"What do you do all day?"

I was asked this recently when discussing our life with a friend. This was a friend who doesn't quite "get" home education. And who can blame them? I didn't get it either before we started it. Not really. I was interested in it, and I was jealous of the people who did it. No ties to school runs and expensive half term holidays. Time to enjoy their children before they grew up and flew the nest. But I didn't really understand what it involved.

Since we've started home educating, I've realised that there are generally two types of people who don't "get" HE. The first type are the ones who think our children sit at home all day not doing anything constructive and don't see anyone else in the outside world ("but how will they learn how to socialise??" and the second type are the ones who think the children are chained to the dining table spending 6hrs a day writing in exercise books while I stand in front of them "teaching".

Well, maybe there are those extremes in the HE world, but I am yet to meet anyone who's home ed looks like that. Our reality is this:

I have three children aged 4 1/2, 11 and 14.

My 14yr old has decided on the subjects she'd like to take at GCSE level and has always been a bit of a book-work type of person and so she is quite happy working through ks3 text books. In September we will buy the correct text books for the exams she would like to sit. These will be English IGCSE, Maths GCSE, Geography IGCSE, History GCSE and Biology IGCSE. We'll buy the text books and those along with past papers and various online resources and you tube videos she'll hopefully feel prepared enough to sit the exams in 2019. A lot of home educators don't do them all at once. Often they take one or two each year over, maybe, 3 yrs so that there is much less work and pressure to get the work done. However, my daughter is more of a "let's get it all out of the way all at once" type of person - possibly a bit like her mother!! So she's opted to do all 5 at once - but take 2yrs to study for them. She also does 2 sessions a week working alongside a football coach, coaching children aged between 4 and 11 which is what she loves most of all. Although she doesn't see it "education" she also comes along with the rest of us for trips out which I am sure she learns more from than she realises! (See below!)

My 11yr old is much less workbook-y. He learns best by hands on or documentaries. He uses a maths programme called conquermaths which he's really enjoying (considering maths was always his worst subject at school) alongside Prodigy Maths which is a game based mental maths type game. Again, he'll do this voluntarily without protest which is a huge plus in my eyes!  He is a natural writer and although we do use CGP books for English, he also supplements this with his own story writing. Science we cover in various forms such as Mystery Science which is an online lesson with hands on experiments to complete as well as some written work. We also watch endless documentaries which cover a huge variety of topics relating to science, geography and history. He's also just become interested in hiking and so we go for regular walks locally in the countryside and he'll soon be the one reading the OS maps instead of me. What better way to learn geography skills than getting out there and having weekly (or more than weekly) field trips. These trips often involve stopping off at historic places of interest whether it be old churches, English Heritage castles or just for some stone skimming on the beach!  Talking of beaches, in the warmer months he has his swimming lessons here (when I say lessons, I mean he spends hours having fun in the water but over the summer managed to really improve his strength in swimming) but in the cooler weather we go to the local pool which has discounted HE swimming sessions. Also at the beach we do lots of exploring of the shoreline or rockpools and enjoy identifying things we have found along the way.

My son is a keen photographer and artist and so he often will be seen taking endless photographs of the scenery we've come across or the items he has found and then sketching them once he gets home.

On top of this, he has extra curricular groups/lessons that he attends - drama, parkour and football.

My 4yr old would have started school last September if we had sent him, although he is not legal school starting age until September this year. His education is mainly play based. We do have our routines such as bedtime stories every night and a reading programme called pippoplearning most days. He also chooses to go on Teach your monster to read as and when he wants (often a couple of times a week) and has also recently got interested in minecraft. But mainly he plays. He plays with small world toys such as trains and tracks, cars and his road mat, mini people or character figures, construction toys such as lego, zoobs, wooden blocks and wood and nails! He's also following in his brother's footsteps and is very into drawing at the moment which I am encouraging no end as the more he draws, the more he develops his hand muscles ready for writing. He has written a few things when he's asked to copy something but right now I'm not pushing the writing as he loves drawing so much and feel this is enough at age 4 to develop the correct muscles. He watches tv and you tube - he's so interested in things and how they work that he'll do anything in his power to find out the answers to his questions. As I type this he is watching "Britain's Secret Seas" a bbc documentary which he is absolutely glued to right now, but also watches various cbeebies programmes - the ones with "real" information being his favourite such as "Do you know", "I can cook" and "Octonauts". There's also a programme called "Magic School Bus" on Netflix which at first seems like an annoying Scooby Doo style retro cartoon. However, on closer inspection, it has a huge amount of scienctific teaching that goes on there - some things both myself and my 11yr old didn't even know ourselves so often we find ourselves all watching it as a family. You tube favourites also include "Come Outside" with the lovely Pippin and Auntie Mabel.

On top of all of the above, he also obviously joins us in our walks and explorations, swimming and football. He also does his own two dance classes and gymnastics. All of which he adores. We also meet up with friends at least once or twice a week for play dates either outside or in play centres. He mixes with other children most days and so do my older children either through groups or going out with friends and so I can honestly say Home Ed children really don't miss out socially. In fact, in my own children's point of view, they have a more active social life than most school children who have to sit next to whoever they're told to rather than a friend of choice.

At the weekend we do normal family things once their dad is home - zoo trips, country walks, chores such as shopping and DIY.

