Home Ed Activities and Ideas – Continuous Reading

Home Ed Activities and Ideas

Here is my collection of (mostly) Home Ed activities and ideas to help inspire your home classroom.


  • How home education looks for us in 2025

    How home education looks for us in 2025

    I have been home educating, on and off for over 20 years now. That feels like a bit of a milestone that swung by without me even noticing. We’ve made changes over the years, obviously, and home education in 2025 is pretty different to when we got started way back in 2003.

    Back then, if you wanted to find other home educators, you either joined Education Otherwise and got sent a list of contact details, or you trawled through yahoo groups, hoping you would find someone local to you. Nowadays, you can find groups on facebook, in your local libraries or even at youth clubs. Back then I put in a group order of Schofield and Sim’s workbooks (should have known that was never going to work!) nowadays I pop a search in google, find an app, buy something off Amazon. One thing that is unchanged though, I still trawl through charity shops looking for resources!

    So let’s talk about the practicalities of home educating a tween and teen: what we’re using, where we found it and how it all works.

    My kids have different balances of self awareness and self direction with plenty of ideas about what they want out of life and education, and that looks different for each of them. Smallest (for newer visitors, the 15 yo) is approaching that college age, and wants to be able to do art related things at college with age peers. So we’re doing some background level maths, and I probably should do a whole post on the type of resources you can use for it all, but right now our go to is Everything You Need to Ace Maths in One Big Fat Notebook (UK Edition): The Complete School Study Guide (Big Fat Notebooks) (affiliate link). This is quite an easy read textbook, written as if it’s a top student’s notebook, but quite a bit neater. It does have exercises in it from time to time, but if you want practice books (and they are going to be next on our list) I’ve been looking at both KS3 Maths Made Simple Ages 11-14 (Key Stage 3 Home Learning) and KS3 Maths: Foundation Skills Workbook (with Answer Key) | Exponents, Roots, Ratios, Proportions, Negative Numbers, Coordinate Planes, Graphing, Slope Yes, I know all of these look like ks3/ middle school books, but most of GCSE maths actually happens before KS4, and you’re never going to go wrong really nailing down the fundamentals. We’re hoping for one year maths and English courses at college, much like NSSTeen (who is no longer a teen, very much an adult) did all those years ago.

    Side note, who has run off with decades of my life??

    Other things that Smallest gets up to – lots of art. Mainly self taught, interests are around animation, anime, fan fiction, but there’s also a great awareness around the state of the world, politics, moral philosophy and oddly enough, greek and roman myths. Thanks, Rick Riordan, we love you! As well as Percy Jackson, I’d recommend things like The Owl House, Hilda (books and cartoons), Gravity Falls and for the moral philosophy, a really great starting point is The Good Place. I do recommend watching it yourself if you’ve a younger teen and you have any concerns around what they watch regarding physical relations. 😉

    And of course, TC. Youngest offspring, and in some ways, the one that takes up most of my headspace. Some parts are easy. TC loves stuff, particularly getting new (to us) stuff, and charity shops are a great way to satisfy that urge. Last weeks bargain was a particularly colourful one.

    Busy Beetles tesselating

    This is Busy Beetles Never-Ending puzzle. I thought it would keep us out of mischief while waiting for sibling at swimming. Turns out that 1) it’s vintage and possibly moderately valuable, and 2) it’s an absolutely fantastic resource for kicking off all sorts of mathematical/ logical conversations. So we get into looking at the shapes, the combinations of shapes and colours, which ones connect with themselves and what the commonalities and differences are, which ones don’t and why. There was even biological conversation around the actual beetles and their parts. And all that before we get into the aim of the puzzle to see how many beetles you can connect. (We’re up to 8 so far, in the first session anyway.)

    To summarise – we’re still home educating. We’re still dealing with understanding our own neurodivergencies. And I am still writing.


  • Low demand full time (cheap!) home education

    Low demand full time (cheap!) home education

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Youngest is now 12. Somewhat demand averse, but will deep dive at the drop of a hat into something they find interesting. Last week we had some time to spare between activities (home ed ninja tag and bowling at the start of the day and computer club at the end) so we wandered the charity shops, because why not, and found a new one that had mystery bags for children.

    You all know I can’t resist a mystery bag, don’t you? There was a boys age 7-12 which said 13 items for £6 which seemed pretty good to me, so we left with that. And a neon drawing pad thing, new in box for £3. Do love a good charity shop.

    TC - child shown with tiger sticker in place of face, wearing yellow hoodie holding brown paper bag with logo and woodgreen written on it, in front of woodgreen charity shop

    Back to the car, and opened the bag, and while I wasn’t too impressed that they’d bulked up the numbers with 5 packs of fidget bands, there were a couple of books and 3 Kung Fu panda DVDs, so I think I’d still call it a win.

    One of the books was a Bear Grylls adventure story Mission: Survival Gold of the Gods (affiliate link to the exact issue, cheaper versions are available!), which had a fabulous holographic design cover – compass points around the edge and a figure in the middle doing a range of fighting moves. TC (TigerChild) has a fascination with maps, directions and stuff like that, so there was a quick fire set of questions and answers about all the intermediate compass points – how many are there, what do they all mean, why are there numbers round the edge.

    Fortunately, that was a set of quickfire questions I could answer, they aren’t always! 😆 So we covered that there are 16 named compass points and how they worked, and I thought that was that.

    Front cover of Mission: Survival Gold of the Gods by Bear Grylls, showing the holographic disk, with compass points around the fighting figure in the centre

    In the car on the way home at the end of the day, so several hours later, we were talking about the book, and I noticed that there’s a compass needle on google maps while you’re in navigation mode. I pointed it out to TC and asked if they could tell what direction we were going. The rest of the journey home was predictions about which direction we’d be going after the bends in the road we could see coming up, discussions of how surprising some of those directions were, which landmarks we could use to tell which direction was which, and how this would be useful so that TC could always find their way home.

    Very low demand, absolutely no pressure, and it all grew out of a charity shop bundle, that will be reinforced every time they fall over the book that is currently in the middle of their bedroom floor (is that a floorcase?). So if you’re wondering how your home education can be low demand, and still full time, that’s how that works. It never stops, there’s learning in pretty much everything, but you don’t have to leap on it and make it into a lesson or a project. If it turns into a game you can share though, that’s the best of the best.


  • The Playful Path to Development: Encouraging Growth through Outdoor Toys in Learning

    The Playful Path to Development: Encouraging Growth through Outdoor Toys in Learning

    Introduction: The Unending Joy of Play

    Children’s play is a universe of exploration, discovery, and learning. It’s a joyous journey that contributes significantly to their cognitive, physical, social, and emotional growth. The potential of outdoor play is vast and can be maximised with playful aids like a trampoline or a mud kitchen, transforming our gardens into powerful playgrounds for a rich, well-rounded development.

    Outdoor Play: Unveiling Nature’s Classroom

    Outdoor play is akin to immersing children in a natural classroom, offering opportunities for implicit learning. Each playful throw of a ball demonstrates gravity, every social interaction subtly builds interpersonal skills, and all explorations spark curiosity, the foundation of life-long learning. Let’s delve into the multi-dimensional benefits of various outdoor toys and their role in children’s learning and development.

    A person jumping on a trampoline

    Trampolines: A Fun Path to Health and Learning

    The excitement of bouncing high on a trampoline transcends the boundaries of simple fun. The repeated high-energy jumping activity promotes cardiovascular health, enhances muscular strength, improves balance, and boosts overall coordination. Furthermore, the shifting experience of gravity with every jump offers an intuitive understanding of basic physics concepts, effectively combining learning with play.

