A Learning Experience to Remember: August 2021-August 2022

This was a great activity.  I asked Sophia to draw out a variety of shapes and cut them out.  Her final task was to create a scene with her resulting shapes. She produced a soldier on top of a castle, a house and a volcano.  She spent the afternoon making up stories surrounding these set pieces.

What are your must have pieces of furniture which help to contain resources and equipment? This three tiered trolley on wheels is absolutely great for storing day to day arts and crafts. I used to have a system of clean paper in the middle tray and finished pieces of art at the bottom. They're so versatile.  Teaching would be difficult for me without my trusty plastic craft drawers. They're deep, inexpensive and durable. I repurpose these constantly, depending on what stage the children are in their learning jouney.  We used to have a clothes rail full of dressing up clothes when they were in this stage of roleplay.  We have a shelving unit to house the educational games.  Cubby hole units have been really successful for book storing.  You may not be able to devote an entire room to schooling, but pieces like these can be spread round the house and just help to upkeep the organisation. It is so easy to get yourself in a muddle!  I need to reorganise several...

A holiday for us is a pushing of boundaries.  It is fraught with concern beforehand.  It can so easily be derailed.  We went away on holiday in the summer.  To a new location, a new home, visiting my mother who had moved since our last pre covid visit.  I planned it to the nth degree, had contingencies in place for weather changes and the children's reactions.  My maximum goals: A heavily planned week of educational and social events including: - Farms - Zoo - A boat trip to see seals  - Aquarium  - Visits to neighbours  - Beach trips - A glass blowing class  - A shell museum   - A birthday party  - Réunion and sleepover with cousins  Their hurdles: - New home  - New area  - Away from dad - No safe places marked out - Heavy socialising - Multiple events happening daily - All new first time events - Extensive car rides - No tech all week except for ipads.  My expectations: - They wouldn't be able to hand...

Child led learning can often receive a bad press. Maybe there's a fear attached to the rejection of the concept of allowing the children to have a choice, some power over their education.  I find the snow ball effect of learning absolutely magical, it takes you places you'd never imagine.  We traveled an educational path from seeing a wind turbine for the first time, back in time to the land of the dinosaurs.  Sophia caught sight of a wind turbine one day last year as we past it in the car. She was really interested and enjoyed a spontaneous car lesson. She kept talking about it past the moment, so I took it further.  We looked at the basics, electrical items within the home, health and safety concerning the items, the concept behind charging their ipads. Sophia created a electrical circuit lighting up a light bulb.  We moved on to fossil fuels, the greenhouse effect, and then on to renewable energy. This project took over the learning year with the children ask...

Sophia is loving her education, both on an academic level, as well as training to be capable and equipped in what should be the basics.  She enjoys taking part in activities which teach home life skills. She voluntarily helps around the house helping with easy cleaning and tidying tasks and has certain personal responsibilities which she takes pride in completing.  She has been in charge of a little herb and fruit patch with half a dozen herbs, strawberry and tomato plants for over a year now. She tends to them daily, and has greatly enjoyed eating from her garden over the summer, and dehydrating herbs for the cupboard.  Sophia has enjoyed going out on foraging adventures this summer and coming home with her spoils of apples and blackberries and utilising them in desserts and enjoying bowlfuls of them.  She loves cooking with us, and has been learning different culinary skills, including making mirepoix, marinades and sauces.  Sophia has been learning about succ...

I am sneaky. I'm learning how to get the best from Sophia and hide my agenda from her.  My aim?  To keep her mental health stable and confidence at a high level.  The result is pure positivity.  Sophia suffers from anxiety and catastrophic thinking. Thus telling her I am reviewing her for the LA would just be a non starter. She would panic, close down, have a mind blank and then get upset... This is why no professional is allowed to quiz my children on their knowledge.  I have been testing her all month... She's been unaware.  'Sophia can you do me a favour honey? can you teach your brother please....' She recited in multiples of 2,3,4,5,10 and 11.  Told him answers to mental addition 1-10  Fractions  Telling the time  Basic measurement and weight  'Sophia I love it when you play to me, would you play all your pieces for me please'  Perfect renditions.  'Sophia shall we have a spelling quiz with Kira?'  She knows over...

Sophia has written a diary on her adventures to Nana's during the summer holiday. Enjoy reading about her adventures.  She tells me what she wants to write. I write it in a manner which is a mix of words she knows how to independently spell and new related words. I dictate it back to her and she has handwriting practice. The goal is that she learns new words per page.

