Impact

Take one visit to the Tate Modern last week.

Add 2 boys with nothing to do at 8am.

Leave for 30 minutes.

We saw Piet Modrian at the Tate and discovered that one of his works sold for $50.6m. We've had a lot of fun thinking about what we could buy with that amount of money!

Countdown

Our friends have nearly finished school and our timetable is about to change. It's a challenge to adjust in holiday time - we want to see friends and go on adventures but we also want to keep some momentum and structure as it's one of the balancing factors of EHE. We do so many extra-curricular activities in term time that keeping a loose lesson structure through the holidays helps keep the kids feeling like they know what's coming next.

We've got over a year under our belts and have one more year to go before K heads to secondary and W will likely head back to school too as he doesn't want to taught at home alone. It feels significant and momentous - we're over half way through this EHE adventure and I'm reflecting on what we've accomplished so far.

The boys folders are bursting with work. Their progress has been excellent and they've learnt so much. I'm exhausted. They've created beautiful things that they're really proud of. The house is a mess. It's been a philosophical awakening of epic proportions. We understand each other better than ever. We've done things we never dreamed of and visited incredible places. Our spontaneity has translated into tangible success - we can be packed and leave for a night away in less than 20 mins if the mood takes us. The boys brought us cups of tea in bed this morning, just because. Life is good. Nothing seems impossible.

Now the clock is ticking, counting down to the next stage of their educational journey back in the mainstream, and I've got the carpe diem vibe in spades.

One year to go and it's going to be an incredible 12 months.

Varying Sentence Length

A simple, powerful demonstration of how varying sentence length improves writing and speaking. A lovely example for auditory learners - google for images of this quote for a visual version with sentences colour coded by length.


“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. 

Now listen. 

I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”

― Gary Provost

The Joy of Trees

Things to do with your tree :

• Hug it
• Climb it
• Spot shapes in the bark
• Catch leaves
• Hide in it
• Use broken branches as swords/magic wands/den building materials
• Dangle from it
• Hide behind it
• Paint it with mud
• Marvel at it
• Identify it
• Take a bark rubbing from the trunk
• See what's living in it

We just love trees.

Abstract

Matisse's work appeals to my two. W loves colour and minimalism. K loves detail and technical balance. I wanted the boys to create an abstract piece of art and I was curious to see what they'd come up with without guidance from me and while sitting next to each other.

W takes his lead from K in many things but when it comes to art he sets his own path and isn't influenced by his big brother. We spent some time researching Matisse and getting inspired by some of his later cutout work. Shape and colour are the joy of Matisse - he also knew Picasso and they were both friends and rivals. K was drawn to 'Bees' and W to 'The Parakeet and the Mermaid'.

Art is best interpreted by the viewer, so I cordially present :
K's piece : "Static" inspired by technology and a badly tuned TV.
W's piece : "Abstract"inspired by woodland and a strawberry mousse for lunch.

Both available for general sale, signed and authenticity assured, for £5m each from the Fridge Gallery at my place.

Thoroughly inspired, we headed off to The Tate a few days later. We stuck to the abstract gallery as there was enough there to keep us busy. Highlights were Dali and Picasso but the whole experience was cool and unpretentious and the variety of artwork was diverse and engaging. We'll be back to explore other areas. It was fun to chat about what art is and how things are valued by how much people want them. 

The Tate sits right by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre so we watched a Midsummer Night's Dream from the Yard. It's cheap but standing for 4 hours was tough going on little (and big) legs. We'd pre-read the play and the boys kept up with the story but we were hampered by visibility and missed a lot of the physical jokes because of a pillar in our line of sight. We'll return when the boys are a bit taller or save up to pay for seats!

Then we ate crisps, stalked pigeons on the lawn and chased bubbles on the edge of the Thames - just in case we were getting a bit up ourselves. 

Finally a cheeky Picasso from W - with a small diversion into genetics! He drew me and S, then cut the faces and swapped parts so each face is half mum, half dad. K is on the right, W on the left!

Art imitating life.

Feels like Summer

The sun came out so a day at the beach was in order.

We'd been to a swimming pool that morning which turned out to be exclusively flumes - an awesome, extraordinary thing which I didn't know existed. Half the slides were outdoors and although the sun was out it was more for appearance than for temperature - it felt like a quintessentially British thing to be in nothing but swimming things, soaking wet, stood outdoors queuing for a slide in a brisk north easterly breeze ... and still call it fun.

