Our Story So Far

These are the kids sketches for today! Hazel did the Woodpecker and Kieran did the boar. Where he came up with boar I’ll never know! Last week Hazel did the wren painting-I thought I’d blog it as I love it!

(And yes-I know this is all I seem to blog about these days!!)

I thought I’d post this today, as they are all done and posted to Barb at Sketch Tuesday. Hazel’s I love-because it’s my lovely red kettle! I bought it last autumn, and I really love it! It cost an absolute fortune-but hey ho-it’s gorgeous! And yes, I love my red sunflower mugs as well!

Kieran and Michael each did a magazine box. Kieran also did a selection of red things in the house. Yes, we have red lamp shades, red blankets, red couches, red chairs, red flowers, and yes he has red Lego’s, red crayons, and a red ladybird box! We had plenty for them to choose from for this week!

As some of you may recall-I had to reduce Hazel’s reading time this past month. One cannot live with a book in their hand at all times of the day. OK-I know many of us like that idea, but 8 hours a day can be a bit excessive.

From the posts below I’m sure you can tell she has been really working on her sketching. She has produced some really nice things of late, even a great airplane drawing she sent to her grand father. So in honour of all her hard work-I thought I’d share some of her work.

She finished her latch hook project!! Now it’s my turn to figure out how to make finish it off and make a cushion out of it. Anyone know how-let me know!

She has also made all of these teddy bears, by herself, for her dolls. She has cut out the felt, sewn on the faces, sewn the bodies together and stuffed them all. Next project is to make them all a tiny scarf. I can make those, but she wants to be shown how to, so that will be her first major crocheting project.

I think you will agree with me, she has been a very productive little girl! And yes–she has managed to read a whole host of books–just none from the library! So I think she is starting to realize she can spend some time on other pursuits, and still manage tons of pleasurable reading!

Kieran and Hazel decided to practice working on perspectives on Sunday morning. They chose to do an outdoor scene to show something in the distance. They both added in a hat, quite by accident, as they didn’t know it was the Sketch Tuesday theme at the time.

Kieran decided to enter his outdoor scene for Sketch Tuesday, while Hazel decided to draw just a hat. But I’m putting in her outdoor scene, as well as her dining table scene that she made this week as well. She spent a couple of hours on both, and did the two without any help from Michael. We were both thrilled with the finished projects.

Today’s Sketch Tuesday was about something you recycle. Michael spent some time with Hazel teaching her about perspectives, so that she could draw her 3-D boxes for the Recycling centre. Kieran was very proud of his compost bin, and has ‘hidden’ a small animal in the drawing!

A couple of years ago when I took the kids’ home to NJ, my best friend loaded them down with all sorts of gifts. One of the gifts was a set of shiny, bright-red, long necklaces for Hazel. Today Hazel decided to show that she is most definitely girly, and starting to have a real care about what she wears. She put on a red skirt with this white top, and then decided to dress it up by turning the necklaces into bracelets!

(What isn’t photographed is that she is wearing bright red shiny shoes as well!) So these photos are for Joan. Thanks for all the kids gifts!

We decided to get back into the swing of things this winter and decided to renew the kids Sketch Tuesday participation. Michael will also be taking a more active roll in this, as my sketching ability is next to nil, and he’s rather good at it. (But the kids and I will be working on it more this year.)

The usual situation occurred-Kieran got an idea and the next thing we knew he was done. His technique may not be improving, but his enthusiasm hasn’t diminished. Still-I think he tried really hard. He decided to try and sketch a photograph of a train leaving a station in 1918. He then decided to do a train as well.

Hazel also did the usual-just threw any old thing down on paper to get it done. (She was annoyed as I asked her to do it while she was reading!)  Then she saw what Michael was doing, and decided to do a ‘proper’ sketch. That may sound harsh as her just ‘throw something down on paper’ is actually quite good-but look at the 1st sketch compared to the second one where she took her time. I think all will agree with me, she has a great talent for this and can produce amazing things, with a bit of care. That’s what’s so hard about Hazel-so much talent, and a mother who wants her to do well, but also doesn’t want to push too hard.

And here’s Michaels:

The kids went to their first recorder workshop today. It was only a short one, about 3 ½ hours all together. Kieran was keen to go, but Hazel was less so. But as we were going, they both went! I’ve been trying to get Hazel interested in these for awhile, as I think she should know what it’s like playing with other musicians, and to perform once in awhile. Kieran will give anything a go without much hesitation, Hazel is like her parents and spends too long weighing the pro’s and cons!

I’m glad she went, as she ended up having a fabulous time. We were out on Thursday evening and bumped into one of the Home Ed girls form the Oxford area who was going & once they realized they’d be in the same group, Hazel was definitely more excited. Then when we got there today, one of the boys they used to do the small Home Ed recorder group was also in their group-so all four sat together quite happily. They were excited to have a boy & girl friend there. We also knew two other Home d children there, but they were in separate groups. And they say Home educated kids don’t get out often!

