So, been rather busy with work stuff. However, just have time for a quick round up of the past few days. We activated the sprogits Minecraft licenses, so they have been Minecraft mental, playing it at every opportunity.
Small Clanger also spent a while playing on Explorapedia. He was very exicted to discover that "volcanoes can be under the water!" and also later spontaneously informed me that "lava under the ground is called magma".
On Saturday a couple of the neighbours kids came around - they decided while they were here that they wanted to make Tiny some birthday cards, so they all got pieces of card and folded them, drew pictures onto paper and cut them out, stuck them on and wrote in the insides. It was very sweet, and Tiny was thrilled. One of the girls also came back later on in the evening and gave Tiny a Mr Bounce beanie.
On Saturday morning Tiny helped to make her own birthday cake, which promptly fell apart when being removed from the cake tin. It was also rather overcooked (first time I've ever taken 2 attempts to make a cake!), so we gave that up as a bad job and started again on Sunday morning.
Tiny's birthday party was a roaring success on Sunday afternoon. A couple of the HE families who we go to gymnastics with came over, as well as some long term family friends, and the kids all had a great time playing. We did pass the parcel and sang happy birthday. Altogether it was very relaxed and enjoyed by all.
On Monday we did gymnastics as usual, although Small Clanger decided he didn't want to do it and spent the day playing with his free lego toy from the Sun. Little also complained of being tired part way through, so possible that they were still tired from the party on Sunday. We also went for Little's eyes testing, which are still ok (shortsightedness runs in the family).
Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Thursday, 25 October 2012
roasted butternut squash and red onion soup
Roast for half an hour at GM6. Then pour over between 1-3 litres** of well flavoured vegetable or chicken stock (depending on your personal preferences), and cook in oven for another half hour. Remove from oven and blend. Serve with crusty bread and a swirl of cream on the top (if you're that way inclined).
* You can adjust the quantities of squash, onion, sage according to your taste preferences.
** Again, personal preferences. Lots of stock makes a thinner soup, a little stock makes a thick soup. We use about 1.5 litres as we like it thicker.
chocolate cake with orange buttercream and chocolate icing
Super easy chocolate cake. This recipe is largely foolproof. As long as you don't miss out any ingredients or anything. The sponge is a Delia Smith recipe, the buttercream is the standard buttercream recipe off the icing sugar packets, and the chocolate icing is from a book of 200+ chocolate recipes.
Chocolate Sponge
225g self-raising flour
225g softened butter
225g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Preheat oven to GM3. Wang all ingredients in a bowl and whisk with electric whisk until combined. If you're super-lazy like me, and don't have a helper who likes mixing then you can use a food processor and blitz until combined. Pour into 2 cake tins around 6-7 inch across. Cook in centre of oven for 30 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool.
Orange Buttercream
40g softened butter
75g icing sugar
orange food colouring and/or flavouring
Beat butter until soft and creamy, then sift in icing sugar in small amounts, beating after each addition. Add food colouring and/or flavouring to taste. Use to sandwich cakes together.
Side note: when you spill orange flavouring down your finger, do not, I repeat, do not lick the excess off your finger. Seriously. It BURNS!!
Chocolate Fudge Icing
300g dark chocolate
225g icing sugar
50g butter
4 tbsp milk
Melt together chocolate and milk in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Or, if you're lazy like me, stick in microwave and radiate for 2 minutes. Stir in butter and icing sugar. Make sure to sift icing sugar first unless you want lumps. Leave to cool. Apply to cake with hot palette knife (ie, Carling pint glass filled with boiling water, and knife sat in it before working, and dipped in regularly to keep hot). Eat remainder out of bowl. Feel sick.
Enjoy! :)
Chocolate Sponge
225g self-raising flour
225g softened butter
225g caster sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Preheat oven to GM3. Wang all ingredients in a bowl and whisk with electric whisk until combined. If you're super-lazy like me, and don't have a helper who likes mixing then you can use a food processor and blitz until combined. Pour into 2 cake tins around 6-7 inch across. Cook in centre of oven for 30 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack to cool.
Orange Buttercream
40g softened butter
75g icing sugar
orange food colouring and/or flavouring
Beat butter until soft and creamy, then sift in icing sugar in small amounts, beating after each addition. Add food colouring and/or flavouring to taste. Use to sandwich cakes together.
Side note: when you spill orange flavouring down your finger, do not, I repeat, do not lick the excess off your finger. Seriously. It BURNS!!
Chocolate Fudge Icing
300g dark chocolate
225g icing sugar
50g butter
4 tbsp milk
Melt together chocolate and milk in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Or, if you're lazy like me, stick in microwave and radiate for 2 minutes. Stir in butter and icing sugar. Make sure to sift icing sugar first unless you want lumps. Leave to cool. Apply to cake with hot palette knife (ie, Carling pint glass filled with boiling water, and knife sat in it before working, and dipped in regularly to keep hot). Eat remainder out of bowl. Feel sick.
Enjoy! :)
a relaxed week - cinema, duplo and cake
So, this week has been quite easy going. This is a good thing as I seem to have turned into a post-exam zombie with a brain made of mush. I am assured that this will pass. For the moment I've resorted to writing an online to do list, because at least I can't mislay that around that house!
On Sunday we had family around, and met our neice for the first time. We also collected our surprise castle, which I won't post a picture of as it's a surprise. Dur. On Monday we went to see Puss in Boots at a local cinema with a couple of other HE families. The kids really enjoyed that, although Tiny thought it was a little too loud - she can be quite sound sensitive. We ate lunch together after the film and then we did our usual shopping around town, with the addition of a trip to a pet store to buy cat litter and stare at the fish/rabbits.
In the evening, our routine has recently been that Small and Tiny go to bed at the same time, and Little stays up for a while and watches Mythbusters before going to bed herself. About 45 minutes after she went to bed I went upstairs to fetch something and discovered her returning from a bathroom trip. I asked if she had woken up or was still awake and she said still awake, and then asked if she could have a cuddle. So I climbed up onto her bunk and we ended up having a lengthy chat, which started with her saying that she was sad because her teddies never talked back to her when she told them things. Eventually she confessed she wasn't sleeping well, and was having bad dreams. We talked about what we might be able to do to help with that - she suggested having the curtains open a bit to let some light in from the streetlights (in the absense of a nightlight), and we also agreed that she would go to bed a bit earlier as she can't really sleep in in the morning as the younger two get up and make lots of noise with duplo etc. She said she didn't want to miss Mythbusters so we've put it on Sky+ so that she can watch it whenever she wants to. The last two nights she's gone to bed a bit earlier and we've put a tiny dab of lavender oil on her feet when she goes to bed and she's been sleeping better. She is aware that when she's tired she'd more grumpy and she doesn't want to be grumpy.
On Tuesday, we spent the morning playing and tidying up the house ready for a friend visiting. She brought her two youngest kids with her; youngest (girl) is the same age as Tiny and the second to youngest (boy) is about 7 months older than Small. The kids were watching the Incredibles when they arrived but then they spent time playing, rough and tumbling, drawing and Small went to play on Reading Eggs for a bit. It was nice to catch up with my friend - we've not seen each other for a while so we caught up on life stuff and then talked about home ed and schools and her older children and how different they are from each other. After she left, Small helped me to make dinner.
Yesterday was a great day. While I was reading in bed yesterday morning the sprogits got creative with the duplo:
After breakfast we decided that we would make Grandad a birthday cake. I had seen a cake on the internet that I wanted to recreate so Little and I fetched out our usual cake recipe and made 1.5 quantities. See my separate post for the recipe. She worked out the half again quantities by herself, then measured the ingredients, then did the mixing and the pouring into the cake tin, which we lined together after deciding on the best size (it's one of those adjustable ones).
Then we put it in the oven (after an almost disaster when Little nearly dropped it on the way to the oven), and decided to put on our new yoga DVD while it was cooking. I bought KidYogi off Amazon last week and it arrived on Monday. We all tried some of the DVD, although Small and Tiny were reluctant to join in with Little and I at first, and there were some bits each of us found difficult. We'll definitely do it once a week at first, and see how we go. Once the cakes (two layers) were done I put them on some racks to cool and we had some lunch.
After lunch Tiny helped me to make orange flavoured and coloured buttercream...
...and then I put the layers together and cut it up with a bread knife to put it together. Prepare for geekism. Picture sideways because Blogger is weird like that sometimes:
Yes, it's Pi. My dad's a mathematician. What can I say?
I was very aware that I was running out of time at this stage, so I rushed through making the icing, cutting a corner by not sifting the icing sugar. Thought it would be fine. It tasted yummy, but wasn't very attractive to look at. Next time, no corner cutting.
Anyway, once the cake was done we collected all our bits together and hopped on the next bus into town. Unfortunately then we spent 25 minutes waiting for a bus to my parents to turn up (should've got on one immediately), and then when we got to my parents both my parents were out! So we sat on the doorstep for another 25 minutes waiting for my mum to arrive home from the local food bank where she volunteers. Once we made it into their house we had tea and the sprogits went upstairs to play.
The evening was lovely. We chatted, laughed, ate a Chinese takeaway, sang happy birthday...
... ate cake, chatted more, Darth Vader came to the rescue...
... (not sure what/whom he was rescuing) and eventually came home at almost 9pm. We even had a faked, dramatised "Oh no! We'll have to leave because the kids have school in the morning.... oh no, wait, they DON'T!" moment at about half past 7.
This morning Small and Tiny had a bath and I caught up with a friend on the phone. We have played with the bricks, and the duplo, and made some Hama bead creations. Little has made a horse which she has been itching to make for ages (although actually, it's not a very good board as the pegs are really a bit too far apart in some places, so the horse will now have to be stuck on to some card to give it strength). Small made a red and blue flower and Tiny made a multicoloured heart. Pictures to follow once they've cooled fully.
