Another Week...

Not sure why my blog posts seem to have fallen back to weekly, but it is not intentional and kind-of annoying as it means they end up lengthy and perhaps somewhat boring! Sorry folks :( But I'm going to make this brief - promise!

I'll start with Tot-School stuff. Easier by picture post :D

Firstly Nat and Caleb enjoyed some Reader Rabbit time together (in Jake's study).

This is all the smaller ones working together on the 'little red table'; maths for E and Pre-reading 'odd one out' stuff for C. He is really good at it and I am constantly amazed at his observational skills. Maybe this comes from not being able to communicate clearly for so long: he has spent a lot of time observing the world!! Just look at that pencil grip too :) OK - so he needs to drop the second finger under, but not bad for a 3yo!

Then one afternoon N decided that skittles was a good game and amused himself for ages with this activity. I was in the room and he was quite happy to let me take pictures and say "ready, steady, go!"

For the others it was a pretty normal kind of week, back to the books and routine and generally more settled. We even finished chapter one of SYRWTL Spanish together - at last!! I wonder how much they will all remember and carry into chaper 2 ?! I did take big J to one side on Monday night and chat to him about attitude and responsibility towards his work and amazingly he improved for the rest of the week. I have also given him Study Skills to work through in the hope that it might help him understand himself a bit better. He has already started making himself smoothies for breakfast :)

On Thursday we took at trip to Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI) and met up with a few other more northerly HE'ders - at least that was the idea. Sadly, as some of them had eaten on the train and we had not, we had to stop for lunch which meant we spent too much of the rest of the day chasing their tails :(. All the same we did say Hi briefly and we did get to spend lunch time with the Off the Pathers - which was nice :) And to boot we did have a lovely day, the kids all had fun and I think they learnt something!

This picture is my lot of sewer rats!! The rest of the pics can be seen by clicking the mini-album below..

2009_01_29 MOSI

So I reckon that's about it for our week - nothing too exciting really, but at least a little out of our ordinary :)

LONG week!!

It's been a mish-mash of good and bad this week. It was our non-book week and these are supposed to be a rest for me and a change for the kids, but tbh I'm not sure that they work all that well in the first regard as I usually end up more stressed at the end of them than I do when we are in routine. 

Monday - C had a bit of a temperature so we kept him home just in case he went down through the morning. As it was he was fine most of the day and has been fine since. We started off the day with squircle board which for this week's theme was The Vatican and person of the week was The Pope. They were interested enough in it (even if I did struggle to get stuff together for it). I had planned to make a rosary bead as a craft to go with, not that we are Catholic or anything, but just as something about a different 'strand' of our Christian faith. As it was that never happened because I didn't get round to resourcing it! After squircle board the children tried to re-act Jake's play of a part of Melusine. While they were doing that I spent some tot-school time with C working on shapes and patterns with this;

Sadly the 'play' ended up with the boys squabbling (as usual) and me taking over as 'narrator' - really no big issues, just J2 not being able to accept not being in charge! Once that was over the kids all got measured ready for our 'drawing to scale' activity. Was amazed to find that Jake is almost 160cms already - that's 5'2"!! He's not yet twelve - he will be as tall as me by the time he reaches his teens at that rate! Also interesting that there was only 1cm between J2 and A (representing 2.5 years in age!!). We then took a break for a bit & later in the afternoon I sat them all down and did an ad libbed lesson on drawing to scale. This actually meant a little bit of explanation on decimals and how they can be translated to fractions (of cms). I was amazed at their seeming level of understanding. When I asked what 5/10ths was E (age 5) - with the help of a little picture - was the one who saw it was 1/2. It was complicated to teach three concepts in one, but somehow I think they really got it and the drawing went really well. They drew themselves 1:10 (hence the reason for the decimals lesson). I didn't teach them about ratio, but simply said they were going to draw themselves 1/10th of their real height, which in effect meant they learnt about ratio too without knowing it was called that. They did some great pictures of themselves and I want to keep the outcome as a memento of how tall they are just now and how they all drew and coloured at this age.

