Hiya, don't think I'm doing too bad this week. Seem to be doing an update every other day. Could have something to do with me now having a laptop so I'm not fighting over computer time with Callum and, of course, I can do it from the comfort of my own sofa. However, I also think it may have something to do with the new timetable as I'm now organised with work and Callum knows what needs to be done, so we are doing more.
I don't really notice the difference when we don't have a timetable until I actually have one. I've mentioned before that total autonomous education doesn't work for us, but every now and again, either because we are too busy or I'm too knackered, we end up practising that style of home ed. But I know that it doesn't really work and having this new timetable has proved it. It isn't that we don't do any work at all when its autonomous, but I find that I can't suddenly spring to action when Callum wants to do something (I need to be mentally and physically prepared and that means organising) and I find Callum's motivation lapses very quickly and he just ends up doing the same thing all day every day and that's Roblox or now a game on Facebook. Callum's Asperger means that he does need a certain amount of routine although as he has got older he is more able to cope with sudden changes that may happen in the day. However, having a visual timetable and a breakdown of what he's expected to do on a daily basis written up has seen him motivated and self organising which is a vast improvement. His concentration is better and he is more willing to try. I know this form of education doesn't work for everyone and I know that having a full day's timetable would not work for us, but this semi structured (mornings), semi autonomous (afternoons) approach definitely works for us. I just need to ensure that I stick to it plus it helps me as well as I know what I need to plan for.
So what have we done over the past few days. Well, Wednesday was scheduled for Science and Art and Terri was visiting as she usually does on a Wednesday. I sort of delegated to her for some of the work and they ended up doing a combination of Science and Art using some experiments which looked at colour and light. This time we/they looked at reflected colour and light; shining a torch covered in coloured cellophane (red, blue and yellow) onto various toy vehicles of various colours (red, yellow, blue, green and white). It was quite interesting how the vehicles changed colour when different coloured light was shone onto them. Non of us totally understood it, but a collective conclusion was that the colour reflected was the strongest colour that was left on the spectrum after you removed the colour of the vehicle and the colour of the light. Unfortunately the cellophane we were using was from sweetie wrappers and the red one was rather strong in comparison to the rest, so we aren't entirely sure if our results were totally as they should be, but it was fun and we kind of got the idea.
They then attempted to make blue sky by using a glass of water and dropping various amounts of milk into the water. The torch was then shone from the side of the glass and behind the glass. As the water became more milky, the light from the side shone through the milk in a bluish tinge and shone from behind in a reddish tinge. Rather interesting. Will try and post some pictures later.
Then they 'played' on Photoshop on the computer to change a photograph of Draco, the dog, into various degrees of blue tones. I'm hoping to get Callum to do the same using red and yellow tones.
The afternoon was spent with us all together watching Journey 2: Mysterious Island.
Today was Maths and Computer Studies. Callum spent most of the morning on www.khanacademy.org continuing to look at areas and perimeters and www.codeacademy.com where he begun to learn to write some proper computer code. Then it was a single maths sheet on areas and perimeters of triangles to finish off.
After lunch we watched the latest edition of Turn Back Time - The Family, which is a BBC programme about the life of families through history.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01kwlrr/Turn_Back_Time_The_Family_1940/
Callum enjoys this programme as do I as it isn't all about facts and figures, but more about the everyday life of families and how they lived, worked and played.
For the rest of the day, he has played on the Wii and has now started playing playing one of the games online with other people. Not something that I would want to do or probably could even suss out how to do, but Callum, as do many others, just gets it. I used to be pretty good using computers, but I think a lot of it is now beyond me. But good for C, glad he can keep up as he'll need to.
Anyway, last ice skating meet before the holidays tomorrow and then a bit of a clean up of the house.
Cya folks
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
YOU REMEMBER IT WAS WORKING? WELL.....
Hiya folks, hope you lovely people are all fab and gorgeous. We are having rather interesting weather here so far. It's been chucking it down one minute and then glorious sunshine the next. So am glad we haven't got much going out and about planned this week.
So far we have had a lovely lazy Monday in pjs all day. Now don't think we didn't do any schooling because we did, so there! Subjects on timetable (remember only two subjects per day) were Maths and English Literacy.
Maths was a couple of worksheets on area and perimeter; one was a straightforward one and one was a bit more of an exercise in using areas and perimeters in everyday life. It was called Martha's Garden and I found it on a website www.WorksheetWorks.com where there are loads of worksheets plus answers to download and they are free! Always a bonus. Callum had to work out the perimeter of the garden to decide how much fencing would be needed and then work out different areas to see where different plants would be grown. It was pretty basic, but it was interesting for Callum to see how the maths he is learning is used in day to day things. This is something that he enjoys as, like most things, he doesn't like learning it unless he can see a reason for doing so OR he really likes the subject. This is fine when it comes to using the computer or doing science, but the normal maths and english is something that he has to have a reason for.
Next was English Literacy. He has a list of books (I downloaded the recommended reading list for year 9 and went through them making a sub list of what I think Callum would enjoy plus a few that I felt were 'classics'. We have 4 on the list already; 2 that I own and 2 which we have obtained from the library. The idea of the literacy lesson is to review the book using a question and answer sheet and to have a general discussion. He's just started reading Slam by Nick Hornby and we had a little talk about the book, but as he has only read 3 chapters so far it wasn't a huge conversation and certainly not worth doing a sheet on yet. So what to do? Then I remembered that I had recorded a couple of the Shakespeare film adaptations that the BBC showed in their Shakespeare celebration and I decided that it might be an idea to watch one (or at least part of one). We had 4 to choose from: MacBeth, Twelfth Night, Othello and Merchant of Venice. Callum has already read MacBeth (in graphic form) and we had a MacBeth themed Halloween party last year, so he decided to watch that one. I didn't mind as that is probably my favourite Shakespeare.
I don't know about any of you, but as far as I'm concerned Shakespeare wrote plays, not books, so I think that the best way of studying them is to actually see them rather than read them. His language is often hard to read, but to watch it makes more sense and you can appreciate it more. We managed an hour of an hour and 50mins movie and Callum began to remember what he'd read and associate it with what he saw on screen, so that was good and when asked, he said he was enjoying it. It also meant we could talk about the story whilst we watched it. We'll aim to finish watching later on this week.
After lunch, as Callum had got into watching some telly, he chose to sit and watch The Blues Brothers for the 2nd time (his 2nd, my umpteenth) and we spent a lovely afternoon having a giggle.
Today was English Language and Trampolining. English Language had to be rejiggled as I, stupidly, hadn't looked at what was next in the book and it involved a lot of writing and I've vowed not to force him to do lots of writing as he says its hurts his shoulder to write. We have a hospital appointment in August to check to see if anything is physically wrong. So that page will be typed on the computer and we'll do that next time. After flipping through the workbook we decided on the page which was all about changing sentences from two to one using connecting words such as who, which, because, so, etc. He did really well and got them all correct. It's frustating as he knows the language and how to put it together, he just doesn't like writing it or doing the sheets, but he's getting there and his handwriting is getting neater and neater.
Trampolining went well. Routine and somersaults practised with him managed to nail 3 complete to feet somersaults, 2 of which were without using the mat. So well done Callum. He did get very frustrated with himself as he usually does because he could have nailed a lot more if he'd got his feet down instead of his knees. Must admit his coach, Kim, is getting just as frustrated and it is quite comical to see them both grrrring.
After trampolining we went off to Subway for lunch and then I had an optician's appointment. Callum decided that he didn't want to stay with me and for the first time ever he walked home, let himself in the house and waited for me at home. Well done mate! A small step each time amounts to something big in the end.
Tomorrow Terri should be visiting as usual and I'm hoping that the weather holds and she doesn't get wet.
Cya soon folks.
So far we have had a lovely lazy Monday in pjs all day. Now don't think we didn't do any schooling because we did, so there! Subjects on timetable (remember only two subjects per day) were Maths and English Literacy.
Maths was a couple of worksheets on area and perimeter; one was a straightforward one and one was a bit more of an exercise in using areas and perimeters in everyday life. It was called Martha's Garden and I found it on a website www.WorksheetWorks.com where there are loads of worksheets plus answers to download and they are free! Always a bonus. Callum had to work out the perimeter of the garden to decide how much fencing would be needed and then work out different areas to see where different plants would be grown. It was pretty basic, but it was interesting for Callum to see how the maths he is learning is used in day to day things. This is something that he enjoys as, like most things, he doesn't like learning it unless he can see a reason for doing so OR he really likes the subject. This is fine when it comes to using the computer or doing science, but the normal maths and english is something that he has to have a reason for.
Next was English Literacy. He has a list of books (I downloaded the recommended reading list for year 9 and went through them making a sub list of what I think Callum would enjoy plus a few that I felt were 'classics'. We have 4 on the list already; 2 that I own and 2 which we have obtained from the library. The idea of the literacy lesson is to review the book using a question and answer sheet and to have a general discussion. He's just started reading Slam by Nick Hornby and we had a little talk about the book, but as he has only read 3 chapters so far it wasn't a huge conversation and certainly not worth doing a sheet on yet. So what to do? Then I remembered that I had recorded a couple of the Shakespeare film adaptations that the BBC showed in their Shakespeare celebration and I decided that it might be an idea to watch one (or at least part of one). We had 4 to choose from: MacBeth, Twelfth Night, Othello and Merchant of Venice. Callum has already read MacBeth (in graphic form) and we had a MacBeth themed Halloween party last year, so he decided to watch that one. I didn't mind as that is probably my favourite Shakespeare.
I don't know about any of you, but as far as I'm concerned Shakespeare wrote plays, not books, so I think that the best way of studying them is to actually see them rather than read them. His language is often hard to read, but to watch it makes more sense and you can appreciate it more. We managed an hour of an hour and 50mins movie and Callum began to remember what he'd read and associate it with what he saw on screen, so that was good and when asked, he said he was enjoying it. It also meant we could talk about the story whilst we watched it. We'll aim to finish watching later on this week.
After lunch, as Callum had got into watching some telly, he chose to sit and watch The Blues Brothers for the 2nd time (his 2nd, my umpteenth) and we spent a lovely afternoon having a giggle.
Today was English Language and Trampolining. English Language had to be rejiggled as I, stupidly, hadn't looked at what was next in the book and it involved a lot of writing and I've vowed not to force him to do lots of writing as he says its hurts his shoulder to write. We have a hospital appointment in August to check to see if anything is physically wrong. So that page will be typed on the computer and we'll do that next time. After flipping through the workbook we decided on the page which was all about changing sentences from two to one using connecting words such as who, which, because, so, etc. He did really well and got them all correct. It's frustating as he knows the language and how to put it together, he just doesn't like writing it or doing the sheets, but he's getting there and his handwriting is getting neater and neater.
