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Archive : February 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Simple
I have a great love of all things Japanese - particularly their simple, orderly approach to their home and life in general. I do strive for at least some kind of order in my own home but, like many westerners just have too much stuff. I am getting there though - huge amounts of decluttering in my lounge/dining area recently have resulted in clear spaces and, although I like to leave most of them clear, I decided on just one thing on the big table. My (rather rustic looking!) homemade pot and a simple arrangement of forced leaf buds from the garden. Actually, they're not that forced - the ones in the garden are not that far behind. I really enjoy looking at it each time I walk past it to the kitchen - very lovely.
Of course, if only all life could be so simple. I'm still debating over the April/school thing - my biggest issue was (and still is) getting some kind of educational homeschool group going. By group, I don't mean meet-in-church-hall-and-run-around type thing - I mean real, interesting, educational stuff. I mean country parks, museums, gardens and historic houses. I've never met anyone, locally, that seemed in any way interested in that sort of thing *shrugs*, I don't know, maybe everyone round here is just very unschooly and balks at the idea of anything remotely structured. Well, I say that, but over the last couple of days, my luck seems to have turned and I'm in discussion (and soon to meet up with) another homeschooling mum who likes doing the same sort of stuff with her kids so we could have turned a corner here. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this one because, if it comes off, this could be the decision maker in the "April situation".
I say "could" because, I still have huge reservations that school is the right thing for her anyway but I've always believed in giving the kids their free choice. However, 2 comments have made me start questioning this in April's case. Firstly, Tim saying to me "just who is the parent here?" (in other words, it's ultimately my decision) and secondly, this piece of wisdom:
"When they were young, I didn't let the kids touch the stove, run out in the street, or sample items from the medicine cabinet. I'll grant it is possible they might have learned from each of these experiences, but I didn't want to find out.
There were also things I didn't let them eat. It is possible they might have liked them, or seen other kids enjoying them, but I didn't want to deal with the bellyache in the morning, or the longer-term consequences of poor eating habits. I am, after all, the parent, and I get to make those decisions, based on my own experience and insight, both characteristics which I think it is unreasonable to expect a young child to possess. That's basically the way I think about school.
By the time they are 13 or 14, the kids know what my values are, and are (or should be) prepared, with help and love, to make some decisions about how and with whom they choose to spend some of their time. If together you decide on school, you make it clear that they will be expected to abide by (and you will enforce) the school's rules and expectations, even those with which you disagree." ~ David H Albert, homeschooling dad and author of Have Fun. Learn Stuff. Grow. Homeschooling & The Curriculum of Love.
This is it in a nutshell - April is just not old enough or experienced enough to make an informed decision on her own (good lord! she's only just 4!) When she reaches the age of (in my opinion) about 10 or so then, yes, she could make that decision but not at 4.
So, I still have some thinking to do.
Anyway, moving on, what have the kids been up to? Well, there has been much computer work! April is using it for the first time ever and thoroughly enjoying Learning Land - seems so weird seeing her using these! I brought them for Rosie YEARS ago and then packed them all away when she got tired of them at about 7 or 8. Seeing April using them now is odd lol. Here's one of the games she was playing - it was counting to 10 to join the dots and make a picture:
Learning Land is really fabulous - no longer made but you can still pick them up dirt cheap from Ebay.
April's also been getting into Jump Ahead: Starting School - she loves Mr Hopsalot the rabbit teacher :)
Rosie's been getting her turn on the pute too - here, she's in Active Worlds building a 3d version of our solar system using information from her encyclopedia. Later on, she added information labels by all the planets - it was really good!
There's been stuff away from the computer too (just in case you think my kids must be going blind staring at the screen by now!). April dug out her old farm set to play with:
....and Rosie has been doing lots of general work (maths, English and science mostly) and adding the bladder and kidneys to her paper body. I wonder if we'll ever finish this!
Friday, February 27, 2009
One reason among many
... that I don't want to put April in school....
"This country’s education system is a betrayal of this country’s children. It blunts their intelligence, narrows their perspectives and blasts their future prospects. How often does that need to be said? Of course it is not universally true; many children defy the system, one way or another. But the point is that the system is bad. If the word “institutionally” means anything, this country’s education system is institutionally unfit for purpose." Minette Marrin
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Page pulled
I've pulled the DHENK page already (see last post). My main reason for trying to get this group up and running was for April - I wanted to homeschool her but she just requires so much in the way of interaction with other people that I wanted a good, regular group set up so that, alongside stuff like Beavers, she'd have plenty to do.