Tuesday - Thursday 

We decided (with a little persuasion from me) to make a start on this. I bought it ages back, along with some others in the series and ever since we did an American Indian one, Boo has been begging to do the other one. I didn't want to do the same type of thing again just yet + storage of the gorgeous models is an issue! Instead I persuaded them all to have a go at this because we can make a lapbook with the models (as most of them are flat). They did succumb and we had a good time with it for the rest of the week. We have learnt about the seven systems of the body (an overview), types of body cells, some types of body tissue, the brain and it's functions, neurons, eyes, and ears. We didn't quite finish off all I had hoped - which was to do sight, touch and smell and complete 'The Nervous System' (and associated organs), but we can pick up next non-book week. That's the beauty of lapbooks :)

As an aside, but relevant all the same, I have been sadly stunned by how LITTLE Jacob knows about all this - considering he got Level 4 Science SATS. He didn't know the 7 systems of the body. Even once he had been informed of them he couldn't clearly sort out which system he thought each major organ should be in - meaning he does not have a very thorough understanding of the basic functions of any of the major organs of the body. I know science and memorisation of facts are NOT his strong point at all, but really... I am SO glad I decided to push this now because it will be teaching Jake the stuff he should already know without him feeling like he is being patronised by me. Hopefully it will give him a starting point for some more serious science next year. I can't imagine he is ever going to do anything really scientific in life and I have considered dropping 'science' as a whole subject out of his curriculum entirely (giving him more time to focus on art and dance - and the things he excels at), but in reality a) I don't think he would really want me too as it "can be fun sometimes" and b) I think he should have at least a basic level knowledge of how the world hangs together. But it does make me wonder exactly what science (if any) he did at school!

Integrated Tot-School.

At some point in Tuesday C played with this a bit (note the ever present Hula Hoop packet!),

 at other points he joined in with us a bit and did some colouring along with the others. He was disappointed not to be able to cut anything out of the project work, but was not content to do some cutting out of his own, so we did have a melt down or two :(  However, he did enjoy joining in with our make-believe 'ear' (toilet roll and greaseproof paper), and the couple of games we have played to help get ideas across; for 'NO BONES!!' one person calls out an action like "skip", or "hop", etc... and then at some point shouts "no bones," at which point everyone else flops to the floor like jelly - amidst fits of giggles as they all land on top of one another! Mine can play this game endlessly it seems & they ALL love it! :) Ellie calls it the floppy game and has wanted to play it everyday since Monday! Then "SILENT MESSAGES" is designed to help them understand the workings of neurons. They all stand in a circle holding hands. On the word "Go!" I start of a timer & one person squeezes the hand of another. They pass the squeeze around till it gets back to the beginning hand. The last/first person then shouts "Stop!" The idea is to see how fast they can get the message round. A variation on the theme is to stand them in a line finger-tips to finger-tips and pass 'tickly fingers' along the line (and maybe back again) as fast at they can . This is actually a little harder, but possibly better as a visual illustration of how the dendrites and terminals of the neurons work. They were fascinated to think that while they were acting like neurons the neurons in their own bodies were doing the same thing, only at lightening speed!

Thursday pm

The smallest ones went for a rest and I played Ticket to Ride with the older four (P 'teamed up' with Jake). J2 won - with 8 journeys under his belt!! A lost, but not by a great deal and she did remarkably well considering her age (8) and the fact she had NO help until the very last. Jake & I drew scores exactly. 

