So What Do You Do?

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Sometimes people ask “So if you don’t do lessons, what do you do?”

A couple of weeks ago I decided to keep diary of a week with Jonathan (11) but only got half way through before I forgot. So here instead is just one day – Friday. This is not particularly a typical day but most days aren’t!

We start with a late rise (Thursdays have a late night activity) and rush out of the house as Martin and I need to get to an appointment at the bank. Ruth and Jonathan stay in the car and listen to the radio/read.

Rush into Lidl to buy Ruth some new boots.

Off to ice skating, Jonathan hasn’t been for the whole year and Ruth has maybe been once, we’re going today as we have other things to do in Ryde so makes the petrol costs worthwhile. Jonathan enjoyed meeting up with a friend he doesn’t see often enough and despite the fact that this pic just has Jonathan and Ruth in it we met up with quite a few other HErs there – they were just later than us!

After 3 hours spent in the ice rink, and lots of knitting in the very cold cafe for me, it’s time to go on to a friend’s house for lunch and continuing with some mosaics. We got completely drenched on the way and ended up crafting in an assortment of borrowed clothes!

Coming home with a stack of crafting stuff so we can continue at home we are stuck in lots of traffic. We still manage to get home just in time for Ruth to grab some tea and head out to volunteer at a local YFC kids club and then off to Catalyst.

Jonathan had tea and then we listened to 3 chapters of Harry Potter while he made giant cookies, started outlining his plaster of Paris leaves and then continued to practice drawing dragon heads.

 So we don’t break any of this down into subjects, we tend to view things more holistically, but if you were to do so we fairly obviously have:

Art

PE

English (Harry Potter, reading in the car, lots of discussion about everything)

Home Economics

We also have lots of hidden subjects – either because we have dealt with them conversationally through the day or because they are not immediately obvious – here are a couple as examples:

Maths – our meeting in the morning was about out mortgage – so in the car we had a discussion about debt and percentage interest, Jonathan was dealing with weights and conversions in his cooking, we covered everyday maths in money and timetables and I’m sure more that I can’t remember.

Music – while doing the crafting we were treated to some acoustic guitar music and discussed styles of music, as they did somewhat critically in the car while listening to a lot of 80s dance music (I just enjoyed the reminiscence).

For those of you who actually know us and wonder what Rebekah was doing all day, she is typically out all day on a Friday too with Foodbank warehouse in the morning, volunteering at church in the afternoon and off to Catalyst in the evening so we only have the most fleeting of conversations with her as the day passes – in fact I’d gone to bed before she got home last night!

So there is a day in our lives and what we actually do, another day might and probably would look completely different.

Autumn Baking

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We were inspired to make some blackberry shortbread when we saw pictures on the Home Baked blog, however ours were nowhere near as pretty as hers and we felt they needed a little more sugar, but it was a good excuse for Jonathan to have a go with the piping bag and a good use for a handful of autumn blackberries!

When I asked Jonathan what he would like to bake he said a spiders web cake, we had followed a recipe for one before but couldn’t find it so we used Mary Berry’s chocolate version of the Victoria sandwich, our made up version of ganache and some cheap Aldi white chocolate for the web and spider!

 

I have been using up the apples in the garden. We have had loads and my old jam jars are all full of chutneys and jam, I have been trying to make Andy Hamilton’s Sort Of Cider and I have made three different apple cakes, Devon apple cake, polenta apple cake and my mum’s grated apple cake. The Devon one is a really easy yummy everyday type cake and I think I have made 8 so far this year and will be making more to take to church on Sunday too. The polenta one is an adaptation of this lovely raspberry cake recipe, I’ve just used thin slices of apple instead of the raspberries, this is great for Martin who is trying to avoid wheat and is definitely the best straightforward gluten free cake recipe I have used, we use fine cornmeal instead of standard polenta and it tastes lovely! My mum’s recipe takes a bit more work, kneading the dough, grating it and cooking the apples but it is definitely my favourite (it would be my inheritance track, if I was choosing food rather than records!) and here is a pic of it!

We haven’t made any bread for ages so I was pleased that my Paul Hollywood based cob loaf turned out well.

Our bagels unfortunately were not as good, I think I made the dough too soft so they sort of shriveled in the boiling water rather than puffing up!

