Well, I’m a bit late to sharing this – life seems to have got busy again and finding the time and energy to sit down and write has been lacking in recent weeks. But that said, I still want to round up and share what our home education looks like!
September was a month that almost felt like old times. We have finally been able to meet up with others and begin to plan some of the things that make the Home Ed community so much fun. The children’s groups have also restarted which has been nice. When the pandemic first hit I made a vow to not going back to days of driving from place to place and group to group. Learning to say no a bit more. We seem to have an activity on most days, but they’re thankfully the things that they’d be doing whether in school or not, and they are all local. It means we have much more time in the week to just ‘be’ and to work flexibly as and when we need to.
Core Subjects
Maths has been a big thing here this month. H has almost finished his first Maths No Problem book and D is making great progress through his book too. Em is going a little slower right now as she’s in a trickier phase of maths but the boys are pushing on. I am sure that H will whizz through the next book and both D and E will be onto their next books before the year is out.
Reading continues to be an everyday activity and H is doing well learning to read. It feels like a slower process with him, or maybe I am mis-remembering what it was like with the other two. He is getting there though and he is keen to learn.
Project Work
The big project this month has been Ancient Egypt. We have done a lot on this and will present it at the History Fair in October. We have made all sorts of things to support this topic, and the canopic jars was a particular favourite. This was a very messy make but the children enjoyed it a lot and it certainly helped to embed the learning, especially for H. We also enjoyed a trip to Bolton Museum in September as they have a great Ancient Egypt section and we also headed to the World Museum in Liverpool at the start of October.
Bolton Museum was a great visit and it was lovely to see the children recognise the things we have read about. A highlight was the replica of the Rosetta Stone and the large scarab beetles. It’s always very rewarding to see them so engaged with the exhibits and link them to the things we have learned about together.
Regular Groups
Swimming has restarted for the children now and we are at a new pool for lessons, so we will see how that goes. The older two are continuing with their Spanish and H has started lessons too, although I’m not sure how much he is enjoying it right now; we will see how he gets on with that.
Em and D are also learning a musical instrument. D has the clarinet and Em the fife which will lead to the flute when she is physically big enough to hold the flute properly. They’re both doing really well with this and it’s lovely to see the creative side coming through for them.
A new group that the children have joined is Athletics. This is a 90-minute group and they’re all really enjoying it. It looks great and they’re all suitably tired after it! It’s a good start to the week I think and gets them trying all sorts of things.
Days Out
Damian had a week off in September so we managed some bits and pieces then. We headed to Speke Hall for the day, although H was a little out of sorts that day so the visit was a little subdued. We also had my nephew’s first birthday and his dedication as well as another friend’s party which meant a busy start to the month!
We have also been to a local cycling track and we all enjoy that when we visit. We just need to get H riding independently now.
Other Bits and Pieces
As well as the general work etc we have also met with friends to do a Harvest-themed session, a world religions session and a picnic and games afternoon in the park. The older two have continued with their Beavers and Cubs meetings and have enjoyed baking and the such across the month. It’s been strange adjusting to the new dynamics and picking up old pre-covid groups and trying out new ones and learning to juggle all that in and around the work we need to do.
October looks to be a busy month and I plan to start on a science project with them this week and plan out their next big project which will likely start some time in November.
