Pond Study

Autumn brings about the beginning of a new nature study for us, and we needed a new tree and a new pond to study for the upcoming seasonal cycle.

We've already done a sycamore tree and a horse chestnut tree, and this year I wanted to find a fruit tree so that the boys could see the fruit growing. For this, we are going to look at the cherry tree that grows in Nannie's back garden!

As for a pond, we used the one in Clifton Park last year, and this year we wanted somewhere new... so, we set off on an adventure to find one. 

The first place we looked was Whitwell Wood, as I knew that there was a pond, but I had no idea what it was like. My ideal pond would be one where frogs laid frogspawn so that we could see that cycle too, but I haven't found anywhere yet.

We had a lovely walk in Whitwell Wood, and we took Daddy and Nan with us and collected so many acorns! However, the "pond" was more like a stagnant, muddy puddle, so that was out as far as our study goes.

Our next adventure to look for a pond was Shirebrook Nature Reserve after speaking to a friend who recommended there. The adventure was epic; we took a wrong turn right at the beginning and took a beautiful scenic route through the reserve. When we finally found the pond and stopped for a snack, we found that there were some little fish in there. So the boys were very excited, and although I'm not convinced it's perfect, the boys like it so, that's our pond for this year!

We will be checking out both of these around mid-October for our Autumn study and then again each season to see how things change.

Does anyone else do anything seasonal like this? I'd love to hear what you get up to.

Mama Bear x

Planning for September

Although we didn't officially break for summer, as I didn't want Bear to forget everything that he had learned over the last few months, we are resetting a little for September with some changes to our subscriptions, a new rhythm to try and ensure that our weeks don't get too hectic, and some new inclusions now that The Cub is a little older and getting involved a little.

Firstly, I picked up this amazing workbook which is intended for school-educated children to work through over the summer between year groups, and I thought it was perfect for us to use in the first few weeks to gauge what kind of information we have already covered and where I may have missed anything with Bear's learning so far, as I have not used a curriculum of any sorts, we have just gone withe the flow of life and covered anything that came up as him needing. So, for example, we started with basic maths, and we have concentrated on time and money as these are concepts he needs to grasp in real life. To aid these learning curves, we have done some addition and subtraction, some basic times tables, doubling and halving, and Bear has a pretty solid grasp of most of what we have covered. 

This book has a little of everything in it and some great activities to look at each of the skills they would have covered in Reception, making it great as a starting peg for us.

We never stopped reading, any of us. I read aloud to the boys regularly, both picture book stories and chapter books, which we do one at a time, and read a couple of chapters at a time, maybe once or twice a week. Sometimes I try to create activities linked to these books, but so far they have been very simple word or punctuation hunts on a photocopy of a page. The boys are forever choosing books to have read to them, and we read at least two stories together at bedtime every night before they get into their own beds.

We usually sit together for Bear to read to us when we are using his phonics level-appropriate books from the library, and now that Bear can read, I regularly find him sitting with a book, either reading to himself or sometimes, reading aloud to his brother, which I will never tire of seeing! Bear also likes non-fiction and I will often find him with his nose deep in facts about sharks, vehicles, or whatever else we have on shelf. Their book collection rivals mine already!

This academic year, I plan to introduce some science into our weeks, and hope to be able to do this in a fashion that means both Bear and The Cub can be involved and learn alongside each other. Bear is very interested in how his body works at the moment, especially where food is concerned, looking at whether food is good for you and what it does for your body, so I plan to start with the human body as a topic and work through just a little a week. I have an amazing book which includes little experiments to help show how our body works, and I have a box kit that I have had for a while now, waiting for the right time to use with some hands-on activities in.

As for our subscriptions, I have cancelled our Adventure Gang box as we have been receiving them for a couple of years now, and I found that the boys just weren't as excited about them this last few times. Instead, I have the first of the revamped Whimsy and Bug boxes ready to go, and if they enjoy that and can both access it in a way that I feel is worth the price, then I plan to subscribe to this and have that as part of our monthly routine.

As always, getting out of the house for outdoor adventures is often my priority, and I have tried to find a way to ensure that we spread our activities out across the month so that we have groups, meet-ups, trips out and walks spread out each week. We visit the same places regularly, which I want to try and pin to a date or specific time of the month, and then the groups that we attend actually space out quite nicely at the moment. There is nothing that we are signed up for weekly, as I didn't want that kind of rigidity in our schedule yet. It also wouldn't work well with my job right now as I don't work set days.