On Sunday we had family around, and met our neice for the first time. We also collected our surprise castle, which I won't post a picture of as it's a surprise. Dur. On Monday we went to see Puss in Boots at a local cinema with a couple of other HE families. The kids really enjoyed that, although Tiny thought it was a little too loud - she can be quite sound sensitive. We ate lunch together after the film and then we did our usual shopping around town, with the addition of a trip to a pet store to buy cat litter and stare at the fish/rabbits.
In the evening, our routine has recently been that Small and Tiny go to bed at the same time, and Little stays up for a while and watches Mythbusters before going to bed herself. About 45 minutes after she went to bed I went upstairs to fetch something and discovered her returning from a bathroom trip. I asked if she had woken up or was still awake and she said still awake, and then asked if she could have a cuddle. So I climbed up onto her bunk and we ended up having a lengthy chat, which started with her saying that she was sad because her teddies never talked back to her when she told them things. Eventually she confessed she wasn't sleeping well, and was having bad dreams. We talked about what we might be able to do to help with that - she suggested having the curtains open a bit to let some light in from the streetlights (in the absense of a nightlight), and we also agreed that she would go to bed a bit earlier as she can't really sleep in in the morning as the younger two get up and make lots of noise with duplo etc. She said she didn't want to miss Mythbusters so we've put it on Sky+ so that she can watch it whenever she wants to. The last two nights she's gone to bed a bit earlier and we've put a tiny dab of lavender oil on her feet when she goes to bed and she's been sleeping better. She is aware that when she's tired she'd more grumpy and she doesn't want to be grumpy.
On Tuesday, we spent the morning playing and tidying up the house ready for a friend visiting. She brought her two youngest kids with her; youngest (girl) is the same age as Tiny and the second to youngest (boy) is about 7 months older than Small. The kids were watching the Incredibles when they arrived but then they spent time playing, rough and tumbling, drawing and Small went to play on Reading Eggs for a bit. It was nice to catch up with my friend - we've not seen each other for a while so we caught up on life stuff and then talked about home ed and schools and her older children and how different they are from each other. After she left, Small helped me to make dinner.
Yesterday was a great day. While I was reading in bed yesterday morning the sprogits got creative with the duplo:
 |
| Little Clanger made a monster mask (with a handle behind it to hold it) |
 |
| Small Clanger made an axe |
 |
| Little then made Puss in Boots (with sword and bag of coins) |
 |
| Puss from the side so you can see his tail |
Then we put it in the oven (after an almost disaster when Little nearly dropped it on the way to the oven), and decided to put on our new yoga DVD while it was cooking. I bought KidYogi off Amazon last week and it arrived on Monday. We all tried some of the DVD, although Small and Tiny were reluctant to join in with Little and I at first, and there were some bits each of us found difficult. We'll definitely do it once a week at first, and see how we go. Once the cakes (two layers) were done I put them on some racks to cool and we had some lunch.
After lunch Tiny helped me to make orange flavoured and coloured buttercream...
...and then I put the layers together and cut it up with a bread knife to put it together. Prepare for geekism. Picture sideways because Blogger is weird like that sometimes:
Yes, it's Pi. My dad's a mathematician. What can I say?
I was very aware that I was running out of time at this stage, so I rushed through making the icing, cutting a corner by not sifting the icing sugar. Thought it would be fine. It tasted yummy, but wasn't very attractive to look at. Next time, no corner cutting.
Anyway, once the cake was done we collected all our bits together and hopped on the next bus into town. Unfortunately then we spent 25 minutes waiting for a bus to my parents to turn up (should've got on one immediately), and then when we got to my parents both my parents were out! So we sat on the doorstep for another 25 minutes waiting for my mum to arrive home from the local food bank where she volunteers. Once we made it into their house we had tea and the sprogits went upstairs to play.
The evening was lovely. We chatted, laughed, ate a Chinese takeaway, sang happy birthday...
... ate cake, chatted more, Darth Vader came to the rescue...
... (not sure what/whom he was rescuing) and eventually came home at almost 9pm. We even had a faked, dramatised "Oh no! We'll have to leave because the kids have school in the morning.... oh no, wait, they DON'T!" moment at about half past 7.
This morning Small and Tiny had a bath and I caught up with a friend on the phone. We have played with the bricks, and the duplo, and made some Hama bead creations. Little has made a horse which she has been itching to make for ages (although actually, it's not a very good board as the pegs are really a bit too far apart in some places, so the horse will now have to be stuck on to some card to give it strength). Small made a red and blue flower and Tiny made a multicoloured heart. Pictures to follow once they've cooled fully.
Sunday, 21 October 2012
a day at Legoland Discovery Centre
On Friday, I had arranged with a friend (Uncle J) to "do something" as he has booked a couple of weeks off work, and I am now free to enjoy life without revision and studying. I had a voucher for reduced "family" entry to the Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester - 2 adults and 2 children... but to not pay extra for Tiny Clanger we would have to go before her third birthday, which is at the end of the month.
So, we hopped into Uncle J's car and set off. We didn't tell the sprogits where we were going, so when we pulled up in the carpark and saw this...
...the back of the car exploded with shouts and screams and excited bouncing! We got out and walked across the car park and the first thing we saw was....
... a circle of Weeping Angels. Cue screaming. Thanks a bunch, BBC! Despite reassurances that there is no such thing as Weeping Angels, and that they are only on Dr Who and not in real life, every statue was still labelled as one, with appropriate cringing, wide eyes and racing by in case it got them.
Anyway, we went in and paid, and were given a "factory tour" which consisted of a fat guy who must've had boundless energy showing us how they melt plastic granules into Legoo (witty, haha), which is then pressed into moulds and frozen in a vat of vanilla ice cream. Little Clanger helped to wake up the mould machine, and Small Clanger helped to wake up the painting machine. Tiny Clanger clung to me with a terrified look on her face. Think it was a bit overwhelming for her. They all got a LDC duplo brick at the end of the "tour"so that perked her up.
After that we queued up for Kingdom Quest, a ride in which we all got lego guns and had to shoot the skeletons and trolls to rescue the Princess and the Dragon. Didn't get any pictures of that, I was too busy shooting bad guys ;) After rescuing the Princess we went for some lunch. If I was slightly more organised I would have made a packed lunch, but I didn't.
Anyway, then we went exploring the main bit of the Centre. There was Miniland, which depicted various cities/attractions in lego:
A build and test centre with various test tracks that you could test your car on:
A Forest Pursuit which they could drive electric police cars around for a few minutes:
As well as various places where they could just build whatever they wanted:
There were also other rides and play areas but I didn't get any pictures of those, and just before we left we went in to see a lego film - only 15 minutes long, but in 4D which was a whole new experience for the sprogits. We got sprayed with water when some boulders fell in a pool, and we got snowed on, and right at the end the dragon sniffed a bunch of flowers and then sneezed and we all got covered in dragon snot! :D
We did have a quick look around the shop but the prices were insane so I opted not to spent any money there.
On the way home we spotted a yellow Lamborghini and Small Clanger announced he wants a red one of those when he grows up....! He also pointed out that a lorry had undertaken us (didn't even know he knew what undertaking was!) so we had a discussion about how when there is heavy traffic on the road and the cars are moving slowly, then each lane moves by itself so it's not really undertaking.
All in all, it was a lovely day, and we really enjoyed it. We'll definitely go again sometime.
So, we hopped into Uncle J's car and set off. We didn't tell the sprogits where we were going, so when we pulled up in the carpark and saw this...
...the back of the car exploded with shouts and screams and excited bouncing! We got out and walked across the car park and the first thing we saw was....
... a circle of Weeping Angels. Cue screaming. Thanks a bunch, BBC! Despite reassurances that there is no such thing as Weeping Angels, and that they are only on Dr Who and not in real life, every statue was still labelled as one, with appropriate cringing, wide eyes and racing by in case it got them.
Anyway, we went in and paid, and were given a "factory tour" which consisted of a fat guy who must've had boundless energy showing us how they melt plastic granules into Legoo (witty, haha), which is then pressed into moulds and frozen in a vat of vanilla ice cream. Little Clanger helped to wake up the mould machine, and Small Clanger helped to wake up the painting machine. Tiny Clanger clung to me with a terrified look on her face. Think it was a bit overwhelming for her. They all got a LDC duplo brick at the end of the "tour"so that perked her up.
After that we queued up for Kingdom Quest, a ride in which we all got lego guns and had to shoot the skeletons and trolls to rescue the Princess and the Dragon. Didn't get any pictures of that, I was too busy shooting bad guys ;) After rescuing the Princess we went for some lunch. If I was slightly more organised I would have made a packed lunch, but I didn't.
Anyway, then we went exploring the main bit of the Centre. There was Miniland, which depicted various cities/attractions in lego:
 |
| Horseracing at Aintree Racecourse |
 |
| A church - I'm sure it must be a significant one but didn't read the plaque for this bit. |
 |
| Manchester |
 |
| Stadium which they could manipulate the angle of the floor to try to score a goal - Small Clanger scored 3! |
 |
| Farm |
 |
| Lego Oblivion |
 |
| Small Clanger's is the top left one. |
As well as various places where they could just build whatever they wanted:
There were also other rides and play areas but I didn't get any pictures of those, and just before we left we went in to see a lego film - only 15 minutes long, but in 4D which was a whole new experience for the sprogits. We got sprayed with water when some boulders fell in a pool, and we got snowed on, and right at the end the dragon sniffed a bunch of flowers and then sneezed and we all got covered in dragon snot! :D
We did have a quick look around the shop but the prices were insane so I opted not to spent any money there.