Trampolining went well. Routine and somersaults practised with him managed to nail 3 complete to feet somersaults, 2 of which were without using the mat. So well done Callum. He did get very frustrated with himself as he usually does because he could have nailed a lot more if he'd got his feet down instead of his knees. Must admit his coach, Kim, is getting just as frustrated and it is quite comical to see them both grrrring.
After trampolining we went off to Subway for lunch and then I had an optician's appointment. Callum decided that he didn't want to stay with me and for the first time ever he walked home, let himself in the house and waited for me at home. Well done mate! A small step each time amounts to something big in the end.
Tomorrow Terri should be visiting as usual and I'm hoping that the weather holds and she doesn't get wet.
Cya soon folks.
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Hiya, have a little bit of peace and quiet at the moment, so am going to do the weekend update. So here goes:
Friday was supposed to be a lazy day and it kinda was. Our timetable stated ice skating and then a free afternoon, but as we have been so busy this week, we decided not to go to ice skating. It doesn't really matter as, already mentioned a million times, Callum doesn't actually go ice skating. He sits with us and has a bit of social time or joins in with conversation. Instead we decided to look over the week's timetable and do whatever we hadn't managed to complete. So that meant making a colour spinner that, when spun, should turn 'white' to represent how white light is made up of different colours.
As I've mentioned in my own blog, this did not go according to plan as we couldn't find the compass, the protractor or bluetac, but we managed to get round the compass by drawing round a cup. We finally found the protractor, so Callum could measure out the angles and divide the circle into 6 equal parts. Then it was colouring in the sections with the following colours; red, yellow, orange, green, violet and blue. He then stuck a small pencil through the middle and spun it like you would a top. Experiment relatively successful. The colour wasn't really a good white, but it was a pale grey, so near enough. You couldn't tell the separate colours, so they had definitely merged.
Callum wondered if, by putting them onto his small fan (kit from ages ago), the wheel would work better because it would be going faster. Good idea. However, had a bit of trouble finding bluetac, but managed a find a small amount which was just about bit enough. Still wasn't really white, but it was still fun to do.
The rest of the day was a lazy one in front of the telly.
Saturday, I popped to the library and got out a couple of books for me and a couple that were on the recommended reading list for year 9 (which Callum will be from September). He now has a choice of 4 books that he can read for English Literacy.
Saturday evening we went off to his friend Callum's 13th birthday party which was being held in a church hall near us. Callum was a bit nervous about going as he knew there would be people he didn't know and that there would be a disco, however he really wanted to go and I said that we could stay as long as he wanted to.
He ended up having a brilliant time. Thoroughly enjoyed it and was off with the boys playing and dancing. I hardly saw him and we ended up being one of the last lot to go home. He's had such a good time socially this week and I've been so proud of him.
Today he's off with his dad to work. They don't really do anything, it's just them sitting in the office waiting for the 'workers' to get back, but he enjoys doing it and it's only once every 4 weeks.
That's about it folks. So cya later.
Friday was supposed to be a lazy day and it kinda was. Our timetable stated ice skating and then a free afternoon, but as we have been so busy this week, we decided not to go to ice skating. It doesn't really matter as, already mentioned a million times, Callum doesn't actually go ice skating. He sits with us and has a bit of social time or joins in with conversation. Instead we decided to look over the week's timetable and do whatever we hadn't managed to complete. So that meant making a colour spinner that, when spun, should turn 'white' to represent how white light is made up of different colours.
As I've mentioned in my own blog, this did not go according to plan as we couldn't find the compass, the protractor or bluetac, but we managed to get round the compass by drawing round a cup. We finally found the protractor, so Callum could measure out the angles and divide the circle into 6 equal parts. Then it was colouring in the sections with the following colours; red, yellow, orange, green, violet and blue. He then stuck a small pencil through the middle and spun it like you would a top. Experiment relatively successful. The colour wasn't really a good white, but it was a pale grey, so near enough. You couldn't tell the separate colours, so they had definitely merged.
Callum wondered if, by putting them onto his small fan (kit from ages ago), the wheel would work better because it would be going faster. Good idea. However, had a bit of trouble finding bluetac, but managed a find a small amount which was just about bit enough. Still wasn't really white, but it was still fun to do.
The rest of the day was a lazy one in front of the telly.
Saturday, I popped to the library and got out a couple of books for me and a couple that were on the recommended reading list for year 9 (which Callum will be from September). He now has a choice of 4 books that he can read for English Literacy.
Saturday evening we went off to his friend Callum's 13th birthday party which was being held in a church hall near us. Callum was a bit nervous about going as he knew there would be people he didn't know and that there would be a disco, however he really wanted to go and I said that we could stay as long as he wanted to.
He ended up having a brilliant time. Thoroughly enjoyed it and was off with the boys playing and dancing. I hardly saw him and we ended up being one of the last lot to go home. He's had such a good time socially this week and I've been so proud of him.
Today he's off with his dad to work. They don't really do anything, it's just them sitting in the office waiting for the 'workers' to get back, but he enjoys doing it and it's only once every 4 weeks.
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| Callum accepting his medal at Sports Day |
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| Callum and Callum D at the party |
Monday, 2 July 2012
OOOOO ORGANISING WORKED TODAY
Hiya
Today was the first day of the new timetable which I'm supposed to be putting into action proper in September, but thought I'd use it from now to organise finishing work off ready for end of year. There are only two subjects a day and regular social meetings are scheduled in, so no surprises. It's a 2 week timetable as we do some things fortnightly, but it now shows Callum exactly what to expect and when.
So today he was up early surprisingly and remembered to shower. Can't believe he remembered to shower as he normally needs reminding, so that was a good start. We then sat having our first cuppa in the living room and started on a discussion which was another of those wonderful subject to subject to subject ones that never cease to amaze me and makes me thankful for my decision to home educate in the first place. I can't exactly remember how it started, but I know we ended up going from currency to strength of the pound to affiliation with Europe and the Channel Tunnel to tectonic plates (Callum wanted to know if eventually the tunnel would collapse due to the movement of plates) to the moon moving away from us to world destruction to space travel and ideal planets to colonise and then onto orbits, lengths of days vs lengths of years and finally finishing on fact that a lot of what you see in the night sky actually probably doesn't even exist anymore. We got out books; talked about programmes we'd seen and news items we'd read and obviously his own theories. Surprising how you can cover geography, politics, economics and science in just over an hour without even trying.
Then off to sign up for khanacademy and codeacademy for computer studies session. He ended up watching all the videos on how to work out areas and perimeters and after the initial grump about having to do it, found he thoroughly enjoyed it. Didn't try any of the challenges, but that's for next time. And as for codeacademy; I had trouble getting him off it. Think that one was the clear winner and he'll probably be back on that one whenever the mood takes him rather than when he's told to.
Science next, had one failed experiment where we were supposed to create rainbows using water and light reflecting through, but didn't manage to create any rainbows at all. Oh well, beauty of science; some work, some don't. We then went onto refraction and used submerged coins and immersed thumbs to demonstrate Snell's Law.
This afternoon was round at a friends for a belated birthday lunch and social time. Didn't see Callum all afternoon. Friend's house was lovely (had moved some months ago and we just hadn't managed to get round to visiting). Was nice to catch up and have a good natter with lots of cups of tea, pizza, nibbles, cake and strawberries. Left later than we were intending, but even then, Callum was reluctant. Promised we wouldn't leave it so long for next visit. Got home just in time for his dinner which he wasn't really up for eating, so has eaten that a little later on this evening.
All in all a good day and all ran pretty much to plan. Callum happy and has had a good day. Hopefully tomorrow's meeting at Faversham will be as enjoyable (usually is).
Today was the first day of the new timetable which I'm supposed to be putting into action proper in September, but thought I'd use it from now to organise finishing work off ready for end of year. There are only two subjects a day and regular social meetings are scheduled in, so no surprises. It's a 2 week timetable as we do some things fortnightly, but it now shows Callum exactly what to expect and when.
So today he was up early surprisingly and remembered to shower. Can't believe he remembered to shower as he normally needs reminding, so that was a good start. We then sat having our first cuppa in the living room and started on a discussion which was another of those wonderful subject to subject to subject ones that never cease to amaze me and makes me thankful for my decision to home educate in the first place. I can't exactly remember how it started, but I know we ended up going from currency to strength of the pound to affiliation with Europe and the Channel Tunnel to tectonic plates (Callum wanted to know if eventually the tunnel would collapse due to the movement of plates) to the moon moving away from us to world destruction to space travel and ideal planets to colonise and then onto orbits, lengths of days vs lengths of years and finally finishing on fact that a lot of what you see in the night sky actually probably doesn't even exist anymore. We got out books; talked about programmes we'd seen and news items we'd read and obviously his own theories. Surprising how you can cover geography, politics, economics and science in just over an hour without even trying.
Then off to sign up for khanacademy and codeacademy for computer studies session. He ended up watching all the videos on how to work out areas and perimeters and after the initial grump about having to do it, found he thoroughly enjoyed it. Didn't try any of the challenges, but that's for next time. And as for codeacademy; I had trouble getting him off it. Think that one was the clear winner and he'll probably be back on that one whenever the mood takes him rather than when he's told to.
Science next, had one failed experiment where we were supposed to create rainbows using water and light reflecting through, but didn't manage to create any rainbows at all. Oh well, beauty of science; some work, some don't. We then went onto refraction and used submerged coins and immersed thumbs to demonstrate Snell's Law.
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| The submerged coin. Top one real, bottom one refracted image |
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| The fat thumb |
All in all a good day and all ran pretty much to plan. Callum happy and has had a good day. Hopefully tomorrow's meeting at Faversham will be as enjoyable (usually is).
Cya
Friday, 29 June 2012
HE'S CONFIDENT! I'M NOT! BAD ME!
Hi all
Wow, that week went quick! Can't believe I last did this blog on Sunday. You must think we've been really busy and I suppose we have, but not because we've been out and about, we've actually done some work.
Callum and myself are feeling a little non motivated at the moment so trying to get into the spirit of doing 'work' has been really hard. He just wants to play on his games, occasionally see his friends and bounce around on the trampoline as the weather has allowed us outside in the garden for a change. Now there is nothing wrong with any of that and he has still being doing all of that.
I'm ready for the 'end of year' and having some time to catch up with sewing, gardening, knitting, etc. But I'm also very aware of the fact that the open day is looming and we still have stuff to finish. I'm also aware that Callum is now 13 and I'm suffering from one of my 'aaargh' moments. Those moments where I feel that we aren't doing enough; what will he do about qualifications; will he get a job; all those questions that all parents must have from time to time, but I also feel that if any of the above fails that it will be down to me! I know that everything is really fine. I know that Callum is learning, maybe not as much as he would do at school, but he's learning what he enjoys and enjoys what he learns and it's at his own pace. I'm pretty sure that he'll be fine when it's time to find work, but I'm still panicking and I do every year and I'm sure that as the years pass, I'll get worse and worse. The trick is not to let it influence my attitude towards what we do. I don't want our home ed experience to turn into one of me being teacher in front of him at a desk telling him what to do and how.
