tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81582466614603620222024-03-13T08:20:12.401-07:00Callum's WorldSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.comBlogger167125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-82860897697596730672016-04-29T08:34:00.000-07:002016-04-29T08:34:02.580-07:00IT'S BEEN A STRESSFUL WEEK!Am writing this in blog format as it's a bit of a longer one as not been online.<br />
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After Monday's exam and opticians event Tuesday came along and was, luckily, fairly uneventful. However, by Tuesday night, Callum was really tired and beginning to stress about the work placement as he's finding it quite boring. Not entirely their fault as he wasn't supposed to be working there.<br />
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He made sure he had an early night, but was still stressy and tired by Wednesday morning saying that he'd had an erratic night's sleep. But he went in. Back home at lunchtime, he announced that he was having an assessment that afternoon at 1pm! Oh great! He took a bit longer for lunch, but went back within plenty of time even though he wasn't a happy bunny.<br />
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Turns out assessment went ok, but it has highlighted a few criteria that he needs to achieve, a couple on the written side and a fair few on the work side, but then that's going to be hard if they can't find him the stuff to do. They did say that once he's completed the NVQ, and they are saying that he needs at least another 2 assessments done so at least 8 more weeks, that he could do a volunteer placement at another, more local to us, school as a kind of 'gofer'. Shame he can't do that as his work placement as it appears that there would be a lot more for him to do. The job could lead to an apprenticeship and maybe a job, so I think he has expressed an initial interest.<br />
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He was totally shattered Wednesday night though and he wasn't sure he could face going in again on the Thursday just to do filing, especially as we had the PIP assessment on Friday (today) and he was beginning to worry about that also. So we came to an agreement that he would set his alarm for 9am (the time he was due in) and if he work up before he would go in and if not, he would, at least, be able to ring them and tell him that he wasn't going in (he wanted to do it, even though I offered to call them for him).<br />
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Thursday came and he didn't wake up until 8.50am so far too late to go in and he still wasn't feeling great anyway. He called and let them know and went back to bed, which is unusual for him as once he's up, he's up. He didn't wake until nearly 11am so obviously needed the sleep. Spent the day having a chill out and reading over PIP form in prep for today.<br />
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Today we made it to PIP assessment a little early. Callum a little stressed as we had to get a bus and, of course, we didn't know where we were going exactly, although roughly, and we didn't know the person we were going to see. The assessment itself wasn't as bad as I imagined and the lady that took it did seem to have a reasonable understanding of Autism, which was a start. She asks the questions and took time to explain when it was obvious that Callum didn't quite understand what she meant. Callum answered as best he could, although no eye contact and fingers fiddling all the time and I filled in details where necessary. Hopefully we got across the issues he faces.<br />
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Just missed a bus, so walked back to High St (approx 20mins) and checked into opticians to order his new glasses as we discovered he didn't have a spare pair at home. Thought we, especially he, deserved a Subway so we had lunch and watched the world go by. Gave him, and me, time to relax a little before coming home.<br />
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Both glad this week is over to be honest, but can definitely see the relief in Callum. He now has a free weekend until Tuesday apart from an hour's free running tomorrow.SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com2Gillingham, Medway, UK51.386322 0.551437999999961951.3070185 0.39007649999996191 51.4656255 0.71279949999996184tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-7335918790171323802015-03-03T08:32:00.000-08:002015-03-03T08:32:16.149-08:00IGNORANT PEOPLE SHOULDN'T RUN BUSINESSES<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Oh
dear! Had a horrendous day
yesterday. Callum had a huge
meltdown. Hasn’t had one like that since
school. Was crying, hitting himself,
screaming, swearing and generally getting so upset it was horrible. Why I hear you ask?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Went for
our interview with Tuition Academy after he spent the allotted time on a Sunday
to do his test paper (1hr 45mins); met
up with Simon, the guy I’d spoken to on the phone and hadn’t been too impressed
with, and we sat down to discuss possibilities for Callum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://tuitionacademy.co.uk/" target="_blank">http://tuitionacademy.co.uk/</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The man is
an idiot!</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He has no concept of ASD;
telling Callum that he had to find coping mechanisms to handle classroom
situations otherwise he wouldn’t get anywhere.</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He doesn’t agree with any other form of education apart from school and
the curriculum, so had no concept of home education and even slagged off adult
education saying that Callum wouldn’t want to be a class full of 75 year olds
who were treating the whole thing as a ‘bit of a laugh’ and not getting
anywhere!</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I remained as calm as I could
for Callum’s sake as I liked the idea of him having a class that we could then
work on at home for the week in between, but it got worse.</span><span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He went on
to tell Callum that he ‘should’ be doing at least 10 hours a week of maths and
another 10 hours a week on English without everything else he should be
doing. I pointed out that an hour in
class is equivalent to approx. 20-25mins one to one, but he wouldn’t have it
saying that that was ridiculous. He then
went on to say that if he was in Grammar school he may have the option to have
some one to one, but he would never get it in a comprehensive situation and
would have to cope with doing more work as there would be too many
distractions! So they don’t get
distractions in Grammar then do they?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He told
Callum that he had to get exams to go to college after Callum had gently said
that that is what he was aiming for and then went on to say that he was leaving
it a little late! Bastard!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He was
rude, abrupt, didn’t understand anything other than mainstream and was
basically calling all the kids he already had going there idiots as he said
that, after briefly looking at the test paper Callum had done, Callum would
probably know more than most of the kids there, but may know a lot less on
other parts! Backward compliment I
suppose, but not really the attitude I’m looking for to teach my child. He wasn’t encouraging, gave Callum no credit
for what he had already achieved and was commanding towards Callum.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He was rude
to me, saying that I couldn’t possibly have success with him as I wasn’t a
teacher and that home education couldn’t work.
I pointed out that we also have college entrants and university successes
which he decided to gloss over and forget.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He then
went on to say that Callum should start in a lower group next week with the aim
of doing GCSE work next September onwards, but that he would expect him to be ‘putting
much more effort into his work than he does now’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So, he
obviously has no concept of ASD or Asperger as you cannot under any
circumstances land something like that onto an ASD/Aspi child without far more
warning and a period of transition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He then
told me to inform him of my decision within the next 24/48 hours as to what we
wanted to do and that he would examine the test paper and send me the result
that evening.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve
checked my email and still no result has been emailed to me and as to whether
we are going to take him up on his offer……he can get stuffed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Callum came
home deflated, upset, angry with himself that he can’t cope with stuff and is
stupid, hit himself around the head and crying saying that he’s missing
opportunities because he’s an idiot!! I
felt like all the hard work we’d done over the past 8 years had dissolved in
that moment and I could see that if we had decided to go along he wouldn’t have
coped at all and we’d have been back to screaming, hitting, punching, etc as he
would have tried to hold it together during lessons and then had to let it out
when he was ‘released’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m furious
as the attitude of the man, I will not be sending Callum there and I seriously
wouldn’t recommend the place to anyone with children who have ‘issues’. I can’t speak for the teachers themselves as
we didn’t meet any of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It took
Callum over an hour to calm down and he was subdued for a while
afterwards. He even apologised to me
later on in the evening for his behaviour at which point I told him that his
behaviour was to be expected after having to deal with such an ignorant man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-11132881954057885992013-09-03T11:58:00.000-07:002013-09-03T11:58:25.199-07:00MY BRAIN EXPLODED AND HIS WENT DIZZYToday started off with a very sleepy Callum and then a very long discussion on his game. Funny how when he's talking about something he's interested, he's suddenly very alert! However, my brain ended up exploding!<br />
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He's decided to build a new Roblox game and he's decided to log it as a project for home ed. Started with layout on paint yesterday with information on weapon prices, sizes, zombie waves, regeneration, points earned, main boss level, etc. He's then going to write the script to make the game, hopefully remembering to print it off; have screen shots of the game, instuctions on how to play and any tweaks/changes he's had to make. Now I'm fine with all that; in fact I think it's a great idea. He's even given himself a deadline to work to. However, whilst he was trying to explain it all to me he went a little bit too in depth and I totally lost track. It was a bit like the Brian Cox explanation on measuring light where I was "yes, understand", "yup, still get it", "yup, blimey I'm doing well" and then "No, my brain has just exploded!". All I can say is that I'm glad he gets it, because I can't help with any of it. Must admit, I'm quite impressed with the whole thing so far as he's even going on about how to advertise it on the site and get the game up the rankings. <br />
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After my brain had recovered and I'd laid in a hot bath for a while, he then attacked percentages, decimals and fractions in a workbook that he wants to finish. Now I'm ok with maths, but I have to admit that converting decimals to fractions and vice versa isn't my strong point. I can do percentages to fractions, but the other way round makes my head spin so I envisioned another brain explosion, but, nope, Callum, amazingly got it and even taught me how to do it. Love this home ed thing! Now I'm the pupil! Haha<br />
