Loving the rain at the moment......

Because it means that the sewage blockage  at the rear of our property gets washed away by the rain!

It really is rank - we have been promised though, that they will start work on the rotting sewage pipes next week.

Anyway.


We got a new cat

Bettie

There was an add in the local newsagents to say that Bettie needed a new home, so we went to meet her and she took to us immediately, so we bought her home.

Our other cat was a bit annoyed to say the least, but she seems to be getting used to her now.

Amelia

Athletics

D won the Devon School Trials, with a great throw of 32.68, which puts him in the top 20 for his age group in the UK, and No 1 in the South West. He now goes onto the Devon Championships in June.

H.E.
B took her first ever exam - iGCSE English (Specification B).  She thinks she did OK, but as always, its difficult to tell.  She is now having the weekend off before making a start revising for her GCSE Maths exam..

J has been busy, with his new reading books and jigsaws, drawing, playing and baking

Making Jam Tarts

We made the most of the nice weather, making time to go to the allotment, where J has his own patch

Planting Potatoes

Watering

Digging

Also went to the sea-side, where J had a great time in the play area next to the beach

Climbing

On the Swan Pedal Boat with his Dad

Enjoying an ice cream

(its worth mentioning that we didn't get this ice cream from our usual place, because in one of the raging storms during the Winter, the Ice Cream Kiosk we normally visit almost got washed into the sea

To top it off, an old military smoke grenade was then found underneath, which dated back to the Second World War!

I'm off now to prepare for J's birthday tomorrow, B has made him an amazing Sponge Bob Square Pants Cake, which I will post a photo of  when finished!

Autonomy, gardening and Trials (of the sporting kind)

I cannot say that the last four months (since my last blog post) has gone to plan with regards to J's Home Education Plans.

But I think I have given up on that.

So I guess we are completely Autonomous.

We started allotmenting about two months ago, and J has learnt a great deal while there.All different kinds of mini beasts and various plants and we have almost got to the point of digging over most of the allotment, once this is done he will have his own patch to tend to, where he would like to plant pumpkins in time for Halloween and carrots for Rudolph at Christmas.  He also has his own spade and rake, along with garden gloves.  He also spends a lot of the time there playing with his action figures, and hurdling over bamboo sticks!

Plan to print out a few identification sheets for insects before our next visit, and he is always referring to various Characters from James and the Giant Peach, which I think we may start reading again, after I have finished reading him Charlotte's Webb, which I am starting this evening.

J spends a lot of time drawing, sometimes from Tutorials online.  He recently copied this from an online Simpsons Tutorial

We have also been watching Astronomy programmes, and we are currently watching Earth's Extraordinary Jouney on BBC2.

With regards to reading and writing, he going at his own pace, and we are not making him sit and practice his reading and writing every day, that will come when his is ready and willing.  Having watched the other two start learning to read at age 7 without any problems I am not particularly  worried, and am more confident this time around.

So going OK, apart from I really would like to do more Science Experiments with him each week, so must get my act together in that area.

Teens.

B is studying away, ready for her iGCSE English exam which she will take soon, as well as still holding down a part time job.

D is studying, not as intensely as B, as he will take his first two next year.

The Rugby season has now come to an end, D and M have really enjoyed  playing and coaching, but are both in need of a rest now I think.  D has recently been selected for Front Row training by the Devon School of Rugby, and has been asked back for further training in the summer, so about a months break and it will all start again.

In the meantime the Athletics season has started, and D threw in his first Discus Competition of the year yesterday, throwing a PB of 30.03.  Wednesday will see him at the Devon School Trials, which is a great achievement for Home Educators as I had to go through all sorts to get him there. Eventually though it has all been sorted, and he will be taking part will all of the other Devon Schools.

So a busy month ahead, exams, trials and of course J's birthday!!!

Weekly Round Up a bit late

Monday

Pouring with rain again, had to go into Exeter to get Becky to the singing group, all going really well.

Tuesday

Sunny - Had a taster session at a local hall for a possible new group, had a great time, lots of families, lots of activities, lots of chat, and best of all cream teas (thanks Eileen)

We had a seasidey ocean type theme, which seemed to go down pretty well:-

Experiments

 Cooking

 Eating it

 and  Socialising amongst other things

Wednesday - HE Group, which was really nice, Becky got to have one to one tuition with the Spanish teacher as a family have left and the other family was away for a birthday.  Danny continued with his favourite topic, Science.  James had a great time in the park, painting the hut (water and paint brushes of course) and I think Becky did a brilliant job playing with James and his friends.

Thursday and Friday - James was a bit under the weather so we didn't meet up with the others for our Friday outing, but we did manage to get to Athletics where Becky had a go at the javelin, and did really well, which surprised her as she didn't think she was any good at throwing,and Danny had a more intense training session with his discus coach.  Its getting serious, as we now have to get him discus shoes. 

