A WEEKEND SPENT OUTDOORS

Hiya

Another busy weekend for us, but want to make the most of the September sunshine. Love this time of year! Days are normally sunny, but not too hot and being outside watching the leaves change colour and the air being fresh instead of humid is wonderful.

So...Saturday morning we took ourselves off to Capstone park to forage Sloes, Damsons and the last of the Elderberries. We took the dog with us, so he had a great run round. Breakfast was wild apples and blackberries picked along the way - yum!! Callum managed to find us another superb Sloe bush; lots of berries and not so overgrown so much easier to pick without getting thorns stuck in your fingers and as the bush was more open the sloes had had the sun on them more, so there were a lot of them.

Back, after a round walk, we stopped for a coffee and Callum undid his 'healthy' breakfast by having a huge piece of black forest cake (homemade by the people at the cafe). Must admit it did look good, haha.

The afternoon was spent with Phil setting up the Sloe Gin, Callum running about in the garden and then on the computer and me picking sunflower heads, removing seeds, shelling said seeds (easier than you think, but quite time consuming) and then dry frying sunflower and pumpkin seeds for use in topping salads etc. Must admit, Callum and myself did devour a few, so probably only one lunch salad topping left, haha.

Today, we picked up his best mate Callum D and headed off to Riverside for Kite Making. The boys had a fab time making their kites and really took their time making them look gorgeous.

Then outside we went to give them a go at flying. The weather was just perfect...sunny with enough wind to lift them into the air. Callum D was an expert and got his up first - well done. My Callum took a bit longer, but got the hang of it pretty soon afterwards.


Lots of people were flying their kites, so we moved into the other field and ended up being the only ones in there. Perfect for flying and they only managed to tangle them once. Well done boys!!!!




Back home this afternoon and Callum dived onto the computer again, while I destoned 3lb of Damsons ready for jam making tomorrow afternoon. Still have 3lb left so think I'll be buying some cheap vodka ready for Damson Vodka.

We are all knackered now after so much fresh air, so another night of monging in front of TV beckons.

Cya later

END OF WEEK CATCH UP

Hiya

Well, as you can see the daily blog hasn't exactly been daily this week! We've been quite busy and I think I've been getting the start of the hibernation season tiredness. All I want to do in the evening is curl up in front of crap telly and mong out, haha. So as Callum has his best mate around this afternoon, I'm going to use that time to do this and catch up with emails, etc. So, here goes:

Wednesday was another day at home, so it was the usual ritual of maths and literacy worksheets and then a quick review of acids and alkalines. We wrote up our experiment and then did a worksheet and comprehension sheet. Callum has never done comprehension sheets before but I thought it was a good time to start. Luckily the book I use by Letts contains a Key Words Exercise, a Comprehension Exercise, Testing Understanding section and a Skills Practice sheet for each section of work, so I'm not having to find and create worksheets. It also has an answer section...phew!!! ;-) The comprehension bit is just a few small paragraphs to read with about 1/2 dozen questions so nothing really difficult as all the answers are given in the paragraphs. Callum answered the questions and wrote out his answers (wow!), but didn't want to do one of them as he couldn't answer it as thoroughly as he wanted to without writing loads!! After he'd finished the rest of the questions I went over it with him with the answers given in the book and he realised that the amount he was writing wasn't really necessary. He still isn't happy about it all, but I think he's understood the point about being concise.

Wednesday afternoon was cooking as we were out all day on Thursday so we needed lunch. Broccoli soup for me with sage and onion rolls, some shortbread and some apple and blackberry muffins for breakfast just in case we didn't get up in time to eat and they were something we could eat in the car.

Thursday, we were up at 7am and being picked up at 8.30am. Off to a home education trip to natural pathways and a bushcraft day. We learnt about knots and how to put up bashas, Callum didn't want to help put up a basha as such but made sure everyone had ropes, tent pegs and helped out explaining some of the knots (evidence that he'd retained something from him being shown). We also did a sensory awareness exercise where some people were blindfolded and others helped lead (in case they walked into trees or tripped over brambles or roots). You had to listen for the sound of the drum and aim towards it using your hearing and personal space awareness. Callum didn't want to actually do the exercise, but he was quite happy to do the drumming!

