Went to the Charlie and Lola exhibition today and it was completely Brilliant! We spent about 2 hours immersed in Lauren Child's imagination. The girls did an amazing puppet show for me (wished I'd took the camera). They also watched 'I will Never not Ever eat a tomato' over and over and I enjoyed being served pink milk in Lola's kitchen. The gingerbread house was cool although S wanted me to get in it and I completely did Not fit! Me and J tried a Dragon costume on which was hilarious as it had an incredibly big head that just lolled about in front of your vision and you couldn't see where you were going! I nearly wet myself when J got stuck in it and had a moments panic when she couldn't get her arm out and she couldn't see! lol
Got a bit annoyed that we couldn't eat our sandwiches in the upstairs area because school groups using it, staff thought it would be ok for me to sit in the foyer *cough* erm don't think so, we went in the cafe and ate our own lunch, my face daring anyone to tell us not to consume our own food.
Shame about the bee colony apparently this phenomenon is happening all over the world http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colony_Collapse_Disorder .
We watched several ants saying good morning to each other as they passed on their way to and from food, S found this really funny how the ants seem to shake hands!
Then we came across an activity we hadn't seen before 'create a creature' they could choose body size, legs, wings scales etc to create a creature on the computer screen then see it come out on a separate larger screen. S created 'swimdoc' which was a strange mix of water reptile with feathers and fins! J created 'Dragon' which was a plant eating bird like creature with spikes and stripes! it was great fun they made a few more but I can't remember the weird and wonderful names.
After a play in the Attercliffe Butchers shop and Park Hill dolls house we had time for one last go in the Charlie and Lola area before heading back to the bus stop.
Friday, 28 November 2008
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Lazy day
Had a very lazy start to our day today J came and woke me at 7.30am which is known as a lie in at our house. We had a lovely cuddle up in bed with Dad and baby B. 'Beckbast' as S calls it was especially lazy taking us to past 9am. I listened in on the pony play while I fed B, the ponies were off to darlingland!
I'd bought a few second hand books the other day and J showed an interest in Little Women so I read a couple of chapters, can't remember having read this story before although I feel like I should have done. It wasn't easy reading and I was a bit dubious about the possible religious leanings but still J was interested in the descriptions of the girls in the story and kept having a guess at which one was which. S just enjoyed cuddling up I think she just likes my docile tones!
After Little Women S chose 'Rabbits busy day' which was nice light relief from LW!
I then left them to get dressed while I attempted to print off some words, J loves me printing off words she can have a go at reading it and find a place to stick it so most of our house is labelled! I tried to print off 'Uncle' and 'piano' (not related!) J came and tried to help but we couldn't figure out what was wrong. I had some other previously printed words so armed with blu tac and a pile of labels she ran off round the house and now in case anyone doesn't know where it is, the toilet door is clearly labelled 'toilet door' !
Somehow we moved into making story books downstairs, I think it might of happened from chatting about the books we like to read. I made them both a makeshift book with cover just stapling a pile of plain paper in between 2 coloured sheets, they were very impressed and both set about creating their masterpieces. They both drew all the pictures themselves and if I find a way of uploading them I shall post it here. J told me the words she wanted to write and I spelt them out for her to write, S told me what she wanted to say and I wrote it in her book for her. They loved the finished stories and I think I read them about 20 times each! B woke so the girls got on with making their lunch, S can now spread the butter and make a pretty good cheese sandwich. J only needs my help with cutting now.
After lunch I put out some jigsaws upstairs which J loves and was very proud of herself doing the jungle one all by herself (she usually needs my help) I played downstairs with real baby, dolly baby and S! when B was tired of playing mummy's and babies I put her to bed. cleared away lunch stuff as S wanted to paint. I gave her the finger paint pots as she nearly always ends up wanting to use her hands! I still gave her a paintbrush which she used for about 5 minutes before dipping, scooping and slapping paint on having a wonderful dreamy time. left her to enjoy while I got the bricks out upstairs at J's request. Both happy so I had a quick hoover and tidy round (I manage to get it done once a week maybe ;0P)
one thing I am learning is you can't be house proud and home educate! S had painted the dining table a glorious yellow when I finished and herself a lovely pink. I let her carry on till she'd had enough then I filled the sink and let her play in the water while I cleaned the table. Then we made a yummy hot chocolate and had a very chocolaty biscuit or 2 while I fed B who had woke in a lovely smiley mood.
