Tuesday 20 December 2011

Finally got around to...

the game 'Science Adventures in Antarctica' that I printed out free from Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop.


The boys were interested for all of about 20 minutes {g}. But we gave it a go.

Actually, with other children who don't have cabin fever and insist on antagonising or wrestling with each other every few minutes, it could be quite a good game.

I made the mistake of laminating everything (I was having a laminating frenzy) which a) makes the game more permanent so we will HAVE to use it again (it now has it's own folder to go in) and b) meant that I kept stabbing my fingers on the sharp corners of the laminated cards (which put me in a bad mood and meant I had to go buy chocolate and cola to make me happy).
I feel I can well and truly tick off the 'polar' theme now.


Have you noticed how we seem to be getting more 'structured' in our home ed projects/ activities? I'm not sure if this is the influence of alittlebitofstructure forum (great site, check it out), or if it is the age of my eldest child (very soon to be teenager), or the increased cooperation of my children to do structured tasks (probably related to the age of eldest child), or my desire to see a few more boxes ticked (always a nice bonus), or because I have been persuing my own creative achievements and have needed to instigate some routine into the learning in the house (rather than the usual fluid way things are able happen when I am less self-preoccupied) or (more likely) whether it is just a natural development of where we've been going and where we've ended up.

There is no 'one-way' of doing home ed. I try to encourage others, particularly newbies, not to get hung-up on a certain method or routine, but to be flexible and to seek out the way that works best for their family. It's very easy to get stuck in a rut, or to insist on 'seeing out' a particular curriculum or project, just because you have started it. But in the end, home ed works best when you are going 'with the grain' of the child, not against it.

So this is where we are now. And it's ok.

4 comments:

Anne B said...

I think it goes in phases, BMF. We have times when we're more child led and others when they humour me.

And thanks for the warning about the game. I was just looking at it and wondering if the faff factor was worth it. Neither of mine are good losers, so I think that's a 'no..'

Ruth said...

We made the game and laminated it and now it is in a folder. Deep joy. I would have hoyed it in the recycling bin if it hadn't been laminated and I hadn't wasted a whole ink cartridge trying to put the answers to the questions the right way up on the back of the cards. D thought it was a Polar based game of Risk but lost interest straightaway when he realised it wasn't lol. I must remember to empty the Polar theme out of their boxes cos we are certainly not carrying on with anymore of it.

We go in fits and starts too.

Jennifer Williams said...

Are you on the Education otherwise list? Did you get the e-mail about the polar expedition day in plymouth next year? linking live to a current polar expedition i think? Jen x

Motherfunker said...

Amen! Love your blog x