THE FROG-ACADEMY

Epic Post Needed...

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:18:00 +0000

I am SO far behind on this blog thing it really is not funny! Somehow, between Facebook, G+ , and mostly Flickr, life does get documented, but not so much in words these days.

Where to begin...

October 24th ~ our household became a 2-teen house. Taz turned 13 (and got a haircut a couple of days after this shot!)

His world still pretty much centres around drumming ~ it is his passion and his dream! And he is PRETTY good!

November 27th ~ Another Birthday...

Lilo is now doing pretty well in school. Her reading is improving weekly, in accuracy and fluency. She is still quite well behind her 'peers' for literacy I'd say, but I know she will close the gap over time and I am not worried. She is a happy, well balanced, intelligent, creative child; who would happily spend all her days drawing and colouring and living in a make believe world! Who knows ~ maybe she will write a book someday! Strange as it may seem, I think she is the one of my children MOST likely to do so. She tells me she gets herself to sleep at night by making up stories in her head!

She's been working on 'Explode the Code' online for a few months now and I do think that's help her confidence tremendously, but because it was free (with lots of trial codes we are now up to almost 6 months free) I signed all the youngest 5 up for reading eggs/express. Lilo does 2 days of ETC and 2 days of Reading eggs and together they are working beautifully ;D BUT she often chooses to do extra on the RE site ~ because there is simply more to do & it is loads more fun!!

December 21st ~ birthday number 3 ~ Baby turned 1!

We did smash cake and bubbly water play for his 'party' fun. He was hesitant about both, but soon got into the cake! The bubbles never quite worked.

Since his birthday he has begun to babble more meaningfully and make clearer non-verbal communication too. He also took off on his pins this last week and has practised it to mastery. He doesn't crawl hardly at all now, and is not even very tottery. That seems to be the theme with my children ~ wait until they can and then do it really well!

Oh ~ and he has also mastered ascending and descending the stairs! We keep the stair-gate on though ~ just so we can contain him safely on one floor!

And he started to refuse being 'fed' so now he makes a hideous mess, but feeds himself...

Other STUFF...

On the day before Christmas Eve, my eldest little girl became a 'woman'. We've thought it was around the corner for quite a while, but it doesn't seem fair to start at only 10 (11 in Feb). That said, she is almost as tall as me ~ there's only a fraction in it, and her feet are already bigger than mine! She is turning into one beautiful young lady ~ one half woman the other half girl ~ she is very much that just now :D

Stitch got a 'big boy' haircut ~ he was looking a mess in his mop I'm afraid!

SCHOOL STUFF

We've done some interesting Art so far this year, looking at Op art, in the style of Bridget Riley

(L-R, T-B: Mine, Bugs, Minnie, Lilo, DD, Bugs being coloured.)

And surrealism in the style of Rene Magritte.

(L-R, T-B: Mine (XXX), Lilo (8), TP (10), Minnie (11), Taz (13) & Bugs - not quite finished (14) )

We had some fun with geomag...

This was almost entirely DD's (6) own creation ~ I just helped him stabilise it a little ~ he did EVERYTHING else alone. It took him about 2 hours!

....and Stitch did his very first 'real' drawing ~ it's just not something he really has tried up til' now.

Shame it wasn't on paper and could have been kept ;(

Stitch has been keen to learn to read and as such has also moved on a LOT from this (taken in November)

...and is now reading really well ~ map 5 on Reading Eggs for those 'in the know' and reading almost everything he attempts :D No pushing from me at all ~ it's all been his own doing. 2 maps in 2 weeks ~ and he's doing the worksheets too!

We had a snow day...

But it did only last a day and a bit, so we made the most of it and just had fun that day!

We might be getting some more this week..!

Ten Minutes From Home wise...

I've done two paid photo-shoots now, plus a semi-informal one for the toddlers Christmas party at church. I am selling the pictures to the mums like the schools do, with proper envelopes and all. I have done some commission work for my B-I-L and have some more lined up for a friend of mine who wants some images to help promote the re-branding of their business. I have also been asked to shoot for the wedding of someone at church. I am praying about that one though ~ it's not something I ever envisaged doing, Weddings are a LOT of hard work, but they do pay well ;) So things are beginning to take off ~ which is nice :D

And that's us really. I can't promise when the next update will be, but I'll TRY not to leave it so long.

Let me just leave you with a little more baby cuteness, mostly from just last night (click to see them bigger)...

Ignoring the Fact...

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 00:30:00 +0000

...that I haven't blogged since October! Maybe another catch-up post is in the pipe-line, but meanwhile, here's tonight's thoughts, which nearly went on G+ /Facebook, but got a bit long for that!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

That's it then...Christmas is over for another year. The beautiful tree is stripped bare & gone, soon to become fire wood - when it will leave us with it's lovely pine-wood scent in the air, just to remember it by :( The decorations are down and the toys have found homes. I fear there may be tears in the morning ~ we all really LOVED having a real tree this year - it was such a treat :D.

Not only that, but the holidays are over too, and it's back to 'school' tomorrow. Am I ready? Well, the marking is done (all except one boy's History, which I will just have to do tomorrow evening now), but all the same probably not! I still feel like I left my tail somewhere back in mid-December!

In some ways I look forward to getting back into routine, but another part of me loves it when the children play games together, and make sketches together, and do silly stuff that there just isn't usually too much time for.

The big boys have been getting on better than they have in I don't know how long ~ even choosing to spend time 'playing' together with Knex today - involving seeing how spectacular a mess they could make of each other's creations when they smash-crashed them into each other in mid-air - and making mini-clips of it all!

The girls have spent endless hours since Christmas day playing extremely detailed (and very messy) games with their ever-growing collection of Sylvanian families. The school was this year's addition to the mix.

We have my Nan staying with us while she waits for sheltered housing, and DD has delighted in enlisting her to play endless games with him: from Uno, to Top-Trumps, to Othello ~ she's most often willing and more often free than I am :D

Lunchtimes have been extended by the addtion of this in the kitchen,

...meaning that now we have waiters and chefs serving us real, and pretend, lunches and the whole affair is double in length-of-time, but so much more fun!

I am grateful to have had this month ~ it's been a LOT of fun. But I know that sooner or later the fun will run out of it all and then the melt down will happen, so back to learning it is. Although, I say that, also knowing full-well that this month there has been plenty of learning taking place amongst the fun ~ just learning of a different kind :D

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I'll do my best to blog again in a few days ~ and fill in the gaping hole between October and now!

But ~ to everyone listening ~ Happy New Year! May 2012 be your year of happiness & fulfilment of dreams ~ home grown and God given!

Frogmum Doesn't Blog Much Anymore...

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 00:54:00 +0000

Sorry to all who might have been waiting on a post ~ I never seem to have the inclination much these days...and the truth of it is my photography has very much become my blog these days. If it's happening I shoot it, edit it, upload it. But I somehow feel that people who read here are not SO interested in the pictures ~ and I am not so interested in the words, which leaves blogging in a slump really! And hence I haven't blogged since July ~ a whole summer ago!!

Summer 2011 in brief;

Lots of time at home playing.

TP went to stay at her Nan & Grandad's with her Cousin B ~ she had a brilliant time and amused us greatly by arriving home with a diary folder of 'what we did', together with a list of all the 'funny people we saw', which was basically a list of people that, had she been a little younger, she would have laughed at for one reason or another. It pleased me that they had the tact to just jot it all down instead of pointing and giggling. In it was listed "a lady man" ~ I don't think she has ever seen a person who she could not determine the gender of before, but Portsmouth being a multicultural, jam-packed, diverse city (as opposed to her sheltered little country existence), and travelling about on buses for a week, she saw some more 'colourful' sites!

The following week Taz went up to Scotland with his friend for the week ~ and had a ball driving ride-on mowers and caring for ponies.

Having STILL not sold our 9 seater (because Paul actually hasn't even tried yet...sigh!) and so, still being one seat short of seating all of us, with Taz away we made the most of the opportunity for some days out with the other children:

Day 1 ~ an attempted trip to the Cinema and Pizza Hut for lunch, but the Cinema was sold out for ALL suitable films, so we came home and booked! In the evening we were at a party so all was not lost!

Day 2 ~ an attempted trip to the beach @ Kirby, but as the skies turned grey and threatening by the time we got as far as Chester (half way) we opted for the indoor alternative of Blue Planet instead . Rounded off with tea @ Frankie & Benny's this actually was an expensive, but lovely day :)

Day 3 ~ a day-trip to Birmingham to have a day with the cousins! Paul's other sister & nephew were staying there too. It's fabulous when the cousins get together, they are SUCH good friends all of them!

