For some reason that I don’t quite understand, Big feels that she is behind where she would be if she were in school.
I doubt that’s true. There are definitely things she hasn’t covered that she might have done, but there’s an awful lot she’s done that she’d not have done in school. However, this is about how she feels about herself, so we will rectify the matter.
We’re going to start by me going through the national curriculum and picking on things that it wouldn’t hurt to know a bit more about. And given that Merry, or in this case, Max ;), so recently covered nutrition, it seems like a good place to start. (Plus right at the moment she appears to be trying to cut meat out of her diet, and I’d like her to understand the ramifications of that choice.)
National Curriculum, Science, KS2. Nutrition.
Pupils should be taught
a) about the functions and care of teeth
b) about the need for food for activity and growth, and about the importance of an adequate and varied diet for health
So then I’m going to set up a couple of questions relating to this target, and give her some resources to start with, and set her off to do the research on her own. I’ll guide her a little, particularly with the first few projects, and at the end of a week, I’ll set a quiz and we’ll see how much she’s managed to acquire.
For this target, she did teeth at montessori, a long time ago. Not sure whether she remembers it all, but given she’s started her orthodontist appts and there’s going to be plenty of stuff about teeth going on here in the next few weeks, I’m moving swiftly on to part b.
So the questions are:
What do we need food for?
How much do we need?
What do we need, and what does it do for us?
And the resources I’m starting her off with are on the BBC Bitesize KS3 website, some stuff from the Asda schools website, in the fun and games section. Updated 2017 to replace Asda schools with farm to fork challenge as there’s nothing at Asda schools any more.
And for lots more links, I do like to look at the Woodlands School website. Updated 2017 Woodlands school resources site
I’m hoping that she’ll be happy to share the results of her project when she’s done, but even if she doesn’t want to, perhaps this stuff will be helpful to someone else 🙂
My son is 13 (home educated!) and he went to school this year, half way through year 9. He too had been totally convinced that he would be miles behind and that school children knew much more than him. He has been told that he would be as well – grrr! Anyway, he is not! He may not have studied some of the topics but his general knowledge is good and his ability to think round the subject has been remarked upon by his teachers. In science especially he has found that he knows more than he thought. Good for Big to be doing something about what she feels she is missing. After all, that yearning to learn is something that will stand her in good stead no matter what she does!
Hi Philippa, thanks for stopping by to comment. Can I ask why your son has gone to school now? I can well see that at some point Big will decide to give it a go, and I want to give her all the abilities, confidence and knowledge that she feels to need to make that informed decision about it.
a side note – I am BOGGLED that these two points are key stage2?! for kids what, 9 – 12?!
We talk about both these topics – IN DETAIL – constantly. with the toddlers.
(sorry, really shouldn’t be jumping on the curriculum bashing bandwagon, but my god. the stuff they put in the curriculum I’m often horrified at the idea of kids having not already got to grips with before they’re 5!)
KS2 is 7-11 – sending your kids to school for a bit is a good way of ensuring you never worry about your HE provision again 😉
He decided to go to school partly to do GCSEs (and is doing the end of Year 9 so he can get used to it) and partly because he was worried about his friends knowing more. I must admit that it has been really encouraging. It does take up an enormous amount of time and we miss him 🙁
Am also regularly boggled by KS levels – as was Max when he did all that. The girls knew it all anyway. As an aside, they’ve been huely encouraged at times by bursts of S&S workbooks, which always prove the know it all 😉