FIELD TRIP THEN WORK, WORK, WORK

Good evening, hope you are all well.

Today we really knuckled down and did some work.  We said we would have a whole day of science and we did.  We are covering Biology at the moment and in particular trees, plants, leaves, grasses and, eventually, plants as food.

We started our day off on a field trip to Capstone Park to look at trees, leaves and grasses.  Firstly we had to pick out 4 different trees and measure the circumference of the trunks using string and a tape measure and then record the results.  We then picked a leaf from each tree to aid it's identification and took bark rubbings.  We also had a look at some cut branches around the park and counted rings to decipher age and discussed why some rings are wider apart than others.

Then we gathered a few more larger leaves that were similar in shape for another experiment which we set up later (more on that in a bit).

We then moved onto a nearby field and, whilst the dog ran around, we looked at one length of the field and it's hedgerow and picked as many different grasses as we could find to identify once home; taking note of how common they were to find.

On the way back to the car we found a largish cut log with very clear rings that Callum counted and then measured the circumference of the log to find a comparison with number of rings in relation to circumference of trunk.

Once home we used the two measurements 62 rings with a 127cm circumference to come up with the calculation 127 / 62 = 2.05 years per cm.  Using this we could work out an approximate age of the trees we measured.

We also used various references to identify the trees and created a page for each tree with the leaf, the identification, the measurement and approximate age and bark rubbing.

Callum also did some leaf rubbings to create some artwork.

After dealing with the trees we used the computer and a print off to identify some grasses and made a little booklet with the grass, id and some general information.  We also recorded the popularity of the grass within the border that we took them from.

This completed most of the written and research work and it was time to set up a couple of extra experiments which we can monitor.

One was to see how much moisture a leaf will lose over a period of time, using petroleum jelly to mask parts of or all of the leaf.  One leaf was left completely uncovered, one had the top side covered, one the underside covered and one completely covered with jelly.  They were then hung up by string and will be monitored over the next week or so.

Working from left to right;  underside covered, not covered, all covered and topside covered.  We'll see what happens.

Then we set up another experiment to see how roots and shoots grow using a piece of sweet potato.

Again, we'll see what happens.

Callum worked really hard today to get everything done and even when he was starting to flag, he suggested a break and then went back to it.

So what has Callum learnt today, in his own words: "we can use other ways of finding out the age of a tree other than counting rings and that the size of the leaf is not compared with the age as our oldest tree did not have the largest leaf." and "there are lots of different types of grass".

Best bit of the day: "The field trip to measure the trees".

Tomorrow will be tying up any lose ends from the week and getting some maths done.

Cya

All experiments come from http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1741856140/?tag=hydra0b-21&hvadid=11068759565&ref=asc_df_1741856140

A GRAND DAY OUT

Good evening peoples.

We had an unexpected, unplanned day out today!  Callum's dad, Phil, is off work all week and although we have work to do, it was such lovely weather I asked if we could go out for the day.  As he had nothing planned it was a yes!  So upstairs I went to wake Callum and ask if he fancied going out.  Choices were Legoland, Hever Castle or a runabout at Romney Marsh or if he didn't fancy any of those, he could come up with something else.  I was convinced he'd say Legoland, but no, Hever Castle won the day.

So after a quick trip up the town to get some money and something for lunch, we drove off to Hever.  We have been before but not for ages.  Callum decided he wanted to go around the grounds and into the house, which he's never done before.

So after getting our tickets (I remembered to take his DLA letter, so got one adult in for free) we decided to do an anticlockwise walk around the grounds including a walk around the whole lake (something I've never done before either).  So a visual description of our day goes as follows:

1st Fountain

We have another photo like this when he was small

Off for the 'around the lake walk'

Ducks hiding

Red dragonfly

The Waterfall

The Weir

Phil and Callum on a jetty

The Water Maze

Callum in the Maze

Callum at the top

After our walk around the lake and a rest stop at the Water Maze for lunch and Callum to investigate and have a play around, we headed to The Loggia and had an ice cream.

