We had a pretty full day yesterday. We started with 'table work' around 9am. We had intended to start with Maths but DS was finding it very difficult to focus, so instead he chose to get down and have some Golden Time first which gave me and opportunity for some 1-2-1 time with DD. As we had her maths book out (Leap Ahead), I decided we would go back over some of the exercises she had skipped or struggled with.
DD has a very low attention span, in the sense she does not like to be taught. If she does not instantly 'get' something, it will be hands in the air, tantrum/ rage and giving up. We strongly suspect she has PDA but that's another whole battle to get diagnosed (and definitely another Post!). So, sometimes, from a purely practical point of view, we have to skip over things and come back to them another time. This was a perfect time to go back through these things.
Naturally, she was hugely reluctant and there was plenty of huffing, eye rolling and fidgeting - which you just learn to ignore with a benign smile :-) So, pretending that no-one was 'ever so slightly' kicking me under the table and speaking to me like a teenager that's been caught at 2am, we pressed on - and whaddayaknow, we got through Fractions (which she HATES), double figures multiplication and a number of other exercises she had found tricky. And how pleased was she when she started to 'get' them? And worked through the answers, correctly, on her own. Score Big Win to Mummy & DD :-)
DS came back to join us, and DD decided to have a well-earned break. So, perfect opportunity for some 1-2-1 time with DS. He did some reading, and finished a book he was finding quite tricky. Reading is difficult with DS as he becomes very distracted and frustrated with the pictures! If the artist has now drawn something 'correctly' - eg. a person with 3 fingers instead of 5, a vase not quite sitting on the table, marks to indicate movement - this bothers him terribly and he becomes quite angry. Sometimes we have to cover the pictures up completely, other times he can tolerate it. Largely depends on whether it is a Good or Bad day. Although, to be honest, if it's a Bad day we certainly wouldn't be doing any reading lol!
After reading he decided he was in the mood for some spellings - so I decided to test him on some of his basic High Frequency Words. He got 10/10 and wanted to carry on. We eventually got to 33 before he decided he'd had enough :-)
Then he settled down to do some maths. It was tricky, he was really struggling to focus and was becoming frustrated with himself as he knew the answers and just kept losing focus. It was a 'swimming through soup' kind of mood, so we decided to leave it after a couple of pages and have an early lunch instead. Pasta, grated cheese and pine nuts for him. One of his absolute faves! He has the pasta plain, Penne is his favourite as he likes to stuff the tubes with pine nuts! Tactile, sensory and food = happy DS! :-)
After lunch the kids got themselves ready and we headed on out to take DD to her Creative Writing lesson (she has started a 12 week block of lessons, taught by another HE Mum). She was so excited to be learning with a number of her friends :-) While she was doing that, DS and I went for a walk in the very cold, but beautiful, sunshine :-
We found a bank that led to a stream that was frozen over and DS had wonderful fun breaking the ice with various sticks etc.
Then it was time to go and pick up DD. As we wandered back, DS noticed the moon was "up past his bedtime" :-) :-) :-) So we took a picture to show you -
We had a few errands in town to run afterwards, including posting DD's matchbox swap (we do a monthly swap scheme, run by a fellow HE Mum) and letter to her penfriend (she has a local penfriend - a girl her age also Home Educated) but we stopped for a well earned hot chocolate first - and my first ever Chai Latte! I am officially a fan :-)
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