We get out regularly though, and I plan to fit in lots of seaside trips again this year as it is by far all of our favourtie place to be!

And lastly, linked to our outdoor plans, we will be on the hunt for a new tree, hopefully a fruit tree, and a new pond for our nature studies this year. I hope to have them chosen by the end of September so that we can do our Autumn studies quite early and get them finished up before the Birthday and Halloween fun of October.

What does your home education rhythm look like this year? I'd love to hear how it works for you and your family. 

Mama Bear x

Our Summer Rhythm

All home educators are different, but I am not planning on stopping many of our learning rhythms over the summer. Bear and The Cub are only little, and we only do small amounts of intentional, sit-down learning a week, so I don't feel that keeping some of those things up will impact upon our time too much.

One of the downsides to summer off from school is that children tend to forget a lot of the things they're learning, meaning that the first weeks back to school in September are revision, covering basics that children haven't practiced over the holidays. 

I intend to keep up Bear's reading and maths practice over the summer and into next year so that he doesn't lose any of the skills that we've learnt and are practicing. Including our read aloud and lots of hands on skills.

We have so many plans for adventures and family holidays over the summer, that our learning may look different and take place in different locations, but I'd still like to keep it there so that the rhythm doesn't disappear on us.

How do you plan for summer in your home education journey? 

Mama Bear 

Mother Culture

Mother Culture, from the home education perspective, is based on a Charlotte Mason approach where the mother needs to care for herself to ensure she has enough energy to look after her children. Basically, it's about ensuring that you fill your own cup, so that you can fill those of your children - you can't pour from an empty cup and all that!

It's about making sure that in a busy world, you carve out a little time that's just for you... which isn't an easy thing for any parent to manage, but even more so for the home-educating ones, as we spend all day, every day with our children.

For me, I stick to quite a strict bedtime routine with my boys that has them both in bed before 8pm. The littlest is fast asleep long before then, and Bear stays awake a little longer, but does it in his room and stays in bed. The time after they've gone to bed is my time. Two nights, occasionally three nights a week, my partner is out, which means I really do get them all to myself. 

During the evening, I try to get 'chores' done on certain nights so that others are totally mine. I clean, tidy, and manage home ed plans as soon as they're both safely in bed, and then after a shower, my time is mine and is normally spent chilling and watching a little TV with Daddy if he is home before we go our separate ways to do our own thing. And on nights that I am home alone, more often than not, you will find me writing or reading, as those are my biggest passions. Sometimes I watch a movie and crochet or colour on nights when I'm solo, if I'm really tired or just don't have any drive to write.

I recently took up running as a hobby too, something I did pre-motherhood, and try to get out once or twice a week, in an evening, after the boys are in bed and Daddy is home to be with them. I'm hoping to turn this into swimming/gym time over the winter, as I don't want to be out running after dark. I have just completed the Couch to 5K program, and just a few days ago, managed my first 5km run!

Other than the evenings, the only other time I'm really away from my boys is when I go to work for two days a week. Which, in some ways, is okay as far as time away from them, but it's not exactly a break as I'm busy working and traveling all day.

When Daddy is out gigging, I like to try and get to the most local ones as I love seeing him play. I was at all of his gigs before we had the boys, and I do sometimes miss being able to go and see him play. To go out, I have to rely on having someone to come watch the boys, which isn't as straightforward as it sounds. As I imagine is the same for anyone.

I have an amazing friend who occasionally watches the boys in an evening so that I can go out for date night with my partner and I have had the odd evening/afternoon out with a friend or my sister when he is available to stay home. But to go out at the weekend when he's home means that I miss out on the small amount of time we get to spend together as a family. It's all a very hard line to balance.

However, five and a half years into motherhood, and the stage we're at currently, where the boys are always bickering, I am finding myself needing some time to myself. I'm hoping to organise a few friend dates and some time with my partner, I just have to find the right way to do it so that I don't need too many babysitters!

How do you get some time to yourself? I'd love to hear how it works for you and your family.

