Helena catered for a tea party in the weekend… a full on tea party for 4. There were choices – popcorn, pikelets, chocolate cake and hokey pokey biscuits washed down with lashings of homemade lemonade. I did nothing to help, I’m not even sure that we even had a conversation about it, – permission or…
Tag: being the one who knows
rules
H and one of her friends were having a water fight one evening, for ages and ages.. It turned out it was a highly structured game with rules, they decided rules would be a “good idea”. No two cans No throwing if opponent paused Be fair Only throw at players Be gentle No throwing cans…
homework
I don’t like homework as I have seen how it is detrimental to parent child relationships, all that nagging, all that implying that whatever project the kid had in their head is less important than what someone external to the family believes is important… I did get kids to take home stuff they didn’t finish…
they learn from what we do
When I wrote my homeschool application I had such grand plans. One of which was that we would somehow build our own tiny home and I imagined Helena by my side measuring, sawing etc. Of course reality was someone else built us a sleepout sized building with no internal finishing…. and I paid cash, so…
a great teacher
There is always someone organising something in the homeschooling community. From drama, special classes in the library, bike skills etc and we can either opt in or not. Sometimes I opt us in, or Helena wants to opt in because her friends are there or sometimes it is just what she wants to do. The…
Feeling powerful
I absolutely love my job. Every school holidays I work for a friend. My friend is the best boss I’ve ever had which of course makes things easier, she insures that not only is the actual job fun but that I also feel agency, that I am free to make many of the day to…
Yesterday’s science
I got Helena up yesterday morning and told her it was a special day. It was science day. Possibly I’m a little restless. Helena was not amused. “What’s got into you Mum?” “I like to do my own thing”. I got our test tubes out and then she was somewhat less reluctant. I wanted to…
play, real life or just work?
Aren’t they all the same? Context: Last week she was waiting for a friend to arrive, due at 2pm and it’s 9am… long time right. She’s at a loss so I chuck “busy work” at her, in this case a maths book with questions and pictures that she can write in. We sit at the…
secret learning to read (30.10.18)
I have done no ‘active teaching’ in Helena’s learning to read. I was trying the theory that you can learn to read yourself as I was never convinced that the rituals at school teaching kids to read were what was doing it. It’s all the child. The ingredients for reading are: a child who wants…
the weird stuff kids do (25.09.18)
These are called springs. You make them by folding, Helena can now do this extreeeemly quickly and with her eyes shut. There is now a basket of 80 of them “two more sets of 10 and there will be 100” sitting on her desk, as well as some cut card waiting for her to make…
homeschoolery 