Saturday 27 July 2013

Something has been eating our dragonflies

Even with my mediocre camera, the pictures of the transformation at our little concrete garden pond are quite amazing :)




Someone - or rather something - has been eating our dragonflies. Below is dd's collection of wings picked up from the garden path. She says she saw a bird catching the dragonflies at the pond.




Camping, bikes and all-terrain boards

Dd on her "new" bike bought at the car boot sale where we had a weekend camp.



And some more photos from our camping trip several weeks ago.






And here, ds2 gives the all-terrain board an airing in the park.

Must be summer.




Thursday 25 July 2013

Siege weapons from pegs, elastic bands and lolly sticks

I've been getting the kids to test out some models of catapult that I'm hoping to use at a workshop in September. We're using this as a basic model and modifying it to suit our resources.





This is our version (more modifications to be made):




Retrieving ammunition from the garden:




Wednesday 24 July 2013

Boat-building adventures at the weekend

 The boys got hold of some huge thick sheets of foam from the scrapstore and set about boat building. At the weekend they got a chance to test them out on the lake.


I can walk in them, honest.


Ds2 in his kayak, dd on ds1's boat and ds1 realising that dd has forgotten to take the paddle (the green bit of plastic nailed to a bit of wood!)


 A slight mishap in the reeds.




Dd shortly before losing both her crocs in the mud. Half an hour of mud-poking later and they rose to the surface!


Steering is always a problem :)


Archive footage of Joy Baker - 1960s interview on home education

This came up on a home ed list (thanks to whoever posted it!) and I thought others might enjoy. The cameraman is obviously trying to make a critical comment with all the shots of Joy's washing lol.

"A European home-edder has found fascinating Anglia TV archive footage of Joy Baker being interviewed about her court cases."

http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/116621

http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/208166

Tuesday 23 July 2013

Home educating the child who 'wont engage'

Do you have a child who goes along with whatever you do, home-ed-wise, but who never fully engages?

A child who can't wait to be somewhere else - anywhere else?

A child whose most common phrases are 'Are we finished?' and  'Can I go now?'

Would your child choose to socialise all day, every day? Or perhaps would sit playing computer games endlessly?

Do they appear to retain little, if any, of what you do together, and make no apparent connections between all the different things they see or read or experience?

Do they ask you 'What are we doing tomorrow?'
     and then five minutes later say 'So what was it we were doing tomorrow?'
                  and then ten minutes later 'So what day is tomorrow?'
                         and then 'Are we doing anything tomorrow?'
                                and then 'Can I have a sleepover (if we're not doing anything tomorrow).'

Do you spend 5 weeks on "shapes" only to find they don't even remember how many sides a triangle has, and don't actually care?

Do they tell friends that you are taking them on a boat holiday on the Nile, because somehow they've confused one of the longest rivers in the world with a local canal?

Do you give them instructions to do - or fetch - something, only to find them fishing tadpoles out the garden pond or decorating a cardboard box with marker pen. Even with several reminders, do they never quite get to the target (unless you actually follow them and prod them)?

Do they appear to have few noticeable observational skills, an absence of self-motivational urges to explore new things, no interest in anything you've organised, even if it involves a subject that you thought they were interested in.

Does self-directed learning not work because although they have the ability to poke holes in soil for an hour or generally noodle around for no apparent educational purpose, on the days when you have something urgent you need to get on with they hang limply to your ankles and declare that they are going to simply die of boredom.

Do you occasionally sneak a side-glance at them and wonder 'Are the lights on? Is there anyone at home?'

Does it frustrate the heck out of you...?



Ellen McHenry science: eyes are bigger than stomach


I'm hoping to catch up with biology with the kids over summer. To kick off we've dug out the free Ellen McHenry invertebrate lift-the-flap classification chart from here.



It's a shame she never made a vertebrate version, but I rediscovered the classification cards that I'd lovingly laminated long ago when I was in a laminating mood and these are now velcroed to a felt board. I am starting to feel like a proper home educator ;)

Ellen McHenry's The Elements has made a reappearance. We've used it before so most of the printing and prep for games has already been done. I'm also planning to start Environmental biology IGCSE with ds1. Well, we are going to tentatively dip our toes in that direction (let's not get ahead of ourselves).


As you might have guessed, it's a case of eyes bigger than stomach. My enthusiasm to cover lots of subjects is larger than the time or energy we have to do it all.







Sunday 14 July 2013

"Actually, my kids are amazing."

Imagine the scene.

*****
You bump into someone you haven't met for a while.

You engage in polite chit-chat. 

They ask how everything is going . 

"Fine," you say. 

They ask how the kids are.

"Fine." 

You move on.

*****

I've made a promise to myself. Next time anyone asks how the kids are, I'm not going to say "fine". No. Next time, I might say "Actually, my kids are amazing."

Because no matter how much we mumble and moan about our kids and focus on the 'issues' and 'problems', the day-to-day grind, AND ALL THAT STUFF, if we take the time to stop and look, our kids really are AMAZING.






Ds2's contribution for the group's Arts Award display, inspired by sessions with artist, Bethany Milam. He also completed a behind-the-scenes video of a children's performance and researched Michele Paver for his portfolio.


Dd wins bronze medal for her age group at the fencing England Youth Championships, having only been fencing in full kit since September. (Note the lovely apres-fencing-pink-crocs-with-socks look ;) ) 




The other competitors were a little taller :)



But perhaps even more of an achievement, dd, having only learned to read this year, writes her first list (unprompted) of essential things to take to the fencing competition. As you can see, ham sandwiches are far more important than fencing kit.



And on a family camping weekend ds1 (14) surprises us all by having a great time with a friend's teenage girls (14 and 18). It seems the gender divide isn't irreparable, even at his age.





Free gorgeous animals of the world colouring pages

Here:

http://www.louiseelliottdesign.net/Download.html

For the reluctant colour-in-er :)