Remembrance day...

Today is armistice day. Yesterday my daughter went up to the cenotaph in our village with her brownie unit. Its always a good turn out in our village. A tradition that i hope never dies out.
She decided to write a note to the soldiers, which is what your can see on our piano:
" we remember all the soldiers that fight in the war for our country and so please be happy for what we've got. On the 11th of the 11th please stop what you are doing for just two minutes and remember all the soldiers. Please think about them. "

I think today has made a real impact on our eldest.
The little ones tried hard to keep quiet for two minutes. They knew it was for soldiers past and present. We've decorated some paper plates to look like poppies.
They're on our newly acquired piano which none of us can play (yet) but we already love. I managed to play the last post with the bare minimum of notes.

We will remember them....in our own way.

Busy week...

Just wanted to tell you all about our week.

No photos.
No links.
Just us.

So, on Monday we got together with our friends and went out for the day. Trentham Gardens. Its become a regular hangout for us as its so close. Less than 10 minutes in the car and its absolute heaven. In the week its even more heaveny as its not so crowded.
Today was full of the more mature crowd soaking up the sun. It really was a lovely dry day (although I insisted on the kids wearing waterproofs, just in case). We started at the playground as usual, picking at sandwiches and fruit that we'd taken for lunch. Instead of taking a walk around the lake or heading to the minature train we went for a walk amongst the gardens. I'm so glad we did. The kids really enjoyed letting off some steam. They ran around, just out of sight sometimes, and we walked behind listening to their games. Our smallest child pointed excitedly at the ground. He'd found a beetle. A huge beetle! Later on via a google search we found out it was a Dor beetle. It was a great find.

Just to say we'd had a day like this would have been enough for me but there's more...

Then, on Tuesday, my littlies went to Grandma and Grandads for the day. I had my big girl for the day and she was desperate to get sketching. I'd puled up some blogs from pinterest the night before so I had an idea what sketching which children could be like. We collected her friend and we all set off to the loal market town of Stone. It was market day and so there was lots to draw. The began sketching some buildings from a bench. Sometimes they were happy with the results, sometimes my girl got frustrated. Many blogs had said she was at the age where kids strive for perfection in a drawing. They weren't wrong! I did my best to encourage and took my sketch book along too. Its a long lost skill of mine. I've been to art college and used to love life drawing. I'm a little rusty now but it was great to pick it up again. Learning together is fun whatever age you are I guess!
A trip to the canalside finishe our day in Stone. We all went home with a watercolour sketch of barges and bridges.
At home we found time to squeeze in a quick go on the Monopoly board before going to pick the littlies up from their fun time at the Grandparents.

Day two and everything was going well. There's more...

Our co-op group on a Wednesday. Its always great fun. We were supposed to be out on an Autumn foraging hunt but the weather was awful. We stayed indoors instead. Following our Autumn theme we made some cold and flu remedy from Elderberries. It came from a book I've had on a shelf here for a while. We'd picked some elderberries on the way and called at a local supermarket for our extra ingredients, sugar, ginger and lemons.
It was delish! We made enough to be split between the three families. Its currently in ice cube bags in our freezer waiting for our colds to start. I'm sure it won't be too long *sniff*
We also managed another recipe from a beauty book containing home made recipes. Beetroot lip tint. Made from warming beetroot and glycerine in a double boiler. Looks fab and its the kind of cosmetics I don't mind my big girl playing around with. Subtle. Something that most kids have no concept of with make-up.

Here's our Thursday...

Bit boring. I managed to get on top of the cleaning. While I did, the kids played on minecraft, built lego, read books, did lots more sketching, made lunch and helped with the bed changes that needed doing. Very productive for a 'down day'.

Friday. Yesterday. Another great day out with friends...