If you are wondering why all this lovely together-school stuff would be more stressful than our normal routine I can explain. I have an 11.5 yo joker-boy in my classroom, a 10yo hoppity, "can't control my laughter" son who sits opposite, an 8yod getting to the 'I know everything before I do' stage, a mousey 7yod who forgets what you said 2 seconds ago (& who is quite capable of giggling along with the others) and an airy-fairy 5yod who takes every item of fact and makes it part of her fantasy world!! Mix that together with a 3yos who wants in on the act and a 20mos who climbs up and dances in the middle of the table you are working on to make sure you notice him!! That makes quite a cocktail and it's not very conducive to everyone listening and learning sensibly, 'front lead' teaching from me. Now one-on-one these kinds of 'free(r)-style' weeks might be even more fun and not requiring of the 'teacher' bit so much, but in a mixed age group that haven't quite learnt enough respect for the next member, I get a headache! They all call out comments (although that is getting better), one makes jokes, and they all try to be the first to show off how much they know, or worse still I have one that rarely answers anything because she knows if she says nothing for long enough someone else will give the answer! It's not like we aren't doing the hands-on fun stuff too, but I have to do a bit of 'teaching' for it all to make any sense to the younger ones (and maybe the older ones as well it seems). On Tuesday morning it did actually get to a point where I wasn't willing to continue trying to 'keep order' and I made them all do an hour of silent book-maths instead! They were not happy but it did the trick. The girls were 90% better after that, but the two big boys still mucked about too much for my liking and so had to do ANOTHER hour of maths after school. I don't like using maths as a punishment really, but it needed to be something they were least likely to need me for help with and that they didn't want to do! I gave them all a straight up chat after school and said that if things didn't improve drastically not only would I call off THIS non-book week, but I would be considering not scheduling them in at all next year - and I would scrap non-book DAYS as well. This definitely got them thinking and they did majorly improve for the rest of the week - now they need to show they mean it by keeping it up next time round! I am not into 'crowd control' - that's not what I want my HE to look like. I want it to be good fun, but I need them all to understand that it is only fun when it is fun for everyone - and that includes me - and for it to be that way they need to learn to learn a lot more respect for each other (and me) so that everyone gets a fair share at taking part, I can think clearly and not get be-fuzzed & grumpy and we can all learn together and from each other. School should not be a competition - it should be am exhilarating ride!!

Moving on...

P went away on Thursday to his Grandad's funeral in Portsmouth, leaving me solo for the last couple of days. So after all the busyness of the day I ventured out to kitchen to cook tea. When tea was done I was seriously flagging and I think Jake saw this and kindly volunteered to bath the small boys :) He duly did so very well while I washed up. He even managed to put N's nappy on and was so chuffed with himself for doing it right - "Wooo, I'm a real big bro now!!" That was such a blessing as it didn't mean I had to face a sink-full of dishes late at night or in the morning :) He can definitely pull out the stops at times. Shame he let himself down though by omitting to tidy his room, or put away his clean pile of clothes (which he should have done while I was cooking tea), thereby hindering the actual putting to bed of the baby by about 1/2 hour - but also, at the same time, getting me out of another exhausting game with the big boys! I had said (why do we do this to ourselves?!!) we would play their new Star Wars Risk game that they got for Christmas, but that we haven't had time to look at it properly yet - if everyone else was in bed by 8pm - which in the end they weren't ;) Boys came down and played Hue Knew together while I read my rss feeds and emails. Not long after they went up at about 9.15pm my Internet went down, so I played on ACCF for a bit and paid off my mortgage part one :) Then I went to bed!

