update

not posted for few days apologies so quick update.

thursday

we to the derby home ed group had a great time and leo really enjoyed it too. he was playing lots with all the kids.

before going we met up wiht another home ed from matlock who had a son the same age as leo and a daughter 4. before we got there they had bonded. we were the first to arrive so the kids had time to get to know each other and familiarise themselves with their surroungdings. after about 1/2 an hour other kids started to turn up including alot of older kids - surprising leo and his friend starting playing with and chasing them around.

leo is alot calmer since finishing school and his confidence is coming on everyday. a gold star in socalizing for today - well done leo! can;t wait to see our new friends again.

friday

went to granny and shopping, leo is getting very good at going out and not getting too moody if not in the house all the time.

saturday

the eldest daugher went to out in the afternoon so one makes for a bit quieter surroundings. we went out on the bikes again with one big sis and had some quality bonding time.

sunday

went out with dad on the bike leo is so keen and the more he does his confidence with breaks will soon kick in as he still only likes the flat surfaces.

he does tend to still get abit more highly strung at weekends when everyone is around but he is alot calmer and easier to manage overall.

monday

we went out today to see granny and went around a shopping centre to walk aunty. leo was very good got abit flustered when it was time to have lunch and sit amongst the crowd but was talked around easily. had a long day out then went home and had a bath - not happy left him to have meltdown as he had not had one for a few days - he then washed himself and came down dressed and teeth as well 1-1. result. his hair is getting long but will tackle that some other time.

snow day

home school is harder than i thought.

thats 2 pe lessons we had today!

set off 8 am as planned to do visit to relatives then first home education meeting. unfortuantely i had to turn back because of weather.

had a bit of a strange day. leo wanted to do some writing again so we did that briefly then we went out on the bikes.

i wanted to walk the dog and leo suggested the bikes. i was a bit apprehensive as it was very icy and managing myself, leo and the dog on a lead was dauting but we managed it and had a great time.

we then went home and had a deserved rest and watched superman 2.

we did some writing and some computer time but today felt abit strange as we had intended to go out and had not been all week.

i suggested taking the dog out again in the afternoon and leo wanted to take the bikes he is very keen so i don;t want to discougage that.

we wanted some history programmes on telly later so today was more knowledge based than actual reading/writing but everything counts.

schools out - but we haven't done any work yet!

that was the response when we finally decided to call it a day at about 4pm.

however it had turned out to be another action packed day that we had both loved every minute of it with Leo stating that he had such a nice time and had not felt like he was doing any work. So i pointed out all the things we had done and learnt today.

session 1

I read his spiderman collector comic to him we like to start off with a relaxing exercise on the bed to get us in the right mindset for the day.

session 2

Then we watched a spiderman cartoon for more inspiration. bit of a slow start to be honest today as i had a bit of a headache - had been up since 7 doing more research/prep work on home education stuff.

session 3

went out on our bikes again in the rain to walk the dog. i just wanted to head out for a quick walk but leo insisted we take the bikes again so thats 2 days in a row - this will build his confidence up as he is still uncertain about the breaks and reaching the floor.

session 4

we did some more of leo's spiderman story in his exercise book. this involves him drawing a picture then we discuss a story and i write the words down for him to copy from a whiteboard. this is also improvign his reading a great deal and more simpler words such as the are now becoming familiar. it also shows how much of our reading time he is absorbing as he often incorporates ideas we have reasd from other sources such as egypt, rome or jungles etc into his story ideas.

session 5

we printed some puzzles and colour pages off the internet and made 2 exercise books of spiderman and batman for future workbooks. he coloured a couple of the picutres in.

session 6

we finished the day watching a programme on bbc iplayer called ha karate about 4 british families learning karate in japan with the grand masters. This tied in well with research i had been doing on local he groups - one of them does karate classes so i thought i would use it to judge leo;s reaction. it was also interesting to see how the families were with japanese culutre during their 3 week stay. so our topic has now moved on from rome/egyptian to japanese culture. i always try to read something cultural everyday.

then we decided to call it a day and leo went on batman youtube.

now i have found some local groups i am planning to focus on social activities as well. so far so good.

we are hopitng to go on a viist tomorrow to a museum so i have also printed some info. sheets out ready. hope its ok as we have a viist to relatives planned as well tomorrow.

long sleeves/trousers winter, spring, summer .....

Holiday pics - sorry don;t do shorts and t.shirts. whatever time of year we have the same wardrobe.

home education east midlands - result!!!!!!!

After extensive research I finally found some home education groups on yahoo.

infact there were several in the end I started off in east midlands and kept narrowing my search to Lincoln, Derby, Nottingham and finally to Buxton and Chesterfield.