At the end of the workshop was a small concert for the parents, which was nice to see what they could put together in 2 ½ hours! We didn’t take any photo’s there-as I wasn’t sure if we could, but here are the kids before they went, just cause I think they looked cute! I think Hazel was really taken by it all, and was so excited about showing us where they ate their snacks! I think she won’t hesitate next time!

I did notice that she was quite flushed when we got back for the show, and while they were performing. I think Hazel is starting to get nervous about performing, and I don’t know why. I’m hoping it’s a ‘first case jitters’ thing-as it’s happened the last couple of times she’s done something ‘different’. I think she likes to be sure of exactly what she’s doing, so if she hasn’t had a run through, she seems a tad anxious. Let’s hope that’s it. It hasn’t made her not want to do anything-so I guess it’s not all bad!

While the kids were busy, we had 2 1/2 hours to ourselves in the daytime! A true novelty for us. We (I) decided we’d go to Abingdon for a wander. There is an independent bookshop there I wanted to visit, and a shop I just found out sold wool. So off we went. We had a lovely couple of hours strolling round. I did buy a book, and I even managed to get the wool Kieran picked out for the sweater he wants me to make. They have such faith in me! Then we wandered down to a pub for a drink-I so love when they serve tea in piping hot mugs. It means I don’t finish it ages before Michael finishes a drink! It was nice to spend some daytime with Michael, and to stroll around some shops!

We really have enjoyed participating in the events at Science Oxford over the past year, and tonight was no exception!  We went to see An ABC of the Earth tonight and all really enjoyed ourselves.  The staff put together a demonstration to explain how the Earth’s surface was created, and what was probably in the centre of the Earth.  What I hadn’t realized was that it was going to be interactive—so left the camera at home! 

The first surprise of the evening was bumping into a Home Educated girl we have met on occasion.  They live on the opposite side of the city than we do, so we rarely get to see each other.  Needless to say-the kids wanted to sit near S & her dad, and they played for a bit afterwards.  But anyway—back to the interactive bits!  The 1^st thing they had us do was put stickers on a large map as to where volcanoes & earthquakes had occurred.  Funnily enough, and truly by coincidence and because of the earthquake in Haiti, the kids and I have been covering this topic at home for the 2 weeks prior to the visit!  So I was quite pleased that the only help either needed was Bangladesh for Hazel & Kieran wasn’t too sure on Turkey, but they got a couple of others all on their own.

They also did a hot and cold experiment—which was basically giving everyone a curly wurly chocolate bar, luckily our group got the cold ones!  It was just to show what would happen if the earth was frozen or warm, and how it would either crack or bend.  My two took a bite or two of the chocolate, and then the rest of their bars went in the  bin—they’d never had so much chocolate given to them, and I was quite happy neither wanted to finish it!  (OK—Michael scoffed his in seconds, but they are one of his favourites!)

The last experiment was about the Earths mantle convection.  They put food colouring in cold water, and then we placed in four pieces of Styrofoam.  Then we put a cup of warm water under the container, and the ‘land masses’ all started to move.  And then we put magnets on it—and they all faced north.  Simple experiments, but fun.  I think they had a great mix for the night, as all the children were interested and not left floundering trying to keep up with the presentation, and all of the adults, even Michael, learned a few things!

As many will notice-I’ve taken a bit of a computer break for awhile. I had to take a breather from all the home education problems here in the UK, and rejoin with regular family life. I knew I was spending a lot of time on it, but hadn’t noticed how much until I read something Hazel wrote. It was basically a note about how ‘angry’, a rather harsh word for Hazel, she was because of how much time I was spending on Home Ed stuff because of Mr. Badman. I know in the long run the fight will be worth it if it preserves our way of life, but nothing should make my little girl feel like that.

So-what have we been doing? We’ve gotten into our old routine of the kids doing some bookwork a few days of the week. I always like doing it in the winter days-takes your mind off the wet & cold outside!

We have also been a bit crafty. I’ve been working on a sweater on and off for Hazel-mostly haven’t been working on it-as I get daunted when I don’t know how to do something. Hopefully I’ll get it completed-at least before the summer comes!

I also knitted two little cats for the kids. So I’ll post a photo of those so my family can keel over from the shock! Look-I made two knitted cats! I made these the very same day I told a friend I didn’t really like the toy knitted kits in a book we both got. I took another look at it when I got home, and thought actually-the cat would be a good starter for the kids. Which of course meant I had to make sure I could make one.