Mama Bear x

Summer Pond and Tree Study

Thursday 3rd July

We packed our bags with everything we could possibly need and more, made a picnic, enlisted the family for an adventures, and headed out to Clifton Park to go and visit our conker tree and the pond to do our seasonal studies for summer! The boys were more than a little excited to be going back to the pond and couldn't wait to get their duck back in there to see how warm the water was. If this makes no sense to you, then check out our post from spring, when the boys used their new thermometer for the first time.

We met Nannie, Auntie Hammy and Baby Panda at the park and then went to show them our tree. Bear was quick to point out the tree and ever quicker to notice the conkers growing on it where it had been covered in blossom last time we did our studies.

The boys got their gear out and went about their investigations. There was lots of measuring, magnifying and microscoping, (yes, that is a word now,) and they collected lots of tiny conkers from the floor under the tree where they had been knocked out prematurely. The Cub was actually first to voice the fact that they were so small, and Bear picked up on it and immediately informed us that it was because they hadn't finished growing yet. I backed this up by breaking into a few to show them the miniscule little conkers that had started to grow inside, which they found absolutely fascinating and continued to find ones for me to open to see if they could find one big enough to class as a conker.

After plenty of investigation, we had our picnic close by, meaning the boys could both still go to and from the tree, checking stuff out and asking lots of questions. They're both always so full of questions and it makes me so happy that they're so interested about everything.

After lunch, we headed for the pond, which is their favourite. I can understand why, there is so much more to see and do at the pond. Their bags were immediately emptied and the duck came out and got thrown straight in by Bear to take the temperature of the water. The water registered at 20 degrees this time, up by 6 degrees since we did our study in spring. The pond lilies had beautiful big white flowers on them, there were pond skaters and water boatmen in the water, which was pretty clear. 

The Cub checked it out in his magnified pot and everything! Aunty Hammy and I had a go at catching a bug, but I'd forgotten to pack the net and they were far too fast to catch in the pot, so we had to settle for catching a pond snail to look at under the magnifying glass. The Cub took the duck thermometer for a walk pond while Bear played with ripples, and even Panda came to get involved, checking out what we were doing and chewing on a magnifying glass!

Ice cream was next on the list, and a play on the rocks for us before heading home, where we will be putting journal pages together with our findings. I will do a post with our years' worth of findings once they're all complete to show you the changes we observed over the year. Then it will be time to start searching for a new tree and a new pond ready for next year! If you have any recommendations, please share them.

That last photo, because who doesn't need to see a boy taking a duck for a swim?

Mama Bear x

A different learning environment

Some days are more structured than others here at our house, but the unstructured days are often hard work. I don't by any means plan our days out to the hour, but I usually have an idea of where our day is going to go... and more often than not, that includes leaving the house for an adventure as I am still at the stage where I value that over most things.

The days that we have adventure plans are the easiest for us, as we all prefer being outside and there is less pressure and no walls for anyone to climb, myself included because I go slowly stir crazy if I stay home all day. However, there are days when we have to stay home, or when we have plans to do some more structured learning at home. These days can get pretty rough sometimes. Especially, as proven this last couple of weeks, when we're trapped due to the weather altering our plans. I hadn't realised, until I had my kids, just how much the weather actually affects me! 

We had a day this week where we had been in the house all morning and the rain outside had kept us there. I felt naff, the boys were climbing the walls and annoying each other which, in turn made me edgy. We'd tried playing games, which had ended up in a lot of frustration and some tears. We'd read some books, but they'd kept arguing about who got to choose the next one, and by lunch time I was counting down the hours until bedtime.

In the end, I packed a few things into a bag and got out of the house, heading for one of our favourite places. - Grimm & Co.

The boys had magazines recently that had several activities left inside to do which I took with us in lieu of other 'learning work' as they were easy to pack and often have lots of different kinds of activities in and Bear doesn't even realise he's doing work that counts towards his learning. I packed a book for Bear to read, which he is always more than up for at the minute, and his ability is coming along so quickly that he astounds me daily.

Once there, we ordered ice cream, cake and drinks, and the boys picked their favourite table and we played some board games that are kept at The Feastery. Bear loves playing Guess Who at the minute, and there are a couple of Orchard Toys games that The Cub always pulls out. We ate our snacks, played the games, then sat and worked through some of the activities and stories in their magazines. Bear practiced some adding and subtracting after some very simple ones in his magazine, then we had a go at one of the activities from The Apothecary where Bear invented a magical potion and wrote down it's name, and its properties, practicing some writing and spelling before he read the book we'd taken with us to me and The Cub, who loves sitting and listenign to his big brother read.