We had a great time but were sorry there was no regular pool for a splash about. Lucky we were by the coast and nature kindly provided the largest, chilliest pool we could ask for - it even had a wave machine.

Despite the beautiful weather and calm seas we were alone on the beach except for the lifeguards so we enjoyed the exclusivity on this stunning bit of coastline. We collected shells, buried ourselves in the sand and had a swim which I'll call refreshing, but I suspect in other circles would be better described as fricking freezing, or borderline insane.

Brush and Ride

We popped in to the stables next door to the campsite we were staying for a night. The guys there managed to squeeze us in and I was so grateful as we had an incredible morning.

The boys were camping-tired which is a special sort of tired which involves being happy and grumpy at the same time. Too tired to manage polite conversation or help with the washing up but still able to shimmy up a tree or race around a campsite at the sight of a dragon fly.

The boys have sat on a horse once before but they don't remember it so to all intents and purposes this was their first horsey experience. Rather than just sit on and go, they had to brush and prepare the horse and then tack up, giving them a chance to get to know their new friend.

Our instructor Sue was boundlessly enthusiastic and explained the differences between classic and Western riding, how to brush and tack up the horse, where to stand, which bits to avoid, how to clean hooves and how to speak to the horse. Preparation complete they mounted Honey and Tilly and off we went.

It was an excellent lesson. They walked, steered, did challenges, trotted and went from zero to looking basically competent in under an hour. Physical co-ordination isn't W's strong suit but with patient instruction he got the hang of the controls on this new vehicle, mastering acceleration, steering and even braking (eventually). They both loved it and are looking forward to another lesson next time we're in the area.

What was the best bit? I ask as we drive away.

K's horse stopped for a massive wee and W's had gas. Cue uncontrolled giggling.

You can lead a horse to water ...

Village Fete

We love a village fete. Bumbling around with change in our pockets, buying overpriced ice cream and tickets for tombolas that are filled to bursting with things we either donated ourselves or that we just don't need.

I won a wine soaked Body Shop gift box. Oh, cruel tombola! I could smell the wine and the box was saturated with it - but the only bottle in my win was rose-scented body wash. I'm just saying it's not as good as wine.

Hook a duck, tractor rides and decorate a biscuit were fun but the highlight by a mile was the petting zoo. Amid my mutterings of 'we didn't have a petting zoo in my day' I ushered the small ones in for what turned out to be the most fantastic 45 minutes of their week and probably the best value £2 I've spent in ages.

K&W held ducks, guinea pigs, rabbits, chicks, geese, baby mice and fed a baby goat from a bottle.

The team running it were fabulous : competent, confident and with a sense of humour completely undiminished by 4 hours of small children wandering around their pen. They plonked furry and feathered beasts onto children's heads, laps and hands - giving them no time to be nervous or refuse. The highlight for me was a quote from a small boy who was sat next to us. As a rabbit appeared on his lap he looked faintly unimpressed as he turned to his mum and asked :

"What does it do?"

Mum looked briefly flustered before replying :
"It doesn't do anything - it's a rabbit."

Okay, this was no Xbox but we had a great time.

Parklife

We have amazing parks around where we live. From skate parks in Marlow, Princes Risborough and Missenden, to woodland ones at NT Waddesdon and Hughenden to the local public parks at West Wycombe, Naphill, Speen, Booker, Ellesborough and beyond - we are spoilt for choice.

No agenda here - it's just a fantastic way to spend a break time or wind down after school. Councils get a hard time but I can't fault our free public parks and green spaces and we make the most of these fantastic places.

Who doesn't love a bit of balancing, swinging, sliding, hanging and climbing...?

The Complex Verb Universe

Verbs don't sit into nice little boxes. There are rules and exceptions around everything from tense to first/third person, plurals to perfect form.

I could go into excruciating detail to teach the boys but I'd have to learn it all myself first (yawn), they would be disengaged (yawn again) and the impact on their written and spoken grammar would be minimal. So what's the point of learning forms, tenses and grammatical tools?

In a nutshell it's to make sure that what you say conveys what you mean in the most elegant way possible. It's also great to be able to alienate friends and family by correcting a grammatical faux pas :
"I think you mean whom, not who."
I think you're off my Christmas card list.