We met up with some other home educating friends and went for an afternoon at Gladstone Pottery Museum. We have an annual pass and so decided it would be good to finish the week off with another day out. We took a packed lunch and muched as we walked around so we wouldn't have to sit down anywhere for too long.
We did the museums trail which we haven't done before. It involved looking out for letters hidden around the museum. It kept them busy and made them see different parts of the museum that they hadn't taken notice of before.
Moving into the tile exhibition there, we found some wax crayons and paper on the school table. This got us doing some rubbings of the floor tiles that are set into the floor. Excited gasps could be heard each time they found a good pattern. Kept them good for ages!
The 'Flushed with pride' exhibition is still on there too. A few room stuffed full of things to do with toilets. You may think that sounds daft, and it probably is, but its part of our local history. Part of the potteries manufacturing industry was the production of sanitary ware for bathroom all over the world. Within this exhibition is a reading corner. I was blown away by the amount of books on one subject....poo! There were loads of them. We sat for half an hour just reading toilet humour. Great for our littlest as she's almost over her potty learning now. Although it does make you want to go for a wee!!
Home again for us. Not for my eldest. She had a teatime date with a friend from her previous school. They see each other at Brownies each week and are constantly emailing each other. I dropped her off and took the littlies home in time for Daddy to get home from work.

Wow! What a week. I'm almost sad its over. I need to keep this enthusiasm going for next week. Its been awesome. Everyone having a different story to tell Daddy over the dinner table and a much more relaxed Mummy. I've hardly raised my voice this week.
Days like this make me glad we took the choice to home educate. Not everyone gets the opportunity to spend time with their kids all week in lovely locations like we do. I'm honoured and also very proud that my children are going up into well behaved kids that I'm happy to take anywhere.

Fun with fungi...

Yesterday was a really rainy day. The kids didn't really fancy going out. I persuaded them to put their waterproofs on whilst I sorted out the packed lunches. Jam or ham, as always!

We got in the car and put the windscreen wipers on all the way to Barlaston downs banks. We were meeting our home ed friends there. I'd discussed a few 'autumn projects' with one of the mums just the day before. We were fired up for loads of activities. The kids weren't. One of the little guys wouldn't get out of the car. We tried to stay chirpy though and talked him into just half an hour, "see how it goes. If you want to come back to the car that's fine. Just give it a try ok?". It was still raining.

We started by walking a route some of us hadn't been before. The kids loved it amongst the woods. There had been some den making going on so they busied themselves amongst all the shelters, occasionally grabbing a jam or ham.

We took quite a walk upto the millenium point. A monument erected in the year 2000. On a clear day you can see all the way to Wales. Not today.

The millenium monument

The kids had begun looking for mushrooms back in the woods. On this side of the hill we found our best one yet. A beautiful fly argaric. I decided it was time to start taking photos of the ones we found so we could do some identification later on once we were home.

Here are some of the ones we found. I'm on the lookout for a field identification guide so we can hunt some more and maybe even eat some.

The kids managed to pick up all kinds of things in their little bags. Blackberries were amongst the common finds. Acorns, pinecones, leaves of all shapes and sizes and some puffball mushrooms that we could cook up at home.

We couldn't resist a paddle in the stream before heading back to the car. We were already wet. Wellies were on but soon they were overflowing with cold stream water. Wet socks ensued and so it was time to go.

Getting back to the car we talked about the things we found and looked them up in a couple of books we had, as well as autumn sheets I'd printed off from www.naturedetectives.org.uk which is a great site with lots of free seasonal printables for outdoor play.

The pictures say a lot. The weather didn't put us off. We had a great day.

Camp

Throughout the summer we get together with a few friends and visit some VW shows.

These shows happen up and down the country for veedub enthusiasts like us. They are relatively cheap to camp at and sometimes you'll get a show with activities put on for the kids. We didn't need anything at this show though a there was so much sun!! The kids played with water pistols and ran around screaming for a few hours instead. Great fun was had by everyone :)

Another camp we went to recently was brilliant.

It was organised by a group of mums on Facebook. We call it our tribe.

We are a well mixed up bunch. Some of us home educate, some of us are more conventional! Our kids are parented in roughly the same way though so we have lots of common ground.

If we were to put ourselves ina box it would be the more gentle parenting approach. Although I have to admit that sometimes I shout at my kids too, but I'm working on it ;)

The weekend hadn't given out great weather but we got our waterproofs and wellies ready for a couple of days and went in the camper van. We had lots of activities lined up for the grown ups as well as the children.