    Mud Kitchens: The Marvel of Messy Play

    Engaging with a mud kitchen transports children to an enchanting world of sensory play and imaginative exploration. As they craft pretend meals and play with varying textures, they form a nascent understanding of different materials, unknowingly enhancing their cognitive development. Furthermore, the imaginative play that unfolds in these little chef corners stokes creativity and bolsters linguistic abilities.

    Sandboxes: Unleashing the Architect Within

    The humble sandbox, often underestimated, is a powerful tool for children’s development. As children dig, sift, pour, and construct, they fine-tune their fine motor skills and learn about spatial relations. Moreover, the act of creating sand structures encourages creativity and abstract thinking. Sharing the sandbox space with peers encourages collaborative play and negotiation skills and also fosters social-emotional development.

    Climbing Frames: Conquering Developmental Peaks

    Climbing frames are more than just playground structures; they are arenas of growth and learning. The physical act of climbing enhances muscular strength, agility, and coordination. More importantly, planning their path to the top helps children develop problem-solving skills and strategic thinking and builds their confidence.

    Swing Sets: The Joyful Journey of Learning

    Swing sets are a timeless favourite, providing both thrill and learning. As children sway on the swing, they improve their sense of balance and coordination. Moreover, this seemingly simple activity imparts an understanding of motion dynamics. Group swinging activities further foster cooperative play, teaching them to share and respect turns.

    Gardening Tools: The Green Path to Knowledge

    Introducing children to gardening has multi-faceted benefits. Handling tools like spades and watering cans helps them hone fine motor skills and coordination. Understanding the growth of plants over time teaches patience, responsibility, and the value of nurturing. It’s an engaging way to familiarise them with concepts of nature, biology and cultivate a sense of environmental stewardship.

    A child standing next to a wooden toy kitchen

    Conclusion: Embracing Development through Play

    Outdoor play is a stepping stone towards fostering holistic development in children. Turning our backyards into enriching playgrounds with toys like trampolines for physical health, mud kitchens for sensory play, sandboxes for creativity, climbing frames for cognitive development, swing sets for balance, and gardening tools for nature education can redefine their learning experience.

    This week, encourage your child to step outdoors and experience the thrill of a new play activity. The joy of their first successful bounce on a trampoline, the creativity in their muddy concoctions, their proud architectural creations in the sandbox, the sense of accomplishment when they reach the top of the climbing frame or the excitement of planting their first seed – these moments are invaluable in shaping their growth and development.

    As we foster these learning opportunities through play, we help children develop into well-rounded individuals equipped with a myriad of skills and a ceaseless curiosity for the world around them. Because when it comes to children, learning through play is the most natural and joyful path to development. Here is an article which talks about the learning boosts of child development through the outdoors.


  • Day two of learning to code with Scratch and Tigerboy.

    Day two of learning to code with Scratch and Tigerboy.

    Yesterday we got started on working our way through a Scratch tutorial book I picked up from the local library for sale shelf, How to code in 10 easy lessons.

    Today we’ve written a buzzer game. You use the arrow keys to turn your arrow around, and the space key to move. In mine anyway:

    Here’s Tigerboy’s.

    He coded this without looking at the code in the book in the time it took me to read the two pages. And then he came over and helped me figure out how to do the things that don’t quite work like the book says, as it’s a bit old, and Scratch has updated a version since then.

    I think he’s pretty good at coding. Hoping that I can help him move on to designing and then putting together code in something a bit more shareable than Scratch. Long term aim may be to write actual games, get Smallest to do graphics and NSSTeen to go the audio. Which would be a pretty cool evolution of our family home education.


  • Minecraft for good

    Have set up a tiltify so that I can fundraise for Battersea while figuring out minecraft (which I keep typing as micecraft) and streaming.

    There’s not much there yet, but coming soon…

    donate to Minecraft for the confused

    First things first, you have to buy minecraft. Beware, there are multiple versions. I’m reliably told that the java edition is what I needed so I headed to minecraft.net to buy that.

    (And then I had to fight with the website, which presented itself in Korean for no apparent reason, but I was successful, and now I own minecraft. You’ll need a microsoft account to buy it, and there is more weirdness if you’re under 18, but I’m not, so we’ll sail past that for now.)

    Once you’ve bought minecraft you have to download and install the launcher. Panic not if everything seems to vanish – there’s probably a little block somewhere down in your taskbar, go find it and click.

    You will then have to login with your microsoft account, and click play, and download a whole bunch more stuff.

    (I probably should have advised tea before you started all of this. I got tea, but then I’m used to setting up computer software.)

    ***

    A small interlude follows while I run around a minecraft world trying to work out what (NotSo)SmallTeen is doing, and doing it all badly and more slowly than him….

    (we should have been streaming. I think it would have been hilarious for anyone and everyone.)

    ***

    And now, dinner.


  • Charity shop board games – Ingenious, Set and Retsami

    Charity shop board games – Ingenious, Set and Retsami

    I have mentioned regularly on social media how dedicated I am to charity shops. We’re fortunate to have around 10 in relatively easy walking distance, and I visit them a couple of times a week. As well as books and clothing, I look carefully at their games, craft and kids sections. Recently I’ve picked up several good board games, and I thought it might be worth sharing a quick review to try to get me back into blogging.

    Most recent purchase was Ingenious from Green Board Games. Bought for the princely sum of £2 in Basic Life Charity, and available for your delight and delectation from a number of sellers on Ebay (affiliate link).

    I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this played before, possibly at a home ed camp? We didn’t have it though, so I was very happy to see it. My experience with board games is that Green Board Games are a good brand, and I don’t think we’ve had any from there we’ve strongly disliked.

    Ingenious board game on stack with books

    In play, it borrows from dominos. But the pieces are two hexagons on a tile, and the board has hexagon places. You score by counting up the straight lines leading from where you’ve laid your tile, and across the different colours or shapes as the game continues. A nice twist is that your finishing score is actually taken from your weakest score across the shapes, meaning that you have to strategise to play all the colours as you go. Game is for 2-4 players and there’s a team variant, so plenty of ways to involve the whole family.

    ingenious tiles close up with board game in background

    At some point recently also picked up a new copy of an old favourite. Many years ago I set up a coop to buy Set in the US and distribute it to families around the country. I think now you can probably buy it on Amazon, though this was the first time I’ve ever seen it in a charity shop. As I’ve no idea where our old copy went, I was pleased to grab a new one, and it’s been played several times since, including at a home ed group session. Again on Ebay, although most of the copies are in the US I’m afraid.

    Set, The family game of visual perception

    This can be played as a group or as a patience game, and the idea is you have to find the sets. Each attribute must be either all the same, or all different, so you could have all cards with one shape on them, all purple, all solid, but then they’d have to be one of each of the three different shapes. It’s a lot harder to explain than it is to demonstrate.

    set game in action

    The final game of this review was one completely new to me. Retsami appears to have been designed by someone relatively local to us, but I couldn’t find out much about it. It’s played on a chequered playing board, with pieces not dissimilar to draughts. But there’s also a square spiral that marks the board, and you’re trying to get a piece to the centre. You can be taken by opponents pieces that are behind you, along any straight line, horizontal, vertical or diagonal. There are a few copies of this one on Ebay.

    Retsami pieces and board

    I might go find the game and get a picture and add it in, as I’m not sure that explanation is doing it much justice.

    I think it’s a game with definite potential, but Tigerboy didn’t really cotton on, and didn’t want to play again, so I’ll have to find another opponent. Or bribe him. Whichever.

    So there you go, three charity shop games that have been varying success. Do you use charity shops and have any games you’d recommend I should keep an eye out for?


  • The great pokemon crochet project

    The great pokemon crochet project

    For reasons, I need a creative project. I would like said project to be of interest to my family.

    I believe I have found my project.

    We are writing a list of pokemon we believe will be easy to crochet, then I will design patterns and crochet them.

