A DAY OUT - NO LESSONS REQUIRED

Good evening peoples.  And what have we been doing today?  Well education in it's formal and most obvious state wasn't on the menu today.  Today we had a day out; no lessons, no workshops, just a day out with friends.

We were taken to Greenwich today for the Chinese supermarket.  I've been cooking a lot of Indian and Asian food recently and was in desperate need of expanding my store cupboard.  So Carol and Lauren, myself and Callum were let loose with a trolley for each family unit into a vast warehouse full of goodies.  Was amazing to see so many things that are often so difficult to get hold of and when you can they are really expensive.  Here it was available and reasonably priced.  I was like a kid in a sweetie shop and Callum pushed the trolley and enjoyed looking through all the bits and pieces and boxes and bottles and cans and packets.  As a pescatarian and gluten free individual (one through choice and one not) I find buying foods often difficult and/or expensive, so to be able to get large packs of rice, rice noodles, rice wrappers (for summer rolls, like spring rolls), a wide variety of dried mushrooms and frozen fish at ridiculously cheap prices plus all the condiments I could possibly wish for was fantastic.   Callum even got a large box of prawn crackers (I can't eat them, but he loves them) and a gigantic box of fortune cookies which we split between Carol and myself (again I can't eat but Callum also loves) for £11.  I also treated myself to a bamboo steamer for just under £7, a pack of beautiful chopsticks and a couple of other utensils which would be handy.  Spent rather a lot, but most will be things I will never have to buy again and the rest will last me months.

Then off to Hall Place for a picnic lunch, where we had to fight off the geese, and a wander round.  Weather stayed lovely even though they had threatened rain today.

Callum at Hall Place

 There was a stream/river running through which, of course, drew Callum's attention and this is the view from the bridge we walked over.  The rest of the pictures are me playing with the macro button on my camera in the green house including one which shows the fish in the pond.  The large one, middle right, was Callum's favourite (of the fish that is).

Frangipan blossom

Bananas

Grasses

Bottle Brush Plant

After having a good walk around and looking at everything, including eating mulberries off the tree and swiping a couple of quinces, we made out way home, stopping off at Morrisons so I could show Callum the wide variety of fresh fruit and veg that they have and so he could see the 'dry ice' machine that they use to keep things fresh.

Carol picked some rosa rugosa hips for me and then it was home for a cuppa and a division of fortune cookies (one rather full carrier bag each) and then me attempting to find a home for all our wonderous goodies.

Callum's favourite memory of the day "FORTUNE COOKIES"

Tomorrow will be back to normal with lessons and then group trampolining.  Cya

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.

 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

MID WEEK SUNSHINE

Hiya

Had a lovely, pleasant, ploddy day today. The sun was shining, although still chilly and we had a bit of a lazy start, then off up town to do a bit of shopping.

Firstly we went in search of some Borax; first port of call was, of course, Boots. Unfortunately Boots in Gillingham doesn't stock it anymore, although we were informed we may be able to get it in the larger stores. So we left with liquid paracetamol and Vit C tablets instead (we all have colds). We then scoured Savers (came out with large box of Bic of Soda), Wilkinsons (box of Quality Street) and Superdrug (nothing at all), all to no avail.

Why are we after Borax? Well we have some science experiments we want to do and we need Borax. One of the experiments involves growing crystals and one results in a bouncy ball, so the search will continue as I don't really want to have to buy it online. Oh well, we did manage to find the big box of bicarbonate of soda (£1.19 for 500g) which is always handy for volcanos and anything requiring a fizz and the Quality Street, which is actually for the coloured cellophane wrappers as we are going to do a project on light and colour (the chocolates are just a bonus, honest!).

Then off to a friend's house for general chat and a cuppa. We managed to leave there with a complete DS + games and a big pack of white A4 paper. We offered money for the DS, Callum even saying he would give her his £10 that he had in his wallet, but she wouldn't take it. So a humongous thank you to Kim!!!!

Next was the hairdressers for a trim. Callum had his hair washed for the first time at a hairdressers and I think he quite liked it, then next door to the 2nd hand shop to see what goodies we could pick up. Left there with another book on tanks for Callum and a PS1 game as well, both for 75p!!

A nice walk home, followed by a cuppa and a sort out of our wares.

All in all a lovely day with lots of goodies.

Cya

HEADS FEEL LIGHTER

Good evening all you lovely people. How are we all? We are having a fab week this week, although I do feel a bit guilty saying that as I'm sure half of it is because we've taken the pressure off of education for doing other stuff instead.

This morning we had a lovely natter about dreams, trouble sleeping and some solutions. Then off to the kitchen to make pancakes. Whilst leaving the batter to settle, the washing got sorted out and then back in the kitchen for a cookery lesson. Didn't have any plain flour, so used self raising so the pancakes where more spongy (bit like a scotch pancake), but they were still scrummy. Callum had the traditional lemon juice and sugar and I had cherry plum jam and yogurt!

Whilst eating, we had another chat about different uses of pancakes and how if you add water instead of milk, you can a tortilla wrap type flatbread.