On the way home we spotted a yellow Lamborghini and Small Clanger announced he wants a red one of those when he grows up....! He also pointed out that a lorry had undertaken us (didn't even know he knew what undertaking was!) so we had a discussion about how when there is heavy traffic on the road and the cars are moving slowly, then each lane moves by itself so it's not really undertaking.
All in all, it was a lovely day, and we really enjoyed it. We'll definitely go again sometime.
Saturday, 20 October 2012
what now? looking back and moving forwards
You may have noticed I've been mentioning revision quite a bit in my previous posts. Well, on Thursday I sat a 3 hour exam on cognitive psychology. (I know, right, fabulously fun! I had trouble controlling myself if I'm honest...)
I took a risk, rather a big one, and only revised six topics from an available fourteen. Possibly not a great idea, but with time restraints, sprogits and the ever present chance of mental overload to take into consideration... I took a pragmatic approach: to revise the chapters I had actually read, and hope for the best. Anyway it paid off. Part 2 of the exam, the part I was most worried about, delivered a great question on problem solving which was my strongest chapter, and asked for specific research studies, which, thanks to the wonderful discovery of mnemonics I could remember loads of, plus researchers names. Parts 1 and 3 were alright too, although I ran out of time at the end and had to hurriedly scribble a brief and rather too vague conclusion to my final essay. Overall, it was a reasonable examination experience. Apart from the hand cramp at the end. That bit sucked.
The reason this exam was such a big deal is because it was my final exam. I am now done. My degree is finished. That's assuming I pass of course... which I am. This, despite knowing that well learned school lesson that you should never assume things. There's a little saying that was recited to us, which I'm sure will be familiar to some of you...
As I was saying.... DONE! FINISHED! FINITO!
*commence dancing with pompoms and brass bands*
But.. and it's a big but... what do I do now? So far, my entire life has been guided by the progression from one educational goal to another. After leaving school with GCSEs, I went to college to study for A levels. Once I had finished them I registered with the OU. Now I have finished... so what now? What's the next step on my path?
I've been reflecting on where I am compared to where I've come from. I think this is an important thing to do, for everyone, on occasion. Indeed I said as much to another home edding mum - HelLS bELLs - a week or so ago. You can only appreciate where you are currently, and the progress you have made, if you look back at where you were. It is so easy to get bogged under in the here and now, the daily and weekly routines, the mundane bits and the exciting bits; and be blinded to all the growth that happens without you even noticing; to not realise just how much you (or your children, in the case of home edding!) have profoundly changed.
I made a list of things that have changed, for the better, since I began studying for this degree:
When I think back to my first OU tutorial... arriving all wrapped up with a Subway sandwich under my arm and a week old baby in a pram... well I don't know what I think. I certainly made an impression on the tutor (who still remembered me last year when I was being tutored by his partner, rang to speak to her and got him instead), as well as the other students there (one of whom still brings it up even now!). A passing comment from one of those students I met back on that cold February evening, the one who has been elevated to "best friend" status over the past 5 years, really drove home what I need to do now. While being wished good luck, I mentioned nerves and she said that I was one of the most controlled people she knew. I know she meant it as a compliment, and sometimes it is... but sometimes it's also a curse... I find it difficult to relax, to go with the flow, to let go of tension.
So, I'm taking my own advice, and not planning too much at the moment. I had a serious burn out about this time last year, and then another one earlier on this year. I very nearly quit the OU. In my opinion, I need to deschool. I need time to find myself, become centred and balanced, regain my love of learning, remember what my focus is. Obviously we will be settling into our home ed lifestyle, and I'll be actively doulaing again - something I stopped doing to concentrate on my last two degree modules.
In the future I would like to some post grad study. I'd love to do research - I very much enjoyed the practical research projects over the past two years - either in the field of maternity or in home ed. There is a real lack of research on home ed in the UK. But the OU are currently "evaluating" their provision of Social Science Masters.... so I'm taking that as a(nother) sign to take a break for a bit! ;) plus I'm not sure that being an academic fits with where we are as a family at the moment.
In the meantime, I have a lovely big pile of books to read, which were given as birthday gifts, which I am looking forward to working my way through. I started reading The Highly Sensitive Child on the evening after my exam. Little Clanger is a HSC, and it's topical as it's written by a psychologist! ;) I also have The Birthkeepers; Siblings without Rivalry; What Mothers Do... Especially When It Looks Like Nothing; and How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and How to Listen so Kids Will Talk, so that should keep me going for a while. After that I hope to read books 1-4 of A Song of Ice and Fire again, before reading book 5. To read for pleasure again will be... well... a pleasure!
So, here's to relaxation. To being calm, not stressed. To not working towards deadlines. To reading because I want to, not because I have to. To just being a mum, not a student. To being the best mum I can be, instead of grumpy shouty mum, who always has something else she needs to do. To learning the lessons the sprogits are here to teach me. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, the really tough bits as well as the really great bits, but I am glad it is over, and a new part of my life can begin.
To (mis)quote Douglas Adams...
I took a risk, rather a big one, and only revised six topics from an available fourteen. Possibly not a great idea, but with time restraints, sprogits and the ever present chance of mental overload to take into consideration... I took a pragmatic approach: to revise the chapters I had actually read, and hope for the best. Anyway it paid off. Part 2 of the exam, the part I was most worried about, delivered a great question on problem solving which was my strongest chapter, and asked for specific research studies, which, thanks to the wonderful discovery of mnemonics I could remember loads of, plus researchers names. Parts 1 and 3 were alright too, although I ran out of time at the end and had to hurriedly scribble a brief and rather too vague conclusion to my final essay. Overall, it was a reasonable examination experience. Apart from the hand cramp at the end. That bit sucked.
The reason this exam was such a big deal is because it was my final exam. I am now done. My degree is finished. That's assuming I pass of course... which I am. This, despite knowing that well learned school lesson that you should never assume things. There's a little saying that was recited to us, which I'm sure will be familiar to some of you...
ASSUME makes an ASS out of U and MEVery witty. Anyway, as pointed out by a fellow course member while reading the Open University exam marking scale:
According to this, to fail, you'd have to write an answer along the lines of: "My dad's mate Bob's cousin has problems recognising faces but knows what a car looks like, so the two are probably separate processes. I like fish."So on that basis I've probably passed. Probably. I don't think I mentioned fish.
As I was saying.... DONE! FINISHED! FINITO!
*commence dancing with pompoms and brass bands*
But.. and it's a big but... what do I do now? So far, my entire life has been guided by the progression from one educational goal to another. After leaving school with GCSEs, I went to college to study for A levels. Once I had finished them I registered with the OU. Now I have finished... so what now? What's the next step on my path?
I've been reflecting on where I am compared to where I've come from. I think this is an important thing to do, for everyone, on occasion. Indeed I said as much to another home edding mum - HelLS bELLs - a week or so ago. You can only appreciate where you are currently, and the progress you have made, if you look back at where you were. It is so easy to get bogged under in the here and now, the daily and weekly routines, the mundane bits and the exciting bits; and be blinded to all the growth that happens without you even noticing; to not realise just how much you (or your children, in the case of home edding!) have profoundly changed.
I made a list of things that have changed, for the better, since I began studying for this degree:
- Two additional children came into our lives. Small Clanger and Tiny Clanger have both been born since the beginning of January 2007.
- We've paid off all our debt. Every single penny.
- We've moved out of a cold, damp, rented house with next to no garden; and bought our warm, dry house with two huge gardens.
- The Man left a demeaning job with no prospects and an asshat for a boss; for one with real personal and professional development opportunities, in a company who genuinely appreciate what they've got in him.
- I've met, in person and online, a fabulously supportive and knowledgable network of women, who have nurtured me; taught me; humbled me; supported me; helped me to grow and a myriad other things that I can't even begin to list because they're too numerous.
- I've become a doula, as a result of the journey that I have travelled and am travelling with those women.
- I've learned to trust my instincts, listen to my gut, and do things that are right for me and my family regardless of what others think.
- I've become more confident in myself.
- I've gained a new best friend.
When I think back to my first OU tutorial... arriving all wrapped up with a Subway sandwich under my arm and a week old baby in a pram... well I don't know what I think. I certainly made an impression on the tutor (who still remembered me last year when I was being tutored by his partner, rang to speak to her and got him instead), as well as the other students there (one of whom still brings it up even now!). A passing comment from one of those students I met back on that cold February evening, the one who has been elevated to "best friend" status over the past 5 years, really drove home what I need to do now. While being wished good luck, I mentioned nerves and she said that I was one of the most controlled people she knew. I know she meant it as a compliment, and sometimes it is... but sometimes it's also a curse... I find it difficult to relax, to go with the flow, to let go of tension.
So, I'm taking my own advice, and not planning too much at the moment. I had a serious burn out about this time last year, and then another one earlier on this year. I very nearly quit the OU. In my opinion, I need to deschool. I need time to find myself, become centred and balanced, regain my love of learning, remember what my focus is. Obviously we will be settling into our home ed lifestyle, and I'll be actively doulaing again - something I stopped doing to concentrate on my last two degree modules.
In the future I would like to some post grad study. I'd love to do research - I very much enjoyed the practical research projects over the past two years - either in the field of maternity or in home ed. There is a real lack of research on home ed in the UK. But the OU are currently "evaluating" their provision of Social Science Masters.... so I'm taking that as a(nother) sign to take a break for a bit! ;) plus I'm not sure that being an academic fits with where we are as a family at the moment.
In the meantime, I have a lovely big pile of books to read, which were given as birthday gifts, which I am looking forward to working my way through. I started reading The Highly Sensitive Child on the evening after my exam. Little Clanger is a HSC, and it's topical as it's written by a psychologist! ;) I also have The Birthkeepers; Siblings without Rivalry; What Mothers Do... Especially When It Looks Like Nothing; and How to Talk so Kids Will Listen and How to Listen so Kids Will Talk, so that should keep me going for a while. After that I hope to read books 1-4 of A Song of Ice and Fire again, before reading book 5. To read for pleasure again will be... well... a pleasure!