Would I change my life? Never. It is the best thing we've ever done!! xx

Exciting times

So, I opened my shops at the end of 2014 and have actually made some sales on and offline so that's really exciting. I'm now officially a self employed writer, artist and crafter - yes I know - all or nothing with me - I've told you that before!  I couldn't just settle with being a writer (I have spent the last 4yrs on and off completing a comprehensive writing course with the writers bureau which has been hard work, wonderful, educational and lots more besides. The feedback from my tutor was brilliant and I am so glad I struggled on, despite varying things happening in my life over that time, including my youngest (now 2yrs9mths) coming along. But it is now completed and I hope to get going with my various writing projects I have in my mind now I don't have to be completing assignments.) - The artist side of me has been desperate to get out for a long time. I was a very keen artist at school but didn't do so well in my final exam which totally zapped my confidence. I still doodled here and there, and was the main artist for the many wall displays we had in my workplace (nurseries and pre-schools) but it never really occurred to me to take it any further. Well, that is about to change. I hope to put some of my work in my Etys and Folksy shops. I have already started painting gift plates, but I hope to put some more unique artwork up there too...watch this space!

Right now, the "crafter" part of my self employment has been a couple of crochet items, the plates and plaques, however, I am currently in the process of making some gemstone/crystal and silver plated costume jewellery which you can view over on my other blog Catherine Creates but I am such an all round crafter no doubt I will find other things I want to do too. Catherine Creates has lots of my past work/gifts/swap presents so you may see some of those things popping up on my shop at some point... again... watch this space!

In my last post I spoke about having more family time. Well, last weekend, as a family, we went by train to a town about half an hour's train ride away. F, who is nearly 3, was SO excited by this that I suddenly felt guilty that he doesn't get to do it more often... and then I thought that actually, it's probably better that he DOESN'T do it more often so that when we do he will bounce for joy like he did last weekend and talk non stop about all the things he could see out of the window!  We got to the town and had a lovely walk along the river.

We were only there for a couple of hours in the end but we all had such a lovely time. Despite it being a city centre, it was very peaceful and such a lovely sunny (if cold) day. Edited to add... those photos make the river look very brown and murky but in reality it really wasn't like that at all! Might need to photo shop it!! Ha ha! x

Feeling thankful

Wow!

What an amazing end to 2014. We have been given so much these past couple of months I don't even know where to begin. My parents in law moved house so were getting rid of some things so we have inherited a new washing machine and a tumble drier!

 Ok, so to some people these may not sound that exciting - but to us (ok, me) it is wonderful! Our own washing machine is truly rubbish and never makes the washing smell fresh. Plus with five of us and it being winter our entire house is constantly looking like a laundry which isn't ideal when the house isn't huge and as I say, there are five of us (one of us a 2yr old with big toys) so it's pretty busy anyway.

Plus my lovely lovely parents have given us some money to buy a new car. This is much needed as although our current 14yr old car is still going, it is very much on it's last legs (or wheels as it were!). The suspension has totally gone and to say it's an uncomfortable ride is an understatement. Also, with my dad being in his 80s we really felt the next car we got was a 7 seater so that if there comes a time that he can no longer drive (mum doesn't drive), it really would be a help if we had enough space to fit them both in as well as us all.

So that is our current aim. To find a car for a good price that will last us til at least the big two grow up enough to make their own way... which actually doesn't feel like it will be that long! Eeek! N is now 12, C is 9 and F is 2yrs9mths. It's all going so quickly.

We've had a small blip with N recently. She's had a friend who wasn't really very nice to her which seemed to be making her constantly angry, especially towards C. A couple of weeks ago he was really not kind to her at all and she has decided not to see him or speak to him any more. I think it's such a brave brave thing for her to have decided as this is someone she has known for several years and been very close to for the past year. I do feel she needed to do this for herself. He seemed to be making her not feel good about herself and that's not a good thing. I do feel sorry for this boy though as I feel he's a bit lost somehow as he feels he needs to threaten his friends if they don't do as he says.

Anyway, since she has stopped seeing him we seem to have our lovely little girl back. She's been so much happier and content. No anger towards her brother and eagerly wanting to do things with us again rather than wanting to just sit in doors or be out with this "friend". She suffers with anxiety at times so it could be partly that she is off of school for the Christmas holidays, but I feel it is more than that - I asked how she felt about not seeing him and she said that although she's a bit sad, she also feels free and happier. It's sad that she continued to see him regularly even though he made her feel that way... but it's also great of her to give their friendship a really good go before she walked away. I love that girl so much.My children really do mean the world to me.

DREAMS FOR 2015

We went to our local wildlife park today for the first time in ages. We all had such a lovely time despite the cold grey day. On the way there we talked about our hopes for this years. We agreed to do more family things and adventures which I'm really looking forward to. I'm going to compile a list (oh how I love lists!) of things we must do this year so watch this space for thing we want to tick off our list.

I've been reading a book called "Feel the Fear and Do it anyway" by Susan Jeffers that my lovely friend K lent me. It's such a fascinating book and makes total sense. Not sure how much it is going to work yet but it's already got me thinking about how I don't make the most of other areas of my life. Right now it's the house and the children and not much else. The book encourages you to remember the other parts of your life too and to give 100% to everything you do... which to be honest, I find really hard. I find I flit between jobs and don't give 100% to anything I do right now whether it be  time spent with the children, household jobs, work or anything else for that matter (not that I have much time for anything else which is part of the problem).

So my dreams for 2015 include being there 100% for the children but also making time for other things in my life, even if only for an hour a day... but during that hour I will put 100% into it. I guess it's like mindfulness (another subject I would like to read up on).

Here's to a wonderful 2015!