And so our day went on very relaxed throughout and we talked about so much: Grandad and death (recurring thoughts since he died a few months ago), how stories are structured, girls names and shortened versions, luminous writing for fire exits, biscuits - to dip or not to dip?
I'd bought a few second hand books the other day and J showed an interest in Little Women so I read a couple of chapters, can't remember having read this story before although I feel like I should have done. It wasn't easy reading and I was a bit dubious about the possible religious leanings but still J was interested in the descriptions of the girls in the story and kept having a guess at which one was which. S just enjoyed cuddling up I think she just likes my docile tones!
After Little Women S chose 'Rabbits busy day' which was nice light relief from LW!
I then left them to get dressed while I attempted to print off some words, J loves me printing off words she can have a go at reading it and find a place to stick it so most of our house is labelled! I tried to print off 'Uncle' and 'piano' (not related!) J came and tried to help but we couldn't figure out what was wrong. I had some other previously printed words so armed with blu tac and a pile of labels she ran off round the house and now in case anyone doesn't know where it is, the toilet door is clearly labelled 'toilet door' !
Somehow we moved into making story books downstairs, I think it might of happened from chatting about the books we like to read. I made them both a makeshift book with cover just stapling a pile of plain paper in between 2 coloured sheets, they were very impressed and both set about creating their masterpieces. They both drew all the pictures themselves and if I find a way of uploading them I shall post it here. J told me the words she wanted to write and I spelt them out for her to write, S told me what she wanted to say and I wrote it in her book for her. They loved the finished stories and I think I read them about 20 times each! B woke so the girls got on with making their lunch, S can now spread the butter and make a pretty good cheese sandwich. J only needs my help with cutting now.
After lunch I put out some jigsaws upstairs which J loves and was very proud of herself doing the jungle one all by herself (she usually needs my help) I played downstairs with real baby, dolly baby and S! when B was tired of playing mummy's and babies I put her to bed. cleared away lunch stuff as S wanted to paint. I gave her the finger paint pots as she nearly always ends up wanting to use her hands! I still gave her a paintbrush which she used for about 5 minutes before dipping, scooping and slapping paint on having a wonderful dreamy time. left her to enjoy while I got the bricks out upstairs at J's request. Both happy so I had a quick hoover and tidy round (I manage to get it done once a week maybe ;0P)
one thing I am learning is you can't be house proud and home educate! S had painted the dining table a glorious yellow when I finished and herself a lovely pink. I let her carry on till she'd had enough then I filled the sink and let her play in the water while I cleaned the table. Then we made a yummy hot chocolate and had a very chocolaty biscuit or 2 while I fed B who had woke in a lovely smiley mood.
And so our day went on very relaxed throughout and we talked about so much: Grandad and death (recurring thoughts since he died a few months ago), how stories are structured, girls names and shortened versions, luminous writing for fire exits, biscuits - to dip or not to dip?
Thinking about home education? A year on and I’m officially doing it!
Thinking about home education? A year on and I’m officially doing it!
I wrote an article in a previous issue of Link about how I wanted to home educate my children and promised to do a follow up to let you know how it’s going.
First school term looming and feeling nervous…
J would have started school this September and, as the new term approached, I was relieved I would not be one of the parents having to hand over the responsibility of educating their child, to another person. School, though, was the conversation of the moment and as the official HE Day loomed I must admit I became a little apprehensive.
There is a lot of support for parents going through the uneasy transition to school; the induction, teachers visits, books and of course many parents in the same position to offer words of encouragement and support - but what if you want to home educate?
Luckily there is a large community of home educators, in Sheffield, who meet regularly. There are a variety of activities on offer such as ice skating, swimming, nature walks, meetings at parks and places of interest – and that is just scratching the surface. There is also a wide network of support online with national and local sites dedicated to a thriving home ed community, with real help, support and encouragement from parents (and kids!) who've done it, are doing it, or are about to take the plunge.