So, here's to relaxation. To being calm, not stressed. To not working towards deadlines. To reading because I want to, not because I have to. To just being a mum, not a student. To being the best mum I can be, instead of grumpy shouty mum, who always has something else she needs to do. To learning the lessons the sprogits are here to teach me. I have thoroughly enjoyed it, the really tough bits as well as the really great bits, but I am glad it is over, and a new part of my life can begin.
To (mis)quote Douglas Adams...
So long, Open University, and thanks for all the fish!
Wednesday, 17 October 2012
I love this stage of drawing!
I think this is my favourite stage of drawing... when they start to draw things that are genuinely understandable by others.
This was the third piece of paper which she had drawn on, but on the other two she had coloured in the people so you couldn't really tell what they were:
This one was the last one before she got bored of drawing and went to play:
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| Shared workspace, my revision and her drawing :) |
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| I drew the pink one, the little blue one, the brown one with curly hair, the ants and the little aliens (we were sharing drawing). Little Clanger drew the dark green one. Tiny Clanger drew the rest. The middle yellow one is my sister (presumably she's had a bit too much fun at Uni, which is why she's fallen down ;) lol), the yellow ones on either side are my parents. The yellow one to the left is Uncle J. The green square one is a flag. The others remained unnamed. |
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| Two people with ladders up their arms "so you can climb up". |
Monday, 15 October 2012
weekend round up
Just a quickie, as I am bogged under with revision and apparently The Man doesn't feel up to writing a post ;)
The past three days have involved (in no particular order): Star Wars, Minecraft, Sim City Classic, colouring, birthday parties, neighbours coming round to play, dressing up, "battles" on MS paint, watching Felix Baumgartner pass Mach 1 jumping from the edge of space (wow, was that amazing?!), gymnastics, Merlin, pouring boiling water on my own hand (yes, I know, dur!), keeping balloons up in the air for 5 minutes at a time.... and discussions on space, the atmosphere (altasphere, to quote Small Clanger), eating healthily, bone skeletons compared with cartilidge skeletons, the fastest land speed record and jet propelled cars, how evil and good change according to your perspective, spaceships made of cheese bringing mice to our planet, plus a whole bunch of other stuff I can't remember because my brain space is chock full of perception, working memory, emotion, consciousness, judgements and problem solving.
Oh, and we have arranged to buy a castle. A secret castle. Don't tell anyone. Shhhh......
The past three days have involved (in no particular order): Star Wars, Minecraft, Sim City Classic, colouring, birthday parties, neighbours coming round to play, dressing up, "battles" on MS paint, watching Felix Baumgartner pass Mach 1 jumping from the edge of space (wow, was that amazing?!), gymnastics, Merlin, pouring boiling water on my own hand (yes, I know, dur!), keeping balloons up in the air for 5 minutes at a time.... and discussions on space, the atmosphere (altasphere, to quote Small Clanger), eating healthily, bone skeletons compared with cartilidge skeletons, the fastest land speed record and jet propelled cars, how evil and good change according to your perspective, spaceships made of cheese bringing mice to our planet, plus a whole bunch of other stuff I can't remember because my brain space is chock full of perception, working memory, emotion, consciousness, judgements and problem solving.
Oh, and we have arranged to buy a castle. A secret castle. Don't tell anyone. Shhhh......
Friday, 12 October 2012
a go slow day
I feel like I'm on slow motion setting today. Yesterday I slipped on the kitchen floor after taking some recycling out (it was raining), and I didn't manage to get my hands out in time and landed on the left side of my face. Glasses went flying... not really sure how I managed to avoid hitting my head on the units either side as I went down to be honest. Anyway, I went splat. I'm not bruised or swollen, but I've had a headache all day, bright lights hurt and moving quickly makes me feel a touch dizzy. It hurts to smile/laugh (there's a bummer!), and my neck and jaw are feeling quite jarred - it hurts to open my mouth to eat. I don't think I'm concussed, I hope I'm not... but I definitely do not feel right, so I've been taking it easy today. Needless to say, I have not done any revision. Not really ideal, considering it's less than a week until my exam, but I think it would have been a waste of time trying.
This morning Little Clanger asked to do some more Dance Mat Typing, and Small Clanger played on Minecraft. After a while Little also switched to playing Minecraft, so it was a Minecraft overload this morning. Meanwhile I sorted out some stuff in our bedroom which is taking up valuable space (ie, stuff that I've not gotten around to throwing out/giving to charity/selling on eBay yet). After that, I stripped our bed and Tiny's bed, put some washing on and then did a bit of ironing. I can already hear the sharp intake of breath from those who know me well, as I profess to not believe in ironing. Unfortunately there are two exemptions to that: the first is the man's work clothes, and the second is when I have a slack week and end up leaving clothing unfolded in such a way that it ends up so crumpled that I can't even tell which way is up. There was only 3 shirts and a handful of Small's t-shirts, so it didn't take long, and it was a mindless enough task that it didn't make my headache worse. While I was doing the ironing Tiny asked to watch How to Train Your Dragon, and I agreed as we've not watched it in a very long time (plus it's one of my favourites!). After I finished I sat down with her to watch the end of it.
Once the film finished I did a bit more sorting, and then we had lunch. I didn't eat much though, couldn't face it. Not that I felt sick, just didn't want to eat. After lunch the sprogits got the hama beads out, although I stated right at the beginning that they could play with them but I wouldn't be getting up and down to iron the things as my head was pounding. I lay down on the sofa and dozed for a bit.
When I woke up (headache much less than when I lay down) the sprogits had created some mazes on the square hama boards. They obviously couldn't be ironed, but they showed me them with great gusto before putting all the beads back in the tub. I got out some workbooks which I bought a few months back from a supermarket. There's 2 sets of 4, one for ages 3-5 and one for ages 6-8:
We had a look through them and I asked if they wanted to have a go at some of the bits. They did. Small Clanger did a few pages of the orange Counting book, and Little Clanger did a wordsearch and a crossword in the green Reading and Writing book:
Tiny Clanger did some colouring in a dinosaur colouring book. I'm a bit on the fence about colouring books - not sure whether they're freeing or restricting - but we were given them as a gift so we are using them until they are full. The stickers in the workbooks are pretty cool - each page has space for a star sticker, and a circular sticker with a praising phrase on it (I am great, number 1, brill etc) and a little character. Some of the characters are awesome! :D
Little expressed that she would like some more wordsearches and crosswords to do. Once they had had enough of the workbooks they got out all the Fisher Price Little People and ELC Happyland characters and are currently playing happily together with all the characters. I am contemplating chilli and rice for dinner, which I am really looking forward to eating, but not so much to making... *sigh* my head hurts :(
EDITED TO ADD: I'm definitely not right today - I didn't even put my bells on this morning, and I've only just noticed! :(
This morning Little Clanger asked to do some more Dance Mat Typing, and Small Clanger played on Minecraft. After a while Little also switched to playing Minecraft, so it was a Minecraft overload this morning. Meanwhile I sorted out some stuff in our bedroom which is taking up valuable space (ie, stuff that I've not gotten around to throwing out/giving to charity/selling on eBay yet). After that, I stripped our bed and Tiny's bed, put some washing on and then did a bit of ironing. I can already hear the sharp intake of breath from those who know me well, as I profess to not believe in ironing. Unfortunately there are two exemptions to that: the first is the man's work clothes, and the second is when I have a slack week and end up leaving clothing unfolded in such a way that it ends up so crumpled that I can't even tell which way is up. There was only 3 shirts and a handful of Small's t-shirts, so it didn't take long, and it was a mindless enough task that it didn't make my headache worse. While I was doing the ironing Tiny asked to watch How to Train Your Dragon, and I agreed as we've not watched it in a very long time (plus it's one of my favourites!). After I finished I sat down with her to watch the end of it.
Once the film finished I did a bit more sorting, and then we had lunch. I didn't eat much though, couldn't face it. Not that I felt sick, just didn't want to eat. After lunch the sprogits got the hama beads out, although I stated right at the beginning that they could play with them but I wouldn't be getting up and down to iron the things as my head was pounding. I lay down on the sofa and dozed for a bit.
When I woke up (headache much less than when I lay down) the sprogits had created some mazes on the square hama boards. They obviously couldn't be ironed, but they showed me them with great gusto before putting all the beads back in the tub. I got out some workbooks which I bought a few months back from a supermarket. There's 2 sets of 4, one for ages 3-5 and one for ages 6-8:
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| Picture taken by Small Clanger :) |
Tiny Clanger did some colouring in a dinosaur colouring book. I'm a bit on the fence about colouring books - not sure whether they're freeing or restricting - but we were given them as a gift so we are using them until they are full. The stickers in the workbooks are pretty cool - each page has space for a star sticker, and a circular sticker with a praising phrase on it (I am great, number 1, brill etc) and a little character. Some of the characters are awesome! :D
Little expressed that she would like some more wordsearches and crosswords to do. Once they had had enough of the workbooks they got out all the Fisher Price Little People and ELC Happyland characters and are currently playing happily together with all the characters. I am contemplating chilli and rice for dinner, which I am really looking forward to eating, but not so much to making... *sigh* my head hurts :(
EDITED TO ADD: I'm definitely not right today - I didn't even put my bells on this morning, and I've only just noticed! :(
Thursday, 11 October 2012
typing, Minecraft and exercise
This morning after breakfast Little Clanger and Small Clanger each spent some (ok, a lot of!) time playing on Minecraft Classic. We have been exploring the demo version of the game and the classic version as a precursor to buying some licenses - an opportunity has come up for a discount for a large group of home edders buying together. They are both enjoying playing it, so we think we will probably get them a license each, plus one for Daddy, and maybe one for my brother too.