All in all, we spent just under a couple of hours there, and honestly, did more learning than we probably would have done at home. We had less frustration, complainng or tears, and we actually enjoyed each other's company!

What have we learned from this... that sometimes we just need a change of scenery!!

Where do you go? I'd love to have a few palces that we could escape to when these situations arise - we've already done this again since the original time, and it worked just as well for us.

Mama Bear x

What does "learning" look like?

Following the same path as my previous post about what 'play' looks like, I found myself thinking the same about 'learning' recently after talking to family and friends about expecting our first home visit from the local authority to meet Bear.

I started Bear's education journey with quite specific ideas in mind for how I wanted to plan and deliver things like phonics and basic number skills, but, as home education allows... and one of the big reasons I wanted that freedom, it soon became obvious that my methods weren't right for Bear, and over the course of his Foundation Stage 1 year, I adapted how I delivered the material numerous times over until I settled on a way that I thought worked for us.

Since Bear took an actual interest in learning to read this last month or so, those ways have changed again as it very quickly became apparent to me that Bear picked more up by actually reading books than he was by me 'teaching' him phonics. So, I ditched the 'lessons' and workbooks and we just read. We talk about new sounds as they come up and think about some examples, then keep reading, and so far, his recollection of sounds he has come across has been ace. 

But, aside from the obvious 'learning' moments, I'm talking about what learning looks like in the everyday moments, the unplanned ones where your child just learns... no books, no lessons, no guidance, the world around them just provides the education.

For us recently, that's looked like Daddy finding an old Choose Your Own Adventure book at a charity event and him and Bear sitting and playing for over an hour, Bear listening to the story and choosing his path, or rolling dice and flipping coins to find out what happened next. It's playing board games with Nannie and Pops, or teaching his friend who works behind the bar how to play draughts at the pub because it wasn't a game she knew how to play. It's reading a bedtime story, and asking questions about something he saw in the pictures and Daddy finding him a video to show him exactly what it meant alongside his explanation, or reading the map while we were out following a local scavenger hunt. It's picking out the keyboard/piano in songs that we listen to in the car because Mummy has been trying to teach herself how to play, and learning song lyrics because he wants to sing along with Daddy. It's realising that there are numbers on the coins in his purse and then putting them in order and trying to make things sink or float while playing in the water tray in the backyard.

I could keep going, but I think you get the idea... And what do I do with all these moments? I let them play out... I bought more Choose Your Own Adventure books and board games and I picked up a magnetic draughts set so that he could play for real at the pub. We selected new non-fiction books from the library to follow his interests. We chose new songs for Mummy to learn on the keyboard and got all the coins out of his purse to look at properly and discuss which ones make up the others so that he can start to count out his own change when buying new things...

The biggest draw to home education for me was that Bear would be able to learn about the world around him, from the world around him, not just from books while sitting at a desk. He can converse with people of all ages, backgrounds, and in lots of different settings. He isn't shy about going up to cashiers in shops or speaking to wait staff in restaurants. He listens to them, makes conversation and learns from them as much as he teaches random facts back... He wants to get outside and be around nature. He has a love of non-fiction books that even I don't understand because I am firmly a fiction lover, but he's like a sponge for facts and recalls them and asks more questions to further the knowledge he already has because he's inquisitive like that. And at the end of the day, I can't help but feel that the school system would squash that out of him because he'd have to learn what they wanted to teach him...

That's not life - life is for living, and he is living and learning every day in a way that is truly setting him up for his future and I am so glad that we are in a position to provide him with that opportunity!

What moments have you had recently that slide into this category of just learning by living?

Mama Bear x 

What is play?

As adults, who are we to decide what play is and isn't for children... we don't "play" anymore... not really.

The boys were playing outside today, where they can play freely. We have a secure, gated back garden, and we live in a bungalow so I have a constant view, or hearing range of them, even when I'm inside catching up on chores. I can see them from three different rooms of the house, hear them from every open window, and through the open door.