Then back into the kitchen to sort out the baking bit of the larder and to check off all the ingredients we needed to buy for making mincemeat. So lots of weighing and ticking off and list writing. Then off to have haircuts and some shopping on the way home.

We cancelled our last appointment due to lack of cash, so both our hair was a little longer than it usually is, hence our heads feeling a lot lighter afterwards.

Popped into Cats Protection League shop afterwards and found a noughts and crosses wooden game for 50p and a green jumper for me for £1.75. Then Aldi for a good nose round and some shopping including the ingredients for tomorrow.

Back home around about 2.30pm, where we had a cup of instant Chai Tea (found in Aldi) and Callum back to computer. Me back in kitchen to make sweet potato and lentil curry and a chestnut stuffed cabbage for some dinners for me.

He is now doing some word puzzles and playing noughts and crosses and I'm on here catching up.

So, all in all, a good day!

Hope yours was as good.

Cya

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

Hi all, still glorious down here in the South, but the wind is definitely picking up and we are getting frosty mornings. Winter is coming!

Callum and I have decided to step back from our traditional take on home ed for the next couple of weeks as I've tons to do (read my other blog IS IT ME? for details). We have come to an agreement that he will help me with as many of the 'jobs' as possible and he can stop maths, literacy and science until after Halloween.

So today he measured out 2lb of green tomatoes for me, washed them and set them aside. He then went through all the other tomatoes we'd either picked ourselves or been given and sorted the green from the red or near ripe and took out the mush ones.

Then he washed and destalked all the ripe cherry tomatoes we had in the fridge and passed them to me for chopping in half. These were put in a roasting tin with a bit of chopped onion and 3/4 chopped green pepper (both found lurking in the fridge). We then added some olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic and a dash of Balsamic vinegar. Then out came the box of herbs and spices. I got him to smell the tomatoes, then smell the herbs and decide which ones he thought went well with the smell. We ended up with basil and oregano!!!! He didn't peak at the labels either, he just went by smell. I sent him outside to smell a couple of herbs we have growing and asked what he thought would be any good, if any, he came back with....marjoram!!! The boys got a nose for flavour. We added all those, or rather he did, roasted it all in the oven for 20mins, allowed to cool and retasted and then whizzed up in food processor, reheated and added a swirl of cream. Lunch made and eaten with fresh gluten free rolls....yummy!

The 2lb of green tomatoes measured out earlier were whizzed up with 4 oranges and with some water cooked until soft, then a bag of sugar added and with the occasionally stir (both of us) was turned into Green Tomato and Orange Marmalade.

So measuring, preserving and soup making done! Plus tea making and wiping up after the washing up.

Then shopping with big sis, Terri and myself this afternoon to buy Halloween stuff for party. He helped carry some of the bags home and then made us a cuppa.

I think he's done well today. No computer all day! Go Callum.

Cya

FRIENDS, CAKE AND A PILE OF BROWN LEAVES

Good evening peoples.

Lovely day today; warm, sunny, but the leaves are all crispy and brown and red and gorgeous. Adore Autumn big time.

Did a quick tidy round and a quick maths and literacy session this morning, then it was a visit from Jo Daniels and her lovely baby Sophia. I should explain, if I haven't already, that Jo was one of Callum's Infant School teachers and he adored her. She was a fabulous teacher (still is) and really helped him out a lot and was very supportive. When we pulled him from school, she came along and did maths lessons with him until she got a promotion and had to give up due to being overloaded with work like all teachers are..bless her. Now she is a mummy and little Sophia is 8 months old. Gorgeous little thing and a very happy little lady.

Was lovely to see her and Callum loves the fact that we still meet up occasionally and catch up. Always a good excuse to bake cakes and sit and drink coffee. It was all timed to perfection as well as they were meeting up with friends for swimming at the same time as Callum had a trampolining lesson, so we had a lift to the Centre and an extended chat.

His lesson went well. He worked quite hard, but I don't think he was pushed enough today, although he didn't seem to be that bothered. Practicing 1/2 twist to back drop with last minute roll to front drop (those that do trampolining will know what I mean, but hope that explanation is enough for those who don't to be able to picture what he was up to). He also ran through his routine again which he is still managing to remember, so well done Callum.

Then a trip to the High Street (with me not being able to resist a pile of brown leaves to kick through...Callum rolling his eyes at me...huh!) to check out Halloween decs in the pound store (got some pretty good stuff and the goblets I'm after are in there which means it will work out cheaper than Wilkos). A visit to Smiths to try and find Teacher's Resource book I'm after, but as its an old one I was out of luck and they couldn't order it. Have found it on Amazon though, so might have to get it through them. Last, but not least, Nisa for wine vinegar for chutney making. Both fancied choccy at this point and they were doing 3 little bars of Dairy Milk (various flavours) at 3 for £1, so guess what we bought. Me being greedy (and hungry) couldn't wait until I got home, so I ate mine on the way...tut tut, but it was rather yummy!

Back home it was computer, dinner, bath and now he's relaxing in front of telly with his dad. Off out to visit friends tomorrow, so hopefully it will be another lovely day.

Cya