April, however, has other ideas - she is completely, totally adamant that she wants to go to school (to the point that she said that if it's full and she doesn't get a place, she'll cry). Brilliant. Wonderful. What a problem - April, with her rosey-tinted "Timothy Goes to School" idea of the place and me with years worth of knowledge and the facts and figures of just how bad most schools are these days. What do I do?
Nothing, that's what. I no choice whatsoever - I'm going to have to let her go. I've always believed in giving my kids free choice and if this is her choice .... well, who I am to try and persuade her otherwise.
I don't have to be happy about it though (and believe me, I'm far from happy about it). I don't even have to pretend to be happy about it. With her, I'll be positive and upbeat (as much as I can) - the rest of the world can go hang themselves though because I'm really bloody pissed off and I don't give a damn who knows.
So the page is gone. Rosie couldn't care less about it anyway - she's just happy and dandy with the social stuff she does already, so it's gone.
Back soon.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Just a quicky
Very quick blogpost today to give you the link for my "other" project. You can find it here. The logo on the page is absolute rubbish - saved it in the wrong format - must do another! Also, haven't added it to the frontpage menu or topbar menu yet but wanted to get the link out in case anyone was interested.
Back tomorrow with longer blogpost - hopefully *smiles*.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Interactive learning websites
Just bunging a few links at ya today *smiles* - some of these you may already know, some you may not. The biggest entry is for Active Worlds, which Rosie and I adore and is the one out of all of these we have the most experience of.
Thinking Worlds - 3d, interactive worlds on a variety of topics - too many to list here! Science, maths, history etc are all included. Downloaded the main software and then just whatever add-on packs you want. Mostly aimed at KS3. This is very similar in appearance to Active Worlds (see below) but is stand-alone (ie no other real people there - just computer characters to interact with) so no worries at all that your child might bump into a weirdo. Also, it is entirely education based meaning you don't have to hunt/plan educational stuff as you do with Active Worlds. All free.
Virtual Heart - Explore 3d representations of various hearts (human, dog, horse etc). Free.
Wonderville - Oh, how fab is this! :) A small but lovely 3d kids world for exploring various science topics. Zoom round on a skateboard, bump into objects, enter buildings and talk to computer characters to learn all sorts of stuff. LOADS of topics to discover. You will also find more, related, items here (worksheets to print etc). Free.
Earth, Sun, Moon - Lovely little site to learn about the earth, moon and sun (obviously!) - good fun. Free.
Hippo Campus - Online "High School" (US site) offering interactive lessons in maths, science, religion and US History. Free.
Skoool - Online, interactive lessons for KS3 and 4 covering maths and science. Can also download many of the lessons in the form of "toolkits" to use offline. Very nicely done. Free.
Science with Me - This website contains many fun, colourful videos to go along with your science studies. Also has a collection of colouring pages and seems to be creating a maths section as well. Free.
Jump Start World - A 3d, interactive world for children between 3 and 10 years old. You can play for free or sign up as a member (currently $7.99 a month - about £6.00) to gain access to more worlds and so on. Seems very colourful and fun but the "lag" was horrendous (or maybe that was just me lol).
Active Worlds - Don't knock it till you've tried it! ;) I've been a member of this, on and off, for YEARS and Rosie has been enjoying it for the last couple years or so. AW has much to offer the home educated kid in terms of online socialisation, creative building, exploring and (with a bit of planning) problem solving. You can join as a tourist (free) but to get the real benefit from the place you really need to become a citizen (roughly £5.00 p.m) as that way anything your child builds cannot be deleted and they can do things like send telegrams to their friends and "warp" to join friends in other worlds. Also (and this is just a silly point!) you get a wider choice of avatars instead of being stuck with the lame tourist ones. The most important thing to remember with AW is to set your world ratings to suit your child. The ones most home edders are likely to use are:
G - This world is suitable for all ages; children are welcome.
PG - This world is generally suitable for all ages; however, parents may want to supervise young children while visiting this world. Parental guidance is advised.
PG-13 - This world is generally unsuitable for young children, below the age of 13. Parental guidance is strongly advised.