    I have ordered a pack of yarns in many colours from a local craft store that delivers, and we are discussing how crochet works, colours, sizes and designs.

    Our current working list is a little long. Second run through with stars is for the easier shapes.

    *sandshrew
    cleffa
    jigglypuff
    oddish
    *poliwag
    *magnemite
    *voltorb
    pikachu
    electrode
    chansey
    kabuto
    snorlax
    hoothoot
    cleffa
    igglybuff
    togepi
    *natu
    marill
    hoppip
    wooper
    unown
    *teddiursa
    *swinub
    celebi
    torchic
    mudkip
    seedot
    shroomish
    whismur
    azurill
    gulpin
    swablu
    castform
    shuppet
    snorunt
    *spheal
    luvdisc
    cherubi
    drifloon
    bronzor
    *munna
    tympole
    darumaka
    litwick
    fletchling
    *rowlet
    togedemaru
    rookidee

    I am aware that there are already patterns, pokemon available on etsy and so on. I don’t want to use those, I’m totally up for reinventing the wheel. And I need for these to be little easy things as my hands hurt. If you follow me on twitter or insta you’ll have seen that discussion, not going into that just now.

    Should keep me out of mischief though.

    Voltorb drawing


  • BBC micro:bit from PiHut – a great #HomeEducation resource

    BBC micro:bit from PiHut – a great #HomeEducation resource

    Disclosure: The product was provided free for review.

    It’s all about tech these days, and while knowing how to use it is one thing, knowing how to program it is a whole other aspect. I admit to having a slight head start in this area, as an ex programmer, but the way I learnt to program, on a ZX81 typing in games out of a magazine wouldn’t really hold my kids’ interest.

    BBC micro:bit in box

    Fortunately, there is a whole range of products out there that can help even the most tech illiterate of parents with their children’s IT needs. The one we are reviewing today is the BBC micro:bit, supplied for review by PiHut – see more here

    The BBC micro:bit comes beautifully packaged in a small cardboard box with everything you need to get going. And when you first turn it on, it already has some programming.

    This is a good touch, as it means that your test child is likely to be intrigued by the flashing lights and you get a quick win.

    Once we’d exhausted the provided program (which did not take desperately long it has to be said) we headed online to look up how to write our own code.

    After an abortive attempt to link with my phone (I don’t know quite what went wrong there, but it was not playing) we ended up at Microsoft Makecode. This has a number of example projects and rock paper scissors (no lizard Spock variation though) was a clear winner.

    The editor is a drag and drop format, which means even the most code fearing parent will be able to get to grips with it. Although you’re unlikely to be needed much, except maybe for downloading the code to the microbit once written, and possibly for the occasional moment of trouble shooting. Once Tigerboy got to grips with the editor he was off and running, and I would say that the micro:bit is ideal for 8 – 11 year olds, as long as they are reasonably literate, and a little tech savvy.

    Highly recommended, definitely a good way to get your child into game coding as well as game playing.


  • Kentwell 1588 day one

    She is happy, honest.

    Glorious sunset.

    The hall is open to the public with tudors reenacting 1588 today (Sunday 23rd) and Monday 24th, and then next weekend as well.


  • Monday listening

    Monday listening

    Ages and ages ago I was going to do a shuffle playlist post. Only at the time I didn’t use Spotify, just listened to Internet radio. So I forgot.

    Then we got a family Spotify account (educational expenditure when you’ve got two kids doing music performance). And Big built me a playlist, just so I could put it on shuffle.

    Tonight it’s started with Your Song (Elton John). Love the lyrics.

    Next up, Tears in heaven. Such a terribly sad song. Cannot imagine what it was like to play that live, I hope it helped him deal.

    True Colors, Cyndi Lauper. One of Tim’s favourite songs, and I love the fragility and strength of it.

    I will always love you by the one and only Dolly Parton. She is truly awesome – was reading an article yesterday about how her foundation based a basic income of $1000 a month for 6 months to everyone in Gatlinburg who lost their primary residence in forest fires. No strings, just a hand up. Brilliant.

    Die a happy man by Thomas Rhett. I love country music and always have, but this was one that Big introduced me to. Brilliant stuff, simple love song.

    Fields of gold, Eva Cassidy. This is my birthing music, that I listened to when Small was born at home. Makes me calm and happy to hear it any time it comes on.

    Bit of a switch up, Meat Loaf, I’d do anything for love (but I won’t do that). Love Meat Loaf, have since I first encountered Bat out of Hell in early 80s. This is uni music though, soft rock, tight jeans, dyed hair. Oh yes.

    Continuing with the theme… Always by Bon Jovi. Sublime.

    Oh. Love me tender. The king himself, Elvis Presley. (Yes, I did say my 18 yo built this list for me, and yes, we’ve given them a fairly eclectic musical environment!)

    It’s nearly bedtime, so I’m cutting you off at ten songs, and appropriately we’re finishing with Sound of silence, Simon and Garfunkel. Time for a bit of quiet for me too.

    The other thing I’m doing with Spotify is building a playlist of indie artists, and if you want to check that out, it’s here.


  • Why we home educate in the holidays

    Why we home educate in the holidays

    I tweeted the other day about how Tigerboy was enjoying a trial on Doodlemaths and someone replied to ask if that meant we didn’t have holidays. And the honest answer is, we don’t, really.

    Over the years, we’ve drifted from a more structured home education approach with some very obvious curriculum related box ticking, to a much more unschooling approach. If you’ve not come across the topic of unschooling before, it might seem like a really odd word – there are some great resources on it out there, like Sandra Dodd or I’m going to try to explain what it means to me.

    What it means to me is that I don’t separate off education from life, particularly for the children. So I don’t put learning in a box, and insist on it getting done in a particular way, or at a particular time or split it up into subjects and demand that some are more important than others and have to be done in a particular way.

    That’s a really negative way to explain unschooling. Hm. Let’s try that again.

    Children are born as little learning machines. It’s what they are designed to do. And as long as you don’t get in the way too much, they will do it all the time. In fact, it’s one of the difficulties schools and teachers have to deal with, that they don’t necessarily want to learn the thing you’re trying to teach that particular day, they might be way more interested in something else that doesn’t fit into the plan.

    Maria Montessori talked about this, saying play is the work of the child. Play is how they explore, and as long as they have control over it, they’ll just keep on doing it.

    So how do they learn specific things like reading/writing/’rithmetic – I know that’s what you’re thinking.

    Well, I read daily to my kids. They see their siblings reading. There is text in computer games, on cereal boxes, signs, the fridge – everywhere. They are curious about it – they want to learn to read. So they do. I’ve written before about Tigerboy’s process – he binge learnt. It was fascinating to watch to be honest, and did involve apps, and books, and a very different process to what you might expect, particularly if you’ve read any of the articles about how difficult it is to teach reading. You can also get some amazing information and resources to use that are fun and engaging on websites like Phoenix Home Ed if you are lacking a little inspiration.

    It might be difficult to teach, particularly when you’ve got a plan that’s different to the one in the child you’re teaching. The learning part can be more straightforward.

    For a while he was behind his peers – now he’s probably a little bit ahead. But right at the moment he’s not that interested in fiction so he doesn’t read by himself all that often. He’s got access to all sorts of books though, and he often rereads whatever I’ve read to them at bedtime, so it’s ticking over nicely.

    Maths – we do day to day stuff. Talk about money. Telling the time. Fractions come into life, so does measuring, weighing, adding, dividing. And then I might wave an app at them to try, and they do for a bit and acquire a few more building blocks. They like playing with my montessori materials and other manipulatives and at some point they will probably want to do something that requires a qualification, so like Small, they’ll knock it off pretty quickly. (He’s done GCSE maths in a year, get back to you in a few weeks about how that went.)