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After lunch we headed off to first trampoline lesson of the 'term'. Well, there was us thinking Kim might ease him in gently, but no! He started off running him through all the basic jumps right up to front somersaults, then ran through some combinations including: seat drop -> front drop -> back drop, front drop -> half twist -> back drop and then back drop -> half twist -> back drop; at which point Callum's head went dizzy! He finally finished with practicing both routines he's learnt including the somersault. For a half an hour lesson I don't think he stopped bouncing, twisting or spinning for more than 4 mins! Phew!<br />
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The rest of the day was errands; library, bank, haircuts and a bit of shopping then home. He's spent a bit more time on his Roblox game and is now upstairs on the XBox!<br />
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I don't think easing in this week is exactly what happened today, but hey ho!SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-78975292115078566032013-06-13T03:26:00.000-07:002013-06-13T03:26:10.712-07:00THE BIG FOURTEENWhy fourteen seems so much older than thirteen, I do not know, but it does. Anyway, he had a fab birthday. No home ed or course, but....well, it was his birthday!!<br />
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He was up earlier than normal, no surprise there, 8.30am instead of 10.30am. Hmmm, perhaps birthdays should be every day.<br />
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Presents from us and his aunt/uncle opened and cards placed on mantlepiece. 2 Nerf guns, science book, T-shirt and Family Guy DVDs.<br />
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First present to open</h2>
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Another NERF gun (he loves them)</h2>
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Second NERF - he asked for them</h2>
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Ooooo experiments</h2>
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Slightly scary</h2>
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Big sis turned up with a few more presents in a bag, so 2 XBox games, some mosaic kits, 2 'make your own straw' kits and a penguin bag. Plus in the post, £15!<br />
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Lots of playing with new guns (one is interchangable, so all previously owned Nerfs were brought down!), then a play on the XBox with big sis.<br />
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Dad home with last present from us; small 6L fridge for his bedroom. Sausages and burgers for dinner; he wanted a barbeque, but weather wasn't good, so had to cook indoors instead, then birthday cake!<br />
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Being an Aspi, I may have a bit of trouble getting him to eat the 'controller' and the 'game' as he doesn't like eating shaped things. Why make him one then, I hear you ask? Well, he wanted a cake and, after having looked at cakes I'd made in the past for him, he wanted a shaped one and this just about sums him up perfectly. Favourite game with a red shiny controller just like his. He did let me cut the main cake at least, although he didn't have a piece yesterday as too full of sausages. But at least big sis, Terri, and her dad could have some and so could we. We did have candles but my camera died just as he was blowing them out and am relying on daughter to upload her photos later.<br />
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XBox cake</h2>
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Anyway, he had a fab day. CyaSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-39826682529072854372013-05-09T00:24:00.000-07:002013-05-09T00:24:20.219-07:00BEEN A WHILE I KNOWHi folks!<br />
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Yes I know, its been a while. But I haven't been slacking off too much, just been concentrating on daily updates on the related Facebook page. It's often easier, as I'm normally on there in the evenings anyway, to do a quick little update there than log in and write something a bit more substantial.<br />
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So what's been happening in Callum's world? Well, Digipen course is going well apart from some pretty big techno problems, but I've already ranted about those on my Is It Me blog, so I'm not going to go into it again here. Callum is really enjoying the course and I have no problems getting him to do the homework. In fact he ends up by going further into the course than he should as he's finding it interesting and perfect for what he wants to do, so I think programming is the way to go.<br />
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On top of that, the Kestral Award is starting to take shape. We found some previous work that fits in with the criteria so we've put that in and we've done one more item on the Do It list.<br />
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We'd already made a bird box, so I found the work and took extra pics of finished object and put that in and we've bought some pond plants to go into our wildlife ponds that we have. Basically they are the old corner bath we had and a tin bath that we found in the garden. We've buried the corner bath and the tin bath will have stones and bricks around it so that anything can climb up should it wish to. They have both been full of water for about a year and the corner bath is looking really green and murky, however we discovered water skaters on it this year and an underwater beetle, so were pretty impressed. One of the tasks in the award is to help create a wildlife pond, so we went out and bought some oxygenating plants, a water lily and a couple of shallow water plants and Callum planted them up and positioned them in the pond; me taking photos. We now need to get some plants around the pond, create the bog garden and surround the tin bath with stones once in permanent position. As the Kestral Award doesn't have a time limit, we can take our time, but hopefully it will all be up and running and planted by the end of July.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtCRP54HLMBe8XVCKgRj4fgegKrxHsvt4fDa09CP0oawyokemB63JZM5vrm5WAe07asUuLPODTsu6nwzODNvDJJRLhY__BLwAqne2KRZqfg_H-ptqYngqKqyPH3dvFYaa2xOyI8tJrD4/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEtCRP54HLMBe8XVCKgRj4fgegKrxHsvt4fDa09CP0oawyokemB63JZM5vrm5WAe07asUuLPODTsu6nwzODNvDJJRLhY__BLwAqne2KRZqfg_H-ptqYngqKqyPH3dvFYaa2xOyI8tJrD4/s320/009.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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The tin bath with rocks and now a Waterlily</h2>
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One of our pond skaters in the very murky water</h2>
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The other award we want to do is from the British Science Association. They run a scheme similar to the Arts Award we did a few years ago. We are going to start at Bronze just to get some practice in with regard to what type of work they expect before moving up to the Silver and Gold awards which have UCAS points attached. At the moment we are awaiting a delivery from Amazon with regard to some rockets as Callum wants to do Transport!! One of the sections he's chosen has experiments on model rockets and trajectories, speed and energy. Looking forward to starting it, but might need to go somewhere a little more spacious to carry out the tests.<div>
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One another note, I'm back to having to remind Callum to wash his face, clean his teeth and shower! He was doing extremely well, but its all gone out the window again. Not sure if that is just him being a typical teenage boy or whether it's his Asperger or both, but it is a bit annoying after having got him into a routine with it all. Oh well two steps forward, one step back I suppose.</div>
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Oh and he's still doing trampolining! Somersaults now achieved on a regular basis. Concentrating on technique and starting backward somersaults at the moment. Eeeeek!!!</div>
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Anyway, stuff to do this morning, so hopefully back another day.</div>
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Cya<br /><br /></div>
SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-38859445619015890392013-04-22T13:06:00.000-07:002013-04-22T13:06:57.261-07:00DIGIPEN AND STUPID TRAIN TIMETABLESBack up to Albany Park for Digipen today; lesson two. Teacher not really improved on being able to keep us all up and running at the same speed and, once again, Callum had to help out a fellow student! Actually I helped out a fellow student as well today, go me! Haha. Went over the homework we should have all done; surprise, surprise, Callum was the only one who'd managed to complete it all, so we went over what he had already done, but then added some music. Callum didn't mind as we learnt another way of doing something he'd done already and it also meant he could play a bit more and investigate further.<br />
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The journey this week was as straightforward as it should have been with no delays, but if does look like we'll have to catch the 5.45pm train home which stops at Strood (but at least is direct)!!! If we then wait at Strood for a connection back to Gillingham, we won't get home until 7pm!!! We leave home at 2.10pm to get there for 4pm. The lesson is only supposed to be an hour (although so far it's been more like 1 hour and 20mins), so that's 4 hours travelling for a one hour lesson. Blimey we're dedicated. haha. As of next week we're hoping to get a lift from dad from Strood which will save us about 20mins journey and a 15min wait on a cold Strood station.<br />
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Not everyone there this week either, so not sure if people have already dropped out. Some people are still having difficulty getting the programme to run so they are going to have to talk in the week to try and sort it as it will soon get to the stage where they are too far behind. Luckily the issues we had in the first week I managed to solve and, so far, everything is running fine.<br />
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We also got the manual this week and I can imagine Callum going beyond the required homework just to see what's next. Had a quick flip through myself and after feeling chuffed with myself for being able to help out, I can't see that lasting as it looks way beyond me in a few sessions. Think I might start taking my knitting, haha.<br />
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Anyway, cya<br />
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PS: Took a flask of tea with me today to drink on the way home and stupidly ended up kicking the thing and smashing it! Boo hoo, no tea for me again until I got home. Waaaaaah!SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0Albany Park, Bexley, Greater London DA14, UK51.435451099999987 0.125763300000016951.395811099999989 0.045082300000016895 51.475091099999986 0.2064443000000169tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-36129121643908306362013-04-16T00:19:00.000-07:002013-04-16T00:20:30.181-07:00THE START OF SOMETHING BIGGERWell, yesterday was the start of a new section of work. We're attempting 2 award schemes and a Digipen course which is a game programming course (see link below for some more info). We're doing this as I'd like a bit more structure and I'd also like Callum to begin having something to show for his work instead of just lots and lots of paper. Exams may prove difficult for Callum due to the Asperger, so am looking at alternative routes and ways of getting certificates.<br />