The only way i could work out to make contact was to join them all so I am probably down as a serial home ed stalker now - lets see if anything comes of it - if it gets us out there and mixing with others and improves leo's social skills then it is worth it.

I mentioned it briefly and he wasn't keen so i tend not pre-warn him about things as he just gets stressed but he is improving socially as we have been to visit granny several times over the past couple of weeks and he normally prefers to stay at home.

Had a busy productive day again today. We read his spiderman comic this morning in bed then decided to put the indiana jones story on hold and start a spiderman one instead so he did 3 pages of writing and pictures today. The deal is if he draws a picture he then has to write the words in the speech bubble, then if he resists we have a break - i don;t like to push but it is amazing he is even willing to write at all.

We then went out on our new bikes we got for xmas but had not used yet. I was trying to explain how he could prop his bike against the kerb to get on as it was a bit high but he kept walking around the other side and climbing on road side. He couldn;t reach the floor or the brakes very well but when we got to our flat green he really enjoyed riding around for 1/2 hour.

we then went back and had hot chocolate and i sat on the bed reading an ancient rome sticker book. Later when were having some down time there was a documentary on tv on the romans and he had remembered so much about gladiators etc it is amazing how much he can take in - he is such a bright button!!

we also went on the internet and downloaded some spiderman pictures to colour and a calender so he can log when his comics are out.

another great day - i was starting to feel a bit cabin fever by about 3 but will learn to pace ourselves and allow downtime for everyone.

hope the groups turn out ok.

any derbyshire home educators out there?

have done loads of research on internet blogs etc but am struggling to find uk families, especially in derbyshire/east mids area would love to hear from you and check my blog.

Friday

we had another day at grannys doing our good deed shopping etc. L was very good around the supermarket, as it can be quite a handful at times looking after him/and/or my sister who is either in a wheelchair or crutches.

saturday

all the family had a lovely day out at thorpe cloud, dove dale. the weather was cold and sunny but we managed to get everyone out and in the car so thats always a bonus and we got there this week after a failed attempt last weekend (despite the satnav!)

we walked along the river pointing out lots of ice puddles, rock falls and icicles that had formed then walked around thorpe cloud itself attempting to climb. we stopped 1/2 way up to have a hot choc, it was freezing.

then moved on swiftly when somemore walkers approached at L's request. we set of to the summit first losing dad who was cold (as usual), then we lost j & b who i thought had carried on to the top. i was panicking at this point as heights are not my thing so i had intended not to go to the top but i was stuck 3/4 up with L who was determined to go to the top and i had no one to pass him on to. eventually dad turned up so they carried on to the top. L was so proud he had done it and kept telling the girls who we later discovered had carried on going around the hill and not climbed any further up.

we even managed to find the car park again without having to go back the way we came. what is wrong with our family days do not normally turn out this good!!

anyway a great day for all and we learned alot too - the girls are starting to see how we relate learning into everyday life for L, i keep asking in they would like to stay at home too - but they are happy in high school.

perhaps my dreams of being a mother hen with all my chicks around me has passed me by. oh well just me and L then!!!!!!!!!!!

we are making much more effort as a whole family now anyway as i am not working to accomodate leo being at home, I am less stressed and have more time and energy for everyone. result its only taken me 40 years to work this out.

how to motivate a 7 year old.

have spent today at home again. I have been continuning to let L lead the way in what we cover. He is very keen on going on youtube at the moment so we started the morning sitting in "the big bed" (mum and dad's) and watched some spangler science. he is usually very open to doing quiet things such as reading att this time.

did not do any reading as dad and b were around to go to dentist. we got dressed and went ninto town with them and walked the dog around the park - and i promised to get some ingredients for science experients. although i had explained i did not want to carrying things around we ended up going shopping first then to the park - i can;t always be bothered with the battle when he gets an idea in his head.

we then went home as b felt sick after dentists appointment. got be settled then we did some science - leo is very keen on this at moment.

then we went and sat in his room and did some more exercise books - he got one of the answers wrong by rushing in and not thinking so it took alot of encourgaement to keep him going. we then went on to doing more of his indiana jones story as again that gets him writing abit and he like drawing pictures for stories. whilst doing this i have found it is a good opportunity to read something on the topics to stretch his imagination so we have been reading about egypt and hidden treasures etc. however i seemed to go off at a tangent and starting reading about the solar system and every so often he would comment so i know some of it is being taken in.

anaother succesful day. we finished off with more computer time and he has learnt how to get onto internet and type in web address, then we had a go on wii lego batman.

he seemed alot calmer this evening when rest of family got home from work/school so i think it is having some benefit so far from being at home.

would love to hear from any other homeschoolers, especially uk as i am having troubl e finding you.