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Doodling, drawing and decoration.

On not going back to school. Staying at not school?

13th August 2018 by Jax Blunt Leave a Comment

We went out and about today, and bought stationery for the new not-school year that’s fast approaching. None of this terminology makes much sense. As I’ve said, we’ve drifted into an unschooling lifestyle where there’s really not a lot of division in the day between overtly educational activities and games and playing and just life really.

Having said that, with me heading towards (hopefully) an out of home work routine, I have put a reward chart type thing up on the wall to remind the younger two of their options. I’ve recently signed up to Skoolbo for them which has a batch of curriculum linked materials – little and often is useful in building confidence particularly in core subjects like Maths and English that they *will* need qualifications in. I’m also looking into Doodlemaths after a reasonably successful trial – yes, the more maths games the better. So they’ve got a line on the charts to remind them to do one or the other of those 5 days a week, and I’ve got a line to remind me to do writing 😉

Yup, I’m on the reward chart too. I’m not using it as a reward scheme, I’m using it as a visual reminder – a prompt for the days when I’m not about all day to do the prompting in person. Obviously there will be one or more other adults about (yes, we have two other adults in the household these days!) but I’ve taken the lead in educational terms, and this is my way of keeping that running smoothly.

As well as that, today we bought some fab cardboard people templates (Poundland, 20 for £1, and some brill Bic crayons, really bright and not messy, 8 for £1) (sadly not a sponsored post, do let let me know if you’ve got any openings there Poundland!), and then spent some time making paper clothes for them. (Spot that sneaky fine motor control, pen work etc etc.) The conversations were brilliant as well, as Smallest made herself a girl doll, and then gave her a naughty younger brother – no idea where that inspiration came from!

One other bargain today – a copy of Britannia, 100 Great Stories from British History for £1.50 from a local charity shop. (Amazon affiliate link incoming).

We read the introduction and the first story tonight, as we did our Whangdoodle chapter at lunchtime. (I like reading to them as often as possible, and from as many varied types of books – fiction, sort of fiction, poetry – they love pretty much anything.)

And that was our home ed day.

I was wondering if anyone wanted to write a bit about their not back to school plans, and we could have a bit of a carnival, say in about 3 weeks time? A carnival is where you write something on your blog, and send me the link and then I write up a post with all the links in and preferably you put a link in your original post to that post and then everyone can find all of them. So like this – from back in 2013. If you’d like to submit something home education, or flexi schooling, or unschooling or alternative school related, either pop a link into my comments, or send it to me on twitter or facebook. Preferably by 31st August, so that I’ve got time to compile the carnival posts 🙂

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Filed Under: carnival, Doodling, drawing and decoration., how we do it, It's where it is Tagged With: Britannia, carnival, doodlemaths, educational resources, Poundland, skoolbo, unschooling

Skating, friends and a doodlesome evening

3rd October 2017 by Jax Blunt 1 Comment

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?

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Filed Under: art, Doodling, drawing and decoration., places we like, tigerboy Tagged With: drawing, home education, sktchy

Colour my grey day

15th September 2017 by Jax Blunt 10 Comments

Right now I’m really enjoying photography, and particularly sharing it on Instagram, where there are some wonderful communities you can join in with by tagging your pictures. I thought I’d share a few of my favourites here.

#colourmygreyday is for those days when you need a pop of colour. This evening’s picture, taken during this morning’s cool down was perfect.

The tag was started by Marisa, who shares gems like this hydrangea

View this post on Instagram

#breatheseptember2017 •gentle• Love the way these hydrangeas take on a softer hue as we move gently into Autumn. 💜in other news final decisions on my MoG outfit have been decided …. I think 💜😉 . . . . . #colourmygreyday #petal_perfection #bloomandgrow #littlestoriesofmylife #hydrangeaseason #thegentlemanifesto #savouringhappiness #aseasonalyear #plantsmakepeoplehappy #inmygarden #natureneedsnofilter #hydrangeaheaven #theweirdalchemyofhydrangeas #fiftyshades_of_nature_

A post shared by Marisa (@marisa___parker) on Sep 6, 2017 at 1:24am PDT

I also shared into #outdoorsandhappy a really supportive community who recently featured my autumn leaves. This one is also great for outdoor adventures with small children, and is run by Joy

View this post on Instagram

Featured image #outdoorsandhappy 📸 @organisedjo . Yes Jo is right autumn has arrived. Days are getting colder, food is ready for harvest and of course the leaves are turning. . Thank you to everyone for joining in with the community. Each week myself and @beckygoddardhill select our favourites

A post shared by Joy Gloucestershire UK (@pinkoddy) on Sep 14, 2017 at 2:38pm PDT

and Becky who recently featured my autumn leaves

View this post on Instagram

This beautiful shot capturing the seasons change from @liveotherwise isn't featured #outdoorsandhappy post this week , do use the hashtag and join this fab community @pinkoddy and I showcase our favourite each thurs

A post shared by Becky Goddard-Hill (@beckygoddardhill) on Sep 14, 2017 at 1:32am PDT

#smallmomentsofcalm is run by Rachael Lucas and her instagram is just filled with perfect illustrations of it.

