning and just chill out! They are full of character too, the kids have spent ages outside with them and they are pretty tame too!

We're Back!!

In the world of blogging!
Almost two years after my husband announced suddenly he was leaving, dropping the bottom out of all our world I now feel its time to blog again, encouraged by some wonderful home educating, blogging friends and facebook... I decided I miss blogging, catching up with peoples lives and sharing my own. Life as a single parent isnt easy but weve coped, we've regrouped, found some balance and new direction both in life and educationally ( can you seperate the two?)

In 18 mths so much has happened! The kids are obviously all bigger,louder, sometimes it seems messier! Sophies been to school, had a lovely year and a term at the little independent Christian school she chose and decided to de-register at Christmas, having done what she felt she needed to and returned to home education. She still has lots of friends who phone her loads and she keeps in touch with via Facebook, shes taken herself off on the bus today to go in for lunchtime with the others and catch up for the first time since Christmas and the teacher was happy to welcome her back for a visit which was lovely!

Chloes home for the mo, having decided boarding is all too much for her, anxious to complete her GCSE's but unable to deal with the emotional upset of being seperated from us we're trying to decide how to proceed. I guess she will be de-registered but that too would make me sad. Ive offered to move house but the other two, quite naturally said "But this is our home, we dont want to leave" and I share their reticence!

Connor, well... hes just Connor! his direction educationally has become more and more unschooled, resisting and rejecting all structure and finding his niche by playing, endless playing, much more like the behaviour of a younger child. Everything is a game and hes thriving on it. Everything from multiplication to literacy is done through puzzles and computer games.Practical things are done by experimentation and knowledge is gained through documentaries and the odd books. Makes me wonder really what the school system did to him so young ( he started at 3 full time as part of an early years pilot project) and regret now ever sending any of them when I see the thirst for learning some kids have. Its coming back slowly though.

So its a new year, a new start, spring his here... its a time for new growth and a return to blogging and well... thats about it really!