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<a href="https://projectfun.digipen.edu/online-courses/" target="_blank">https://projectfun.digipen.edu/online-courses/</a><br />
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Yesterday was the first of the Digipen 'lessons'. And after much hrumphing, moaning, worrying, "be glad when today is over"ing, Callum actually really enjoyed the lesson. It was a fairly basic one I admit (even I followed it and I'm useless at tech). He even helped out a fellow student who'd arrived late and got him up to speed really quickly. The boy's mum (I will learn names eventually) even said that Callum should be teaching as he'd explained it well; the teacher having confused her.<br />
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So good points: He enjoyed it. He wants to go again!!! He helped out someone else willingly and obviously engaged in conversation with someone new. Journey there and back was easy and cost was reasonable. And there is no online lessons planned unless we feel it necessary later which is brilliant as trying to pin us down to being online at a certain time/date could prove difficult. AND she reckons we'll be finished in 8 weeks instead of 12, but obviously that depends on how much we get done at home and whether people have problems. So Callum and me very happy!<br />
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Bad points: Teacher is a bit disjointed in her teaching (confused me and a couple of others and didn't cope very well when people ended up on different levels to where she was expecting us to be, but hopefully that will improve). Journey was very long due to long waits between connections and delays of trains due to signalling probs so we left the house at 2.10pm and got home at 7.15pm just to do a 1 hour lesson (admittedly we did stay a bit longer than 1 hour as we had a problem). That problem was that our programme which we'd downloaded pre lesson wouldn't run and so Callum couldn't check that his work had worked, if you see what I mean. Have hopefully sorted that out this morning, but can't check until he gets up!<br />
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It's trampolining and social time today, but he's planning on doing the homework tomorrow at his sister's. Here's hoping the thing will actually work this time.<br />
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Cya<br />
<br />SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-63733838855325242102013-03-25T15:01:00.000-07:002013-03-25T15:01:26.283-07:00YES TIME DOES!<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Hiya</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">In respect of the blog title, the last one was entitled Doesn't Time Fly and this one is a follow on as it's obvious that it does as it's been an age!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">What have we done? Well, for starters, we've been on holiday!!! And we went to the Science Fair in London. AND we've also done the usual trampolining, social visits, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">So, firstly, Science Fair at London, EXcel centre. Easy journey; high speed to Stratford International and then DLR to EXcel, brilliant!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The fair was packed, but Callum coped really really well. We arrived about 11.30am and had a good general look round before hitting some individual 'stalls'. Callum joined in with the Science Museum stuff and although I had to help him 'get in amongst it' as the school kids were really pushy,he handled it pretty well and enjoyed the tasks set. I even had the kids lining up at one point as there were kids who just stood by and let the others push in. Hey ho, wasn't having that as it was unfair! There was loads to see and do and I got some great information with regard to science awards from the British Science Association. We toddled off for a coffee and some lunch about 12.30 and then dived back in afterwards to catch up on bits we'd missed. However, by about 1.30pm it was starting to get even more noisy and busy and Callum (and myself) had begun to feel a little claustrophobic and he wasn't coping with the noise very well, so we left and had a stroll along the waterfront in the wind and watched the planes flying overhead. Back on the DLR and high speed train and home by 3.30pm. Short day, but good fun, well worth it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">And so to holiday! Weymouth Bay Haven Holiday Park for 4 nights from Monday through to Friday. Nightmare journey through A roads because dad felt that the M25 would be too busy, but as we kept hitting towns, I don't think it would have made much difference. Took 5 hours!!! Check in easy peasy and they had allocated a lovely caravan away from the main entertainment site, so lovely and quiet. We'd also managed to get an upgrade; booked a Prestige and ended up with a Platinum! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Unpacked, made a cuppa and then headed off into town to stock up on supplies for the days away. Didn't do much in the evening apart from popping into the arcades to spend some 2ps.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Tuesday was sunny, but windy with some overcast clouds, but it didn't rain all day. So Tank Museum (main reason for going) followed by Corfe Castle Model Village. Callum loved the fact that they had a model village within the model village and even a really really tiny village inside that. Didn't go up to the castle itself as up a very large hill and my hip was already hurting from walking around the museum and Callum was beginning to get a headache. I'd like to point out that he was up at 7am! Normally it's 11am, so I think he was a little knackered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">My favourite - it's pink!</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Hands up dad!</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The entrance</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">The Triumph of Humanity</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Outside again!</span></h2>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><u><b>Tank museum pictures above!</b></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Honestly, I've loads of tank pictures as Callum loves tanks, but personally, once you've seen one, you've seen most of them. I'm such a heathen!</span></div>
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Model village within a model village with a model village (just look closely to the left just below the trees - it's there)</h2>
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Working mill</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrLwt4oMln8B-nZnjWbZhiHFHmJUmS_TkEclJZKot6Bh3PP9kguzxafIs1B3fEqf4AUvzSyJD7AhFxFnJpww_X1M9Jzka2M6lXFsEfFgmTET_ggyHCWzGqyF5YZPLjomDmA9_e2IXHgQ/s1600/057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIrLwt4oMln8B-nZnjWbZhiHFHmJUmS_TkEclJZKot6Bh3PP9kguzxafIs1B3fEqf4AUvzSyJD7AhFxFnJpww_X1M9Jzka2M6lXFsEfFgmTET_ggyHCWzGqyF5YZPLjomDmA9_e2IXHgQ/s320/057.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2>
The model Corfe Castle</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_Aoyj-ZYGubFqQThp7rHLongfDJqYZv_d-sohaz966VCELN75l-dbc1RWI1mvwspctp1oPlrsn86b1XxVGJT5PHo1aEQWBjrj_Z9qvrjWiwCuheHUe5vIMBBVqDg0f_iqN-Zam-atag/s1600/069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq_Aoyj-ZYGubFqQThp7rHLongfDJqYZv_d-sohaz966VCELN75l-dbc1RWI1mvwspctp1oPlrsn86b1XxVGJT5PHo1aEQWBjrj_Z9qvrjWiwCuheHUe5vIMBBVqDg0f_iqN-Zam-atag/s320/069.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2>
The real Corfe Castle</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-V5_BPUJH9ol1ZuP2_JfxQy1T6vroUk3xMfR5L2u48Wt7c0v6LoJBg5VKUg1fsmrwNFX-18NqQI7ZWBmyf75jD8znSIje9sntCZk2BCcO1LeTiQRpI2kL0iB1HP5KINR0CkpQhUFNIY/s1600/045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-V5_BPUJH9ol1ZuP2_JfxQy1T6vroUk3xMfR5L2u48Wt7c0v6LoJBg5VKUg1fsmrwNFX-18NqQI7ZWBmyf75jD8znSIje9sntCZk2BCcO1LeTiQRpI2kL0iB1HP5KINR0CkpQhUFNIY/s320/045.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2>
Having a wander</h2>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA75tZ4Y7rgkwye-Vqd8x1JTG12q_a4IONTij4kBKwQ0CaywNl7D_gQpNbig-J8hQ9xjRKbUXrwFU1tCA_9grxUEwFZYy5rhGxpGHxxVhSp-ijbqGRQbGhpP4TCIHFItLPNW4qgzj-7Zo/s1600/047.JPG" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA75tZ4Y7rgkwye-Vqd8x1JTG12q_a4IONTij4kBKwQ0CaywNl7D_gQpNbig-J8hQ9xjRKbUXrwFU1tCA_9grxUEwFZYy5rhGxpGHxxVhSp-ijbqGRQbGhpP4TCIHFItLPNW4qgzj-7Zo/s320/047.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b><u>Corfe Castle Model Village</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Again got loads more, but hey, it's a small house. Fab workmanship though. Well impressed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b><u><br /></u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Anyway, that's the first day written up! Will do some more tomorrow.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">Cya</span></div>
SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0Weymouth Bay, United Kingdom50.6177972 -2.429619699999989350.5774992 -2.5103006999999895 50.6580952 -2.3489386999999891tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-19240257610466567002013-03-01T11:46:00.001-08:002013-03-01T11:46:57.675-08:00DON'T TIME FLY?Wow, well the hell did that week go? It's been a bit busy.<br />
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We've had friends over as well as family, we've done a little work and dad's been off for a couple of days.<br />
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Callum's highlight of the week was Wednesday as he was left with his big sis all day as I was off with my friend, Carol, for the day. They cooked dinner and played scrabble; Callum not doing too bad and almost winning.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span id=".reactRoot[3].[1][2][1]{comment343335085770920_636952}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0.[0]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Terri - 199 pnts</span><br id=".reactRoot[3].[1][2][1]{comment343335085770920_636952}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0.[1]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;" /><span id=".reactRoot[3].[1][2][1]{comment343335085770920_636952}.0.[1].0.[1].0.[0].[0][2].0.[2]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: normal; line-height: 14px; text-align: left;">Callum - 185 pnts</span></span></h2>
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Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner that night and I'll hopefully have some piccies once my daughter has sent them to me.<br />
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Apart from that we had friends over Monday so Callum had a great afternoon socialising with Azeem. <br />
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Tuesday we did a little work; maths on KhanAcademy and some more work on the Magnet project. Had some simple question and answer sheets to do and Callum also had to research some additional, slightly harder, questions.<br />
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Thursday was group trampolining lesson and then Lauren and Carol back for a bit of social and a cuppa. No cake made this week though, so we popped into Aldi on the way home and Carol bought some ice creams for us all. I ended up spending some money on some baby bits. Callum especially liked the little socks!<br />