Today, I was hoovering and saw them out on the drive up the side of the house, (still within the secure gated garden) sitting in their little fishing chairs which they'd taken down there to sit in the shade of the house, with a skipping rope each and a plastic cup from their mud kitchen supplies. They were throwing the cups on the floor and then going to fetch them, just to do it all over again, and the adult in me leaned over to shout out of the window to stop throwing them around because that's not what they're for and they were likely to break them. Before I could shout though, The Cub broke out into giggles as Bear did it again, pretending to take a drink from the cup, making a face and shouting "Ick", and then throwing the cup away. The Cub copied, then, they both got up, fetched their cups, only to do it all over again, both giggling away with each other.

I stopped myself from shouting out to them to stop and just watched them. It turns out, they were fishing for electric eels, using their skipping ropes as the fishing lines, and their cups as their drinks. I have no idea what their drinks were "ick", I never asked, but clearly something wasn't right, and they kept throwing them away.

There had been no adult input into their game - when I'd left them out there, they were chasing bubbles around the garden. Said bubble machine was just blowing bubbles for itself by this point. It made absolutely no sense to me as an adult, but to them, they were having a blast. They were playing nicely together, and they weren't hurting anything. Yes, maybe the cups would have gotten broken and had to end up in the bin, but the majority of their mud kitchen equipment was old stuff from in the house that would have ended up in a charity bag or in the bin if it hadn't gone out there anyway. It didn't owe anyone anything!

So, I left them to it, and when they did finish up their game, they put their skipping ropes and cups away, folded their fishing chairs and put them back in the porch, and moved on to something else and were running around the garden with sticks by the time I went back out there.

My point being; just because it doesn't look like something recognisable to us, doesn't mean that it isn't perfectly relatable and meaningful for them.

Let them play!

Mama Bear x

Learning to Read

All the activities and practice I used to plan for Bear as the beginning of him

learning to read has changed into completing his This Bear Can Read packs, and reading books!

Honestly, I had so many workbooks and activities planned thinking I needed to teach every step, but that's my school-educated brain kicking in thinking that it had to be "taught". When in actual fact, the best way to learn to read is by reading!

We have been borrowing books from the library that follow the reading schemes used in school, meaning that they are abilty-appropriate to Bear's phonic knowledge. We are reading through these together, and whenever we come across something that Bear doesn't know or understand, we take a second for me to look at the sounds and to talk about how they differ to normal and I give Bear a few other examples using the new sound. Then we continue reading and with the books being repetitive, he has plenty of opportunity to read and practice the sound in the book.

More often than not, the next time he comes across the sound, he remembers, if not, we just do the same process. i have kept the pressure off and just let him enjoy books the way they are meant to be enjoyed. Reading is one of my favourite hobbies, and that has passed down to both of my boys already - they love books. I have no intention of changing that by forcing them to read when they're not ready.

I am now seeing Bear attempt to read words at random, for example, while out shopping, reading worksheets himself, looking through books and, reading signs when we're out walking. He can put into practice the sounds I know that he's come across before and his reading is coming on so quickly. I'm so proud of him.

Once he gets the hang of it there's going to be no stopping him because he already loves books, when he has the ability to read them too I have no doubt that he will devour books just like I do. More than once recently, I have found him with his brother, reading to him, whether it be reciting books he already knows, making up stories with him from the pictures, or attempting to read some picture books that they know the storyline to but don't remember the words.

My little bookworms <3

Mama Bear x

Spring Pond and Tree Study

Spring time means revisiting our chosen tree and pond for our seasonal studies. We went to Clifton Park where there is a big conker tree we're looking at, and their pond in the gardens up near the cafe.

We've been doing this since before we started our 'official' home ed studies and check out our chosen places each season to look for the signs and changes. Check out previous post for our autumn and winter results for this set.

We started with a picnic under the tree and Bear was really good at being able to explain how we knew it was spring just by looking at the tree. We discussed the blossom and how it preceded the conkers, and he talked about the really bright green leaves.

The boys took their magnifying glasses to look at the blossom, which we decided looked a lot like tissue paper close up, and they tried to measure how far it was around the trunk, which was bigger than their two measuring tapes put together...

Bear took some photos and The Cub had a close-up look at the bark with his handheld microscope. 

