Fail to plan and plan to fail (or some other b******s)

Of course, having an assignment deadline, and a house that desperately needs pre-christmas attention, I am focusing on home education instead.

I like to have plans this time of year, just as I like to start after Summer with a sort of 'Autumn plan' (years of schooling have instilled strange seasonal behaviours into my neural networks - like the desire to buy stationery in September). We never stick to these plans. They just give me some reassurance that we are organised and have direction. And they give me a damn good excuse to spend money on Amazon.

So my plans are...

To 'do' Story of the World Vol 1 with ds2 and dd. In my enthusiasm I have already written out a schedule for the first three months of 2012 with lists of weekly SOTW activities and possible outings...let's see if we get past the first fortnight, shall we?

Attempt the Intel Design and Discovery curriculum with ds1 and ds2. As always, when I discover a new resource on the internet, one that is free and comprehensive and hands-on I cannot resist. I give this one 3-4 weeks. That's if we get past 'design a new paperclip' without rolling eyes and groans. It could all fall at the first hurdle. If so that rainforest may have been pulped in vain.

Something Shakespearian or Tudorian (yeah, I know that's not a word). There's a Shakespeare exhibition at the British Museum from summer 2012. It's a possible. Or I could just drag the kids to Stratford point at a few 'Ye Olde Barde livede here-e' and be done with it. But if we're doing ancient history with SOTW, then jumping into the Tudors might confuse things. But then again...do we EVER do anything in chronological order? Dinosaurs next then.

I downloaded this biochemistry module which we might start. Or we might not. We should, because I paid for it. But that's not always a good enough reason. I'm not sure how much it crosses over with Ellen McHenry's Carbon Chemistry. Perhaps we've already done too much chemistry and there will be mutiny among the troops. It'll be one of those 'suck it and see' things I think. Or a 'can I be bothered?' thing. Jury out.

And apart from that...

Er well of course my children will be knuckling down to their daily regime of hours of literacy and numeracy and latin and French, German, Spanish, Mandarin and Swahili, while studying for IGCSE's in performance arts and political history, and winning awards for essay writing, spelling, ice skating, dance and gymnastics. And then after breakfast...

World War I letters from the trenches and our Home Educating plans

[for WWI letters see the end of this post]

It must be that time of year.

The desire to purchase books, stationery, new shiny shoes and scented rubbers (that's erasers if you happen to be in the US), is overwhelming. All these years out of school and I still can't quite shake off that 'new school year' habit.

To ease the addiction and avoid spending a fortune on books at Amazon marketplace I've been putting together a bit more of a plan for our home ed. At the moment ds1 is looking at WWI and has been for a month or so. I've posted the WWI resources we are using here.

It's on a new blog I've created and called Home Education Themes and Resources . I'm hoping to use this as a basic website to post infrequently the resources that we are using and/or have found helpful for various themes.

Sometimes it can be hard work finding, for example, children's fiction on a particular theme and if someone has trodden that path before you they have a small responsibility to help out others behind them. Hmm...that sounds very rightous and do-gooding, but in essence what I'm saying is that anything that makes HE a little easier is a good thing. Been there, done that, here's what I did in case it helps you.

As most of you may know we aren't terribly structured in our approach to home education. We have long periods of something close to autonomous education, interspersed with brief periods of panic and then usually followed by more structured periods of involving projects, outings, activities. A sort of eclectic mix of whatever interests us. At the moment it seems the right time for us to lurch into something a little more organised. (Please Note: organised doesn't mean imposed or taught. We don't do lessons and I am not my children's teacher. )

So...our plans.

Ds2 is currently 'doing' Japan, particularly ancient Japan and Samurai. No post for that on my HE themes and resources blog yet, but when I get a chance I'll add the one with the resources and links we've found useful.

In addition to this the boys are doing a rifle proficiency course so we are gently working our way through the handbook in anticipation of the final exam in a few weeks time. (Yawn...but they are enjoying it)

Handwriting. Well we try. Peridically. And usually give up. But it's on the list. And we all know that lists look good on walls. Maybe the fairy godmother of literacy will arrive and give my children the gift of neat writing one day. Until then I'll keep writing lists.

Chemistry. Having completed the fab course The Elements from Ellen McHenry's Basement Workshop, we are now starting the Carbon Chemistry course from the same website. These are our attempts at constructing allotropes of carbon from sweets and cocktail sticks:

(the above is a totally new allotrope designed by dd

and then promptly eaten afterwards!)