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Today (and yesterday) dad was off and Callum had haircut appointment. So we had a drive there instead of a walk, then a quick look in the Cats Protection League before dad picked us up again and we all headed off to Sainsbury for our monthly stock up shop. Also picked up peanut butter in Holland and Barrett (buy one, get one half price) and Callum managed to find a Worms game in Game which was the exact price that his dad owed him (wasn't planned as he actually asked me if he could buy it with his money before dad then piped up with the fact he owed him some cash).<br />
<br />
So, although it appears we haven't done a great deal, it's been really busy. And he has his best mate Callum D over tomorrow afternoon.<br />
<br />
CyaSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-86443026984873117412013-02-21T13:11:00.001-08:002013-02-21T13:11:57.845-08:00HALF TERM? MAYBEHi all<br />
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Here's this week's blog. Finding it hard to write blogs daily, not because of time, but because it's difficult to write without going into the whole "we did this, then we did this, then we did that" kind of writing which is not only boring to write, it's boring to read. So, I've started doing quick, easy, daily status updates on Callum's World page on Facebook:<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CallumsWorld?ref=hl">https://www.facebook.com/CallumsWorld?ref=hl</a><br />
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And then a proper blog at end of week (or whenever I get time over the weekend).<br />
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So, what has Callum been doing this week? Well, for starters he's been very lethargic and typically teenager floppy lazy hrumph boy. He isn't rude or grumpy, but I am getting the occasional 'grunt' reply when he's asked a question. Hey ho, to be expected with a 13, nearly 14 year old, even with a neuro typical kid, let alone an Aspi one.<br />
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Our days still always start with a cuppa and a sit-curled-up-on-sofa-in-pjs chat. I've normally been up a couple of hours before he surfaces, so it's actually nice to take a bit of time out and talk. We go over how we slept, whether he had good or bad dreams, what time he finally got to sleep and what book he's currently reading. We then discuss the day and I talk over what I expect from him. He can then ask any questions, raise any queries and, quite often, try and compromise with me if he's really not feeling up to anything huge. He can drive a hard bargain sometimes, but then so can I. It always works out suitable for us both in the end though and I think it's a good lesson in negotiating.<br />
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It was our week for two trampolining lessons this week, private with Kim and group with James. Kim always works him really hard and Callum certainly knows he's done half an hour of workout. He was a bit worried this week as it's half term and he was concerned that there might be a holiday club going on. He hates the idea that they might be staring at him and judging what he does, even though I am constantly telling him that they spend most of their time with their heads in their lunch boxes and talking amongst themselves. Luckily there wasn't a club and he had the whole centre to himself (kids wise). Somersaults went well although he did graze his chin after a particularly clumsy landing and he's practising the routine that he has to tack the somersault onto. Kim always stops the lesson about 10 mins before the end to do conditioning exercises with Callum, which I might add, he hates. This week he was getting a bit bolshy and telling Kim he wouldn't do it, but Kim, like James, is very good at convincing him otherwise. Came out absolutely knackered and had definitely earned his Subway. Group session today was more of a fun lesson which suited Callum.<br />
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As to 'lessons', as it's half term in school world, we haven't done anything too in depth, but I have asked him to do some more self monitored work like Khan Academy maths and today's science was reading matter with questions to answer. He's getting a lot better at working on his own, but still needs me to dish out work rather than being self motivated.<br />
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Socially he's had a pretty good week too. Monday was spent around his friend's house playing on the Xbox and Playstation. He loves going there as he has known his friend and his family since nursery school, so he's completely comfortable there and I have no worries about leaving him. Wednesday was the usual big sis visit with Merlin the dog and a now ever growing bump. No cooking this week though as not in the mood and was tired (more later). So lots of chat and play on Roblox. Today, after trampo, it was the now regular visit back from Lauren for tea and cake and even more Roblox.<br />
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Tomorrow is his dad's birthday and we still have a couple of bits to get ready for his return from work, so a shopping visit in the morning and possibly a cake bake in the afternoon, but that may not get done until Saturday. We like to spread out birthdays in this house, usually over a week, and as we are dog sitting his uncle's dog overnight on Saturday, we may have tea and birthday cake on Sunday afternoon when they return to pick up the hound.<br />
<br />
He's had a good week even though he had a visit to the osteopath on Tuesday evening. He only goes about once every six months, normally when he starts complaining his shoulder or neck feels stiff. He likes going and Emma is brilliant with him, although he had to take off his Tshirt this time and he doesn't like stripping off in front of strangers. A bit of cracking later and all he wanted to do was go to sleep, hence the sleepy eyed, excessively lazy Wednesday. He's additionally happy as he received two more books in the Phoenix Files saga in the post along with dad's presents, so he's now rereading the previous three books in preparation of next two. One more to go apparently, but that's not been released yet.<br />
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Sorry no pics this week, not really done anything worth photographing, but hopefully be back on track with that next time.<br />
<br />
Cya<br />
<br />SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-57827452497678124322013-02-15T09:22:00.003-08:002013-02-15T09:22:37.629-08:00REMAINS OF THE WEEKGood evening all<br />
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Thought I'd take a bit of time out from sorting out all the computer gumpf to do a quick write up.<br />
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Wednesday was a little different to usual as Terri visited yesterday. So today we caught up on some work. Callum did yet another book review. He's finally caught up now though, so those should be a bit more spaced out; much to his likeness as he hates doing them. I want him to start thinking about how things make him feel. Being an Aspi, empathy and emotions are things that they find hard to express, so anything that challenges that is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.<br />
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It was also Callum's turn to cook dinner and he chose pizza. He cooked it all from scratch, even the sauce. The pizza base wasn't a yeast version as we didn't have time to do that and I wanted to keep it straight forward, so this one was based on using baking powder. Then the tomato sauce was made (using the same recipe as the meatball sauce we used a couple of weeks ago) and we left that to reduce and become thick. The base was then smeared with tomato sauce, sliced mozzarella, pepperoni, olives and a sprinkling of mixed herb.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKXLPbsgy1q1BsdXKQ28OUo1v8TdNIUdyqS9SMbObWDsBPMU5YP08UChRAhX8eaKqw8152LLONdyCyv6ITGtxFlbxxT3G5QdyITJnL3nHryXLJQ18vynozfyQgxKXkukmW3liUIBSfUg/s1600/Pizza+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivKXLPbsgy1q1BsdXKQ28OUo1v8TdNIUdyqS9SMbObWDsBPMU5YP08UChRAhX8eaKqw8152LLONdyCyv6ITGtxFlbxxT3G5QdyITJnL3nHryXLJQ18vynozfyQgxKXkukmW3liUIBSfUg/s320/Pizza+(1).JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2>
Stirring the sauce</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeTgSt5Mutt8LkgQQenz9xhRysb2yckNv7BxdFrr775Zrq_5rB-zmYrRchNYaYDp_VWEt6wKph5TjA0WcPqnnn2QFVyqakjGPW8TV3csx59W0bt2pr1Rt6cruArTJuZdpxjGSFz-EdhU/s1600/Pizza+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeTgSt5Mutt8LkgQQenz9xhRysb2yckNv7BxdFrr775Zrq_5rB-zmYrRchNYaYDp_VWEt6wKph5TjA0WcPqnnn2QFVyqakjGPW8TV3csx59W0bt2pr1Rt6cruArTJuZdpxjGSFz-EdhU/s320/Pizza+(2).JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2>
Making the dough</h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2>
Spreading the tomato sauce</h2>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><h2>
Finished pizza before cooking</h2>
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Cooked! Can I eat it now?</h2>
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Yesterday was trampolining class with the group and James. Not many kids there today so turns came around quickly. Somersaults done and then practice of backward rolls ready for backward somersaults. Eeek. Carol and Lauren back for tea and cake and play on computer, then he was on his own again.<br />
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And today, he helped me with some surveys, bought Dad's birthday present online, sorted out and researched best place to get Black Ops season pass and then bought and paid me back. He then, of course, disappeared off to immerse himself in new maps and extras. So I've had the computer to go through emails, more surveys and catch up on Facebook and here.<br />
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CyaSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-61383560264877985402013-02-13T05:26:00.001-08:002013-02-13T05:27:38.964-08:00SHROVE TUESDAYGood morning folks. Whilst Callum is struggling to write a book review, I thought I'd write up yesterday while he, either gets his brain in gear or yells for help.<br />
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Yesterday was Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day. It's traditional in this house to have pancakes all day! Yep, breakfast, lunch and dinner (and dessert if there are enough left).<br />
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So breakfast was English style pancakes with lemon and lime juice and caster sugar - yum.<br />
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Terri came over late morning and then made American style pancakes which Callum and herself had with bacon and maple syrup:<br />
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Then dinner was cheese and ham English pancake wraps.</div>
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We didn't just eat all day. Callum did another book review and we went to Aldi to get the ingredients for today's (Wednesday) cooking. He's making pepperoni and olive pizza today.</div>
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He also did some research on what Shrove Tuesday means and printed off some info and a list of dates for future years. Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Day, is the day preceding Ash Wednesday which is the first day of Lent. Shrove Tuesday gets its name from the custom for Christians to be "shriven". Pancakes are associated with the day because they were a way of using up rich foods such as eggs, milk and sugar before the fasting season of Lent, where all foods that give 'pleasure' are not eaten.</div>