  

Lessons From A Broken Arm

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I learnt a number of things, about myself and generally, when I broke my arm. I know it was a while ago but the thing is still hurting and some of the issues are still on my mind.

1. I quite liked the excuse to sit around at home for 6 weeks without being able to rush about the place unless there was someone to chauffeur me about.

2. I’m quite capable of feeling very sorry for myself!

3. I clearly value being able to crochet and use my walking poles – one early morning, about a week after my cast had come off and I still couldn’t do much, Martin found me in tears as I somewhat hysterically cried “What if I can never crochet or use my poles again?”

4. Big Things Matter.

5. Little Things Matter Too.

6. It takes a ridiculously long time to recover from a broken arm when you are middle aged!

7. My family are lovely.

8. It is surprising how much I actually do – there was definitely a lot more stress in the house as everyone tried to take up the slack and my lot are all very helpful and skilled anyway. Actually it was quite pleasing for me to realise that they needed me more than we all realised – sometimes I think I don’t do very much!

9. I could still play cards – although not demons.

10.If you really want to you can overcome the sweltering heat and the scramble down to the beach that you struggle with even with two arms and still attend the cardboard boat regatta!

 

11. I am quite contrary – usually I am ambivalent about swimming in the sea – this year I was desperate too – although that could have had something to do with the sweltering weather – which leads on to…

12. I love air-conditioning – my happiest day was when we spent the afternoon in the cinema in the air-con – I really didn’t want to go home. I also got Martin to drive a long way home from Chale so I could maximise the time when I felt cool rather than sweaty and sticky and itchy!

13. Having good friends and family really does make all the difference!

Little Things Matter Too – lessons from a broken arm

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I was definitely feeling a bit sorry for myself and unloved when I broke my arm. I was surprised at just how vulnerable I felt. I spend a lot of time doing things, to be suddenly unable to even bake a cake, crochet square, walk with my poles made me feel very strange – these were things that made me who I am - who was I without them? I also found that stress levels rose dramatically in the house. Someone had to cook all the meals, do all the washing, all the washing up, all the cleaning. There was another adult and 2 nearly adults and a big sized child in the house so we could clearly cope but it was hard and everyone took turns having a “moment”. Because we were coping and we were so much better off than many people (lots of capable people in the house) I didn’t feel like I needed help and could ask for it, but I definitely appreciated help.

These were a few of the things that really mattered to me, were appreciated by me and that I’m thankful for (I’m sure there were more but I can’t remember them at this distance) :

One friend gave me a card, a bar of chocolate and a bottle of local apple juice. I felt really touched; this gesture made me feel loved and thought about and like someone realised I needed cheering up.

My sister sent me a lovely package of all sorts of useful and indulgent items as well as coming over to help out.

Friends gave me lifts.

Friends took Jonathan to events.

I had a few meals and some bread rolls given to me.

One friend brought me some food over and then washed up the stuff that was lurking around.

Access to TV shows that we wouldn’t otherwise have had – I watched a ludicrous amount of TV during this time.

And one of the most lovely things was a friend who phoned up to ask if I wanted her to make a birthday cake for Rebekah – which I most certainly did.

I really learnt a lot from this. I often have grand plans about what I’d like to do for people that I don’t have time/money/energy to implement. I realised how much even a small thing was appreciated and that I could do with doing small things for people to show them love and support and actually get round to it rather than imagining the grand things I’d like to do and not actually getting round to them.

 

Big Things Matter – lessons from a broken arm

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I was definitely feeling rather sorry for myself when I broke my arm. The children and Martin were coping but it was definitely stressful for them to pick up the jobs that I tend to do. I honestly think we were all surprised at what a difference it made to our lives – given that the kids help with housework and cook some of the time anyway there still seems to be an amazing amount of stuff that I do – maybe I’m not superfluous to requirements after all!

Within the midst of this stress my sister came down and spent a few days with us to help out.

This was amazing.

She gave Jonathan some much needed attention and some exercise:

Drove me to picnics:

Took Jonathan swimming in the sea – which he had been wanting someone to do with him for ages:

She brought dinners with her (thanks Jonathan!) (which were delicious and gave the girls a break from cooking later on) and cooked and washed up while she was here which was great – particularly for the girls who were sometimes feeling a bit fed up with the on going nature of the cooking, washing and washing up (Jonathan had managed to master the art of fish fingers and waffles though!).