And cooking. Yes, we will be cooking. Anyone who has read this blog for a few years will know how much I hate cooking with the kids. However....I have decided we will use Posh Boy's (Hugh Fearnly-Whatsisface's) book The River Cottage Family Cookbook as a basic guideline to a cooking course. It has heaps of background info to the ingredients and, well, it actually makes sense and the recipes are do-able. Starting with the topic of flour and yeast (see photos below)

(note: this is the best loaf of bread produced in our kitchen

for years - must be all the sweat off those 'helping hands')

we'll work our way through 'milk', 'cheese', 'eggs' and so on. There are masses of free resources and vids online to support these topics (lots of organisations whose self-interest it is to promote the benefits of a particular food item). We'll see how long it takes before I ban all small children from the kitchen again.

And going back to the theme of WWI...yesterday I found in a box, among old birth certificates, old photos etc) several letters written during the first world war, including one written from the trenches.

This morning the children and I opened up the letters and sat deciphering them at the table.

The pile of papers included a home-typed Northampton newspaper (First Edition) written several days after the great strikes of 1926 started, describing the situation and the ban (? I didn't know there was a ban) on newspapers. All interesting stuff.

I don't think these papers come from our family, more likely something we picked up at a car boot sale at some time and never got a chance to look at. Neither of us can face leaving 'house-clearance' photos or papers on a trestle table at a car boot. Something compels us to take them home. As it did with this selection of papers, bundled up with string.

Fascinating pieces of history, particularly the WWI letters, some of which the writer states were sent illegally to avoid censorship. Once we get more time I will transcribe the letters and post them somewhere online so others can read them too.

Above, the writer talks of being issued with a bayonet:[a] 'most bloodthirsty looking weapon and I fear I am far too faint-hearted to relish the idea of pushing it into a German.'

Breaks your heart, doesn't it?

And what will the new year bring?

Now is the time traditionally set aside for reflective thinking and planning (or mulling over the train wreck of the previous year if you're a 'glass half-empty' sort of person).

I am a compulsive planner.
An addictive thinker.
And not so much of a do-er.
This is my downfall: planning, thinking, weighing up pros and cons, making little lists and diagrams and charts, researching all the possibilities...and then...not doing.

But this year it WILL be different (I think). Yes I will plan it to be different. I will plan to DO more and think less. Hmm...already I'm heading for a headache.

First thing to tackle is our home education strategy. At the end of last year our home education was heading way off the rails. Somehow the 'autonomous' part had got lost among the 'I need to tick some boxes' part and the 'I need to tick some boxes' part gradually became the 'sit down there and do this or else you will make me feel like a crap mother and I'll cry and make you feel guilty' strategy. Not an approach to be recommended.

So this year? Well I'm still undecided. Truth is we are rarely completely autonomous, yet most of the time I am pretty relaxed about what the kids do. That is until little Jonny down the road can say his 9 times table backwards while riding a unicycle and playing grade 8 level flute and discussing Shakespearian tragedy. Then the anxiety sets in.

So a few days ago I asked the kids for some things they wanted to do/places they wanted to go.

Wow! I must have been such a scary mummy these past few months. How do I know? Because ds1 said
'I quite like doing maths'
and ds2 said 'my maths books were ok'.
Uh oh!
So I say, 'Ok, boys, you can be honest now, I wont mind.' They look at me as if this is a trick. 'No really. I want to know what you want to do.'

It took about half an hour and some prompting and reassurances and suggestions, but eventually they came up with a list that looks something like this:

ds1
Handwriting & punctuation practice (yes he actually wanted to do handwriting!)
Science: Biology/microscopy; Gases; Rocket science & big bangs
Learn to make pancakes & other cooking
Use metal detector at allotment
Build a raft/boat

ds2
Leonardo da Vinci project
WWII project and outings
Weekly science, e.g. Krampf
Find a park for using mountain board

dd
Knitting/sewing
Cooking
Basic science: growing/plant biology
Bike:Getting off stabilizers!

All
Cooking from the Posh Boy's Family cookbook
Get hold of the Horrible Histories Cds - Tudors? Georgians?
Make ginger beer, beer and wine
Build bird boxes
Meteorology/Weather - make barometer, hygrometer, clouds, weather vane, rainfall

So, all in all, not a bad list to start the new year. I just have to keep those anxieties at arm's length and focus on where we're heading.

Er...where are we heading? Anyone got a map?