Day 4 ~ a successful Cinema (Cars2) & Pizza Hut trip, rounded off by an afternoon in the village park, where they were celebrating the 'grand opening' of the new play equipment and almost the whole village was there, so that was good fun too!

That weekend our good friends J&T came to stay which was a lovely way to finish of our 'Staycation' :-)

Over the summer I also did some photo-shoots for friends, which led to canvases on walls and the final push toward launching as a professional photographer. SO, as of Sept 1st 'Ten Minutes From Home' came into being. I have yet to do a shoot under that name, but I do know that people are already finding me on the web and by word of mouth, so only time will tell... I've invested a little money (and a lot of time) into getting it up and running, but if at the end of the day nothing comes of it, I have lost only a little money, and at least I tried! I do not want to ever regret not having tried. And if it takes off, then great, the little extra income will be lovely!

As summer came to a close I also took a little time to think about how home-education might look this year. By the end of last year I have to admit I was spent and felt I wasn't enjoying it anymore, so I'm pretty certain the kids weren't much either! I had lost my passion & drive for it. If I am 100% honest I am not totally sure I have re-found that either, but I have found a way to make it work, make it more interesting for the children and make myself more available to them all without over-stretching myself. It has meant a return to a slightly less autonomous approach, but it's not a full U-turn!
I have stuck with my mini-skool approach, because actually it really works for us. But I have had to help the children arrange it more this year. Essentially I have assigned the mornings to the youngest three, alternating who I am working with and that being no more than two at a time on a shared subject. The third child works independently, usually on a computer task (e.g. ETC online), while I work with the other two. During the morning I cover maths, Science and reading/writing/spelling with the youngest three. Then just before lunch we all come together to work on a 'family' activity. This is where we do Geography, History, Art / Cooking (2 weeks of each alternately), or a Lapbooking project (currently Astronomy). After lunch the youngest two go off and play, Lilo has a couple of independent tasks to do and I make myself available to the older children. During the morning the older 4 are told that if there is anything they are struggling with they should mark the place and then do as much as they can. In the afternoon they can ask me about anything they needed help and we will work on it together.
As regards to it being more prescriptive this year, this is only because there are some things that need to be worked around and so the other activities have to be slotted in the right places to make it work, but there is still autonomy within that. The children and I arranged the charts together at the beginning of term, so it didn't all come from me. Also they often have more than one book to fit an activity. For example when Minnie sees the 'S&S Science' token she has 6 topic books to choose from and so can do what she most fancies that day! Also Bugs has been encouraged to add in some additional subjects this year, and so he is doing 'business studies' and IT. I was so pleased to get such a generous HEdders discount with Lonsdale (paying teachers prices).

So far everything seems to be working really well. My biggest challenge is getting Stitch to take part ~ but I am insisting that he engage with learning in the mornings, as much as possible, because he is so bright and really needs to be kept busy to stay out of mischief!! I have also arranged a raiding-shelf for Baby as he is very much on the move and into raiding mode now! Fortunately he does sleep a portion of the morning and afternoon still :).

What else to tell... Minnie took her Grade 2 ballet exam, but unfortunately didn't pass. However it seems the examiner was quite harsh and a number of girls failed this time. Their teacher was so fed up (this is not the first time this lady has marked harshly) that she has decided to change syllabus, so I don't think it was all down to lack of skill! TP and Lilo have decided to give up Ballet, but I didn't want them to do no sport at all. Admittedly Lilo does swimming lessons, but this is not a thrill to her and I know she will stop as soon as she's finished. They both asked if they could do gymnastics. So I figured why not, and while I was at it thought it might be nice for the younger boys to do something to. They both agreed to give it a go too and it has been an all round hit :-). The girls are loving it and TP is practising things in her spare time (more than Lilo). She would love to be really good I think. And DD has been picked out after just three weeks of going to try out for the boys squad!! So on Tuesday he did a 2 hour session and came out chuffed as punch, still jumping and really pleased with himself because he had managed to hang the longest from the bars with his knees in tuck position, with a 'brick' on his lap (against two other boys I think ~ both older than him)! I am really pleased for him ~ I'm just dreading how this is going to affect our pocket!! If he is picked for squad he jumps from 1 hour on a Saturday (when the others are there), to 2 hours (Tues) + 1 hour (Sat, but later). It's also going to mean a lot of too-ing and fro-ing, which Paul will not be so happy about as he does all the driving around everyday. I don't think I expected any of them to get picked so soon (although I did think if any did it would likely be DD)!

This week of course the sun came out again, so with not having got the tent out this summer we felt it need an airing. So we pitched it in the garden and the children have lived out there most of the week, doing school & sleep! Unfortunately we didn't get it down in time before the bad weather set in again (Paul was at work) and now we need to wait for it to dry again and pray that it hold with the pretty strong winds that are out there right now!! It's a tough tent ~ we are pretty certain it will be OK ;)

Baby milestones @ almost 10 months ~ chuntering; "dadadadada", "babababa", etc.... Crawling properly (just beginning to abandon the commando style he has been doing for weeks now), pulling to stand and beginning to cruise the furniture, also beginning to try and use the brick truck and chairs to move around! Firmly attached to me still, but mostly only taking a full breastfeed in the morning, the rest of the time he's just wetting his whistle on me! Eats like a trouper :)

Is that me all caught up? I think so...

TOO Long..!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 15:55:00 +0000

What more can I say than ~ my goodness, where did that month go?
I'll try to catch up with a little help from my old friend flickr.
I guess the over-riding theme of it has been sadness though :-(

June is a month of birthdays for us (as I already blogged) and I decided my gift to myself this year would be a 'new look', so I enlisted the help of my good friend (who was once a professional hairdresser) on the day before, and hey-presto;

TP joined in and decided she'd like a drastic chop too. I've always resisted her pleas before, but couldn't really in the light of my own change! So off came hers too...

The day of my birthday was tinged with sadness and worry. I woke to a bazillion lovely wishes on Facebook and my family gifted me with many lovely camera accessories from my Amazon wish list. It couldn't have started better! But later in the morning I was rung by my Nan to say my Aunty was extremely poorly and nearing the end of her battle. Later my Mum called me (when she arrived there) and we discussed my travelling down after I put the kids to bed (leaving a friend to babysit until morning) ~ to say my final farewell to Debbie. I really wanted to say I loved her just once more ~ before she left this life. It had been too difficult to phone her in recent weeks as her sleeping patterns were so erratic and prolonged. Mum, however, felt she would make it to morning and thought I should book an early train, as to arrive late at night might be too disruptive ~ so that's what I did. Due to arrive at lunchtime next day (it's a 3hr trip). I went to bed with a heavy heart. I woke to a text that said my Aunty Debbie had passed away at just before 5am ~ when the stay-awake nurse nipped to the loo and everyone else was sleeping :-(.
I still can't believe I didn't go by my instincts ~ or that I didn't get to hold her hand and say goodbye ~ or kiss her goodnight :-(. I still feel a little cheated. BUT I know she knew I loved her, I was praying for her everyday and I love her still. I hope she knew I tried!
Her loss is deeply felt. Ours is a very small family ~ just my Nan, my mum, Aunty Debbie, Alan (her husband), Sam (her son ~ only just 16) and me. We are close. Debs was the one who always brought the laughter with her ~ she was so creative, so artistic and SO witty! She was only 14 years older than me and I shared a room with her whenever we stayed at my nan's when I was small. She was the closest thing I will ever have to a sister really. I loved her immensely and it's really crap that she's gone (s'cuse my choice of words, but that's what a blog is for...)!!
I stayed with my family for a couple of days and while we were there Baby cut his first tooth! Paul came to pick us up on the Sunday morning. The funeral was on the following Thursday ~ just a week after she died, so we travelled down again for that (taking only Bugs, TP and Baby). Paul's Mum was kind and came up on the train, to look after the other children for a couple of days for us.
The funeral was hard ~ so many people I knew from years ago when I was small came (school friends of Debbie's) . Our extended family came ~ the last time I had seen them we were celebrating Debbie's 50th Birthday together ~ just 3 years ago :( and I had a different babe-in-arms then! But it was also a lovely celebration of who Debs was and what her life had meant to so many people. I miss her...
RiP my beautiful Aunty.

Then it was back to normal ~ home-ed carried on. The children and I all needed to keep things 'normal'. We've enjoyed some lovely family times during these warmer evenings ~ water fights and family football being some of the highlights.