Meanwhile, Tiny Clanger and I spent some time crafting. I bought a couple of bundles of hama beads off eBay and they arrived on Tuesday so we've been having some fun each day with them. Today she made a multicoloured heart and I stuck our robins and snowflakes that we've made onto the cards that we have in stock. We now have 6 Christmas cards ready for sending out to folk:
The butcher came and delivered our order from earlier in the week. I'm very glad I ordered all the bits and pieces in - I now have all our meat for the month safely tucked away in the freezer, plus all the meat for the cats pseudo-prey meals ready to prepare this evening, and I only had to carry it from the front door! I think this will be the new way forwards.
My back and hips are not as painful today. I have found in the past that if I find the time to do gentle exercise (read, stretches) then they are not as bad as if I don't. Considering that stretches are muscular, there must be an interaction between my hip joints and the muscles that support them - when the muscles are stronger, the activity that makes my hips hurt doesn't have so much of an effect on them. They are still affected by having colds or the flu*, but the effect of spending all day on my feet or going for long walks is less. Which means I need to make this a priority in our evolving weekly routine. The sprogits have time to exercise each week, so it's only fair that I do too.
During lunch I spent a while exploring with the sprogits about why they had decided they didn't like Reading Eggs/Eggspress anymore. After explaining why I was asking (ie, that they both definitely liked it before and that they both agreed that nothing had changed on the games), they both outlined their reasons and we talked about them. Turns out, Small Clanger was upset because my version of java wasn't totally up to date and so it froze a couple of times while he was doing his lessons, and Little Clanger was miffed that she didn't get eggs for reading a book more than once (!!). She had also thought that the Writing Express part of the floating island was going to produce worksheets that could be printed out and she could then fill in by hand; and that she didn't like not being able to type.
So, I updated my Java on my computer, and Small has spent the afternoon playing on the computer, although admittedly not on Reading Eggs - he's made some pictures on Paint, and played on the cbeebies website. Currently he is watching some Alphablocks mini-episodes, and doing the exercises that acompany them. I've noticed that he is finding them a lot easier since doing the Reading Eggs lessons. He is still steadfastly insisting that he can't read, which I think is leftover from school. Yet he is spelling and reading simple words with great ease, so I think it's just a confidence thing.
I also opened up the BBC Bitesize Dance Mat Typing website for Little Clanger, which she is absolutely flying through. She keeps calling me over to look how far she has got, and telling me that it's "well easy". Unfortunately we can't print off any of the certificates that it offers as the printer is still out of service. But otherwise she is making great progress. I realise that she will need to go over them again a few (or many) more times. Not sure if she realises that though. One of the things we find with Little is that she seems to go one of two ways: either she gets very upset about not being able to grasp something first time, and then refuses to do it anymore because she "can't do it"; or she grasps it very well but then won't do any practice on it, professing that she now knows how to do it so doesn't need to. I am not really sure what to do about that... Anyway we have also agreed that I will try to find some worksheets that she can complete, as that is something that she would like to do.
So, now I'm going to do some Callanetics before I start making dinner. Bring on the achey thighs!
* for anyone who is interested, my hips originally went funny after having an out-of-proportion allergic response to some kind of infection, so when my immune system gets going fighting off a cold or the flu my joints hurt, especially my hips.
Meanwhile, Tiny Clanger and I spent some time crafting. I bought a couple of bundles of hama beads off eBay and they arrived on Tuesday so we've been having some fun each day with them. Today she made a multicoloured heart and I stuck our robins and snowflakes that we've made onto the cards that we have in stock. We now have 6 Christmas cards ready for sending out to folk:
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| Merry Christmas! |
My back and hips are not as painful today. I have found in the past that if I find the time to do gentle exercise (read, stretches) then they are not as bad as if I don't. Considering that stretches are muscular, there must be an interaction between my hip joints and the muscles that support them - when the muscles are stronger, the activity that makes my hips hurt doesn't have so much of an effect on them. They are still affected by having colds or the flu*, but the effect of spending all day on my feet or going for long walks is less. Which means I need to make this a priority in our evolving weekly routine. The sprogits have time to exercise each week, so it's only fair that I do too.
During lunch I spent a while exploring with the sprogits about why they had decided they didn't like Reading Eggs/Eggspress anymore. After explaining why I was asking (ie, that they both definitely liked it before and that they both agreed that nothing had changed on the games), they both outlined their reasons and we talked about them. Turns out, Small Clanger was upset because my version of java wasn't totally up to date and so it froze a couple of times while he was doing his lessons, and Little Clanger was miffed that she didn't get eggs for reading a book more than once (!!). She had also thought that the Writing Express part of the floating island was going to produce worksheets that could be printed out and she could then fill in by hand; and that she didn't like not being able to type.
So, I updated my Java on my computer, and Small has spent the afternoon playing on the computer, although admittedly not on Reading Eggs - he's made some pictures on Paint, and played on the cbeebies website. Currently he is watching some Alphablocks mini-episodes, and doing the exercises that acompany them. I've noticed that he is finding them a lot easier since doing the Reading Eggs lessons. He is still steadfastly insisting that he can't read, which I think is leftover from school. Yet he is spelling and reading simple words with great ease, so I think it's just a confidence thing.
I also opened up the BBC Bitesize Dance Mat Typing website for Little Clanger, which she is absolutely flying through. She keeps calling me over to look how far she has got, and telling me that it's "well easy". Unfortunately we can't print off any of the certificates that it offers as the printer is still out of service. But otherwise she is making great progress. I realise that she will need to go over them again a few (or many) more times. Not sure if she realises that though. One of the things we find with Little is that she seems to go one of two ways: either she gets very upset about not being able to grasp something first time, and then refuses to do it anymore because she "can't do it"; or she grasps it very well but then won't do any practice on it, professing that she now knows how to do it so doesn't need to. I am not really sure what to do about that... Anyway we have also agreed that I will try to find some worksheets that she can complete, as that is something that she would like to do.
So, now I'm going to do some Callanetics before I start making dinner. Bring on the achey thighs!
* for anyone who is interested, my hips originally went funny after having an out-of-proportion allergic response to some kind of infection, so when my immune system gets going fighting off a cold or the flu my joints hurt, especially my hips.
Wednesday, 10 October 2012
deschooling... and potatoes
Recently I was asked by a mum from school how we were finding "home schooling". When I said that we weren't doing much yet as we are still deschooling, she laughed, and I think she thought it was a made up word. I tried to explain, briefly, but I think I fell down a little. This is what I said:
When a baby is born they are natural learners. They are autonomous. Like cats, they are curious about anything and everything. They move from one activity to another, following their interests, finding out how things work. If they are interested in only one activity, they can spend hours on it. When they discover something new, they'll practise it over and over until they've mastered it. Think of those lovely phases they go through, like spit bubbles, raspberries, and teeth grinding. Babbling da da da da, over and over, until they learn ma ma ma ma, and repeat that over and over too. Mushing food between their fingers. Dropping their cup repeatedly over the side of the highchair. Throwing themselves backwards while in your arms. "What happens when I do this? Does it happen every time? Really? Every time?" Practising drawing smiley faces until the whole paper is covered in them. The progression from faces with arms and legs; to bodies with arms and legs; to people with belly buttons, fingers and toes, hair and ears. This is learning in it's most basic and natural form.
As parents, we encourage them to try new things, to explore the world around them. We watch over them, guiding them down the paths we would prefer. Trying to protect them from things that will hurt them - no hot ovens, no crawling towards staircases, no eating lupins in the garden. Hopefully trusting that sometimes, even when they do things we wouldn't do, they are still taking something valuable from the experience...
This is the path that parenting follows. Then, they come to "that age" and, very often, we choose to put them in school. We hope that school will guide them as we did, fostering curiosity and growth. We have faith that the system will look after them and nurture their development at least as well as we have, if not better.
The system. The system that, due to it's very nature, has to make certain sacrifices. Sacrifices in tailoring lessons to individuals; in taking time to make sure one lesson is secure before moving on to the next; in taking galloping leaps with those who are thirsty for knowledge. They can only go as fast as their slowest learner. For those who, for want of a better phrase, learn faster, they are held back by slower learners. For those who, again, lacking a better phrase, learn slower, they can struggle to keep up if something basic is misunderstood. A building cannot stand firm if it's foundations are not securely laid. Plus, schools have limited time in which to impart their knowledge to the children who are attending. Each child, assuming they're not struck down by lurgies or have to attend family funerals or whatever, attends school for 195 days a year, for around 6 hours each day. Into that time they must cram all their set level of maths, English, science, sport, IT, history, religious studies, modern language, music and whatever else the curriculum deems they should know, plus at least an hour daily of 'socialising' with other children. And that's not even counting the added hours of homework that seem to be handed out earlier and earlier nowadays.
I think we can all agree that, all things considered, school is intense. In fact, it can be overwhelmingly intense. While children can seem alright on the outside their brains and bodies can be completely overwhelmed and frustrated by school. That crazy behaviour that drives you mad when they get back from school? That's their way of dealing with being cooped up inside for hours at a time, forced to sit still and concentrate, whether they feel like it or not. The spending hours zoned out staring at the TV? That's dealing with being mentally overwhelmed. So the first part of deschooling involves children getting all that wound up physical energy and mental strain out of their systems. Going through the crazy behaviour stage and/or the zoned out to the world stage into being just them again. Able to run free when they have energy, and able to walk away when they are mentally overwhelmed.
