England - week 13 [london, family party]

so after a busy week, we should have had a quiet one! somehow our homeed doesnt seem to look like that any more! just busy busy busy. Monday was a pretty normal worky day, with the older girls having ballet and judo in the evening. Tuesday BB had a bronze arts award meeting. the other girls did some more work. She has got her folder all lined up and organised. just needs to decide what to do with the first section to write up, on an artist.
Weds we went into London as SpD wanted to visit the London Globe Theatre. she was a bit reluctant to wake up tho, so by the time we had made it in, all the tours had finished :( so we looked at the outside and went into the museum. we saw a demonstration on tudor clothes, so my tudor pedant children ran a sotto voce critique. :D :D


afterwards we walked across the millenium bridge and topped up our food from the m and s by st pauls [it is excellent for topping up food, plenty of choices] and had lunch there. SB had decided not to bring her coat, not her best decision!!



when it started to rain we scooted to the museum of london, where the older 2 were being silly for a bit [they are teen girls who really get on with each other, so sometimes go overly teen on me!], so i went round with BB, for whom it is now an ideal museum. she read and thought about pretty much all the exhibits on the upper floor. she was getting tired, so we whipped through the lower floor more quickly to have a drink at the cafe and wait for the others to catch up :) . The big 2 concentrated more I think on the georgians onwards. I havent been to this nuseum for years, possibly since i was a child! it was really good, we should have gone before! It is set out really well for reviewing history in chronological order with a mixture of artifacts, information and interaction that seemed very well judged for BB's age, and still interesting for the bigger girls and me.



afterwards we went to covent garden, where bb was devastated to find her favourite cap shop shut. she perked up with a rugby bobble hat and we ate out at pizza express. This was a relief, as we had had such a lovely day together that I didnt want it to end on a sad note. The big girls are v understanding of BB most of the time. the pizzas were delish :)



the week'sd excitement wasnt over though! thursday was homeed sports and cadets, friday tidying and ballet, mum and dad arrived thurs to help with preparing for a family gathering on saturday :)
we were a few down from the expected number, but had a great time. lots of happy people that are family together, playing games, swapping anecdotes and eating a lot!havent had aunty margaret or mark at ours for quite a long while.

England - week 12

time flies in an exchange! SPD has improved greatly in English, and is definitely a part of our family!
Monday was monthly rollerskating homeed meet and all 3 girls really enjoy this. fair bit of gossip with other homeeducating families and a chance to whizz around on roller skates. I have borrowed a blurry photo from a friend as DH never took any! All 3 girls really enjoy rollerskating and meeting up with a wider dispersed home ed group.

tues was a do some work day! SpD is working mostly on English and her history journal, and SB on her gcse subjects. BB is trying to achieve 5 home ed things a day as her challenge this month. so far so good! just at the beginning :)
weds was a weds4ed day :) we were especially lucky to have 2 ex HE friends join us as their school was closed for the day :) BB was particularly happy about R being there as she has missed her since she started secondary school this year. Chemistry is moving on apace, and this was pretty fun as we were doing acids and metal order of reactivity. We had magnesium, tin, zinc, copper, iron and lead. we did a fair bit of talking about the properties of acids and how they reacted with different things. tested the gas and proved it was hydrogen [phew]

SB did aboriginal animal art as the clas she is doing for her silver arts award with the group. she     has a theme of animals. They are supposed to do some writing between sessions and havent, so will need to encourage that. lovely day for art in the conservatory, and some great art pieces for the folders.

