So what do we do all day?!

We've been officially home schooling for almost two months now. I have been overwhelmed by the support that friends and family have given us; from offers to show the girls different learning experiences to sharing knowledge and welcoming us into the HE fold.

Adults are often keen to know what we get up to and how the children will ever learn anything if they are not at school, although often they won't ask out of embarrassment. School children are just as curious to know what we get up to and it's refreshing to be asked out-right what it is we have been doing. A few days ago I found it wonderful to be asked by a neighbour's  10 year old daughter a barrage of intelligent questions about home schooling whilst we were in the park, and I thought I'd share some of the answers with you all:

1) Do they have to do tests?

No. Only if they want to or if I want to see if they have learnt anything.

2) Do they have to follow the National Curriculum?

No. The National Curriculum only applies to children in school. It is up to to us to decide what a "suitable education" is, as long as it is relevant to the children's age and to modern day life, the world is our oyster!

3) Do you have to be a qualified teacher?

No. You simply need the desire to help your child to learn. What is required is time, commitment and resourcefulness.

4) How do you know what level they are at?

We find a wealth of information on the internet and can easily level the children with resources such as online tutoring programmes, numeracy and literacy tests, work books etc.

5) Will the children ever go back to school?

Maybe. We have committed for this year and we will take each year as it comes. Time will tell!


So, with these questions out of the way, what have we been up to?!

Oh my goodness we have been busy!

We have learnt how to make notebook gifts with Willowlane Designs, watching the lunar eclipse (at 3am!), visiting Cornwall, learning about jelly fish, visiting the opera, finding out about the Stuarts, learning about business, climbing walls, cycling, walking, pond dipping, sailing, visiting castles, building, questioning, singing in our community choir (Nidus Choir)....

Did I mention we've been busy?!

We've been reading, writing, baking, visiting our allotment, digging, harvesting, cooking, laughing, praying, playing, watching, learning, quizzing, investigating, shouting, whispering, making new friends, keeping old friends, celebrating birthdays, Harvest Festival, trying yoga, observing marine wildlife, learning about skeletons, Greek mythology, playing piano, coding, hiking, dancing, sewing, picnicing ... not to mention learning some Maths, English, Geography, History, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Music and I.T along the way!

So we seem to be finding our feet! The DIY is coming to an end for the time being (until the next moment of madness ha ha) and Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas are looming. The weather is changing, the jumpers are out and (occasionally) the heating is on. Am I really mean that I have a hot water bottle and the children don't? Surely they have a better circulatory system than little old me... and they do have blankets on their beds? I do feel a little guilty though.

:-) Georgie :-)

How to make a rocket with the kids - easy and fun!

Too exciting to stand still!

Hellooo my lovelies! It's been a while I know, but the summer holidays is in full swing and we have all been busy learning, socializing and playing. Last week was manic as the weather (for once) has been good here in sunny Wales and needless to say we just HAD to make the most of it - you never know when the sun will return here - it could be in another 10 months after all!

One of the highlights of the week has been a fab online live webinar by Aurora Lipper on Rocketry and Spaceflight. It was just brilliant seeing the girls so excited about science (mind you, who doesn't have a little thrill when making a rocket; if you don't, there's clearly something wrong with you ha ha).

Gripping stuff, rocketry :-)

Right so, here is what you will need to have some fun making your own rocket:

Materials

1 x goggles or sunglasses
1 x box of alka-seltza (or generic brand)
1 x bottle of water
1 x empty camera film cassette with lid (NOT the black ones, I'll explain later)
Optional - a toy car, masking tape

Method

First go outside - this won't be pretty on your computer or laptop!

1) Put your goggles on.
2) Pour a bit of water into the film canister.
3) Add the alka-seltza tablet to the container and quickly snap the lid on tightly.
4) Turn the pot upside down and stand back!

5) If you are quick enough you can get 2 or 3 goes out of each tablet.
6) Try taping the canister to a matchbox car and see what happens.
7) Or, tape 3 canisters together to make a rocket like the Delta IV Heavy Rocket!

The opportunities are endless...... I hope you have some fun, I know we definitely did. Of course, we got the wrong kind of canister initially, which caused a bit of an anti-climax as the only thing that happened was a slight hiss from the pot. Luckily for us darling hubby was around to come up with a plan so we ended up using a tin whistle wrapper/pot/thingy which worked just as well. In the webinar the girls were encouraged to find out if adding different amounts of water would change how high the rocket went which you could try too...

If you are interested in Aurora's science curriculum you can buy it at www.superchargedscience.com.

Let me know how you get on!

Georgie xx

Home Schooling - The Journey Begins

Okey dokey, so over the last few days I have been finding it difficult to decide what to write about. The trouble is I have lots of ideas which I think to myself  "I'll blog about that" and then promptly forget later on. There is however, one topic that is on my mind which I have not been brave enough to blog about. Until now....

Darling hubby and I have been researching Home Education.

It's been a huge learning curve for us and as it turns out, there is a growing trend of people in the UK preferring to home-school rather than rely on our wonderful country's education system. I am not going into the details of why we are looking into it other than to say that we feel it may suit us as a family. The plan is, try it for a year; if it doesn't work out, send them back to school. Not the end of the world - right?! It's still a MASSIVE decision though.

We are on the brink of something new and exciting. Terrifying and challenging. It will allow us so much freedom yet the prospect of having the children 24/7 is going to require some adjusting on my part. For the last year it has just been Xavier and I at home during the week days:
we have been having lots of fun building dens and getting messy in playgoup together. From the end of this week school finishes until September, and we begin our journey as a whole family.

Ha. It all sounds a little deep but I'm sure it will be be great....... I'm just a little nervous - I mean - by October I may be that mad woman you see out shopping with the totally uncontrollable kids on the verge of tears (oh, wait, that's me now - well almost lol). No, honestly, I intend for us to be that well-behaved family that can have fun AND learn things  (and behave whilst doing it).

The truth won't hit us properly until September, when all the girls friends will go back to school and the reality of what we are doing sinks in. Wish me luck! In the mean time enjoy the holidays - I know we will - more than ever :-)

Georgie xx