Even when not in school for a long amount of time, the ways of thinking that are perpetuated by school persist. I'm sure most parents of children in schools have experienced their child putting their hand up at a mealtime to talk, or calling you 'Miss' instead of mummy, or asking if they can go for a wee. So, another part of deschooling involves children unlearning those habits. It is remembering that they can eat and use the toilet when they need to, not when it is prescribed by others. It also runs deeper than that. Schools teach their students how to think: how to analyse problems in set ways; how to accept the authority of their "teachers" even when they may disagree with them; how to conform; how to comply. How many mothers have agreed to interventions during pregnancy/birth that they didn't want because they felt guilty for considering not complying? That is one of the legacies of schooling. Unlearning those lessons can take a long time.
After a while of being off school, children start to say things like "I'm bored", because they've gotten used to having their day timetabled for them, so they don't have to come up with their own things to do. This is the point that lots of children reach at the end of the summer holidays. But actually, if you go through that phase, children start to relearn how to use their natural creativity to fill their own days with things that are important and interesting to them. This is another part of deschooling. Learning to explore things because they want to explore them, not because they have to; learning to find out more about something because it interests them, not because they've been told they "must" know it. Toddlers are never bored. They're never bored because the world is full of new and interesting things to do - you just have to be open to finding them.
Finally, as most adults in this country have been through school, there is a lot of belief in it as a system. As I said before, we think that school will nurture our children, help them grow. We are so sold on it as a system, that when thinking about home ed, one of the first things that people say is some kind of variation on "I couldn't possibly teach my kids all that stuff". We think we are inferior, unable to continue the excellent job we have done with our kids up until they enter into the school system. We can't possibly teach them everything they need to know. You need special training to do that. You need knowledge. You need organisation. You need to be better than a parent. You need to be a "teacher". Indeed, the mum I was talking to the other day said exactly that:
It can look like many things. It can look like a child lying on their lawn and staring at the sky for a whole afternoon. It can look like a train ride with friends to a nearby town or city. It can look like 4 hours of continuously playing on a game on the computer. It can look like an entire maths workbook in an afternoon. It can look like three children sat on beanbags with a huge encyclopedia balanced on their knees, one of them reading aloud to the others. It can look like using farm animals to recreate a film watched the day before. It can look like a kitchen covered in flour, sugar and buttery finger smears after a session baking wonky cookies with finger holes in them. It can look like counting change into the hand of a market seller. It can look like a group of children building a giant spaceship out of cardboard boxes. It can look like so many of these, and much more.
Where do we as parents fit into this picture? Well, we are guiders, we are listeners, we are debaters, we are signposters, we are sharers. Mostly we are creators of opportunity - we do our best to provide the right tools and resources for learning. To use an analogy, we provide the warmth, the water and the light, and the seed grows into a shoot, then a sapling, then a tree. But we don't, and indeed, cannot, make the seed grow - it does that all by itself. We just help it along, by creating the right environment. And if our saplings come to us with a question, we help them to find the answer. We learn about it together. Partners, on a learning journey.
I don't think that I am done deschooling. Far from it, I'm only just beginning. As are the kids. We have a long way to go. But we will get there, together. Supporting each other, and learning how to be together again. Learning how to learn. And having fun doing it. And probably not eating any more raw potatoes!
"the process which a child goes through after leaving school, where they adjust to a non-formal learning environment"I'm not completely convinced with it as an explanation. While it largely does the job, to truly understand it, you need a bit more detail. So, N, this post is for you, to try to explain why deschooling is necessary, and how it happens. I hope it helps :)
When a baby is born they are natural learners. They are autonomous. Like cats, they are curious about anything and everything. They move from one activity to another, following their interests, finding out how things work. If they are interested in only one activity, they can spend hours on it. When they discover something new, they'll practise it over and over until they've mastered it. Think of those lovely phases they go through, like spit bubbles, raspberries, and teeth grinding. Babbling da da da da, over and over, until they learn ma ma ma ma, and repeat that over and over too. Mushing food between their fingers. Dropping their cup repeatedly over the side of the highchair. Throwing themselves backwards while in your arms. "What happens when I do this? Does it happen every time? Really? Every time?" Practising drawing smiley faces until the whole paper is covered in them. The progression from faces with arms and legs; to bodies with arms and legs; to people with belly buttons, fingers and toes, hair and ears. This is learning in it's most basic and natural form.
As parents, we encourage them to try new things, to explore the world around them. We watch over them, guiding them down the paths we would prefer. Trying to protect them from things that will hurt them - no hot ovens, no crawling towards staircases, no eating lupins in the garden. Hopefully trusting that sometimes, even when they do things we wouldn't do, they are still taking something valuable from the experience...
 |
| Small Clanger, aged 8.5 months, eating a raw potato. |
The system. The system that, due to it's very nature, has to make certain sacrifices. Sacrifices in tailoring lessons to individuals; in taking time to make sure one lesson is secure before moving on to the next; in taking galloping leaps with those who are thirsty for knowledge. They can only go as fast as their slowest learner. For those who, for want of a better phrase, learn faster, they are held back by slower learners. For those who, again, lacking a better phrase, learn slower, they can struggle to keep up if something basic is misunderstood. A building cannot stand firm if it's foundations are not securely laid. Plus, schools have limited time in which to impart their knowledge to the children who are attending. Each child, assuming they're not struck down by lurgies or have to attend family funerals or whatever, attends school for 195 days a year, for around 6 hours each day. Into that time they must cram all their set level of maths, English, science, sport, IT, history, religious studies, modern language, music and whatever else the curriculum deems they should know, plus at least an hour daily of 'socialising' with other children. And that's not even counting the added hours of homework that seem to be handed out earlier and earlier nowadays.
I think we can all agree that, all things considered, school is intense. In fact, it can be overwhelmingly intense. While children can seem alright on the outside their brains and bodies can be completely overwhelmed and frustrated by school. That crazy behaviour that drives you mad when they get back from school? That's their way of dealing with being cooped up inside for hours at a time, forced to sit still and concentrate, whether they feel like it or not. The spending hours zoned out staring at the TV? That's dealing with being mentally overwhelmed. So the first part of deschooling involves children getting all that wound up physical energy and mental strain out of their systems. Going through the crazy behaviour stage and/or the zoned out to the world stage into being just them again. Able to run free when they have energy, and able to walk away when they are mentally overwhelmed.
Even when not in school for a long amount of time, the ways of thinking that are perpetuated by school persist. I'm sure most parents of children in schools have experienced their child putting their hand up at a mealtime to talk, or calling you 'Miss' instead of mummy, or asking if they can go for a wee. So, another part of deschooling involves children unlearning those habits. It is remembering that they can eat and use the toilet when they need to, not when it is prescribed by others. It also runs deeper than that. Schools teach their students how to think: how to analyse problems in set ways; how to accept the authority of their "teachers" even when they may disagree with them; how to conform; how to comply. How many mothers have agreed to interventions during pregnancy/birth that they didn't want because they felt guilty for considering not complying? That is one of the legacies of schooling. Unlearning those lessons can take a long time.
After a while of being off school, children start to say things like "I'm bored", because they've gotten used to having their day timetabled for them, so they don't have to come up with their own things to do. This is the point that lots of children reach at the end of the summer holidays. But actually, if you go through that phase, children start to relearn how to use their natural creativity to fill their own days with things that are important and interesting to them. This is another part of deschooling. Learning to explore things because they want to explore them, not because they have to; learning to find out more about something because it interests them, not because they've been told they "must" know it. Toddlers are never bored. They're never bored because the world is full of new and interesting things to do - you just have to be open to finding them.
Finally, as most adults in this country have been through school, there is a lot of belief in it as a system. As I said before, we think that school will nurture our children, help them grow. We are so sold on it as a system, that when thinking about home ed, one of the first things that people say is some kind of variation on "I couldn't possibly teach my kids all that stuff". We think we are inferior, unable to continue the excellent job we have done with our kids up until they enter into the school system. We can't possibly teach them everything they need to know. You need special training to do that. You need knowledge. You need organisation. You need to be better than a parent. You need to be a "teacher". Indeed, the mum I was talking to the other day said exactly that:
"I don't think I could do it. [...] I would probably melt down if I had to teach them everything."The last bit of deschooling is about the parents, not the children. It is removing the residual school-centric thinking from ourselves. It is realising that we do not have to compare ourselves and home education to school and teachers and the system in which children have bitesite nuggets of essential information continually fed to them for 14 years of their lives. And why not? Because learning at home often looks nothing like learning in school.
It can look like many things. It can look like a child lying on their lawn and staring at the sky for a whole afternoon. It can look like a train ride with friends to a nearby town or city. It can look like 4 hours of continuously playing on a game on the computer. It can look like an entire maths workbook in an afternoon. It can look like three children sat on beanbags with a huge encyclopedia balanced on their knees, one of them reading aloud to the others. It can look like using farm animals to recreate a film watched the day before. It can look like a kitchen covered in flour, sugar and buttery finger smears after a session baking wonky cookies with finger holes in them. It can look like counting change into the hand of a market seller. It can look like a group of children building a giant spaceship out of cardboard boxes. It can look like so many of these, and much more.
Where do we as parents fit into this picture? Well, we are guiders, we are listeners, we are debaters, we are signposters, we are sharers. Mostly we are creators of opportunity - we do our best to provide the right tools and resources for learning. To use an analogy, we provide the warmth, the water and the light, and the seed grows into a shoot, then a sapling, then a tree. But we don't, and indeed, cannot, make the seed grow - it does that all by itself. We just help it along, by creating the right environment. And if our saplings come to us with a question, we help them to find the answer. We learn about it together. Partners, on a learning journey.
I don't think that I am done deschooling. Far from it, I'm only just beginning. As are the kids. We have a long way to go. But we will get there, together. Supporting each other, and learning how to be together again. Learning how to learn. And having fun doing it. And probably not eating any more raw potatoes!
