Rockets & Rudolphs

So, the time has come for us to 'harvest' the kids potatoes from their potato growing project :-)

DD's 'Rockets' and DS's 'Rudolphs' - 

It was really exciting for the kids to sift through the soil and harvest their potatoes.  I would heartily recommend this project as it has been fun but really low maintenance to achieve actual results in a relatively short space of time.  Registration is now open for 2017 - register online as a school or Home Educator and when the time comes you will be sent your free potato growing and education kit :-)     Register here - Grow Your Own Potatoes 2017

We had some of ours for dinner that night -

along with the first of DD's sugar snap peas she has grown in her little vegetable patch -

Poor DS was a bit freaked out that his potatoes were red, as he hadn't been expecting that and consequently found them difficult to eat!  His words "my brain is telling me it is a radish, even though I know it is a potato"!  DD on the other hand had 2 portions of her sugar snaps, as they were very sweet and delicious.

So proud of the kids that they have seen these projects through, rather than them being a 5 minute wonder, and have actually been able to harvest edible crops.  Really satisfying :-)

Other things we have been working on the kids Egyptian projects for Geography Club tomorrow, including some papyrus painting - 

and writing our names in heiroglyphics and researching the modern tourist industry in Egypt, Scratch computer programming and an afternoon at Forest School today doing fire lighting and sawing wood to make their own necklaces.  

The 'What Next?' box is still proving to be a HUGE hit, with both the kids but I'd say DD has especially taken to it (which is great as it is definitely her that struggles more with transitions and coming up with ideas/ independent thinking).  One of the tasks she selected last week sometime was "pick and press a flower or flowers from the garden".   I showed her how to do this, drying the flower first, arranging it in the shape you want before flattening between kitchen paper and placing inside a heavy book.   She has patiently waited a week, and yesterday afternoon made this sweet little picture from the results - 

In other news, darling DS has finally been recognised as being on the waiting list for OT (Occupational Therapy) - it's only taken 3 years and we still aren't at the point of him being offered an appointment!  It is ridiculous because his physiotherapy provision has ceased, more than a year ago, and he has an intoeing gait, twisted shin bone and hypermobility - all of which combine to make his walking sometimes twisted, often laboured and usually fatiguing and/ or painful.  Add this to a host of other sensory issues, due to his autism, and I think we are in for a long telephone consultation when they finally get to me!  Fingers crossed :-) 

Trips, Robot Dogs, Shows & Home Days

We had a really busy week last week, and I am super proud of how the kids, especially DS, coped with it all.  For some-one who struggles daily with transitions and changes, this past week's achievements have been nothing short of remarkable.  I am bursting with pride.

Last week we had three different Home Ed trips with different groups of people, two of which were at places we haven't been before - and all of which were subject to delays on public transport!  Firstly, we went to a HE session on Archaeology arranged by a friend at a fairly local museum.  The kids learnt about Stratigraphy and got to do their own excavations. They also got to handle and sort genuine stone age tools, try and piece together a stone age clay pot and make one of their own.

Secondly, we visited an historic Tudor house and learnt all about Tudor life in the Tudor kitchen - another fabulous, hands on workshop where the kids, after listening to tales of life in Tudor times, got to choose their own activities within the Tudor kitchen.  They could dress up, solve a quiz with clues, sort ingredients, grind herbs with a pestle and mortar, decorate a prized orange with cloves and make their own herb bags to take home.

In between dashing here and there, I'd love to say we had an At Home day but in fact DD had a consultants review appointment on our only 'free' day, which meant we all had to go.  The kids behaved really well, and there were plenty of toys for them to play with, which they did. I had pre-typed notes of anything I thought they might ask that I didn't want to discuss in front of the children, so I was well prepared.  It went as well as these things can, but I can't deny I was knackered when we got home!

