As ever, another month has been and gone and with it the end of another academic year. I’m not hugely wedded to the academic years but they are good markers and a time to reflect on what we have done and what we might do in the next year. The next 12-18 months will be big for us in many respects, not least because this time next year we will be looking at Secondary education for D and deciding what path we wish to take. If you ask me now, I honestly couldn’t say what we will do. Some days I think no, school will be the better option, and other days I am confident we could carry on and achieve at home. We will decide together next year, but this coming year will be important in helping to frame our thinking etc.
But enough of the future. For now let me recap what our July home education looked like.
Core Subjects
Maths has been focused on a lot this month as we began to wind down for the summer. D finished his latest book and is around halfway through the next one. Things have really clicked for him in recent months and, whilst there’s still work to do to ensure full fluency in all areas, he is getting much more confident with his mathematical work. Em and H continue to progress through their books and I am happy with their progress so far.
Both the older two continue to read endlessly and I often find D with a large non-fiction book embarking on a project of some sort. H is doing really well with his reading and is determinedly working his way through a chapter book at the moment. It’s very slow going but has the added motivation of being about one of his favourite footballers. I love this stage and I know he is right on the cusp of really getting to grips with reading.
Project Work
We have had a lot of projects this month. The start of July was the Literature Fair (we did our project on Laura Ingalls Wilder).
We also did another project using our Post from the Past letter, this time looking at Rachel Carson. We really enjoyed learning about this truly pioneering lady and even managed to sneak some STEM learning in too!
Learning about LS Lowry was another project that we did this month and rounded it off with a trip to the Lowry gallery in Salford. The children enjoyed this, H in particular and it was a nice project to do together.
D has been teaching himself python, and this is something I need to pick up again in the autumn with him (and Em) in more detail.
Regular Groups
July saw the winding down of many of the groups for the summer. The sports groups have all finished for now until September as have Spanish and Music lessons. H joined Beavers this month and was invested much to his delight and we now have a break until September for that. The older two have continued at Cubs and took part in an activity evening at a local sports track to earn their athletics badge. They really enjoyed this event and are looking forward to the autumn and all that that will bring with it for their cubs group.
This month also saw D take his first exam in the form of his Clarinet grading. He was a little nervous beforehand but did a fantastic job on the day and passed with a distinction, much to his delight. There is a short break now from music lessons but he is looking forward to getting back to lessons in September, as is Em.
Days Out
The month started with Damian being off work for a week so we managed some trips out and about. We had a lovely day at the Lion Salt Works as well as a trip with friends to Gulliver’s theme park in Warrington. We followed this up with a day out at the Cheshire Steam Rally which was great fun.
As well as a trip to the art gallery mentioned earlier, we have also been to the Beach, bowling with friends and popped to the cinema. We also went to see the local Well Dressing being put together and the children were able to get involved with this too.
Perhaps the most exciting part of the month has been attending two of the Euro 2022 games and watching the final with friends at the weekend.
All in all, it’s been a busy and fun month. August will see us take a bit of a break but it won’t be too much of a break as we still have some bits planned in here and there as well as cracking on with a project on flight and the usual maths work too.
What a busy time!