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Monday 17 January 2011

New Years Resolutions............

....yes, I know it's a bit late but I never was one to be on time.  I can't believe my last post was last May - that's pretty awful even for me!  But the children are often saying "...oh perhaps you could put this on the blog...." so guilt has finally got the better of me and I thought I'd try again.  It's also nice to look back at things we've done, so....here goes!

I'm sure you can imagine that alot has happened in the past 8 months (oops, is it really that long).  Don't worry, I won't ramble on for long..............

Rhiannon got through her exams (despite everything) and is now at college.  A shock to all of our systems. Despite the colleges somewhat snobby attitude to her when she went to interview, the course is way below her abilities and has been somewhat unstimulating.  It makes me realise just how much our children progress and flourish at home.  She is not at all disadvantged by lack of formal teaching over the past years.  On the contrary........  So I am determined not to underestimate the talents of my children in the future.  I will be pushing to get R onto the course she wants, irrespective of whether she has the formal entry requirements.  As long as she believes it is right for her.  She knows her own limits - because she has learnt to know them.  Having said all that she is still trying to extract as much as possible from the course, especially with respect to putting together a really good portfolio of work for the future.

And what about some other stuff....  Well, Rhiannon, Sam and Jo are now all members of the Clarbeston Road players and performed in this years panto "Snow White and the Six Giants".


                                                          Rhiannon as "Snow White"
                                                        
                                                        
                                                                       Jo as "Grumpy"!

They always have a great time at drama!
They are just starting work on a one act play "The Hard Yards" that they will be performing in April, so watch this space!  It's a play about the difficulties a bright 17 year old boy faces and it covers difficult themes like parental pressure, peer pressure, teenage pregnancy, depression, promiscuity...........I'm exhausted!  And all in less than an hour!!  The point is, Jo is too young for this one so it's just Rhiannon and Sam involved.  Sam will also be in the adult groups play "Chain Reaction" which I think is a comedy about house selling (if that could ever be conceived of as funny!)

So, what else?   Well......we enjoyed the pre-Christmas snow..................really not too bad for us compared to January 2010!


Made lots of our christmas pressies including soap (from scratch....interesting piece of chemistry), felt, lavender bags and calendars.


                                                         Detail of Rhiannon's felt cockerel....


Keira took her first ballet exam (!)


We hatched some Bantum eggs for our eglu......



Built scarecrows..........


Painted rocks.......


Went to Fiddle Festivals (well, one anyway...)




.....to name but a few things (8 months is definitely too long!)..............

Sam especially spends alot of time modelling, designing and building stuff.........last week he built a replica piston engine out of K'nex...powered by a drill.  Must show you that one when I get around to it!



Life is full of things we do that seem unimportant and ordinary at the time...but then you look back and think "wow, we did OK didn't we?"  Or at least we hope we do.  I won't promise anyone, least of all myself, that I will start blogging regularly, but I will try........for us it seems to be more about creating some king of log of our home ed achievements.  To remind us that it is in the little everyday experiences and discoveries that we actually achieve so much without really noticing.

So what do you reckon.......anyone gonna' take bets.............I wouldn't if I were you!



8 comments:

Big mamma frog said...

FAb to see you back in blog land. WE've missed you! And what a lot you've been up to.

Despite my doubts over the years I'm gradually starting to appreciate just how much my kids know and how articulate and talented they are (even if they can't spell that well and would faint at the sight of a maths book!). Their lust for life and learning is really what makes them stand out.

Ds1 was talking recently to some friends of mine about getting together a production company to help move his filmmaking forward. This is a 12yr old who has been dabbling in animation and filmmaking since he was 7...I wonder where he'll be in a few years time! Spielberg eat your heart out!

Word verification below was 'busially' - great word!

Carol said...

If the school kids R has encountered (with a few exceptions of course) since being here in Pembrokeshire are anything to go by, we have nothing to worry about! Sometimes I go through phases of being more "structured" but I feel equally if not more uneasy with that because I fear I am controlling their thinking too much and that they might lose that precious independance that, post-school, has taken so long to build up. It's a tricky balance.

Yesterday morning whilst standing in the kitchen I could hear R listening to a "Gilbert and Sullivan" comic opera, whilst Sam was watching a documentary on particle physics (all totally spontaneous). Hmmmm......why do we worry?

Big mamma frog said...

Yeah, it's hard not to intervene or interrupt, especially when there are doubts and insecurities that niggle away.

But if I step back for long enough and just 'offer' opportunities, allow myself to be still long enough to provide feedback and 'food for thought' in response to the kids' questions, then it's amazing how much their learning takes a leap.

We are definitely in a more autonomous phase...and it feels good.

stefndawniy said...

a lovely post :)

true isnt it , they pick up so much without our intervention :-)

MariaD said...

Thank you for giving us a chance to see how chilled out your school day is..... Time flies when your having FUn

Shame I had to rush off to school ( final) pickup.

catch up soon......M and Em

MariaD said...

Had a wonderful time meeting you guys...plus pets.

Thank you for letting me see our options and make Emilys' day the final one y'day in the SYSTEM !!!!!!! much happier, bubbly child already

Rhiannon White said...

Well the whole blogging a bit more thing kinda failed....

Carol said...

Hang on a minute.... still got nearly 4 months to go!