Callum on the other hand isn't having any of those worries. He is certain that he's going to get a job; he's certain that it will be in computers (games design) and he's pretty certain that he's going to end up emigrating to America to do it! I wish I had his confidence and his certainty, but I'm glad he has it. Before we started home education he didn't have any certainty of anything. He was a scared little boy; a frustrated and angry little boy with very little confidence and no idea of what he was good at. Home education has taught him that; it has allowed him to investigate his likes and dislikes and has allowed him to grow in confidence in his own capabilities. He may not be the most sociable kid on the block nor is he the bravest, but he has inner confidence and that is often more important.
So what 'work' have we done? Well, we looked at areas and perimeters of different shapes and looked at Pi. We talked about nouns, pronouns, verbs and adverbs. We talked about what books we wanted to read next year. We had a discussion about how our local area has changed since I was a kid. We wrote up the Horrible Histories theatre trip. We looked up Amelia Dyer, the Victorian baby farmer. We looked up the Charge of the Light Brigade. We looked at the Tudor family tree. We discussed next year's 'timetable'. He rediscovered Lego and built several Halo models and built a base to put them in.
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He built an alarm for his bedroom door and we went to trampolining lesson!
On top of that, we've had visitors, bounced around on the trampoline, read numerous Horrid Henry books and been shopping. Oh and, of course, played on the computer!
Cya
Wow, that week went quick! Can't believe I last did this blog on Sunday. You must think we've been really busy and I suppose we have, but not because we've been out and about, we've actually done some work.
Callum and myself are feeling a little non motivated at the moment so trying to get into the spirit of doing 'work' has been really hard. He just wants to play on his games, occasionally see his friends and bounce around on the trampoline as the weather has allowed us outside in the garden for a change. Now there is nothing wrong with any of that and he has still being doing all of that.
I'm ready for the 'end of year' and having some time to catch up with sewing, gardening, knitting, etc. But I'm also very aware of the fact that the open day is looming and we still have stuff to finish. I'm also aware that Callum is now 13 and I'm suffering from one of my 'aaargh' moments. Those moments where I feel that we aren't doing enough; what will he do about qualifications; will he get a job; all those questions that all parents must have from time to time, but I also feel that if any of the above fails that it will be down to me! I know that everything is really fine. I know that Callum is learning, maybe not as much as he would do at school, but he's learning what he enjoys and enjoys what he learns and it's at his own pace. I'm pretty sure that he'll be fine when it's time to find work, but I'm still panicking and I do every year and I'm sure that as the years pass, I'll get worse and worse. The trick is not to let it influence my attitude towards what we do. I don't want our home ed experience to turn into one of me being teacher in front of him at a desk telling him what to do and how.
Callum on the other hand isn't having any of those worries. He is certain that he's going to get a job; he's certain that it will be in computers (games design) and he's pretty certain that he's going to end up emigrating to America to do it! I wish I had his confidence and his certainty, but I'm glad he has it. Before we started home education he didn't have any certainty of anything. He was a scared little boy; a frustrated and angry little boy with very little confidence and no idea of what he was good at. Home education has taught him that; it has allowed him to investigate his likes and dislikes and has allowed him to grow in confidence in his own capabilities. He may not be the most sociable kid on the block nor is he the bravest, but he has inner confidence and that is often more important.
So what 'work' have we done? Well, we looked at areas and perimeters of different shapes and looked at Pi. We talked about nouns, pronouns, verbs and adverbs. We talked about what books we wanted to read next year. We had a discussion about how our local area has changed since I was a kid. We wrote up the Horrible Histories theatre trip. We looked up Amelia Dyer, the Victorian baby farmer. We looked up the Charge of the Light Brigade. We looked at the Tudor family tree. We discussed next year's 'timetable'. He rediscovered Lego and built several Halo models and built a base to put them in.
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He built an alarm for his bedroom door and we went to trampolining lesson!
On top of that, we've had visitors, bounced around on the trampoline, read numerous Horrid Henry books and been shopping. Oh and, of course, played on the computer!
Cya
Monday, 21 November 2011
Hi all
Spent the weekend pottering about.
Callum and I managed to get 4 trees planted (2 beechnut, a cherry and an acer) plus level off a load of soil and planted bulbs in the darkish, not really much use for anything else, corner of the garden. Am hoping they will all come up; daffodils, bluebells and snowdrops. We also had a tidy up as we'd left tools out, buckets, black sacks, pots and general other gubbings lying about. Callum loved that bit as he got to spend a lot of time using the wheelbarrow to move things around.
He spent time on Roblox again!! Has had over 1,000 visitors to his game and he's well chuffed.
Sunday we did the usual trip to the farm shop, which weirdly Callum looks forward to. Think the black cat they have is a bit of a draw as it's very friendly. Plus they have geese, goats and horses there. Noticed that they will soon be getting their Christmas trees in, so will be down to get one of those as soon as they come in. It's Callum's job to choose the tree.
Today, popped up market to get some winter plants for the courtyard to bring in a bit of colour. Promptly ended up digging up some bulbs in the pot that the cyclamen was supposed to be going into. Typical, always forget I've planted some in there. So, planted the plants and popped the bulbs back in around them. (Note: not the bulbs we planted yesterday).
Then this afternoon we went off to the cinema. The Adventures of Tin Tin. Been promising I'd take him ever since we saw the advert for it months ago. He started reading Tin Tin after he'd finished the Asterix books and rather liked them, so thought the film would be good to see. Wasn't entirely sure if I'd enjoy it, but actually it was brilliant. We both loved it and Callum laughed a lot!!! It was very well done, had lots of action and was often very funny. Didn't feel like we'd been in there for as long as we had, so all good stuff.
Was pretty foggy when we left the cinema and it was very foggy this morning when we got up, so we ended the day as it started.
Busy day tomorrow; trampolining and a home ed workshop.
Cya
Friday, 18 November 2011
WEEKS COME, WEEKS GO!
Hi all,
Haven't done daily blogs this week as we've been a bit same old, same old.
Monday was our dog's, Draco, 10th birthday and Callum wanted to stay at home and treat the dog. We did go up to the market and bought a massive new dog bed. Looks like a huge duvet with bones on it. Didn't realise it was so big until we got it home; it takes up almost half the space we have on the floor, but then our rooms aren't that big. Draco, however, loved it. Sprawled himself across it and didn't move for pretty much the rest of the day, even going upstairs at bedtime with the boys, sniffing his old bed and coming straight back downstairs to sleep all night on the new one. Think that was a good choice then. Added to the bed he had the usual dog biscuits and a pig's ear.
Tuesday we went off to Splashes with Lorraine and Amy. Met up with my daughter Terri and another home edder, Dawn, and her boy, Stewart. Kids had fab time in pool, but because there were lessons going on the wave machine only went on once. Us girls had great time drinking cuppas and having a chat...and a very funny chat it was too. Snigger! They'll know what I'm talking about.
Wednesday, I had osteopath and spent the rest of the time pottering about the house doing housework and getting Callum to write out his Xmas card list. Also syphoned off apple wine, set up the damson vodka and made some gf flapjacks. Have decided to write out a month of menus for me, so I can instantly see what I need to prep and buy. Turning veggie has been fab, but if I'm not careful it will get very repetitive due to time and indecision, so a menu will make it easier.
Thursday, Carol and Lauren popped round after trampolining which was lovely. More tea, more talk and the kids spent their time on the computer.
And today was ice skating. Dawn's (different Dawn) twins had their birthday party there too, so it was a mixture of normal meet and a little party. Callum was thrilled with his party bag, even though he didn't want to join in the pass the parcel game. So thank you Dawn and thanks to Lorraine again for being taxi. That's twice this week!
As to Callum; what's he been doing I hear you ask. Well, he's been busy designing and tweaking games on Roblox for most of the week, although he has stopped to write out some cards, help me in the kitchen and do some maths. He was dead chuffed yesterday as his game managed to get onto the top of the 2nd page of most played games and he's had over 1000 visits. One very happy little man and when one person complained about it being a bit basic, he replied very politely, putting across a very valid point and, as the person hasn't responded, I think he shut him up. I did give him some praise for that as he didn't lose his temper or get upset.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, will be in the garden doing some more digging and planting some trees and bulbs. I'll get him helping with that which will, hopefully, drag him away from the computer for a bit. But then he doesn't mind helping out in the garden anyway.
Cya
Thursday, 10 November 2011
UG!
Well, not a lot to say today except yuck!!!
Woke this morning at 7am with headache and feeling incredibly sick and dizzy, so went back to bed in hope I'd feel better. Woke again at 9.30 feeling like I'd done 10 rounds in a boxing ring, so cup of tea, cold flannel and back to bed. Callum was fabulous and stayed upstairs playing on his DS to keep me company.
I woke up at 11.30am, still feeling incredibly sick and heady. So a little something to eat, tablets and more tea and stayed laying in dark room.
Finally started to feel more human about 2pm, although neck still hurt and still feel dizzy. Managed to make the mincemeat with Callum weighing everything out, chopping what was needed and mixing it all up, while I just sat and read out instructions. The smell of dried fruit and citrus was definitely uplifting.
Callum has been basically been on computer or making me cuppas, bless him, while I attempt to walk about doing a bit of work without falling over. Hope I'm ok tomorrow. Just a migraine I know, but I hate them. Come from nowhere and nearly always take 24hrs to recover from.
UG!!
Cya
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
CHRISTMAS IS COMING!
Hi all
Been a quiet couple of days to be honest. Were supposed to be going to a home ed meet in Maidstone on Monday, but both myself and Callum woke up a bit snuffly and didn't feel like going out. Instead we decided to plan Christmas. Callum helps me with the cooking preparations and we got down our box of presents and cards to see what we needed to get. I tend to buy bits and pieces throughout the year if something grabs me and its in a sale and they all go into a big box for birthday and Christmas presents.
We discovered that we didn't need any cards as we'd got them all in the January sales, so Callum has decided to try and write out a card a day as he hates doing them. He needs to make a list first though, so we'll do that by the end of the week.
We finished packing and cataloging the Halloween stuff and that went upstairs to the attic.
We then did pop up the town as its Draco's (our black labrador) birthday next Monday and the pet market stall is on Mondays. We bought a couple of treats and looked at a new bed for him as his is getting a bit tatty and flat!
