Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Monday - a day in pictures

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Had to start with this one - a true lazy individual!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
We started the day with literacy, reading some rainy day poems and then writing our own. We also did some maths.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
We made an "Autumn" poster using bark and twigs found in the garden and pasted the new poems we'd written on there. We'll add more as the season continues.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Ben helped make some lentil soup. He did the weighing and most of the chopping ...

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
... and all the stirring.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
When the weather's not too good we get a few little powercuts where we are and so when our power went off during the morning we didn't think anything of it until, after an hour, it didn't come back on! Had to call our electricity supplier for help and a chappy turned up very promptly. Our supply cupboards are a little confusing as boxes have been replaced and there's switches for other bits and bobs in there too, but luckily this chappy managed to flick a big black switch to "on" to retrieve our electricity! I felt like a damsel in distress and a tiny bit like a fool, but he was nice about it. In truth, and I did tell him this, I'd already tried flicking this switch but it immediately returned to "off" and flashed at me - I wasn't going to venture near it again! Anyway, emergency over.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
After lunch* of our lovely lentil soup, Katie did some piano practise. She's really enjoying teaching herself and has got to the same level as Ben now.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
She decided to write a Woollie Pony song**. She composed the lyrics (with a little tweaking from me to make it all work) and the music and she told me how to write the notes.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
While Katie tinkled the ivories, Ben made a 3D house out of Lego complete with little Lego man sitting at the dining table.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Ben did some piano practise too.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Much needed expel of energy on the trampoline although it was pretty cold out there.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Katie made a mini tree using a four-pronged twig and mini felt leaves.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Ben is into Star Wars at the moment so they both made light-sabers out of twigs from the garden and painted them in their chosen colours (Billy, the rabbit, looks a bit bored in the background!).

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Ben also made a Darth Maul mask and the two battled away!

* During lunch we talked about an article we'd read on the typical foods served during Tudor times at Burghley House in Stamford. It was interesting to read that luxurious meals like stuffed sparrow inside a pigeon inside a woodcock inside a partridge inside a chicken inside a goose inside a peacock (re-dressed before serving with all it's feathers and beautiful tail) would have appeared on the tables of the nobles. Also, as sugar became more popular, the degree of blackened teeth due to rotting showed how wealthy one was and that people would blacken their teeth artificially to appear a better person!

** Woollie Song

Woollies run fast,
gallop through grass,
running on the beach,
sand and waves they reach.

Spooky castles for their rest,
daytime sun they like the best,
Woollies are a loving bunch
eating oats for their lunch.


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Friday, September 21, 2007

Titanic and other things

We went along to the museum with the HE group to see the Titanic exhibition and take part in a drama session on the subject. Katie and Ben had started their lapbooks on this ill-fated liner so we'd read a couple of books before the trip (although Ben still thought it had sunk just a few year's ago).

As before, with the Galileo session, the museum staff were very knowledgeable, and the actor (who had played Galileo last time) was once again fabulous with the children, responding and working with them to get the best out of the drama session.

The group was split into 10 and over and under 10s so one group could visit the exhibition while the other did the drama before switching around. I stayed with Ben, in the younger group, and found he and his friends got quite a bit out of the displays and hands on sections - playing quoits, setting the Captain's table correctly, sending morse code (the constant beeping sound must have driven the staff absolutely mad in the end) and trying out a few knots, to name but a few. After this they did the drama session which was perhaps more geared to the older children. Katie said her group had some budding thespians and they seemed to generally get more wrapped up in the subject compared to the youngsters. Nevertheless I think everyone enjoyed themselves and it made for a good morning out with the group.

On the lapbook front, Katie and Ben have used maps to plot the route of the Titanic as well as find out some facts about Southampton, Belfast and Cherbourg. We've also read about the key chaps involved in the beginnings of it all, the Ismays, JP Morgan and Lord Pirrie (or piri-piri sauce as Katie calls him), important dates etc., etc. as well as look at how the boat was constructed. All week we have read, discussed and written about first class passengers with Katie making a rather lovely doll (photo at some point I'm sure).