Weekend - Mike working for most of it, but the sun was shining, and my brother was visiting.  Spent most of the time at my parents house on Saturday, helping them to sort and pack, ready to move house.

On Sunday we spent all day in the garden by the pool (paddling pool of course).

Monday -  Singing, which again went really well, next week is the last session and they are going to perform for us.

Tuesday I took James to the children's group, he had a lovely time. Mike was off and it was raining so lots of DIY.  Plus they all watched another Harry Potter film.
.
Today - HE Group, very windy day so ideal for making Kites.  All had a good time today. They also had a childrens meeting, seemed to go well, lots of things to organise.  So, progress.  I think. (still waiing for the stocks to appear for me though).

Hope you all have a good week.
Lou x

Lots of change

Well, a bit of change.

New HE Groups - planning a Group for September, also Becky and Danny will be able to start their Spanish and Science lessons again next term at a new venue on a different day.   Becky started back at Singing this week, new venue, with her favourite singing teacher Jackie Oates.

Other Changes - may be putting our house up for sale.

So, other news - Mike passed the level one course in Rugby Coaching.  He spent two days in Taunton completing this,and he only ached for one day afterwards, got a few injuries though.  Also in his one to one with the coach, he was told that he wasn't loud enough, and probably needed to raise his voice a bit more to be heard - my local friends will see the irony in this :-)

Popped in to see HE  friend yesterday, for a quick coffee -  James was totally distraught when we had to leave as L's room is chocca fool of wonderful toys. 

Athletics - Danny continued with Discus Practice and Becky did the Long Jump.  Not a lot of opportunity for Sprints for her at the moment, so may take her to the track for a session, just to give her some idea of what her times are, as it has been two years since she last ran in a competition.

Danny has been told he is allowed to throw in the under 15's discus competition coming up, just got the email through this morning, so will ask him if he is up to it, and will also see if Becky is up for the 100m sprint, unfortunately the last time she ran she fell over and hurt her knee quite badly, so she is nervous about falling over again, but she did really enjoy sprinting - its knowing whether to push her in this area or not!

So, Wednesday today, and Mike is back at work after a 10 day break,  group for us, first time in a while.

Have a good day
Lou x

Overdue weekly round up

It has been well over a week since my last post, so will work backwards, starting from today:-

Met up with some friends and headed to the coast.  We had a lovely day, weather just about held out, and we all had lots of fun, with M joining us later.  Lots of photos of course

Artwork in the sand

Rock pooling

Flying Kites

Paddling

Sports

Thursday

Day at home, lots of housework.  Children read, played darts (D got one stuck in his leg), bit of art and craft and watched TV

Wednesday - Group day, well, when I have calmed down a bit, will post about that.

Tuesday - M was off so I took James to a local pre-school group and he had a great time, lots of lovely children there to play with, and brilliant facilities. 
M started our serious get stuck in hard core maths and English, starting off with Volumes and Long multiplication for B and division and multiplication for D.  B also did homophones and handwriting practice for English, while D worked on plurals. Both seemed to get on really well and enjoyed it.

Monday

At home - B looked at a Geography workbook, wasn't sure how she would get on as it is a year above her at school level but I thought the topics would interest her, but she got on really well, although she did struggle with a few questions.  D looked at the History workbook, for the same age (M bought the workbooks from Smiths for 99p each, so a good bargain, thought we would give them a go).  He got on well, again, struggled with a few questions so just left them out.  We also bought some bargain Science test papers for them to work on, which they can do in their own time, and they also started these today.

Had a few things planned for J as he likes to be involved in their "school" work.  Found some ocean themed mazes which are his favourite, and he made a fish, and we also played sea creature dominoes too:-

Sunday

Nice bike ride to the park

Saturday, to be  honest, cant remember, think we must have stayed at home as M was working anyway.

Friday - met up with a friend and her son and we followed the Sculpture Walk at Exeter Uni and had a nice walk around the grounds:-



We had a picnic by the lake, then went onto The Bill Douglas Centre - lots of things to explore here:-

Then back outside to enjoy the sunshine and sit by the lake watching the children play:-

Presentation Rugby night for D

 Had to laugh at this second team photo, as J wanted his photo taken with them, they are all so great with him, he has now become the team mascot.

This is a player from Exeter Chiefs - David Ewers

 I was given a lovely bouquet of flowers, for supporting them every week, and M got a bottle of port from the coach for helping out, and a new Coaches jacket from the team, as he will be the new coach from next season onwards.



Thursday - another stay at home day, with a visit from some veteran home edders.

Wednesday - Group

Also B and D started back at Athletics for the summer, both did really well.

Now we are all looking forward to the weekend, hope you all have a good one x