Today we cleared out the under stairs cupboard. It is supposed to be the overflow kitchen cupboard with all the seasonal/birthday crockery, trays, etc, but it does tend to get used as a dumping cupboard. So, it was pull everything out, clear out the rubbish, tidy up the posters and papers and repack the boxes. Took off and on most of the day, but we now have lots of room and everything is pretty easy to get at. Callum got easily distracted by the posters and the art stuff and all the bits and pieces, which probably accounted for most of the time, but it got done!
Then off to trampolining where he was definitely put through his paces for 1/2 hr. He worked extremely hard and has nearly nailed another thing off his list which he's really pleased about. Oh, on the subject of achieving things, we heard yesterday that he has passed his Bronze Arts Award! Yay! I have written about this during previous posts and although relatively easy, making sure it was written up how they wanted it and covering everything they asked was pretty hard, plus doing or attending workshops is a big issue for Callum, so the fact that he managed it at all means I'm really pleased for him.
Whilst out we popped to the library to see if they had the next book from the one he has just finished, but sadly they didn't. Then off to charity shop to drop off some bits found in the cupboard and, of course, we couldn't resist having a look round. I managed to pick up a skirt and a jacket that came to the grand total of £3 and Callum took a liking to a Christmas mug for 20p! Then card shop for birthday cards and paper, then home, we also have his Uncle's birthday and a friend's daughter's birthday this weekend.
Since then, he's been back on his game, but he is now doing some maths and some word puzzles while I'm on here. Going to start limiting his time on computer otherwise he is and has been on it all day!
So that's it; busy, but at home and its been rather enjoyable. Tomorrow we need to check ingredients for mincemeat as want to make that on Thursday. He loves making the mincemeat as its really easy and a case of chucking everything into a big pan. Then, of course, we get the first smell of Christmas with all the dried fruit, spices and a touch of Brandy.....yum!
Cya
Been a quiet couple of days to be honest. Were supposed to be going to a home ed meet in Maidstone on Monday, but both myself and Callum woke up a bit snuffly and didn't feel like going out. Instead we decided to plan Christmas. Callum helps me with the cooking preparations and we got down our box of presents and cards to see what we needed to get. I tend to buy bits and pieces throughout the year if something grabs me and its in a sale and they all go into a big box for birthday and Christmas presents.
We discovered that we didn't need any cards as we'd got them all in the January sales, so Callum has decided to try and write out a card a day as he hates doing them. He needs to make a list first though, so we'll do that by the end of the week.
We finished packing and cataloging the Halloween stuff and that went upstairs to the attic.
We then did pop up the town as its Draco's (our black labrador) birthday next Monday and the pet market stall is on Mondays. We bought a couple of treats and looked at a new bed for him as his is getting a bit tatty and flat!
Today we cleared out the under stairs cupboard. It is supposed to be the overflow kitchen cupboard with all the seasonal/birthday crockery, trays, etc, but it does tend to get used as a dumping cupboard. So, it was pull everything out, clear out the rubbish, tidy up the posters and papers and repack the boxes. Took off and on most of the day, but we now have lots of room and everything is pretty easy to get at. Callum got easily distracted by the posters and the art stuff and all the bits and pieces, which probably accounted for most of the time, but it got done!
Then off to trampolining where he was definitely put through his paces for 1/2 hr. He worked extremely hard and has nearly nailed another thing off his list which he's really pleased about. Oh, on the subject of achieving things, we heard yesterday that he has passed his Bronze Arts Award! Yay! I have written about this during previous posts and although relatively easy, making sure it was written up how they wanted it and covering everything they asked was pretty hard, plus doing or attending workshops is a big issue for Callum, so the fact that he managed it at all means I'm really pleased for him.
Whilst out we popped to the library to see if they had the next book from the one he has just finished, but sadly they didn't. Then off to charity shop to drop off some bits found in the cupboard and, of course, we couldn't resist having a look round. I managed to pick up a skirt and a jacket that came to the grand total of £3 and Callum took a liking to a Christmas mug for 20p! Then card shop for birthday cards and paper, then home, we also have his Uncle's birthday and a friend's daughter's birthday this weekend.
Since then, he's been back on his game, but he is now doing some maths and some word puzzles while I'm on here. Going to start limiting his time on computer otherwise he is and has been on it all day!
So that's it; busy, but at home and its been rather enjoyable. Tomorrow we need to check ingredients for mincemeat as want to make that on Thursday. He loves making the mincemeat as its really easy and a case of chucking everything into a big pan. Then, of course, we get the first smell of Christmas with all the dried fruit, spices and a touch of Brandy.....yum!
Cya
Thursday, 20 October 2011
HALLOWEEN IS COMING AGAIN! YAY
Hello everybody peeps.
Been a bit distracted by preps for Halloween party so have missed a day. Callum's input has been fab, he's really starting to get into it and when I've been stuck, he's come up with a plan.
Past few days have been lots of odds and sods really; mainly sorting out of workbooks, puzzle books and sticker books and going through all the arts and crafts stuff we have. I tend to buy bits as and when I see them 'just in case' and so end up with bulging drawers full of stickers, crayons, felt tips, pipe cleaners, rubber stamps, sticky shapes, etc, etc. Most have been sitting about for quite a while, so we decided to go through it all and shift stuff we are not going to use and get rid of dried up paint and pens. Made a huge difference and now have space in the drawers...wooo hooo!
The reason for the clear out; we have craft stuff to do for the party and we really needed to know what we had and what we needed to get. By Wednesday we had decided on the first two games and needed to make sure the 1st one worked ok, so we assembled the jars (not giving too much away) and gave it a go. Success rate was about 95%, one object just would not budge, so we (well, Callum actually) spent the next hour (yes, I did say an hour) testing different weights/amount of filling until he managed to get the success rate to as near 100% as he could without compromising the ease/difficulty of the rest of the game. Thanks Callum, I really didn't have the patience and was ready to change the whole thing, so I'm really grateful for his effort.
The 2nd game involved making a crown complete with inner fabric cap (duel purpose) and again I required some assistance...well modelling really.
Today we've completed the list of games. After much discussion the finer points have been agreed on and a draft 'plan of action' has been written. Hard work this party planning stuff, but good fun.
So seven games sorted (well decided on), food agreed and decorations planned and bought. Now its just finishing off making stuff that needs doing, food to be ordered and baking to be done. Nearly ready!
Tomorrow we are having a break and going swimming.
Cya
Been a bit distracted by preps for Halloween party so have missed a day. Callum's input has been fab, he's really starting to get into it and when I've been stuck, he's come up with a plan.
Past few days have been lots of odds and sods really; mainly sorting out of workbooks, puzzle books and sticker books and going through all the arts and crafts stuff we have. I tend to buy bits as and when I see them 'just in case' and so end up with bulging drawers full of stickers, crayons, felt tips, pipe cleaners, rubber stamps, sticky shapes, etc, etc. Most have been sitting about for quite a while, so we decided to go through it all and shift stuff we are not going to use and get rid of dried up paint and pens. Made a huge difference and now have space in the drawers...wooo hooo!
The reason for the clear out; we have craft stuff to do for the party and we really needed to know what we had and what we needed to get. By Wednesday we had decided on the first two games and needed to make sure the 1st one worked ok, so we assembled the jars (not giving too much away) and gave it a go. Success rate was about 95%, one object just would not budge, so we (well, Callum actually) spent the next hour (yes, I did say an hour) testing different weights/amount of filling until he managed to get the success rate to as near 100% as he could without compromising the ease/difficulty of the rest of the game. Thanks Callum, I really didn't have the patience and was ready to change the whole thing, so I'm really grateful for his effort.
The 2nd game involved making a crown complete with inner fabric cap (duel purpose) and again I required some assistance...well modelling really.
Today we've completed the list of games. After much discussion the finer points have been agreed on and a draft 'plan of action' has been written. Hard work this party planning stuff, but good fun.
So seven games sorted (well decided on), food agreed and decorations planned and bought. Now its just finishing off making stuff that needs doing, food to be ordered and baking to be done. Nearly ready!
Tomorrow we are having a break and going swimming.
Cya
Thursday, 13 October 2011
THE CASE OF THE DISAPPEARING CHOCOLATE CAKE
Good afternoon my lovely people. How are we all this fine and sunny day? We are good; having a lovely chilled morning (doing M&L still though) and a family visit this afternoon.
But, what did we do yesterday? Well, we had a social day. A visit to some old friends who we haven't seen in ages due to one thing or another. Had a bit of a lazy morning getting stuff together and left around 11.30 for a drive to Bromley, Keston actually. Took us about 45mins so a rather nice run.
We took up some veggie food, jar of home made plum chutney, a bag of apples (isn't like we are short of them) and some of Phil's home made beer. Ann provided additional food such as bread, cheese dough balls, cola cooked ham, popcorn chicken (all home made and gluten free), sauces, etc, plus bottles of gluten free beer which Ann and myself could drink. Put together there was a wonderful spread that fed 4 adults and 5 children. Ann's food being gorgeous as always.
Now to the reason of the title. Ann had made chocolate cakes, three tiered little piles of chocolate gooeyness layered with chocolate ganache....yummy! Callum had one of these little creations on his plate and was just staring at it. The rest of us, knowing it was impossible to eat without splitting the layers, had divided it into 2 smaller pieces. Callum followed suit splitting his into 2 smaller cakes, but continued to stare at it. We all carried on talking, but when we turned back there was only 1 layer left on his plate. No-one had seen him move, but the puffed cheeks and smiley eyes gave it away. He'd stuffed the whole piece in his mouth and had now realised that although it fit, he couldn't actually move it around to chew it. The expression on his face and the speed at which he'd done it had us in fits. Unfortunately that caused another problem for Callum as now he was trying to dissolve the cake in his mouth so he could swallow it and not laugh at the same time. He managed it without choking himself only to do exactly the same thing with the other half of cake. Boy is he a quick mover, but obviously not a fast learner! Although you could argue that he was retesting his findings to find out how accurate they were, haha.
The boys then went off to play and the adults plus little Johnathan retired to the living room for a sit down and a coffee (us adults not Johnathan of course). William joined us a little later and they happily played with the Lego; William building rather fab robots and Johnathan playing with the animals.
We left after about another hour and drove home. Callum had had fun being with the older boys on the computer and we had had a lovely catch up chat. Ann and her husband Roarke were the first people I met after taking Callum out of school and Ann was always the one I turned to when I needed support. We don't see anywhere near as much of them as we used to or as much as we'd like, but then times move on and we are both so busy in different ways it's just nice that every now and then we make the time to catch up...long may it continue.
Thanks to Ann, Roarke and her boys for making us welcome as usual.
As I've said today is a bit quieter and later we have his sister, Terri, coming round. I will probably be in the kitchen making more chutney and Phil is upstairs redoing the bathroom shower doors and putting in a shelf. Callum has been reading the local paper and getting outraged at the new bus shelter that has now been completed in Chatham along with no guard rails, no litter bins, no toilets, no crossings and mobility access problems. Well, looks like the Council has done it again..why do they bother if they aren't going to do it properly!
