I admit it, I haven't been taking many photos lately. I think we've fallen into something of a routine, and home education has become pretty much the "new normal" in the household, so as with all things in life the novelty has worn off, and I rarely take pictures any more.
That's all very well and good, but it doesn't really help with updating this blog.
Plus my Mac Pro died a horrible death, so now I'm getting used to a PC again. I haven't used a PC for at least 13 years, so it's a lot to process!
J finished his 3D doughnut model and moved onto a cup. Here's the progression so far:
The render is grainy because it takes several hours to do a full render. Take my word for it, it isn't grainy in Blender. He'll do a full (non grainy) render once it has all finished.
In other news, he has come along in leaps and bounds with harder fractions in maths, and has most recently been working on Highest Common Factors.
He's written several poems and short prose pieces in English, and he's started work on a project called Anywhere Island which covers all manner of subjects including English, Geography, and Science.
He has made great progress on computer programming as well. His most recent project was creating a noughts and crosses game.
In other news, he has come along in leaps and bounds with harder fractions in maths, and has most recently been working on Highest Common Factors.
He's written several poems and short prose pieces in English, and he's started work on a project called Anywhere Island which covers all manner of subjects including English, Geography, and Science.
He has made great progress on computer programming as well. His most recent project was creating a noughts and crosses game.
N is progressing nicely with French. He's done numbers up to 60, colours, body parts, and animals so far.
Both boys have moved on from Ancient Egypt in history, and are now on Ancient Greece. Their most recent piece was on Odysseus and the Cyclops.
In science last week they did some experiments with magnets which they both enjoyed. After Christmas I'm going to purchase some bar magnets and metal filings so they can do more magnet work, as it seemed to be a topic they both were very interested in.
They've done quite a lot of science subjects though, including healthy eating, designing their own Rube Goldberg machines, and designing space rockets.
Last week's R.E. consisted of Jonah and the whale. There seems to be a bit of inconsistency between whether or not it was a whale or a big fish though. The internet gives conflicting names. Let's just be clear, a whale is not a fish!
In maths N has been carrying out times tables problems. He has a tendency to work them out by adding up, rather than just reciting them off the top of his head, but never mind it's a good start. He's done some work on number placements, and fractions.
Both boys have moved on from Ancient Egypt in history, and are now on Ancient Greece. Their most recent piece was on Odysseus and the Cyclops.
In science last week they did some experiments with magnets which they both enjoyed. After Christmas I'm going to purchase some bar magnets and metal filings so they can do more magnet work, as it seemed to be a topic they both were very interested in.
They've done quite a lot of science subjects though, including healthy eating, designing their own Rube Goldberg machines, and designing space rockets.
Last week's R.E. consisted of Jonah and the whale. There seems to be a bit of inconsistency between whether or not it was a whale or a big fish though. The internet gives conflicting names. Let's just be clear, a whale is not a fish!
In maths N has been carrying out times tables problems. He has a tendency to work them out by adding up, rather than just reciting them off the top of his head, but never mind it's a good start. He's done some work on number placements, and fractions.
It's December now so we're started with a fair amount of Christmas themed work. J is doing a Christmas maths mystery right now, and N is doing a "Ho! Ho! Ho! maths joke codebreaker" sheet. Naturally they both wrote nice letters to Father Christmas yesterday. I just need to post them off.
A is working steadily at InterHigh. He's not enjoying STEM though and wants to switch to Geography, which I'm fine with. I wrote an email last night to the InterHigh admin staff to request the change.
A is working steadily at InterHigh. He's not enjoying STEM though and wants to switch to Geography, which I'm fine with. I wrote an email last night to the InterHigh admin staff to request the change.
He is toying with the idea of staying on at InterHigh through his GCSEs next year and the year after, rather than returning to the local high school. He had previously been so adamant that he wanted to go back to regular school, so the fact that he's swaying in the opposite direction now must show that he's happy at InterHigh.
He's really enjoying chatting to one girl in particular, E. He says she's his girlfriend (although they haven't met, of course!)
He's joined InterHigh's cookery club, and his first "assignment" is to bake artisan bread, so I've bought t he ingredients for that and he'll be doing it at the weekend.
He's joined InterHigh's cookery club, and his first "assignment" is to bake artisan bread, so I've bought t he ingredients for that and he'll be doing it at the weekend.
L is plodding along with her courses. She has made a start on her astronomy observations. I have told her to get them finished by the Christmas holidays if possible, so they can be sent to be signed off by the chap from the Astrological Society. She is studying Messier Objects for her aided observations, and the moon for her unaided observations.
She was quite confused about how to go about planning and presenting the observations at first, so she came to me for help. I'm glad she did that, rather than just sit in her room in confusion!
I found a full booklet on the exam board's website regarding the observations, including examples of observations and specification for high marking observations, so she has found that immensely helpful.
She seems to be getting along fine with all her other subjects as well. She wants to join A with baking some artisan bread this weekend. They've actually been getting along well this week, which is very unusual but nice!
So in other news, we now have the Christmas tree and Nativity set up.
I found a full booklet on the exam board's website regarding the observations, including examples of observations and specification for high marking observations, so she has found that immensely helpful.
She seems to be getting along fine with all her other subjects as well. She wants to join A with baking some artisan bread this weekend. They've actually been getting along well this week, which is very unusual but nice!
So in other news, we now have the Christmas tree and Nativity set up.
Our boiler broke twice last month. First time for 2 days, and the second time for 4 days. It is definitely not fun being without hot water or heating!
That's that for now, I really must take more photos this month.