    Writing, much the same. And because they see TV programs, read books, and have relatives and friends that do go to school, they’re aware that children generally learn specific things at particular ages. Sometimes this is viewed as pointless information, sometimes it’s seen as a challenge.

    I have an awareness of the overall educational achievements. I might get out something science based if they haven’t done any for a while, and they’ll deep dive for a while then do something else. I’m confident that they are learning pretty much all the time, and very efficiently, so I know I’m discharging my legal responsibility.

    I’m not quite so sure how this all measures up against the stuff LAs talked about in their submission to the recent government consultation. It seems to me that this kind of free range education is very poorly understood, and at some point that might make my life a bit more complicated. But that’s a bridge for another day and in the meantime, I’ll go on facilitating their unschooling lives. Yes, even in the summer holidays and on learn nothing day. 🙂


  • Wildflower hunting, sculpture trails and music festivals – some summer plans

    Wildflower hunting, sculpture trails and music festivals – some summer plans

    I love wildflowers. This is not a surprise to anyone who follows me on instagram. (Handy link over there in the sidebar if that isn’t you. If you’ve arrived here from instagram, nice to see you!)

    Today I got sent a press release about a great way to get kids into the idea of wildflower hunting – I see it a bit like a bear hunt, but without quite the same potential for terror 😉

    Basically, if you bob over to Plantlife’s Great British Wildflower Hunt you can register for free, download printable sheets suitable to countryside/woodland/town and go wildflower spotting. (Do read up on what not to do in the way of picking them etc.) Or you can use your mobile and spot as you go – there’s lots of information about the different flowers on the website, and different flowers get you different points if your children thrive on a bit of competition like mine. Registering what you find on the site will feed back to Plantlife about how wildflowers are doing across the country, and given how important they are to our ecology, that seems like a pretty cool thing to do too.

    Another thing to look at is whether you’ve any kind of sculpture trail near you – Bath is a bit far for us sadly and Ed Sheerham is long gone from Ipswich, but the owls around Mulberry Park look utterly fabulous. Norwich appears to be our nearest event this year according to the Wild in Art site which lists at least some of the sculpture trails around the country. (Apparently Ipswich is getting Elmers next year, which should be fun.)

    If it wasn’t for the fact Small (aka (NotSo)SmallTeen) is performing with Ipswich Guitar School at Sax Music Fest on the same day, I’d have been very tempted by this Norris Museum event not least because one of the Kentwell Players is performing.

    Annual Ipswich Guitar School Concert, Sunday evening

    A post shared by Tim Marchant (@tjmarchant) on

    So, what do you do to get out and about in the summer? Got any suggestions for me?


  • Skating, friends and a doodlesome evening

    Skating, friends and a doodlesome evening

    First Tuesday of the month meeting, for the first time in a while (it doesn’t run in school holidays, and got caught out in September by inset days). Small declined on the grounds that none of his specific friends were going today, so I was able to offer a lift to one of Smallest’s friends, which she enjoyed hugely. So much so in fact that she gave skating a go again, and made it round the rink a couple of times, with only one unintended sit down. It was particularly lovely to see her hand in hand with another boy she’s met a few times who turned out to be an accomplished skater and happy to offer assistance.

    Tigerboy made me laugh – I was chatting with a new family and he came up and said “I’m very sorry for interrupting your conversation but could I have a drink please?” Very formal for a five year old!

    Building up to writing something specifically for families pulling kids out of primary school and worried about keeping up with the curriculum – my experience is that in most areas it’s pretty easy to cover without a lot of sit down work, but it’s tracking down the resources that suit that will allow you to do that. I have some thoughts 🙂

    Anyway, easy family meal tonight of macaroni cheese, and I’m hoping my tomorrow’s yoga video will work as today’s was corrupted. And I’ve spent quite a bit of this evening doodling, partially inspired by sktchy again.

    How is October kicking off for you?


  • 100 ways, 100 days – showcasing the variety of home education

    100 ways, 100 days – showcasing the variety of home education

    #100daysofhomeeducation is a picture based challenge so mainly to be found on instagram with crossover on facebook and twitter.

    I have to say, I’m loving having that daily picture to look back on to remind me of what we’ve got up to in the last month. (Given that I don’t blog our home ed lives daily any more. Which I should. But somehow never get around to. Sigh.)

    What I also ought to do is keep a list of the books and resources we use, and how we use them. This month we’ve been enjoying Picture Book Explorers, written by a fellow home educator Helen, who kindly sent over a couple for review. The idea is that there are five days worth of activities, covering a variety of educational areas/ skills and you re read the book each day and pick from the activities. We used Tabby McTat(Amazon affiliate) this time and focused on the art of Axel Scheffler. Which also led to reading up on his life, spotting links with other books and doing some drawing.

    I really enjoyed drawing in the style of, and must go back and finish the picture with a watercolour wash!

    Another hit this month was a charity shop find, this rather fabulous Techno Gear Marble Wacky trax set (amazon affiliate link here)

    I saw this in a shop window on a Sunday afternoon when the shop was shut – I went down specifically the next day to see if it was still there. (I also decluttered a bag of stuff and a second bag of scrap material, so I get bonus points for that, right?) It cost me £3 🙂

    I expected that the younger ones would really enjoy this. Turned out it’s quite a complicated set (hundreds of pieces!) so it ended up being me and Big sat building it with visits from a fascinated Tigerboy. I did share the vids on my instagram story, but annoyingly I didn’t have the phone set to save them, so they’re gone 🙁 )

    And the other thing that happened last month was we kicked off the 100 ways to home educate blog hop. It’s been so great to see the wide variety of home education going on. There was a bit of structure with Secret life of a homeschooler then some Girls Unschooled (love the header there very much). With a mix of ages, there’s a mix of approaches at the Grays and then Jo wound up week 1 with her three kids and a gluestick.

    Week two started with some more unschooling with the beautifully photographed Paper and String blog and then moved on to some structured autonomy with Maria and do 5 things. Nevine is worldschooling, which is pretty inspirational while Tammie has some interhigh going on alongside a variety of other approaches. We finished the week up with Lydia who’s having a new adventure.

    And on to week 3! Elin Sion is doing it her way as a multi platform educationalist 🙂 B Man and L Girl are semi structured (with a pretty full week!) while REOlife have a patchwork of home education (great description). Happy Handley has some delicious baking going on alongside a whole lot of gaming and craft while it’s never the same two days running with Helen and her eclectic style.

    Day 16 featured our first home educated blogger, with Midnakit sharing her insight from the drawing board and our final day of February we were adventuring with Monster in a waldorf style.

    From today, there’s a new linky, just so that the lists are fairly manageable, but I’ll be doing this sort of round up post once a month, and I’m going to add this nice badge to my side bar which will link to each of these round up posts, so it will be easy to find any all posts on this topic.


  • 100 ways to home educate – launching a blog hop.

    100 ways to home educate – launching a blog hop.

    It’s Monday morning, and all over the country children aged from 3 or 4 upwards are heading to nursery, school, college, what have you. Education, after all, is compulsory.

    There are lots of different schools out there. Mainstream, special, private, academies, and lots of different ways of educating within them.

    There’s also home education. A perfectly legal and valid alternative.

    Some children didn’t head out to school this morning. Some of them stayed home. Maybe some got up and sat down at the kitchen table with books and it looks quite a lot like how you might imagine a schoolroom. Maybe some of them headed out for the day, to a zoo, or a soft play, or a music lesson, or a stately home, or a library. Possibly some of them are still in bed, and will get their day started later, with a book or a film, or computer time or arts or crafts.

