{Plans 2009}

This will be added to and adjusted as time progresses.

Plans 2009

General Ideas
· Increase family cooking and baking sessions.
· Record progress of our Vegetable Garden.
· Increase amount of Arts & Crafts to include various mediums, including clay, paints, fimo, and Salt Dough. Encourage each child to try various crafts to include knitting, sewing, cardmaking, scrapbooking etc.
· Make more use of the library – weekly visits?
· Butterfly Project – Life cycles, caring for living creatures.
· Middle Ages history project.
· History and geography of Dartmoor.
· Science Projects – Weekly Project to include written, illustrated, photographs, and experiments.
· Countries – Fortnightly Project; Cooking, Crafts, History of, Present day life, Geography, Climate, Famous events, Famous People, Wars/Disputes.
· More poems and story writing.
· Family Reading sessions.
· Plan, write, and create puppets for a puppet show which can be filmed on completion.
· Making use of time when walking the dog – Walks by theme, such as Alphabet, Colours, Smells, Animals, Flowers.
· Photography – Daily themes? Alphabet, shapes, expressions, movement, nature, weather.

I also want us to be involved in the groups more, getting to know and spending time with local home-educating families.

Chelsea 2009

As general plus -

· Maths work – textbook and everyday life, build confidence in ability.
· Introduce running a home – Meal planning, bill payments, managing budgets etc.
· Work through Human Anatomy and Physiology book with me.

Joseph 2009

As general plus:

· Handwriting and spelling work – encourage an increase in neatness and concentration.
· Encourage more out loud reading where possible to help with speech.
· Joseph would like to do his own project on the History of Football, to include changes through the ages, famous footballers through history, league tables – history of and how they work, and football disasters.

Tiegan 2009

As general plus -

· How flowers and vegetables grow – Tiegan has developed a keen interest in gardening which I would like to encourage and facilitate. It was at her suggestion that we have planted various vegetables this year, and she has shown great enthusiasm for learning more.
· Introducing Lapbooking – this is something that we have touched upon before, but I think Tiegan is now ready to progress further.
· Volcanoes – At her request, along with Callum.
· Handwriting – concentrating on neatness; letter size, spacing, capital letters.
· Maths – Basics, textbook and everyday. Introduce Timetables.
· Reading – Tiegan is already a (self taught) fluent reader, but I would like to encourage her to read with expression and think of the context the words are written.

Callum 2009
Callum will more than likely join in with whatever he likes the look of when we are doing group work together. In addition to this, I’d also like to facilitate his interests which currently include –
· Volcanoes
· Sharks
· Dinosaurs
· Vegetable Garden

I am planning on introducing Callum to lapbooking as a way of collating what we do.
I’d also like to encourage Callum to try more arts and crafts.

Phew it's hard work

all this planning stuff. I have spent what seems like the entire day at the laptop finding new websites, printing out various worksheets, posters, and snippets of information and ideas, all in preparation of the new "term". I think I was hindered somewhat by having an extremely enthusiastic 6 year old "helping" me. Tiegan was completing the worksheets almost as fast as the printer was printing them! Still, it's so nice to see her happy and working :o)

I have had to put some thought into how to best entertain Callum, as he very much wants to be involved in our schooling now. He is currently fascinated by shapes, so I have printed out some colouring and activity sheets just for him to do (with a little help of course!) I have also printed and laminated some shape flash cards, and some posters for the walls. I'm going to put together a little art and craft box for him as well. Now we are working in the craft room, there is lots of desk space for each of us to work at, so Callum will be able to spread his creativity far and wide ;-) He is also going through a real story obsession at the moment, and is liking nothing better than snuggling up with me (and often one of older siblings) whilst I churn out book after book. Once each one has been read, we talk about the story and what we thought of it, and then he will say "another book pwease" in that adorable way that only little people can. He is also going through the "But why....???" phase, and always has us laughing no matter how many times he says it, he is just too cute to find annoying.