Demonstrating an understanding of grammatical constructs through fluent, interesting and clear sentences is important. Being able to define and explain grammar is not.

Today we looked at three useful verb types that help us with meaning, with a little help from the Mr Men and Little Miss books.

Imperative verbs are provided by Little Miss Bossy. They tell you what to do which is brilliant for instructions, recipes and warning signs. We used a recipe book to brainstorm imperative verbs.

Modal verbs belong to the auxiliary (helping) family of verbs, which support a main verb. Modal verbs indicate certainty, possibility or a lack thereof and so they are supplied by Mr Jelly who is often unsure. They can help indicate the necessity or likelihood : should, won't, can, must. They're useful in debates, requests and nagging small children to brush their teeth properly : You MUST brush your teeth or they WILL fall out.

Powerful verbs are excellent for story telling and helping the reader or listener to imagine a situation; provided by Little Miss Magic as they add that special something to a story. They're used all the time in fiction but also pop up regularly for emotive and dramatic reasons in news reports.

Powerful verbs also provide a useful link to synonyms : I ran down the road.
Sprinkle the magic to hint at context and deepen meaning :
I bolted down the road / I flew down the road / I raced down the road / I sprinted down the road / I bounded down the road.

I don't know any adults who can confidently explain the entire verby universe - maybe it's just not a topic that comes up much at parties. I'm not expecting the boys to; by far the most important thing is that their correct use becomes natural.

The best way to achieve that is to speak well, use rich vocabulary and read often and aloud. For good grammar you need an ear for the right sound.

Flying High

Through the wonder of Tesco vouchers we were able to go to Airkix for a Father's Day treat and experience indoor skydiving.

K & S were beyond excited but this represented another epic challenge for W (with helmet, suit, goggles and ear plugs to contend with) and no small challenge for me who dislikes heights and gets a cold sweat in any situation in which I have to relinquish physical control.

To cut a long, fantastic day short - it was brilliant. I was first up (typical!) and with W wavering I didn't have time to do anything except set a good example and throw myself in there to the depressing sound of them turning up the wind a few notches to keep me airborne.

Despite steaming up his goggles with tears and having no ability to reassure him other than hand signals as the wind tunnel was so loud, W got over his fears, went for it and loved it. We were beyond proud.

Every time K walks into a new social situation with his head high and every time W takes on a new physical challenge I glow with pride. Out of everything we wanted to achieve with home ed that is the headline for our family : we want to grab the amazing opportunities life offers.

The Making of Us

What a resource -
http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/the-making-of-me-and-you

This BBC link is a springboard to some fabulous human body work. The possibilities are endless but we've spent a couple of hours on some unstructured exploration:

Weight, convert between imperial / metric
Finding out height, team work required!
Big numbers - what's a trillion, what's an octillian
Imagining 2000L using water bottles
Microbes - how many and what are they up to?
How much our organs weigh & does your soul weigh anything?
Percentages - how much of you is water
Elements, which interesting things have you got in your body

There is No Hurry

Rivers know this : there is no hurry.

We shall get there some day.

Winnie the Pooh, A.A.Milne

A morning spent in the river with sunshine, dogs & wellies full of water. Happy days.

Paperwork - Practical Planning

Structure. A dirty word in some EHE families, a survival technique in others. I'm the planning type and so structure is my friend but avoid the rest of this post if you follow an unstructured approach as it may offend.

I love structure because I love stationery. Labels, dividers, lever arch files ... There's nothing quite as satisfying as well ordered paperwork, organised in files and lined up on a shelf.

Side note - good tip for stationery / stationary is that the one with the A is for Adjective (a stationary car) so the E must be the noun.

Approaching a full curriculum can be a bit overwhelming if, like me, you haven't taught the primary NC before. I've been through how to start tackling the big-picture objectives (if you're following the NC) here : http://uncommonlyeducated.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/200-pages.html) so this post is just to briefly share our organisational approach to the day to day business of planning and teaching .. through the wonder of A4 folders.

Produced Work
> One or two folders per child, with dividers by subject for them to keep their worksheets, drawings, notes, etc.

English and Maths
> One folder of Applied Maths worksheets, organised by topic. Perfect for when you need a bit of extension, reinforcement or practical application of a particular skill.
> One folder of English scheme notes, arranged by term or topic - mostly lists of which electronic or book resources to use alongside some worksheets/activities.