    Basically there are as many ways to home educate as there are families home educating, and I’m hoping that the blog hop this post is kicking off will show you a whole bunch of them. (I don’t know whether we’ll make it to 100, that could take a while, but I’ve got my fingers crossed.) There’s also a #100daysofhomeed photo challenge kicking off on instagram/facebook/twitter if you want to check that out.

    Tomorrow’s post up now with Care at Secret Life of a Homeschooler, today I’m going to tell you how things work for us.

    Once upon a time we used to do typical day picture posts and I thought about doing that again, taking a picture every hour through the day to illustrate what we get up to. But there’s not really ever a typical day here, and it wouldn’t show you the wealth of what we get up to, so instead I thought I’d tell you about the week around today as it were.

    Friday was mainly a home based day. We’re not early risers – I’m a bit of a night owl and the kids seem to take after me. Big gets herself up and out for sixth form, leaving for her bus about 7.50 – I try to get up and make her lunch to take with her, and most of the time I manage it 😉

    Next kids appeared between 8 and 9, Smallest and Tigerboy. Breakfast together, and then getting dressed, and I had a plan to do some science, from a rather fab folder I got from the works.

    (Check it out yourself here The Works – affiliate link)

    We went through it together a while ago and basically they want to do science that ‘looks like’ science, so I’d ordered some borax from ebay and we made slime. (See science bob here if you’d like to try this one. )

    Prepping for that, doing it and clearing up (carefully and thoroughly given that borax is poisonous – we took precautions including aprons and so on) took us nearly up to lunch time, so more food on the go and then I was out and about shopping and picking up Big, which meant that there was some duplo, Scratch and cbeebies. When I got back in I finally set up Slime Rancher for Smallest – she’s been looking forward to that for ages, but we didn’t have a computer up to running it until last week (graphics card issues. Don’t ask me, I don’t do hardware.) Small must have got himself up and organised at some point – he is pretty self driven at the moment, and his days include Japanese, coding, guitar and a regular walk – he usually covers around 5 miles.

    Evenings usually include a family sit down meal sometime between 7 and 8, although Friday was a bit later than usual because Big teaches with the swim club until 8.30. Then the little ones have bedtime stories – I read to them, then Smallest reads it over again to Tigerboy, then songs and finally lights out.

    Saturday was a bit unusual in that I got up early with Small and we headed out to a not very local college who are exploring the possibility of putting on GCSE courses in Maths and English for home educators. It would be one day a week for a year, and would be a massive help, as accessing qualifications outside the school system is hard to organise in terms of access to materials, and actual exam centres. It can also be very expensive, as centres often charge way over the actual exam price. We were very lucky that Small’s computer club organised an iGCSE course for computer science last year, which included the exam at cost (£52 iirc for the exam itself). Anyway, the college visit was very promising, and there’s even the faint possibility that the course will be put on more locally which would be amazing.

    Then I dropped him off at a charity games jam, and came home to spend the afternoon doing more Slime support.

    Sunday is our slowest day, apart from swim club in the evening. Smallest has just moved up to the big pool, and it’s a stretch from her comfort zone, the club have been being very supportive though. Big teaches with the club on a Sunday too, and today she was called in to do a lifeguard shift as well. Because of that we had a split meal – I fed the little ones before Big got back. Too many late evening meals don’t do them any good. Tonight’s bedtime story was a family favourite – Tom and Small from Clara Vulliamy. Apparently the word once was particularly challenging, not surprising given how weirdly we pronounce it.

    Monday. Starts with guitar for Small taught by a very experienced guitar tutor who also happens to be a local home ed dad. All sorts of skills in the home ed world. I’m planning to do some more science with the little ones in the afternoon, or some art (we’ve been looking at Picasso, I think I’ll do a separate resource post during the week as this is already kind of long!) Tuesday is our monthly skate and play meet up, in the same not so local town as the college. Other Tuesdays we have soft play at a local sports centre which is lovely as it’s actually a walkable meet up 🙂 At warmer times of the year we’re planning to do more out and about meets with local families, but soft play is a good fall back when it’s cold.

    Hopefully this post gives you a bit of insight into our approach to home ed. I wouldn’t say we’re complete unschoolers – I’m a little bit too nervous to completely trust the flow, and I stick my oar in to guide activities, like giving Small a shove towards GCSEs. I view this as meeting my responsibilities to not foreclose his opportunities in the future – if he’s got the basics covered, he’s got a lot more choices open to him. It has to be said though that there are lots of ways to tick those boxes now, and I might do a more detailed post on that sometime soon.

    So there you go – a few not very typical days in our not very typical lives. Hope that’s given you a little insight into a child led/or semi autonomous approach. It varies from child to child and time to time – if I wrote it up again in the summer, the pattern would be very different and involve a lot more out and about. (I might just do that actually, think it would be interesting.

    If you’d like to join in with the blog hop and host a day on your blog, feel free to drop me your details via my contact form and if you’re wondering about the technical ins and outs of home education, I’ve a page on that too.

    As people blog, I’m hoping they’ll include their links in the blog hop code below, so that we can all find all the posts easily as well as by jumping from blog to blog. I’ll also be back this afternoon with a blog badge – but I’ve kind of run out of energy and time for now. Sorry!

    Don’t forget to check out Care at Secret Life of a Homeschooler tomorrow!

    Teachmy Preschooler kit review
    10 things you don’t need to home educate
    Buying books. Resources, I mean, yes, resources.


  • On buying home education curriculum resources.

    On buying home education curriculum resources.

    I’ve been quite proud that despite the fact we’ve got piles of curriculum style resources around the house, Smallest and Tigerboy have largely been unschooled so far. However, right at the moment I’m a little concerned with how screen focused they are both getting, and I want to do something about that.

    I also want to be sure that I’m aware of the sort of topics that are being covered in school – I’m conscious that Smallest goes through phases of being very interested in school, and if at some point she wants to go in, I want her to have the background knowledge of her peers. (Yes, I know that sounds a little odd, and certainly if your children don’t go in to school until much later it won’t be a factor – it didn’t hurt Big at all – but I think there’s a possibility that Smallest will want to try primary and I think it would make more of a difference then.)

    So, rightly or wrongly, I found myself on the Book People this morning. It wasn’t my fault – they enticed me in with a sale leaflet that arrived this morning. And they had these rather fab DK Everything I need to know for school packs. 30 books in each pack, 29.99 per pack, free delivery. (This handy affiliate link will take you right there.

    No, I couldn’t resist either. I went for the younger and the older sets after a quick chat with Tim, and my current plan, having discussed with Smallest is that we’ll spend around an hour a day after breakfast doing topic-y stuff, although obviously if there’s anything that really sparks their interest we can dive deeper. I haven’t quite worked out what form that hour will take, I’ll see what I think when I actually get the books. And of course, we already have lots of other resources, like songbird phonics and Walker story book collection

    .

    Past experience of myself, my children and home education tells me that as the weather improves and we can get out and about more our use of any resources will drop off, but if it gets us through to March I’m going to count this as money well spent. Of course we’ve still got Reading Eggs, Mathletics and Muzzy which are online, so they will be online sometimes as well.

    If I bump up our arts and crafts too, ensure that we’ve got at least one home education group outing a week, as well as the usual swimming, library, music and so on we should be in pretty good shape for the rest of winter and the beginning of spring.

    Tell me, does the turn of the year spark new plans for your home education or is it just me?


  • Getting Christmas crafty – no 1 peg doll fairies.

    Getting Christmas crafty – no 1 peg doll fairies.

    So, last night I had plans – how did it all pan out?

    Well, we did some of it 🙂

    I started the day with my physio mandated exercises. Then I did a bit of crying when my shoulder went into spasm 🙁 I’d been gentle, honest, but obviously not gentle enough.