I have to say honestly that all the time I (and more importantly, Rosie!) have been visiting AW, we've never once had any issues with bad language or harrasment of any kind. My advice, stay in the above 3 categories and you'll be fine - Rosie has even enjoyed building in teenworld (pg13) with no problems!
So, what to do here? Firstly, and most obviously, there's chat - it's a good place for a meet-up with your friends, especially if you have a penpal that lives in another country! Secondly, there are abundent opportunities for creativity with building - here are a few screenshots of some of the things Rosie and I have built:
Rosie's igloos
...and her version of Castlepoint, a shopping centre near us! This one even has moving avatars wandering around.
She also made this and if you play Mario games, you'll recognise him :)
My sort of Egyptian oasis thing!
.... and from inside the building looking out - "greetings weary traveller" *laughs*
There are some excellent worlds that contain some really good educational content such as Simple Geometry where you can play with various geometry shapes to construct things, Asteroid where you can float through space past the most enormous planets, Bugs, in which you get a bug-eye view of a garden, Sandbox, where even tourists can practice building, Stonehenge (speaks for itself!) and Van Gogh where you find yourself wandering round in giant renditions of Van Gogh's paintings. That's just a few off the top of my head!
You could also do world to world "scavenger hunts" and set up "virtual classes" ..... something I'm working on right now :) That's for another post though - this is getting tooo long!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Spring is in the air!
.... because the weather is on the up (overcast but definately milder) and I'm absolutely bursting with enthusiasm and energy for just about anything and everything! I'm decluttering the house, sorting out new curtains and cushions for the living room and crafting like mad!
I've also decided what I'm going to do with my Montessori materials! Y'know, I hated taking down the free things - I like to "share the love" so to speak BUT with things as they are these days (financially), I just could not continue to do it. This website needs paying for and I feel, honestly, that I should be helping out with household finances a bit more (at least paying for the kids homeschool stuff). So, I had to think about charging for materials :( Anyway, while I was doing this, I hit upon the most wonderful idea - a monthly, Montessori based newsletter which would contain not just printables but also ideas for crafts, lessons and further study - all on a single theme! Yes, I will be charging for it but no, it won't be a huge amount (in fact, the first issue will be at a discounted price!)
I'm already steaming through the first issue, which will be available at the beginning of March, it's on the topic of flowers. Anyway, go check out the Montessori Monthly page - I think it's going to be rather gorgeous when it's done :)
PS - Spring has also got me working on another home ed related "project" .... watch this space for news on that one ;)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Website n stuff
Well, dentist went ok yesterday - for me and the kids anyway, Tim needed a filling (bwa-ha-ha!) which, because it was only little, the dentist decided to do there and then with no anesthetic. Tim said he reckoned it was borderline as to whether an injection was needed because he felt a definate "tingle" while it was being drilled out - ooo! nasty!
Anyway, that's that for another 6 months.
Not much going on otherwise. Did a "big Tesco" shopping run this afternoon and Tim bumped into some bloke he used to go to school with. He was a tad .. erm... big and losing his hair which I think must have made Tim feel good heehee. He also had his wife with him who was yelling at their kids in that AWFUL way you hear some people do in supermarkets and which I'm completely forbidden to do (not that I would ... honest!) Actually, it is horrendous when you hear people doing that :(
The other thing I wanted to blog is that the website is going to get an overhaul again (AGAIN! *rolls eyes*). This is mostly because of my decision to go into sales with the Montessori stuff (the enhanced Montessori stuff and VERY well I'm doing too!) so that page isn't needed anymore. I may well keep the one page of general educational materials - haven't decided yet. It's entirely possible that this website will, once again, revert to being just a general thing with crafts and whatnot on it. Also, the blog will be less home ed orientated and (even more) geared towards just general day to day banter and thoughts/views on various topics.
Right, enough for now - got to do tea soon, very hungry!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tick tock, tick tock
Got the dentist later on this afternoon so I thought I'd spend the waiting time doing a silly quiz thing I saw on another blog rather than chewing my fingers down to the knuckles. Here goes:
1. Where is your cell phone? On top of the fridge/freezer
2. Where is your significant other? Sat on the living room floor playing The Ocarina of Time (Nintendo)
3. Your hair color? Dark reddy blonde
4. Your mother? Erm... Insane?
6. Your favorite thing? Thing as opposed to person? Hmm.....my books.
7. Your dream last night? Can't remember.
8. Your dream/goal? Near future: Finish my book - sell it!
9. The room you're in. Living room
10. Your hobby? Reading, writing, crafting, dreaming.
11. Your fear? Well, apart from the obvious ones about losing loved ones etc, I guess it would have to be not being loved by someone I loved badly. I think I am though so that's ok *wink*. Also, on a smaller scale, having a spider on me.