Topics
> One folder of exciting topic work ideas, unformed - bits and pieces, things I've found on wanders through the internet or from Facebook links from friends and forums. The place to go when I need inspiration for a theme day or scheme of work.
> One folder of stand alone activity lessons : science experiments, cooking games, challenges, etc. Perfect for when I need to pull something out of the bag after a 'bitty' morning.

Transfer Test
> One folder for 11+ skills sheets, examples, practice questions, etc.

Magazine Files 
> By subject, with workbooks for spelling, handwriting & particular maths skills, plus leaflets for exciting outings.

Electronically I keep files by subject with powerpoints, useful links, activities and worksheets - as soon as I'm planning to use them I'll print out any necessary resources and add to the folders above, ready to grab.

Our curriculum choice is our own so although we follow the NC we're under no legal obligation to do so - having a record of the work we've done also isn't a requirement. From a personal perspective, I find it reassuring and gives me a measure of progress and continuity, putting the boys in the best position to slot back into mainstream when the time comes.

And it means I get to buy loads of stationery. Yay.

Making Fire

Loving these sunny days. We've found EHE to be the reverse of school in terms of work pattern : we get loads done when the sun is shining. The summer term is full to the brim with science experiments, reading and talking in the sunshine and outings to interesting places.

When I was teaching the summer term was the toughest - a room full of kids (and one teacher) who wanted to be outdoors but were trapped in a small, hot room together for hours on end. I miss an awful lot about teaching in a school, but not that.

So the sun is out and our pace picks up. We're motoring through literacy, science and maths and the boys are actively seeking out learning opportunities. At 8am this morning we were making potato stars because W wanted to set up an experiment about osmosis.

The other awesome thing about the sun, other than relying on it for life, is that it is actually interesting. The moon might be great for tides and werewolves but it's just a rock. The sun is super-hot, gassy and destroys things - what's not to love? Curriculum links are easy: from ancient Egyptians and their worship of Ra to space, chemistry and geography.

Nothing so fancy for us today, just a good bit of exploring how a magnifying glass works and testing out what burns (no ants harmed, obviously). Learning shouldn't be this fun.

Getting On

A bad day yesterday doesn't mean a bad day today : we start fresh, the past is past (thanks mindfulness app). K asks if I want a cuddle. I don't need asking twice.

Lots of parents wish they could spend more time with their children at this age; I'm in the unusual position of spending almost every waking hour with mine. It's a blessing and a curse.

First out, I like my kids. I know they're random and a bit awkward socially and they sometimes don't listen and they wind each other up but they're also kind and funny and interesting and independent and brave.

Loving them is easy but it's not a given that you'll actually like your children. Traits that are completely adorable in me are downright irritating when W demonstrates them. That analysis and overthinking which make my husband successful at work - it hinders K and I get frustrated with him. We've been lucky that the boys got a very equitable split in the personality-gene-department so I get equally annoyed by both of them. It's good to be fair.

There are particular quirks with spending so much time together, foremost that my roles get muddled. I'm a teacher, housekeeper, mum and colleague. Using physical spaces to define and segregate our day and my role isn't something I considered before we started EHE but, even in our open plan set up, it can help mark distinctions.

When we're at our desks we're in work mode and I have my teacher hat on. The kitchen table doubles up - at mealtimes it's family time, it's a desk when we're working. The sofa is for snuggling and chatting with Mum hat firmly on head. I don't feel bad escaping to spend 10 minutes reading in my bedroom where I'm just boring old me and it's good for everyone.

Spending time together helps you to get to know who your children are; watching them learn gives you an insight into how their minds work. I love the moments when they give me an answer lightning fast, tell me their own way of working something out or show me something they've made or found.

Whatever our future holds I am grateful I've had the chance to do this. If I can survive another year and still like the kids, we'll call it a success.

Ouch

Low point today. Tired children, tired me, too much to do, too little time.

An argument with eldest that ended with a cutting truth :
"I'm fed up of you Mum."

Today I'm fed up of him too.

Tomorrow will be better.

Rhyme and Reason

Rounding off this poetry section I wanted to focus on rhyming couplets. Free verse is great but there's something satisfying in finding a rhyme. Less satisfying when the word is 'hamster' or 'spider'. Wasted a bit of time on those.