And that about takes us up to speed! Today was Friday group at my friend's this morning, followed by Lasagne for lunch, which, thanks to having been able to get the kitchen tidy last night, I made this morning before I went out - I am never that organised!! There is something about P being away that means I get all 'driven' but by 9pm I am done for - except I stay up - don't ask me why! (My answer would be because if I don't blog now I will forget my week). N went for a rest after lunch and the others played nicely. The kids go out to club at 4, but before they went tonight I got them to do all their chores (rabbits, tidy rooms, tidy lounge & hallway, clear & wipe table) so that tonight would be easier. I didn't have Jake to help me tonight because he is at a 'half knight of pear' (half night of prayer - sleepover - fun night). Once they had gone C went on Reader Rabbit Nursery for a bit, giving me a window of peace - well maybe, only by the time I had finished washing up from lunch N had woken from his nap all grumpy and C was bored of the computer :( I put 'Cars' on for C and snuggled N on my lap - at least that way I would get to sit down quietly for 5 minutes, where N promptly fell back to sleep :) Once he was settled I put him down on the sofa under a blanket and set to writing a bit more on this blog... A few sentences later the rest came home (ho hum...). Round 2!! P and I set to in the kitchen (not long cleaned up remember) making promised scones for Tea. If A had made them she can do them alone, but P wanted ME to make them with HER - so like the nice Mummy that I am, I did - and they were lovely and she did really well, but the mess..! After scones J2 remembered that I had said we would have Angel Delight for pudding today and had not done it at lunch time, so he set to making that in the kitchen and dishing it up for everyone - more mess..! N & C woke up and played in the lounge - more mess..! By bedtime tonight I was running well out of steam, so this time J2 offered to help (no little kid's baths tonight), so he went up and tidied his room while A read C's favourite book to him (One, Two, Buckle my Shoe...), then tucked C up, said prayers with him and put his music on. He then went and read stories to the girls. I usually try to keep it to a shared story, but he read at least two! Said prayers with them all and put on their music for them :) He came downstairs looking a little more weary than when he went up and declared that it was more tiring than he thought!! It was nice though as it gave me a few mins to be with N and just chill with him - not that he really ever chills much these days except when he is asleep! J2 & I then played with N together for a few more minutes and he asked me how to put N's nappy on, so I showed him, but N was in manic, reaching overdrive mode, so it would have been impossible for him to do. Once N was down in bed J2 ate the last scone and got a big hug from me before he went up to bed.  At LAST I get to finish my blog - the mess can wait till morning!! Now I'm done & I'm off to bed - I've no more energy left for today and I have 3 girls to get ready for ballet in the morning!

I Don't Fly - I Slide

Of course laying a new carpet in a bedroom does mean getting an old one downstairs - and of course that just has to be taken advantage of!!

Joel's room looks great with a rearrange and a new blue carpet - he is so happy to loose the pink one :)

Photo Blog of our Busy Day

Discovering Radar technology!

The mapped results

Volcanic explosions

Candle Making

My Busy Bees!!

To see the rest of the photos click below

Busy Non-book day

Snap Shots of the Tots Today :)

The difference some time makes!

Sharing nicely (for once!)

Learning to jump!

Absent Comments, Crazy Plans, Buttons and an Empty Tummy :(

I have spent most of the evening reading all my rss feeds from all the blogs that I follow - so I think that amounted to over 30 posts!! I haven't left comments on many, but consider yourselves thought of!

Today has been OK - pretty run of the mill really. Lots of EC happening today actually. Tomorrow might prove to be a little crazy but hopefully a lot of fun! The plan goes something like this;

AM - Astronomy - including finishing of a radar experiment from last term

Lunch and a playgroup pick up.

PM - make beeswax candles (activity left over from last weeks squarcle board that got postponed due to Roman day/shopping trip).

- scale drawings of whole family (measuring needed first) to enhance geography lesson this week.

  - watching BBC documentary on the Pompeii - The Last Day (courtesy of YouTube) which is about 50 minutes or so.

- doing volcano experiment again (just because it was fun!)

- watching Abbie's presentation on Australia (for English)

- Letting three of them act out a section of Melusine from Jacob's english. (He thinks that it looks like a good book so might try to track that one down for him).

- do a Spanish vocab test with Jake. 

- and anything else we can cram into the day - or maybe not!!

The good thing about a lot of this is that the littler ones can get involved a bit too :) I let you all know how it goes!

