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Showing posts with the label family fun

Domestic Foraging

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Sophia’s pet project of her herb garden is proving to be a success. She has managed to keep them alive for a couple of weeks now, and takes her responsibility seriously. She spends time with her little charges daily and worries about them when they’re left out in the rain. A parsley plant joined the ranks this last week, donated by Grannie, and it has happily settled in amongst the rosemary, chives, oregano and thyme. It got the tour of the garden by Xander who carried it round proudly, before Sophia gave it some tender loving care, removing its dead heads, giving it a trim and a water. She was clucking over it like a right little mother hen. We had a chat the other morning while she was tending her charges over which herbs compliments which meats and dishes which she found very interesting. She has been providing herbs for varying bbq meals which we have been enjoying during the past fortnight, and takes a taste test daily to see the quality of her stock. Sophia has shown a great inte...

A Celebration Of Kindness Throughout The Centuries

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What is charity? It is an act of kindness, thoughtfulness, to help someone in need, to make the world a better place. It does not always have to involve a donation. As you wander down the street you may never know what charitable works are occurring around us. A smile to a stranger may make their day and give them a sense of self worth, even though you may not feel like smiling. Letting someone ahead of us in a queue, could mean they're not late for a shift. My husband used to accept his right to have a meal at work so he could pass it on to one of the many homeless people living on the streets. I visited a park in Sheffield recently with Sophia and was struck by two acts of charity which have enveloped the park. One had occurred over a century ago and was epitomised by a memorial statue. Sophia stood looking up at it and asked me who it was and why there was a statue named Elliot in the park. I must admit to my ignorance here and said merely that he was a poet, which she accepte...

Home Schooling: The Epitome Of Eclectic Learning

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No two days are alike when you home school three children at this amazing age where everything is an adventure and they find joy in any new exploration, whether it is found academically or outside in nature. The subjects may stay the same but the key is to keep the approach spontaneous and in the hands of the children if possible. Over the course of two days, surprising and magical events took place.   In regards to the academic side of things the girls were practicing their mental maths, multiplying by two, five and ten, and adding in tens and ones at breakfast time, and providing alternative additions and subtraction variants to reach the number seven and nine, and then they spent some time on their current maths workbooks. Xander proudly showed his mental maths skills off answering 1+1, 1+2 and 2+2. Multiplying by three has a hit a mental block past the stage of twelve, despite verbal repetition and YouTube songs, so I think I need to get creative and make the three times tabl...

100th Day Celebration

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Sophia was keen to practice her handwriting and her chosen content today was a mix of spellings and copying out animals from a book. She was absolutely fascinated to learn that I had a few secrets up my sleeve. She spelt out the word ‘was’, I whispered to her to add the secret letter ‘h’ and her face lit up in wonder as she read the word ‘wash’. She started squealing with joy when I told her to add ‘ing’. She now knows how to spell washing! She is really blossoming with her writing and spelling and is so connected and tuned in. Long may it remain! Xander was sat on the floor reading through Kiras current set of sight words pack of flashcards, words like ‘remember’ and ‘children’ did not faze him at all. Today marked one hundred days since Xander had his Bonemarrow transplant which is a massive milestone. He has survived the most critical part of the transplant and any complications past this stage should be far less dangerous and the risk should now continue to diminish as time passes ...