    Pulled myself together and somehow motivated the small people to get themselves ready to walk to home education soft play, (a walkable home education activity!) under 10 minutes by myself, and nearer 15 with a Tigerboy in tow. It was a grey miserable day out there, though if you check instagram (over there in the sidebar) you’ll see that we did spot some flowers on our way. Vibernum, if I recall correctly, and very strongly scented. Which was nice.

    For a little while we were the only family at soft play, and then another little girl arrived. She’s someone that Smallest has really hit it off with, so they had a lovely session basically running and shouting with a very involved Pokemon based game. And why not.

    Home for lunch, and then I gradually assembled craft equipment. Tim needed to pop out for salt for the water softener to the local hardware shop, and I asked him to check if they had dolly pegs (I am sure I have some, *somewhere*) and it turned out that they do, so peg doll fairies (or clothes pin fairies, depending 😉 ) were a go.

    The starting out heap looked a bit like this.

    craft materials needed to made peg doll fairies

    Obviously I then had to pause to gather the bits I’d forgotten….

    The printed instruction sheet, in case you’re wondering, comes from the 30 Christmas Ornaments (affiliate) by Maggy Woodley of Red Ted Art as mentioned yesterday. Each craft is set out with a materials list and easy to follow instructions with pictures, on a printable page as you can see. This one is from the School Age section (which I think *ought* to read primary school age, given there’s also an older kids to balance out the preschool section) and was perfect for Smallest, who is a very careful child when she’s working. Spot that concentration 😉

    Of course, it would have helped if she’d listened a *little* more closely, as she wouldn’t have very carefully taken out the second piece of cardboard from the pom pom maker that I’d given her, and she wouldn’t then have had to do it all over again 😉

    She didn’t seem to mind. We painted the faces, hair and bodices on first, then while that dried did the pom pom skirts, from some fab material I bought years ago for a dress up outfit. My tip here would be to keep to light material – we tried another out of ribbon and it was far too heavy and not nearly as effectively.

    Pom poms from material are a lot quicker to make than pom poms from wool, although there is a moment of absolute terror as you’re cutting round and trying to tie the wool/ thread round the middle. I did it though – I think that bit was a bit too hard for Smallest, but she is only 7.

    And our final results?

    I really rather like them. What do you think? And which one is mine?

    I made time to run down to poundland for some cheap tights as well – tomorrow’s target craft is Austrian Angels.

    Finished up the day with Stick Man (Amazon affiliate) for tonight’s #picturebookadvent – one of Tigerboy’s all time favourite. Incidentally – he was invited to take part in the craft, but apparently gaming is far more interesting. Sigh. Might have to have a think about that.

    So, what have you all been up to?


  • Contemplating home education styles, with a Teach My Preschooler kit review.

    Contemplating home education styles, with a Teach My Preschooler kit review.

    When you mention home education to people one of the first questions (usually right after ‘but how will they make friends?’) is how will they learn to read? Or do maths?

    The answer to that is all sorts of different ways, to be honest. Some children just seem to acquire reading in the same way they did spoken language, soaking it up from the atmosphere around them. Most home education households I’ve been in are very book rich environments (code for there are books *everywhere*), avid library users and big on reading with and to their children. This isn’t enough for every child though, and these days there are all sorts of resources available either free or cheap. We’re fans of Reading Eggs (handy affiliate link over there in the sidebar if you’re looking to give it a whirl) but there are all sorts of other apps as well, like Teach your monster to read, Nessy (which is particularly targeted at children with dyslexia).

    Or you can go old home ed, as it were, and use actual physical resources. We’ve got a Montessori movable alphabet (like this one at Amazon affiliate link) and recently we were sent a TeachMy Preschooler box set for review.

    The Kit contains resources for four types of activity – letters, reading, printing and math. (Sorry, it’s an American company.) It comes in a green filebox within a sturdier cardboard sleeve, ideal for storage. There’s a parent guide too, but I doubt you’ll be desperately surprised when I say we’ve been winging it in how we use the kit 😉

    teachmy-box

    Inside the box the rest of the resources are in labelled up plastic envelopes. The whole set is very well organised, and feels sturdy.

    teachmy-preschooler-kit-contents

    I chose the preschooler as I thought that Tigerboy might like it. Turned out that Smallest took to it too, so I’d say don’t underestimate the longevity of this set.

    They’ve both spent some time with the printing activity, which is a magnetic writing board, an instruction book and 4 sets of transparencies. I particularly like the transparencies, which weren’t something I’d encountered before.

    Tigerboy started out following instructions. (Don’t worry, it didn’t last long.)

    teachmy-writing

    Smallest had a go at the letters and numbers.

    teachmy-numbers

    She’s also spent quite a lot of time with the learning to read set. She’s already pretty much there with phonics tbh, but lacks confidence, so this was a good consolidation activity. And it turns out she loves flashcards, so has been practising them regularly, which can’t be a bad thing.

    Way back when the big two were the little ones, ‘normals’ was a thing in my home education circle, as mentioned often on Merry’s blog eg here. With the way Smallest responded to this kit, I’m wondering if a box set of normals would be something that she would enjoy. She already effectively does this for herself, but she loves ticklists and organisation, so I’m thinking that an actual list of activities, all kept in one place for her to access easily might well be something that would make her a very happy girl. And Tigerboy tends to crash along and involve himself in whatever she’s up to so he’d probably just join in to a large extent.

    There are as many ways to home educate as there are families home educating. The thing to do is find out what works for you, and never be afraid to mix it up when things need a change. If you need more inspiration, there’s a style of home education quiz on the eclectic homeschool blog which might give you some ideas.

    Disclosure: the kit was supplied free of charge for an honest review, and amazon links are affiliate links.


  • 10 things you don't need to home educate.

    10 things you don't need to home educate.

    1) A Tuffspot (or own brand alternative).

    Feels like every early years home education thread you go near on Facebook these days is all about the Tuffspots, and people worrying about how to home educate if they can’t afford/don’t have room for/just plain don’t want one.

    It’s OK. You don’t need to be laying out messy play daily for your child, or building intricate small world scenarios overnight, or stocking up on whatever other craze has hit your local group. You don’t have to do it the same as anyone else. (Get messy or don’t. Get down with the small people if you want to. If a Tuffspot rocks your world, great! If you can’t see the point, move on. It’s OK. There will be another fashion along in a minute honest.) (Image link is Amazon affiliate.)

    2) Permission from your local authority/headteacher/family and friends.

    Except in very specific circumstances in England, where a child is a pupil at a special school, (laws vary in different parts of the U.K., please inform yourself according to where you live – start here perhaps) all you need to do to deregister a child from school is send a letter saying you’re doing just that (check the right wording, get a receipt). If your child has never been to school, there’s no one to register with, no matter how much local authorities might like to pretend otherwise. If you go to deregister and someone tells you you have to have a meeting/get clearance from the local authority ask them to quote the law requiring this. (The special school situation is slightly different. You’ll want to do some research.) And  when they can’t? Go forth and home educate.

    3) A curriculum.

    No, you don’t have to follow the national curriculum. No, children do not have to sit particular sets of qualifications at particular ages. No, you don’t even have to have regard to the broad and balanced idea you’re likely to have heard lots about. The legal requirement is set out in section 7 of the education act 1996, and says

    The parent of every child of compulsory school age shall cause him to receive efficient full-time education suitable—

    (1) to his age, ability and aptitude, and

    (2) to any special educational needs he may have,

    either by regular attendance at school or otherwise.

    You can use curriculum resources if you want to (I have done myself from time to time), but no one gets to dictate which ones or how.

    4) A timetable or structure

    Just as there’s no nationally defined curriculum for home educators, there’s no particular set hours. Full time as referred to in the law mentioned above doesn’t mean keeping school hours – for starters you probably aren’t home educating 30 children, so your child is getting a much higher amount of contact time than they would be in school, and it’s accepted that learning can and does take place outside school hours. More on this on edyourself. You don’t need to do what you do following any particular structure, although again, if structure works for you, go for it. Above all else, home education has to be about what works for you and your family.

