A Learning Experience to Remember: August 2021-August 2022

The morning period is personally the best time of day for lessons for my girls. They are alert, focused and raring to start lessons, consequently breakfast lessons are an established learning time. I have a captive audience, they are in the kitchen with me anyway learning how to prepare the food, tidy down and set the table. This session can be the best for attention span and concentration out of the entire day, so I have learnt to capitalise on this precious half hour.  This morning we learnt twenty spellings from two word families. They are storming through their word lists, quickly approaching the 200 mark in only a couple of months. I cannot recommend this learning style enough, the girls are retaining their spelling knowledge and are actively using the words in their artwork in their free time. Today they also requested spelling tests to be their handwriting practice, and did further spelling practice on top for another half an hour through choice.  The rest of breakfast ...

There is so much potential for learning on car journeys. This time Sophia's attention was caught by seeing electricity pylons and wind turbines and she was avidly asking questions about these. I briefly introduced them to her and offered to set up some follow up science educational YouTube videos at a later date. Good old 'Dr Binocs' came through and the children have been eagerly learning about fossil fuels, renewable energy and electricity. Sophia has started writing down her thoughts and knowledge on electricity in her new science book. It is a great sidestep from their current topic of light, which is being learnt enthusiastically. They have loved their light experiments, as simple as they were, including going into a dark room and shining a torch, seeing how a pencil seems to change when placed in a glass of water, just with a light shining on it. Observing what materials allow light to pass through and which cast shadows, and performing shadow puppet plays on the wall...

This first week of October has flown by, centering around Sophia's 6th birthday, and our learning journey has strongly been influenced by new crafts which were gifted to Sophia.  Arts and crafts have an important role to play in teaching and reinforcing skills, particularly for those who are in early years education. Sophia has decorated a clock for her bedroom, counting in fives around the clock as she coloured. It was a project that required great concentration, she wanted to stay within the lines and create an end product she was proud of. She chose a beautiful and elegant colour scheme and took regular breaks to make sure she kept concentration, to rest her hand. She would go outside to play, then come in and work on the next piece.  She was also gifted with a weaving project, and this was the first time she had seen this skill so she had a lot of questions about what the skill was used for. Following her interest we watched YouTube videos to show her the history, art and ...

This last week heralded an unexpected extended stay in hospital with Xander fighting several serious infections in his bloodstream, so whilst the staff worked to prevent sepsis, our family had to adjust to hospital life once more. Home education has to continue both for the girls and little man at this time, as it is not a one off occasion but is our way of life. It is not an excuse to not learn. The pattern of learning may change under Daddy and Grannie's care, but what is important, is that the learning journey continues. The girls applied existing knowledge and skills to new situations, enjoyed a lot of physical education and learning new skills.  Sophia likes being post mistress and collecting the letters from the front door. She has been practicing reading from takeaway menus and writing down dishes, before she put them into the recycling. As she helped to prep the meals she was reading from the back of the packets, utilising her skills from outside of the traditional reading ...