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Who knows? Don't want to think that far ahead! Still being here (i.e alive!) would be a good start though.
13. Where were you last night? at home
14. What you're not? I'm not perfect, I'm not rich, I'm not skinny, I'm not tall, I'm not a very good liar, I'm not good at hiding my feelings, I'm not bovered *laughs*
15. One of your wish-list items? Just one?! Pah! Ok, one item ..... a pink laptop - just for me (i.e not shared with hubby or kids!)
16. Where you grew up? Dorset, UK
17. The last thing you did? Type Dorset, UK (duh!) .... ok, ok, before that - eat some chicken pasta salad thing for lunch and get the washing out the machine.
18. What are you wearing? Jeans, white sort of floaty blouse (my favourite actually), white socks
19. Your TV? What? yes, we have one, it's sort of ...er... tv'ish.
20. Your pet? Hemmingway, our cat - very old (but still terribly slinky) black, part Burmese - moody old git.
21. Your computer? I'm not sure, it was an Acer but that died and it got replaced with somink else but still got the Acer case. Probably could look this information up but no idea where to look.
22. Your mood? Nervous (about impending dentistry), a bit hungry (pasta salad clearly wasnt sufficient), bit edgy
23. Missing someone? Not especially ... I suppose. Do think of Mo often.
24. Your car? I don't personally have one coz I cannot (legally) drive. Tim has a dark blue Citroen Xantia with a unpleasant soggy bit in the rear floor and an infuriating, intermittent clutch problem, yet he LIKES the car. UNbelievable.
25. Something you're not wearing? Makeup and my glasses even though I probably should be.
26. Favorite store? Lush .... and Waterstones ..... and "The Big Tesco"
27. Your summer? What's that then? Does this question mean what did I do last summer (get rained on) or what I'm going to do this summer (get rained on most likely) or what I like about summer (days it doesn't rain) or what I hate about summer (too much bloody rain)? Crikey, I'll pass.
28. Love someone? Ooooo! Yes indeed!
29. Crush on someone? God, can it be the same person as in question 28? I can't really answer this can I (*laughs*) EVERYBODY, if they're honest, get's crushes from time to time. In any case, crushes are transitory, they're often based in illusion, or what you think you know about a person. If you did get to know that person, whatever you found so fascinating about them often fades.
30. Your favorite color? Purple, closesly followed by pink
31. When is the last time you laughed? Properly (as opposed to a giggle), last night when Tim and I were fooling around.
32. Last time you cried? Day before yesterday, during a fairly heated row with Tim.
33. Are you a bitch? Yeah, can be.
34. Favorite Past Time? Day dreaming most probably. Oh, and .... oh no, can't go there *wink*
35. Are you a hater or a Lover? Both - I love very much but can hate intensely if I get rubbed up the wrong way sufficiently.
36. Are you genuine or fake? Genuine. What you see is what you get.
37. Any Vices? Chocolate and too much red wine.
38. Pro Plastic or Natural? Natural, unless I had some dreadful accident and need some work to be able to live a reasonably normal life.
42. Dream Job? Writing
Hmmm, odd mix of questions! I won't tag as I don't do that so anyone can do it if they want (or if they're waiting to go to the dentist!)
Right, got to go very soon ..... gulp!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Sob!
The problem with decluttering is that you inevitably discover things you'd forgotten about that suddenly bring back memories.
In this case, a bag of April's cloth nappy wraps and nappy liners that had, somehow, got shoved under her bed right to the back.
She hasn't needed nappies for quite a long time now but it suddenly brought back memories of this diddy little babba who's now a rough-and-tumble 4 year old who'll begin "compulsory education" (in whatever form that will take!) in September.