Rhyming couplet poems are prolific; we read lots for laughs and then looked at whether we can spot rhythms which sound best and why (tip: if the number of syllables is one different between the two lines it doesn't tend to flow).

Inspired by Grizzly Tales and the idea of morals in fairy tales the boys came up with a character called Billy with big eyes (no, I'm not sure either) who is cruel to animals and gets his just deserts.

There's a charming definition of poetry which is "the best words in the best order". We start with a brainstorm : a big board of words, rhyming pairs and ideas and then we pick out the best. Saying the couplets aloud helps choose - some just sound better than others.

W comes up with the name and K sets up the back story. W questioned K's premise throughout - why would a boy who is teased for having huge eyes be mean to animals? It's a leap, but I like K's logic that the big eyes hint at what might become of Billy later.

They managed to include an onomatopoeia (W's new favourite word!) with 'whizzed', rhyme, some sense of rhythm and alliteration (big brown bear).

A true team effort, here's the finished poem :

Silly Billy

There once was a boy called Billy

With big eyes which looked rather silly.

Because he was bullied by everyone

He started to hurt animals for fun.

At the zoo he stole a small giraffe

Then had a laugh when it took a bath.

In the woods he caught a big brown bear

At home he shaved off all its hair.

Billy took his neighbour's snake

And baked it into a birthday cake.

In the desert he found a cheetah

And roasted it inside a heater.

He woke one morning, my oh my,

Billy had turned into a fly.

As he whizzed around the ceiling

Billy got a sinking feeling.

He tried to find a way to flee

Bu a spider ate him for its tea.

Recipe for Survival

The reality of managing EHE, work and family/home is pretty brutal. Social media and blogs tend to highlight successes and happy moments but there's usually a lot of hard work behind the scenes.

Some nights I work until 3am to stay on top. I try to fit in 2 hours of work before school starts. On days I haven't left the house I am boggled that I can still rack up 7000 steps (thanks FatBot. Sorry, FitBit) as I bounce like a pinball between sink, computer and children.

I'm not complaining - this is my choice and I wouldn't swap places with anyone but when life doesn't fit inside the 24 hours granted each day it's draining.

I am writing this from a place of deep, deep tiredness but it occurs to me that my bad and good days from an EHE perspective can be predicted regardless of the amount of sleep I've had. Or not had.

This is my recipe for a good day :

1. I've made packed lunches the night before
2. The plan for the day is written up on the board when we start
3. I printed all my resources for the week on Sunday night
4. I had a theme or topic running through the day's activities
5. We have at least one tangible outcome, worthy of fridge-display
6. I focus on the things we did, not the things we didn't

So I know the recipe. I wish I was a better cook!

Free Verse : Best Value Poetry in the Curriculum

Free verse can be engaging and funny so it is the perfect start point for two boys who wailed 'I hate poems' as soon as I put it on the timetable.

They were easily swayed thanks to the likes of Michael Rosen, Kit Wright and Mandy Coe.

Free verse is defined by its lack of rules. Without the constraints of rhyme and a fixed rhythm, there are no distractions from other interesting poetic devices : we focussed on imagery, line breaks, alliteration, repetition and onomatopoeia.

First stop - The Magic Box by Kit Wright.
A fantastical poem with an easy to follow structure. Alliteration, imagery and onomatopoeia all feature in the first 2 lines so it's packed full of useful examples. We read it twice and then brainstormed what could go in our magic box - focussing on feelings, smells, tastes and sounds as well as things. The boys wrote their poems and then typed them up for display for a sneaky bit of ICT.

To say they were proud of them would be an understatement.

Next lesson was deeper into nonsense with Don't by Michael Rosen, who uses repetition for impact. We covered the way reading a poem aloud rather than in your head changes the feel and impact (link to slam/performance poetry) and watched some YouTube videos of poetry performances. We brought in elements of rhyme within phrases and I wish I could share them here but any poems that include lines like 'Don't put a plum in your bum' and 'Don't burp' are best kept offline. Thanks boys.

If I say there are no rules I can't be surprised that they produced rude poems. Hooray for freedom of expression.

Their 'Don't' poems might have lacked the charm of their Magic Box attempts but they did present them as a performance for Dad in a mini slam poetry jam.

Using the theme of 'Don't' we imagined a friend in a fantastical situation (the boys settled on : locked in an iron room and hair on fire) and wrote them a helpful postcard of Dos and Don'ts for a literacy link.