Baby cut his 2nd tooth and is thoroughly enjoying the feel of them, showing everyone his toothy grin (taken 30th June)...

and then he learnt to sit (he's really stable now, but still likes to launch himself backwards) ~ this was taken the first day he did it (20th June)...

About 10 days ago he learnt to drink from a cup, but he prefers us to hold it still...

Yes ~ there have been definate UPs, but then...
as if this month wasn't sad enough... we woke one morning to find Mr Rosie (pet rabbit) dead in the run and minutes later Beth (his sister) laid down and died too. Cause unknown. They had their nails clipped at the vets just the week before and a 'once over'. They appeared healthy and well. It remains a mystery. They were about 5 years old.
The children were amazing. TP and Taz dug a hole at the back of the fern field (less visible from the house in the event of a fox...), put them together in a cardboard box and buried them. Paul made a little plaque for them and engraved their names. So sweet. So sad :-(

RiP Beth (black) & Mr Rosie (grey).

On Thursday last week we finished up 'school' for the year with a games day ~ always good fun...

Friday, Paul was away at a church leader's conference for a couple of days, so I dutifully trooped 7 kids on the bus with me into town for the Toddler group, end of term, 'Teddy Bear's Picnic' (that cost a mint!). The buses in both directions were late of course. They only run once and hour to our village (and we missed one by 7 minutes so had to play hide-'n'-seek for an hour in the church grounds while we waited) and then it's a mile walk to (and from) the bus stop home ~ we were all a little weary by the time we got in, but it was fun!! Stitch especially enjoyed the 'bumpy bus', but not so much the walk home at the end of the day!

On Saturday it poured with rain, so we stayed in and made pizza - from scratch! It was delicious and fun!!

And yesterday ~ we had a fabulous day in church...

Paul was 'promoted' to Associate Pastor (from Assistant ~ small title change, big impact on position we hope).
Sunday School prizes were given out for the year and the Youth Band led the whole service (they were brilliant).
And 'we' (the church as a whole) moved into our OWN premises!

Other thing of note ~ Taz has begun having 'proper' drum lessons. We found a good teacher (someone who used to work with Paul in fact) and he is doing well, although the teacher says he still hasn't quite got a handle on what Joel is capable of ~ I think Taz is better than the teacher thinks he is!! But he is learning to read drum music and a few 'polishing' things so that is great too :-)

It's been a month of so many ups and downs...maybe the summer will be a bit more stable. I don't anticipate being bored though ~ I have tonnes of 'stuff' to get done, for 'school', home, church and maybe even me. There's some photography tutorials I want to read, as well as catching up on my magazines and I also want to do some more of my genealogy work I started last summer)! I think we are holidaying in September, so at least I don't have to fit that in just yet..!

If you got this far, well done!!
Catch you later :-)

Happy Birthday DD ~ 6 Years Young!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 23:57:00 +0000

Stitch made one too....

In fact, they all felt compelled to spend their pennies!!

Lilo made a rabbit, Minnie - a bear and TP bought some sparkly sandals ~ she already has a 'Bear Factory' bear.

Birthday Come ~ and Go!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sun, 29 May 2011 21:59:00 +0000

Can you believe May sees two birthdays in our house and I haven't blogged either one? ~ slap wrists!

Bugs turned 14...

Those of you with sharp eyes will notice I can't count!!! ~ check the bottom of the blog...

'Strawberry & Chocolate Oreo Cheesecake'!! (home-made I might add, and super scrummy!!)

A couple of weeks later (last weekend) he had his party ~ a houseful of teenagers over for a BBQ/Wii evening. It was great fun :-) I've decided I really like teenagers, or at least I really like all the ones I know!

(that's Bug's GF on the Guitar Hero btw)

Then we did a few more weeks school ~ a day of which I blogged here;
There's been some sewing (Minnie's been doing this x-stitch forever!), earing and necklace making (Minnie is wearing hers in the picture) & some shrinky-dink making ~ everyone really enjoyed that. We watched them curl, flip & shrink on the sandwich pan and talked a little about polymers (although I must confess not a lot, as I'm not very knowledgeable myself about such things - anyone want to offer me a science lesson on this?!)

The younger three also had a 'Wild Things' week :~ read the book a couple of times and made masks, told the story back - which DD is getting really good at, wrote about our own imaginary 'wild thing', drew monsters, made monster puppets with empty toilet rolls and topped off the week by watching the film ~ which is good, but a little serious I thought, compared to the book.

The boys had a trip to Manchester Velodrome with scouts and very much enjoyed that ~ came back asking to go again!

And then Stitch turned 4 on Friday ~ where did those four years go??

10 points to the person who spots the theme in most of the birthday pictures ;-)

This time last year we spent the week with him like this ~ with Pneumonia!

Aside from birthdays and fun stuff there's been all the 'normals' around here too. DD & Lilo are both doing really well on Explode the Code Online. Lilo has zipping through the lower levels already, as I had hoped she would. DD is also progressing steadily and is surprised to discover 'I can read' :-) He really can too! There are a couple of letters he consistently forgets the sound of still - 'd' & 'w' being the main ones, but essentially he is sounding out and beginning to read short sentences. It's all seemed very effortless with him and I believe it will be with Stitch too, when he decides to give it a shot. Atm, he's pretty much refusing to do anything schooly unless it's on a computer, or he can work with me ~ fair enough I guess, but I'm feeling really stretched & tired right now and can't always give him what he needs/wants from me :-(. I'm hoping September will be a little easier with Baby able to sit and play more. Just now I am feeling a bit burnt out and creativity is almost non-existent in regards to school. I am just so grateful for all the online resources that serve me up ideas so readily and take so little adapting to make them work for all three of the youngest. In that respect, it makes it simpler that Lilo has been such a slow-to-learn reader because her 'literacy' work is not that far behind the boys! That said, she is gaining speed at quite a pace now and the other morning, presented me with a book which she has been apparently reading in her spare time & has now finished..!

This week the oldest four are off on 'Energi' camp again ~ it comes around quickly. Paul is taking the week off and we are planning to spend some time doing 'fun-stuff' with the littlest four. A trip on a 'real train' is planned to either Liverpool or the beach, depending on the weather. I got a free 2 month family railcard (online from the Daily Mail ), so that makes it affordable and a treat for the littlies, who don't remember the days when we went everywhere by train as a family!

So that's me caught up for now. I'm missing not being Off The Path this weekend though, it just wasn't possible in the end :-(

Observation answers; ~ 1. Bugs had an extra candle on his cake, 2. All pictures involve chocolate cake!

A (half) Pictorial day in the Life of the FrogAcademy

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 16 May 2011 21:16:00 +0000

Every year, there is a little tradition of doing an 'a day in the life' photo-post. Well, no problem you'd think, being that photos are SO much my thing, BUT... for most of last week my internet was down (SUCH a pain), then it was midday today before I remembered I was supposed to be snapping away! So please forgive the first half of this being wordy. The pictures take over half way through!

I get up sometime around 9.30 (a bit of a late start due a disturbed night) ~ I have missed breakfast time it seems; the children are all already fed and most are ready for the day. I busy myself with changing and feeding the baby (who has been playing with the big kids for a while) and settling him back to sleep for the morning. Then I help Stitch get dressed & DD dresses himself. Everyone else is heading downstairs to get started on their day.

Bugs, Taz, Minnie and TP work on their respective Bible Studies. Lilo is starting on her handwriting (she traces over a Bible verse, joining the letters as she does).
Once Lilo is finished with that I do Bible Study with DD, Stitch and Lilo ~ we are using a series designed to accompany The Beginners Bible.

Taz by now is busy working on his maths and when he finishes that he plays a game with Stitch which involves hiding three letters inside little plastic eggs around the house. Stitch has to find the eggs and then try to make a word. He has previously been playing this game with just one letter and then finding something beginning with the sound. He did well with the words, making hat, mat and van :) By then it was snack time (11am), after which Taz did GP History & then a spelling test.

Bugs ~ hmm not sure how he spent his morning tbh...

Minnie ploughs through her written work in the morning, so by 12.00 she had done MPH Maths & some written Understanding English (poetry ~ S&S). Then she played with Stitch; Dotty Dinosaurs & then writing letters on a mini-whiteboard and he told her what they were. He carried on playing with the whiteboard for a while afterwards too.

TP seems to have had a bit of a slow day ~ she played on Tut-Pup for a while before 12.00.