    5) Laminator.

    You don’t have to print out the Internet and coat it in plastic. Honest, you don’t. And if past experience here is anything to go by, most of the stuff you do laminate will get used once, maybe twice, and then disappear. Go steady with the plastic, for all our sakes.

    6) Car

    This one may seem slightly tougher – you probably want a car for getting out and about to all those fantastic resources, groups and so on you’ve discovered are available to you. And I’ll admit it’s definitely a nice to have – but I personally know a variety of people without cars who manage just fine. Home educators are a innovative bunch – you’ll find a way to make it work.

    7) Degree or teaching qualifications.

    In fact, you don’t need any qualifications. And why should that be a surprise? Teacher training is largely about how to control a classroom and deal with planning/paperwork – you don’t need to do either. You don’t have a classroom, and even if you want to plan, you’re doing it for a much smaller number of children, and you don’t have the same tick boxes teachers do to keep up with. Don’t worry if your children decide they’d like to learn something you aren’t good at/ interested in, there’s a whole load of resources out there. Find an online course, pal up with a friend, look for a tutor if you like. Lots and lots of options.

    8) A billion books.

    Now, I’m not going to lie to you here – books are good. Books are one of my most favourite kinds of thing. But you don’t actually need to own all of them all of the time. You can use a library, download lots of classics for free, haunt charity shops, swap with friends. And the ones that you really do want? Lots of cheap ways to get good books – look out at the works, the book people and so on. (there’s a handy affiliate link in the sidebar if you need assistance getting there 😉 )

    9) A massive income/ big house.

    As with anything else in life, being rich makes it easier. But you don’t have to have a huge budget to home educate, or a mansion to live in. Lots of resources are free or cheap online, libraries are great, charity shops are plentiful. Also, having your kids in school isn’t actually all that cheap – uniform, resources, trips, travel, it all mounts up. The immediate obvious cost if you’re home educating is that someone has got to be with the children, and that person can’t be holding down a traditional job at the time. Working around home education can be challenging at times, but there are all sorts of ways of getting by (will be writing more on this very soon).

    10) A child.

    Just kidding. This is the one thing you do need. Second and subsequent optional 😉

    Other things that will come in handy – patience, a sense of humour, readiness to think out of the box. Home education isn’t for the faint of heart, as stepping outside the norm can be a little scary at times, but honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.


  • (Not) back to school – home education planning with The Range.

    (Not) back to school – home education planning with The Range.

    This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #CollectiveBias

    Back to School with The Range

    August. Hot days, but cool evenings, time for another camping holiday, and suddenly, all the shops including the Range are full of back to school displays, and parents are wondering where the summer went and how long the queue for shoe fittings is going to be.

    But not all children go back to school. Or even to school in the first place. We’ve been home educating, this time around, for 7 years. While Big did choose to go into school age 15 last September, she’s so far the only one to take the plunge, and this year I’ll have Small, Smallest and Tigerboy all at home with me for their education.

    The law in the UK requires parents to ensure that their children, once compulsory school age, receive an education suitable to their age, ability and aptitude and any special needs they may have, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. We’re definitely in the otherwise category 😉

    We don’t do lesson plans and school around the kitchen table, although I know families who do. We tend more to the child led and interest driven approach, although I do like to ensure that the basic of maths/ english are covered in a fairly formal way. This means that there’s no such thing as a typical day here. I often start with a craft or art activity after breakfast for the younger two – this could be drawing based around a favourite picture book or art manual, or we might go out in the garden with a science experiment, or do some gardening or baking.

    There are also plenty of trips out – Colchester Zoo once a month for their free workshops (you do have to pay the normal entry fee , roller skating and softplay down the road, science classes with fellow home educators, or guitar group. Trips to the beach feature quite highly, and of course there are our regular reenactment activities, with camping thrown in for free.

    Colchester Zoo penguin

    physical education at the beach

    kentwell camping

    None of this stops me browsing stationery – in fact, we probably go through more notebooks and sketchpads than most, given everything is done at home. Smallest is coming up 7 this time, and she does like a plan, so I’m thinking some slightly more organised project style work this year will go down well, starting with a body project as I can bring Tigerboy in on that on his level as well. (He would start in reception if he were going to school, but he’s not compulsory school age, so not actually technically home educated yet. I don’t mark a formal start to education though, so he’s just been included in everything we do to whatever extent he wants to be.) So I was rather pleased with this Grafix set I picked up from the Range, and yes, I topped up our sketchbook and notebook heap too. (We have the Stabilo early writing set for each of them. I like the way the pens have guide holds on them for right or left handers – Smallest is left handed and has found pencil grips hard.)

    body project Grafix from the Range

    sketchbooks and left handed pens

    And now that I’ve done my bit of orgoplanning, I think I’m really looking forward to September. There’s something about an inviting new pile of stationery that just makes you want to dive in, isn’t there?

    Are you looking forward to September/back to school, in whatever form that takes?


  • 10 ways to celebrate 10 years of Augustus and his smile.

    10 ways to celebrate 10 years of Augustus and his smile.

    Augustus and his smile by Catherine Rayner is a very lovely book. It’s about being sad, and finding ways of not being sad. Including dancing in the rain, and going on a very long walk through nature. It *always* makes me smile, and quite often inspires me to go out for one of those walks to see what I can spot, and I was thrilled to be asked to help celebrate the 10th anniversary edition. (It’s shiny and gold and really rather beautiful. See? Amazon links are affiliate links.)

    Augustus and His Smile 10th Anniversary Edition

    So then I wondered what I could do to celebrate. And I decided that I would come up with 10 ideas to share.

    1) Buy (and/or read) the new 10th anniversary copy of the book 🙂 (Handy Amazon links above. Other bookshops are available.)

    It’s got a shiny gold cover! (Did I already say that?) And if you do, a donation is made to David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation’s TigerTime campaign.

    2) Go on a nature walk. I did exactly that this afternoon, and it was wonderful. Yes, I took my camera, why do you ask? 😉

    3) Visit a tiger. We did this last week, as we went to Colchester Zoo for a home education session, and they have Amur tigers there. Obviously Tigerboy wanted to go see them, so we did, and got a really good view.

    image

    4) Sponsor or adopt a tiger.

    Various zoos and organisations allow you to sponsor one of their animals. For example, Colchester:

    5) Dress up as a tiger. Probably works best if you’re small and cute 😉

    6) Dance in the rain. Jump in puddles. Splash!

    7) Play sleeping tigers. (Wonderful excuse for a nap, and don’t we all deserve one? )

    8) Paint/draw/stick your own tiger pictures.

    image

    My attempt here too.

    image

    9) Have a tiger party – tiger bread anyone? It’s stripy 🙂

    10) Invite other people to come up with their own tigery suggestions – so over to you? How should we celebrate 10 years of Augustus?


  • Netflix and science – Project Mc2 and Adrienne's Volcano

    Netflix and science – Project Mc2 and Adrienne's Volcano

    Adrienne's VolcanoNetflix has been a focal part of our family life here for some time now, with everyone in the family having a favourite viewing occupation. A fair bit of our family film night viewing is supplied via Netflix too.

    I hadn’t fully incorporated it in our home education though, even with discovering Magic Schoolbus is now streamed through the service. (And apparently they are making new episodes too, more on that when I have it.) However, for British Science week we were introduced to Project Mc2 with doll *and* science experiment. Well, it would be rude not to, really.