On Friday we went to another museum, to see an exhibition of Egyptian artefacts.  We aren't particularly studying Ancient Egypt as a topic at the moment, although we are doing Egypt as the country for our Geography Group this month the children have both chosen to do projects on modern day Egypt rather than historical. But we thought we would go, as it looked interesting, and it was :-)  And we met up with some friends for lunch after, which was a nice surprise.

Over the weekend, DS made this fab solar powered robot dog he got for his birthday several months ago, with a little help from DH (although to be honest it really was only with a very little help) - 

When the solar panel is charged, the tail wags and the dog spins around.  DS was very proud to show me.  He is looking forward to converting it to some of the other things you can make with the kit.  This particular set was from Avon, but I can't find it for sale currently or I would post the link. 


Also over the weekend, the kids appeared in a show put on by their Gymnastics club.  I was SO proud!  DD has always struggled with nerves at public performances and generally hides behind others, shuffles nervously, mouths the words or mumbles etc.  DS on the otherhand was totally traumatised by performances at school - we would have days of bed wetting, nose bleeds, head banging, wakeful nights, clingy distressed behaviour.  And yet he participated in this show WILLINGLY.  I cannot find the words for what this meant to us.  The noise was incredible, it was in a hall he had never been in, I forgot his ear defenders.  But he went willingly in, coped with it all and performed in 3 separate acts!  With a big smile on his face and lots of waving to me in the audience :-)  (Cue much sobbing from me!).    When I went to pick him up, he ran and jumped in to my arms, told me it had been terrifying but still smiling! 

Monday would normally be one of our days for Table Work but we are winding down now for the summer.  Also, there was no way I was going to ask DS to sit at a table and do maths and literacy after he had given his all in so many new things.  So I let the kids choose what they wanted to do.  For DD it was lots, and lots, and lots of drawing - and some watching TV!  And for DS, he spent almost the whole entire day writing Scratch programming on the lap top at the table!  He is so good at it - he wrote programmes for figures that moved, and spoke, on instruction!  I haven't a clue how it works, but DH has taught him, and he has definitely learnt!

Today we opened with Listening Time - the kids played Lego & Angry Birds (toys, not computer game) while I read them a book about Tudor Children by Haydn Middleton (their choice).  Find it here :- www.amazon.co.uk/ TudorChildrenHaydnMiddleton

I read the whole book, stopping for a 10 minute break in the middle.  Afterwards they played in the garden before we had lunch and then headed to the park on their scooters.

When we came home a couple of hours later, the kids sat and did a write up of whether they would prefer to be a child in Tudor times or modern times.  It's quite a task to get DS motivated about writing, but he gave it a go, and I'm very proud of the answers they came up with - 

I would definitely recommend, if you have fidgety, formal-work resistant children (like I do!), giving Listening Time a go.  It is working really well for us, and I am amazed at how much they actually take in, when it looks like they are just playing and not listening at all! :-)

After dinner, the kids did their tidying up and got ready for bed and I sat and read one of the Jack Stalwart books to them - 

These are a fairly new find for us, but we love them.  Very simple chapter books, plenty of action and lots of real facts to boot.  The premise is a young boy who works as a secret agent and travels to other countries to solve mysteries.  They are very pro-environmental issues and delightfully educational including facts about the country, language and history for each story as well as the Geography of where that country is.  We are learning loads and really enjoying the stories too.  The kids love trying to solve the mystery from the clues as we go along.  I would heartily recommend these if you have boys or girls that are on first, or early, chapter books.   Find them here:- www.amazon.co.uk/ JackStalwartbooks    They've got a website too, which I will definitely be looking at with the kids tomorrow:- http://www.jackstalwart.com/

Being 100, Listening Time, Stone Age & Dream Houses

Today we decided to try some new things.

The kids were both VERY excited about trying the What Next? box, so dived in right after breakfast. Lots of giggling ensued as the first task picked was "Draw or write about what you will look like when you are 100" and lots of hilarious pictures followed!

It really started the morning on a high note, and I was even able to leave the kids giggling together and get on with various chores for a good hour.

