this week

On Monday we did gymnastics as normal. Little is still very much enjoying it and is progressing well. Small though, definitely doesn't want to do it, which is leaving me a bit stumped as to what to do with him and Tiny while Little does handstands and cartwheels. I have wondered whether I could arrange for him to do something else for that time but still can't find something suitable. However, it is becoming very clear that them coming and me trying to entertain them isn't working, so a new solution must be found.

After gym, we visited a friend who's daughter is a good friend of Little's. We talked a lot about home ed and how it works, as she has considered for some time the option of deregistering her daughter due to persistent issues with her school, but she is not confident in her own abilities to facilitate her daughter's learning. I have a post brewing on this topic, one I have been writing and re-writing for months and has yet to get past the draft stage. Before, it was lacking purpose, but this conversation gives it purpose. Watch this space!

After lunch we walked to a local supermarket and bought a few bits and pieces (most importantly, a new swimming costume for Little), before walking to the swimming pool for the sprogit's first swimming lesson. They have both had them in the past but not stuck with it, but have been asking to start again so we put their names down after Christmas. While they swam I caught up with a couple of mums who were also there - one who's daughter was friends with Little at the school where we used to live (same school I mentioned above), and one who's daughter was friends with Small at their last school where we deregistered them from in July. It was nice to catch up, although I did feel a little like I was being subject to the Spanish inquisition, but I guess that comes with the territory. Most people don't know much about home ed, which means that they tend to ask tonnes of questions when they meet someone who does it. Hopefully next week there can be more discussion and less quizzing!

On Tuesday the sprogs asked to play on Minecraft. They played very well, helping each other along and taking turns. Then Tiny asked to have a turn. Minecraft is a little above her so I sat her on my knee with a new survival world and had her direct me where to go and what to do. She was thrilled to be in charge. We also played on Minecraft on Wednesday, and Tiny experimented with making pictures on Paint. The sprogs have also watched quite a bit of Horrible Histories off the Sky box which we've had for a while. 

Thursday was the next session of our new group. It was a lot like last month, in that there were several people there who had not seen the rooms before, but we did a couple of activities and ate lunch between them. We tried to make pancakes but the pans were not great, plus the cooker is appalling and they kept burning. Eventually we gave up, and agreed not to do any complex cooking again. (We might  do something like crispy buns, or cold stuff, or maybe explore the oven, but if definitely nothing involving the hob!) We did a larger scale version of this experiment, with large jars and some cups of oil which seemed to work ok. We also did some taste testing of various liquids mixed together to see if they tasted nice. All in all, although chaotic and lacking order, it seemed to go well. The kids are keen to go back again, which is usually a good sign! We are planning a theme next month to focus activities around, which should help.

Due to the lack of pancakes we agreed that we would have pancakes after dinner yesterday. We had no eggs though so after lunch we walked up to our friend's who has a smallholding and supplies lots of lovely local eggs. She and her son, who is about a year younger than Little, showed us (read, the sprogs) around and they were thrilled! They met their ram who is called Charlie, the chickens and rooster, the ducks and the rabbits, and were invited back in a couple of weeks to see the lambs when they are born. Needless to say, there was much talk about farms and animals afterwards and many cries of "can we have some more rabbits?"

Having had a lovely week, today has been less good. A friend came around this morning and after she left Tiny crashed out on the sofa. She never sleeps during the day. When she woke up we went to the park with a neighbour's granddaughter, which the sprogs all enjoyed, but when we came back Tiny crashed out again. She threw up this evening, and has gone to bed a bit more perky, but who knows what tomorrow will bring? Little and Small have also been off their food today so perhaps they've a bit of a bug. Hopefully not. Fingers crossed!