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The custom of 'pancake races' which are still held in England is said to have originated from the story of a housewife in Olney, Buckinghamshire, who was so busy making pancakes that she forgot the time until she heard the church bells ringing for service. She, apparently, raced out of the house to church still carrying her frying pan and pancake. Pancake races are traditionally run by woman, although if men want to join in they can as long as they dress up in an apron and scarf. The most famous race is held in Olney and is run over 415 yards. The rules are that the contestants must toss their pancake both at the start and the finish of the race. The race is then finished with a church service.</div>
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The date of Shrove Tuesday changes each year as it is connected with the dates of Easter.</div>
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Anyway, that's enough for the moment.</div>
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Cya</div>
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<br />SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-91261992940828932672013-02-11T07:19:00.000-08:002013-02-11T07:19:10.004-08:00MORE MAGNETSGood afternoon you lovely people. Am trying a new 'work' schedule, can't see it always working, but it should if we are at home all day. So, today, it's worked, haha.<br />
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Slow start this morning. Weather grotty, very wet, overcast and dark. Did snow a bit this morning, but didn't lay as ground too wet from the rain.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2fzGXUNLE_U7NGb34NTJ-xulyFuYDbJr1KL4j7kyk0jFWwOPgDV_BMM_2eYmTbSMrysd2fSvVrVnbD4mlOQX3ZMknIGDDwdTP5-tzbVGFMJ5SnWeGOEfzUDKXpXMsQEec9Xm9e4YpZI/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2fzGXUNLE_U7NGb34NTJ-xulyFuYDbJr1KL4j7kyk0jFWwOPgDV_BMM_2eYmTbSMrysd2fSvVrVnbD4mlOQX3ZMknIGDDwdTP5-tzbVGFMJ5SnWeGOEfzUDKXpXMsQEec9Xm9e4YpZI/s200/012.JPG" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
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Draco the dog in the snow and wet</h2>
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A few things needed to be sorted out this morning before we started properly. One of which was deciding what Callum wanted to cook for dinner on Wednesday (alternate weeks he cooks dinner). After going through his cookery book.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxy4n7qsiYA4U2XXO9iJSKLk9NfE6AjoegUVQjhzd4yQ2BI1PVkFQkDnEgFDDSGotaoPVjAg0Jf53LHCiroBFMQsPZ8tPtASwC1GEJT7QerA3m_N2wU9iNOQYKW3gBKZ8B7VKt0o723U/s1600/cookbook+for+boys.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkxy4n7qsiYA4U2XXO9iJSKLk9NfE6AjoegUVQjhzd4yQ2BI1PVkFQkDnEgFDDSGotaoPVjAg0Jf53LHCiroBFMQsPZ8tPtASwC1GEJT7QerA3m_N2wU9iNOQYKW3gBKZ8B7VKt0o723U/s200/cookbook+for+boys.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Managed to get this in a charity shop for £1.50.</div>
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He decided that pizza with mozzerella, olives and pepperoni was on the menu. Shopping list was duly made and a trip to shops tomorrow put on the To Do list.</div>
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Then it was firing up the computer and going into the To Print folder that we created when our old printer died. As we now have a new one, it was time to print of the work and file it in the folders. As it was the first time we'd used the printer, which is WiFi, was very glad that it all worked according to plan. Now just need to link up my laptop.</div>
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Callum likes the new printer as it has lots of flashy lights!</div>
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A book review followed. He has 3 to do in total, but as he's not keen, I said he could do one a day this week as we have a quieter week.</div>
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Then back to the magnet project. Making magnets today, although we did try to magnetise both a needle and a screw, but couldn't get either to work even though we both tried several times. We know what should happen in theory, but just couldn't get it to work which was a bit disappointing as some of the experiments Callum fancied doing needed a magnetised needle. However, we did do some experiments which involved extended magnets as follows:</div>
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Adding a screw to a screw</h2>
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Making ends repel by making screw heads the same pole</h2>
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Making ends attract by making screw heads opposite poles</h2>
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Called it quits after this as we kept trying to magnetise the needle but it wouldn't work. Callum then just had a play with a bowl of water, magnets and various floating objects, whilst I cleared away work.</div>
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Oh yeah, almost forgot we also used magnets under paper and sprinkled iron filings on to make magnetic patterns. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZU2KWdi62hTe-ZRSpfienGbXehIuS4WVGj5RNeq2UlQVqE2vKe-AKc__wRfOyqYokrk1JBaHIKM6ZKlNO3MIcQiS8ALVwpt7yg70CrumdgB41h8F73uqr0Zs6dqAv98YIKCysW_Ti5JU/s1600/magnetic+iron+filings+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZU2KWdi62hTe-ZRSpfienGbXehIuS4WVGj5RNeq2UlQVqE2vKe-AKc__wRfOyqYokrk1JBaHIKM6ZKlNO3MIcQiS8ALVwpt7yg70CrumdgB41h8F73uqr0Zs6dqAv98YIKCysW_Ti5JU/s200/magnetic+iron+filings+(1).JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
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Using a straight magnet</h2>
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Using a U shaped magnet</h2>
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Anyway that is definitely it for today.</div>
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Cya</div>
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SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-27358548962983614312013-02-09T06:45:00.000-08:002013-02-09T06:45:58.499-08:00BIT OF A BUSY WEEKGood afternoon on this fine, if chilly, Saturday. Not been around much this week, so this is a bit late. Hey ho, fed up with apologising for not doing dailies, life gets in the way and to be honest I do go through a bit of an anti tech phase occasionally where I just cannot be bothered to log in; too much other stuff to do. So anyway, this week:<br />
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Briefly;<br />
Monday - hospital with Terri, my daughter, his sister, for her 21 week scan of pregnancy.<br />
Tuesday - Private trampo lesson, subway, eye test.<br />
Wednesday - Terri plus her friend Natalie over for cooking lesson and some arts and crafts.<br />
Thursday - mum, me, at tattoo shop, so friend over and then both off to class trampolining lesson.<br />
Friday - dentist appointment, bit of shopping and then friend's house for a couple of hours.<br />
Today - computer, now Xbox after helping dad put up another shelf in bedroom to house growing collection of helicopters.<br />
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<u>Monday</u><br />
Didn't expect Callum to want to come to hospital with big sis to see baby scan, but he did. I know he's been a bit worried so maybe him going would put his mind a bit more at rest or maybe he was just curious. Also he doesn't normally like hospitals. But off we went, managing to get a lift from Terri's dad (bit like an extended family outing) and got to hosp on time. There was, of course, the usual wait, but we finally got called for scan. Terri's dad had to go off for blood tests, so it was just Terri, Callum and me.<br />
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Baby Munn</h2>
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I think he found it interesting and he was paying attention and, as he hasn't asked any more questions since, I'm assuming he's ok. So say hello to Callum's niece or nephew.<br />
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<u>Tuesday</u><br />
Private trampolining went really, really well. He was full of smiles and managed to do 3 full somersaults in a row without using a mat, so whoop whoop to him. Definitely deserved the 12 inch meatball Subway which seems to have become a tradition after the private lesson. Then eye test afterwards; slight deterioration so new glasses on order. Hoping to make the old ones into sunglasses for the summer once new ones have arrived.<br />
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<u>Wednesday</u><br />
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Left to right: Callum, Natalie, Terri</h2>
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The crafting trio</h2>
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We did make carrot cakes first, but for some unknown reason Blogger isn't uploading the picture of our success, so may try again another time. Anyway, the above picture shows the rest of the afternoon with Callum just about to start an Xmas coaster mosaic and the two girls making Valentine bits and pieces.<br />
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Xmas tree coaster</h2>
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<u>Thursday</u></div>
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I had my tattoo booked for Thursday, so wasn't around for most of the day. However, my wonderful friend Carol agreed that she would take Callum to trampolining for me that afternoon. As it was she dropped Lauren, her daughter, off to our house around 11.30am and Lauren and Callum played on the computer until it was time to go off to the lesson (admittedly they were a bit early). They then came back to the house until it was time for them to go off to Lauren's next activity for the day. Tea and cake was provided by Callum (I assume he made the tea and the cake was the carrot cake he'd made the day before). It mean't that, in the end, Callum wasn't alone for long; about an hour, so I ended up feeling a lot better about it all. Although Callum didn't really mind either way, I think he was happier having the company.</div>
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Found out later that evening that James, the coach, was beginning to get him practising backward rolls in prep for backward somersaults - Eeeek!!!</div>
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<u>Friday</u></div>
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Not a day that we were entirely looking forward to as it was a dentist appointment first. However, all was well except for Callum being advised to brush his teeth a bit better than he does now. He still hasn't got fillings so was happy. She did ask if he wanted a brace, but he replied with a definite and resounding NO! To be honest, I don't think he really needs one.</div>
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Then a bit of quick shopping: jewellers for me to sell off a couple of bits of jewellery that I never wear and then health shop to pick up some marigold and chickweed cream for me to care for my new tattoo. Bought some apricots for £1 on way back to bus stop and then off to friend's house for a couple of hours playing on his XBox whilst us mums drank tea and had a chat.</div>
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<u>Today</u><br />
Callum is doing the usual weekend things of computer, XBox or TV or combi of both. He doesn't want to go out anywhere as we've been out pretty much all week (or had people here), so he's after a day to himself. He has, however, helped dad put up another shelf in his bedroom (there are now 3) on which he can put his new helicopters on. He's got 4 waiting construction and housing.<br />
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So busy week, not a great deal of lesson work done apart from maths on Thursday morning before I left, but then again, seeing a pregnancy scan, reading every night, cooking, making a mosiac, trampolining and seeing friends is all good stuff.</div>