Callum in our Basha

Toasting marshmallows around the fire

After lunch we learnt about animal skulls, skats (poo), pellets and tracks and went off on a walk to see what we could find. Callum was very comfortable by this point and I lost him off with the rest of the children while us adults trailed behind having a chat. Actually we really did get lost, one minute the kids and guide were in front of us and the next minute they'd disappeared into the trees. We did find them though. All in all it was a fabulous fun and informative day, 19 of us (parents and children)in all and the weather stayed lovely.

Animal skulls

Today I was giving a talk about home education to the local MAGIC group.

Callum went off and played with a boy called Ben on their XBox which again shows how much his confidence has improved. And this afternoon he has his best mate round to play.

So, there you go, another catch up done.

Cya later

THE WEEKEND AND BEYOND

Hi all

Sorry, have had a busy weekend and just not got round to being on computer. So am going to have to combine a few days here.

So, firstly Saturday...Autumn Food Walk today at Capstone Park. Lovely two hour walk around the park (it is vast) looking at berries and nuts and some greens that we could eat now. Lots about at the moment including elderberry, damson, sloes, apples, pears, rose hips and wild carrot. Weather kind of held out although we did get some short downpours it wasn't anything that soaked us completely.

Spent the afternoon in the garden cutting back herbs, and clearing up. Used our washing machine drum fire pit for the first time, which Callum loved. He even got brave enough to pop some bits in. Rosemary and sage wood smelt beautiful when burnt but obviously smoked a lot as it was green. Luckily no-one had washing out on the line.

Sunday I was out all day with a couple of friends at Faversham and Belmont House for their Country Fair. Callum had a day with his dad. They dug over a corner of the garden where I want to put trees and then made a start of some models that Callum bought at the Model Show at RE Museum. They are quite small, but are the ideal size for his tanks and soldiers that he has upstairs. Will post some photos when they are finished.

Monday, back to school. Although we were both pretty shattered after all the fresh air of the weekend. Concentrated on Science. We're doing Acids and Alkalines this week. Was nice to just curl up on sofa and have a big talk rather than doing loads of worksheets. Rest of day was spent in kitchen cooking. Cauliflower moussaka. Callum wanted some of it too for dinner, so I cooked extra + a portion for freezing. Then baked apples dish style. I've got some apples that I'm not sure of the insides, so we wedged them and then layered them with dried fruit, brown sugar, crystallised ginger and knobs of butter and baked them. Was lovely!!! Yum!

Today, more science, but actually testing for acids and alkalines in household stuff and back to some maths and literacy.
This afternoon was off to the hall for a meet up and for Harry's 7th birthday party. Had a great time and although Callum didn't join in the games (he rarely does), he enjoyed himself and that's what counts. Thanks Harry for the invite.

Anyway, quick catch up, but its done now, so will catch ya later.

Cya

FRIDAY YAY!!

Hi all

Yay, it's Friday. We have had a real hit and miss week this week. Callum's difficulty in sleeping has meant he's been very tired and trying to fit in work has been sometimes good and sometimes impossible.

We've managed to cover our maths and literacy and even managed to get that done early this morning. However, Science is a day behind schedule, but what we have learnt has been successful. We were supposed to be looking at the typing 'lessons' on BBC website this week, but that just hasn't happened! But that's how it goes sometimes.

Today we went swimming with Lorraine and Amy..well Callum and Amy went swimming, Lorraine and I sat and drank tea and chatted. Seem to have done quite a bit of that lately, not that I'm complaining, hehe. Callum adores going swimming and as they are both old enough they don't need us in the pool anyway. Was nice to see them just getting on with it. The wave machine went on twice, so Callum was happy and the fountain went on for a while and they spent that time throwing Zogg Seal Sticks into it and diving under the water to retrieve them. Looked a bit scary from where I was sitting, but then as I don't swim, anything like that looks scary to me. They, on the other hand, looked like they were having the time of their lives. After a quick lunch out it was back home with every intention of doing a bit of work, but Splashes always gives me a headache as its so hot in there and Callum looked knackered, so we had a chat instead and I caught up with marking.

As I type he is happily on the Wii playing Worms!

So Friday has been a fun and less structured day which is how Fridays should be. Tomorrow we are doing an Autumn Food Walk at Capstone Park, so its nice to have had the afternoon to chill a bit.

Thanks Lorraine for taking us, must go again. x

Cya

Sorry, its a double post today as just didn't have time yesterday.


