Home Education Archives - Kate on thin ice

Home education has given me many a wobbly moment over the last few years but this week has seen a huge shift in my thinking. I have a written plan to refer to that I devised. It keeps me on track and makes me reassured that the children are covering things that matter according to received wisdom and our own family’s views.

I wanted to share some quotes from my amazing children that gave me great heart this week.

On discussing the heat wave my son’s response was “Why do we need the sun? Let’s learn about that.” I am always happy to tailor our days to what they want to learn so I have a new challenge to work on here. He also agreed it would be interesting to learn more biology based on how we respond to heat waves.

On sharing information on the big Friday event astronomy wise, my son responded with an email to me “SPAAAAAAAAAAACE!” This confirms his passion for all things moon, stars and so on. Similarly my suggestion we should start working through classical composers resulted in “I’d like to learn about this soon.” If he had not left school, I would have no idea of his great passion for classical music!

I have started to share something inspirational, funny or both with them on a daily basis too via email. Yesterday’s contribution resulted in this from my son “I seriously burst out laughing at this!” We also had some fun watching some Catherine Tate videos on a more stressful day this week. If I can teach them you can feel better with a laugh, that has got to count as a vital life skill right?

Now I have a struggle to decide my favourite subject and their responses this week. I am torn between poetry and history as both went well.

So from my son, I give you “Poems are beautiful things. I enjoy how smooth they feel compared to modern music.” I find that a stunningly beautiful way to put it. He is so full of soul and can recognise beauty so easily. What a wonderful 12 year old boy!

My daughter is quite self-directed learning loads about art, design and Japan this week. However she nailed it for me with her response to information I sent her about the Sarajevo assassination that sparked World War One.

She commented;

“It’s interesting, considering the event of his assassination was only slightly touched upon in school. However, it appears there was a huge issue with world leaders over thinking their importance – America right now – which probably would have lead to some kind of conflict, even if it didn’t match in scale.

Of course, there is also the fact that it would’ve only prevented that World War, and so World War 2 might’ve happened anyway, causing that to become World War 1”

So there are this week’s home education reasons to cheerful.

I would love feedback on this post for my wobbly old days!

Reflections from me

I know it might not suit many home educators but I have decided I need a written home education plan to steer our days and to help me on those days where I wobble a lot about our decision to home educate. I thought I would share what we are working to currently in case readers are looking for a home education plan. We can all learn from one another.

My personal struggles with mental wellbeing have proved to me how valuable it is go get outdoors for some of that delightful Vitamin D. It is also a good time to talk and to share. We live in the countryside so the beauty feeds our souls and we can take our two dogs and cat with us. Yes, I have a cat who loves to go on walks!

One of the things I have missed not knowing enough about in life purely for my own interest is art appreciation. So I try to ask the children to consider a painting every day and to share their thoughts and feelings.

On the other side of things, I cannot quite abandon the idea that they do need to have good English and Maths abilities. I use Edplace and other resources online to help with this. My son in particular enjoys doing worksheets whereas my daughter is more reluctant but will do them in amongst her self-directed learning.

We do worksheets on science too and the occasional experiment but I plan for that to be part of our standard home education day moving forwards. There are so many fun things you can do in the kitchen or outdoors teaching you lots about physics, chemistry and biology.

I love history as did my parents. I want my children to share that passion ideally. We watch documentaries about history a lot and will be doing more visits to enhance our history studies.

I did not study geography myself for long but I can use online resources to help with this. I certainly want them to have an awareness of diverse countries, their cultures and foods. I know there is more to geography than that so need to do further research as to how best to teach this.

I was always impressed how my brothers could always find work in cookery jobs as Mum had ensured that they could cook from an early age. She was a trained cook so they have very good skills or should I say had remembering that my oldest brother passed away last year.

Languages wise, we will focus on French for now and again there are so many resources online and I have my French A-Level to help me a bit.

As I write this I realise I need to build in money management and also music. My parents never taught me about money and I want my children to be equipped for the financial side of life. Music was a big part of my life growing up with so much singing in the house and on stage too. My youngest son has a real feeling for music so I want to encourage that. Music, like a good story, can ensure you realise you are not the only one to feel a certain way. As my late Mum said to me “With a good book you are never truly lonely”

What do you think of my home education plan? Have I forgotten something? What would you add?