Getting to grips with the practicalities of home education…
All the people I've spoken to about home education have been very supportive and usually very interested. There are lots of different ways to home educate - as many as there are different children with different needs.
Having 3 young children presents the usual logistical problems of getting to places, as well as the practical issues of having a cart load of stuff to take! However, home educating actually makes some things simpler, for example, not having to do the school run makes life easier but that's not to say we don't have to be punctual and get moving some mornings! There's a freedom, in that we can plan as a family what we want to do, and we can take our time to do it. My children seem to be developing a closeness and bond that I'm not sure would grow any further if one of them had started school. I feel that they're learning important life skills, family values, respect for others and the environment because they're part of it every day.
Our style of learning is autonomous, which means I follow my daughters' leads in what interests them and I facilitate their learning by providing the resources and materials etc. The words ‘resources’ and ‘materials’ usually prompt the question of money – is it expensive to home educate? The fact is it doesn’t need to be expensive, a lot of the time I use the environment as a resource. An example was when my daughter J showed an interest in flowers. She had realised that I had some flowes in the garden in January, (the time she was born), and from this sprang her desire to know flower names. We borrowed an identification book from the library and she drew basic flowers; pressed them and then we went on to discuss pollination – the birds and the bees! We continued painting and going on walks until Jasmine moved onto the next subject…Dinosaurs!
Even as I write this, it’s difficult to explain how we do it, because it isn’t a linear process. In a single conversation we can cover many different subjects, and no subject is exclusive, so within the flowers 'subject' we covered all curriculum areas but dipped in and out of them. I didn't sit the children down and say 'right, this week we're going to learn about flowers!' It’s just a lovely natural progression; we learn through lots of discussion and I don't have to know everything because there's a whole world of information easily accessible from the library, museums and internet, for example. The wonderful thing is that we're learning together.
Every day is an adventure for us, I seem to be growing and learning with my children. I can see their personalities developing and I'm in tune with their needs. Some moments can be more challenging than others, but there's a respect that's growing in my family and I'm not sure if that would be there if they spent most of their day at school.
Socialising and setting up my own group…
One of the most frequently asked questions, when you tell people you are home educating, is ‘what about the socialisation?’ I think people have an image of children sitting in a room, on their own, with no friends because they don’t see the same children everyday at school. However there is so much going on out there in the home education world that we are usually out 'socializing' more often than we are in! We meet up regularly with other home education families of different age ranges and backgrounds. It really does feel like you are one big family at times with the adults being as much a part of it all as the children.
Despite all this, it did occur to me and a fellow home educating friend, that it could seem daunting if you are just thinking about home education. What do you do if you don’t want to fully take the plunge but would like to talk to other people who are at the start of the decision making process? This thought soon evolved into a full-blown idea for a new group for families, with young children, considering home education. It’s just like any other group, with a mixture of people who already are home educating and people who are just thinking about it.
It is presently a small group, so it is not daunting at all. The children can play safely whle the adults can chat to like minded people about the idea of home educating or look at some literature on the subject.
I am only at the start of my journey but I do not regret the decision I have made for my family. I can honestly say I have never been so busy! Everyday there is a new activity to pursue and there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your family learn and grow in front of your eyes.
Home education can be a difficult decision to make, but once you have made it, suddenly it doesn’t seem strange at all, it is normal, and you are surrounded by lots of other friends taking the same journey – albeit sometimes by different routes. So if anything I have said has struck a chord, then why not have a look into it? Just as you would look into all the different schools out there, why not investigate all the different methods of education as well?
I wrote an article in a previous issue of Link about how I wanted to home educate my children and promised to do a follow up to let you know how it’s going.
First school term looming and feeling nervous…
J would have started school this September and, as the new term approached, I was relieved I would not be one of the parents having to hand over the responsibility of educating their child, to another person. School, though, was the conversation of the moment and as the official HE Day loomed I must admit I became a little apprehensive.
There is a lot of support for parents going through the uneasy transition to school; the induction, teachers visits, books and of course many parents in the same position to offer words of encouragement and support - but what if you want to home educate?
