A Month of Home Ed – April 2023

Another month and another round up – the year seems to be hurtling by and with it the move into what would be D’s final year of primary school and some big decisions ahead in the autumn for us. But for now, we will continue on as we are. April has been a mixed bag, it was Easter at the start of the month and with it the two week half term break. It is rare for us to take a full two week break but we did this time. It was much needed and it co-incided with Damian having some leave from work. We started back on the home ed path after the Easter half term and it’s all feeling a bit stunted again with the May bank holidays, but we will find a rhythm soon I am sure.

At the time of writing, D is 10, E is 9, and H 6, so Year 5, Year 4, and Year 2 respectively.

Core Subjects

Maths continued as ever, and we are working through Maths No Problem at the various levels. They have just issued a new version of the books so I have a bit of a scramble trying to get the workbooks for H that match the textbooks I already have; I really didn’t want to have to buy new textbooks when we already have a set for D; thankfully I’ve managed to get hold of everything I need which has saved us some money.

We also started a book study this month that I anticipate will take us up until the end of May. We are looking at the books Song Walker and digging into some of the detail and themes; looking at written English is something I really want to work on next academic year, especially with the older two, so this is a good starter for that.

Projects

As well as the Song Walker study we have also embarked on a Victorians study and linking in to the Industrial Revolution and themes of empire. All quite heavy stuff but we are doing it relatively light touch at the moment. I expect this to be tied up in the coming weeks; we have a few trips to local places penciled in and I just need to work out when is best to visit these.

D has also started a unit on spreadsheets which he has been enjoying. It’s still in its infancy but he has been enjoying playing around with some basic formulae and I think we’ll develop this further in the later summer / early autumn.

Regular Groups

Regular groups started back up after the Easter break; so athletics, running for D & E, Beaver, Cubs and Scouts, Spanish, Swimming and Music lessons. I think we might have a little rethink of some of the activities we do in the autumn as rising costs and feeling very over-committed means it’s probably time to review things.

Other Bits & Pieces

We made the most of the Easter break by spending time with family as well as taking one of D’s friends out for the day to Oulton Park to watch the superbikes practice session. It was a seriously cold day – a bitter wind in the open fields certainly made it an experience! But the children enjoyed it.

We also went to a local museum in the half term break as well as a ‘school trip’ to Staircase House in Stockport. This was a day themed around the Great Fire of London, which we covered earlier this year. This was a thoroughly excellent day and the children loved it.

We also joined a local wildlife workshop abot Barn Owls at a local National Trust site. This was really good and the children, as well as Damian and I, learnt a lot about Barn Owls and voles.

So, all in all, another ‘light’ month but I make no apologies for taking a longer break for Easter; it was much needed by us all and I have some plans for May and June. There’ll be a renewed focus on getting through the amths books; both Em and H are almost at the end of their current books so I’d like to have those finished by the summer break as well as finishing up a couple more projects.