    Project Mc2 Adrienne’s Volcano Core Doll with Experiment

    I have to say that the doll worried me a little. About the only scientist she reminds me of is Bernadette out of Big Bang, but when I looked into the actual show it appears we just lucked out and got sent the one overly exaggerated feminine character. Basically they’re a bit like the Spice girls, with a sporty one, a geeky one, etc and we got the baby doll one. There are running jokes about her running in heels in the programme (running jokes, get it?) and there are plenty of other characters with more varied wardrobes. Basically, all tastes catered for 🙂

    The experiment that came with her was the old favourite volcano. I say old favourite, as I’ve done it several times with the bigger children, but it turned out the little ones had never seen it, so there was much excitement as we set up in the garden. (Definitely an outside experiment, given the inclusion of food colouring.) Be aware that the instructions that come with this are American – not that it makes a lot of difference, but the terminology changes 🙂

    Here’s a (ridiculously quick) timelapse video of the volcano in action.

    Don’t blink. Sorry. Will try to film again in real time! (Thought I was being so clever…)

    Anyway, the show is still a big hit here, so if you’re looking for something with a sciency take for your kids, give it a go on Netflix.

    Disclosure – I have been very happy to be a part of the Netflix Streamteam. We were sent the doll/volcano to review. I have not been recompensed for this review. netflix stream team


  • Playing home education bingo.

    Playing home education bingo.

    a b c 1 2 3 chalkboard Most of the time I’m happy to talk about home education. I love to chat about the different ways children learn to read. (Phonics. Picture books. Reading eggs. Montessori materials. Osmosis.) I can enthuse for hours about following interests, the value of playing online games, how great the world of nature is and so on.

    And other times, it feels like I’ve said it all before, and that I’m banging my head against a very big, very solid brick wall.

    When I go on facebook and the home education groups are full of people pulling their year 6 children out of school because they’re fed up of stressed children who aren’t being children, and yet some Baroness feels she can blog about parents feeling entitled, and failing their children by taking action to protect them from that stress.

    But the principle that parents should co-operate with teachers and the school in the orderly testing of their children must be beyond argument. It was a terrible example to set to their children – that is, if you don’t like what today holds, or you find it stressful, just skip it.

    (You’ll want to sit down before you read the rest of that article. Or even better, protect your blood pressure, and don’t go there)

    Yes, that definitely feels like a very solid brick.

    No, Baroness Deech, it is NOT a principle carved in stone that parents should cooperate with teachers and schools in the testing of their children. Perhaps you could explain to me how testing enhances the educational process? Because I don’t remember that research. Or perhaps you could point me to the national agreement that shows precisely *how* learning archaic language terms will help our children reach their full potential, because I must have missed that one too.

    Another set of things I seem to have missed are the law changes that require home educators to register with their local authorities. They much have happened, surely, given that Sir Michael Wilshaw, head of Ofsted, pontificated about the process on Radio 4 the other day. (You can read another home educator’s take on that here .)

    No, they haven’t happened. Sir Michael is either badly informed, guilty of wishful thinking, or just completely misspoke.

    Hard to tell which.

    As a home educator, if your children have never been registered with any school, you don’t have to tell anyone that you are home educating. You just carry on with the education that you’re offering.

    If, and only if, your children are in school, then you need to inform people. The process differs in the different parts of the UK, but in England, in a mainstream school what you do is deregister by informing the headteacher. It is then UP TO THE HEADTEACHER to inform the local authority.

    Not the parent. And the local authority do not have to follow up on it – they have powers to make informal enquiries IF it appears that no (suitable) education is being provided. Many local authorities overstep this line, and many home educators spend a lot of time supporting newcomers through this minefield. I do a fair bit of it myself, in the online world.

    It’s another tick for home education bingo.

    Along the path to home education, it’s almost impossible to escape conversations about socialisation. It’s difficult to know what this refers to – for some people they are talking about friendships, for others they are talking about children acquiring the unwritten rules of society. Here to tell you that both of those things can and do happen out of school, so it’s kind of a red herring either way.

    Another topic that will probably come up is neglect – you can reply that home educated children are subject to exactly the same oversight as every other child, with local authorities social services departments having perfectly adequate powers to investigate. In fact, many home educated children are referred to social services just because of people’s ignorance around home education. Education is not a welfare issue, no matter how many times people talk as if it is.

    Tomorrow I will probably bounce back and be my usual cheerful and patient self regarding all of this nonsense. I’ll paint, sew, cook, explore nature, read books, troubleshoot computer programs and assist my children with all their home education activities, just like I am doing today in and around this rant. I’ll do it with a smile, probably.

    It would really, really help if people like Baroness Deech and Sir Michael could get their facts straight and stop spreading misinformation in the meantime.


  • Animal adaptations – home education at Colchester Zoo

    Animal adaptations – home education at Colchester Zoo

    Colchester Zoo is our local zoo, if you can refer to something 40 minutes drive away as local. We’ve only been once before, as guests of First News when we had a fabulous amphibians experience. Then just last week I learnt via facebook that they were offering (free) home education sessions, targeted to age group, so 11-16, 5-7 and 7-11.

    I booked in for Small (11-16) and Smallest (5-7) and on Monday we headed out to take part.

    It’s not a bad drive thankfully, and we arrived with time for a quick look around before the first session – we popped in to check on the iguanas and tortoises.

    Yes, he is lying on a radiator. I was kind of jealous. It was a very cold day.

    This is my only decent shot of the tortoise. He was actually moving too fast mostly to get focus in the dark 😉

    And this is the workshop we went for. On the left is Small, dressed as the ultimate predator, with his huge ears, big teeth and eyes at the front of his head. It was a really good session, Smallest got a lot out of it too, so much so that we didn’t stop for her session, which was immediately after Small’s. Shame in a way as there were a lot of younger children waiting to come in and it would have been nice for her to meet them, but after sitting for 90 minutes she needed a break.

    (Tigerboy paid attention for about quarter of an hour, then played on Tiggly for a while.)

    Her favourite animals. Honest. That’s a happy face.

    This was cute. They move fast too don’t they?

    So we spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the zoo. And it went so well that we signed up for passes, and will be signing up for more workshops. The passes are quite expensive but if we make six workshops that will bring the price down something in line with skating.

    Lots of thing to do at the zoo as well as look at animals. This is a great play area, and there are several really good climbing frames, and an indoor softplay. No doubt we’ll get to explore that some other time.

    Best bit of the day – we managed to arrive at the elephant house just in time to join in with the feeding. I got to feed an elephant! Smallest declined the chance, Small did it twice. Tigerboy tried, but didn’t quite manage but did get to have an elephant trunk go across his hand.

    All in all, it was an excellent day out. We didn’t see more than a fraction of the animals, but that’s the other benefit of the passes is we can pop in when passing and not worry if we can’t make a day of it. I suspect it’s going to become our new favourite place.


    Big birds. Handy to see them as we’d been talking about birds that can’t fly the other day and they’d come up in the discussion.

    I’m really impressed that Colchester Zoo is putting on events for home educators in this way, and I’m looking forward to taking advantage of them 🙂


  • Happy Farm from beleduc.

    Happy Farm from beleduc.
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    Today’s home education activity – a bit of game playing. Happy Farm was one of Tigerboy’s Christmas presents, it’s just at the right level for him in terms of counting, taking turns and swapping pieces. It doesn’t take too long to play and is a very beautiful and tactile set made of wood. About the only drawback is the size meaning it’s not an easily portable game – what I might do to work around that is make a fabric or even paper version of the game board for out and about.

    I’d say this is an ideal game for early years activities, it says 4 up on the box but Tigerboy is managing it fine age 3, it will depend on patience and counting ability as to how independently your child can play. For 2 – 4 players, works better with 3 or 4.

    Available from Amazon (affiliate link) here Beleduc Happy Farm Board Game

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