Then we moved on to the pond where we had a new gadget to use. I'd bought them a thermometer attached to a rubber duck so they could find out the temperature of the water. They both thought this was great and the water showed 14°c which wasn't bad bearing in mind it was frozen over last time we were there! 

Bear caught some litter and removed it and then spent ages making ripples with a little pipette, trying to see how far he could get them across the water.

We will be making journal pages for both and recording the data we took this time, and then after we've done our summer study too, we go back and look at the four different stages to see the changes side by side.

Last year, we did the tree study on a Sycamore tree near our house, but this is the first pond we've done, so we will possibly also compare the two trees to see their differences in each season.

I've found this to be a lovely way of teaching the boys about how the seasons affect the world around them, and because they are both naturally so inquisitive, they are forever asking questions off the back of what I tell them, meaning that they are forever learning new facts.

Do you do a nature study of any kind?

I'd love to hear about it and what you get up to.

Mama Bear x

Library visits

We visited our local library a couple of weeks ago to renew the boys' library cards and look into their collection of age-appropriate reading books for Bear. Both boys have always loved the library and we used to borrow books alongside our visits to their weekly Rhyme Time sessions.

As Bear grew up we stopped going to Rhyme Time and therefore stopped going to the library much at all. We have so many books at home due to my own love of reading, and working in a bookshop, that I didn't feel the need to be borrowing them too.

However, now Bear is learning to read, we need books that are at an appropriate level, and I don't feel like they're the kind of books I need to buy and keep. So, we headed to the library ready to check them out.

They didn't have a very big selection in the right level, but we were able to pick up a few in pink and red band which are the first two levels in the series we found. Bear has spent the last couple of weeks practicing his phonics and reading his books and he has blown me away with how well he's done!

We visited the library again this week to return the books we'd read and borrow some new ones. The Cub enjoyed picking some out too and he even found a little cosy book nook under the shelving to start reading.

Whilst there we did some colouring and I spoke to the librarians about ordering in other titles once we make it through the ones they have on their shelves. I also taught them both how to use the check out/return screen so that they could be involved in the whole process.

The main thing is that the boys love the trip there, and they are both loving reading their books! Bear has been choosing a non-fiction title for us to look through as well as the reading books as he has always loved learning new facts. The Cub chose a reading book, a numbers book and we picked up a beautiful picture book about bears too.

Do you use any specific reading books to learn to read? We have ended up mainly with Reading Champion and Maverick Early Readers as they were what there was most of on shelf in the library.

I'd love to hear other series' that are good to use.

Mama Bear x

Mummy and Me Journal

Recently, we've adapted bedtime at our house because Bear is not necessarily tired at the time we had, but The Cub is more than ready. Generally, I'm still solo parenting at bedtime, so for them to have separate bedtimes isn't really doable. However, we've found a little groove that works for us, it also means that Bear gets a little one on one time with me, or sometimes Daddy of he's back in time.

To add to this one to one time, I decided to introduce the idea of a Mummy and me journal for me and Bear to do a few times a week. Nights we haven't been too busy and he isn't too tired so that it doesn't lead to frustration... I want it to be pretty chill and fun, but to include some skills practice like his reading, writing and spelling, and to give some opportunities to get Bear talking about his emotions etc. A safe place to bring stuff up that maybe doesn't get the time it deserves during the day!

I will plan some stuff into this, but I'd like to keep it quite open so that conversation can flow and it can be a space for him to bring up anything he wants to talk about.

We went shopping this week and Bear chose us a hardback A4 journal after I discussed what we were going to use it for. He picked a beautiful star constellations print, which to be honest, would have been the one I'd have picked up too!

I got his pens out, as normally he would write in pencil, but we love out collection of Legami erasable pens which we buy from Waterstones, and I found an awesome "Cheat Sheet" that I printed, laminated and stuck in the front of the book for Bear to use as a reference point for his writing and spelling.

I introduced this one to one journaling time with Bear this evening after putting The Cub to bed. The beginning of this week has been a solo parenting few days with Daddy away with work, so Bear was very patient reading some books while I dealt with his brother, then very excited to see what I'd prepared for him today.

