The Start Of Week Three

I'm not sure how we're onto the third week of home education already. You may be wondering where last week's blog posts went... you're not tripping, I didn't make any. My phone decided to spectacularly break last Sunday, and it took until Wednesday to get a replacement. It's somewhat different from my original model (I have a Samsung now, whereas originally I had a Cubot) so it took me a few days to get my head around it.

Suffice to say I didn't bother documenting last week's home ed, although it went pretty similarly to week one, all things considered. One highlight was discovering a lake with J and N in the woods, whereby we promptly had a science lesson on how throwing a stone in the water causes ripples. That led on to a discussion about sound waves, and also branched off onto the topic of echoes. It was a lovely afternoon, we spotted dragonflies and moorhens, picked blackberries, and examined leaves and wildflowers.

So, how are things going? They're going well, I'm pleased to say. The timetable for J & N that was so shiny and delightful that we swore to follow religiously has taken on a slightly looser life of its own.

For example, today was supposed to be: 

reading, maths games, history, and 3d modelling for J / literacy on Skoolbo for N

Instead we ended up with:

reading for J / Skoolbo mash-up for N consisting of many subjects, then a very lengthy I.T. session for both boys, and then 3D modelling for J whilst N did maths and numeracy.

So to say it didn't really go to plan is probably fair. I've come to the conclusion that being semi-structured suits us better. As long as a wide range of subjects get covered during the week, and we work on roughly 10am-3pm as our "school day" with a few short breaks and 1 hour long break in the process, we're not doing too badly. Who cares if a particular subject doesn't happen on a particular day? That's the beauty of home education... why does History have to be on a Monday? It can be on any other day, it makes no difference. If one of the boys is eager to do a different subject, why should we say no? It's all learning, after all.

Their folders are steadily filling up with completed worksheets, pieces of writing, and drawings. I'm enjoying seeing them building up to be honest.

I've decided that they really could do with some music lessons, so I've downloaded a piano app which is only on free trial at the moment but if it seems beneficial then I'll pay for the full thing. We have a digital piano at home so they've got access to the ivories. Who knows, one day they might be able to play the third movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata! 😜 (I had ten years of piano lessons and I'm nowhere near that talented, but my kids might have more of a natural aptitude than I do.)

I've applied for L's IGCSEs / GCSE for summer 2021. She's going to be sitting them at one of the Tutors and Exams centres. I've just today received the invoice for payment... almost a thousand of our finest British pounds. I'm not gonna lie, that's a whole lot of moolah for just half of her high school qualifications. That means we've got to fork out the same again the following year as well.

I'm very concerned though as the government and the Department for Education are dithering about whether or not GCSEs are even going to take place next year. If not, what on earth do we do? I can feel the anxiety knot in my stomach about it.

A is plodding along with InterHigh. He's finding some of his homework a bit difficult, Maths in particular. His teacher sent him a few videos to help him as she could clearly see he wasn't scoring very highly, and I think it has helped him to figure things out. Kudos to the staff for picking up on where he's struggling relatively quickly.

It's J's 11th birthday on Thursday and L's 15th birthday on Friday. We're going to visit West Midlands Safari Park on Thursday, and N & J can use the info as a basis for a mini project on animals next week. A only has one Communications lesson Thursday so he can easily catch up with that later, and L is going to catch up on her missing hours at the weekend.

Yes, that's right, two of my children have their birthdays two days in succession. It's always slightly mad that week, but I must admit it's also a fun week.

Here's to the birthday bonanza!