There was also some gcse maths and some shakespeare lapbook work. we had a great day altogether :) finished with some games playing

It was definitely an out week as all 3 went to sizewell B to learn more about nuclear reactors and nuclear power. No photos within the building [clearly] but all came back to tell me different things that they had learnt. clearly sb and one of her friends had been in a silly mood, as they had also been working out how to attack the base in mission impossible mode. sigh! BB, however, could tell me lots of sensible things!
on the saturday we divided! SB and I went to a reenactors market to choose wool for SpD. she enjoyed Kentwell so much that she wants to come back next year but was really worried about how she was going to get the right wool etc. So, we agreed that she would get the wool from us as birthday/xmas present and made her v happy :) . thanks to some kentwellies advising, we have some nice blue wool. Also enjoyed mooching around the stalls and bought something with a steampunk flavour for bb. If I was younger I would def do the steampunk thing :)
Meanwhile SpD was on a shopping expedition with friends, well one in the end, as the other couldnt make it. they had a fab time with lots of giggling, and i downloaded one of the many selfie shots they took ;)

The final out thing was that SB auditioned for the county windband on the sunday. she really enjoyed it :) and she got in! woot woot.

a quick bit about the education

SpD is mostly working on English, both directly with a coursebook aimed at igcse english as a second language, with numerous EFL grammar worksheets from the internet and through a history project tudors, now victorians, but dont think we will get to georgians!
We are clearly doing much less bookwork than normal for this age, as actually it is conversation that is the most important, so we are also playing games, going to places and talking about it, encouraging reading of good books [ and picking out new words for us to explain]  and watching good programmes [she rather likes Jane Austen, but Shakespeare is a bit dense].
When kids come out of school in England, it is common to find they need a period of deschooling - ie doing relatively nothing - to find their flow and self direction, and this was clearly something noticeably needed for SpD as she is used to being directed. However, she didnt have the luxury of all the time she might have had in a 6 month exchange so we upped the nagging somewhat and reached a compromise position. In the end she has concentrated on english and english through history rather than science or maths [tho both available and offered] and if we had known she was doing exactly the same geog course at school that SB did for her igcse geog last year, I would have made more of a push for her to carry on with that. Science experiments were done with the group.
SpD's English has really substantially improved since being here, even though she had lots of English from doing some lessons in English back in Spain. The flow, correct use of different tenses, so that she wasn't just being understood, but using the language correctly. We have had lots of laughter about crazy pronunciation, weird verbs, and sentence structure along the way.
Other skills she has learnt - to sew, having never done it before, to bake [ditto] and lots more crafting and games playing. She has also continued with Judo and Ballet.
   
Cambridge IGCSE English as a Second Language Coursebook with Audio CD (Cambridge International Examinations)
Cambridge IGCSE English as a Second Language Workbook (Cambridge International Examinations)
Tudors & Stuarts (Usborne History of Britain)
The Victorians (Usborne History of Britain)

England - week 11 [visit to yorkshire and a wedding]

SPD and SB went off to Yorkshire to join our friends SOTP monday - weds. By Train! SB has already done this journey once before, so we were reasonably certain that they would make it up there! they had a lovely time by all accounts, did some horse riding, went girl shopping and came home safely as well :) If SB took any photos I might nab them to put on the blog!

SO The big 2 missed our extra weds4ed at TB's. we went there for a change. they have an added attraction of a swimming pool for all the kids to pile into :)

At the weekend we had a fantastic time! we went to a family wedding and then danced the night away :) SB was v happy with the superdry dress nanna had bought her, and BB was v sharp in a suite. SPD had a tartan jacket that clearly suited her. It has been a while since we went to a wedding, and it was fun.

England - Week 10 [Kentwell, Ironbridge]

so at the start of the week the 2 older girls were still at Kentwell. unfortunately a rainy day for them. They came back happy, bubbly and exhausted! they clearly had a fab time. And thankyou to izzy for lending her caravan for them, as they were v happy with that.
Tuesday SB had her first silver arts award meeting. they need to do a challenge, and apparently hers will be to take grade 1 oboe, this term!!! considering we are starting october, and the exam can be from a months time, and she has never played the instrument before, i am not convinced this is a good idea! also, I think the oboe itself might need a fix. argh!!! I'm not sure how she is going to fit all these things in!
I had pulled a 24 hour work shift on tuesday, so had thought i might spend wednesday snoozing, but that didnt happen! instead i got the girls all chivvyed in home ed, and they all did a good day of work. we also played a game, and BB and SPD did some more sliding on the slip and slide :) . BB finished making a halfpipe for her fingerskateboard. NannyF also came round after her hospital appointment. so quite a lovely day :)