Luckily there is a large community of home educators, in Sheffield, who meet regularly. There are a variety of activities on offer such as ice skating, swimming, nature walks, meetings at parks and places of interest – and that is just scratching the surface. There is also a wide network of support online with national and local sites dedicated to a thriving home ed community, with real help, support and encouragement from parents (and kids!) who've done it, are doing it, or are about to take the plunge.
Getting to grips with the practicalities of home education…
All the people I've spoken to about home education have been very supportive and usually very interested. There are lots of different ways to home educate - as many as there are different children with different needs.
Having 3 young children presents the usual logistical problems of getting to places, as well as the practical issues of having a cart load of stuff to take! However, home educating actually makes some things simpler, for example, not having to do the school run makes life easier but that's not to say we don't have to be punctual and get moving some mornings! There's a freedom, in that we can plan as a family what we want to do, and we can take our time to do it. My children seem to be developing a closeness and bond that I'm not sure would grow any further if one of them had started school. I feel that they're learning important life skills, family values, respect for others and the environment because they're part of it every day.
Our style of learning is autonomous, which means I follow my daughters' leads in what interests them and I facilitate their learning by providing the resources and materials etc. The words ‘resources’ and ‘materials’ usually prompt the question of money – is it expensive to home educate? The fact is it doesn’t need to be expensive, a lot of the time I use the environment as a resource. An example was when my daughter J showed an interest in flowers. She had realised that I had some flowes in the garden in January, (the time she was born), and from this sprang her desire to know flower names. We borrowed an identification book from the library and she drew basic flowers; pressed them and then we went on to discuss pollination – the birds and the bees! We continued painting and going on walks until Jasmine moved onto the next subject…Dinosaurs!
Even as I write this, it’s difficult to explain how we do it, because it isn’t a linear process. In a single conversation we can cover many different subjects, and no subject is exclusive, so within the flowers 'subject' we covered all curriculum areas but dipped in and out of them. I didn't sit the children down and say 'right, this week we're going to learn about flowers!' It’s just a lovely natural progression; we learn through lots of discussion and I don't have to know everything because there's a whole world of information easily accessible from the library, museums and internet, for example. The wonderful thing is that we're learning together.
Every day is an adventure for us, I seem to be growing and learning with my children. I can see their personalities developing and I'm in tune with their needs. Some moments can be more challenging than others, but there's a respect that's growing in my family and I'm not sure if that would be there if they spent most of their day at school.
Socialising and setting up my own group…
One of the most frequently asked questions, when you tell people you are home educating, is ‘what about the socialisation?’ I think people have an image of children sitting in a room, on their own, with no friends because they don’t see the same children everyday at school. However there is so much going on out there in the home education world that we are usually out 'socializing' more often than we are in! We meet up regularly with other home education families of different age ranges and backgrounds. It really does feel like you are one big family at times with the adults being as much a part of it all as the children.
Despite all this, it did occur to me and a fellow home educating friend, that it could seem daunting if you are just thinking about home education. What do you do if you don’t want to fully take the plunge but would like to talk to other people who are at the start of the decision making process? This thought soon evolved into a full-blown idea for a new group for families, with young children, considering home education. It’s just like any other group, with a mixture of people who already are home educating and people who are just thinking about it.
It is presently a small group, so it is not daunting at all. The children can play safely whle the adults can chat to like minded people about the idea of home educating or look at some literature on the subject.
I am only at the start of my journey but I do not regret the decision I have made for my family. I can honestly say I have never been so busy! Everyday there is a new activity to pursue and there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your family learn and grow in front of your eyes.
Home education can be a difficult decision to make, but once you have made it, suddenly it doesn’t seem strange at all, it is normal, and you are surrounded by lots of other friends taking the same journey – albeit sometimes by different routes. So if anything I have said has struck a chord, then why not have a look into it? Just as you would look into all the different schools out there, why not investigate all the different methods of education as well?
Thinking about Home Education? …and don’t know how to go about it!