Lilo went on the Laptop and earned herself 6 'badges' on Explode the Code then joined in with DD and I who were working together, learning about the difference between 'natural' and 'artificial' things. It's something he's been asking questions about for a while and his attention held well for a good while. We did some sit-down-and-chat-about work first, with a fairly easy worksheet. Then we went on a scavenger hunt looking for 'natural' , 'man-made' and 'mineral' objects, which was a lot of fun.

12:00
TP playing Bus Stop with Stitch

Lilo working on her maths (converting words to numbers and then vice-versa)

Minnie reading on her bed

Taz drumming (notice the addition of practice pads for school hours!)

DD completing a TUX Paint stamper chart to illustrate the morning's lesson.

12:15

Bugs reading on his bed

chart almost completed

Stitch waiting for LeapWorld to load!

12.20

Baby wakes up and gets a bum-change

(yes that is a purple nappy on my boy!)

12.40

DD busy on Lego.com as reward for working hard this morning :-)

12.55
TP working on her HeadSprout Comprehension.

13.00
Baby plays contentedly on the window seat with his mirror-rattle and chats to us all :-)

Lilo is coming to the end of her maths work ~ it's taken her longer than usual for some reason.

Stitch is now playing on LeapWorld (which took an age to load!)

Taz is writing his blog and learnt how to embed a YouTube Video.

DD has started work on Explode the Code

Sometime around 13.30 we all have lunch and take a bit of a break.
I fed Baby his fromage-fraise & gave him a breastfeed.

The kids start back when they feel ready. Some take a longer break than others!

15.00
Baby has fallen asleep on the window seat of his own accord :)

Lilo is reading to me.

Minnie is waiting to get on the study PC to do her blog

Before this though she has done some 'Next Stop' comprehension work.

TP is off somewhere reading.

Bugs is on Manga High

15.30

Lilo is doing her third page of a 'sight words' book.

It's easy for her now, but she's only got a few pages left to complete.

I get to play with Baby for a few minutes (who has obviously woken up!)

15.40

A little bit of song-time ~ I think we were singing Wheels on the Bus here.

Bugs took some pictures of us and practiced using manual focus.

(this one is straight out of camera ~ he has to edit his own shots!)

16.00

Minnie eventually gets to write her blog!

DD is at last getting to play on LeapWorld, but this is his free-time now :-)

It looks, from the pictures, that most of DD's school happens on-screen, but this isn't really the case. He does like it that way, but we try to strike a balance between pencil work, manipulative work and screen-work. I don't push anything too heavily with him really and he seems to be making good progress, so I can't be going too far wrong ~ if I was I know he would be digging his heals in and screaming at me. The only tears we had today however, were when LeapWorld wouldn't load up for him in the Study. He's not the most rational at times!

Somewhere in the midst of all that a load of nappies got washed and some washing, that had been waiting for the rain to lay off, eventually got hung on the line ~ it's still there mind!

I hope you have enjoyed a taster of our days ~ they are busy, but mostly not too stressful! I'm sure there was more happening around the house than is pictured, or even described here, but I really can't be everywhere at once with a camera in my hand!! I know that in the evening Minnie helped Paul prepare tea (spaghetti and meatballs), Taz did some more drumming and Bugs had maths to do because he had 'forgotten' do to it in school hours ~ no biggy to me if he wants to work in the evenings he is free to!

Click the House to read another great 'day-in-the-life' picture story, and there's a whole load more links to be found at the end of that post and the end of THIS one :-)

Missing the Mark.

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 23:19:00 +0000

Today I tried to take some of the children to the 'Easter Family Fun Day' that was being held on the reserve, but I'd failed to book and wasn't sure where to meet up. We set out a bit past start time in hopes of finding a crowd, but it all fell flat and we found no-one :( Turns out it all started in the Village Hall, but we didn't quite walk that far. Still never mind, we got some fresh air before the day got too hot, we listened to the birds (and the bees) and I took some nice pictures (despite having Baby in the sling in front of me). Next time, I'll know...

We are loving the sunshine and the smiles it brings, so I'm just sharing some of the pictures from Baby's 17wk 'shoot' ~ which turned into a little mini-free-for-all-shoot! Enjoy :-) This is how we roll in the holidays (well, most of the time really, but even more in the hols) !!

Oh ~ and on an educational note... our swallows arrived home yesterday and are busy repairing their nest for this year clutches ~ "WELCOME HOME" little birds, we are all pleased to see you, and the sunshine months you herald in :-)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

And during our non-book week last week, my fabulous, arty, x-teacher friend (and her daughter) came and gave us a Hundertwasser art lesson;

(L-R: Bugs (13), Lilo (7), TP (9), Taz (12), Stitch (3) & DD (5) )

I also signed the three youngest 'schoolies' up for 'Explode The Code Online'. I think Lilo will whizz through it, but it will help firm things up for her, hopefully help her 'hear' things better and set her on the road to writing more and spelling better. DD loves it (and the games he gets to play as reward) and seems to understand it really well. I think he will progress quickly with it. But what shocked me most was how amazing Stitch was with it. He tested in only a little behind DD and although his concentration span is not as good as DD's just yet, he did really well and made good progress in just one session. I was surprised to see that he actually can read a little ~ not only understanding beginning sounds, but sounding out and blending too! He is adding new letters (sounds and names) to his repertoire daily it seems and it wouldn't surprise me if he and DD are both reading a bit before the end of the summer!

Photographic Catch-Up Post

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 23:03:00 +0000

Taking pictures is what I 'do' these days ~ it's quicker to keep a record with a snapshot than it is with a whole load of words. Editing images is so much more me than editing words too, so pictures it is for this post! I hope it gives you a little flavour of life here right now and where the kids are at. Next week we are taking a 'non-book-week'. We haven't had one of those for a while - ages in fact. I can't face three weeks of being nagged into screen time x 7, but the kids all want to 'break-up' as many of their friends do tomorrow. We agreed a compromise ;-) ! So next week will not involve any textbooks, and consequently probably very little written work, probably a fair amount of school-screen-time and as much arts, crafts and sporty time as they like! I believe the weather is going to be good, so hopefully much of it will take place in the garden :).

this is candle making

That's a yellow Jolly Phonics reader in her hand ~ she's finished Headsprout at last and is well on the road now :D

~ ~ ~ ~

I think you maybe get the general idea ;-)

And if you're not too sick of my pictures yet, you can see them all bigger if you click on them!

My Little Smiler @ 9wks

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:47:00 +0000

This Week in not-so Brief...

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:03:00 +0000

I decided that after half term we were going to knuckle down a bit as we have a nice long stretch now until Easter. It had been a mad busy half-term with a birthday party, a birthday, sleep-overs, The Gathering 2011 (meaning really late nights for the big boys) & Granny staying, but planned outings turned into a wash-outs, so we hadn't spent as much time as I'd have liked outside. Monday the sun came out a little - typically! So I gave the kids an 'inset' day (lol) and sat on the pc doing a little planning and printing (no playing - honest!!). In the evening I also renewed the activities on Stitches 'school' shelf ~ I'm hoping he'll like to do what's there, but screens are way too inviting to him atm!

I absolutely LOVE lessonpathways ~ it's simply so much of a time saver. I headed on over to look up something to do with DD this week and fell upon 'My Shadow' for literacy, so decided to tie that in with the 'shadows' for science and do a sort of 'four-in-a-row' mini unit (we don't work on Fridays so normally only four in our house, but this week only 3 in reality as we'd skipped Monday!) :D
It's been a lot of fun so far and DD has really enjoyed it. Lilo and some of the others wanted to join in too and I think they've all learnt something new, so that's been good too. We began by talking about Robert Louis Stevenson ~ "boring!" in DD's words, but I kept it short and sweet. Sometimes I feel it's good to let them hear stuff they are not so 'into' ! Then we talked about where light comes from and how it is essential for the survival of all living things. This was developed today with the older children over lunch, when we had a discussion about vitamin D & 'rickets' ~ they were asking to go on the Wii and I was kicking them outside instead! (I have the policy that the Wii in the daytime is only for wet and freezing days, otherwise they have to go catch some rays!) For 'hands on' stuff, we have drawn around our shadows on the yard (DD and Minnie did anyway) and then watched them move and grow. DD has been really grabbed by this and keeps asking "HOW?", but I've left that question open for next week: now his curiosity is really sparked I think he will be even more absorbent of the answers!
We also talked about how light 'bends' and 'bounces' and played with a big bowl of water. He was fascinated by how much bigger his hand looked in the water when he looked through the side of the bowl and I attempted to explain how the curve of the bowl bends the light so that it magnifies his hand. We also dropped objects into the water and noticed how much harder it was to grab them out whilst looking through the side of the bowl ~ fun!
He played with the little BBC Bitesize interactive 'thing' from my last post and enjoyed that.
We attempted to make a sundial, but the spot I chose was too shady after 4pm, so I need to 'move' it and try again on another sunny day, but we did manage to plot 3 hours worth so he got the idea.
And inside we made shadow puppets and a screen to show them on ~ great fun :D

We didn't actually finish all I'd planned to do with him on the topic ~ mainly because two of our computers were being stupid today and ate my Solomon-free time, so we didn't do any shadow work today (grrr). Next week we will finish off the science element and work on the literacy side ~ writing some fun poems together :D ~ definitely something that some of the others can join in with too if they want to!

