Iron age fun.

Some people just have a brilliant way of passing on their passion and knowledge. They actually enjoy being with children and helping them discover something. Whether that be the sharing their love of the past, unlocking the magic of numbers or maybe a being able to make  music.

We were wonderfully lucky to experience that today. As part of our ongoing involvement with The Rockingham Forest Trust, their fab rangers and the lovely Liz we have spent the best couple of hours being immersed in Celtic life. Learning their crafts, about their lives and communities and fighting like them too.

Pasta making.

Never one to miss an opportunity to share skills, share food and meet up with friends, we did just that this morning.

making a well for the eggs

getting sticky with the dough

rolling the pasta

getting thinner 

making parcels

really long!

cutting the ravioli

Yum!

budding chefs

Ravioli, gnocchi and tagliatelle with delicious sauces. Mmmmm, they were good!

I quite like mondays.

They are predictable yet slightly chaotic. We always have guitar lessons which means we will at some point have to get dressed. Plans for the week ahead have yet to fully emerge, so there are the endless possibilities of our home-ed lifestyle affords us. Of course we may do nothing exciting at all but we could do anything!  We potter, tidy, sort things, maybe read and plan with a "beginning of the week" energy.

One thing we know for sure, someone (not naming his true identity) but he often goes by the name of O man, strawberry dog or the strawberry samurai, will say they don't want to go to guitar but will always come out looking like this.....

see, smiling!

We will have drinks and snacks at our favourite coffee shop (we are biased, Ellie works there!)

Yes! Cinnamon danish.

Some magic to pass the time.

Mmmm, hot chocolate.

And I always know we'll end up walking back to the car laughing and chatting humming a new tune and watching two brothers share a passion.

O- "I learnt live and let die"
D- "Cool!"

Rock and Roll baby, yeah!

He's perfecting the pout.

He's rocking the stance.

And with a group of other home ed group kids they are learning and playing together.
David is learning patience while sharing his skills and helping the other learn new ones.

Lets skate

Lets take the plunge, be brave and pull on our retro skates!

Lets meet up with loads of new kids and skate around a massive sports hall in almost total darkness with the most bizarre musical mix ever heard. Lets try not to acquire any new injuries and take care of the massive shin injury gained only an hour earlier and that has only just stopped bleeding. Yeah, Lets skate!

Funny what inspires them.

You try and engage them, inspire, encourage with ideas and books and trips and resources. Hoping they might put pen to paper or sit for more than 10 minutes before rushing to look at a bug or bounce on the trampoline or check for eggs, again.

So what does inspire them?

Dr Who. Sitting and concentrating for hours and completing the most amazing picture.

And a tea party. Writing invites, planning a menu, reading recipes and then measuring and baking.

And the best bit, lashings and lashings of ginger beer!

Discovering Egypt with friends

We bloomin' love home educating.
You meet fab people and get to follow your kids explore the world.
A new book had inspired an Egyptian resurgence and so we spent a day exploring history up and down the Nile. A morning of sharing knowledge and gaining more, eating like an Egyptian over lunch and playing and exploring artefact's all afternoon.

Why I don't drive (well only when absolutely necessary)

Because my time can be used in a much more productive way!
Much better that I sit and crochet completely useful things, maybe bunting. Obviously a very useful addition to our home.

We were probably on our way to somewhere very educational and useful for the children, so thats okay!

Caught a glimpse!

Focus on that flash of floral!

House guests.

We are pet sitting two guinea pigs for friends at the moment. I would recommend it if your child has desires for a new pet. You get to experience how your child will be, how dedicated or how easily bored and if you end up doing everything it will only be for a week or two!

So far it's going well. They are being fed, stroked and cleaned as they should. Interest is not waning! Mia has been bitten and it has not put her off. After being administered to she was off again cleaning out and brushing the other one.

Of course there is also the flip side your child might not get bored. They may remain completely dedicated. Injury will not put them off.  Then you might find yourself staring into the eyes of a child who has to give back said cute furry creatures and now demand one of her own. Ah! Oh dear.

Cleaning out 

They're a bit quick!

Box made for moving them safely

Daddy's sewing too

He has much less time but no less inclination to be just as creative as the rest of us.

And so he indulged those creative urges by fixing a pair of holey jeans with funky floral patches. A quick machine lesson and he was off. The result is very, very cool! If you see him out and about you might just catch a glimpse.

Work hard

If you work hard and tidy your room you too can have a pair of shiny new roller boots!

Today we are....

Being a bit focused for a while! A renewed interest in Egyptology has spured Ollie on to research more about them. He has be happily dipping in and out of the atlas, books and the Internet before deciding he would like to make an Ankh from clay. Will decided he would like to go quietly and write a story, its about  life in the kitchen, and he said he was inspired by Chicken run. How they all come to life and have characters the humans don't see. Mia has made more play food with clay and has read three books. She has also decided that she could read us a story before we read to her every bedtime. David has disappeared to his room to play guitar and to start designing his clock, I did interfere here a little by suggesting he might like to do some documented research into clocks, design etc and make notes about his thoughts, ideas and the process he goes through as he makes his. He did look at me with a "I know exactly what I want to do and I just want to make it" face, but hey it's bloomin' hard standing back and letting them just get on with it all the time!

A rare sighting of David
(he spends much of his time in the 70's)

Books Ollie found 

books Mia read

Will talking about his story.

So they did that for a few hours, and I needed to record it! They are off playing games now and we've cleaned our guinea pig house guests out. We shall go walk the dogs, have some lunch, go to guitar and rainbows too!

Not bad for a Monday.

Getting creative

Everybody around here has been getting a bit creative! Sewing, painting, making and baking. Educationally (as that's what needs justifying in my head today!) this has involved quite a lot of planning, measuring, note making and explaining.  We have researched ideas together and I have watched as they have persevered and seen the pleasure when it all comes good.

Oliver planned and made a monster toy for a friends birthday.

Cutting from his pattern

sewing on the button eyes

stitching the tummy pocket

Wand in pocket and ready to go!

A very happy boy.

Mia has been doing soooo much colouring lately her fingers are almost permanently stained. She has also been writing lots of little notes to people, making cards and even decorating herself!

 prom dress optional

colouring

Practicing painting flowers

William has been filling sheets of paper with his own made up pokemon. He thinks he is now going to arrange them into a book. They are very small, almost 20 to a page, but full of the most minute details. He has also been sewing by hand and with the machine to make a gift for his best friend Emily.

52 pokemon and counting

Planning his pattern

Cutting fabric

Battys wing

Ta dah!

Now, David is the quiet one! You think he's off in his room being all teenagery and start to quiz him on "what have you actually done today?" and he can reel off a whole list of things and talk/show you all about them. Often its things he's read about in the news or seen on a blog, very often its something creative or architectural and lots of times its photography. He's also got a huge pile of books hes working through in an order only he can make sense of. My brain couldn't keep track but he likes to dip in and out when the mood takes him. Currently on the go are, Of mice and men, around the world in 80 days, City of fallen angels and Scat. At his request we have also just purchased some fab Shakespeare books with notes and historical information and a rhyming dictionary!

making gaffer tape wallets for friends

Helping Ollie with some maths

Best big brother ever!
(he had a sleepover and midnight feast with Mia when nobody else would)