I run a weekly meditation group in my village and so an evening meditation was definitely on the cards. We learnt many campfire songs too, sitting around a campfire children and adults alike. They were a leaving present from a very good friend who is off on an adventure with her little boy and husband. I shall miss her greatly but the gift of song that she left me with shall never be forgotten. During the day we had a barefoot foot walk for us all. Wet sponges, some left over cooked pasta, eggshells, cat litter (clean!!), sand, a rubber mat, sawdust, straw and a soft rug. It was a real hit and the kids kept going back to it all day. The picture below shows just a little bit of it. I'm thinking that next years barefoot walk will be even more exciting, everyone can bring a different bit along.

The great outdoors.



Ahhh....the great outdoors. We love it!! Don't stay inside on a dry day. Get outside, play and discover together. Try a scavenger hunt or a play in a stream. Float sticks and sink pebbles. Laugh, lots. We do!

Why shouldn't she play in the mud?



 

Its important for all of us to get together outside. Nothing beats a picnic with friends on a nice day.

Generally the  mums sit round and chat/knit/eat/drink tea. The kids are let loose and fend for themselves.

There are no 'rules', no 'Stay out of the water!! Keep on the path!' etc...

Our kids are responsible for themselves and get along really well. I sometimes liken it to a mama bear

watching her bear cubs. They might well have a little scuffle or fall down, but if you leave them...guess what?

They sort it out themselves. All natural behaviour that kids display in groups.

I'm sounding a lot like David Attenborough!



Water play is a huge part of our outdoor days.

Whether its raining or not, we get on our waterproofs and go for a paddle.

We got home after this particular trip and read

'We're going on a bear hunt' for our bedtime story.

More snow fun...

Over the past couple of days we've had a really unusual cold spell, bringing with it buckets and buckets of snow. The kids of course have been having a whale of a time. Daddy had a snow day as the car couldn't drive up our snowy street. Family time at a moments notice!
When we were schooling the morning would have been fretful. Listening to local radio and checking weather reports, so we could see if our school was open. There has even been a time I've battled through the snow to get to school only to be turned away. Now the only stress we have is getting enough layers on in the shortest possible time!
The kids have made a huge igloo with daddy today, well the first six inches maybe. He finished the rest whilst hot chocolate was served and gloves were drying on radiators. It looks pretty fine now though.
Engineering lesson I reckon!

 

The Wolseley centre

Outdoors is so much fun!
Our local home education group meets monthly at another local (ish to us) beauty spot. We went for the first time a few weeks ago. It was really cold, but with our wet weather gear on we enjoyed the winter sunshine.
There's so much to do at Wolseley. As soon asthe children got out of the car they ran in all directions to discover what there was to do.
There's a fab play area with a simple basket swing which they played on with all their new found friends.
There's so much  to discover there. Hidden away were various styles of gardens, a lake as well as an informative visitor centre. Interactive displays teach about the animals living in and around Wolseley as well as their diverse habitats.
There are compost heaps set up in one area of the garden with a bug station to investigate.

Exploring the stream.

Having a packed lunch in the back of the car in the wintery sunshine.

James Dyson Foundation...

I didn't get round to telling you all about our Dyson engineering box that we got back in January. I just came across some photos on my tablet and thought it'd be great to share some information about it with you.
Dyson are very well known in the UK for being very popular manufacturers of household vacuums. I found out via their website that they offer a free service to home schoolers as well as schools. If you visit www.jamesdysonfoundation.com/education you can book yourself an engineering pack. There is quite a lengthy waiting list but I personally think it was worth waiting for.
The foundation sent a huge box to our home address by courier, on loan for two weeks, at no cost whatsoever. It contained a full size vacuum cleaner, 7 turbine floor head tools (like the ones pictured), screwdrivers and a teachers pack. It had  everything we needed to get the kids hands on with technology and engineering.
They really enjoyed getting busy with the screwdrivers and seeing how everything fitted together.
It came with a teachers pack too which was brilliant. Full instructions on how we should disassemble and reassemble all the bits provided in the box. There was also a few decent sized posters to keep too. All in all a great internet find.