  'Sophia repeat that again please' A recognisable tune emerged from the old, damaged ukulele strings of a beloved instrument which has been with Sophia since she was a baby. I crouched down to peek under the kitchen table where our six year old was sitting grinning like a Cheshire cat.  'You've done it again haven't you?' Sophia uncurled herself from her siting position and left her hiding spot, ukulele in hand and wandered off smirking to herself.  A quick musical timeline for you all.  A quick musical progression timeline: Sophia has enjoyed six years of music appreciation and has had ready access to a variety of both Fisher Price and real instruments.  She has experienced rhyme sessions at local libraries, music themed sessions at holiday parks, and musical circle times at playgroups with children within her age group.  In the summer 2021 we brought a keyboard which she liked to explore. In January 2022 we acquired an upright piano and hired a music tut...

We were off on the children's first ever holiday by the sea for five days.  Weather permitting we had so many adventures ahead and new places to explore! Hopefully a few of these would pan out!  Beaches  Shell museum Playdates galore  New playgrounds to explore  Petting zoo  Wild animal zoo  A native animal safari  A sea safari  A pre birthday party Cousin sleepovers Gardening in an allotment  Visiting a gardening centre Glass blowing demo and experience  Sea life aquarium visit  Visiting a Toy shop for the first time ever! (I think they're most excited about this more than anything).  Their learning journey will definitely be fun and interesting.  The day before had felt the closest to the last day of school feel that we've ever reached before.  They packed their toys.  Sophia made sure she had the piano app on her ipad so she can continue her practicing whilst away, and practiced her repertoire on it to en...

What does the Queen of England and my little darlings have in common?   Not a lot.  We had a relaxing Friday one day in July, with an eclectic mix of lessons gently infiltrating throughout the day.  *The girls looked at pictures of 'Grannie' Queen from her 70 years reign. They think she looks beautiful at all ages and love the fact she was home educated by tutors. * We had arts and crafts based on nature (30 days wild project).  * We looked at specific details of different continents.  *Mental maths practice.  * Brain training in terms of concentration, puzzle solving, spot the difference.  * Electronics/circuits lesson with Daddy, with writing and drawing of diagrams.  * Plenty of piano practice.  * Quiz on opposites and rhyming words.  *Chess game with Daddy.  * Made redstone farms on minecraft, reading up from a book and implementing it in the game.  *Reading comprehension activities took place, and lots of reading on g...

Staying engaged.  Staying focused.  Staying motivated. Keeping the interest and desire.  Finishing off a commenced task.  These are a few Adhd related difficulties Sophia faces.  As her teacher I need to identify and accept these, and teach in a manner to try and minimise her urges to switch off in an instant.  If the thought enters her head that she cannot do the task then that is the end of it.  It is my challenge to slow down or prevent this core default response which can be very controlling and dominant within her.  We are currently half away through writing a diary on her recent holiday. It is the first time she has reported on a series of events.  She recalls and tells me her experiences. I in turn, whilst keeping the information and the emotion intact, need to construct sentences I know she'll be able to spell or sound out herself. The challenge for me is to repeat the words frequently across the theme of the diary in order that she g...

What do my children do when they're Engaged? Learn Playing? Learn Exercising? Learn Copying mummy? Learn Bored? Learn Awake? THEY LEARN!  Do they stay motivated? Yes Do they love being at home? Yes Are they free? Yes   Do they choose to learn independently? All the time!  Do they burn out? No, because they lead the pace and flow.  Do they ever resist learning? Yes and no. They may resist my choice of lesson, but they will have an alternative to offer. Negotiating and debating subjects is common place with my eldest.... What she fails to realise is, she's learning transferable life skills whilst she's arguing why her choice of lesson is superior than mine.  I'll negotiate terms which aligns both of our wishes, because the key is that she stays engaged.  This is the reality of a growing up in a learning environment. I have my daily checklist of subjects and skill practice, and they choose how we complete this. Teamwork leads to peace and success. There is no ...

Do you ever feel that as adults we can become blinkered sometimes?  We are weighted down with responsibilities.  Some of us are trapped in the past.  Some of us are too focused on the future.  The present day can be at times merely dismissed as hours we are counting down to reach tomorrow.  I feel in the hustle and bustle we can forget to be in the moment, we don't tend to allow ourselves the gift of boredom, of silence, of focusing on ourselves, or learning from our environment.  Children are naturals at living in the present moment, and at exploring and learning from their surroundings. They lose this gift somewhere along the way.  We have set our house up to be a learning environment, to stimulate the children's imagination, natural curiosity and to take advantage of their ability to absorb knowledge like a sponge.  I love seeing this in action.  We have half of the living room set up for the purpose of developing creativity and imaginatio...

Let them play. Most definitely. I support this 100%.  I also support my children in following their cues and facilitating their learning experiences surrounded by their personal interests and passions.   Xander was role playing with his Paw Patrol toys at 7.45am.  He noticed his sisters had left the room and found them crafting in the school room. He returned with a pencil and paper.  'Xander wants to draw baby Alexander' Due to his developmental delay in his motor skills he still needs me to hold the pencil to add weight to the pencil for it to make a mark.  I chatted with him what he needs to do in order, he manipulates the direction of the pencil and will be telling me he needs a circle for the face for example and my hand just follows to lend the strength he needs.  I noticed last year that he was becoming frustrated, he could picture what he wanted to put on paper and knew how to move his hand in order to correct make the depiction, but his grip i...