When they tired of it, DS decided he would get out his Moon Dough and do some construction building, while DD decided to take another suggestion from the What Next? box.  She got "Find 10 things beginning with A around the house, and make a story out of them."   She wrote a funny story, in 3 parts, about Adam the Apple Head! 

I had in mind I wanted to try something else with the kids, that I'd read about in a newspaper article - a Home Educating family where the Mum reads aloud to the kids in the lounge.  She chooses the subject, they are allowed to play (quiet play like Lego or marbles) or draw while she reads and then they discuss what she has read.  When we first started our HE journey I was very pro-writing and pro-Table Work, and over time I have become less concerned about this.  My DD, for example, is a monumental fidget and it is very easy to think she is not listening or concentrating on anything.  However, we sat down this morning, and I read the following Usbourne book on The Stone Age - (we LOVE Usbourne books!)

I read the whole thing, cover to cover, with barely any interruption - although we talked about some of the pictures as we went along.  DD barely looked up, and sat with her back to me the whole time.  But after I'd finished reading she handed me this -

- that she'd just done as she was listening!  I'm going to take that as a WIN :-) Just goes to show children have different learning styles.  And while, in a traditional classroom setting, she may seem oppositional and disinterested, she is actually listening and taking it all in, she just has a different method to the status quo.  It's taken me a long while to see this myself, but I will definitely be using this method again as we have so many wonderful reference/ non fiction books to work our way through.

We had a friend over for lunch - this unsettled the kids hugely, as ,although she is a much loved friend, it was an Unexpected Thing.  Lots of challenging behaviour over lunch and I had to send them both down from the table to calm down, and eventually to separate areas of the house.  This worked, after much repeated reinforcement of my expectations, and when they had played a while individually, we all got back together at the table and DS picked another item from the What Next? box.  This time, he got "Draw a picture of your future house", so we all did that :-) 

We spent the rest of the day playing board games with our friend and having an afternoon tea party :-)  She left just before dinner time and after their dinner, we sat and read some more Greek Myths together - Icarus, The Golden Fleece & Medusa.  There were only 2 more stories left in the book, so DD took the book upstairs and read them to her brother in bed :-)  Precious xx

The 'What Next?' Box

So, today I have been working on my idea I had the other day.

Being an autism house - DS confirmed, DD unconfirmed but highly likely - we have enormous struggles with transitions of any kind.  Particular high points (low points!!) are

- finishing a meal, and then transiting to the next thing, either because they have been sitting still, or because they have high energy levels due to the intake of food, or both!

- coming home from somewhere - anywhere. As soon as they leave/ stop/ finishing ANYTHING their minds are already on what's next?  (Although they will rarely have an ordered thought about what to do next)

- finishing a set activity. Again, either because they have been sitting still/ concentrating, delaying processing, the desire for physical stimulus, or a combination of all this and more.

- a television programme finishing.  Again, probably the need for physical stimulus combined with the fact they have been 'lost' in concentration and now have to transist back to reality and independent thought.  This can occur just from watching one half an hour of television.

You see the pattern?  

It can be exhausting to manage as they are constantly having these difficult transitions.  They usually involve a lot of rolling around, eye rolling and then general 'silly beggars' - ie. winding each other up as much as possible.  

While I agree with the theory of allowing children to get bored, in fact it's something we embrace :-) , I'm also aware that for children with different neurological pathways and sensory integration difficulties, it can be an insurmountable task to transist.  

So, I had this idea of a What Next? box.  

I have filled it with a bunch of simple, self-manageable ideas.  The theory being, that when we are experiencing these difficult transitions from simple situations, the kids can pick a slip from the What Next? box. 

Beyond this, it really doesn't matter if they decide to run with the activity suggestion they have picked (I strongly suspect they won't, due to their overwhelming need for control!) or chose to do a self-manageable activity they have thought of themselves.  It matters not :-)  As long as they do something constructive and focused and that doesn't need my supervision or intervention.  The ideas are simply a prod in the right direction :-)

Relaxing the Rules

We're had another Good Day today.