Being willing to be here and to help with Jonathan, the house,the shopping, the garden etc. and to work tirelessly at it (I’m sure there were loads of other things but writing with a few months distance I can’t remember them all) was brilliant for me and as well as being practically wonderful also made me feel very very loved!

 

Gratification

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Really is there much that is more gratifying than your 11 year old son saying after a couple of days camping with you “I’m glad we came camping, I really enjoyed it!” Most of the time it was just the two of us and all we did was swim, walk and spend time together – reading, cards, whittling, crosswords – just nothing much – brilliant!

Martin did join us at the start and the end and had a couple of seaside walks.

 

Sometimes …..

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……. I miss this stage, not often mind you as I like them being older too, but sometimes.

 

Haircut Trauma

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I’m searching through old photos looking for one of Jonathan when his eczema was horrendous but there aren’t many on the computer from 2002! However while looking I came across these photos of the kids with some Dawsons. I was thinking how cute they looked. But then I remembered that Ruth is still going on about the trauma of me cutting her hair like this – too short. I wasn’t good at cutting hair so it was one of those times where it gradually got shorter and shorter to level it out.

Seriously she is still going on about it even now!

 

Fort Vic Foray – August 2013

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Jonathan and I had a fabulous time at the Fort Victoria Foray yesterday.

We were there right from the start so had time to have a go at everything we wanted to do. Jonathan was probably at the older end of the age that these type of events are organised for and said there wasn’t too much that he wanted to do that he hadn’t done before – however we love Fort Victoria so it wasn’t hard to fill the day.

After a quick story about how the sea became salty with Sue Bailey Story Teller we headed off on a tree ID walk – it was a bit early so we were the only people on it which was great as we got lots of personal attention and we definitely picked up a few tips.

Next we had a quick wander down to the beach where we tried rock pooling without rock pools with Gift To Nature – it involved looking under loads of seaweed to find various creatures: fish, crabs, anemones etc. We only managed the anemones but others found more. As we were hungry we decided to find a quiet spot for some lunch and ended up perched behind the Aquarium. Then we popped in to have a look round – we love the aquarium and on this occasion saw the infamous weaver fish and a large cuttlefish.

 Had another look around all the stalls and Jonathan made a badge with the Wildlife Trust to add to his collection. Next off to the woods to have a look at the Forrest School area and make a clay face on a tree.

 

We started watching the Lifeboat displays but then went off to look at the new woodland trail.

We were not quite the only ones on the walk this time but very nearly. It was good to have a look at the new paths and also to see some of the work done by Ruth and Rebekah with the rangers and The Learning Zone a few years ago. We also got to see some of the musical items in the wood and learn how to tell the age of an oak tree without cutting it down (rule of thumb is measure 1m up and then measure around the trunk in centimeters – halve that number and you have a ball park age – the one we measured was about 100 years old).

 

 Time for an ice cream and while Jonathan was scoffing it I was watching the beautiful bees and butterflies on the buddleia behind the cafe

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A bit of assisting with some kite flying, as well as a couple of HE conversations and a chat about Jonathan’s interest in animation, and it was time to pack up and head on home.

Exams – Starting Late And Early

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So for a change I’m going to write a proper home education blog post.

We collected the last(probably) of Ruth’s IGCSE results this morning. She was absolutely delighted with getting an A in Biology and a B in English.

We are both particularly pleased with the English result. Here is some context:

Ruth learned to read at about age 8 1/2.

Ruth didn’t write anything formal until her maths GCSE age 12.

She didn’t write paragraphs of text until she was doing her environmental management exam age 13.

If she had been at school she would have been considered behind with all these skills and yet she has 5 (i)GCSEs all As and Bs a year early. She was given space to learn in her own time following her own interests. We could have pushed her to read earlier but what would that have achieved, we could have pushed her to write and do worksheet but how would hat have improved her life and learning? She now has a grade B in English a year early. We could have spent a lot of time doing busy work but instead we just lived our lives learning as we lived and she seems to have been managing the academic just fine without all the preamble.

She was able to take the exams she wanted when she wanted: Maths (12), Environmental Management (13), Chemistry, Biology, English (15).

She is also stopping now – 5 GCSEs can get her to the places she is considering going so there is no necessity to do more and she has no desire to.

Besides all the exam stuff Ruth can also make a mean chocolate brownie which might well be of more use in her adult life than a handful of GCSEs.