A Learning Experience to Remember: August 2021-August 2022

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 ...