He made himself comfy and we did a front page where Bear wrote "Bear and Mummy journal" in different colours, and then I'd made up an "All About Me" sheet which I stuck on the first page for us to do tonight. We talked about Bear's favourite things to do, places to go, things to eat, toys to play with and he has done a mix of drawing and writing, even sounding out some of the words himself to spell them out, and doing really well with it too - this is not something we do much of yet. He is learning to read, so sounding out words he can see, but not really had much practice sounding out words he can say/hear. His attempts tonight were amazing!

His new kitty soft toy got involved at one bit as he wanted to draw her in one of the boxes, and we talked lots about his favourite things, and some of mine while he was drawing.

It really was lovely to spend a little time with him like this as we don't really get that while home educating. The three of us are always together, which, don't get me wrong, I love and is what I wanted for them. But for their sakes, I think finding the time for them to have one to one time with us is going to be a game changer for as they get older, giving them the space away from each other, and the quality time with either/both of us parents.

Journal nights won't be every night, partly because I don't want to be committing to the time every night, partly because there will be nights that I know that Bear will be too tired for it, and because I also like having time with him to read too! I'm aiming for a couple of times a week so that it doesn't get too much, and to keep the activities different so that it doesn't become a chore or boring for Bear.

Is this something you do with your children? I'd love to hear about some of the activities you've tried, or things you've incorporated into your journal...

Mama Bear x

Waterstones Children's Book Prize Winner

We couldn't not buy the winner of this year's Waterstones Children's Book Prize - so on our last trip to the bookshop, we picked up The Cafe at the Edge of the Woods by Mikey Please which was the winner of the picture book catagory and Overall Winner!

Rene's dreams have finally come true! She's opened a café beside an enchanted wood, and with the help of a newfound waiter, Glumfoot, she is ready to serve the finest cuisine! But the locals seem to favour a most peculiar palette, requesting all sorts of disgusting things.

Can Glumfoot's quick-thinking save the day?

Join Rene and Glumfoot in this incredible other-worldly story full of magical humour, mythical creatures and culinary curiosities.

*synopsis taken from waterstones.com - no copyright intended*

It was our bedtime story that night and Bear loved it! He liked Glumfoot the best, and since then he has asked for it reading several times.

The other category winners were Rune, A Tale of a Thousand Faces by Carlos Sanchez for younger readers and King of Nothing by Nathanael Lessore for older readers.

Have you picked any of these up?

I'd love to hear your thoughts! 

Mama Bear x

A new rhythm

We may have found our new rhythm... After admitting that I'd fallen into a pattern that I didn't like, and clearly wasn't working for Bear, we took a step back for a week and had an impromptu break week, then came back in with a different view.

I have Bear signed up to The Bear Can Read scheme, which, for us, comes every other month, and I recently altered the subscription to the next level so that the books and activities coming in his packs are similar to those he would be doing/reading in school. This current pack is his first Koala pack, and it has been brilliant!

We have used this as our main focus for phonics/reading, as well as encouraging Bear to try and read books that he is either, familiar with already, and therefore can match the words on the page to the story he can recite, or to read books which I know are at his level of capability.

A recent trip to Grimm & Co, one of our favourite places to visit, had a jackpot moment for me in their Library of Forgotten Books, where the boys usually choose a book each to bring home, when I came across what looked like a school that had donated many of their reading books. They were all colour-coded and labeled with the phonics level and stage and I picked out several of these for Bear to have a go at reading, leaving them a donation due to the amount I chose. When we're done with them, I will return them for someone else to find! I also plan to check out our local library, and maybe even the one in town, to see if they keep similar style reading books on shelf.

Since we picked these up, Bear has read a couple and has done incredibly well and is so proud of himself when we get to the end and he realises that he read a book!

His The Bear Can Read pack had a reward chart in which we have put into use as a sticker for him reading a book to me, and we will look at a reward at the end of it. He's enjoying working out how many more books he is going to read before he reaches the end!

As for numbers, when I went back to check the Early Learning Goals for Foundation Stage, the curriculum he would be following had he entered the education system, I found that he would have been concentrating much more on the numbers 1-10 rather than 1-100 and therefore we have gone back to 1-10 and started looking at number bonds rather than recognition of numbers up to 100. He's doing amazing well with the bonds and we are going to start looking at doubling and halving numbers 1-10 soon too!