I wrote the following article for a local magazine in 2007
Before I had my children I’d imagined teaching them at home myself in the same whimsical way that I imagined my home births, I hadn’t really thought about the effort involved but then I didn’t know about the rewards either. I felt in control of my labour as I now feel I’m in control of my children’s education but more than that so are they.
You may think that you don’t have the qualifications a teacher does and sometimes I think maybe I’m not an expert but then again I’ve been educating my children at home since the day they were born and more often than not a mother’s instinct is better than any expert advice. The real turning point for me came when my first born turned 3 years old and her peers started at nursery and parents at toddler groups started to talk more about this. Conversations turned toward future schooling and I realised that I wasn’t ready to take J to nursery, or in fact school.
Why would I not want to take the conventional route, people who know me would be forgiven for thinking that maybe that rebelling against the norm is the main reason why I would want to home educate! However apart from not wanting to conform I do have many other reasons. The first I suppose is the difficulties I had with my own education at school. I did enjoy school most of the time and I was interested to learn but not academically clever so I was always in the lower sets with a mixture of kids some of whom had more fun disrupting the class than learning. The teachers I had ranged from disciplinarians to the emotional kind that some of my classmates took great pleasure in reducing to tears. I lost interest in learning and spent more time bunking off in my final years at school and because of exam anxieties left school with 1 ‘O’ Level (Art)
Unfortunately when the adverts for recruiting teachers were on the TV last year and the catch line was ‘you always remember a good teacher’ well with regard to my schools I don’t. My best teachers were my parents then and now funnily enough so are my children, I’ve learnt so much since they were born. I want to home educate because I want to continue to see my children develop and explore the world around them, I want them to reach their own conclusions and discover the world for themselves, I want to be there as a guide not as a teacher, I want us to learn together and when I can’t answer a question find out together. I don’t want to rush my days with my children I want to treasure the time I have with them, I don’t want routines and schedules holding us down, I want to allow my children the freedom to make their own choices and mistakes. From birth they have learnt so much and I’ve never sat them down in a ‘school’ environment to ‘learn’. How did our children learn language? Maybe they can learn anything they want in the same way. I’m just starting out and I don’t know how this is all going to go but I know I’m on the right track.
My track led me on a Tuesday afternoon with my kids to Mount Pleasant Park where I stumbled upon the home educating group who meet at Highfields playground next to it. I had seen children playing in this fenced off area next to the main park and as I wandered past on our way to Highfields library a lady spotted me having a nosey and asked if I was a home educator! I excitedly told her I’d been thinking about it and she invited me in, I spent the afternoon chatting with Mum’s and other children and playing with my kids in the adventure playground.
The group meet every Tuesday from 12 noon in term time and you will get so much help, support and advice from everyone there, from parents who’ve been home educating for a long time to those who are just starting out like me to young adults who’ve either been educated at home all their life to kids who’ve had to come out of school because of bullying etc. Education Otherwise (EO) www.education-otherwise.org provides lots of information, support, practical information on home-education and there is experienced help available to guide you through the process and procedures of deregistration and subsequent interaction with the Local Education Authority if required and they can refer you to specialists within EO if necessary, e.g. special needs, dyslexia, school phobia, legal, etc.
I imagine it would be more difficult but not impossible without this support network, I’m lucky that I have my Husband as my main support. He is quite relieved that we will Home School as his education experience is much worse than mine having been only recently diagnosed with dyslexia through work but being labelled lazy and a troublemaker throughout his school life.
Highfields library have some interesting books I’ve invested in 3 that I’ve found helpful – ‘Educating Children at Home’ by Alan Thomas, ‘The Unschooling Handbook’ by Mary Griffith and ‘How Children Learn’ by John Holt. The internet is such a valuable resource to find out more about Home Education but by far the best way to learn more is to talk to people who are doing it. Everyone I’ve met at the Highfields home educator group have been happy to talk about their experiences and through them I was invited on the Sheffield Home Educators forum where I get regular emails regarding events such as trips to local museums and parks, meets at the ice rink to coach trips to the seaside.
As you research the option of home education along the way you may get funny comments like ‘is it legal’ or ‘what about the social side’ and you’ll be able to confidently smile knowing that education really does start at home.