There's always scope for a bit more silliness so this week we'll move onto rhyming couplets with poems by Marian Swinger and Hilaire Belloc covering metaphors, similes, personification and some Spoonerisms from Michael Rosen.

Resources:
Michael Rosen compilations are terrific fun for browsing
Roald Dahl Revolting Rhymes are a classic
The Works, chosen by Paul Cookson, is a great one-stop compilation and includes lesson plans at the back

Our favourite onomatopoeia examples : buzz, crunch, pop, whizz, bang. Roald Dahl is the master of using these, especially in The Witches and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Turning Negatives into Positives

K wanted proof that subtracting a negative number is the same as adding. The rule is clear cut but I was failing to convince K. There were raised voices and it was not fun.

Luckily MathsIsFun delivered on its promise and rescued us from a mother-son rift.

I went with their hot air balloon example which has the added bonus of reinforcing the number line concept.

My hot air balloon looks like a flower pot (art is not my thing) but the idea is sound and it works like this:

The orange circles are balloons, worth +1. The grey are weights, worth -1.

• Start with the balloon pointing to zero then remove balloons (subtract a positive) or add weights (add a negative) to make the balloon drop. 
• Add balloons to make it rise (add a positive).
• Remove weights to show how subtracting a negative results in the balloon rising (a positive).

It's an effective way of proving to a 9 year old that taking away a negative can make a positive and there was a bonus bit of craft work preparing the number line and stamping out the circles.

Fabulous ideas from : http://www.mathsisfun.com/positive-negative-integers.html

Triangles

2D shapes aren't tricky but their names are. There are a lot of them and some are subsets of others which is mind blowing to my 8 year old. Today we're on triangles.

"It's just a triangle, like a normal triangle" he muttered, thoroughly defeated, as I pointed to yet another shape that, to him, still looks like a triangle.

Repetition and familiarity is the only way forward so we'll rinse and repeat in the next few days but here is our system for those pesky names :

Equilateral ... Equal easily spotted because the sides and angles are all equal.

Scalene ... Scatty Scalene - so muddled up that every side is a different length.

Isosceles ... iSausages - Okay I was desperate. Here is my artist impression of why isosceles is iSausages, based on the flimsy premise that if you ate two sausages for tea they're highly likely to be the same length (but the size of your plate might vary).

Also :
Right angled triangle ... Right Angle the clue's in the name - if it's got a right angle, this is your triangle. Can also be a scalene or isosceles, just to confuse any shape-name-matching activities. To prove this, I had to show W that you could lay your sausages in an L shape.

For reinforcement we're going to make pizza over the weekend and cut the slices into various triangle types.

Sausages and pizza. Not a great week for nutrition but a good one for maths.

Money Matters

It's never too early to start teaching children about money. Last week we had a gentle introduction to the evils and joys of money.

As with most things, it was driven by my sanity being at stake.

As we stood in a shop for the thousandth time with one boy or another insisting he had enough in his money box at home to buy the Pokemon / Lego / book / cuddly toy in front of us, I'd consider gambling with my own money.

Should I lend these mini people the cash - do they really have enough at home? Do they have honest faces? Do they know that I'll probably forget I lent it to them? Am I being hustled? Will I be clawing back repayment of the 60p debt in weekly instalments? Should I charge interest? Will I need a spreadsheet for this? Why am I making this so complicated?

Thankfully GoHenry have come up with a simple solution for forgetful mothers like me and the kids now have their own pre-paid debit cards. GoHenry is for children aged 8 and up so we're bang on for using their joyful services. If you fancy it, you can link their weekly pocket money to chores and if the tasks aren't ticked the pocket money won't get paid. Now that's motivating..

There's a monthly charge but for us it's worth it as the lesson in responsibility and practice in handing their own funds is worth its weight. Even better, the children feel about 6 feet tall.

When we went for our first 'use our new debit card adventure' (who says HE isn't exciting) .. the nice lady at the supermarket couldn't quite believe they were allowed to check out and pay for items themselves with their very own debit card and very own (very secret) pin.

The cards came with a price - the boys had to endure a one hour lesson on money skills with me before the cards would be issued and so we covered interest, savings, loans, pin numbers and debit vs credit cards.

I left pension planning for next time.