Terrible nights sleep again for all of us last night what with hayfever and the heat, so we had quite a chilled morning.  I let the kids watch a bit of telly (I think giving them a gradual transition from holidays back to working is making for much calmer, happier kids...)  

After they'd watched their fill (less than an hour!) - they turned off and just went about their own pursuits.  DS went outside to try and make a bow and arrow, and DD settled down at the table to work on her project about Egypt for her Geography Study Group this month. She has decided to do it on tourism in Egypt so spent some time researching and pulling together her project on that, ready for her presentation at the group.

We packed away around lunch time, and as the shopping had been delivered that morning, we decided (DS's idea) to make fruit kebabs -

So much fun, and delicious as well :-) 

My kids always find it difficult to manage any transitions, so even just something simple and fun like making and eating fruit kebabs took over an hour to settle and reset.  It was easier with DS than DD - she cannot self regulate at all and takes any level of excitement or pleasure to the absolute extreme.  It took about 4 times of saying the same thing, until eventually I had to step in and ask her to spend time in her room until we were ready to go to the park.  DS on the other hand, sat and made this lovely picture of a Tiki statue while he was waiting - 

And it gave me a good idea about a possible aid to help her more with everyday transitions (meal times for example are different - after every meal time DD will throw herself around and act impulsively, probably a reaction to sitting 'contained' for a period of time, plus the surge of energy she gets from eating..) Anyway, I will work on that and share it in a future post :-)

Once I was ready we decided took our bikes over to a nice quiet park we sometimes go to.  We nearly always have it to ourselves if we go during the week and the kids love to have free reign in the skate park while I can use the Urban Gym equipment.  Really nice to not just be sitting around while they play, but actually being able to do something myself too -

When they'd had enough bike riding, they turned their attentions to the long jump!

It's so nice having the freedom on these nice days, to just take off to a park and enjoy the open spaces together.  Especially because one of the biggest things DS struggles with are crowds and noise, DD too (though she'd never admit it!) :-) 

And then we came home to read a few Greek Myths together - Pandora's Box, King Midas, Arachne the Spider and The Minotaur.

A Good Day :-)

Marveling in the Ordinary

We enjoyed another nice chilled day at home today.  We had several options of going out, including a semi-regular park meet we go to, horse riding or an unlimited number of day trips.  But, frankly, we couldn't be bothered!!  :-)

So we chilled, hung out, read books, watched out favourite films together :-)

DD cleaned out her stick insects, we picked dandelion leaves for our tortoise, all nice, normal, every day stuff.  I read a quote recently, the gist of which was don't teach your children just to strive for the extraordinary, teach them to marvel in the ordinary :-)  And that's definitely what we did again today.  It's so easy to get caught up in rushing around, trying to take the kids here, there and everywhere trying to give them a rich and varied curriculum and opportunities to try new things but there's alot to be said for days like these, where we all just 'be' :-)

DD decided she wanted to draw The Statue of Liberty - so she searched through our reference books, encyclopedias and atlas's until she found a picture to work from.  She then decided to add sky scrapers, to form the Manhattan Skyline and then added Central Park.  

It was difficult to get a good photo of it, as it's very pale, but I think it's brilliant.  

DS decided he was going to make animations - so he set up a stage and back drop, made some little props and made little videos with his Angry Birds figures.

Then they took their lunch and played outside for a couple of hours - water pistols, digging holes, bug hunting and sword fighting! 

Amazingly, they came in voluntarily when they were tired. Well, DD confessed that had had 'a little fight' BUT they had made up and come in as friends! Hurrah!

DD said she had a wish to eat gingerbread and ice cream.  Well, wishes do come true! 

Yes, we made some :-)  We had to improvise a bit with the ingredients but they came out fine and tasted delish (I'm told..... still being 'good' :-( )  

And we made a special one for Daddy when he gets home from work :-) 

And, to top it all off, DS has gone to Beavers, and stayed for the WHOLE SESSION!! And DD has taken herself off to bed!  