Aside from shadows, DD and Stitch played 'letter bingo' with Bugs and me today (Bugs played to take the other board) and I was amazed how quickly these boys are picking up their letter sounds now. I haven't worked much more on this in the last week or two, but they have at least two or three more that they each know now :D. I was pleased to notice this week that Starfall have now added to their site and I paid up for the extra 'stuff' this week. That, together with Education City, their Leapsters and Leapworld (which they get as part of the package with their Leapsters) are all making up a very comprehensive package of stuff that they both love to spend time on. Stitch also still loves Poissonrouge (which keeps getting better). It's hard to limit computer/screen when I know they are gaining so much from it, but I do pull them off from time to time!! So today, we also did a jigsaw and talked about 'opposites' (that's what the jigsaw was designed to help teach). Stitch already knew most of them, which was reassuring as I haven't 'taught' them as such at any point. Tbh, I am discovering more and more just how much these boys learn by simply being allowed to explore and discover. I am happy that it is so as it makes my life SO much easier that they are natural learners. Lilo is too to a great degree and given the right tools (introduced with careful timing) she can really fly off on her own. She is beginning to read things independently of me now (of her own choosing) and likewise to write things that she wants to down at times. She has made amazing progress this year and she knows it! She said today, quite flippantly, "I'm getting much better at my reading now." ~ I guess she really means it is beginning to feel easier to her, which is very pleasing.

I never seem to have so much to say about the bigger children, but they are doing well too :D I guess they just need me less these days ;( I mark what they do and it's mostly correct. They call me when they need me, which seems a lot collectively, but really isn't individually! I really want to get back to some 'group' stuff now though ~ geography, astronomy, history, art, music ~ they all seem to have been sidelined for far too long. Bugs was even asking about doing some Geography again today. I think they miss it ~ I know I do! Although I don't miss the noise that usually accompanies group-work! I just need to get my head around it and work out a time when Solomon is consistently asleep for long enough to do it. It'll be summer before we know it and I hope it won't take that long before we get back to at least one them, however long summer days learning in the garden do lend themselves nicely to topic work ;)

One thing I need to blog though, is that after setting down MPH maths with TP for almost a year I decided to give it back to her the week before half term. I asked her to complete a few practices towards the end of the book (where she had begun to come un-stuck). With minimal coaching, just a little reminding of how, but only once, she did them with ease. She went on to work the 'revision' (which I use as an end-of-book 'test' ~ meaning they get zero help from me when they are doing it) and got 86% correct! I was thrilled for her. She has now gone on to 2A and says it is easy :D I'm so glad we took a break. I am becoming ever more the advocate of child-paced learning. I always have been in theory, but the reality has been hard for me to find my way to. I think at last, after almost 10 years of not-quite-getting-it, I am finally beginning to see how children really can learn of their own free-will, if they are given the right 'space' and tools to do so. I even sat and explained to Taz today why our 'school' does not always seem 'fair' ~ that being because they are all different, with different strengths, weaknesses and passions and if each of them were doing the same as the next, then I would not be doing my 'job' well in meeting their individual needs. I think he understood, although I don't think he liked it! He pines after 'going' to school a bit just lately. I think he would almost like to prove me wrong about it! Although what he'd be setting out to prove I don't exactly know ;) He thinks they are all saddled with HE because I didn't like school ~ but that is not the entire truth really (only a small part of it). I just have no faith in state education as an effective way to learn. Taz doesn't get it, but then I wouldn't really expect a 12yo to. He thinks if he went to school he would make a whole gang of close friends ~ he doesn't believe me that that is not very likely. In reality he might a few good friends, for a few years, who he will then completely loose touch with the day he leaves, keeping in touch with maybe one or two if he's lucky. That is not so unlike where he is at now!! He even implied to me today that he would like to find out just how much he would hate it at school ~ sort of like he knows he would, but just wants to taste the disappointment!! Odd child! But he can save it ~ I'm not sending him ;)

Ok ~ that's enough now ~ enjoy the pictures (click to see them bigger if you wish too) ..!

Shadow Links 4 Little Kids ~ Science & Literacy

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 18:19:00 +0000

Science
http://printables.familyeducation.com/tv/printables/orange/sp-33.pdf
http://cybrarian.edu.glogster.com/My-Shadow/
http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/energy/light/grownups.weml
http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/F_Keeping_Cool_With_Shadows.html
http://www.sfscience.com/english/grade_1/unit_B/chap_2/act_5/1.htm
http://www.sciencekidsathome.com/science_experiments/sundial-1.html#more
http://www.bbc.co.uk/norfolk/kids/sundial_base.pdf
http://www.yourskinandsun.com/article1097.html
http://familyfun.go.com/playtime/shadow-play-706838/

Literacy/Craft
http://www.yourskinandsun.com/article1097.html
http://www.notablebiographies.com/Sc-St/Stevenson-Robert-Louis.html
http://printables.familyeducation.com/tv/printables/hmco/cgtgacrosticpoem.pdf
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/haiku-scroll-663328/
http://printables.familyeducation.com/tv/printables/Moutran_0876283024_52.pdf
http://printables.familyeducation.com/tv/printables/Moutran_0876283024_139.pdf
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/shadow-puppets-663981/
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/squawking-parrot-669935/
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/lanky-giraffe-669945/
http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/toothy-alligator-669955/
http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/pdfs/pdf3/tvs6636_shadowpuppets.pdf

A Bit Out Of Touch..!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 01:55:00 +0000

I'm feel I am seriously OUT of the blogging loop atm. I am just about managing to hold together my 365 (although even that is a week behind) and I haven't blog-hopped in WEEKS, either to my photography friends, or my HE ones ~ and for that I apologise. Somehow life just seems to have been a whirlwind since Christmas and evening are often tied up with jiggling a restless baby - like they all get in the evenings! We have decided to experiment this week with putting him to bed earlier as he was waking at 5am and really struggling to re-settle. By the time we eventually got him back off it was almost time for Paul to get up and that didn't seem to be working for us! Putting him to bed earlier means he wakes at 3, but goes back off better and we get longer until morning! We'll see how it goes ~ it worked well last night, but I am not a 7am person, even if Paul has to be and the kids naturally are!

HE-wise things are ticking along. Stitch and DD both completed a 'year' on Education City last week, meaning DD is now working at Yr1 level and Stitch at Reception (which of course he would be starting in September were he going). The work on there is just right for them and in fact perhaps a little easy in some areas. Stitch is quick as a wink and misses nothing ~ I am thinking I might be teaching them BOTH to read next year and save myself some time and work. I reckon Stitch is actually almost ready and DD definitely is. DD is already sounding out words really well, even if he doesn't yet know the sounds of all the letters. Let me explain: He can tell me that shoe is made up of 'sh' and 'oo', or mouse is made of 'm', 'ou' & 's'. He would not be able to tell me what letters make those sounds yet. However, some words, like 'b-u-s' he could probably actually write correctly as he does know all those letters well enough and his pencil control is excellent. Letters he knows sounds for consistently are (for the record); a, b, c, e, k, o, p, q (and qu), s u, x, z. ~ that's almost half the alphabet even though I've not made any concerted effort to teach him any yet! He knows some of the others sometimes; f, i, l, p, r, y.
Stitch also knows a few ~ although he seems to be learning a mixture of sounds and names due to the sources of his learning (i.e. mainly Starfall and Ed'City!). Consistently he has; a (sound), c (sound), e (sound), k (sound), o (sound), p (sound), q (sound), r (name), s (sound), w (name), x (name & sound), z (sound) ~ interestingly almost exactly the same ones as DD has picked up, only the u/w is different! I wonder why that might be???
Lilo is eventually picking up with reading at a more rapid pace, although she still does make consistent errors that I wouldn't expecting by now: she still, almost always, reads 'd' for 'b', she still sometimes still reads 'i' for 't' (and vice versa) and often cannot remember 'j' at all, or reads it as 'i'. She still forgets 'v' on a regular basis too and sometimes, when she remembers it, still makes a 'f' sound for it. I know these are all common errors in younger children, but I am surprised she is still making them when she can essentially read, and that by phonetic means! I think she needs a vision test (well I know she does), but I need her to be more consistent with her letters before she goes, so it doesn't seem she can't see them when she can! She is almost at the end of Headsprout. She had only about 10 more episodes to complete, so just another couple of weeks - she'll be finished by half term. I am thinking of enrolling her on Explode-the-Code online. They have a 3 for 2 offer on atm, so I could enrol all three youngest ones at their own levels! I think it might be a fun way to sure up Lilo's phonics, whilst still taking her forwards by doing LOTS of reading with me as-well. Her confidence is growing, and that is good, but it is still not brilliant and I believe that is half the battle with her. Where she is confident, and almost able to self-teach, she excels. Reading has not really been something she has been able to approach in that way, or that has come to her easily, but she IS getting there at last and I know she is happy about that :D
Maths is progressing nicely with all of the younger ones too. Lilo has completed Miquon Orange and is rapidly pacing through Singapore MPH 1A (it's a cinch for her now). DD is working through Grade 1 Math Mammoth, which is also relatively easy for him, but gives him a stretch. He resists the stretch a little, but the work is not too hard!

