what I have noticed at pretend school

1- most often we have not finished at the time the bell goes and can be mid train of thought, or just at the nitty gritty good bit. It is totally unsatisfying. 2- the before lunch, Nayland college has a very late lunch (1:30 to 2:15) if you ask me, period is a total waste…

Maths and more maths…

I have done very little maths teaching with H. I mostly just seize the moment when moments happen, like when she has money and there are sales to get her to learn more about percentages… even then, she had worked the links between 1/2 and 50% and how to find 50% by dividing a number…

we played school and it was fun.

Helena is determined to go to high school and to be able to do this we are practicing- this was her idea. I looked up a local school’s bell times and an approximate kind of subject list. The bell times were nothing like what I remembered from all those eons ago when I was at…

the week that was

Monday: it’s a public holiday but H is doing geography- this started as she had to be a detective to work out what country her book The Hardy boys is set in. She worked out the book was old due to word usage “fellows” and “chums” and leaving the girls behind… She is using an…

yay finished

I am quoting someone else when I say “I hate science fair” but I sort of do… oh dear I am already moving into the glow of the baby being delivered and forgetting the pain. It was so painful. Not the initial part when my darling enthusiastically got the idea and jumped totally into it….

two weeks out

We are so incredibly lucky! We got to spend two weeks totally out of our normal life volunteering for the Department of Conservation at a Lodge at Nydia bay. Only 5 hours of power a day, no cellphone reception… no roads, shops and not even many people! We got dropped there by boat with our…

testing

There is always something in the press about testing and how the kids are failing. Testing is a thing I associate with science. The importance in science is a fair test and this requires This makes sense right. If, for instance, you grew a plant in two different places but were actually testing the the…

the Tests

I found some UK kids tests in my teachers college stuff, we must have been given them as a ‘this is kinda like a P.A.T test with out us giving you one’ thing. They are for year 5, level 3-5. I have taught in the UK but couldn’t tell you if that us the same…

random stuff of the week brought to you by rain

Rain, rain and more rain… It has rained every day for the last few weeks. Our garden is a bog, and a very muddy cold bog at that. We have been somewhat stuck inside – I know we could go brave the weather but neither of us want to…… So Helena has put her pile…

Playing school

It turns out homeschool kids play school. Helena plays it with her neighbors (7 and 4), her toys, and me!!! This has happened before. I go to bed to find a note on my pillow letting me know I have to sign up to some school like activity. I am currently not doing my Science…