Definitely a GOOD day :-) xxxxx

Hurrah for Rain!

Well hurrah for the rain I say!! Although sorry for anyone who is on the school run at this time! 

Apart from the banging pre-thunder headache, and huge atmosphere pressure mood swings from DD, I am relieved the see the rain as it usually means a good night's sleep for the kids, and it means I don't have to go out and water all the pots in the garden!

Today we have had a very lazy day, after a big trip out yesterday and huge delays and cancellations on the trains (this endless and mysterious 'staff shortage due to sickness' that only seems to plague Southern Rail.......) which meant an hour and a half's journey actually took 4 hours, for 4 adults with 10 kids in tow and a whole mixed bag of special needs in to the mix!!  What a 'treat'! But the kids were all so good, and the parents were all so lovely, it made a painful experience actually pretty enjoyable :-)  But we're tired today, so we're chillaxing :-)

I've relaxed the rule of 'no TV' during the day.  (I normally don't allow TV until after 'school' time - unless we are specifically watching something relating to a topic we are doing or something like that). But today we have proper vegged out and eaten popcorn and biscuits (the kids I mean, I'm being good ;-) ).

We've also read this great little book together - 

Apart from a (hugely immature) chuckle to myself that it is a 'lift the flap' book on making babies (chortle, chortle!)  it was a GREAT book!  The kids really enjoyed it.  There was enough factual information without being too much at their age. It answered alot of questions they had and they really enjoyed seeing the 'actual size' pictures :-)

We also did a little impromptu learning about cotton and the cotton plant, the farming of cotton and what can be made from cotton :-) 

DD had, by this time, stomped off upstairs in another tearful outburst.  My fault entirely for suggesting she might be feeling tired! :-)  

DS then decided he would build another domino run, and has made his own weighted catapult that fires tiny Lego bricks due to a chain reaction that means a truck hits the dominos, as they fall they launch a spoon that knocks a cup down which in turn (by the connecting spring) flips up another spoon that fires the Lego! It worked!   He is now 'unsellotaping' the table lol :-)

We don't have bedtimes any more (see my earlier post about how that works...) but tonight I'm thinking dinner, bath, bed is definitely on the cards.  And that's just for me ;-) 

xxxxx

Back to Work

Well, that's half term over.  Doesn't it fly by?  Does anyone else 'stop' for school holidays still?

We do, as DH works in Education, so we still follow the pattern of term time and school holidays for the most part.  We had a lovely week, doing all things Half Term - gardening, parks and playgrounds, meeting up with friends, cinema and trips to town etc.  The usual rules of computer time/ tv time get relaxed during the holidays but apart from that not a great deal changes any more, except Dad's home! :-)

And today we are back to our routine.  It's been a fairly seamless transition this time - maybe in part due to the fact we've had 2 weeks off, instead of 1, so ds & dd have had more time to process things and adjust to the transition.  It also helps that I have chilled out a bit this half term and although it bugs the hell out of me, I have (tried!) not to nag every time there is mess to clear up, their rooms need tidying or they ask to play on Minecraft on my Kindle! It's hard to step back but they need a break too - they are good kids, they work hard and I do have quite set rules during the normal week, so it's good to let them have a break sometimes :-)  It has paid dividends too as DS was happy to help DD clean out the rabbit last night, and the tortoise, and the stick insects, and the goldfish! So they are all nice and clean and done, ready for the new 'term'.  He also made dinner - one of his famous Stews! Onions, garlic, carrot, potatoes and tomato with a few herbs. He loves it! And it is a sign that he has a Good Break that he is happy and calm and able to participate in things.