The older four are plodding along nicely, although I do feel their work is too much 'on your own' atm. I want to be able to input more with them, but just now I can't see how. They do have plenty of things they do which are not book work and there seems to be a significant of arts and crafts happening atm which is off their own backs. I like that as a&c is not really my thing at all tbh. They are enjoying playing some games together sometimes too ~ also which I like. I would like to find some to get back and finish our long abandoned Astronomy project (which we were all enjoying) and get on with learning some more History from our Diana Waring series. It all seems to have been on hold for TOO long now. Maybe after Easter Solomon (need to pick web-name for him soon), who will be 4 months by then, will be in a more predictable routine and/or be happier to sit and play while we work. At the moment, when he's awake he wants to be held, fed or stimulated by one of us. He does sleep most mornings, which gives me time with the smaller ones, but he less often sleeps after lunch so the big ones only get me avec babe-in-arms, which is not conducive to Mummy-led teaching :( I guess sooner or later we'll find our way again ~ we usually do...

I need to get my finger out about arranging an appointment with the deputy of the local college if we are still going to look at Bugs maybe going there next year ~ time is flying by and it'll be the summer before we sneeze at this rate and he'll be stuck home with me for another year by default, which may not (or MAY be) the best thing! I must add though ~ I think he's going to need to address his work ethic before he goes to college or he won't last there very long at all! The motivation cannot come from me. I can only warn him, and coax him. I cannot force him to work. He might just have to learn his lesson hard when he gets to college. He doesn't believe me when I try to help him understand the amount of work children his age would be set from school. Not that I think that that is a good or necessary thing, but it is a reality for most kids and he simply doesn't believe me! The downside of that being, I know he will be shocked by the amount of time and effort the college will expect him to put into his studies, but I HOPE he will rise to the challenge!
I'd really like to take a trip to London (or somewhere nearer maybe) with him soon, to a photography exhibition of some sort, as I believe this would inspire him and also it would look good on his portfolio/'CV' when he's trying to impress the college deputy!!

So that's us. I feel we are treading water a bit right now, or at least the bigger children are, but all the same they are making progress and life is not too much filled with daily drudgery, so I must be doing something OK. :D Only two more weeks to half term, when maybe I might get a moment or two to look at things again. There's not much I feel I can really change right now, but I might just need to shuffle things here and there to make life a little more 'vibrant' for us all ~ especially with the nicer weather hopefully just around the corner (yeah!).

Next week, on Thursday, Minnie turns 10. I can't believe I am Mum to 3 children in double figures (and three under 6 too, with a couple in between!). She is a very grown up 10 in so many ways... ~ look out for her 'special-day' blog later in the week!

In other news...

I would be very appreciative if those of you who know about my Aunty, would please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. Having been exceptionally well right up until Christmas and having had a scan that showed very little change in any of her tumours, she then became increasingly unwell over Christmas, with a variety of different symptoms. She asked for a re-scan in January and it sadly shows that all of her tumours have now spread ~ some more than others. She has developed a cough where fluid is now gathering in her lungs (although this is not distressing her atm), but her most painful symptom is in her muscles, which simply refuse to work at all some days. So much so that she is unable to even turn herself over in bed at times. She has lost a significant amount of weight over the year (it is almost a year since she received her initial diagnosis) and is constantly nauseous (which could be due to the cancer and/or the pain-relief drugs). She is no longer receiving Chemo', but they are discussing radiotherapy to target the cancer she now has on her spine. I am hoping to visit her very soon (maybe the beginning of March, which is her birthday). Thankfully we have wonderful friends who are willing to take on our children for a weekend, so we will just take Solomon down with us. I am not looking forward to it very much because I think I will see a marked change from when we visited last in October. I am sad. I am still praying for a miracle...
Her teenage son (my cousin) is not coping well either and has been missing significant amounts of school and/or simply not completing assignments. He is due to take his GCSE's this year. I'm not sure he will. He is now on mild antidepressants (depression runs thick in my family) and not at school. He has been told that unless he makes up the time he's missed he will not be allowed to attend the leavers ball! I think the school is being grossly unfair to him ~ they have made little or no allowance for the fact that he is watching his Mum getting sicker in front of his eyes, & seemingly quite rapidly now. GCSE's are not where his head is at right now! The real world is not a happy or nice place for him to be and he prefers to bury himself in virtual-reality. I can really understand that tbh ~ pain is not real in there! At the end of the day, it's not like he can never re-trace his academic path, whereas he will never be able to have his Mum back once she's gone and just now he needs to be with her ~ at home. The world can wait!! That's my view anyway... but it's hard to say that out loud - even to them.

On a happier & lighter note...

Solomon is an awesome baby! .... and I am over a stone lighter now than I was before I fell for him, so he's also a brilliant weight-loss machine!! :D ~ I have few more stone to go before I get to where I want to be, but it's a great start and I am happy to now be wearing jeans I couldn't comfortably wear before I was pregnant!

Yesterday My Baby was 5 weeks old...

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 23:38:00 +0000

Lilo @ Work....

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:26:00 +0000

19/365 ~ 24.1.11
Originally uploaded by Frogmum

Lilo (7) is so creative: today, entirely unprompted, she designed her own 'dress-up doll', complete with outfits (that almost all fitted proportionately), all in about 40 minutes. She is the girl who NEEDS a scrap book!!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 00:55:00 +0000

Rachel Durik of Savor Photography has been teaching photography workshops around the United States and was even the featured teacher at the I Heart Faces workshop in Dallas. She's now bringing her workshop to the UK! This intensive, full-day workshop will be held in the London area this summer.

Date: Saturday, July 23
Where: The beautiful ground of Haileybury College, just 30 miles north of London
Time: 10am-6pm
Cost: £375, including lunch, On Willow Presets and Rachel's workflow Photoshop actions. If you want to bring a friend, an additional ticket can be bought for £300
Who: The ideal attendee is an advanced amateur and ready to take it to the next level and go pro, or someone who is newly pro.
What: The workshop will cover lighting (natural, and off/on-camera flash), shooting methods, exposure, setting up a shoot, interacting with clients, posing, post-processing in Lightroom and Photoshop, and the business of photography. We’ll also have a mini-session on the beautiful grounds of Haileybury. It’s going to be great!

In order to provide maximum attention to each attendee, spaces are limited! To register or read more information, go here!

IF YOU WANT TO BOOK DON'T FORGET TO MENTION ME AS YOUR 'REFEREE' WHEN YOU REGISTER ~ I CAN SAVE 10% ON MY BOOKING FEE FOR EACH PERSON WHO MENTIONS ME!

Welcome Solomon!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:04:00 +0000

Solomon Zephaniah ~ 9lb 8.5oz (4.32kg)

Born 21.12.10 @ 04.13

He is beautiful ~ Peaceful by name and nature so far!! :D The best Christmas gift a family could ask for :D

The other siblings simply can't get enough cuddles and he doesn't seem to mind to much...

Happy Birthday Lilo!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 22:58:00 +0000

Another Year gone by...

The day after her birth.
9lb 10oz ~ my biggest baby to date (and latest 43weeks!)