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| Mmmmm... tasty! :D |
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
stress, followed by calm
Gymnastics went rather well yesterday: Little Clanger is struggling with handstands but has got bridge position sussed. Meanwhile Small Clanger can do fab handstands but can't do bridge at all. SC was not keen on doing the session at first - he provided me with a variety of reasons as to why he couldn't do it: too hungry, too thirsty, too tired, didn't like it anymore; all of which stemmed from not wanting to do bridge when it came to it. I sat with him for some of the first bit, and once they'd passed bridge he perked up and enjoyed backwards rolls, and jumping and practising landing with a flourish.
However, the journey to gym, and the journey home again via the supermarket were quite trying. The sprogits were running laps around me and wanted to race down through town after the shopping was done, and I couldn't run with them because my hips hurt. After arriving home, my hips were very painful. Even just sitting to eat lunch hurt. My mum collected the sprogs to stay overnight, so I could get some studying done. What I actually did was go to bed for about 45 minutes first. It helped enormously with the pain, and I felt much more able to face my textbook. I got a good amount of work done.
When the sprogits came home this morning they played with some duplo, did some more watercolour painting, and LC and TC lined various teddies up in a row and started to teach them about dinosaurs. I rang my bank to reregister my business bank account for internet banking, and placed an order for delivery with my butchers. I only recently discovered that they would deliver to my house - something that will help enormously with the hip pain. I have found it is much worse if I have to lug heavy stuff around with me. Even with the purchase of one of those trundle trollies, I'm still trying to find ways to reduce the amount of walking and carrying I have to do. I would opt for all my shopping to be delivered, so I didn't have to shop at all, if it weren't for the fact that the home delivery fresh veg leaves something to be desired.
Anyway, by this point Small Clanger was leaping about the room making shooty noises so I made a spur of the moment decision to make the most of the nice weather and go out for a walk. This prospect was met with great excitement.
We walked down a local bridlepath to a nearby level crossing, crossed over it and then crossed back again, then the sprogs asked if we could wait for a train. I checked the timetable on my phone, and there was a train due in a few minutes, so we hung around for a bit and then the light changed to red, the alarm sounded and a train went past. We discussed why the lights and alarms come on a long time before the train appears, but stop almost immediately after it has past. Then we walked home again, stopping at the playground on the way. It was nice to have the playground to ourselves, but Tiny was starting to get hungry and tired so we didn't stay long.
While we were there we all had a go on the giant swing that you can fit whole families on. Last week Little watched an episode of Mythbusters in which they tested whether swings can do a full 360, and concluded that it wasn't possible on a standard park swing because they have chains. It is possible to do it on a swing with solid bars, like circus swings; or if you use a rocket angled at 40 degrees to provide enough thrust to keep the chains taut. Due to the swings having chains, and our distinct lack of rockets, we decided, on balance, that we probably couldn't do a full 360 on the park swings! On that note, we set off back home.
After a lunch of tomato soup (opened and heated by Small Clanger), the sprogits played outside for a while, watched some Ivor the Engine and played upstairs for the rest of the afternoon. Overall it's been a very calm day. I think the deschooling is kicking in hugely now - both Little and Small have expressed that they absolutely do not want to do any Reading Eggs/Eggspress at all and that it's all boring and terrible. To be honest, I expected it. They need time to find themselves.
However, the journey to gym, and the journey home again via the supermarket were quite trying. The sprogits were running laps around me and wanted to race down through town after the shopping was done, and I couldn't run with them because my hips hurt. After arriving home, my hips were very painful. Even just sitting to eat lunch hurt. My mum collected the sprogs to stay overnight, so I could get some studying done. What I actually did was go to bed for about 45 minutes first. It helped enormously with the pain, and I felt much more able to face my textbook. I got a good amount of work done.
When the sprogits came home this morning they played with some duplo, did some more watercolour painting, and LC and TC lined various teddies up in a row and started to teach them about dinosaurs. I rang my bank to reregister my business bank account for internet banking, and placed an order for delivery with my butchers. I only recently discovered that they would deliver to my house - something that will help enormously with the hip pain. I have found it is much worse if I have to lug heavy stuff around with me. Even with the purchase of one of those trundle trollies, I'm still trying to find ways to reduce the amount of walking and carrying I have to do. I would opt for all my shopping to be delivered, so I didn't have to shop at all, if it weren't for the fact that the home delivery fresh veg leaves something to be desired.
Anyway, by this point Small Clanger was leaping about the room making shooty noises so I made a spur of the moment decision to make the most of the nice weather and go out for a walk. This prospect was met with great excitement.
We walked down a local bridlepath to a nearby level crossing, crossed over it and then crossed back again, then the sprogs asked if we could wait for a train. I checked the timetable on my phone, and there was a train due in a few minutes, so we hung around for a bit and then the light changed to red, the alarm sounded and a train went past. We discussed why the lights and alarms come on a long time before the train appears, but stop almost immediately after it has past. Then we walked home again, stopping at the playground on the way. It was nice to have the playground to ourselves, but Tiny was starting to get hungry and tired so we didn't stay long.
While we were there we all had a go on the giant swing that you can fit whole families on. Last week Little watched an episode of Mythbusters in which they tested whether swings can do a full 360, and concluded that it wasn't possible on a standard park swing because they have chains. It is possible to do it on a swing with solid bars, like circus swings; or if you use a rocket angled at 40 degrees to provide enough thrust to keep the chains taut. Due to the swings having chains, and our distinct lack of rockets, we decided, on balance, that we probably couldn't do a full 360 on the park swings! On that note, we set off back home.
After a lunch of tomato soup (opened and heated by Small Clanger), the sprogits played outside for a while, watched some Ivor the Engine and played upstairs for the rest of the afternoon. Overall it's been a very calm day. I think the deschooling is kicking in hugely now - both Little and Small have expressed that they absolutely do not want to do any Reading Eggs/Eggspress at all and that it's all boring and terrible. To be honest, I expected it. They need time to find themselves.
Monday, 8 October 2012
home education from a dad's perspective
Okay, so here's the deal. I'm useless when it comes to blogs. For a long time I felt they were a pointless waste of cyberspace filled with the mindless ramblings of overly emotional "emo" kids with nothing better to do than to write about how unfair their life is because daddy won't buy them a new car for Christmas. Obviously I couldn't be more wrong if I tried! Needless to say, there are blogs like that out there. But there are also so many more filled to the brim with the experiences of many people from as many backgrounds on a vast number of different topics. Once I had gotten over my initial stereotype I decided to keep a blog of my very own!
I failed.
A year or so later I tried again. In 10 months I have made two posts. Needless to say, I am not as disciplined as perhaps one should be when keeping up with these things. However, since this isn't just a blog for me, I am hopeful that several months won't pass between posts!
So anyway, I feel I have babbled enough nonsense for the moment so I will get to the point! Home education from a dad's perspective. When I first heard about home educating, I had an image of the kids sitting around the kitchen table with a notepad and a pen taking notes whilst we lectured them in the sciences, taught them how to do sums and how to read books. Most people will, no doubt, have a similar image of a school lesson taking place at home with a parent trying to be a teacher.
Needless to say, when my wife first suggested that we should consider home education as an option I was more than a little nervous about the idea. I mean, neither of us are teachers after all! What do we know about teaching children? Well, that got me thinking. What did I know about teaching children? I'm not a qualified teacher. I don't remember all the details of all the subjects I was made to study whilst I was at school. In fact I remember mostly not caring about much of what I was expected to learn at the time.
The more I thought about it the more I realised that actually, I know an awful lot about how to teach my children! I mean, we have been doing it for 8 years already! They can walk, they can talk. They can feed themselves, they can use the toilet, they can brush their teeth (mostly. With supervision. Oh alright, the Tiny Clanger requires a little help!), they can get dressed, they know (most of the time) when I try and short change them with the sweetie offerings, and they are constantly learning and improving on what they already know anyway! They are all very inquisitive and love to explore. They have an infinite amount of questions that require answers. Finding out about how the world works has never been easier! Tricky questions can be answered with a quick search on the internet instead of struggling with trying to remember the names of all the Greek gods or what the capital city of Iceland is called. (For the record, I am lead to believe it is Reykjavík.)
Then I thought about my time at school. How I felt about it at the time, and how I feel about it now. Don't get me wrong. It's not like I truly hated going to school. But I was never really happy there. I have always struggled to learn something I have no interest in. I have memories of sat being bored doodling on exam papers, not because I thought they were difficult, but because I really couldn't care less if Suzanne had more apples the Jane. My handwriting is appalling. No amount of schooling could or did change that! I wasn't the most popular kid in school, but I had a good circle of friends and we were, for the most part, left alone. To be honest, I kind of wish I had been given the option to learn at home!
So I did some reading and research on home education and what it meant for us. The more I read, the more I realised it could actually work! You don't need to turn your home into a classroom and bore your kids to death by lecturing them. You don't need to spend hours planning what you should be teaching. There is nothing to stop you if that's what works for you, but it is not necessary. There are plenty of groups, clubs, gatherings and the like to ensure that the kids meet other children from a variety of backgrounds and age groups. As far as IT goes, they have a geek for a dad. I work for one of the largest IT Service providers in the world. They will learn more about IT at home from me than they ever will at school.
So, I put my remaining doubts aside and agreed that we should at least try it and see. I mean after all, it isn't like we cannot change our minds if later on down the line we find that it isn't working for us, or if the kids decide they want to go back to school. I did make it clear to the older two that it was not an option to take lightly and that they couldn't keep changing their minds every other week. If we were going to try it we all had to agree to it and so that is what we did.
I have to say, that since we deregistered them, they seem happier for being able to do their own thing. This in turn makes me happier. Let them enjoy their childhood for as long as possible. Now there is some sound advice! Something I should try hard to remember myself!