And this morning, we have started out with Table Time (although they were given a free choice of Workbooks or drawing to begin with).   DS made this lovely picture (he is a very reluctant drawer usually) of his own creation, The Cempot People who live in a trea (tree!) - 

I love the detail of their little letter boxes and the lifts both inside and outside the tree :-)

DD worked on her beloved maths workbooks (the Carol Vorderman ones this morning) and updated her reading diary, before moving on to drawing -

DS then decided he would like me to read him one of the Geography Quest books -

We all LOVE these, I go on about them ALOT ! :-)  But they are such a fun way to learn, very engaging and easy accessible even if you have no prior knowledge of the subject matter.  This morning we have learnt about Terrace Farming, Meteorologists, Altitude, Cairns, Avalanches, Glaciers, Glaciologists, Fold Mountains, Moraine, Ribbon Lakes, Snow lines and Plateaus amoungst other things!

Now DS is building domino runs, DD is drawing (of course), I am happy & calm and we are off this afternoon on a fab Home Ed trip with a big group of friends :-)

Not a bad start to the summer term :-) :-) :-) 

Spring Half Term, Pocket Money & Self-Learning

Well, I can honestly say we are having the most peaceful half term/ school holiday we have ever had!  :-)

Unfortunately, due to DH working in education, we are still bound to the school holidays to a certain extent so they are still a time of enormous transitioning for my two little lovelies who struggle so much with any change of routine.  However, having taken them away, on my own, last week - to a holiday park we have been to before, I think we may have got all the transitioning out of the way and just flowed nicely into the school holiday and some time at home with Dad having a wealth of happy experiences last week to reflect on.

Today we have had one of the most successful trips in to town we have ever had.  We stopped off en route to pick up the kids Arts Award portfolios and their certificates to show they have both passed their Discover level Arts Award.  DS was a bit confused and upset because he thought the Arts Award was going to be an award (like a trophy) - not just a certificate!  Bless :-)  But he was able to calm and accept it without a full on meltdown which was HUGE :-)

We carried on into town and had a lovely wander round the charity shops.  We got lots of great books, so DD is happy!  She does love her books :-)  The kids also spent their pocket money on some great finds.  DD bought this Sand Art set for just 50p -

DS was absolutely thrilled to find this (almost complete) domino kit - including motorised truck that dispenses the dominoes - all for £1.95!  And with it he made this........ (with a little help from DH!) 

Awesome fun!   I just LOVE charity shops - it teaches the kids so much.  The value of money, to support charities and their work, waste not want not, reuse and recycle :-)  

We started pocket money over 2 years ago now.  It started off at 50p a week, then up to £1.  Now they get £5 per month, at the start of the month, and it is their job to make it last.   Their pocket money is not chore related - personally I don't believe in that.  I always say to them, I don't get paid to do your laundry, you don't get paid to help with it! :-)   My kids know how to put a load of washing on, hang it to dry or work the tumble dryer (included checking and clearing out the filter before use), how to work the vacuum cleaner, load the dishwasher and take care of all their pets.  They also lay the table when asked and tidy their own rooms (when nagged lol!)  My ethos is - You help with chores because they need to be done, that's life.  Each to their own, but that's how it is in my house :-)    Pocket money is just given freely, to help them learn and understand the value of money, budgeting and money management.  Today it was tough for them as there was lots they wanted to buy but it is also my birthday this month, and Fathers Day  and yes, they are expected to buy things out of their own money - even if it is only 20p of their own money - just because, again, I believe it is an important lesson in life - if everything is only ever incoming then how will they learn and appreciate what is given?

Anyway, I digress - although I'd love to hear what others do in terms of pocket money, chores and rewards etc :-)

On another note, I found this the other day, in DD's room, in one of her many piles of discarded paper........

I asked her what it was.  "Oh I was making a map" she said "I copied it from one of my encyclopedias. But I don't need it, I made another one as that's not quite right!" 

I think one of the most common concerns as a Home Educating parent is "Am I doing enough?  Am I teaching them enough?  Are they learning enough?"  And this is a great example of the answer.   Yes!  If you give kids the space, they will learn.  They don't need to be in a classroom, or in a formal educational setting. They are naturally inquisitive, give them the time and space to explore this side of themselves and they will learn. I promise ;-)