Joseph has spent most of his day out in the garden with his dad today. They have been building a couple of planters (in the shape of a wheelbarrow and wishing well), and then they gave the garage a thoroughly good clean and tidy up. I do like it when they have "boys time" together, as Joe seems to get such a lot from it. I leave them to it as much as possible, just interrupting to provide tea and biscuits which they don't seem to mind.

I'm heading off in a minute to collate all the sheets I've printed off into the various folders. I think I'll do it in front of the TV with a cuppa :o)

All smiles here...

We have had a lovely couple of days, so I think I will blog them. Hopefully by the end of the year I will have a positive sounding blog where the good stuff outweighs the the bad.

Yesterday we watched the BBC programme called Pompeii - The Last Day. We had watched it first time around, but it was on BBC4 recently and so was showing on Virgin Catch up TV. The kids showed a greater interest in it this time, and were able to remember snippets from the Dr Who show which made more sense to them after delving into the history. Afterwards we took the dog out for a walk to the local fields and countryside. Kira is fantastic off lead, and I don't have to worry about her once we are away from roads. I sat and threw the ball for her, whilst the kids practised for their "Olympics". They did long jump, sprinting, and javelin yesterday *smile*

When we got home again we had a marathon read-aloud session, which was great, and we all commented at how much we had missed the daily read-alouds. When I was feeling ill, the last thing I wanted to do was to read out loud, in fact, when I tried I found it almost impossible as my throat was so sore and my eyes seemed to strain. Nice to be able to put that behind us now and start our reading routine again.

Today has been fun, with lots of garden playing time. The weather has been so beautiful today. I took all of our workbook resources outside and sat on a rug sorting through them. I made a note of which suited which child, and got rid of those that were filled up or no longer suitable for our working style. The children kept coming over and checking on my progress, and with dh and my dad working on the car, and the dog running around like a loon begging people to throw her ball for her, it made the time quite fun and not at all like the usual humdrum task :o)

Once that was done, I surprised the children by suddenly jumping up on the trampoline, it was such fun! The first (and consequently only) time I went on our trampoline, I felt sick. A sea-sickness type feeling, which was horrid. This time I felt absolutely fine though, and I realised what a fab stress release it would be! At one point there were 5 of us on the trampoline and I was so worried that someone would fall off! Fortunately we were all very sensible though, taking care that the younger ones were away from the edge and we all just bounced lightly. We still had a good laugh.

After lunch we sat on the trampoline, basking in the sunshine, and read 2 chapters of Little Women. Being the classic version, it does have rather long and sometimes complicated words in the text, but Chelsea and Joseph both handled them brilliantly. I liked the fact that they both asked for an explanation if they didn't understand a certain word. Joseph sometimes has the habit of just skimming over things and wanting to get his reading over as quickly as possible, pretending he understands everything.

More trampoline jumping after that, and then I left the kids to it as I set about sorting through some of our other resources and trying to make room for everything. I currently have a craft room, which I adore, but want to somehow incorporate some of the school things into it as well. At the moment most of our school stuff is in the room downstairs which is a fab space, but I do tend to think we don't use it to it's full potential as you can't access it from the house. Often we use the dining room to work in. Our main two bookcases are stored in the shed and we just go out and fetch in what we need. It works well for us and it saves us being surrounded by hundreds (I'm not exaggerating) of books that get very little use, and gives us extra storage space inside the house. We use the library such a lot, so many of our books are redundant really, I just can't bear to let them go as I know they will be of use *someday*. After my re-arranging today, I now have many of the school resources in my "craft room" along with a couple of desks and a table, perfect for working in :o)

Tonight I am hoping for a good sit down and plan type session, with lots of typing, printing, and sorting out to do. I actually enjoy it once I am in full swing, but the thought of getting started fills me with dread and I know I would prefer to just sit and relax and watch the TV! It WILL be done tonight though, of that I am certain (unless the children conspire together and decide otherwise!) I know it will all be done by the time we are starting the new term (the schools are on holiday down here at the moment, and I am not going to start trying to get my lot into their full school-work routine until the girl from nextdoor stops calling for them to play! ;-) )

Chelsea is staying over at my parents house tonight, so I'm not expecting her back until Friday. We are having to make some sad decisions at the moment, concerning Scouts and what Chelsea is experiencing there, but she has made me very proud with the way she is dealing with things.