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Home education guilt is something that haunts me on days like today. I got up in a great mood but there was loads of housework to be done after a busy weekend. So as the children were happily doing their own thing including gaming and art, I prioritised cleaning and tidying the house.

Home Education Guilt

We had a leak at the weekend too so there was the mess from that to contend with too. My good mood remained and I felt I was on a roll and would do some positive home education come the afternoon.

Then our landlord announced he wants to do a house inspection this weekend. I hate the idea as although I do housework every single day, dogs and children add to mess daily too. So I started to feel anxious as I hate feeling judged and of course can do that quite effectively against myself at the best of times. By the time I had calmed down there was work to be done.

The day slipped away hour by hour with the children largely left to their own devices. Pressure builds up and I start feeling I am not doing well enough by the children.

Thank goodness for the amazing Ross Mountney and her books. I have resolved to keep reading them every day as a bit of a touchstone that I an not going mad. Indeed, in “A Home Education Notebook” the introduction is all about losing the plot. Just like with so many parenting challenges, blogging it out can help I find and I intend to do far more of this.

The problem is that I compare myself to others both home educators and people who have children in state and private schools. However, perhaps some people out there compare themselves to me – you never know! I do have some of my own ideas such as sending my children out into the world with some really great values. I learn from others. I try different things from time to time. Perhaps I am not totally useless but on days like today I am filled with home education guilt.

I need to remind myself that my daughter was threatening serious self-harm when in school. Now she is sitting happily working on art designs. She is not stressed remotely.

It’s also important to note that I care more as a mum than any teacher ever could about my children. That makes wobbly days hard to face particularly when there are other troubles at play.

When did I ever really question the teachers in school as to just how much learning my children had done each day? If I trusted them, why can’t I trust myself.

Who am I kidding? If you make a brave choice and leap off into the unknown, it is going to feel scary. I just have to keep the faith and know that home education is working and has worked for so many people. Who’s to say our journey won’t be a successful one whatever that means anyway? Time will tell.

Do you experience home education guilt?

Tales From Mamaville

Forest School was a totally new concept to me when we started our home education journey. It bears no real relation to anything I remember learning in school apart from perhaps nature walks which may have happened once a year or so.

Forest School

What is Forest School?

Forest School is about getting outside and learning in a hands-on way in natural and woodland surroundings. In typical fashion, I decided if we were to do Forest School we needed a forest. So we have moved to a rural spot with our own small forest and a larger one at the front of the house. I know this sounds like absolute madness but it probably tells you everything you need to know about me along with the fact that months into our forest life, we have done very few Forest School activities.

However, with a new positive approach to our home education journey. I have resolved this is going to change.

Treasure Hunt

Today we started by listing the equipment that is needed for various projects. This shows how much I have learned whilst home educating as too often I set off with enthusiasm and then realise I have not got the kit or did not read the instructions correctly if at all. My 12 year old son is very vocal about the important of reading instructions – he is so like his Dad! My daughter and I are a bit more free-thinking or chaotic – call it what you will!

My list of equipment included nearly 50 items which looked very daunting. My husband read off the items so we could make it a bit like a treasure hunt with the children identifying where we could find the resources along with the gaps if we did not have them. The children were talking over each other so we decided that we would be a better team if my husband allocated different items to each child in turn. This worked much better.

Resources and tools

Some of the items were basic things easily found in the house such as bags, soap, water, bowls, chopping boards and scissors. My husband made me smile inwardly when he used this little adventure as an excuse to say we need more chopping boards. He does like plenty of chopping boards for some reason.

Some items were tools such as a palm drill, a hammer and a hand-held folding saw. The children and myself were not at all familiar with the names of some of the tools so my husband could really help on this score. It was decided my son and husband would do the treasure hunt for tools outside in the garage and the shed later. I was surprised that my children did not know what secateurs were. I guess part of home education is working out what they already know and what is totally new to them. Tea strainer was another item they were not familiar with but it was good to hear my daughter coming up with other ways we could strain the nettle tea we hope to make soon.

We need a stick as thick as a forearm which may be challenging but perhaps not considering where we live. We wondered whose forearm we should use as the measure. Pine cones are not a problem here as we have hundreds on the ground and hanging from trees.