For brilliant teaching resources for all levels :
https://www.barclaysmoneyskills.com/Information/Resource-centre/School-Children.aspx

The 7-11 pack has a brilliant board game at the end of the pack.

The Joy of Long Division

The first step to teaching the boys long division was to teach myself long division.

I'm sure I did it at school at some point but that was at least a decade (*cough* or two) ago and it turns out that's it definitely nothing like riding a bike.

Step 1a : Google the topic and print out step by step instructions
Step 1b : Print out drill sheets and sit at the kitchen table with a garibaldi and a coffee
Step 1c : Check facebook a few times and empty the dishwasher
Step 1d : Do about 4 sums before declaring the invention of the calculator the best thing since sliced bread

Step 2 : Teach the boys long division

Here's a neat little trick to help them remember the steps :

Daddy Division
Mummy Multiplication
Sister Subtract (or in our case Stevie the cat Subtract)
Brother Bring down (if we've had an argument with our brother, we can substitute Bailey the dog)

So for example:

Then repeat, by saying Daddy divides 29 by 3 and writes the answer on the line .. and so on.

As soon as there's nothing for Brother (or Bailey) to bring down, whatever we're left with is the remainder.

(Thank you BBC skillwise and Explore Learning)

Crime & Punishment

On a car journey last week I drove past a guy on the pavement who threw some litter casually into the road and the boys had to endure my rant that it was the "worst sort of lazy, selfish behaviour", "low standards", "no respect for himself or others" and "if you're going to be a criminal at least do it properly".

Always eager to please, K cheerfully comments that "If I was a criminal I'd do it properly and rob a bank ...." "... or burgle a house" adds W helpfully. I spend the next 10 minutes explaining how there are much better career options than criminal mastermind but they've seen Despicable Me so I don't think they're buying it.

So we had crime on the mind (hopefully not dreaming up more ways to be an evil genius) while we did a bit of craft and W came up with a cool robber design for a peg person. Just to be clear being a robber is definitely not cool, but W's peg person was.

He set about making a prison for his robber. As we chatted about prisons we ambled onto escaping which led us nicely to the Great Escape which took place 72 years ago, on the night of 24th March 1944.

The co-incidence of the date was too good a history opportunity to pass up, so we did some WWII revision and took a quick tangent into the Jewish faith, persecution and brain washing.

Using the fabulous resources from the National Archives, which are easily adapted to suit upper and lower KS2, we looked at Belsen and eye witness accounts from the liberation. It's a perfect platform for exploring human reactions to cruelty, hunger, trauma and the logistics of war.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/sessions-and-resources/

We read an interview with a now elderly Auschwitz SS guard who escaped prosecution to briefly explore the difficult issue of holding individuals to account decades after an event. It's heavy going for an 8 and 9 year old so we only touched on it lightly, but I was amazed that the boys were able to articulate thoughts on something so ethically complex - they recognised it wasn't a black and white issue and felt that what he'd done with his life in the intervening decades might be relevant.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/spiegel-interview-with-a-91-year-old-former-auschwitz-guard-a-988127.html

Cheering up was needed and it was too early for me to have a gin so we moved onto the headline topic : the daring and wonderful great escape from the camp at Sagan. We thought about the practical problems of escaping and looked at the ingenious ways the escape committee managed to conceal their efforts, shore up the tunnel and make civilian clothing.
We used this history of the great escape, plus it has a handy quiz at the bottom :
http://www.historyonthenet.com/ww2/great_escape.htm

War and imprisonment never have a happy ending so it was fitting that only 3 of the escapees made it to the UK, 23 were returned to the camp and 50 were murdered on Hitler's direct orders. The boys could hardly believe it and looked genuinely crestfallen; we're too used to the good guys always beating the odds in stories and films.

To finish off, we looked at images and plans of the tunnels and the boys reconstructed hut 104 and 'Harry' tunnel in Minecraft.

An unplanned topic and fairly heavy going but we covered a lot of ground and had some fantastic discussion. So it's not all doom and gloom.

Except for peg robber. He's serving life.....

.... for pinching things.

Normal Week?

It's felt like a rubbish week.

Nothing untoward, just the usual minutiae. Now throw in a major work pitch, a vet visit for the cat, social and family engagements... Juggling is such a confidence killer. It's a wonder circus performers can keep a smile on.