Joseph is playing on his football game on the Playstation, and Tiegan is doing the Mario Olympics with Callum on the Wii. I'm cooking dinner (roast chicken tonight that smells yum!) whilst I'm blog surfing and forum reading, so I apologise for any errors in this posting but I'm multi-tasking *grin*

Time is Racing

There's not long to go before the big day, and I feel as if time is just racing by. I'm enjoying it though, and I am trying to ensure that we take time out to soak up the festive spirit so our Christmas isn't lost in a wealth of birthday celebrations.

So what has been going on in our little corner of the world?

Well for starters, there has been great excitement in Tiegan's corner, with the news that she can finally begin Rainbows in January.

We put her name down on the waiting list for the local group when Chelsea first started Guides, and we have had regular "When am I going to Rainbows?" pleads ever since. A couple of days ago, the long awaited letter dropped through our door, and the pleading ended but the daily countdown began :o) Tiegan is a little sweetheart, with a gorgeous smile and an infectious giggle. Her latest thing to amuse is a wonderful Catherine Tate impression, "Does this face look bovered?" Along with Joseph, she does a brilliant little sketch that has me in stitches :o)

Joseph is a very happy bunny at the moment, as he finished the term at Cub-Scouts with the highest number of inspection points.




This meant he came home this week with a medal around his neck, a much looked at and admired medal at that. He was also bursting with the news that he is going to be a Seconder when he returns in January. I am proud of his efforts, and he has overcome much to get to where he is now. I have noticed a real change in him this year, he has grown up immensely and now settles happily and confidently into whatever is asked of him.

Chelsea is working hard with her schoolwork, working alone through a Biology textbook, and still enjoying writing her poems. She has gained my real love of animals, and that makes our relationship all the more precious.





I feel as though we are firm friends, not just mother and daughter, and I love our cuddles and chats on the sofa when the others are in bed. She is a wonderful helper, always willing to help out with dinner, or check and feed the animals, and I fully appreciate all that she does for our family.

Callum is still the little darling as ever.





He brightens up the darkest day, and never ceases to make me smile with his antics. He adores all things Thomas the Tank, and has an obsession with In the Night Garden. His speech is coming along wonderfully, and I never tire of listening to him chattering away to all who will listen, with eager expectation of gaining a response. He has a definite sense of what he wants and doesn't want, and makes sure that everyone is aware of such. He is caring, affectionate, generous (to a point that I have never seen in a child before. The dog often gets the largest portion of his sweets...), and extremely loveable.

Kira hasn't been herself over the past week or so, and as such has been resting. Aha, anyone that has ever tried to rest a Springer Spaniel will know what amusement it can bring. Now she is back to full health again, we have been building up her exercise level gradually, and today we felt she was ready to start our usual long-walk routine.

We went to the local woods and had the most wonderful time. It was great having all the family together, and the dog looking so happy again. Here are a few pictures (too many, but I was playing with my camera).

I have been thinking about where we are at, schoolwork wise, and what I want to be doing next year. I've decided to relax a little and not be so hard on myself making the usual plans and lists that I rarely manage to stick to, and then inevitably get angry at my own failure.

I've decided that Monday, Saturday, and Sundays (dh's at home days) will be our Family Days. I have planned out some things I want to do on such days, some for fun, some with a more educational aspect, and I think the relaxed approach will be more do able.

On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, we will be more "work" orientated, with a definite aim to do Maths, Reading, and Project work. Our projects tend to be cross-curricular, so there is no need for me to be anymore specific than that. We will see how things progress, and if I feel we are lacking in any area, we can adjust as necessary.