2 months old

1st Birthday

New Year 05

Christmas 05

May 06 (3 1/2)

25th Nov 07

Sept 08

27th Nov 09

A few weeks ago...

Yes, my Crazy Daisy is 7 tomorrow! ~ Happy Birthday sweet-pea :D

A Few Schooly Pics…

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:47:00 +0000

It’s business as usual here…well almost! The children are keeping themselves pretty busy and I’m chipping in when & where I feel up to it! There is plenty of learning happening though

Funonminoes (or Mathominoes if you like)

Lilo, TP & DD played this today ~ Lilo and DD did amazingly well

Tux Paint ~ “The Singer”, by Lilo (age almost 7)

More Tux-Paint… Spontaneous ‘charting’ (also by Lilo)

Today she made a chart of the whole family (the ‘l’s are supposed to be ‘J’s and the last ‘n’ is for ‘new-baby’!)

It shows favourite colour, favourite food and favourite animal ~ so I am ‘m’ purple, steak and lizard!

Ok ~ so the drawings are not so easy to understand, but I love that she did this entirely without prompting or help!!

Lilo has also completed the first half of Headsprout and essentially is reading. I’ve told her she’s got to stop saying “I can’t read.” now as it simply isn’t true anymore! I’m hoping she will realise just how much she CAN read now and start using her skills more. She does seem to be quite pleased with her progress, but still has a strong tendency towards guessing and trying to memorise, rather than putting in the effort to actually read! I’m looking forward to working with her on ‘non’ Headsprout books, but she’s not quite ready to make that jump yet.

She has always loved stories, so as a little ‘aside’ we are working on a picture/story book together. She writes one sentence each time and draws an accompanying picture ~ I take some photos for next time, but for someone who ‘can’t read’ it’s brilliant!!

Maths wise she’s nearly at the end of Miquon Orange, which I think is pretty good. When she completes it we will quickly run through Singapore 1A , and maybe B, depending how she gets on with it, but she loves Miquon (and it really suits her), so we’ll be keen to get back and start red I know!

DD continues to do really well with his maths too ~ I decided to use Mammoth Maths (grade 1)with him and it seems to be suiting him well. It’s slow and steady, but he can manage a couple of pages a day almost without my help.

His letter-learning is slow but steady too, but his writing is very neat

Apart from the little ones, there’s been crafting (Minnie made a really nice bracelet with safety pins and beads) and lots of Jigsaw Puzzling! DD can now quite easily complete 100 pieces, as can Lilo (she could probably do more really). And Minnie and Bugs have both worked on some 500 piece puzzles these last couple of weeks, which we have all enjoyed pitching in with

Minnie is about to set about making a ‘terrarium’ for her science, but she’s waiting for a warm enough day to go out and dig up LOTS of worms! Lesson Pathways is working really well for her for Science and she needs only a little guidance from me every now and then as to what activities are best to do.

Stitch gets PLENTY of attention from the others ~ he’s have it no other way! Here he is today playing on Peppa Pig on the Wii (just because he’s gorgeous!)...

And Paul has dyed his hair blue for Children in Need!

And all this while we wait, not so patiently, for the new arrival

Pumpkin Fun!

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 14:30:00 +0000

So, here she is ~ our biggest, most beautiful, home-grown pumpkin!

Getting ready for her destiny...

Such FUN!!

We don't celebrate Halloween as such, but that doesn't stop us having fun!!

A pumpkin carving session is a perfect opportunity to illustrate & explain to my children how God loves us so much He is willing to get Himself really mucky, cleaning and scraping out all the gunk in our hearts and lives, so that He can put HIS light inside our hearts and make us shine for Him, for all the world to see!

Schooly Update...

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 13:56:00 +0000

Well, here we are nearly at the end of the first half-term of the year and I think I've blogged about educating my kiddos ~ all of once?! Time for an update me thinks, but I'll try not to make it ALL about H'Ed!

DD ~ he is SO keen! So keen, that once he eventually gets dressed in the morning he just ploughs through his 'bookwork' and then nags me all day to do more!! I don't like to do too much in each day with him as I want him to absorb what we have done, so I have to be creative! I'm liking the materials on Lesson Pathways when I can get myself organised enough to have it ready (which is not often enough atm I'm afraid). He likes to paint, colour, use the computer, do puzzles, play games, cut & stick ~ and generally I can keep him happy! He is making really excellent progress learning letter sounds and his pencil control is great. He is able to sound out basic CVC words verbally and probably could write some if I asked him to (which I haven't tried yet). He easily identifies beginning and end sounds of words, and can hear rhyme, so I think basically half the battle is won before we even step onto the 'reading' road :D. He too, is a whizz at maths! He can read and write all numbers to 20 and do dot-to-dots with numbers beyond twenty with no trouble ~ saying the numbers as he goes along. He has just completed a maths book for 5-7's (excepting the pages that required multiplication & addition of money, which I deemed he wouldn't be ready for until he is at least 7). I think MAYBE I might start him on Miquon Orange right behind Lilo, and just take it slowly. He certainly likes to play with the rods :D. Any suggestions anyone (he was 5 in June)? Alison? I'll tell you what he already knows...

Count, read and write numbers/quantities to 20 confidently (says 'two-teen', 'three-teen' & 'five-teen' to help him remember those 'strange' numbers. I've used this method before and it naturally changes over time).
All basic shapes (square, circle, triangle, rectangle, star, oval, heart) and necessary properties of them.
Concepts of 'half' /'equal' / same /different.
Concepts of greater/fewer, more/less than.
Good understanding of sequence and pattern.
Concept/recognition of O'Clock.
Order of numbers (can fill in gaps in sets of numbers/number lines) ~ forwards and backwards.
Can recite 2,4,6,8,10 (although does not fully understand skip counting).
Brilliant at 'odd one out'
Can do some basic addition & subtraction with the use of manipulatives (not tried beyond numerates of 10 yet).

So ~ where do I go from here with a 5yo? I'd like to encourage and nurture him, without over stretching him or discouraging him. He's definitely the kind of kid who is very easily frustrated, so whatever I use needs to seem 'easy' and yet still help him to make good, steady progress.

Lilo ~ seems to be FINALLY be getting the hang of reading ~ slow but definite progress :D. Headsprout and plenty of practice SEEM to be working this time around. She's feeling more confident about it that is certain and there is a whole lot less guessing/memorising whole texts going on! Maths wise she's been working on multiplication and continues to surprise me how great she is with numbers. She just 'gets' it :D We are using Miquon atm and nearly finished the Orange book. It really seems to suits her. I suspect, if it was something I had ever invested in, Maths-U-See would have been the thing for her ~ but I didn't/haven't/won't now! I do plan to skim through Singapore MPH 1a/b when she's done though, because at some stage I expect she will transfer her onto that instead and in the past I have found they supplement each other nicely.

She's done other cool things too ~ like started to join her handwriting (she does handwriting practice every day) and I don't know, but I actually think the joining of letters might be helping her reading! Strange how that works, but it does seem to. Aside from that, some STILE Literacy work, lots of puzzles, colouring, drawing, colouring, computer work (Learning Ladder/Tutpup/MoshiMonsters/Reader Rabbit/Education City, etc...) and we are reading Alice in Wonderland together ~ when I can muster the wherewithal to do so! It all adds up and she and I are happy :D.

Big Girls ~ they are doing well :D They are SO easy! They get up, get sorted, get on! TP is usually done by lunch time, but I have warned her that after Easter I shall be adding a couple more tasks to her day. Minnie works like a trooper too, but her work is a little more taxing due to her general 'level' being that much higher. But they find time to have some fun in their day :D. Yesterday they built these (the challenge was to build a 'flat design');

TP's USA flag.

Minnie's Butterfly.

Lilo's Butterfly

(the bits at the top are the antenna, the odd red bits were because she ran out of whites).

Right now they are playing on 'Just Dance' (otherwise known as indoor PE when the weather is too fowl for outside).

There are things that Minnie struggles with ~ multiplication & division being her main stumbling blocks in maths. She just does not seem to 'get' the idea at all and practice doesn't seem to be helping! I must confess though, that it was an area I struggled with at her age (and probably still is not my strong point), so I think it will click in at some point enough for her to be able to function with it. She is definitely a reading-writing sort of girl :D.