One a totally different topic - here's a photo of Katie's finished puss-cat. She got the idea from an ancient Blue Peter book that I'd had as a child that we found lurking in the cupboard.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Other things - we're back into Flat Travellers, with Katie being offered to swap her Flat "Chocolat" with another in California. We've also started a discussion board with the idea of discussing a news item of interest (either from the paper/news website or from Newsround) over lunch with discussion views written up afterwards on the board. One of two topics discussed at length this week was Wind Turbines (which we visited last week) vs the new Wave Hub which is destined for the seas of Cornwall, the other being a question on the Newsround site "can children live without adults?" Interesting one and Katie did post a comment on the site board but either it didn't reach them (the PC put up a "can't connect" comment - argh) or it didn't get printed.

Finally, finished painting our snug. It looks much fresher in green and very relaxing. We set out wanting a rather warm, snuggly feeling in their but someone it's ended up a modern feel, but still lovely. Can't wait to enjoy sitting by the fire - we have the sweep coming to clean the chimneys in a couple of weeks (they still use the old fashioned brushes, just like my mum did when I was a child).
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Mighty proud part 2

Katie has finally got around to putting up one of the tutorials for making the (quickly becoming rather famous) Woollie ponies that she, and others, seems to be producing in vast quantities!

This rather catchy little hobby is fast spreading through friends and family, and she has had a few requests from outside sources to produce a tutorial! A friend suggested she name them "world wide woollies", so who knows, you may be seeing Woollies in many far off places in the future!

Not only am I proud that Katie has made these cute little ponies that people are interested in, but that her website, with the tutorials, has been written by herself in self-taught HTML.

http://www.freewebs.com/woolliemodels/

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
This one is so adorable she is thinking of selling it on ebay - watch this space!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I'm mighty proud part 1

I am really proud of Ben getting his teeth into this little project with minimal help from me. After a sort out of his room we rediscovered the box of Knex lurking under the bed so he set too following some instructions to make a chainsaw. After this all went very quiet until he appeared some time later showing me the beginnings of a three wheeled motorbike/car which he said was going to be based on one that a neighbour owns. Once he'd finished the basic bike/car, all by himself, he decided to add a seat and handlebars for the rider. During this stage I suggested he made the three wheels a little more stable - that was all I helped him on; he completed his challenge all by himself.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Friday, September 14, 2007

Visit to local wind farm

Group met here *, at a local Wind Turbine farm today. Typically I'd forgotten to bring the camera so no photos this time. However, a lovely gentleman, Nicholas Watts, the owner of the estate (who proudly told us that he was born in the estate house that he lives in, as was his father, grandfather and his own children), took us on a tractor/trailer ride through the vast fields to stand as close as safely possible to one of the eight giant wind turbines that are situated on his land. He is a firm believer that wind is the way to go (doesn't history repeat itself!) and I'm sure we'll be seeing more and more of these fabulous machines going up, where possible, around the country, and offshore, in the not too distant future. At full speed, we were told, the tips of the blades travel at 140 mph and that their particular turbines are 60 metres tall with each blade 42 metres in length.

Before our visit, Katie, Ben and I spent some time researching wind turbines, how they work, pros and cons, using some good websites and Katie actually made a list of questions to ask on the visit. The chappie in charge was so thorough with his speech she was only able to ask one question in the end!

http://www.energysavingsecrets.co.uk/WindFarms.html

http://www.cat.org.uk/interactive/windfarm01.tmpl

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/actionnetwork/A2369892

On our trailer ride back, we stopped off to walk through one of the fields of dwarf beans (I didn't realise you could grow beans from such a small plant) that are organically grown for some of the big name supermarkets. The children enjoyed having the opportunity of picking some to try. They were so fresh and crunchy, but apparently they were too small to please the big chains (due to the continuous wet weather we had over the summer hols)!

* bit misleading I know, but the venue also sells bird seed in vast quantities as well as organic fruit, veg, preserves and other goodies.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Monday, September 10, 2007

Bit behind in posting this!

We went to Barnwell Country Park on Friday as it was so sunny and warm.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
It seemed very quiet, only a handful of other children around, so it gave Katie and Ben the opportunity to use all the fabulous adventure playground equipment without having to queue!