As well as numbers and phonics, we will be continuing our seasonal studies, and we have started following the #DrawWithRob tutorials on YouTube with Rob Biddulph, which Bear absolutely loves! They are fantastic, simple, drawing lessons that Bear is capable of following along with, The Cub even gets involved at the colouring stage and colours the one that I draw! They're loving it and anything that encourages their creativity is a win for me. I plan to get Bear the Draw With Rob activity book for Easter I think...

We have been sitting down for this kind of learning maybe three to four times a week over the last couple of weeks, and we usually sit for around an hour, not necessarily all in one go, but that about covers the topics at the moment. The Cub now has a handmade wipe-clean Busy Book too with some simple pen control and name recognition activities, as well as shapes and colours and numbers which he is quickly picking up. He loves to be involved when we do our sit-down learning and is loving having his own resources!

When we're not sat down doing this type of learning, the boys are still forever learning. We play games most days that we are not out on adventures. We have a nice collection of Orchard Toys games going now, many of which I've picked up in charity shops, and are brilliant for simple maths and literacy skills. Both boys love to play games and we often find ourselves still in our jammies and sat around playing games after breakfast.

And last but not least, we are always out and about on adventures, getting outside lots, exploring both new and familiar places, all of which is natural learning about the world around them. They are both very sociable and love chatting to people we meet. Bear has always been very sociable but is going through a phase of saying hello to people he passes when we're out walking at the minute, and some of the lovely conversations we've had with people is amazing.

We are regularly out with friends, and both boys have several friends their own ages, as well as many a little older or younger. Nannie often joins us on our adventures, and Aunty Sammy is now on maternity leave with the boys' new baby cousin, so she will be joining in too. They always have a smile and are both comfortable speaking to the people we come across, whether it be staff or other visitors, and Bear is always full of questions and not afraid to ask the right person to get his answers. 

For now, we have something that works for us, and I can see clear progression in both boys' learning, so this is our new path for as long as it works! This is what Home Education is all about - being able to fit the learning to the child so that everyone is able to keep moving forward and I feel so lucky to be in a position to provide this for Bear and The Cub!

What does your week look like as far as 'learning' goes?

Mama Bear x

A Sunflower Study

Me and the Bears are planning a Sunflower Study! 

We are going to plant sunflowers, which in fairness, we have done every year, but this year, we're going to include it in our home ed learning by tracking its growth.

It will roll in some science as I plan to do the parts of the flower and look at what it needs to survive, and also maths by measuring its growth over time and even plotting a simple graph so that Bear can see the line.

I have started putting a pack together with some colouring and activities that I've found online, and am hoping to get some other home ed friends involved so the kids can compare sunflowers too.

We started with a trip to the garden centre to buy the things we need, including seeds! And then we will spend some time planting them in the garden one sunny afternoon in early April, which is what it says is the best time to plant them as it's still a little cold over night yet. We have repotted some of our other seedlings recently and the boys are more than excited for their sunflowers!

Would anyone like to join in?

Mama Bear x

Spring Equinox 2025

Spring Equinox - Thursday 20th March 2025

We started our day with our Spring Adventure Gang box which gave Bear his new t-shirt and some activities for us to do over the coming days.

As per our tradition now, me and the boys headed out to spend time in nature for the Equinox. The besties didn't take any persuading, and we decided to check out one of The Wildlife Trust properties as we recently joined up! Dearne Valley Country Park was our playground for the day and we had a blast!

Me and the boys made it there first and spent some time in the glorious spring sunshine checking out the playground and skate park. Then we went for a walk to find the perfect picnic spot, which happened to be a stone circle with so many imagination prompts! The kids loved them and it was a beautiful space to relax in.

After the picnic, we went on our spring scavenger hunt looking for signs of spring in nature. We looked for spring flowers and minibeasts that are waking up again. The kids went 'fishing' in the lake and we spent the better part of an hour in the woods where they found a den, climbed some trees, played on a rope swing and then made a second one both spare rope we found near the tree. A good time was definitely had all around I believe!

After a walk around the lake, we packed up and headed to Audrey's Tea Rooms for well-deserved cake and hot chocolate before we drove home again.

Spring stories for bedtime finished off an amazing day and both boys went out like a light for a good night's sleep.

What did you do for the equinox?

Did you get outside?

I'd love to hear about your adventures!

Mama Bear x