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Cya<br />
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SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0Kent, UK51.37863823622007 0.5493164062551.060843236220073 -0.096130593749999993 51.696433236220066 1.1947634062499999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-80287157770180522792013-02-06T06:20:00.005-08:002013-02-06T06:20:47.894-08:00<br /><br />Some pictures as promised:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDl8wr-xsjfvy6l26LXuug4HAg3mHD2J-GGLQC-kGuOSu9mTszNe2eqc0rTmlcHUwy9n6QV8zBZ4167NquJ15_UJSTbT3Msg4oAHH8afpEbdjgZbZl15ndmAGvhARg9bpbzFnRAx5cQq0/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDl8wr-xsjfvy6l26LXuug4HAg3mHD2J-GGLQC-kGuOSu9mTszNe2eqc0rTmlcHUwy9n6QV8zBZ4167NquJ15_UJSTbT3Msg4oAHH8afpEbdjgZbZl15ndmAGvhARg9bpbzFnRAx5cQq0/s320/050.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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Chocolate Brownies from last baking session</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkYCC_-47OTbpeEkt0hrHImNO1SNHbhcBeOUrCVibceQ8HOmMCQL64phxKdY_AYiXLgNpG0rnQJp5GXgwEUXxD1xsaCKgYWWoHHNK49XXV1FarwykXwrxDMYCDhkO1LFunmsoUQMmto4/s1600/Flying+Butterfly+-+Magnet+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBkYCC_-47OTbpeEkt0hrHImNO1SNHbhcBeOUrCVibceQ8HOmMCQL64phxKdY_AYiXLgNpG0rnQJp5GXgwEUXxD1xsaCKgYWWoHHNK49XXV1FarwykXwrxDMYCDhkO1LFunmsoUQMmto4/s320/Flying+Butterfly+-+Magnet+(1).JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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Flying magnetic Butterfly</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrTnXbnWZynkq_zUWi5KbkI6uOINh7OzGLln3tZotkLhymshGVJZNasa7juRByiGjha7xEo5voP_e8CZyFhaNHEnPGSk4N0NLc5Lv3VxnbDbGpAcPqwYj-1SINBmf2X9q74eoMaM1qyQI/s1600/Magnets+PP1+(12).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrTnXbnWZynkq_zUWi5KbkI6uOINh7OzGLln3tZotkLhymshGVJZNasa7juRByiGjha7xEo5voP_e8CZyFhaNHEnPGSk4N0NLc5Lv3VxnbDbGpAcPqwYj-1SINBmf2X9q74eoMaM1qyQI/s320/Magnets+PP1+(12).JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
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Testing magnetic pull horizontally</h2>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ttYbhXr6cdwrVvinnAMQzCRMMfWa1sImq20xWIWnuDdi_gQVwurg514oe4uBm33siMvnCahgrHi_9gxL-BDr2PE8bHZbmF7LLnI1xdSxrN5BBKhL-k1BbBTKFg6c1u3SUH4FwZoFiMc/s1600/Magnets+PP1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5ttYbhXr6cdwrVvinnAMQzCRMMfWa1sImq20xWIWnuDdi_gQVwurg514oe4uBm33siMvnCahgrHi_9gxL-BDr2PE8bHZbmF7LLnI1xdSxrN5BBKhL-k1BbBTKFg6c1u3SUH4FwZoFiMc/s320/Magnets+PP1.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
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Testing magnetic pulling power vertically</h2>
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More magnetic fun</h2>
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<br />SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-12096087583197321112013-02-01T07:21:00.000-08:002013-02-01T07:21:16.063-08:00TODAY I'M GRATEFUL THAT WE LIVE IN THE UK<br />
Ice skating today. Well went to the ice rink. Callum doesn't skate. He took the laptop with him today and played Roblox.<br />
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Just as we were leaving a school group came in. Don't know which one, but they reinforced why I don't send Callum to school. Two boys got into a fight, one was so verbally and physically violent that he grabbed the boy, threw him up against a wall, swore in his face repeatedly and then threw him on the floor. Teacher, a female, was about half his height and tiny. Had no hope of dealing with him. <br />
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Then in the car park there was another group of boys, assuming from same school as they were in and around a mini bus, probably aged about 15/16 smoking!! No adult supervision from what I could see and all looking rather intimidating.<br />
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Really saw the difference today as we have a few teens in our group. They were upstairs playing pool together AND they asked the receptionist politely for some more chalk for the cues. None were rude, none were arguing and none were outside smoking!<br />
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So grateful that we can lawfully home educate and I feel so sorry for those children that really struggle at school and then have those oiks to deal with on top of it all.<br />
SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-41221336079106815522013-01-31T12:52:00.003-08:002013-01-31T12:52:59.740-08:00HELLO, WHERE DID THAT WEEK GO?Hiya folks, just noticed that it's been over a week. Do apologise but I've been knitting most evenings and not getting on here to write up a proper blog. Have been doing quick updates via Callum's World page on Facebook though, so if you really want to keep up to date, that's probably a better place, although I do end up writing it all up properly on here eventually.<br />
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Anyway, where to start?<br />
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Wednesday 23rd we had a family day out, sort of. Terri, Callum's big sister, wanted to go and discuss her tattoo on her foot with her tattooist who is only in on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so off we went to Rainham. Then a short bus journey to Dobbies the garden centre for lunch and a look round. Had a good nose around the plants and sale stuff. Plus Callum loved the aquariums and the wind chimes, which in the slight breeze sounded beautiful. Tescos next for sugar and cereal for me and then bus drive home. Caught the tail end of the school kids. Always interesting and always reinforces the reasons why I home educate. <br />
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That evening our beloved Draco continued to refuse to go out with my partner, so we all ended up having a quick cuppa and taking said dog plus my daughter's dog Merlin out for a walk in the snow.<br />
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Thursday the snow was on its way out and the walk to trampolining was practically clear. Class session this time. Callum nailed 3 somersaults without falling forward, woo hoo!!!! Well done Callum! Then back home with Carol and Lauren for tea and cake. Lauren and Callum on Roblox having a great time with lots of laughter. Then out with dog again in the evening who is still continuing to be a mummy's boy.<br />
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So, Friday arrived. Supposed to be going to ice skating, but because the dog hasn't improved it was off to the vets. Nice little walk there, Draco didn't refuse to go in and lots of praise from vet re his temperament and glossy coat. £60 later armed with antibiotics and good bacteria powder we went off to the Great Lines for a walk in the remaining snow and to check on the snow chair we made on Monday. No sign of the chair as such, just a big pile of snow. Then home for a cappuchino. No home ed today, but Callum did help the lady who came to pick up our freecycle unit get the unit into her car, so I suppose we did cover pet care and community spirit. <br />
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The weekend was just the weekend. Nothing planned, so Callum spent most of it on the computer, but we did take a break to go through the shelves and drawers that are under his bed and clear out some of the things that he doesn't use and get rid of some of the rubbish that had congregated there. Next weekend will be the corner where the multi drawers are; that section we are both dreading as there are lots of bits and pieces there. Eeek!<br />
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So, now to this week - finally got here.<br />
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Monday morning Callum did one of the book reviews that he needs to do. We have several different types of 'forms' that I get Callum to fill in as he hates writing and finds it difficult to get ideas from his head onto paper. The 'forms' prompt thought and, as they are on the computer, he can type up the 'answers' instead of writing them. We have 'forms' for books read, programmes we've watched and days out we've had. They can also be adapted to fit other situations should we need them including science experiments. <br />
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The afternoon he spent on Khan Academy doing maths whilst I went off and did a couple of hours party plan work. He did have a minor meltdown just before I left as the site flashed up a couple of Algebra questions which made him panic. So went over them step by step and made sure he understood before I left. I also told him that if they came up again whilst I was out he could just skip them if he felt that he still didn't understand. When I got home, however, he was a rather happy chappy as he'd managed to do, understand and get right some problem solving questions which contained negative numbers.<br />
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Tuesday we spent at home. This gave us chance to catch up with some work. So the other book review was done and then we spent the afternoon 'playing' with magnets and investigating their pulling and pushing power which was great fun.<br />
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Wednesday he cooked with his sister, making meatballs in tomato sauce for dinner (with spaghetti) from scratch as well as 12 double chocolate muffins for an afternoon treat and for today after trampolining. He thoroughly enjoyed the cooking and he even got his hands into the mince, onion and breadcrumb mixture to form the meatballs. He did wear disposable gloves though as he isn't keen on what he says is 'yucky feeling stuff'. Apparently, the meatballs were lovely. I can only vouch for the sauce as I'm vegetarian so I made my own quorn version of the balls, but I can say that the sauce was indeed rather good. And the muffins had great big chunks of gooey melted chocolate in. Yum!<br />
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Today Callum didn't get up until nearly midday. Apparently he says he had a bad night with lots of bad dreams, so he didn't sleep well. As he doesn't really wake me up that often anymore, I'm assuming that they weren't too horrendous. So it was a quick cuppa with very late breakfast of toast before heading off to trampolining class. One good lesson later and another Roblox session with Lauren afterwards with even more laughter and he's now quietly settled and probably awaiting his American friend Benny to appear online. Can always tell when he's there as all you can here is Callum squealing with laughter as they both have the same sense of humour and are very silly together.<br />
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Anyway, that's it, sorry it's long and sorry no pics as I've stupidly uploaded them to the main computer and I still haven't linked the laptop to it so can't access them. Will have to post a blog purely of photographs.<br />
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Cya<br />
<br />SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-90106508606595467762013-01-22T09:26:00.002-08:002013-01-22T09:26:58.469-08:00SLUSHY TUESDAYMaths this morning - Callum says ugh!! Using mathematics Stuntman book; good way of going over some basic maths uses in a realistic environment.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Be-A-Stuntman-Using-Maths/dp/1860075460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358875431&sr=8-1">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Be-A-Stuntman-Using-Maths/dp/1860075460/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1358875431&sr=8-1</a><br />
