Discovering (w/c 14/11/15)

This last week has been all about Discovering;

* DISCOVERING more about The Second World War.

making soldier Hama beads,

making poems with daddy, painting pictures of an RAF pilot, making a spitfire model and reading "Growing Up in Wartime". We also have found some wartime recipes to make next week.

* DISCOVERING the amazing Home Ed network in Horsham and the surrounding area. 

We found out that there is a Home Ed session at gymnastics which is fantastic considering the after school sessions have a six month waiting list. Willow had a great time she got to do lots including backward rolls, handstands and working on the bars.

We discovered more Home Ed Facebook groups which led to us going to a Winter Wednesday session organised by the lovely ladies who admin 'Horsham Home Educators'

Willow started to make a Christmas stocking (yay the Christmas crafting begins, my favourite!!) She cut out and used a template before cutting out her fabric and then laying out/designing her embellishments. She then used the sewing machine with pedal to sew on the ribbons, before beginning to sew on the sequins by hand.

This week we also started to discover more about shapes; 2D, 3D. Willow watched a programme called Peg and Cat, which was about 2D, 3D and counting in two's. ( I didn't realise it would be about shapes just a lucky coincidence)

THE CHRISTMAS LIST HAS ALSO BEEN STARTED!!!! 

The Beginning.....

...of Home Schooling (to be explained in a later blog). It has been a really great first week with plenty of learning and fun. It has primarily been based on World War II; something she has been inquisitive about for a while and that has been triggered again by Remembrance Day last Sunday. We have been working through the Usborne Sticker Dressing The World Wars book,  it has been a great primary source for questions and for a basic explanations / timelines for both The First World War and Second World War.

We have started a project book in which we have been sticking pictures in and writing about Evacuation, Gas Attacks and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S.Lewis. Her writing is really coming on and the project book is a great way to practice. We also use a small whiteboard which I write on as we spell out words together and then she copies.

As well as World War II we have been working through a couple of workbooks one of which is   Year 1 Basics published by School Zone Publishing Company it is colourful, fun and nicely laid out. 

Today we went to the library, learnt to search on the library computer and stocked up on some more World War II books including some fiction books including Little Manfred by Michael Morpurgo. I shall write a review about it once we have read it. 

We had our first Home Ed Group meet up this week, it was so great to see so many families that home ed and reassures me that what we are doing is OKAY. We went along to an egg decorating session where Willow decorated spray painted blown eggs with melted wax from crayons using the end of a dressmaking pin. She absolutely loved it, anything Arty/Crafty is always a winner.

Next week we will continue on the World War II theme and also start some science fun involving Glow in the Dark paint!! Exciting!!

Useful websites from this week include Paper Zip, Primary Facts, Woodlands Junior Resources. 

Early Morning Creating

Last week was a week for early morning creating.

Baking biscuits and muffins.

Pop up cafe.

Making paper flowers to brighten the day.

Remodelling cat food boxes

Gardening with a little friend

The Garden Beckoned.

Weeds were pulled.

Nourishing, new earth laid, awaiting new plants.

Soaking up the sun.

Helped by a little friend.

A Little Sun To Help Break Up The Gloom

It is fair to say that I struggle in February.

By now you would think that I would have learnt, I would have remembered that this time every year is not a good time for me. I feel the gloom, I want to escape from everything, seek out new places, find the sun. This particular February has been especially dark, it has rained (a lot!), it has been windy and everywhere outside is wet and muddy!

I have been short fused, gloomy, uninspired by anything except the desire to just go, find new shores, explore and escape the doldrums. 

However there have been a couple of hopeful days. 

A reminder that Spring might be on its way.

A chance to blow away the cobwebs.

Lift the Spirit.

Smile.

The Month of January

January is a strange month, it is the start of a new year, a new chapter, a time to make changes, make new resolutions, but in contrast it can also be a month of dreariness, a harumphh month, a month of miserable weather, a grey month! 

January is a battling month between the desire to refresh, refocus and restart and the want to hibernate away from the grey, post christmas gloominess. 

My January has been an refreshingly, inciteful month, a month to find inner peace, to find my true self, a month for us to grow as a family and realise what we hold most important.  Having said that I too have been affected by the January gloom I have definitely felt like hiding under the covers and not coming out until Spring, but thankfully I have come out the otherside and realised that those positive things I have gained from the month of January far outweigh the spell of  melancholy that descended. I leave the month with a bounce in my step, full of anticipation to what February will bring and what new adventures we shall have.

         

Freespirit - My Word!

                                        

Driving home from work the other evening it leapt out at me, sprung into my brain, my word! The word to help define my 2014, the word to strive to, to live my life alongside. 

Freespirit

I had been thinking about my daughter and how she is developing into an adventurous, eager to learn, beautiful unique young girl, a one off, a freespirit! It reminded me of myself when I was a tad younger! It's there now but is barred by responsibility, adulthood, being a mother, worry. It comes out every now and then, but it should be making more of an appearance, I should not forget who I am when being a mummy. There is no doubt being a mummy changes who you are, in fact I feel it has added to me, made me a better person, however it should intertwined with the good parts of who you were before. It is so easy to get bogged down in being responsible, worrying about the future, but you mustn't let it engulf everything! I mustn't let my freespirit get lost, it is part of me and I must let it out, embrace it, cherish it and most of all enjoy it! If I do it will have a positive affect on me, my husband,  my daughter's development and the way we embrace our lives. 

My mummy has always told me to be myself, not let other people affect who you are! In today's media crazed, fast moving society it can be hard to forget but as part of embracing my freespirit, I must be myself, be who I want to be and most importantly be happy with who I want to be and not let things that are of no real importance change that! 

So here I pledge to ensure I keep on living by my mom's motto:

Be Yourself 

And to embrace my new word for 2014:

Freespirit