Katie is seriously into ducks (but not quite as seriously as she's into horses of course) and so we enjoyed watching and feeding them, as well as the swans, cignets and geese. We spent some time sitting in the bird watching huts spotting a variety of garden birds, looking out for fish in the rivers and streams and just enjoying the peace. Katie and Ben also did some pond dipping, hindered a little but some very interested feathered creatures getting pretty close to the nets.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Picnic lunch and then we discovered you can borrow a set of boules from the shop/reception area, so we played this for a short while. Good fun, we all enjoyed it.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

On Saturday we had a family BBQ at our home. P's sister came up from London to check out the house and we were lucky enough to be able to sit outside chatting and eating while the children amused themselves. Should have taken photos of P's dad bouncing on the trampoline - the kids loved it! In the evening, the local pub had a live band playing so P and I let the kids stay up a little later to enjoy the mix of pop tunes new and old. P and I were dancing in the garden, something we certainly wouldn't have done in our previous home!

On Sunday, we decided to take a walk out onto the marsh to get closer to the sea (Wash) edge. There's a path across the RAF bombing range which isn't accessible during flight practise times! We managed to get very close to the water, stopping as it got a bit boggy, but it looked like some hardy pony had made it there too as we followed tiny hoof prints all the way out.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Although this shot was taken next to a creek, it shows how dry the mud has become due to lack of consistent rain.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
One of the targets set up for practise firing by fighter jets.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Ben was quite nervous of walking across a firing range, even though the warning flags weren't on display.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Quite an eerie shot I thought. It took us a while to walk out to the water so we were losing the light. The boat is another target for practise bombing/firing by the jets.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Back to norms today

So we were back at normals this morning without any hassle. I've decided to go back to having half an hour (or more if needed) with each for their maths rather than trying to help both at the same time, often with totally different needs. It makes for a much easier life for me and them. For Katie we are using everyday situations for working out simple percentages (purchasing more oil for the tank and understanding percentage borrowing charges when buying a new car). For Ben, book work, today on number patterns which he picked up far too quickly, and recapping on his fractions/percentages and ratios poster he'd completed during the holidays.

Our new sofa turned up and so we took the opportunity of trying it out, snuggling together to read the first part of our DK book on Titanic, our latest history project. Katie and Ben both made notes of interesting bits and pieces ready for detailed writing tomorrow. We'll see how this goes as comprehensive I feel is important. Ben, like lots and lots of people of all ages, takes in what he wants, which is fine most times, but, as I'd like him to take some kind of qualifications in the future, won't always do. Helping him now will hopefully pay off.

Our Ordnance Survey maps turned up with the post so we spent a chunk of time over lunch pouring over a map of our area. Love looking at all the house and farm names and the weird names of sections of mud and sand in the Wash. A brilliant booklet came with it, although some of the ideas for understanding maps/coordinates etc., we've already covered. Still, plenty of other good suggestions for getting learning the art of map reading. Also with the post came a postcard from Royal Mail saying Katie had a package waiting for collection as the sender hadn't paid enough postage. When reading it further I noticed that the missing postage was for 1p and they had put a handling fee of £1.00 on top! What a cheek. The parcel was from my mum who weighed it and doubled checked the cost before sending it. We can only assume a 1p stamp (she'd used 5) had come off somewhere between leaving her and the sorting office. I can't believe they've held back something because 1p was missing - I feel a phone call coming on.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Ideas for the time being ...

This is really just for my benefit in case, like the other day, P's computer decides to die again and I lose all my (and everyone elses) hard work and ideas. My PC is on a network with his, so my documents are saved to be accessible from both PCs.

Daily numeracy using work books and other materials as required.

Daily handwriting practise using the cursive writing guide. Also copying of small poems and literature to strengthen hand muscles (most of our work up until now has been typed) and develop neat handwriting.
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~wh5a/personal/cursive.gif (cursive writing)
http://www.anndixon.com/forfun.html (monthly poems, really lovely)

Literacy which in my opinion is used daily anyway in the written/typed work for other subjects, but will include imaginative story writing (for both), completing the RaW (for Ben) and updating websites (Katie) to include her Woollie pony tutorials. Plenty of reading too individually and together (finish Dr. Dolittle).