thurs and fri were more home ed days, making sure that SpD is getting to grips with English well. She has nearly finished her tudor history journal, and the dancers art journal is coming along. She isnt so keen on the IGCSE english as a second language, as this is a bit harder for her. however, dh and i do some with her to keep going!
At the weekend we went off to telford to do some victorian living history. I talked a lot about industrial revolution, and ironbridge being considered a 'birthplace' . We had a bit of trouble with our hotel - days inn - and really wouldnt recommend it! However, finally in a room where all the beds at least worked even if the sheets werent spotless!
Our first day was spent at blist hill victorian town. we all really enjoyed it. lots of discussion [ok, sometimes i was monologuing ;) ] and seeing what was there, and how it was done. treated all the girls to old fashioned sweets near the beginning and ice cream at the end [ i think i have sussed this parenting lark!] bb fascinated by wood carver, who told her there was lots of money in it, so she should keep going :)

we went shopping afterwards and bought bb a wedding suit and then went for a meal at nando's. this wasnt straightforwards, as bb had been expecting to go home. however, we did eat a meal out so pushing the boundaries!
sunday and we gave Spd the choice of the acton scott farm, or tar tunnel and china museum. she chose the latter. we liked the tar tunnel. we had tried to go there once before and been foiled [waves at the old manor borns!], so it was nice to get to go down the whole length. there was still tar in it! I do like photos of the kids with hard hats!

we had a pleasant walk back along the canal, though noticed there has been an invasion by himalayan balsam

i loved the coalport museum. there was a little bit on the actual china and design, and i loved the mixed cups display. but for me, the best bit was wandering around the semi deserted works. there was a lady making coalport flowers, which reminded me of little nanny, because she had coalport flowers. i loved the kiln display. well worth a visit.


we walked into ironbridge - it was very hot! had icecreams, posed on the bridge and then walked on to the museum. the big girls were all museumed out, but bb had her second wind and read and talked about everything :) . she was pleased to find the boat 'spry' in there as a model, as we had seen it at blist hill and it had really captured her fancy them :) . what a great weekend break. i am so lucky with my family to be able to share the sunlight and time with them.

England - week 9 [Kentwell]

This week was a pretty sociable week, and also a fair bit of work from SB on her gcse subjects, and SpD on her english. she is really liking the printed worksheets for EFL and going well on her history and art journals. She has to work a bit harder with the igcse book on english, which is no bad thing. I did have a grump at them both midweek though, as I think they can get more out of their days! BB has done less, as from weds onwards she has had a lurgy aka manflu ;) and only been capable of sleeping or putering. TBH, she clearly hasnt felt very well. DH has it now...
Monday was also rollerskating at a home ed meet up. DH says the older girls mostly chat :) . lovely for them to meet up with friends. Ballet in the evening and then judo, so quite a busy sportive day. Tuesday was less sociable! SB had a clarinet lesson, and the rest was home ed. SpD had her 2monthiversary

Weds was a weds4ed day. chemistry had some hard facts to get in - oxidation and reduction - and we demonstrated this with an experiment. copper sulphate and then magnesium, iron, zinc and lead. great :) . SB also carried on with her arts award teaching. she has bought everyone folders and this time they were doing owls with oil pastels. K carried on with the shakespeare lapbooks, and B did maths. so very productive! plenty of time to gossip and chat too.

Thursday was multisports and friday a bit of shopping , as well as the normal home ed type work. BB was ill all these days :( . and then this weekend the big girls have gone off to kentwell on their own. the weather is lovely, and I am a bit jealous! this lovely photo of SpD has been taken by them as part of their advertising.