Crafty ideas

Pipe cleaners caused some debate with my son wondering why pipes needed cleaning in the first place whereas my daughter has used them for crafting purposes for years. Pencils, papers, felt tip pens, permanent markers and wool are always easy to find in our house. With an artistic daughter, I have probably bought way too many such resources over the years but it does mean we have plentiful supplies. We do need to get some tracing paper, craft beads and some coloured cardboard.

We giggled when toothpicks appeared on the list as my husband always has loads of these. Mind you, the same could be said of me and blankets also on the list.

We all agreed a new flask would be worth purchasing in any event.

Sharp thinking

My daughter was nervous about the idea of using a pen knife and was shocked that Swiss Army knives are legal. My son was very keen to use such items. Funnily enough, I have always wanted a Swiss Army knife.

There was debate on where we would find clay and I guess this depends on the activity we choose to do next.

I love it when we absolutely throw ourselves into home education projects as a team. With more heads on the case we all learn more and there are so many laughs along the way too.

We are using this book to get us started.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Year-Forest-School-Outdoor-Skill-building/dp/178678131X

Wish us luck as we embark on our Forest School journey with gusto!

It is possible for us to have a positive home education day and I am committed to this being our new reality.

Positive Home Education

I have worked out that because I am probably over-schooled, I need some structured aspects to our day or I feel too wobbly. This cannot be good for the children and they need to see a mum who is confident in our home education journey.

Edplace

I signed up for Edplace ages ago and we use it from time to time but I want this to be more of a regular thing. My 12 year old son loves snuggling up and working through stuff with me watching him. We usually have a good giggle and often challenge the answers too which I think enhances learning but then what do I know? We did some maths involving the calculator looking at how easy it is to work out percentages with this resource. I often don’t let them have the calculator but I need to learn that calculators exist and you can do maths on phones and tablets now easily enough too. What is the point in educating them for a time long gone? We did some science about electricity and circuits – my mind boggled as it will on many a scientific topic but my son flew through the worksheet with a perfect score. We moved on to English which he loves working out the meaning of proverbs. Again he got a perfect score and we talked about the proverbs in a wider context too.

Getting outdoors

It was a sunny day and we don’t use our large garden and the forest nearly enough. That should changes as we are blessed to have these resources to hand. We went outside and built nests. We did it freehand but we learned so much. I tend to be really cynical about this sort of thing. I love the magic of it but being over-schooled, I have doubts about the value of learning outside the classroom too often. Having said that it is this sort of thing that I see other home educators doing and I think they are amazing and providing magical memories for their children. So today we had a go. We learned about keeping safe around brambles and the need to keep hydrated in hot weather. There was trial and error in our nest attempts and you learn to relax and realise that this is all absolutely fine. Isn’t life a whole heap of trials and errors for all of us really? It is also important to use imagination in life and I sat in wonder as my son suddenly decided the birds were going to use his nest as a boat and export pine cones. You can knock this stuff but it has to be better than the stress of SATS!

Video games

I don’t enjoy video games. I don’t know how to work the controllers or anything. When the children were little, I was so cross when my parents got my son his first Wii thing. I did not want them to be chained to screens and video games. The truth is I don’t like the amount of time any of my children spend on these things but over the years I have started to realise they can learn via the gaming as well as by books and other methods. A lot of games have some great vocabulary so they encourage reading as well as strategy. I understand but have yet to understand the Minecraft is a great learning tool. I have also worked out that if I want the children to meet me where I am at on this home education journey, I need to meet them on their ground too. So I went upstairs and watched my son playing a video game.

Stepping away from the laptop

I can hardly criticise my children for screen time when I am all too often chained to my laptop. On this positive home education day, I learned I can step away from the laptop and the world does not end. I am not worse off financially for taking that quality time with my children.

Celebrating a positive home education day

I feel amazing to realise how by putting my more troublesome thoughts about home education down in a blog post I have turned a corner in a positive way. I got so much support from bloggers and home educators. So I celebrate and learn that sometimes when we tell the truth and show our vulnerabilities we help others and are still acceptable out there in the big wide world.

I have decided to blog about our home education to keep me on track and so I can look back and see how much we actually do on my wobbly days.

Here’s to positive home education and positive mums too!