History - Titanic - lapbook + visit to museum to see the exhibition and take part in a drama session. I won't list the websites here as they'll go on and on, but there's lots of brilliant ones available to learn all about this tragic subject. Also using DK Titanic book - very informative. We shall include fashion of the first class passengers, menus, information on ice bergs and produce some unusual ice berg art, study and plot the route on a map, understanding how boats float and are stable, make a boat/scene, write an SOS using morse code, write a newspaper article and a postcard home.

Geography - discover a little more about the places we visit, plot them, together with a post card, on the UK map. Katie has requested that we learn more about Italy - lots of hands on things to help us here like pasta making, etc., etc. Learn about map reading with the help of Ordnance Survey. Many thanks to Lucy for posting about free maps for 11 year olds. Although Katie's not quite there yet we were able to order our maps and we've just been pouring over them studying our local area in more depth. Looking forward to doing more with this. Here's the website:
http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/education/ (lots to do + how to order your free maps for 11 year olds).

Science - more on space (see music) and also learn more about how we power our homes etc. Visits to a local wind farm and a power station are on the group list for this term.

Music and Art - have decided to start doing a bit of music appreciation. We'll start with the lovely Planet Suite by Holst and include some art, literacy and science. Piano practise too for Ben can come under this topic! Art will crop up in our other topics but there will certainly be lots of other arts and crafts happening. Katie to finish her little craft projects that seem to get left - making her small black horse, embroidery on her shoulder bag.

Phew - I'll keep you posted on how we get on!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

Friskney, Burghley and lots of crafts

We popped over to see the home of the family that previously owned our home last week. Beautiful, quiet setting completely away from it all. They have a late 60s bungalow which they are renovating and redecorating. All looking very lovely, sitting in 3 acres of greenery with a duckpond enclosed in one section of the garden to keep their Indian runner ducks (one of which was rather loopy), calling ducks and variety of cute rabbits, safe and sound. Katie and Ben had great fun driving around on their sit-on lawn mower/tractor. All very safe, the engine would cut out as soon as a bottom lifted from the seat (which happened frequently when Ben was trying to press down the reverse pedal) and no we didn't experience any nightmares like run over bystanders or pets! Had a great afternoon/evening with delicious bbq, what felt like a whole bottle of the drinkable alcohol very similar to the smooth pale creamy stuff beginning with B, and a running commentary of past antics which had taken place in our home whilst scanning through disk loads of old photographs. We were pleased as punch to be given an early 70s aerial view of our home - something that will be treasured.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Just need to concentrate on the theory test now!

Headed to Burghley Horse Trials on the Saturday as P is lucky enough to help as a marshal most years. This year he had a pretty important job of being with the TV Producer for the day and was able to get very close to the likes of Zara Phillips (with Mum, Princess Anne in the background) as the TV crew interviewed her after her stint on the cross-country course. Katie, naturally, was in her element seeing the riders, the beautiful horses, the jumps (she loves the idea of competing in cross-country) and probably top the list, visiting the Utterly Horses stand to spend her hard earned cash. Ben spent his hard earned cash on a fun little spud gun which, after many frustrating attempts trying to make it work, suddenly worked with vengeance on Monday with me finding mini spuds all over the kitchen floor! He and Katie set up an army of mini men and had a gun battle!
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Love the look of toleration on Katie's face!
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Taken by Katie, thought it was a good one.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Came home from Burghley to find my Aunt had very kindly posted a whole load of succulents and cacti (together with pots) for Katie to plant up, which she did first thing Sunday morning.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Today we had friends over for the afternoon and Katie held a Woollie (as in wollie horses) Festival with fete like games; tombola, raffle, lasso the rocking horse, a swap table and lucky dip for us all to take part in. I boosted her raffle prizes by making these ...
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
which should have included this ...
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

but Katie pleaded for me to keep it!

Katie also made this cute little doll all by herself (from the library, the book "Art from Fabric" which I cannot source on Amazon or Ebay unfortunately. It's a lovely crafty book, the kind we like here.). So lots of craft making has been happening inbetween other things.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I have been meaning to post a couple of piccies that Ben had taken of his new fish which have settled very quickly into their new home. He bought them a couple of weeks ago, the orange/silver is called "Flame", the darker one is "Rock". Cool names, both of which Ben thought up.
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Back to "work" next week for us. We have lots of ideas, I just need to get myself into gear and sort them all out now.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket