I have been a bit lax in updating my monthly round-ups of what our Home Education has looked like. October was a tough month, and then November…. well, by the time I remembered I was already ten days or so into December!
Our Home Education since September has felt hard. A mix of challenging behaviours and wider family celebrations as well as a rather prolonged period of illnesses has meant that I’ve struggled to feel like I’m doing anything other than treading water.
I am a planner and having a plan and general direction of where I am leading the children to helps me to have a focus to the work we are doing. But there’s been some resistance and challenge from the children and it’s just all felt quite difficult.
We have had two family weddings in close succession. These were both fantastic events, but it also meant that the children had a few days either side of being tired due to the excitement and the later nights! I find weddings exhausting as an adult so I imagine for children those feelings are amplified!
Core Subjects
We are progressing well with Maths no Problem. Our approach of little and often is working well for us and this term has seen D become much more confident with his maths. Our approach to English work is less disciplined; we dip into comprehension work each week (I like the Schofield and Sims books for this) and I need to have a bit of a plan for the new year to tackle grammar in a more structured way with the older two.
We have been joining in with Science Saturday with a friend and have picked up some science work in other projects too.
Projects
Project-based learning is the main thing for us, and the children have done a couple of projects this term. We have learnt about Harriet Tubman as well as a Penguin study based on Mr Popper’s Penguins which saw us make Mr Popper’s Penguin themed cake for the Home Ed Bakeoff.
I have hosted plenty of events at home for the children and their friends. We have looked at Frida Kahlo and Alberto Giacometti. I hosted a day all about the Gunpowder Plot and another looking at Thanksgiving as well as a Christmas around the world day.
We did a longer project looking at Volcanoes as well as completing Culture and Wonders of the World projects for our regular speaking and listening group. Projects that we have all enjoyed and really learnt lots with. H has even been keen to get involved with these projects too which has been lovely to see!
Regular Classes
We have continued with the Spanish classes and we started a new History class (learning about the Celts and Romans) and we have continued to go to the PE and football groups as well as weekly swimming classes. It can feel hard sometimes fitting in these commitments, but the children enjoy them so it’s important we make the effort to do so.
We have also tried to make regular use of our National Trust membership and had some lovely days out in Lyme Park and Dunham Massey, as well as Quarry Bank Mill. I am looking forward to the Spring and being able to really make use of this membership and explore some sites further afield
Other Bits & Pieces
There’s been lots of other bits and pieces going on including the older two being interested in sewing, lots of drawing and crafting. H has been super engaged with colouring in Daniel has created his own character and a collection of comics with various stories in. I might try and get him to extend the idea for the forthcoming board game fair in January time.
It has felt like I’ve been treading water at times this term, but I can see we are still getting through a fair few things, despite the period of illness we seem to have had. January and February are usually months when we can really get on with work. There’s a natural lull in new activities and I find it’s a great time to concentrate on new and more in-depth projects.