FOR THE RECORD: 

Caleb has mastered doing up buttons and peeing standing up through the 'slotted fly' on his PJ's!! I got down some old PJ's of Joel's from the loft the other day (green combat winciette material) which C fell in love with, but also decided had to be fully utilised! Hence the developmental leap forward. In the day he sits on the loo still, but in these - he stands!! And the buttons...it's so cute to watch him painstakingly trying to do up these buttons. I am amazed at his persistence and patience - he keeps going until he succeeds and does not loose the plot. There are four on the top, so just enough to make it bearable for both of us I think. And for those of you thinking it came from me you'd be wrong - the decision to do them himself was entirely his :) I think he realised if he looses patience with them he will either have to ask for help (which he so does not want to do), or end up trying over and over again!! I guess it bodes well for the future that he can concentrate that hard on something if he is really motivated to do so - and I reckon that leaves the ball in my court to find the motivators! So he can now fully cloth himself with every item except those with laces. He can do buckles, Velcro and buttons, and he can do pull-on and pull-up. 

Now we need to tackle motivating him to eat!! He is such a poor eater it breaks my heart, but I really struggle to know how to deal with it. I wasn't going to blog this, but I just think I might...

Today all he has eaten is about a quarter of a slice of toast and Marmite for breakfast, three nibbles of a ham tortilla wrap for lunch, don't know what snack at playgroup (if any) and no tea because he refused it! No crisps or chocolate because he has to eat his savoury to get them. How does a three and a half year old sustain his existence on that? This is not unusual for him either :(

Paul started a motivation chart tonight with a line from his favourite nursery rhyme: "nineteen, twenty, my plate's empty!" and the reward of a new toy car for an empty plate. Now to set him up for success he had only two tiny mouthfuls of chicken nugget (something he will sometimes eat about 6 whole ones of), a miniscule amount of potato (like half a teaspoon) and three baked beans - literally. He took one look and screamed and screamed and screamed - "I hate tea, I hate chicken!" Even though he knew he would not get the car (or pudding or sweets (we have a few sweeties at the end of our evening meal as reward for good eating/behaviour at the table) ) he persisted and went to bed on nothing in the end :( We figure tonight was a power control battle, but all the same... The scary thing is nothing motivates him more than toy cars, so this is a really tough ball game! I genuinely think he does not get very hungry and really cannot be bothered with food (not dissimilar to me in fact) but without the knowledge or rational thought that food is actually essential to our well being and therefore has to be eaten anyway! Strangely he is most often well and he seems to have a normal amount of energy, but he is very light and he is very petite for a coming up 4 in May child, so I do think his poor diet is having some effect on his growth, in that it is VERY slow (N is almost catching him up in clothes now - one size behind!). 

Here is the list of foods C will usually eat & drink; 

• ham, 
  
• 'clean' chicken (or any other meat so long as we tell him it's chicken!) - that's white breast meat with no brown cooking marks or sauces, 
  
• beef occasionally, 
  
• SOME chicken nuggets (depending on coating), 
  
• cheese, 
  
• Pepperami (if we have them), 
  
• cheese strings; 
  
• VERY occasionally a bit of boiled 'dippy' egg, or ham omelette, 
  
• Marmite and Nutella in tiny amounts on a tiny bit of bread, 
  
• milkshake & Ribena, 
  
• chocolate (just straight milk chocolate, no frills) 
  
• & Hula Hoops. 
  

Yup - that's about it!!

He won't eat any other carbohydrates, fruit or vegetables - and believe me we have tried almost everything in many forms with him - he just won't eat it!! He won't even eat those things listed if any of the 'forbidden' foods has touched them! We still put on his plate whatever we are having (this tactic has always worked with all my others who are mostly excellent eaters of most things), but often at the cost of a boy who eats nothing from it :( I have had fussy eaters before at age 2-4, but this is different and so much more extreme...

...And now N is getting all fussy on me too (but he is a hungry boy, so I'm hoping it's just an age phase with him).

iHeartFaces

I was pointed to a new photo-competition website from a friend's website and fancied having a go, so the photos I post can be found HERE. 

The first entry you may recognise (she is not mine!), but this is possibly one of the best shots I've ever taken - well I think so, so I hope the owners of the child are OK with me using the shot! It is somewhat old now anyhow!

It's just a bit of fun really :)