Cya
But, what did we do yesterday? Well, we had a social day. A visit to some old friends who we haven't seen in ages due to one thing or another. Had a bit of a lazy morning getting stuff together and left around 11.30 for a drive to Bromley, Keston actually. Took us about 45mins so a rather nice run.
We took up some veggie food, jar of home made plum chutney, a bag of apples (isn't like we are short of them) and some of Phil's home made beer. Ann provided additional food such as bread, cheese dough balls, cola cooked ham, popcorn chicken (all home made and gluten free), sauces, etc, plus bottles of gluten free beer which Ann and myself could drink. Put together there was a wonderful spread that fed 4 adults and 5 children. Ann's food being gorgeous as always.
Now to the reason of the title. Ann had made chocolate cakes, three tiered little piles of chocolate gooeyness layered with chocolate ganache....yummy! Callum had one of these little creations on his plate and was just staring at it. The rest of us, knowing it was impossible to eat without splitting the layers, had divided it into 2 smaller pieces. Callum followed suit splitting his into 2 smaller cakes, but continued to stare at it. We all carried on talking, but when we turned back there was only 1 layer left on his plate. No-one had seen him move, but the puffed cheeks and smiley eyes gave it away. He'd stuffed the whole piece in his mouth and had now realised that although it fit, he couldn't actually move it around to chew it. The expression on his face and the speed at which he'd done it had us in fits. Unfortunately that caused another problem for Callum as now he was trying to dissolve the cake in his mouth so he could swallow it and not laugh at the same time. He managed it without choking himself only to do exactly the same thing with the other half of cake. Boy is he a quick mover, but obviously not a fast learner! Although you could argue that he was retesting his findings to find out how accurate they were, haha.
The boys then went off to play and the adults plus little Johnathan retired to the living room for a sit down and a coffee (us adults not Johnathan of course). William joined us a little later and they happily played with the Lego; William building rather fab robots and Johnathan playing with the animals.
We left after about another hour and drove home. Callum had had fun being with the older boys on the computer and we had had a lovely catch up chat. Ann and her husband Roarke were the first people I met after taking Callum out of school and Ann was always the one I turned to when I needed support. We don't see anywhere near as much of them as we used to or as much as we'd like, but then times move on and we are both so busy in different ways it's just nice that every now and then we make the time to catch up...long may it continue.
Thanks to Ann, Roarke and her boys for making us welcome as usual.
As I've said today is a bit quieter and later we have his sister, Terri, coming round. I will probably be in the kitchen making more chutney and Phil is upstairs redoing the bathroom shower doors and putting in a shelf. Callum has been reading the local paper and getting outraged at the new bus shelter that has now been completed in Chatham along with no guard rails, no litter bins, no toilets, no crossings and mobility access problems. Well, looks like the Council has done it again..why do they bother if they aren't going to do it properly!
Cya
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
AN UNEXPECTED STROLL
Hiya
Today was yet another glorious Autumn day, but it did start foggy. Love a bit of fog to walk in; like the idea of walking in a cloud.
We started a little early as we had to change our trampolining lesson to 9am as we were off to a party this afternoon. We arrived just as they were opening up, but our teacher was a little late as her lift to work didn't turn up, so she had to walk in a rush. Callum did really well again doing lots of moves that involved one move to a half or full twist and into another move, eg, front drop straight to half twist straight to front drop in opposite direction. He worked hard and enjoyed the last few minutes launching himself into the foam pit!
We'd taken his kite along with us as he fancied another session of flying it. Off we went to the lower part of the Great Lines, but there really wasn't enough breeze, so we wandered off to the upper part of the Lines in the hope that there would be more wind. Passed a couple of Community Officers on the way who just looked at us, said 'good morning' and walked on. Never ceases to amaze me that we are never asked why Callum isn't at school, but I'm not complaining.
Got to the top part of the Lines, but still no consistent breeze. But by this point we were talking about wildlife and pathways, both man-made and natural. I mentioned that the upper part of the Lines used to be all longer grass, but now they have only kept about half of it as there are birds that nest on the ground. Just as I said it one flew up which was quite cool. We then talked about the war memorial and Fort Amhurst. Callum spotted a train in the distance and wanted to know how it got from Chatham to Gillingham. I mentioned that it went under the Lines and he wanted to see where it went in, so we strolled right over the Lines almost to Chatham so he could see the entrance to the tunnel. Just as we got there a train appeared from underneath and went on its way to Chatham. We then walked back home dropping into the library to change some books. Both rather shattered to be honest, but it was a lovely unexpected stroll.
We dropped into Subway for some lunch and then it was home, drop off library books, pick up present and card, check dog and off we went again to catch bus back to Chatham and then onto Borstal. Popped into Arriva shop to pick up new timetables and D&A toys for an emergency pastel colouring pack just in case we can't get the mosaic kit before next Tuesday when we are supposed to be showing his sister something arty to go towards his Arts Award.
At the hall it was Lauren's 12th birthday party, so lots of running around, music, sweets, food, pass the parcel and general party noise of happy kids. Sun was glorious, so a lot of the time was spent outside. After much munching and singing happy birthday, gathering party bag and balloons and leftover biscuits we just managed to catch the bus home. He is now flaked out on the sofa going through his goodies and drinking a cuppa. I don't think he'll be doing much else today apart from the computer!
So, no maths, no literacy and no science today, just lots of fresh air, general chatter about geography and history and a nice social afternoon. I love home ed!!
Cya
Today was yet another glorious Autumn day, but it did start foggy. Love a bit of fog to walk in; like the idea of walking in a cloud.
We started a little early as we had to change our trampolining lesson to 9am as we were off to a party this afternoon. We arrived just as they were opening up, but our teacher was a little late as her lift to work didn't turn up, so she had to walk in a rush. Callum did really well again doing lots of moves that involved one move to a half or full twist and into another move, eg, front drop straight to half twist straight to front drop in opposite direction. He worked hard and enjoyed the last few minutes launching himself into the foam pit!
We'd taken his kite along with us as he fancied another session of flying it. Off we went to the lower part of the Great Lines, but there really wasn't enough breeze, so we wandered off to the upper part of the Lines in the hope that there would be more wind. Passed a couple of Community Officers on the way who just looked at us, said 'good morning' and walked on. Never ceases to amaze me that we are never asked why Callum isn't at school, but I'm not complaining.
Got to the top part of the Lines, but still no consistent breeze. But by this point we were talking about wildlife and pathways, both man-made and natural. I mentioned that the upper part of the Lines used to be all longer grass, but now they have only kept about half of it as there are birds that nest on the ground. Just as I said it one flew up which was quite cool. We then talked about the war memorial and Fort Amhurst. Callum spotted a train in the distance and wanted to know how it got from Chatham to Gillingham. I mentioned that it went under the Lines and he wanted to see where it went in, so we strolled right over the Lines almost to Chatham so he could see the entrance to the tunnel. Just as we got there a train appeared from underneath and went on its way to Chatham. We then walked back home dropping into the library to change some books. Both rather shattered to be honest, but it was a lovely unexpected stroll.
We dropped into Subway for some lunch and then it was home, drop off library books, pick up present and card, check dog and off we went again to catch bus back to Chatham and then onto Borstal. Popped into Arriva shop to pick up new timetables and D&A toys for an emergency pastel colouring pack just in case we can't get the mosaic kit before next Tuesday when we are supposed to be showing his sister something arty to go towards his Arts Award.
At the hall it was Lauren's 12th birthday party, so lots of running around, music, sweets, food, pass the parcel and general party noise of happy kids. Sun was glorious, so a lot of the time was spent outside. After much munching and singing happy birthday, gathering party bag and balloons and leftover biscuits we just managed to catch the bus home. He is now flaked out on the sofa going through his goodies and drinking a cuppa. I don't think he'll be doing much else today apart from the computer!
So, no maths, no literacy and no science today, just lots of fresh air, general chatter about geography and history and a nice social afternoon. I love home ed!!
Cya
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
BUSY, BUSY DAY!!
Wow, sorry this is a late post, but today has been very hectic.
We started slowly as Callum was really tired, so he didn't leap out of bed and start his daily worksheets over a cuppa as normal. Instead he rolled out of bed at 8.30am when I took him a cuppa, slid floppily down the stairs, slumped into the chair and.....played on the DS.
Actually I didn't really mind as I had some questions I wanted to print out to go with our lessons on Cells.
So we started at our 'official' time of 10am with the daily literacy and maths. Hmmmmm, that didn't go completely to plan either. Callum still wasn't up for the writing, but as I secretly knew he'd have a reasonable amount of writing to do in science I let him off. Maths went ok until it got to division, at which he went completely blank and forgot how to do it!! So we went over that with the result of "Oh yeah, now I remember", only for him to be flumoxed again because he'd forgotten how to use a protractor! He got himself in a right tizz and I called time out for a cup of tea.
After a breather we went over the sheet together and he was fine, so then it was science and cells. We were just covering "What is a Cell?" today, looking at what cells are made up of and what they do. Callum zoomed through it, coming up with his own way of remembering the longer words and answering the questions easily. There was me allotting 3/4hr to the 'lesson' and panicking about how long it had taken to the do the dailies and he breezed it in 25mins!!! Hey ho!
After a quick lunch it was off to trampolining. His first lesson of the new term and the first proper lesson without James, but with Sue. He was really enthusiastic about it all and worked really hard, surprising Sue on a couple of occasions as she tried to work him up to a more complicated move and he just went straight ahead and did it! Grrrr, annoying how sometimes he makes it look so easy, hehe. He even had time for a bit of fun in the foam pit which went down brilliantly with him.
So back home, couple of hours rest and then out again (told you it was a busy day). Off to Riverside for Junior Rangers, this month's theme - seeds. We walked around the fields looking at berries, seed heads, nuts and grasses and discussed how each was distributed through being either eaten by wildlife, blown by wind or by attaching itself to animal fur (or our clothes) and being brushed or pulled off.
Needless to say Callum (and I for that matter) were knackered by the end of the day and were very grateful to get home, have some dinner and chill out.
Hopefully tomorrow won't be quite so hectic.
Cya
We started slowly as Callum was really tired, so he didn't leap out of bed and start his daily worksheets over a cuppa as normal. Instead he rolled out of bed at 8.30am when I took him a cuppa, slid floppily down the stairs, slumped into the chair and.....played on the DS.
Actually I didn't really mind as I had some questions I wanted to print out to go with our lessons on Cells.
