Just a quick update to say that we are in the middle of packing up our books and belongings - we have several hundred books - and will be looking for somewhere new to live at some point within the next few weeks. [See earlier post on our notice of eviction!]
So nothing too exciting happening just now, except that the tadpoles have sprouted legs, the lettuces we sowed earlier this year are now big enough to eat in our salads, and Indi is rather sad that she will have to leave her little village nursery school. But it's clear that we'll be moving out of the immediate area of the nursery, so she might as well start home-schooling with her older brothers now, rather than have her go back into a new nursery for six months or a year, then have to leave again when she hits school age.
Today we talked about alliteration, as we've been doing a fair amount of poetry recently and I thought the boys could start thinking up their own little phrases in preparation for getting them to write their own poems! So today we wrote about and drew some mad monkeys, crazy cats, haunted houses and pink princesses. Nothing like a few good old cliches to kick them off into the wonderful world of poetry ...
We looked at some Tony Mitton poems, who's a great writer for younger children, especially under-sixes. I also read aloud to them some well-known and fun poems like Jabberwocky, Spike Milligan's Ning Nang Nong, The Owl and the Pussycat, Eliot's Macavity the Mystery Cat, and so on.
5 comments:
Just wanted to say hello. I have twin boys just five and a little girl about to be three. I am considering home education next year and really need some advice.
I am just outside warwickshire near moreton in marsh. My email is sandbelluk@aol.com. I would love to hear from you.
hello! Funnily enough I read my 5 year old Spike Milligan's ning nang nong yesterday. Well actually, she read it herself. Quite tricky watching for the nIng changing into a nAng or a nOng unexpectedly. She loved it (as she should, Milligan is a hero of mine).
I was very interested to read your last entry on teaching literacy. I am not yet home educating, my girls will be deregistered in a week, but I am also of the opinion that some structure is required, at least for my girls. Obviously i have no experience and my ideas could well change rapidly but this is my initial feeling. I intend to mix "taught" work (though hopefully it won't be too rigid and school-y) with free learning to start with adn see how we go.
I have a fear of the apostrophe and must relearn proper usage very soon! Home education is going to do ME the world of good.
Penny. (when did I become a hippy)
Simply rules for the apostrophe:
POSSESSION -
(Singular)
Jane's dog,
the horse's tail,
the field's flowers,
Morris' hat (note, with s at the end of a word you can use just an apostrophe OR apostrophe followed by another 's', i.e. Morris's hat)
(Plural)
the shelves' height (no extra s)
the bees' humming dance
BUT
the women's meeting
the children's school
(some collective plurals like women, men, children, people etc., act as singulars, so the apostrophe goes BEFORE the s)
EXCEPTION:
The word 'it' is not a person and therefor cannot possess something. For isntance, a vase is a thing, not a person. It can't possess the flowers sitting in it: so we get a sentence like
'the vase was on the hall table. Its flowers drooped unhappily.'
NO APOSTROPHE.
Or 'the factory had been closed for years. All its windows were broken.'
THEN YOU HAVE
'THE MISSING LETTER' APOSTROPHE:
It is = shortens to it's
You have = shortens to you've
They had = shortens to they'd
We will = shortens to we'll
etc etc
I've probably missed things out there but it's a good basic starter if you need your memory refreshing. In my experience, starting to home educate is an odd time. You're never quite sure what to do, how much to cover, and whether you're 'doing it right'. What you discover as you go along is that there is no 'right way' to do anything. Every family is different. That's why so many schools fail our children. Because all children are different and the schools are geared towards all children being the same.
In other words, you're right to say you'll see how it goes. That's the only way to do it. Start off one way, adapt as you go along, chuck some or all of your ideas out, and then eventually you'll settle into a work routine and content that suits you and your kids.
IMHO, literacy is key during the primary years. Also basic numeracy. The rest can be developed in an ad hoc way as your kids develop an interest in things that involve history or geography (maybe because of programmes or films they've seen, like Pocahontas etc) or that make them curious about science (Doctor Who, for instance). That's your springboard. Then you move off beyond the starting point and take them with you.
My four year old boys are obssessed with Doctor Who. One side effect of that is having learnt the days of the week and how to tell the time without any prompting from me and with obsessive regard to detail simple because they want to be sure how long it is until Doctor Who is on again!
Jx
Sorry about all the typos! Dashing along at an incredible speed ...
First, simply instead of simple. Then simple instead of simply. Then obssessed, instead of obsessed. Blimey!
I need some rest.
Jx
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