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.