Before I had my children I’d imagined teaching them at home myself in the same whimsical way that I imagined my home births, I hadn’t really thought about the effort involved but then I didn’t know about the rewards either. I felt in control of my labour as I now feel I’m in control of my children’s education but more than that so are they.
You may think that you don’t have the qualifications a teacher does and sometimes I think maybe I’m not an expert but then again I’ve been educating my children at home since the day they were born and more often than not a mother’s instinct is better than any expert advice. The real turning point for me came when my first born turned 3 years old and her peers started at nursery and parents at toddler groups started to talk more about this. Conversations turned toward future schooling and I realised that I wasn’t ready to take J to nursery, or in fact school.
Why would I not want to take the conventional route, people who know me would be forgiven for thinking that maybe that rebelling against the norm is the main reason why I would want to home educate! However apart from not wanting to conform I do have many other reasons. The first I suppose is the difficulties I had with my own education at school. I did enjoy school most of the time and I was interested to learn but not academically clever so I was always in the lower sets with a mixture of kids some of whom had more fun disrupting the class than learning. The teachers I had ranged from disciplinarians to the emotional kind that some of my classmates took great pleasure in reducing to tears. I lost interest in learning and spent more time bunking off in my final years at school and because of exam anxieties left school with 1 ‘O’ Level (Art)
Unfortunately when the adverts for recruiting teachers were on the TV last year and the catch line was ‘you always remember a good teacher’ well with regard to my schools I don’t. My best teachers were my parents then and now funnily enough so are my children, I’ve learnt so much since they were born. I want to home educate because I want to continue to see my children develop and explore the world around them, I want them to reach their own conclusions and discover the world for themselves, I want to be there as a guide not as a teacher, I want us to learn together and when I can’t answer a question find out together. I don’t want to rush my days with my children I want to treasure the time I have with them, I don’t want routines and schedules holding us down, I want to allow my children the freedom to make their own choices and mistakes. From birth they have learnt so much and I’ve never sat them down in a ‘school’ environment to ‘learn’. How did our children learn language? Maybe they can learn anything they want in the same way. I’m just starting out and I don’t know how this is all going to go but I know I’m on the right track.
My track led me on a Tuesday afternoon with my kids to Mount Pleasant Park where I stumbled upon the home educating group who meet at Highfields playground next to it. I had seen children playing in this fenced off area next to the main park and as I wandered past on our way to Highfields library a lady spotted me having a nosey and asked if I was a home educator! I excitedly told her I’d been thinking about it and she invited me in, I spent the afternoon chatting with Mum’s and other children and playing with my kids in the adventure playground.
The group meet every Tuesday from 12 noon in term time and you will get so much help, support and advice from everyone there, from parents who’ve been home educating for a long time to those who are just starting out like me to young adults who’ve either been educated at home all their life to kids who’ve had to come out of school because of bullying etc. Education Otherwise (EO) www.education-otherwise.org provides lots of information, support, practical information on home-education and there is experienced help available to guide you through the process and procedures of deregistration and subsequent interaction with the Local Education Authority if required and they can refer you to specialists within EO if necessary, e.g. special needs, dyslexia, school phobia, legal, etc.
I imagine it would be more difficult but not impossible without this support network, I’m lucky that I have my Husband as my main support. He is quite relieved that we will Home School as his education experience is much worse than mine having been only recently diagnosed with dyslexia through work but being labelled lazy and a troublemaker throughout his school life.
Highfields library have some interesting books I’ve invested in 3 that I’ve found helpful – ‘Educating Children at Home’ by Alan Thomas, ‘The Unschooling Handbook’ by Mary Griffith and ‘How Children Learn’ by John Holt. The internet is such a valuable resource to find out more about Home Education but by far the best way to learn more is to talk to people who are doing it. Everyone I’ve met at the Highfields home educator group have been happy to talk about their experiences and through them I was invited on the Sheffield Home Educators forum where I get regular emails regarding events such as trips to local museums and parks, meets at the ice rink to coach trips to the seaside.
As you research the option of home education along the way you may get funny comments like ‘is it legal’ or ‘what about the social side’ and you’ll be able to confidently smile knowing that education really does start at home.
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