We've continued on the maths/literacy worksheets and Callum has been sailing through them. Included a sheet on symmetry today which we have covered before, but was a while ago. He redraw all the shapes easily...am going to have to find him something more challenging. Must trawl the internet later me thinks.


He's been a happy, but tired chappy past few days. Doesn't seem to be able to go off to sleep very easily and then wakes up late. I'm convinced its hormonal now that he's 12, but he's finding it really frustrating as he's normally such an early bird and he feels that he's wasting the day. I daren't wake him up though as, like me, he's a bear with a sore head if woken before his ready. He waited up for me (well stayed up in bed reading) until I got home last night, even though Dad was sound asleep, which didn't help. It was 10am when I finally couldn't wait any longer and woke him up with a cuppa and his worksheets. Am grateful that we don't have a school run to deal with in the morning as I doubt if he'd be in any fit state to learn if I had to get him up for it.


Science yesterday went well, we continued looking at Cells and how they form tissue and the various types that you have. We were supposed to be looking into specialised Cells today, but neither of us were particularly in the mood, so we had (well, he did) an easy and very basic day today.


Terri, my daughter, visited yesterday afternoon and although he'd been asked for days when she was coming, he still dived onto the computer to play his game as soon as she arrived. He did sit and explain to her what he was doing and he didn't like it when we went out to the cinema later that evening (hence no blog yesterday), but I was surprised that he didn't just launch himself on her as soon as she arrived.


This afternoon he had a surprise playdate for an hour when Carol came round to pick up the washing machine drum and to drop off some mini jars for me. Lauren (her daughter) spent some time with him on the Playstation whilst Carol had a cuppa and a chat, so that was cool. I also got a lovely little pile of educational resources to have a looksee at and decide what I want to take before passing on.


Other than that he's basically been a computer boy while I've been doing housework, washing and catching up on the knitting. He's also been making up his own game using the Cluedo board and paperclips......he was happy and I was....interested. Never did get to understand it though.


So that's it, not a great deal of activity, but that's how it goes sometimes. Very busy one day and very quiet and maybe a bit lazy the next.


Cya


PS: If you are wondering why Carol was picking up a washing machine drum, we saw people using them as fire pits whilst away at Off Grid this year and both thought it was a brilliant and simple idea (and why we hadn't already thought of doing it), so dearest partner has managed to pick up a couple from the yard at work and bring them home to be reused. Better than being put on the tip!

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

A WET AND WINDY START

Today did not start well. It was wet and windy; just like everywhere else in England by the sound of Facebook this morning. Anyone with ASD children will probably be aware that windy weather seems to ruffle their feathers (bit like a mad dog), adding to that the wet weather and we had a miserable, grumpy and slightly uncooperative Callum on our hands.

He wasn’t really responsive to his literacy this morning; putting lists into alphabetical order, so we agreed to do 4 out of the 6 and do the other 2 tomorrow. He hates writing, as I’ve said on many an occasion, and as I knew what else I wanted him to do today; I didn’t want to push it. He was reluctant on maths too, but did manage to complete the sheets without too much harrumphing!

A break was needed and a cup of coffee. He had ½ hour on his DS and then it was science. I wanted an overview today. There was a couple of worksheets with regard to things we covered last year that I wanted him to complete; see much he remembered and whether anything was missing. Then a discussion about how we were going to plan the science year. I want to follow the curriculum as much as possible with regard to subject matter, but not necessary do it the way schools do. Hopefully including plenty of hands on stuff to help him better understand.

So, how did he do? Well I have no worries about his learning last year as he zoomed through the Gruesome Gases and Powerful Planets questions in his Splendid Science book from Letts and got them all right. We have a couple of their booklets and they are pretty easy and fun to do, so are really just add-ons or for revision use.

Then planning…we thought that we hadn’t done much science last year, but on looking through what we should have covered last year, we discovered that it was only really Biology that we hadn’t touched. The majority of the Chemistry and Physics we’d already done, so we are going to redo and recheck over those areas quickly and fill in any gaps, concentrating for the rest of the time on the Biology stuff. I think that we will easily be up to date by Christmas and ready to start next year with this year’s work (if that makes sense).

This afternoon our friends Jackie, Hannah and Azeem came over for a play date; the boys spending the majority of that time on the Wii. Hannah was a little quiet today, but seemed ok to sit in and watch the boys. Jackie and I drank tea and caught up with news.

So Monday done and dusted. Tomorrow we start the serious work, haha.

Cya