The Loggia Fountain

The Yew Maze

Anne Boleyn's House

After doing a complete circle of the grounds we went into the house above.  Lots of rooms to explore and Callum had a good look round everything and even remembered who some of the people in the paintings were from the Horrible Histories show that we saw earlier in the year about The Tudors.

Topiary Pig

One of the friendly ducks after our cakes

After a cuppa and cake; they even did gluten free for me, we went into the shop and dolls house exhibition before making our way back to the car ready for the journey home.

Callum's favourite bits of the day were the water maze and the walk around the lake which doesn't surprise me as he loves water and he learn't "that I'm very good at mazes".

Bearing in mind that today was unplanned, Callum did fantastically well.  No kick offs, no grumps, but then we did allow him to lead us where he wanted to go (with a bit of persuasion occasionally) so there was nothing that he didn't want to do.

Hope you enjoy the photos.  Tomorrow we'll be writing it up and doing a bit of extra stuff on Anne Boleyn.

Cya
  

A WEEKEND WITH NATURE

Hiya


Thought I'd do an end of weekend blog.  Normally don't do anything over the weekend on the computer, but recent weeks have proved that there really is nothing worth watching on the TV and I've caught up on all my recorded programmes.  So have been spending more time on here listening to music and playing on Facebook and, tonight, I'm doing those and writing up the blog.


This weekend has been particularly busy as the weather has been good and we had a couple of events booked at our local Country Parks.


Saturday was Riverside for a mini beast hunt.  We obviously go there far too often as we don't even have to give our names now, haha.  But the events are really good, the staff are lovely and they don't cost much; the mini beast session cost £1.50!  So what did we do?  Well, we started at the pond for some pond dipping, looking out for different creatures that live in the water.

The Pond

The little pile of twigs and leaves (lower centre) is a coot's nest where they put their babies when they are off looking for food.  Bit like a playpen.

The Tray of goodies

It doesn't really show much in this picture, but the tray ended up with loads of water boatmen, tiny watermites, snails, caddis larvae which were really weird and waterlice (underwater woodlouse).  One boy managed to net a stickleback and another a newt.

Then off to the meadow with nets and jars clutched in hands to look for insects.

'fishing for insects'

Our ranger and some of the others

Callum with net

Admittedly there wasn't a great deal of diversity to find at this time of year, so it might be worth going on another hunt at the end of the summer.  Callum did find lots of red ants, a black ladybird, a tiny spider, lots of fruit flies, a few little beetles and a green winged insect that looked like a grass seed which I can't remember the name of and have looked on google, but can't find it.  Really need to invest in a good insect book.

All in all a good morning was had by the both of us.  In the afternoon we planted beans, cabbages and brussel sprout plants along with carrot and beetroot seeds.

Then today, Sunday; which didn't start off too well.  Both Callum and myself felt a bit rough; both of us have colds or the start of hayfever and both had very snuffly noses and not a lot of energy, but we wanted to go on our tree walk, so dragged ourselves up and off we went with dad in tow this time.

It was Capstone Park today with Ranger Dave for a 2.5hr walk around the park looking at the different types of trees that were there.  We, obviously, didn't identify every tree, but picked out the most common ones.  Will let pictures speak for themselves on this one.  

Common Oak

Large Common Oak Tree in Ancient Woodland

Hazel

Ash

Norway Maple

Field Maple

Whitebeam

There was a lot more than that, but didn't take pictures of them all.  Had a lovely walk and the weather stayed dry if overcast.  Both Callum and I felt a lot better afterwards.  Had the rest of the afternoon to laze; with Callum on Roblox catching up with his friend he's made from China for the rest of the day until bedtime, while I read my book.

So weekend over and a week of catching up to do as we don't have a lot of outings planned.

Cya

A QUICK CATCH UP

Hiya

Well, got a few days to catch up on, but as we are still not 'back to normal' there isn't loads to write about.