Hazel and I have had a couple of ‘very calm, but serious discussions’ this past month. My daughter is a joy-and I LOVE that she loves to read. But I have had to ban her from reading. Yes, you read that correctly. I have banned my eight year old from reading. Why, you may ask? Well, because that’s all she does. I can see all the Badman’s around the UK jumping up & down shouting they knew they were right and we are all bad parents-banning a child from reading-how insane is that??

But I will just laugh in their scornful faces, and say I stand by my ban. It was a very serious ban-as all 55 of her then-current library books were packed away and returned to the library. (Don’t worry-she had read them all at least twice in the two weeks she had them!) Getting all our library books together was a massive feat on my behalf! I didn’t miss out any of all of the books we all had out-nearly 100!

And yes-I am serious-she has a partial reading ban in place, and is forbidden to get any fictional books from the library for 3 months. Doesn’t that sound serious? And in a way, it is. Hazel will literally spend all day reading. Poor me, huh? A child not interested in TV, DVD’s, video games or computers-and I’m complaining!! I am.

Yes, it’s time for my daughter to branch out and get a few more things done in life. Hazel is a girl of many talents, many interests, and a houseful of kits she hasn’t done because she’s too busy reading. So we had a few discussions, and we are going to get a few things done every week. We will not introduce any library books till the ban is up, and possibly longer if some projects are not completed. This may sound silly. An example is: she has been working on a latch hook pillow kit for a year now. She would take her time and each row was taking over an hour-and then she’d stop for another couple off weeks. No-she hadn’t lost interest in it-the books were just more interesting. And I fear she has inherited my procrastination skills-so we are working on nipping it in the bud, before it becomes a problem. (Like putting off working on a sweater for weeks!) I have used the word ‘diligence’ quite often of late!

Every week she must finish something crafty-and she has to use her own initiative to start it (and not while I’m busy cooking!). I don’t want to have to remind her. She has needed some encouragement-but has gotten into the habit of a weekly craft session. We are also including baking in this arena. Hazel is multi-talented, and I really don’t want to push her, but I also don’t want her not squander her talents. Hence, we will be doing more sketching, more art work in general, more crafts-and just making it a part of daily life. So far she has mostly worked on the latch-hook pillow. And to her surprise-she realised if she put some effort into it, she could do 2 rows within 30 minutes. She was amazed-and I was proved right-so a great result all round! (Don’t worry-we still have hundreds of books for her to choose from at home-but she can’t read all day!)

She and Kieran also made small felt teddy bears for their dolls. I was rather surprised by their colour choices, but I’m sure the dolls will love them! Hazel’s pink just wouldn’t photograph well-it’s not as garish as the photo makes it look.

We’ve also done a bit of baking. We entered in Hannah’s Home Baked Challenge for January. The theme was ‘frost’. Kieran came up with the snowman idea, Hazel & I baked the cake & made the frosting. We all cut out the shapes, and Michael and I did the icing. We had fun making it, but it was far too sweet for us to eat!! I’ve never made ‘American frosting’ before. I think if I do it again I’ll try an actual American recipe, because I don’t think Mary Berry (British) has ever had American frosting -the recipe turned out nothing like any frosting I’ve ever had!!

Hazel & I also baked our first Bara Brith (a Welsh fruitcake). It’s basically a tea bread with lots of dried fruit-we used raisins, sultana’s and currents. If I do say so myself-it was rather delicious! Mary Berry knows how to make that! : And Michael and I made Mary Berry’s Chocolate brownies. They were really delicious, but probably the most expensive brownies I’ve ever eaten. We needed to use two large baking bars of Green & Blacks dark chocolate for the recipe!! But they were worth it!

We’ve also been showing more attention to the garden birds. (This counts as other activities!) The kids made some peanut feeders with their friend Jenna. Just have to wait and see if the birds will actually eat them. The kids have been great all winter with helping to feed the birds daily-our Wood Pigeons are the biggest birds in England!! We also participated in the Big Garden Birdwatch. We had most of the usual daily visitors, but not in their normal numbers while we were doing it, as is always the case! But we had about 11 varieties during the hour we watched.

And as you can see-we are the proud owners of a bird house! I’ve wanted one for ages-and we finally chose that one, and the new feeder in this tree. The kids and I were so excited as a couple of Blue tits were checking it out the next day. So we are hoping one of them will use it for nesting. We have decided to get another one-and possibly two more feeding stations! I do love watching them all!

This is just a photo of Kieran using his cross referencing skills. I came downstairs one morning to see him engrossed in these books. Kieran always reads non-fiction (something we discussed this past month-he has to read more fiction now!) and he generally does his own cross referencing. He was reading something about Japan in one book, so he got out an ancient Atlas to look up Japan-and on the floor is his maze book, which he later opened to a page on Taiwan. I love when he does that!!