What can I say? It was really, really hard throwing those nappy things away especially since there will almost certainly be no more little babbas in this house :(
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The curse of the writer
I do believe I may have slumped into writer's block both blog-wise and book-wise. Aaargh curses! Book-wise, it's painful. There I was, happily pounding the keyboard and then ...... nothing. The problem with these sorts of things is that you are never quite sure when the old brain will get into gear again which is worrying. Ah well *shrugs*.
We have been pretty busy over the last week or so - mostly helping James (my brother) sort a few things out and keeping up with the homeschooling. I've also, in the midst of my just.....can't....write phase, have been being a bit ruthless with our household possessions. We decided to replace our dining table with a new one - actually, it WAS ours originally and then James had it and then he didn't need it anymore so we had it back! It does go better in our lounge/diner I must admit - more in keeping with the slightly modern look we have going on than the rustic farmhouse one. Anyway, in sorting out the tables I obviously had to clear a load of stuff out the way and was forced to do a bit of decluttering (it looks SO empty in here now - bliss!). Then I needed an Allen Key to tighten the screws on the new table together (Tim was out doing banking and stuff during all this) - I hunted in the kitchen draw, not there. I hunted in the cupboards, not there. So I had to go look in the garage, at which point I nearly fainted ...... so much rubbish. I knew where the toolbox was but I could not get to it without first moving a tonne of stuff, so I started hauling it out on the drive. Eventually, having exhausted myself and still not found the dratted Allen Key, I texted Tim saying "please come back, I could use some help!!" and about 2 seconds later he pulled in the drive (that's what I call service *laughs*). He came along, put all the boxes and whatnot back in the garage, tightened up the screws with a pair of pliers and sorted out the top of the table which I'd done wrong and knew was wrong but couldn't for the life of me work out what was wrong. That's the thing with me - I'll just stand there staring at the thing like a flummoxed Krypton Factor contestant and Tim's logical brain will work out instantly what the problem is!
Anyway, the upshot of all this is, that we decided that STUFF HAS TO GO. We just have waaaay too many belongings and it's getting ridiculous so we're binning, Ebaying and giving away like crazy. Then I'm giong to redecorate a bit and make some new curtains and cushion covers - I've already run a colour scheme past Tim who said "I'm leaving it up to you" .... to which I replied "but don't you have SOME preference?" - "no", he said "I'm leaving it up to you". Righto, jolly good then.
So when I'm done and we have lime green curtains with hot pink spots, you won't mind then? Of course he would, he'd have a total heap to say about it! *Rolls eyes*.
No, I'm not going for lime green and hot pink *laughs out loud*.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Valentine's Day
Could it actually get much better than this .....
Sweets (and teddy!) from my sweetie
Blue sky and warm sunshine
...and the first crocus of spring bursting open on our lawn
Happy Valentine's Day everyone. Hope it is as super-gorgeous wherever you are! x
Friday, February 13, 2009
Aaaah baby :)
Something happened today which made me realise (more than ever) what a truely amazing, lovely guy my hubby is. Can't give details but I wanted to publicly mention it. He's totally the best.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Writing stopped writing
Sorry, no blog writing for a few days - I've been writing. A book. It's something that I've had simmering away in my mind for a long, long time but never got round to starting because I just couldn't get my head round the opening pages.
Now, suddenly I've got then pen between my fingers - or the keyboard under my fingers rather - and I'm going great guns!
It is an educational/homeschooling book and one for which I think there might be a real niche so I'm hoping it will be successful. I've no idea when it will be finished because I suspect it's going to be pretty lengthy so don't hold your breath *laughs*. All I know is that I need to crack on with it because my mind is in the right space to write at the moment so don't expect too much blog-wise! :)
On a different note, Tim did make an absolutely gorgeous video of a blackbird having a splashy bath in a big puddle in our garden. Very cute - will post over the next day or so.
Sunday, February 08, 2009
A bit of light refreshment
Did a load of cleaning and tidying today - to be honest, the place needed it but also we wanted to get sorted before the man comes tomorrow to do our pipes. Imagine, we're cleaning up so that some bloke can come and make the place filthy again *rolls eyes*. Ridiculous.
Anyway, after that I decided to play Animal Crossing - something I've not done for aaaages. I started a new town back in August last year and then forgot about it so I went to visit today :) Sorry 'bout the slight "wavy" pictures - they were off the telly.
Ok, here's me in my (currently) tiny house - must try and get it enlarged AND buy some furniture!
Then I went off to the museum, weeding my way - the problem with AC is that if you don't go for ages, the town get's overrun with weeds! The rest of the lazy townsfolk don't bother to pull them up! It's lovely by the museum in the snow :)
Next, I popped in to see Bob who was in the igloo:
Finally, bumped into Vladimir who expressed surprise at not having seen me for ages and assumed it was because I was being chased by bailiffs! The cheek.
*Laughs out loud* - all very silly!
Sunday, February 08, 2009
Can't think of a title!
These are just a few more piccies of other things the kids (mainly April) have done over the last few days. I'm enjoying this time with April hugely at the moment - makes me even more inclined not to send her to school but hey-ho, we'll see. Anyway, the pics!
Playing with pattern blocks:
....and Cusinenaire Rods:
.... and more playdough mats!:
April's chalk drawing of a (and I kid you not), "scorpion having a birthday party" - complete with cake and balloons. She was obviously very proud of this one because she insisted I wrote her name at the top and take a photo!:
She also dragged the Europe map out in her room and started matching the pieces up with the paper map:
This is Rosie's stuff this time! She was building a castle type structure on Active Worlds:
Finally, a lovely pic of the two of them quietly reading :)
Ok, other stuff! It's blooming cold here :( Unfortunately, you'd think we'd had our fair share of of house problems recently with the hot water going and then the shower packing up but no. Obviously not. Now the heating is playing up and, at best, we have 2 radiators working in the whole house and at worse the whole thing stops altogether. We have a man coming to do some major work tomorrow (involving, apparently, cutting a load of pipes out and doing some weird sort of "by-pass" surgery with the remaining pipes!). In the meantime we are more than chilly. This morning I was so cold and tensed up I thought I would vomit. Lovely image!
Right off now - lunch time soon and then, seeing as it's Sunday, I'm going to curl up on the sofa with a blanket and hot water bottle - roll on tomorrow! :)
Friday, February 06, 2009
A GOOD home ed day!
We seem to be settling into a good routine with the home ed at the moment. We are (shock, horror) using the National Curriculum but in a very hands-on way with lots of crafts and computer projects thrown in. Rosie seems to be absolutely thriving on it which is something I never thought I'd hear myself say!
Today was just one of those days that needs documenting! We got up, bright and early and settled down to breakfast of warm, homemade honey muffins (divine!).
Whilst doing so, we couldn't help but notice the school-kids in the alley way out back, slumped in their coats, fighting their way through the freezing sleet. Poor things :( Rather a stark contrast to my kids, tucked up safe and warm and dry indoors!
Then we got started on learning - April did some chalking on blackboard, played with play dough mats and built a pretend lizard house with her building blocks. Rosie did maths first - decimals - and we had one of those glorious "ah-ha!" moments where a lightbulb went on in her head and she finally got something that had been perplexing her for ages! English next - prefixes - all seemed a bit basic for her to me, her English skills are amazing, might have to skip on to a Year 7 book I think.
Then we did science, and this was fun. It was about the heart so she did some reading in her study book, worked through some questions and then went here and explored some interactive, 3d virtual models of various hearts (human, sheep, dog etc). Fascinating!
Finally, we did history - this isn't National Curriculum because we prefer to study history chronologically rather than hop about all over the place like a lost-in-space time traveller (as with the NC). So, this year, we're doing the Middle Ages and today we read about the different stages a boy has to go through to become a knight and then Rosie made this diorama (it's actually got 4 different sections although you can only see 2):
By the time we'd done all this, the sleet had turned to full-on snow (we now have loads of it again!) and Tim had got home from work. Rosie had got on to Google Earth so she and Tim spent ages looking at various world landmarks in 3d.
Lunch next - boiled eggs and dippy soldiers and yoghurt (not all on the same plate!) followed by more Google Earthing for Rosie and piecing together the Europe puzzle map for April.
Tim then went out and braved the elephants (snowing really hard!) to get some shopping and when he got back I got baking again - shortbread and cherry cake this time :)
Y'know I just wish EVERY day could be like this but that's life guess *laughs*. Today, everything went perfect - tomorrow will probably be a raving nightmare!
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Posting boxes!
After Rosie had finished her "table time" work this morning (y'know, the usuals - maths, science etc), both kids made post boxes. One of them is going to go in the front hallway to collect any little Valentines that people want to send each other (I get the distinct impression that even Hemmy is up for a few this year *laughs*).
