Well, another month done and another month of a strange new world.
This month I’ve found hard. We should have been away on holiday for a week of it, and we should have been out celebrating a birthday. We should have had some days out with friends in the glorious weather. Instead we haven’t.
A week off work has been spent pottering around the house, not doing a whole lot. I’ve found May a struggle and it has been tedious at times. I’ve lost patience with the children far too much and I’ve been tired. Tired of planning endless home education topics. Tired of worrying about the lies from our Government. Tired of the whole sorry situation.
But, it’s June today and I’ve had some lovely messages from friends and I have a plan for the month ahead. So, without further ado, here is how May looked for us.
Core Subjects
We did a large space themed project at the start of May and in doing so the children learnt a lot! We made solar ovens (delicious smores!) and made a rather impressive lapbook. I also worked some creative writing into this project which is something we really need to work on in the coming months. Maths took a bit of a backseat this month but we continued on with English with the Schofield and Sims books that we use.
The older twp enjoyed these Roll a Story games from Mrs Mactivity and we have been using the Story Starter books that I reviewed last week too. This is going to be a regular feature over the coming months as we move to develop their written work. Em is much better at descriptive writing than D is and I really want to help unlock this for them. I have started working through some ideas and we start a project later this week looking at English in a more structured way.
Project Work
As mentioned above, the children did a large space based project and we also completed a whales project too. We worked through our first Mysteries in Time Box which we really enjoyed, especially when we made each other into mummies! We also began to look at our Royalty themed projects for our next speaking and listening group.
We learnt about VE Day and following some books that we were sent, D has developed a huge fascination with the World Wars. He is devouring information and has been busy making up his own lapbook of military uniforms, tanks, medals and the such. He’s made all manner of things and it’s been great to see this more creative side to him develop.
Regular Groups
Our regular groups now consist of PE with Joe and Lets go Live with Maddie & Greg! I’ll admit that most mornings it’s now just me doing PE with Joe. The children join in for bits of it but I’ enjoying it. I’m going to start his 90 Day plan soon so it will be interesting if the children join in with any of those workouts with me.
They’re really enjoying the Maddie & Greg Live YouTube broadcasts and this is proving to offer a lot of inspiration to them. They’re all very engaged in the show and enjoy doing bits and pieces related to it.
D & E continue to have online Beaver meetings and are working through their badges and they also have their Tuesday Spanish classes too. These are going really well and is actually a format that works much better for us!
Days Out
Days out are few and far between. We have been heading out for walks here and there but we are cautious with the changes to the restrictions and aren’t changing our habits much. The children have spent a lot of time on their bikes and playing in the garden.
Other Bits & Pieces
We have been to some online parties which has been good fun, and the children have enjoyed helping Damian in the garden. We have done baking as and when we have been able to get hold of flour and sugar and Thursday nights and the Online Pub Quiz have become a highlight for Daniel who gets to stay up with Damian and I to join in. The children are being really creative and there’s all manner of makes around the house as well as drawings. It’s been really lovely to see them develop this. We have played endless games and the children seem to be getting better at beating me at Uno!
May was a quiet month; it doesn’t feel like the second half had been terribly productive. But I have my plans written for June and I’m looking forward to working on some projects with them, as well as exploring some other core areas too. I’m hoping that we can relax a little towards the middle of June. I am desperately missing family and friends and am grateful to those friends who have chatted and kept in touch over the past few weeks. Touching base and the such on social media has really helped me and I hope that this month is much more productive as I settle back into the swing of things again.