So we started at our 'official' time of 10am with the daily literacy and maths. Hmmmmm, that didn't go completely to plan either. Callum still wasn't up for the writing, but as I secretly knew he'd have a reasonable amount of writing to do in science I let him off. Maths went ok until it got to division, at which he went completely blank and forgot how to do it!! So we went over that with the result of "Oh yeah, now I remember", only for him to be flumoxed again because he'd forgotten how to use a protractor! He got himself in a right tizz and I called time out for a cup of tea.
After a breather we went over the sheet together and he was fine, so then it was science and cells. We were just covering "What is a Cell?" today, looking at what cells are made up of and what they do. Callum zoomed through it, coming up with his own way of remembering the longer words and answering the questions easily. There was me allotting 3/4hr to the 'lesson' and panicking about how long it had taken to the do the dailies and he breezed it in 25mins!!! Hey ho!
After a quick lunch it was off to trampolining. His first lesson of the new term and the first proper lesson without James, but with Sue. He was really enthusiastic about it all and worked really hard, surprising Sue on a couple of occasions as she tried to work him up to a more complicated move and he just went straight ahead and did it! Grrrr, annoying how sometimes he makes it look so easy, hehe. He even had time for a bit of fun in the foam pit which went down brilliantly with him.
So back home, couple of hours rest and then out again (told you it was a busy day). Off to Riverside for Junior Rangers, this month's theme - seeds. We walked around the fields looking at berries, seed heads, nuts and grasses and discussed how each was distributed through being either eaten by wildlife, blown by wind or by attaching itself to animal fur (or our clothes) and being brushed or pulled off.
Needless to say Callum (and I for that matter) were knackered by the end of the day and were very grateful to get home, have some dinner and chill out.
Hopefully tomorrow won't be quite so hectic.
Cya
Friday, 22 July 2011
CALLUM'S OPEN DAY - 16TH JULY 2011
This is just a brief write up of our yearly open day:
Callum’s Open Day went well. Only downside was the rain, meant having everyone inside, although it did clear up a bit later on so the kids went out for a bounce on the trampoline.
Callum set out some ‘experiments/demonstrations’ to show and we printed off some hand-outs. He showed the combustion engine, two electrical circuits, bicarb and vinegar volcano, drinks carton rocket ship, orrery and two wave machines. He also used Newton’s cradle to demonstrate how the water molecules work. He set it all out and did half hour slots for people to see.
The rest of his work was in folders dotted about the dining room. I’m not sure if he reported on any of those, but he did have a major discussion session with his Aunt and Uncle the following day.
House was a bit manic. We had 13 adults, 13 kids and 3 dogs in our house over the course of the afternoon. With burgers and sausages, cakes, crisps and biscuits being eaten, thank you very much to Grace and Carol for bringing along the cakes.
The point is that he, once again, enjoyed it and it was nice to see everyone and show what we’ve been up to. It always gives Callum something to work for each year and the motivation to do it.
Thanks everyone for coming!
Callum’s Open Day went well. Only downside was the rain, meant having everyone inside, although it did clear up a bit later on so the kids went out for a bounce on the trampoline.
Callum set out some ‘experiments/demonstrations’ to show and we printed off some hand-outs. He showed the combustion engine, two electrical circuits, bicarb and vinegar volcano, drinks carton rocket ship, orrery and two wave machines. He also used Newton’s cradle to demonstrate how the water molecules work. He set it all out and did half hour slots for people to see.
The rest of his work was in folders dotted about the dining room. I’m not sure if he reported on any of those, but he did have a major discussion session with his Aunt and Uncle the following day.
House was a bit manic. We had 13 adults, 13 kids and 3 dogs in our house over the course of the afternoon. With burgers and sausages, cakes, crisps and biscuits being eaten, thank you very much to Grace and Carol for bringing along the cakes.
The point is that he, once again, enjoyed it and it was nice to see everyone and show what we’ve been up to. It always gives Callum something to work for each year and the motivation to do it.
Thanks everyone for coming!
Friday, 8 July 2011
BUSY, BUT SAD WEEK
It’s been a sad week this week! Callum’s trampolining teacher, James, is off to Australia next month and, Monday was our last private lesson with him. He kept it to a fun session mainly, but slipped in some revision work and some assisted somersaults. He will be so missed by Callum, myself and many others and I’m sure we will all be counting down the days until he comes back.
On the other hand, we hope he has a great time there and look forward to reading his blog about his adventures! Have fun James!!!
Actually we had quite a busy day Monday. We started dead on time which has been getting rarer and rarer as we are on a wind down of this year’s education.
We completed a sheet on Pluto, leaving us only with Dwarf planets to go. We also inputted our bug survey results and were very pleased to see that a few more people have done the survey in our area. The last one we did; we were the only ones. It’s a shame as they are great fun and free.
Phil and Callum finished the combustion engine kit over the weekend and Callum demonstrated it today with a very good explanation, so I think that will go on the demos list for his open day.
On top of that we uploaded and printed off some photos, rearranged some folders and ticked off stuff from the To Do list.
After trampolining we played Dino-opoly. We bought it ages ago and hadn’t got round to playing it. It’s pretty much the same as all other monopolies, but you have dinosaur information on the back of the cards and little quizzes. Callum, of course, won! He is very good at Monopoly; am sure he will be a property tycoon when he grows up.
Tuesday, I woke up with a sore throat and Callum complained his arm was hurting. We think he may have pulled a muscle yesterday, so he sat with an icepack on it for most of the morning and that, along with some paracetamol, seemed to do the trick. As I still felt lousy and we’d done so much yesterday, I said he could take the day easy, but he still insisted on doing his maths and literacy. Meanwhile I attempted to do a little brochure/programme for his open day with brief descriptions and explanations.
Wednesday, we were both feeling a little under the weather, but Callum still managed his maths and literacy and we completed our planet work with the dwarf planets, Eris, Ceres, Makemake, and Haumea. We then had a huge discussion regarding his open day. Trying to work out which rooms the stuff will go in and what demonstrations he was going to do. Oh yeah, we talked about geography this morning, looking up airports to start with on the road map and then went off on a tangent about rivers, mountains and the difference between built up areas and wild areas in different parts of the country; very interesting little chat.
Thursday, we went along to the group trampolining class and saw the kids getting their awards, which was nice. Also being able to see their progress was lovely and, of course, Callum got one more lesson with James. As for the rest of the day, we continued uploading and printing off photos and rewrote our Top Gear review from November last year as that was lost when our computer broke before Christmas.
Today, we just did maths and literacy as he was going off to see his friend, Callum D, this afternoon. But to be honest we really haven’t got much more work that needs doing.
On the other hand, we hope he has a great time there and look forward to reading his blog about his adventures! Have fun James!!!
Actually we had quite a busy day Monday. We started dead on time which has been getting rarer and rarer as we are on a wind down of this year’s education.
We completed a sheet on Pluto, leaving us only with Dwarf planets to go. We also inputted our bug survey results and were very pleased to see that a few more people have done the survey in our area. The last one we did; we were the only ones. It’s a shame as they are great fun and free.
Phil and Callum finished the combustion engine kit over the weekend and Callum demonstrated it today with a very good explanation, so I think that will go on the demos list for his open day.
On top of that we uploaded and printed off some photos, rearranged some folders and ticked off stuff from the To Do list.
After trampolining we played Dino-opoly. We bought it ages ago and hadn’t got round to playing it. It’s pretty much the same as all other monopolies, but you have dinosaur information on the back of the cards and little quizzes. Callum, of course, won! He is very good at Monopoly; am sure he will be a property tycoon when he grows up.
Tuesday, I woke up with a sore throat and Callum complained his arm was hurting. We think he may have pulled a muscle yesterday, so he sat with an icepack on it for most of the morning and that, along with some paracetamol, seemed to do the trick. As I still felt lousy and we’d done so much yesterday, I said he could take the day easy, but he still insisted on doing his maths and literacy. Meanwhile I attempted to do a little brochure/programme for his open day with brief descriptions and explanations.
Wednesday, we were both feeling a little under the weather, but Callum still managed his maths and literacy and we completed our planet work with the dwarf planets, Eris, Ceres, Makemake, and Haumea. We then had a huge discussion regarding his open day. Trying to work out which rooms the stuff will go in and what demonstrations he was going to do. Oh yeah, we talked about geography this morning, looking up airports to start with on the road map and then went off on a tangent about rivers, mountains and the difference between built up areas and wild areas in different parts of the country; very interesting little chat.
Thursday, we went along to the group trampolining class and saw the kids getting their awards, which was nice. Also being able to see their progress was lovely and, of course, Callum got one more lesson with James. As for the rest of the day, we continued uploading and printing off photos and rewrote our Top Gear review from November last year as that was lost when our computer broke before Christmas.
Today, we just did maths and literacy as he was going off to see his friend, Callum D, this afternoon. But to be honest we really haven’t got much more work that needs doing.
Wednesday, 22 June 2011
CALLUM'S 12TH BIRTHDAY
Hi all, let's catch up again shall we?Callum's birthday went well. As you can see from the photo, he got a pretty good haul and that's only half of it!! The bouncy castle turned up and was set up before 11am, so he had a good old bounce before anyone turned up. Unfortunately, for the first time ever on his birthday, it rained! Heavily! Pretty much off and on all day and into the night, so Callum, his best friend Callum and my daughter dived out whenever there was a break to have a go. They even gave up at one point and bounced in the rain!!
Bouncing in the rain
Boys attempting to avoid wet surface
We didn't have a party as such as Callum doesn't really like them. He ends up stressing too much about other people/children and whether or not they are doing what they are supposed to or touching his things. He normally signposts his bedroom with 'No Entry' signs or, if he is allowing people in, he has signs saying that its 'a quiet room and not to get loads of stuff out'. Strange boy sometimes, but then that's his Asperger for you. We just had his Sister, his best friend, Uncle, Aunt and Cousin over. We were supposed to be having a BBQ, but that was rained off too, so was an indoor one instead. All in all though and despite the rain, he had a very good time and his best mate Callum D stayed until 8.30pm. Happy 12th mate!!
The weather didn't improve and we ended up getting a phone call asking whether we would mind keeping the bouncy castle overnight. So luckily Callum managed to have another quiet bounce the following morning before it was taken away. We didn't do any education on the Monday as he wanted to look through all his presents properly and get them all out and play with the games, etc.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
THE WEEK BEFORE EASTER
Hello all, can't believe how fast this week has gone! But it's been a very enjoyable week.
Firstly we had a private trampolining lesson on the Monday (18th April) and Callum worked really hard. The Centre was practically empty due to it being school hols and the 'camp' they had running was at lunch. Even though Callum's knee was hurting and he was a bit worried about doing front drops, he still did them and he was attempting somersaults by himself - go Callum.
After trampolining, we went off to Gore Farm with Linda and her daughter Danielle. As it was just the two kids, we could relax a little more as we knew that they wouldn't do anything stupid. We took the Woodland Walk as we hadn't done it before and Callum and Danielle are convinced they saw a red squirrel. Their description did sound like it was, but I'm not really sure that we have red squirrels round here. As I didn't see it, I can't say it was or wasn't. Let's hope it was!