We went to the home ed meet in Faversham last week and although Callum did spend quite a bit of time on his own playing on his DS, he did eventually disappear off with his mate Stewart into the computer room. So getting there slowly.

The following 3 days were a right off as Phil was off again and we couldn't really get on with anything.

Saturday, Callum went off with his dad to the fire station thing that we went to last weekend on the wrong day!!!






Saturday night was also Earth Hour. Between 8.30pm and 9.30pm we turned off all the electricity, lit candles and sat chatting. Earth Hour is run by WWF and happens every year. Callum loves doing it and I think it is something we should do more often than just the once a year. The first few minutes are the worse as there is no TV, no computer, no nothing, but actually it always turns out to be really enjoyable as we find other ways to entertain ourselves which normally means having a really good family talk.

Sunday we had a lovely walk with the dog at Riverside.

Then this week we had our friends Lorraine and Amy over on the Monday, which was lovely and relaxing and the kids spent all afternoon in the garden firing Nerf guns at targets and giggling.

Tuesday we had trampolining and Callum finally managed to nail at least 3 somersaults onto his feet which made him feel a lot better as he now understands what the movement feels like. Just need to work on getting them consistantly right now. Kim, his instructor, seemed pleased too. Then it was off to another friend's house for the afternoon where I again didn't see him the whole time we were there. Thank you Liz.

That brings us up to yesterday where we spent a glorious sunny morning with Terri and Merlin down at Riverside doing the Easter Bunny hunt. They had two types of card bunnies to find - yellow and blue. Yellow had clues for younger children and the blue had clues for older kids. Obviously we did the blue clues. Was a little easier than last year to find the bunnies, but still took approx an hour to complete. Callum got a chocolate egg for his troubles and then we went to the cafe for a cuppa and an ice cream. Decided to walk home as it was a lovely day and we can walk the majority of it along by the river.

Today we are having a proper day off. Pjs all day, no visitors, no dad, just us chilling out and watching some telly. Sometimes it's just necessary.

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

WILDWOOD HOME EDUCATION TRIP

Hi all

Early start for us this morning, well 7.45am anyway which is hardly an early start, but early enough for us!

Up and dressed, lunch boxes packed, breakfast eaten, flask of tea made and then off to Wildwood with Lorraine and Amy and some other home ed families.

An excellent, but busy day. Glorious sunshine throughout, but as there was lots of trees (clues in the name really) plenty of shade when needed.

We all met up outside and then ventured in for a quick cuppa before meeting up with Laura our ranger for the day.

First up was a brief tour around the park itself visiting a few animals on the way in a bit more detail.

First up the Fallow Deer:


Next up were the Konik wild horses:

Then Eagle Owl, Red Fox and Wolves:


The wolves were brilliant. Two females, both hand reared (there were others too, but these came up close to the fence when Laura went in, so we could get a close up view). One was particularly 'cute' if that is a word you can describe a wolf with, as she loved having a bit of a fuss through the fence and rolled over onto her back just as our dog, Draco, would do.

Next it was onto the Red Squirrels, past the elusive otters and back to the start.

We then met Gimli the owl who was lovely but very nervous with all of us standing around staring at her. Callum was a little bit shy in going forward, so I had to manoeuvre him into a position where he could see. I went and sat down as my hip was starting to hurt, but he stayed and listened to what was being said.

After lunch and a play in the play area, it was off to meet the bison. They were huge and we were told that, surprisingly, they can run at 40mpm! Wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of those. They did look lovely and warm with their shaggy hair though.


All in all it was a very good day - thanks Chrissie for organising and thanks Lorraine for driving us there. Would like to have seen a lot more of the park, so I think we will have to do another visit without being in a group, just to wander around at our own pace. There were lots that we didn't get chance to see. Must have been a good day as Amy and Callum fell asleep in the car on the way home. hehe

Anyway, cya