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Then trampolining this afternoon with Kim. Somersaults!!!! And yes, nailed at least 5 of them! Woo Hoo! Landed on feet. However, did lose a bit of balance and ended up on trampoline in front on a couple of occasions - whoops! Hey ho, he's pleased he's now landing on his feet and not completely falling over and was beaming like a Cheshire cat. Kim then made him do exercises; Bunny jumps to end of pit run up and back and then push ups and running on spot on crash mats. Knackered afterwards!!!<br />
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Snow nearly all gone and High Street definitely clear. Bit of shopping and then to Subway for the, now traditional, foot long meatball with melted cheese and salad.<br />
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Home, unpack shopping, had a little chat and then on computer; supposedly finished for the day.<br />
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However, on Dad's arrival home, Draco, the dog, decides he doesn't want to go out for a walk with him and wants to go out with us instead. This was shown by refusing to move from his comfy dog bed in front of radiator even after Dad had shaken his lead and gone out the door. However, Mum gets up and walks into kitchen and up he gets wagging his tail and getting excited. Mum opens door to garden, but, no, that's not it; so she gets lead and he starts bounding about. So out we went again, back to trampolining centre and walk the dog around the small green that is behind it. <br />
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Back home, Dad a bit miffed, cup of cherry cappuccino (bought from new shop in Gillingham) and back onto computer.<br />
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Good day!<br />
<br />
CyaSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-81589708363681343892013-01-14T12:23:00.001-08:002013-01-14T12:23:27.004-08:00EASING IN GENTLYHiya, been a while I know, but I have been posting up some very brief status' on Facebook page under same name:<br />
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/CallumsWorld?ref=hl">https://www.facebook.com/CallumsWorld?ref=hl</a><br />
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I've started a page as sometimes it's difficult to write a complete blog. That could be because we haven't done much or because of time. Anyway, feel free to check it out.<br />
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So back to blog proper. We have been very slow in getting back to 'normal'. Callum is definitely a full blown teen staying up and watching various comedy programmes (Family Guy, Have I Got News For You, Mock The Week, Russell Howard's Good News to name a few) plus, of course, reruns of Top Gear. So he invariably gets up late as well. So we have gone from a 8.30am morning to a 10.30am start! Hmmmm, not good. In fact we discussed today that it wasn't really good enough, so we have agreed that instead of starting work at 10am, we'll start at 11am and I'll wake him at 10am if he isn't up! Hopefully after a few weeks we'll be back in a routine.<br />
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I have no problems with him having a lay in as it is a natural and normal teenage thing. Some people may say it's because they are lazy, but it isn't. It's biological. And let's face it, given the choice, most teenagers would do it and I can't think that they would be 'blanket' lazy! Interesting article on link below.<br />
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<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7932950.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7932950.stm</a><br />
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I'm digressing again, sorry. Last week we literally only did organised things, eg, trampolining and supposedly ice skating. Trampolining was on two days last week as he is now going to return to the weekly group meeting; a) because James is back and b) he likes the kids that go, so it's a bit of social time with children he knows and likes the company of. So alternate Tuesdays is private lesson with Kim and every Thursday will be group lesson with James. Both lessons went well by the way. <br />
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We were going to go ice skating on Friday, but the ice machine had broken so it wasn't safe, so we had a day off instead.<br />
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Now to this week and today. After discussing a timetable (we are going back to hands on and project work as the curriculum/workbook stuff was a) boring and b) boring!!) and the above mentioned start time, we grabbed a box of kits, craft items and puzzles and Callum picked out 2 new items based on magnets. Had a fab play with the sets and adding our own magnets and found a Usborne book on experiments using magnets. We have decided that for this week and next we are going to build a small project on magnets and magnetism.<br />
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Just a little selection of 'playtime' photos.<br />
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After that we had a nose on the computer for pictures of Earth's magnetic field.<br />
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Then a couple of hours 'playing' with Rush Hour; a brilliant puzzle game where you have to move cars/lorries around to release the taxi or red car (we have the bolt on pack as well).<br />
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It's great fun, can be really hard and makes you think. Very logical game. We love it.<br />
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That's about it. He's now on the computer playing on Roblox.<br />
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CyaSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-26764087887989838872012-12-30T12:54:00.001-08:002012-12-30T12:54:55.993-08:00IT'S NEARLY 2013Hiya folks<br />
<br />
Having a bit of trouble with videos on my computer. Can't seem to find out how to rotate them, so if I do manage to upload a video onto this blog, you may have to lay on your side to view it. Might be more comfortable that way though, haha.<br />
<br />
Anyway we did manage to get down to the trampolining centre to help out with the foam pit. Missed the emptying, but got there when it was empty and just about due to be filled back up again.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOlmPqtbfGLwXJWl4dfX8W3XdYO6jPyA8DhtJgkIWAp4GYG4leJ2HpLImB7pW8viGnPzDd5nYRUXFYUbQIef0VjF8bBmgrwQSiQVJHR-uqjpIGsx5rcafr5E3vl17BRC11Z0_FqDoa0Kg/s1600/033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOlmPqtbfGLwXJWl4dfX8W3XdYO6jPyA8DhtJgkIWAp4GYG4leJ2HpLImB7pW8viGnPzDd5nYRUXFYUbQIef0VjF8bBmgrwQSiQVJHR-uqjpIGsx5rcafr5E3vl17BRC11Z0_FqDoa0Kg/s320/033.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An empty pit<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
His coach, James, is on the left in the green T-shirt and his private coach, Kim, is at the back in the grey.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviI1x4FMLrJYN0RUDeZAJ15uA13XlpYELFgmPLB_vzTtJOxHLKFVVXI5tqTFovL2JDjXdLG7EP7Di_EoH_ppgEpexjx0jvyzjzkUXfvNn8boITXrqBD84xbNDV7Kmqv1mh-LPj1R4sE0/s1600/036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviI1x4FMLrJYN0RUDeZAJ15uA13XlpYELFgmPLB_vzTtJOxHLKFVVXI5tqTFovL2JDjXdLG7EP7Di_EoH_ppgEpexjx0jvyzjzkUXfvNn8boITXrqBD84xbNDV7Kmqv1mh-LPj1R4sE0/s320/036.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chucking back the foam<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzGPI0kMdoAAAfY3axWdWmYYS1gYM5URoEMmdvVyZ_KK10T-DzqmBYCz2zOMgEDztqP5xYcC3n2BVEWNVPJ5BSGPr4R_bYhTztNXZ8qVqMpjPy-r-hhgq7uIUJ8WxLQ3xKpTNx2t5rcA/s1600/038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzGPI0kMdoAAAfY3axWdWmYYS1gYM5URoEMmdvVyZ_KK10T-DzqmBYCz2zOMgEDztqP5xYcC3n2BVEWNVPJ5BSGPr4R_bYhTztNXZ8qVqMpjPy-r-hhgq7uIUJ8WxLQ3xKpTNx2t5rcA/s320/038.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very full pit!<br /><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Callum had great fun chucking back all the foam and it was amazing how much of it there was. As you can see it doesn't look as if it will all fit. <br />
<br />
The kids were encouraged to jump into the pit afterwards as this will end up by compacting the foam back into the pit and therefore it will be back on the level.<br />
<br />
BTW: Tried uploading video and couldn't. Will have to investigate further.<br />
<br />
Anyway, below are a few Xmas photos:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjAYAm8uhemMbal9RydE5bGj77lZ6VD5wEyD_tqFE7YyCeGN9Kmc7x3GEK4mzFsnzGo9RGCkQcBQSUNzfn2A7F4F329_0UC4EEcX2NOFzNh8IJ5hyphenhyphenvGs6Yfh9n_fqZckeF50KkWYbwCA/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwjAYAm8uhemMbal9RydE5bGj77lZ6VD5wEyD_tqFE7YyCeGN9Kmc7x3GEK4mzFsnzGo9RGCkQcBQSUNzfn2A7F4F329_0UC4EEcX2NOFzNh8IJ5hyphenhyphenvGs6Yfh9n_fqZckeF50KkWYbwCA/s320/020.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Draco with his favourite present</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTHn5zi5Xg_Nwlt_TG5D1WBAtXuihN50wtSR1G9k8sb8FTpx-0pjBCFBgzh-JkZkIXZnQo2v_RJgxSoWtpEVZtv6hJTRJVTK6GIODwcunfCkcmSHx7Cbak_LOlEajPkgvVdqGq6eM8KY/s1600/022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlTHn5zi5Xg_Nwlt_TG5D1WBAtXuihN50wtSR1G9k8sb8FTpx-0pjBCFBgzh-JkZkIXZnQo2v_RJgxSoWtpEVZtv6hJTRJVTK6GIODwcunfCkcmSHx7Cbak_LOlEajPkgvVdqGq6eM8KY/s320/022.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Callum in Husky hat - very festive, hehe</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeK_vkNaeE4G_ZuCjVxCkJDEXPZStOv24pEjk2fQ_qwrtrcqwSp9utNXYlTW6tED9k8eDU2F7Ng2jjdfPkiQWX-FYJp13m6SsFN5LNyFjrabN_UWwp5bQdfbpf3DkdWdH0BTm8Xnih-I0/s1600/026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeK_vkNaeE4G_ZuCjVxCkJDEXPZStOv24pEjk2fQ_qwrtrcqwSp9utNXYlTW6tED9k8eDU2F7Ng2jjdfPkiQWX-FYJp13m6SsFN5LNyFjrabN_UWwp5bQdfbpf3DkdWdH0BTm8Xnih-I0/s320/026.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big sis opening presents</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I have got more, but I appear to be having a lot of trouble with pics and vids today, so I'm going to update all progs relating to them and try again tomorrow. Short and sweet blog tonight. Sorry.<br />
<br />
Cya<br />
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<br />SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-22876407725198230872012-12-27T11:44:00.000-08:002012-12-27T11:44:05.431-08:00CHRISTMAS TIMEOh dear, oh dear, oh dear.<br />
<br />
Really didn't realise that it had been so long since posting up a blog. I knew I'd been busy, but didn't realise that it had lapsed that badly.<br />
<br />
I'm incredibly unorganised at the moment, so no photographs are ready to post up; one, because the camera is buried somewhere under the pile of presents that need to be put away and two, because the lead connecting the camera to the computer/laptop is in a drawer somewhere along with a bunch of other stuff I've put away into a 'safe' place until after Christmas and we can get back to 'normal'.<br />
<br />
So all I can really say is that we have done diddly squat official home education stuff, but have been Christmas cooking together; two cakes, mincement, mince pies and chocolate brownies. Haven't made savouries this year. We've also been shopping for presents and obviously wrapping them and then giving them out.<br />
<br />
We held an Xmas arts and crafts afternoon with a few of his friends where cards, decorations, crackers and hand puppets were made and lots of fun was had by all. Lots of glitter glue, bits of card, paper and ribbon all over the floor along with cake crumbs and pastry crumbs being proof of a good time.<br />
<br />
There was also the final trampolining of the year a week before Christmas and we are now waiting patiently for the New Year to start so we can return. Although we are supposed to be going along to the centre tomorrow to help clean up and sort out the pit.<br />