Gore Farm has loads of animals there now and Callum's favourites have to be the pigs and the donkeys (see piccys). He's always loved donkeys. He's tried to talk me into having one several times after we have been told that originally our house used to be owned by a fireman who used to keep his horses out the back. However, I know our garden isn't really big enough to house and exercise a donkey.
Tuesday Callum had his best mate round and I practically didn't see them all afternoon as usual.
Thursday we went off to Capstone Park for our very first fishing lesson. Callum was a bit unsure to start with, but the group was really small. He got a bit bored with the initial talk though about how to thread the line onto the rod and how to put on the hook. He was a bit freaked by being shown how to hook maggots, but he couldn't wait to start fishing when one of the rangers demonstrated a cast and caught a fish within a couple of seconds. So we were given a rod, shown to our designated pitch and set about fishing. I ended up by having to do the maggots as Callum just couldn't bring himself to do it and it was a bit fiddly, however, after doing a couple I got quite the dab hand at it - haha.
Callum cast well and was instantly catching fish! He must have caught about 12 altogether. I had a go when he decided he needed to sit down and have a drink and I caught the grand sum of 2!!! 1 perch and 1 roach! However, I was very good at carrying the fish to the keep net. Everyone else's fish were flapping about and having to be held in both hands; mine just laid quietly in one hand and then flapped off when I put them in the net - very weird!! )
Firstly we had a private trampolining lesson on the Monday (18th April) and Callum worked really hard. The Centre was practically empty due to it being school hols and the 'camp' they had running was at lunch. Even though Callum's knee was hurting and he was a bit worried about doing front drops, he still did them and he was attempting somersaults by himself - go Callum.
After trampolining, we went off to Gore Farm with Linda and her daughter Danielle. As it was just the two kids, we could relax a little more as we knew that they wouldn't do anything stupid. We took the Woodland Walk as we hadn't done it before and Callum and Danielle are convinced they saw a red squirrel. Their description did sound like it was, but I'm not really sure that we have red squirrels round here. As I didn't see it, I can't say it was or wasn't. Let's hope it was!
Gore Farm has loads of animals there now and Callum's favourites have to be the pigs and the donkeys (see piccys). He's always loved donkeys. He's tried to talk me into having one several times after we have been told that originally our house used to be owned by a fireman who used to keep his horses out the back. However, I know our garden isn't really big enough to house and exercise a donkey.
Tuesday Callum had his best mate round and I practically didn't see them all afternoon as usual.
Thursday we went off to Capstone Park for our very first fishing lesson. Callum was a bit unsure to start with, but the group was really small. He got a bit bored with the initial talk though about how to thread the line onto the rod and how to put on the hook. He was a bit freaked by being shown how to hook maggots, but he couldn't wait to start fishing when one of the rangers demonstrated a cast and caught a fish within a couple of seconds. So we were given a rod, shown to our designated pitch and set about fishing. I ended up by having to do the maggots as Callum just couldn't bring himself to do it and it was a bit fiddly, however, after doing a couple I got quite the dab hand at it - haha.
Callum cast well and was instantly catching fish! He must have caught about 12 altogether. I had a go when he decided he needed to sit down and have a drink and I caught the grand sum of 2!!! 1 perch and 1 roach! However, I was very good at carrying the fish to the keep net. Everyone else's fish were flapping about and having to be held in both hands; mine just laid quietly in one hand and then flapped off when I put them in the net - very weird!! )
The day was really enjoyable and now he wants to do it again. The only trouble we had was when the fish swallowed the hook. We just couldn't get the knack of using the degorger (like a largish crochet hook) and we kept having to get the rangers to do it for us! In the end the ranger pulled out the keep net and we could see how many fish we'd caught altogether (4 families). He then let all the fish back into the lake
Well, that gets us up to the Easter weekend and I'll try and write that up tomorrow,
So cya!
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Blinking heck! Can't believe last post was in November!!!!!
Some people may be wondering if we've given up home edding. We haven't, I've just not been doing blogs! Partly due to last computer playing up and having to find my way around a new one and partly because we've been a bit autonomous and partly because we've been 'hibernating'.
December was full of Christmassy things. Card making and writing; present buying and wrapping; cake and biscuit making and generally doing all the things that come along with the festive season.
January we were both ill. First me, then Callum, so we pretty much wrote off formal ed and stuck to watching docs on TV and looking at books.
February brought Phil into DIY mode and as our house is already practically a building site and none of the rooms have 'sealed' ceilings, we ended up not being able to use the 'school' room/dining room as he was ripping the bedroom above it to bits and everything was falling down through the gaps around the edge of the room. Needless to say there were dust sheets everywhere and this meant that home ed resources, equipment and the computer were out of bounds for about 3 weeks!!!
Now we are in March and trying to get back into some sort of routine, but it isn't working as Phil has taken another week off to do the bathroom, so chaos is reigning again! Plus Callum has had a rotten cold again and is a bit hit and miss on the concentration levels. But we have started going out and about again and he is still reading loads AND the other day he came up to me and said he wanted to do Maths! Yes, WANTED to do MATHS! Apparently he is concerned that his mental arithmatic isn't fast enough so he wants to go back and do some basic adding and subtracting and build up some speed! Turns out that instead of mentally rounding up or down to 10, he's rounding up or down to 5!! Eh? Means everything is taking twice as long, so am glad he raised the issue.
He's also stopped his group trampolining and is just doing a fortnightly private lesson instead. He says it's because he is doing more complicated stuff and wanted more time to practise which made a lot of sense to be honest. Attempting to do somersaults and flips in a 1-2min section is a bit rushed. Now he has 1/2hr to practise as much as he can and he's a lot happier!
We also might be signing up to do an Arts Award, but have got to have an interview next weekend before signing up/making a decision, so will see how that goes!
As to projects; we have 4 to complete before the end of July, which sounds a reasonable amount of work, but not too pressured. Am hoping that we can complete 1 a month from April. Will be happy with that.
It does appear that we are pretty autonomous at the moment, but that is fine. We seem to have done a year semi-structured, a year autonomous and then back to a year semi, so this year, being our 4th year, being autonomous is probably about right! hehe
Anyway, update done!
Cya
Some people may be wondering if we've given up home edding. We haven't, I've just not been doing blogs! Partly due to last computer playing up and having to find my way around a new one and partly because we've been a bit autonomous and partly because we've been 'hibernating'.
December was full of Christmassy things. Card making and writing; present buying and wrapping; cake and biscuit making and generally doing all the things that come along with the festive season.
January we were both ill. First me, then Callum, so we pretty much wrote off formal ed and stuck to watching docs on TV and looking at books.
February brought Phil into DIY mode and as our house is already practically a building site and none of the rooms have 'sealed' ceilings, we ended up not being able to use the 'school' room/dining room as he was ripping the bedroom above it to bits and everything was falling down through the gaps around the edge of the room. Needless to say there were dust sheets everywhere and this meant that home ed resources, equipment and the computer were out of bounds for about 3 weeks!!!
Now we are in March and trying to get back into some sort of routine, but it isn't working as Phil has taken another week off to do the bathroom, so chaos is reigning again! Plus Callum has had a rotten cold again and is a bit hit and miss on the concentration levels. But we have started going out and about again and he is still reading loads AND the other day he came up to me and said he wanted to do Maths! Yes, WANTED to do MATHS! Apparently he is concerned that his mental arithmatic isn't fast enough so he wants to go back and do some basic adding and subtracting and build up some speed! Turns out that instead of mentally rounding up or down to 10, he's rounding up or down to 5!! Eh? Means everything is taking twice as long, so am glad he raised the issue.
He's also stopped his group trampolining and is just doing a fortnightly private lesson instead. He says it's because he is doing more complicated stuff and wanted more time to practise which made a lot of sense to be honest. Attempting to do somersaults and flips in a 1-2min section is a bit rushed. Now he has 1/2hr to practise as much as he can and he's a lot happier!
We also might be signing up to do an Arts Award, but have got to have an interview next weekend before signing up/making a decision, so will see how that goes!
As to projects; we have 4 to complete before the end of July, which sounds a reasonable amount of work, but not too pressured. Am hoping that we can complete 1 a month from April. Will be happy with that.
It does appear that we are pretty autonomous at the moment, but that is fine. We seem to have done a year semi-structured, a year autonomous and then back to a year semi, so this year, being our 4th year, being autonomous is probably about right! hehe
Anyway, update done!
Cya
Friday, 8 October 2010
OK, OK, I'M CRAP AT POSTING!!
Hi all, I say rather sheepishly.
Just read last post which was, oooooo, nearly two weeks ago!! Hmmm, this is not going well. Said I'd post a Part 3, but I obviously didn't!! Slapped wrists for me then!
So, as I'm finding writing up a week at a time impossible, I'm going to try and do some dailies instead. Yeah right, I hear you say and you're probably correct, but, as my school reports used to say, I must try harder!! Writing weekly is a big thing and it takes me ages. I spend half the time checking on what we've done and then the other half trying to remember funny bits that Callum might have said/done and, as all of you out there know, two halves make a whole and that leaves no time for writing!!
Ooooo must watch out for them exclamation marks! Have had my knuckles severely rapped for using far too many of them by some pompous home educating mother who thought my email to the Royal Institute was too passionate and full of over punctuation! So sorry if I'm passionate luvvy, but I was furious!! And to show my anger and frustration I use exclamation marks in abundance, so there!!!!!!!!! See!!!!! Here's some more, so stick these in your knickers!!!!!!!!!
Ahhhh, feel better now, so I can proceed:
What have we been up to? Well, actually not a lot. We've both been feeling......how shall I say this? We've both been feeling.....CRAP! There is no better word for it to be honest. We're not ill per se, we just feel really.....crap! I've got no energy and everything feels heavy and I've been having a sore throat off and on all week. Callum has been coughing and just wanting to loll around in his pjs. Hasn't wanted to go out anywhere, so we haven't.