For example:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BY0GnBpA7Wr/

Another lovely family of tags come from heitermagazine, and work around the heiter idea, so #beheiter #heitermoments and so on.

Look here

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Autumnal mornings, the mountains lie under a blanket of fog and the browning leaves start to fall to the ground. Everything is hushed and calm, I can't help but feel heiter. What are the things that make you cheerful this season? ……………………………………………………………………………… Herbstmorgen. Die Berge verstecken sich unter der Nebeldecke, die braunen Blätter fallen langsam zu Boden. Alles ist ruhig, ganz bedacht und dieses Gefühl der Heiterkeit überkommt mich. Was macht dich an dieser Jahreszeit heiter?

A post shared by Katharina | heiter magazine (@heitermagazine) on Sep 10, 2017 at 11:10pm PDT

That had to make you heave a happy sigh, right?

Oh, and then there’s the creative tags. I started #acreativepractice and I use that to focus on fitting in regular creativity. Eg

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My morning: water, yoga, painting all before internet. (Sharing this while I wait for the masking fluid to dry properly!) I will develop #acreativepractice 🙂 #cornersofmygarden #astillmoment #smallmomentsofcalm #heitermoments #ourcreativeselves #creativityfound #makersgonnamake #artistsonig #watercolour #sktchyinspired #fb #outdoorsandhappy #simpleandstill #myeverydaymagic #ofsimplethings #winsorandnewton #cupsinframe #mymorningview

A post shared by Jax Blunt (@liveotherwise) on Sep 7, 2017 at 12:42am PDT

I also like #ourcreativeselves from Shalagh – a lovely collection of her work here.

View this post on Instagram

–Postcards– #Augustbreak2017 . These are the best of the second half of the #icad2017 challenge I participated in through June and July. Art is a recovery and rediscovery of yourself. And I realized I need it even more now. . Today on the blog, why recovery is easier when you know it's impact on the ones you love. You may not run a marathon for you but you'd do it for a good cause. Children are my greatest cause. Link in my profile to my blog on Shalavee.com . . #creativityfound #createeveryday #collage #taleswithfriends #paper #mixedmedia #ourcreativeselves #acreativepractice #creativelifehappylife #collageartist #collageart #cutandpaste #analoguecollage

A post shared by Shalagh Hogan (@shalaghhogan) on Aug 9, 2017 at 5:59am PDT

I find instagram to be a really supportive community, and love the friendships I’ve made there. Do you have any tag communities you love, or accounts you’d recommend?

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Filed Under: Doodling, drawing and decoration., Social media Tagged With: friendship, hashtag communities, inspiration, instagram, photography

Blue Monday?

4th September 2017 by Jax Blunt 21 Comments

I’ve struggled to get going today, even though I started with a quick painting and was actually quite pleased with it.

I used Sktchy app for inspiration as Zoe described here (one of the pictures in her post might look familiar). I used to draw every day but I’ve fallen out of the habit over the summer and really want to get back into it.

I might do one of the untouched months in my Draw Every Day book (affiliate link in sidebar I think). Or take up art journaling. I need to be doing something to be able to use my #acreativepractice tag on Instagram!

What do you do to keep yourself being creative?

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Filed Under: Doodling, drawing and decoration. Tagged With: acreativepractice, blogtember, sktchy

Sketching.

24th December 2016 by Jax Blunt 3 Comments

I’ve a little moleskine book I’ve been drawing in for some time now. It’s easy to look back and see how much I’ve improved. 

Noses are still difficult, but I’m getting proportions of faces better I think. There’s starting to be expression in the eyes – or am I looking at it too hard? 

If I were to make new year resolutions I think one ought to be to find art and writing groups, to get regular objective feedback on my work. I find groups very difficult though, so I’m really not convinced I’ll get to it. 

Hard to know what to do for the best. 

For the moment, feedback will have to be via social media, and here if you feel inclined. 

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Filed Under: art, Doodling, drawing and decoration. Tagged With: art, moleskine, portrait, sketch, sktchy

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