So in summary, if in doubt do some research! I realise I haven't posted any links in this post, but seriously. If you are reading this blog then it is obviously something you are considering. Look at the plus side. No more having to do the school run in all weathers. No more needing to book holidays round the school term. No more need to buy school uniforms! But best of all, the freedom for your kids to learn in their own way, at their own pace. Something that is difficult to do in school!
And there we have it! By my calculations I should be about ready for another post sometime in the spring. Probably. Maybe. Don't hold your breath!
Thanks for reading.
Sunday, 7 October 2012
planning vs. not planning
Planning is one of those things that some folk do and some don't.
For example, I have just finished our meal plans for the next month. I started doing this when we were drowning in a sea of debt, and haven't really been able to break the habit. By planning I can be sure that I'll be making best use of foods that I buy, can buy in bulk, batch cook and freeze, plus Little Clanger particularly likes knowing in advance what we are having for dinner each night. I can also swap meals around if I've had a dur moment and forgotten to take something out of the freezer, or we suddenly have unexpected guests. I don't particularly like sitting down and thinking up 30+ meals at once, but the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages for us.
I also find that having a vague plan or routine for household things helps to make sure they actually get done. There's nothing worse than thinking "I need to tidy X" or "I need to clean Y" and putting it off because you can't face it or don't know where to start. I love procrastinating. The procrastination fairy is a permanent resident in our house. She has her own seat in the living room, her own chair at the table. But having a plan for when things get done helps to keep her from smothering me. So, bedding gets washed on Fridays, the bathroom gets cleaned on Wednesdays, the stairs get hoovered on Saturday mornings. (Just to point out, I'm not saying "I" because it's only me who does housework, but because I'm not particularly good at it. We share the housework, but I'm a bit shoddy at actually doing my bits. Hence the "I" rather than "we".) Again, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
When it comes to home ed, there's folk on both sides of the table. Some like to plan things in advance. Some don't. Indeed, it even says in the Elective Home Education Guidelines (downloadable here) that home educators are not required to make detailed plans in advance. Let's face it, there is not the same need to plan things down to the minutest detail when you are not having to teach a prescribed amount of stuff in a limited amount of time.
So, do we plan? Or do we not plan? I guess it depends what "planning" means. I'm fairly sure we'll have a routine. Some days will be the days that X or Y happens. So yes, we will "plan" to go to those weekly or monthly HE groups that take our fancy. And we will probably "plan" to visit various places like castles, parks, museums, art galleries, markets and shows.
But will we plan to learn about mini beasts in January, or the Great Wall of China in March, or that by June Little Clanger will have learned long devision and Small Clanger will be able to read The Three Little Pigs all by himself? Um... no I don't think so.
Frankly, at the moment, I just can't see how that would benefit us. I'm sure some home edders do plan things in advance. I'm sure some children thrive on knowing what their focus will be before they do it. And that's great. Good for them for going with what is the best path for them. That is the joy of home edding - everyone can freely follow whichever path suits them best.
For us though, right now, we are taking things slowly. We will see what takes the sprogits fancy, and run with it, for as long as they want. If they spend a week, or five weeks, on a particular topic, then great. That's fine by me. If they decide they want to plan what they learn, then that's fine by me too. And if they then take that plan and throw it out the window, guess what? I'm still fine with it.
Don't get me wrong. I have no doubt there will be bumps! There are always bumps. There will be days when I ring other local home edders and say "what the hell are we doing?!" and they will reassure me, just as I will reassure them when they ring me with the same question. But for the moment we are plan free. And I am content with that.
For example, I have just finished our meal plans for the next month. I started doing this when we were drowning in a sea of debt, and haven't really been able to break the habit. By planning I can be sure that I'll be making best use of foods that I buy, can buy in bulk, batch cook and freeze, plus Little Clanger particularly likes knowing in advance what we are having for dinner each night. I can also swap meals around if I've had a dur moment and forgotten to take something out of the freezer, or we suddenly have unexpected guests. I don't particularly like sitting down and thinking up 30+ meals at once, but the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages for us.
I also find that having a vague plan or routine for household things helps to make sure they actually get done. There's nothing worse than thinking "I need to tidy X" or "I need to clean Y" and putting it off because you can't face it or don't know where to start. I love procrastinating. The procrastination fairy is a permanent resident in our house. She has her own seat in the living room, her own chair at the table. But having a plan for when things get done helps to keep her from smothering me. So, bedding gets washed on Fridays, the bathroom gets cleaned on Wednesdays, the stairs get hoovered on Saturday mornings. (Just to point out, I'm not saying "I" because it's only me who does housework, but because I'm not particularly good at it. We share the housework, but I'm a bit shoddy at actually doing my bits. Hence the "I" rather than "we".) Again, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
When it comes to home ed, there's folk on both sides of the table. Some like to plan things in advance. Some don't. Indeed, it even says in the Elective Home Education Guidelines (downloadable here) that home educators are not required to make detailed plans in advance. Let's face it, there is not the same need to plan things down to the minutest detail when you are not having to teach a prescribed amount of stuff in a limited amount of time.
So, do we plan? Or do we not plan? I guess it depends what "planning" means. I'm fairly sure we'll have a routine. Some days will be the days that X or Y happens. So yes, we will "plan" to go to those weekly or monthly HE groups that take our fancy. And we will probably "plan" to visit various places like castles, parks, museums, art galleries, markets and shows.
But will we plan to learn about mini beasts in January, or the Great Wall of China in March, or that by June Little Clanger will have learned long devision and Small Clanger will be able to read The Three Little Pigs all by himself? Um... no I don't think so.
Frankly, at the moment, I just can't see how that would benefit us. I'm sure some home edders do plan things in advance. I'm sure some children thrive on knowing what their focus will be before they do it. And that's great. Good for them for going with what is the best path for them. That is the joy of home edding - everyone can freely follow whichever path suits them best.
For us though, right now, we are taking things slowly. We will see what takes the sprogits fancy, and run with it, for as long as they want. If they spend a week, or five weeks, on a particular topic, then great. That's fine by me. If they decide they want to plan what they learn, then that's fine by me too. And if they then take that plan and throw it out the window, guess what? I'm still fine with it.
Don't get me wrong. I have no doubt there will be bumps! There are always bumps. There will be days when I ring other local home edders and say "what the hell are we doing?!" and they will reassure me, just as I will reassure them when they ring me with the same question. But for the moment we are plan free. And I am content with that.
when friends bring cake
Apologies in advance for the string of posts today, I wanted to post last night but was tired and had backache so went to bed instead. I also can't post from my phone - the Android browser does not like the Blogger back end at all.
I have a confession: Friday was my birthday. I wasn't going to mention it, but then a good friend came round yesterday and brought me some birthday buns:
I got thinking about friends, and friendships. I'll admit that this year I have let some of my friendships slide, failed to give them the TLC they need and deserve to continue blooming. There are many reasons why this year has been a bad one, I won't go into those. But suffice it to say, I am not sure whether those reasons are enough to forgive my failure to put in the appropriate effort into some of my friendships.
I'm not going to draw any weird parallels by saying that my friends are like cakes or anything. But I do think that you need to put care and effort into your friendships for them to grow just as you need to put care and effort into making a cake if you want it to be beautiful/yummy. And I haven't been doing that on all fronts. I must try harder.
I have a confession: Friday was my birthday. I wasn't going to mention it, but then a good friend came round yesterday and brought me some birthday buns:
I got thinking about friends, and friendships. I'll admit that this year I have let some of my friendships slide, failed to give them the TLC they need and deserve to continue blooming. There are many reasons why this year has been a bad one, I won't go into those. But suffice it to say, I am not sure whether those reasons are enough to forgive my failure to put in the appropriate effort into some of my friendships.
I'm not going to draw any weird parallels by saying that my friends are like cakes or anything. But I do think that you need to put care and effort into your friendships for them to grow just as you need to put care and effort into making a cake if you want it to be beautiful/yummy. And I haven't been doing that on all fronts. I must try harder.
Saturday, 6 October 2012
more watercolour painting
Not sure what I expected really. Things in this house tend to go in obsessional phases. So, this morning, after getting some sheets of paper and folding and cutting them to make snowflake patterns, I'm not really sure why I was then taken by surprise when Small Clanger said "can I paint mine with the water paints?"
Out came the paints and overalls again. Of course once they'd finished painting their snowflakes they then painted some more pictures. We've now lost the kitchen worktop under paintings again. They are mostly still wet, but there are a couple I wanted to share. These are the snowflakes (will confess now to cutting Tiny Clanger's for her):
Little Clanger decided, without any prompting from me, that she wanted to paint a "from life" picture of our garden:
Strictly it's not from life, as she has painted herself in the garden, which clearly she wasn't, but nevertheless I am impressed. She's got the slide in, and the scooter and football abandoned on the grass, and the neighbour's house int he background. Even the sun is impressed with what she's done! :) Finally, I took the opportunity to finish a painting I started yesterday:
Have a good Saturday everyone! :)
Out came the paints and overalls again. Of course once they'd finished painting their snowflakes they then painted some more pictures. We've now lost the kitchen worktop under paintings again. They are mostly still wet, but there are a couple I wanted to share. These are the snowflakes (will confess now to cutting Tiny Clanger's for her):
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| LC's = bottom, SC's = left, TC's = top right |
Little Clanger decided, without any prompting from me, that she wanted to paint a "from life" picture of our garden:
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| "Our garden" by Little Clanger |
Strictly it's not from life, as she has painted herself in the garden, which clearly she wasn't, but nevertheless I am impressed. She's got the slide in, and the scooter and football abandoned on the grass, and the neighbour's house int he background. Even the sun is impressed with what she's done! :) Finally, I took the opportunity to finish a painting I started yesterday:
Have a good Saturday everyone! :)
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