Apart, that is, for Youth Club on Tuesday night! His mate Callum D went along this week too so it was much better. Oh, but I now realise that I didn't tell you about last week! Went to Youth Club last week too, but as it was his first time there and his mate couldn't go, he clung to me like a limpet. We did play table football together and he eventually played a game with another boy, but he basically stayed with me apart from the couple of occasions where he chased the helpers that he knew around the room. I must explain that it is an ASD Youth Club run by MAGIC. They also ran the activity days that he did in the Summer and that he is going to again in October! I don't think it's going to be an every week attendance, but I'd like him to go at least once a fortnight. I don't need to stay now, so it will be a chance for him to have a little independence from me. And what will I be doing whilst he's at youth club? Will I be having a lovely tete a tete with my partner? Yes, probably, but it'll be in the supermarket, haha. We'll be able to shop without a boy going "I'm bored" or "Can we go now" or "I'm not standing in this queue", etc, etc. Plus I can monitor my partner's spending a little. He does so like to add brand names and the odd can or bottle or two or three if I'm not careful and we really don't have the money for that. I've noticed a distinct lack of food in the house since he took over. Admittedly the food is of better status; Heinz, Kelloggs, Princes... you know what I mean, but let's face it, I can't really tell the difference between Heinz soup and Sainsburys soup, although some really cheap brands are pretty dire. However, I'd rather have a better variety than limited choice and I'd like to have some fresh veg and fruit from the greengrocer than the frozen or plastic wrapped stuff you get from the supermarket, so I think I need to start intervening again.
Back to this week. Actually back to last week. We were rather busy last week, hence the reason not to worried about being hermits this week. Oh that's a lot of weeks, but can't think of another word.
Monday we went bowling, which was good fun. Tuesday, as mentioned, he went to youth club. Wednesday we went to Museum of Kent Life for a Romans day (our current project), which was brilliant and Callum managed 4 out of 5 of the workshops this time. Did one more than the WWII day so very pleased with him. Thursday was trampolining as usual and Friday we went to Tunbridge Wells to see George's Marvellous Medicine.
Saturday and Sunday we had to ourselves as it was my partner's weekend on. Callum decided to play board games and started dragging them all out. I asked which one we were playing and his reply was, and I quote: "We aren't playing anything, I don't want you to play. I want to play by myself and make up my own games." Ok! That's put me in my place then. What I should have done was write this blog, but I went on Facebook instead and played Fronterville. Bad news, but I'm ashamed to say, good fun.
Oh well, let's hope I can wean myself off the dreaded FB and start writing properly again.
Cya
Just read last post which was, oooooo, nearly two weeks ago!! Hmmm, this is not going well. Said I'd post a Part 3, but I obviously didn't!! Slapped wrists for me then!
So, as I'm finding writing up a week at a time impossible, I'm going to try and do some dailies instead. Yeah right, I hear you say and you're probably correct, but, as my school reports used to say, I must try harder!! Writing weekly is a big thing and it takes me ages. I spend half the time checking on what we've done and then the other half trying to remember funny bits that Callum might have said/done and, as all of you out there know, two halves make a whole and that leaves no time for writing!!
Ooooo must watch out for them exclamation marks! Have had my knuckles severely rapped for using far too many of them by some pompous home educating mother who thought my email to the Royal Institute was too passionate and full of over punctuation! So sorry if I'm passionate luvvy, but I was furious!! And to show my anger and frustration I use exclamation marks in abundance, so there!!!!!!!!! See!!!!! Here's some more, so stick these in your knickers!!!!!!!!!
Ahhhh, feel better now, so I can proceed:
What have we been up to? Well, actually not a lot. We've both been feeling......how shall I say this? We've both been feeling.....CRAP! There is no better word for it to be honest. We're not ill per se, we just feel really.....crap! I've got no energy and everything feels heavy and I've been having a sore throat off and on all week. Callum has been coughing and just wanting to loll around in his pjs. Hasn't wanted to go out anywhere, so we haven't.
Apart, that is, for Youth Club on Tuesday night! His mate Callum D went along this week too so it was much better. Oh, but I now realise that I didn't tell you about last week! Went to Youth Club last week too, but as it was his first time there and his mate couldn't go, he clung to me like a limpet. We did play table football together and he eventually played a game with another boy, but he basically stayed with me apart from the couple of occasions where he chased the helpers that he knew around the room. I must explain that it is an ASD Youth Club run by MAGIC. They also ran the activity days that he did in the Summer and that he is going to again in October! I don't think it's going to be an every week attendance, but I'd like him to go at least once a fortnight. I don't need to stay now, so it will be a chance for him to have a little independence from me. And what will I be doing whilst he's at youth club? Will I be having a lovely tete a tete with my partner? Yes, probably, but it'll be in the supermarket, haha. We'll be able to shop without a boy going "I'm bored" or "Can we go now" or "I'm not standing in this queue", etc, etc. Plus I can monitor my partner's spending a little. He does so like to add brand names and the odd can or bottle or two or three if I'm not careful and we really don't have the money for that. I've noticed a distinct lack of food in the house since he took over. Admittedly the food is of better status; Heinz, Kelloggs, Princes... you know what I mean, but let's face it, I can't really tell the difference between Heinz soup and Sainsburys soup, although some really cheap brands are pretty dire. However, I'd rather have a better variety than limited choice and I'd like to have some fresh veg and fruit from the greengrocer than the frozen or plastic wrapped stuff you get from the supermarket, so I think I need to start intervening again.
Back to this week. Actually back to last week. We were rather busy last week, hence the reason not to worried about being hermits this week. Oh that's a lot of weeks, but can't think of another word.
Monday we went bowling, which was good fun. Tuesday, as mentioned, he went to youth club. Wednesday we went to Museum of Kent Life for a Romans day (our current project), which was brilliant and Callum managed 4 out of 5 of the workshops this time. Did one more than the WWII day so very pleased with him. Thursday was trampolining as usual and Friday we went to Tunbridge Wells to see George's Marvellous Medicine.
Saturday and Sunday we had to ourselves as it was my partner's weekend on. Callum decided to play board games and started dragging them all out. I asked which one we were playing and his reply was, and I quote: "We aren't playing anything, I don't want you to play. I want to play by myself and make up my own games." Ok! That's put me in my place then. What I should have done was write this blog, but I went on Facebook instead and played Fronterville. Bad news, but I'm ashamed to say, good fun.
Oh well, let's hope I can wean myself off the dreaded FB and start writing properly again.
Cya
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
A QUITER WEEK AND THEN NOT!
Hello
We had a quieter week last week (beginning 23rd August)! We had planned on a quiet August, but so far, as you know, it hasn't happended!
I had a friend come for lunch on the Monday, so Callum spent most of the day on the computer. He's into Roblox at the moment and plays every chance he gets!
Tuesday we were on our own, so I pottered and Callum was on the computer again!
Wednesday, we went to the pictures to see Marmaduke and Terri, his sister, came with us! I've finally got round to sending off for my CEA card, which means I go for free as his carer and it turned up last week. It means that the money I would normally spend on my ticket can be used to buy the treats! I think having popcorn and a drink is all part of going to the cinema, but it works out so expensive. Having the CEA card is a great help! You have to be in receipt of disability allowance (or in this case Callum is) and you pay £5.50 per year for the card. It has a photograph of the person in receipt of the DLA on it and it entitles them to take a carer for free! Well worth the £5.50 as you virtually gain that money back after the first visit!
www.ceacard.co.uk
By the way, the film was really funny and Callum had a great time!
Thursday, he saw his best mate again! Trying to pack in as many visits as possible before his mate returns to school in September!
Friday was quiet again as I had a hospital appointment in the afternoon. Was the quickest appointment I've ever had!! 25mins!! Wow! Went shopping in the sales afterwards for 'school stuff'. Was going to treat Callum to a hot wheels track thingy, but although it was amongst the sale items it wasn't in the sale!! I wish shops wouldn't do that. As I didn't have enough money, I had to disappoint him - he was gutted and I was angry with the shop and felt upset for him. Am hoping it will still be there tomorrow as going back up the High Street then and will have the money! He has been so good over the holidays; being helpful, going to the MAGIC days by himself and he has now managed a week and a half of being dry at night, I think he deserves it!
Bank holiday weekend he spent time with dad at the allotment and taking the dog out for longer walks and we had P's brother and sister-in-law for dinner on the Monday!
Yesterday, was Broadstairs with our 'baby group'! Fantastic weather! Callum spent practically the whole day in the sea, partly exploring rock pools, partly watching the tide come in and mainly jumping waves!
Today he has Callum D here, tomorrow is private trampolining and Friday we are going to Natural History Museum for The Deep exhibition. We never did make it to the zoo, but as we can go whenever we feel like it, it isn't really a big deal!
To all of you preparing for your kids to go back to school - good luck! So glad don't have to worry about uniforms or first days anymore.
To all of you home educator people out there - good luck in whatever you're planning to be doing in your 'school year' and have fun if you are attending any 'Not Back to School' picnics!
Cya
We had a quieter week last week (beginning 23rd August)! We had planned on a quiet August, but so far, as you know, it hasn't happended!
I had a friend come for lunch on the Monday, so Callum spent most of the day on the computer. He's into Roblox at the moment and plays every chance he gets!
Tuesday we were on our own, so I pottered and Callum was on the computer again!
Wednesday, we went to the pictures to see Marmaduke and Terri, his sister, came with us! I've finally got round to sending off for my CEA card, which means I go for free as his carer and it turned up last week. It means that the money I would normally spend on my ticket can be used to buy the treats! I think having popcorn and a drink is all part of going to the cinema, but it works out so expensive. Having the CEA card is a great help! You have to be in receipt of disability allowance (or in this case Callum is) and you pay £5.50 per year for the card. It has a photograph of the person in receipt of the DLA on it and it entitles them to take a carer for free! Well worth the £5.50 as you virtually gain that money back after the first visit!
www.ceacard.co.uk
By the way, the film was really funny and Callum had a great time!
Thursday, he saw his best mate again! Trying to pack in as many visits as possible before his mate returns to school in September!
Friday was quiet again as I had a hospital appointment in the afternoon. Was the quickest appointment I've ever had!! 25mins!! Wow! Went shopping in the sales afterwards for 'school stuff'. Was going to treat Callum to a hot wheels track thingy, but although it was amongst the sale items it wasn't in the sale!! I wish shops wouldn't do that. As I didn't have enough money, I had to disappoint him - he was gutted and I was angry with the shop and felt upset for him. Am hoping it will still be there tomorrow as going back up the High Street then and will have the money! He has been so good over the holidays; being helpful, going to the MAGIC days by himself and he has now managed a week and a half of being dry at night, I think he deserves it!
Bank holiday weekend he spent time with dad at the allotment and taking the dog out for longer walks and we had P's brother and sister-in-law for dinner on the Monday!
Yesterday, was Broadstairs with our 'baby group'! Fantastic weather! Callum spent practically the whole day in the sea, partly exploring rock pools, partly watching the tide come in and mainly jumping waves!
Today he has Callum D here, tomorrow is private trampolining and Friday we are going to Natural History Museum for The Deep exhibition. We never did make it to the zoo, but as we can go whenever we feel like it, it isn't really a big deal!
To all of you preparing for your kids to go back to school - good luck! So glad don't have to worry about uniforms or first days anymore.
To all of you home educator people out there - good luck in whatever you're planning to be doing in your 'school year' and have fun if you are attending any 'Not Back to School' picnics!
Cya
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