A mystery virus which is not covid (apparently) is still kicking all of us down. So how's the home education going with us? They've read more in the past week then they have in the past month, no energy distracting them.  They're writing get well soon cards to each other, stencilling/drawing/colouring, and practicing how to type via the Xbox controller on Minecraft writing diary entries.  We have a cafe set up at the back of the living room and the children are taking it in turns to feed each other delectable meals which turn my stomach despite being plastic. The food I'm actually cooking is a token gesture currently, if you're hungry eat out of the fridge, it's set up for a cold buffet. Lots of educational Youtube playlist and Ipad time happening on general knowledge, science, phonics, animals. The occasional mental maths or spellings round.  There was a heated debate punctuated by sneezing between the girls, on identifying fruit and vegetables.  Lots of piano ...

Memorable educational moments. This was one of the main aims behind our recent holiday. I researched the area and cherry picked a handful which I thought they'd most enjoy, lining up with the topic of the year which is animals, as well as the Wildlife Trust initiative of 30 days wild.  Additionally I wished for them to have a couple of unique experiences unrelated to their present educational learning journey to spark their imagination and learn a practical skill.  One was a glass blowing experience! It was slightly nerve-racking taking two young autistic children into a glass themed shop. They behaved perfectly however, obeying my instructions.  They had an hour long demonstration where they saw four items being made and the glass master's presentation was very informative. Kira could not believe that this skill requires 5-7 years of schooling.  The show ended with a giant glass bubble, the size of my daughters being blown, and then smashed. Sophia was really enthus...

Do you ever start a conversation and marvel how you reached the end discussion point?  It's quite possibly a daily occurance if you have children.  Me: Review your educational adventures and tell me your favourite part of each and why. Sophia: Chatted away happily for about twenty minutes on the subject, then follows up the visit on the boat to visit seals with 'why is the sea salty?' We did some research and had a chat about it. Following her lead of questioning we found out which oceans didn't have salt in them and how do you remove salt from water and what happens if you drink it.  Sophia: I loved going to Nanas and having so much fun. When I'm grown up and have a car I'm driving to Nanas every weekend to see her. What do I need to do in order to drive?  Me: Chatting about licences and learning about the theory and practical.  Sophia: What does it mean to brake when you're in the car?  Me: Answered her.  Sophia: My cousin was showing me to brake a f...

 'Mummy come over here! Oh Mummy look! It's so pretty, wow!' Sophia and I had visited a shell museum, the building of which had been built with the specific intention by a gentleman who wished to display his and his wife's shell collection after she passed away. This initial collection has been added too over the years by other donations from over the world. The other visitors were amused by Sophia running round thankfully. It was very obvious she was in awe, excited, and desperate to explore all the shelves and cabinets.  She asked questions, listened to me reading the information cards, and was very engaged. She was allowed to choose a shell from the shop for her and her sister.  On return back to her grandmother's house I did not expect her to make reference to it again particularly.  She disappeared into the garden with her siblings.  Within an hour I was invited to her shell museum, and had to pay a fee to enter the garden to the exhibit.  She had four...

The toy bags were muddled again. We do have a system but we also have three children aged 4-6, so life happens, themes get switched. What is important is a regular sort out. Xander chose to initiate this the other day, as he tipped out a muddled bag of mixed toys. He was kicking them aimlessly round, not inspired to play.  He then said he wanted to sort the mess out, so he worked hard with me and within ten minutes we had blocks, kitchen, animals and people all sorted out in their themed bags. It's the first time he's initiated it, so very big milestone. He then wanted to play with the bricks and he had a really good fruitful session, making models, whilst singing nursery rhymes to himself. He presented them to me and chatting about them. He was focused and did a good hour's work. This was not hapening before the organising of the toys. He could not focus on an activity, over stimulated by the mess. Organisation of resources, especially toys, is key to consistent productivi...

Are you flexible in your home learning journey? This does not just refer to changing the lessons or the day schedule, or even the resources.  It means the acceptance to go back a step when necessary in the teaching process. This can be seen as a negative in traditional schooling, the aim being always pushing forwards to set goals and aims. In home education, you can travel at the pace which is right for your individual child, and if they need to return/retrace and repeat a step because they've moved forward too fast we need to acknowledge this as their teachers and explain it to your child in a way that it's not seen as a failure. Kira has been decreasing her handwriting size with smaller lines for a time now by her own choice, she's wanted to stay abreast with Sophia. The difference however in this skill set is noticeable. Again this is not a negative. It is a fact, based on Sophia being a year and a half older, and she has larger hands, with longer fingers. She has reache...