Getting to grips with the vacuum floor heads.

Screwdrivers at the ready!

Our home ed friends...

We meet regularly wth a small group of friends. There are a few toddlers and three older kids. They mix together really well, there are very few fallings out and its great to see the interactions of the mixed age groups.
The small group meets once a fortnight and we take it in turns to host at our houses. It keeps the costs down as we don't have to pay for the hire of a hall and it means that we can get involved with all kinds of activities. So far we've done science experiments, bread making and jewellery making. The wax day that we had (mentioned in another blog post) was a huge success for parents and children alike. Not something we could imagine a class full of children getting the opportunity to take part in as its needs careful supervision. Thats the beauty of our small group.

The way we all work together also means that if one of us needs childcare we can get 'tribal' and help each other out. It really is something special when we get together in unexpected circumstances to help each other. It also shows the children what being a true friend really means. A lesson rarely taught in mainstream education.
One of our mums was taken really ill not so long ago. It meant that another mum needed to go into hospital with her, leaving their four children needing supervising. We stepped in and before I knew it we had a house full of nine children. It was a spontaneous home ed meet-up. The kids loved it! Instead of anything structured, they got to play on minecraft, mess about in bedrooms and watch TV. No arguements. I'm pretty sure it was because the kids knew how serious the situation was but I also like to think we have a great set of kids who get on whatever the situation finds them in. It's another example of how kids who socialise outside of school can mix with people of all ages very happily. None of the small children gets left out and the bigger ones watch over the small ones. There's nothing nicer than seeing a bigger one reassuring a smaller child who's upset, without having to be prompted to 'Give her a cuddle.'
Brilliant.

Here's most of the gang watching 'The Simpsons' after tea one night.
A couple of us parents were looking after the children whilst the mums took another parent to hospital.

Whilst everyones at school...

This has to be the best thing about home education. The freedom it gives us to enjoy anywhere at anytime, without the crowds.
Even just taking a walk at a local National Trust area is different. All the people are gone. Yes, there's the odd dog walker that we come across, but even they have time to stop and chat. No one seems to rush half as much as at the weekend.
We know from experience that weekends tend to be crammed full of trips out, extra classes of swimming and visiting family. Now we don't have to rush around, we have loads more time to do all the things we like. Finding a car parking space is easy. Getting a seat in a cafe is easy. Hardly any queues for anything, and oh how us Brits like to queue!
Today we managed a trip to a local beauty spot that is literally 10 minutes drive away in our camper van. We parked up on an empty car park, popped our roof and got out some sandwiches and poured soup into a saucepan to warm on our stove. After having a lovely lunch we went on an adventure.
I spent many an hour playing on the stepping stones at the Downs Banks as a child. Climbing trees was a special treat so when our big girl gets up in the branches I'm almost taken back twenty years.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/downs-banks/
Lovely views, a great picnic area and lots of new memories.

Gladstone museum

Rather than travelling for ages, we've been checking out our local tourist attractions. Those that are on your doorstep are often dismissed or forgotten. Here in Stoke we are surrounded by old pot banks and the local history here is amazing. The part the Potteries industry play in lives gone by are really interesting and I will never tire of the information out there. Any excuse to involve my kids I will take gladly!
These museums are far from boring. They often have fascinating interactive exhibitions going on and just because they're local to us doesn't make them any less desirable as a toursit attraction. Going midweek when they're quiet is great too. We practically had the whole place to ourselves for the whole afternoon.

Our big girl got so much from this field trip. I was getting worried that she wasn't getting 'interested' in anything of late. Even whilst we were at the museum I was sure that none of it was going in. She was intent on rushing her way through all the markers on the map and not reading any of the interesting signs that were hung everywhere. I feel foolish now as I even questioned her enthusiam whilst we were slurping tea in the nice cafe (mummy fail!)
Once we got home and began talking about our day she showed me just how much had sunk in. She talked with gusto about the various jobs that were had around the factory in the early 1900's and the way that children were put to work there. She told her dad all about the sagger makers and the saggar makers bottom knockers who worked really hard at very long labourious shifts. I was pleased to see her getting excited about it all around our chalkboard table that evening whilst we ate dinner.