I've limped to Thursday with FAILURE blazoned across my forehead because the kitchen is a mess, the children's nails are dirty, I haven't organised that birthday present to be posted yet, I should really wash the car, the dog needs his vaccination boosters, the oven has broken and I haven't chased the electrician etc etc and to top it all off, most heinous of all, I am convinced that I haven't done enough 'school' with the kids.

I hit the imaginary pause button - which conveniently generates a scone and a cup of tea - and did a reality check on our school week.

What has actually happened since 9am Monday?

Maths, ICT & science
Online maths lesson, every day
Explore learning session for English and maths
Long division revision and practice (W)

Column subtraction recap (K)

Science morning - human body theme with gross science

Programming - Flappy Bird computer game

Geoboard shapes app

'About Me' powerpoint (inserting text & images)
Endangered animals research & creating a poster

Literacy, art & music

Group reading, Firework Maker's Daughter
Exercise on Expanded noun phrases (K) & conjunctions (W)
Synonyms (K) & more conjunctions (W)
Creative writing lesson (W)
Literacy tutor (K)
Independent and aloud reading
Verbal reasoning practice (K)
Daily, new vocabulary and spellings

Piano lesson (W)

Art - glitter patterns, peg painting and colour mixing

Life skills
Hamster care - researching treats, cage cleaning, design & build maze tunnel systems
Trampolining
Parkour (K)
Cooking basics - independently making boiled eggs and beans on toast

8 point compass readings

Money skills lesson - debit cards, credit, interest and savings


That's not just okay, it's plenty.

I think I've earned another scone.

Maths is Fun

Exploring maths apps today - the ones below are ideal for consolidating fractions, angles, area, tessellation, 2D shapes and symmetry work. If we're ticking boxes then it's also a winner for ICT and art.

But who cares about that when you can make cool patterns?

http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/web-apps/geoboard/

http://www.mathlearningcenter.org/web-apps/pattern-shapes/

Little Miracles

After two weeks missing, presumed gone forever - Whiskers the hamster returned!

He was found in a box in the garage, which we presume he fell into from the rafters having crawled through the floor space above.  Dehydrated, dusty, considerably slimmer and looking as shocked as we were - but otherwise alive!

Not much else to say except : wow.

He might be just a rodent but in our house he's now a legend.

Pompeii

By no means the only Vesuvian town Pompeii is iconic, giving us an extraordinary link to a natural disaster occurring 1900 years ago. The site gives a snapshot of human civilisation and highlights how family, status, art, religion, business and community have remained relatively unchanged over the intervening centuries.

Archaeologically interesting, we looked briefly at artefacts online but the human aspect is where we were focussed. We touched on causes of volcanic eruptions from our Weather topic last year, disaster response, beliefs and looked for similarities in our own town (despite our notable lack of a volcano, much to the boys' disappointment).

We read extracts from Pliny the Younger who wrote to his uncle about what he'd seen at Pompeii, watched a fantastic CGI animation of the timeline of the eruption and finished up with a virtual tour of Pompeii thanks to Google Streetview.

Resources

"You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore." Pliny the Younger

A computer animation showing a timeline of the volcanic eruption:
http://www.openculture.com/2016/02/watch-the-destruction-of-pompeii-by-mount-vesuvius-re-created-with-computer-animation-79-ad.html

Google street view, explore the ruins from the comfort of home:
https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7489468,14.4848331,3a,75y,209.48h,82.37t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s1e-bu_kis-dL1BnVGZhDdw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

Pompeii in images (good for quick reference):
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/9557356/Pompeii-in-pictures.html

Pliny the Younger:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/pliny_the_younger.shtml
Plus an extended version of his letter:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pompeii.htm

Full, detailed information on the various buildings etc found:
https://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/

Sunrise Colours

One morning last month we had the most beautiful sunrise. The boys spotted it over breakfast and so I took a quick snap, hoping to catch the layers of colours in the sky.

Inspired, we set about having an art lesson (over 3 days) with tree techniques, paint washes, blending and drawing with various pens.

W (landscape minimalist) interpreted the image with typical focus on a single tree and had to be encouraged to add any further detail. A house was born of imagination.

K (still life perfectionist) got stressed that there were too many trees to recreate so needed encouragement that we were using the image as inspiration not to produce an exact copy.

Both boys were really proud of their work.

What nature supplied:

Creating a wash and blending:

Planning & drafting:

The finished artwork: