Well – how on earth can it be the end of January? It is usually a month that drags on my but this time around it’s flown by!
January has felt like a big month for me. I have to say it’s often a month I really enjoy in terms of home education – it sees us move back into a routine and has always seemed to be a month when we have got a lot of very tangible ‘stuff’ done.
Core Subjects
So, the core subjects of English and Maths have picked up well. D and E continue to work through the Maths no Problem books and are doing well. Things finally seem to have clicked into place for D and we no longer have the battles we once did. I am glad I’ve persevered with this particular curriculum and supplemented with other bits and pieces as needed. I am sure we will be pretty much done with the current book for D by Easter time and E maybe around a similar time.
H is every interested in joining in and has been doing a range of counting sheets from twinkl. There’s a few we like and as much as I don’t want him to feel he has to sit and do work, he really does want to so we spend some time here and there.
English work for the older two is through reading and exploring language in poetry. We are working through the Schofield and Sims reading comprehension books which are useful for me in terms of highlighting any issues. E is keen to work on her spelling, and I need to have a look at a scheme to help her with this as it’s something she is struggling with at the moment but I am sure it will come. H is working on his pen control and has right at the end of the month started to write numbers and recognise all the letters in his name. I admit to being a bit lazy with H at times, and I need to do more on letter recognition with him in the next month.
In terms of science, a friend has set up a new science group which is at the moment looking at the human body. The first session on bones was well received and we did a few follow-up bits to this. I plan to do some more follow up before the next session too and we enjoyed using the mystery science lesson at home for this and making our own x-rays.
Project work
Projects have been a good avenue for learning for us, and the children completed a Myths and Legends project this month and made a start on a USA project. They also designed and made board games and displayed these at the Board Game Fair.
We did some mini projects for new year at a session a friend hosted and I also hosted a learning day about Australia which the children enjoyed.
Regular Groups
Regular groups all re-started which helped to bring structure and continuity to our days and weeks. All three children enjoy PE and Football groups and H has this month joined his older siblings at swimming lessons. He is really enjoying them so far.
Spanish class for the older two restarted and I’ve noticed a real step up in terms of what they’re doing there at the moment. We have also started another session on a Monday afternoon that H can join in with and he too is really enjoying his lessons and proudly shouts out the Spanish colours to me.
The older two also started a music class on a Saturday morning, learning the clarinet. They’ve only had one class so far but after this weekend our commitments will be complete so they should be able to get to most weekends. They’ll also perform once a month at a service so I’m looking forward to seeing how they develop and get on.
Finally, our history group re-started with a focus on Anglo-Saxons. The children are really enjoying this group and learning lots and I’m looking forward to building on what they’ve learnt in the coming months.
Days out
We have had some good days out this month. We started the year with a trip to Quarry Bank Mill and we have been to Preston and Chester this last week (using the Northern Rail 10p train journey tickets). The children have enjoyed these days out and we have another train trip planned for February. We had a wander out to a re-created Iron Age Round House and plenty of trips to the library and local park.
Of course, this update only provides a snapshot of the things I can remember us doing this past month but it’s felt busy and like a good month this month. I’m already excited for February, which will see E turn six!