Note to self:
I should have more confidence in our home schooling journey. It really is working.

Inside the bottle kiln with a worker loading saggars ready for firing.

There was an unusual exhibition happening while we were there too. Like an added bonus!

The 'Flushed with pride' show was all about toilets. Yes, toilets! Nothing too strange there?!

Toilets have been manufactured locally for decades. The potteries industry makes porcelain bowls of all sorts and up until quite recently has been an export of ours.

This interactive exhibition was really exciting. We were greeted with a foul stench as we made our way through history. Talking about the uncleanliness in our streets at the beginning, how sanitation changed when sewage pipes were put into major cities and towns, right through to the most modern toilets and even how astronauts pee in space!!

Well worth a visit to hear the kids giggling as they sit on all kinds of toilets through the ages.

Penny taking a 'seat'!

Google hangout...

Have you ever had burning questions about where to start with home education?
Afraid to take the leap?
Partner not on board?
Worried about your kids socialising?
My good friend at www.katiespencerwhite.com organised a google hangout tonight. It was streamed live to YouTube and I was honoured to be amongst parents just like you and me. It's the first time I've done anything like this and it was great fun. There will be lots more hangouts scheduled in the future so be sure to keep checking back, as I'll be adding them as soon as I know they're happening.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzhe3WiY99A

Baking soda fun

We've been indoors today. The snow was great to play in but there's only so many wet gloves and soggy socks you can take in one day. So, we got out some science cards that our big girl had for Christmas. There were so many good ideas in there that we struggled to decide which one to choose. As it was so wintery outside we finally decided that it might be a good idea to make some crystals, as they looked the most like snow and that seemed to be the order of the day.

This experiment was two glasses filled with hot water. We dissolved about 6 teaspoons of bicarb into this water until no more would dissolve. A short length of wool with paperclips at each end was placed with each end in the glass, hanging over a small plate. Left somewhere warm were it wouldn't be disturbed it grew lots even over the first couple of days. As the water evaporated the crystals of bircarb were left. Some got really large and joined up with the crystals left on the plate. They enjoyed coming down to the kitchen each day and seeing if theyd grown overnight. Very clever experiment done with minimal kitchen ingredients and a small area of kitchen worktop. Well worth it.

 

Above: The start of the experiment.

Below: The crystals after a week. 

Once they had discovered the bircarbonate of soda in the cupboard there was more excitment. There are so many science experiments for children that contain bicarb. I remembered one I'd seen on pinterest so we gave that a go too. Little man really enjoyed squirting his pipette full of coloured vinegar onto the tray of bicarb. He got really excited as it started fizzing and bubbling. They made loads of patterns and mixed the colours up until it was a fizzy mess. Brilliant.

The white stuff

We had loads of snow. Loads. Like I haven't seen for years. Even hubby (who goes to work come hell or high water) had a snow day as he couldn't drive off our small estate and the even some of the main roads surrounding our viillage were almost impassable. The local kids were off school too. Our kids couldn't wait to get out in it. I was awoken with screaming once they'd peeped through the curtains.

Well who doesn't like the snow?

I'm allowed to say 'Me' right? I Really don't like it. Never really liked it if I'm honest. Wet gloves and sore cold feet are not my thing now I'm older. I stay firmly behind the glass waiting for the cries of, "Mum...Can I have some more gloves?" They ran out of them in the end and the littlest ended up with socks on instead. Mummy fail! Must get more gloves. Four pairs each is still not enough.

 

Me being inside the house provided more entertainment though. Throwing snowballs at the front window was really really funny apparently.  Me jumping everytime they got a hit was bordering on hysterical for our little man.

 

On a serious note...

Playing together is a fundamental part of our home edding life. It may seem a lot like we're skiving and doing nothing. They're just learning through play. I tried googling 'Learning through play' to illustrate my point, but there's nothing I can really put my finger on. They're just being kids and enjoying themselves. Thats not so bad is it?

Playing in snow has its advantages. It has great build qualities and you can really go to town with your imagination. They didn't make your usual snowman. We had a snow bunny and a snowy owl in our garden.

Happy snowy days :)

Small things

Hubby had a great idea. He thought a mini microscope would inspire our little ones to explore small things.

Well it has, but I have limited photos! I attached the microscope to the lens on my phone camera just so you could get some idea of what they've been looking at. Not great photos but we've been trying really hard. They've been checking out snowflakes and trying hard to do it before they melt! Coins are a favourite thing to look at. Easily accessible and fascinating! Some being more worn than others was endless fun...for them ;)

 

Here's a (very poor) shot of the bicarb crystals that she made the week before. Pretty nice for a £4 microscope.

A lot of snot

So today we made snot.

Not a sentence I get to say on a regular basis!

We met up with some friends and got the kids doing a 'making snot' experiment. Now kids love an experiment right? Hell yes! ....so when its combined with snot it gets even better.

Here in the UK it can get a bit tricky to find borax but you can order it online. There are loads of experiments to do using it so it won't go to waste. You'll use a really small amount for this activity so a small box is a good idea.

They played at the kitchen table for quite a while noticing how the gloop was changing consistency the more it was played with. The smaller ones enjoyed mixing glitter into it and this showed how coughs and colds spread. We talked about the glitter being like the germs and spreading around if you don't keep handwashing, and even handwashing isn't that effective as the glitter was all over the place. Even by the time we got home I still had glittery snot on my trousers and a small amount of glitter on my phone. Amazing how it gets around. No wonder flu is so prevelant during winter. 

Here are some extra supplies we needed to make bacteria and viruses. We learnt how viruses work and how snot is one of our first defenses in the fight against the nasties!

Wedgwood field trip



We are very lucky to live about a ten minute walk from the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston. I've visited there throughout my childhood. My mum used to work in the refreshment area so I have happy memories of rushing there to see her after school and sneaking a look around the demonstration area. The trade shows that were held there every year used to really inspire me. I remember seeing a pattern there and knowing that was the dinner set I wanted when I got my own house. Of course tastes change and after I moved in I didn't really like the set as much as I thought I did all those years before....after my mum had collected it for many years *blush* sorry mum!

So on our day together we weren't sure where to go. Many of the local museums have exhibitions on, but none of them were exciting enough for my big girl. When I mentioned this on my facebook page I had loads of replies, one of which was my friend Emma. She works in the education department in the Wedgwood museum and was thrilled that we were to visit them the next day. She arranged for us to be met at the main desk and had sorted out a trail for us to do around the museum. We felt like royalty! It was a Tuesday too which meant we had pretty much the whole place to ourselves.

The first thing we did was get ourselves comfy in the front row of the cinema. There was only us there so we could freely chat over the film. It was all about Josiah Wedgwood and how he set up his famous factory. Right from his very beginnings until they aquired the site at Barlaston. It also talked about local history and what part the local mills and canals played in his grand scheme. It was really interesting and although a lot of it came flooding back to me after a while, my big girl was seeing it through fresh eyes and that was great :)

After that was a spot of lunch and cake....

Then we went into the museum. We spent a good couple of hours going around and looking at the exhibition. There were some really old pieces from the 1800's which were amazing to see. Its something special that they can be kept together and put on display. I know that funding has been an issue for the museum in the past so I hope they get to hold onto these important pieces of history for a few years yet. We did the trail, which asked lots of questions about Josiahs family and the history of the factory. There were family portraits to look at and all kind of names to find out. Some were a little tricky but we did our best. There was even a chance to have a digital portrait done in the style of a cameo. You can download these online but I'm having a few issues accessing them. I'll try and edit this once its sorted.



Then we went into the demonstration area. She'd been itching to have a go at throwing a pot since we arrived there. This was her big chance and she did really well. The look of concentration on her face says it all! The potter helped her to get the clay centred first. Then he showed how you manipulate the clay into a cylindrical shape before pinching the top into a vase shape. Once its been fired it'll be put in the post. We should recieve it in a couple of weeks where it will take pride of place in our living room.

Another great 'day off' with my biggest girl. Great fun at a top museum (Oh and free entry for home edders *shhh*!)