<br />
I say 'supposed to be' because Callum got an XBox for Christmas and has now disappeared into his room to play on his new toy and chat with some of his friends. He did spend the day itself with us all as we allowed the XBox downstairs and he spent most of the afternoon killing zombies with his sister and then watching Dr Who, etc with us in the evening.<br />
<br />
He had a great day with loads of presents including books, puzzles, games, sweets and clothes including a rather fab husky hat from his Aunt and Uncle for which he had very good comments from the staff of Game today in Chavtown.<br />
<br />
He's been very helpful and patient with me over past few weeks as I've been 'playing' with greenery to make table decs, swag and wreath and madly trying to tidy and clear away junk in readiness for festive season. So have been very proud of him. He even managed to contain his excitement over the last few days before as he knew what he was getting and was desperate to get his hands on it. His only problem has been a few bad dreams and erratic sleep which has left him often tired and a bit grumpy, but he has manage to sort himself out and not have any meltdowns.<br />
<br />
Anyway, that is a brief catch up. I will get photos posted once I find the elusive lead and I hope to get back to some more regular posts over the next couple of weeks.<br />
<br />
Hope you all had a fab Christmas and celebrated in whatever way is tradional to your family and beliefs.<br />
<br />
xx<br />
CyaSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-41133718965236870622012-11-14T13:00:00.000-08:002012-11-14T13:00:01.235-08:00WEEK GETS BETTER AND BETTERGood evening all as they used to say in Dixon of Dock Green (showing my age now).<br />
<br />
Today was an odd, bitty day, but good.<br />
<br />
Washing done before Callum got up again though, so he had to wait a bit before he had his shower (water pressure in the house means that if there is any water running downstairs, you'll get a cold shower).<br />
<br />
A nice cuppa and a chat; like the morning chats, then off into the kitchen to weigh out all the ingredients for the Xmas pud. Had kept and froze ends of gluten free bread, so used those up to make the breadcrumbs and as I'm also vegetarian, we used melted butter instead of the suet. Lovely easy recipe as you just weigh it all out and chuck it all in a big pan. Once all in and stirred we take the obligatory turn to stir and make a wish before setting aside to mature overnight. During the day any other family members get to take their turn of a stir and a wish, so when big sis, Terri, turned up that was her cue for her turn.<br />
<br />
A quick tidy up of the kitchen with Callum helping by bringing through any washing up, tidying away the ingredients, bringing through the recycling bags from outside and putting anything in that was necessary and helping to put away. Then into the living room for him to play on Roblox and attempt to finish off the game he's designed which he was having a slight problem with as he wanted to tilt the end of the bridge. Whilst he did that I watched Elementary (USA drama based on Sherlock Holmes). Callum watched along as well and we ended up having a discussion on the great fictional detective.<br />
<br />
Big Sis arrived and soon after they both went off to make cupcakes. I could have a nice lazy afternoon on the sofa.<br />
<br />
To be honest not much else happened today, but it was nice to have him downstairs with us communicating during conversations and having a chat about Christmas. Have found some books his friend likes in the Book People leaflet and he's going on a scouting mission tomorrow night at his house to check he hasn't already got them. Fingers crossed he hasn't as it's a good set for a good price.<br />
<br />
Tonight he's still playing on Roblox and chatting to one of his friends.<br />
<br />
All in all, it has been a quiet, social, family led day and it's been lovely.<br />
<br />
CyaSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-28602679964957529762012-11-14T00:54:00.001-08:002012-11-14T00:54:43.476-08:00A LITTLE BETTERGood morning my lovelies and apologises for not posting yesterday.<br />
<br />
What kind of day was it? Well, better than the one before.<br />
<br />
For starters Callum was up a bit earlier than the day before and no nose bleed, but still a lot of hrumphing. Our normal, well usual now, morning chat with a cuppa then ensued and we discussed boring things like whether or not he had enough clothes that fit, what cooking we would be doing tomorrow and what he would like to do lesson wise for the rest of the week. We decided that after trampolining today we would go through his wardrobe, make a list of what he needs and get rid of anything that doesn't fit anymore. Then check out the ingredients so we can make Xmas pudding tomorrow (well today now).<br />
<br />
He toddled off and got dressed, brought down his rubbish, washed and cleaned teeth, got bottles of water ready for lesson and dug out the library books that need to go back. On the subject of books; we had another lengthy discussion on TV and laptop versus reading at night. I don't mind him watching TV or playing on the laptop when he goes upstairs, but I don't want him doing it until midnight which is how he seems to be at the moment. It means he isn't reading anything and he's late getting up in the morning, not that I expect him up early. We have had this conversation a lot recently and I've said that I'd like him to watch TV until about 10-10.30 and then read for a hour. He can record progs should he wish to watch them and watch them in the early evening after dinner. So what did he do last night? Well he went up at 9pm as usual, but didn't take the laptop. I went up at 10pm and there he was watching telly AND reading. Not quite what I had planned and I did argue the point and I will continue to argue the point until he gets the idea. But I'm getting ahead of myself.<br />
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That afternoon we went off to trampolining. Lots of practice on position of arms, etc to make the moves look more professional. Then on to somersaults. Kim, the coach, decided to use the belt and pulley today so that Callum could get much more of an idea of how it felt to come out of the turn. He's somersaulting fine, just not landing them and that has to do with when he needs comes out of the tuck and using the belt and pulley Kim is more control of the move and should be able to help him out. I wasn't sure how Callum would feel about being strapped into a belt and then attached to ropes but actually dealt with it ok apart from the one time when he hadn't given himself enough push and ended up suspended upside down in the tuck position. I was going to publish a video, but I can't upload the vid from my phone for some unknown to me reason. I uploaded via an email, but I can't open the file. Have checked instruction booklet and online answers but to no avail. If he does it again next lesson I'll make sure I take my camera with me as I can work that, haha.<br />
<br />
After tramp, it was subway and a bit of shopping before returning home to sort wardrobe and wait for dad to come home. Then off to cinema to see Skyfall. Callum's first Bond movie at the cinema. He loves Bond, but so far it's only ever been on TV or DVD, so today was big screen time. He loved it!! We got there early which meant we were first in the cinema, so we could get sorted and comfy. Callum had remembered to take DS with him, so he played on that whilst waiting for the film to start. He likes getting there early, but doesn't like waiting, so the DS is a perfect solution. A supersize combi of salted popcorn, drink and a chocolate bar saw us through the movie before heading home still in time for dad to get to bed on time. Disadvantage of getting up early is an early bedtime, but means I get the evening to myself to watch what I want.<br />
<br />
I think overall Callum had a good day today. Tomorrow (today) big sis will be visiting and we'll be making Xmas pud and she'll be making cupcakes which I'm sure Callum will help her with. As to anything else, we'll have to see what time he gets up and how he feels. Got loads we could be getting on with. ;-)<br />
<br />
Anyway, cya and hope that the today/tomorrows aren't too confusing.SJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-43716973298403295262012-11-12T11:57:00.000-08:002012-11-12T11:57:24.375-08:00NOT A GOOD STARTOkay, where do we start? I suppose at the beginning.<br />
<br />
I got up, cleaned the house, washing on, washed up, sorted out craft corner (mine), had two cuppas and then......yes, he surfaced! :-) About 10am! Very floppy flouncy with a bit of hurmph thrown in.<br />
<br />
Got a cuppa for himself and went back upstairs to the room of doom.<br />
<br />
Checked in a few mins later to discover he had a NOSE BLEED!! He's had a few of those recently. He isn't worried about them which is good and I'm assuming it's a hormonal thing and they aren't daily or even weekly, but they are there. Needless to say this gave him an excuse to chill out for a bit longer.<br />
<br />
Then a shower.<br />
<br />
Then at approximately 11am he took a look at the new programming lesson on codeacademy. He got stuck after about 10mins. Not sure if he really didn't understand it; whether because the site wouldn't actually let him log in properly (sorted now) or whether he just wasn't in the mood. Anyway, once we got the login sorted, he announced he couldn't be bothered as he was tired!!!!<br />
<br />
So, Richard Hammonds Miracles of Nature was watched instead which he was far more interested in and thoroughly enjoyed. <br />
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Then a quick kitchen visit to watch and help me make a vegetable quiche before, guess what, yep, disappearing into the room of doom again.<br />
<br />
Must admit over the weekend he has managed to clear some of the floor. I may actually be able to hoover in there before the week is out. Woo hoo.<br />
<br />
CyaSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8158246661460362022.post-85186172643555433122012-11-08T11:42:00.000-08:002012-11-08T11:42:35.070-08:00BOUNCING THURSDAYEvening all, how are you lovely people today.<br />
<br />
Said we'd be back to normal and we are. We'll writing this is, but normal service re education isn't. It's November, it's dark and it's hibernation time! AND we have Christmas to think about. <br />
<br />
So today started....late!!! Callum not up until 10.30am, must admit I wasn't much better at 9.30am. I had loads of paperwork to sort out so Callum went on the Wii and then we did some research into XBox Offers as that's what he wants for Christmas.<br />
<br />
This afternoon was trampolining! Group class today. Back drop to full twist today! First time ever done and it was looking good. Had some good news too as the wonderful James is coming back to teach the class. Callum loves James and has missed him, so he'll now have two coaches that he really likes and both understand him well.<br />
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Afterwards Carol and Lauren came back for a quick cuppa and a piece of cake and a play on Roblox together.<br />
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Us big girls got far too involved with our chat and I forgot I had osteo and Carol was going to be late for her appointment too. Whoops, but never mind. My Osteo was very cool about it and hopefully the same happened with Carol.<br />
<br />
So that was it for today. He's now sitting with me in the dining room on the laptop and making whooshy noises, so I'm assuming it's a war game.<br />
<br />
Tomorrow is ice skating and next week we start Xmas prepping.<br />
<br />
CyaSJasperhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10956214370585977119noreply@blogger.com0