I got the post box print out from Sparklebox (ooo! how I love that site). Then, we got a couple of old cereal boxes, carefully opened out the bottom and side "seams" and refolded them the other way (so the blank side was out). Then, I cut out the front of the post box printout, traced that on to the front of the cereal box and then cut that out as well.
The kids got busy painting their boxes:
The, we stuck the front on and hey presto! Post boxes! Here is one of them (complete with fetching Shredded Wheat inside pattern hee! hee!):
The other thing I got from Sparklebox today was playdough mats for April. We've actually got some already that I printed ages ago but April noticed some new ones on there today and insisted that I printed them! They were on a farm theme - these are absolutely great - print, laminated and supply your kid with dough/plastecine and cutters - keeps them busy for aaages! :) April was happily occupied with this all the time Rosie was doing her table work.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
More pics
Rosie went off to play at Luke's house today and after she'd gone, April wanted to go in the garden with Tim so he took her out and built a snowman (tiny snowman!) with her. Here he is (snowman, not Tim!), he's got a leaf for a mouth *laughs*:
April was feeling a little sad that he would melt and go away so I took a picture of him and turned it into a nice scrapbook page that I can print and put on her bedroom wall:
Here's April, looking a bit chilly!:
...and here's Tim gathering snow with which to pelt my backside when I turned round to take a pic of the snowman! Apparently it was a tempting target! Ahem.
This morning, I went out bright and early to feed the birds as usual and on the crisp, new fallen snow I saw these - I think they might be blackbirds:
They went from by our backdoor, all down the side of the garden and round to the back across the path - I followed them!
Finally, today I got pictures of blue tits! Admittedly, they were rubbish pics but they just move about so fast! I noticed them on the hanging bird feeder I put in the tree so grabbed a few snaps - they were right across the other side of the garden though and even zoomed in, it wasn't fantastic. However, it's the first time I got pics of them so I was very pleased! Check out how blurred they are - eeerrk!
Tim took some gorgeous nightime snow pictures yesterday evening - I think he's going to blog them later so do go have a look if you get the chance :)
Monday, February 02, 2009
Viewing snowflakes
If you have snow where you are, here is a REALLY easy and fascinating thing to do that we just did and it worked perfectly.
If you have a microscope with slides, pop one of the slides in the freezer for about an hour. Then, take it outside and grab a flake of snow (just let it snow on your slide). Quickly, put it under the microscope and look ........... we got the most gorgeous, clear view of a single snowflake. Amazing!
Monday, February 02, 2009
Picture roundup
Hello lovely people :) Feeling a bit more refreshed after the short (very!) break. So, what have we been doing over the last few days? Well, we've .....
Cooked (and ate of course!) cupcakes and scones:
Counted:
Made strange, no-sew ... er caterpillar"y" creatures:
I made a maths mini office for Rosie (not finished):
Enjoyed the blank mini-books:
...and had a bit of this:
Oh, and we didn't forget to feed our feathered friends - Tim took this, very sweet :)
I also went and filled in the question for the latest home ed consultation - I was in two minds because I'm not that great at those sorts of things. I know what I want to put but it never comes out quite right and I get frustrated. Anyway, I did it. I also wrote to our local MP - he's a conservative - is that going to be a help or not I wonder! *laughs*.
The other thing on my mind at the moment is April going to school. I'm really torn over this again for one main reason - basically, I think she'd love school all the time it was part time. However, I think she'd get pretty fed up pretty quick once it was full time because she only can do "focused" stuff for a certain amount of time and then she needs to run about and let off steam. She's also doing REALLY well with her learning at home at the moment - she loves counting and doing her phonics workbook. I'm really bothered - Tim won't get involved, he says it's my decision and, of course, that's probably true as I'm the one that does the actual homeschooling. If I could find, or get together, a decent enough homeschool group then I'd definately keep her at home. I'm actually thinking along the lines of getting together a sort of homeschool nature group - going for nature study walks, taking part in conservation work, going to activities at Moors Valley/Avon Heath, that sort of thing. Anybody from Dorset/Hants might be interested in that?
Finally, sorry, still got the rubbish comment anti-spam code thing going on. If you can't read it, just refresh the page (about 100 times!) and you should get one you can read eventually. MUST do something about it soon!
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