TP ~ is catching up nicely now. Her spelling seems to improving quite naturally, alongside her more natural & avid reading of books (well there's a surprise!) and her writing is making progress too. She still does not have the most 'logical' mind, but I see reflections of her eldest brother! He's a pretty good writer these days, so I think she will get there. It's so odd to think how desperate I was for Bugs to be writing stories at her age (coming up 9) and how shocked the school were when he started in year 4 and told them he had never written one! TP hasn't either, but this time round I really don't care!! I've come to the conclusion along the way that writing stories is NOT actually that important or useful and it's only fun IF it's something you enjoy. If you are forced to 'create' on demand your creative juices are highly likely to dry up!! Bugs these days is pretty good at prose & poetry when he CHOOSES to put his mind to it. I can't remember the last time I asked him to do a piece of creative writing, but sometimes he just does because he is actually a creative person ~ left to create under his own steam. I suspect TP is much the same & so I'm just waiting for her to bloom in her own time :D. She writes in her diary once or twice a week ~ I don't read it, but I know she can write!

Taz ~ well he is doing fine - reluctant still, but doing fine :D! Skiving off as much as he can get away with, but actually, WHEN he sets his mind to a task is very capable and struggles less than he thinks he does! He is a just typical 12 yo boy who tries to skim and dart through everything, but I'm not worried about his abilities, just his attitude!! ;D

Bugs ~ he's much the same, only actually his problem is not so much attitude (which is actually not all that bad), but time management and inability to prioritise well and/or recognise his own limitations! Same old, same old in fact! So he often ends up 'finishing off' over a Friday and the weekend, but I think he needs to achieve a certain level/quantity of work these days so that's just the way it's going to be! Still chasing up college options for next year ~ but I think he'll get a work-load shock all the same! Ideally, I think he'd spend his days taking and editing photographs! I think he's pretty good (and in his shoes I'd do the same)! ~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/doogle13/ IF at the end of the day this is where his future lies I don't want to stand in his way too much..! After baby is born we are planning a trip out together to a photography gallery (just linking in some possibilities for future reference) ~ looking forward to that :D

http://www.openeye.org.uk/default.asp

http://www.manchesterconfidential.co.uk/Culture/Arts/Manchester-Photographic-Gallery_11750.asp

http://www.npg.org.uk:8080/photoprize/site10/index.php

http://www.photonet.org.uk/index.php?pid=18

http://www.nationalmediamuseum.org.uk/Collections/Collection_Department.asp?DeptID=1

That'll do for now ~ all 'thunk' out now.

Catch up more soon...

Comma Butterfly ~ 2

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:41:00 +0000

Thankfully another chose to grace my path the other day ~ and posed for me :D !

Veg Patch Update

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 22:08:00 +0000

It's been a REALLY successful year chez the Hampton veg-patch. Considering I didn't pre-pot hardly anything (and what I did faired no better than that which I didn't), but just bunged it all in my newly dug-over soil with a 'wait and see' approach. I've not been mad crazy with the weeding and I even neglected it for two solid weeks in the summer whilst on holiday (during which my neighbour thankfully watered it well for me as there was so little rain :D).

We have had SO many courgettes it's been impossible to eat them all. I've given MANY away, a few have rotted in the fridge and they are STILL being picked!! I'm hoping the one I picked today may be the last. I've about 9 in the fridge atm!

The beans (french and runner), despite wondering at one point if we were to get any at all, have been copious, BIG, and tasty :D We've chopped them up and hidden them mostly in stews (as the kids aren't keen) and again, given a stack away. I'm still picking them and they are STILL flowering a little!!

The carrots are still in the ground ~ they are ready now and I shall pick them when they are next needed for a meal. Next year I will plant these differently as they have really been our only 'not so good' produce this year.

The radishes sadly grew enormous, whilst we were on hol's, so were harvested en masse when we got home, mostly given away and the tops made into soup in this house. They were really too big and woody to be enjoyable. Next year...

The peas ~ again I grew too few and in the wrong place. They got swamped by the Courgette leaves, so next year will require a re-arrange of the plot, now that I know more what I am doing!

And lastly our pumpkins. These have been a joy for the children to watch and they are really excited about harvesting them ~ very soon! There's 7 in all, some are only very small, but there are a couple of really good sized ones too :D. Here's a couple of pictures I took of them today;

Butterflies ~ 7

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 21:36:00 +0000

I saw another butterfly today. It's the first time I've seen one of these this year actually, and I suspect will be almost the last! The sun was shining, and I think it encouraged this one out to feed perhaps for the last time this year :D! It's sitting on my dying pumpkin leaves (more of that in the next post...) and only gave me time for one quick shot. I waited for a while in hope it would return, so I could get a better one, but it chose not to :(

Comma
Polygonia c-album(Linnaeus, 1758)

Family: Nymphalidae
UK Status: Resident
50-64mm

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Description
Eggs are laid singly on the uppermost leaves and the caterpillars usually hatch after about 15 days. The favored foodplant in the past was Hops but a decline in village breweries has caused a move towards nettle (usually growing in shaded positions) as the favored foodplant although Elm is often used as well.

The larvae of the Comma are particularly attractive at close quarters although from a distance resemble a bird dropping.

Pupation almost always takes place on the foodplant.

Butterflies of the summer brood appearing around May/June are deep orange and are known as form hutchinsoni. Later broods and those overwintering as Adults are more usually deeper brown above while their underwing is either a beautiful mix of blues greys and browns or the more usual orange/brown.

Habitat
The Comma is presently a relatively common butterfly but up until the 1940's the Comma was only regularly seen on the Welsh borders.

Larval Food Plants
The larvae feed on Common Nettle (Urtica dioica) Hops () and English Elm ().

Taken from:http://www.britishbutterflies.co.uk/asp/species.asp?vernacular=Comma#ixzz11cHqD4lA

All in all I am very pleased this year to have been able to photograph the majority of Britain's top 10 butterflies. I have seen more, but not always had my camera to hand at the right moment. I'd have liked to have seen a Red Admiral, but haven't. I know I've seen a 'Painted Lady' but not settling long enough for me to grab my camera and shoot :D

Back-to-School (or not)...

noreply@blogger.com (Caroline (Frogmum)) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:20:00 +0000

Obviously for home-educated children there is no such things as 'back to school' in the traditional sense, but as we DO take traditional holidays there is a definite change when term starts up. Suddenly the idleness and non-routine of summer is gone and thinking caps go back on! If it were sunny, which it isn't, I'm sure learning would be happening in the garden and lanes, but as it is wet (no change there then) we are pretty much confined to the house and more formal learning, but that's OK ~ it gets us back in the swing of things, and away from excess square screen time..!

It's been an up and down kind of week. Being now almost 28 weeks pregnant I am finding it a struggle to keep going all day, but I am also acutely aware of having had 8 weeks off and the children really needing to get back to some kind of routine ~ if only to make sure they get up and dressed in the mornings!! ;)

So, at the end of last week I sat down and went through resources with them and talked through my expectations for them for the year. Nothing as heavy as it seems, except that I did make it clear to both older boys that they needed to be working a bit harder than they had been. They agreed - in theory!! Then this week we 'started up' again. Monday was a nightmare, but I think that was just settling in/down to the idea of using a pencil again. There was far too many 'Muuuummmmeeeeeeeeeee'-s in that day to be bearable!! Tuesday and Wednesday were loads better, but Thursday had some pretty awful patches again. Even though I decided at the beginning of the week that all the 'group' activities could start up next week to give me chance to get back in the swing too, it still seemed to a big stretch. Wednesday night Stitch joined us in our bed from the small hours onwards and I know my sleep was erratically broken, not because he was a pain, but just because he was there. I woke up still tired and far too early, which really did not help my mood for the day. So when the Bugs had a wobbly over something little and continued yelling at me after several warnings to stop - well I kind of lost the plot! That was right at the start of the day ~ good start! When we'd both calmed down (and talked) things were better for a while and he was certainly good as gold for the rest of the day! The girls were angels, but I didn't have enough patience with Lilo and her reading (or lack of it) today. We did have fun writing an opposite poem though: we read 'Bed in Summer' and reversed everything in it ~ which ended up, of course, like a poem written by someone who works a night shift and talked about how that might feel, so not a completely lost day!
She's also continued with Orange Miquon this week and has done some Headsprout. I decided it was time to challenge her though and get her to prove to herself that she is actually better at reading than she believes, so I set her THIS book to read over the weekend. There is nothing in it she can't sound out, so with a little concentration and determination I know she can read it! I've asked Paul to read it with her though ~ he has more patience than me atm!! I meant to do some Science with her too, but that didn't happen :( ~ next week..!

The little ones enjoyed games of Dotty Dinosaurs (big favourite with Stitch atm, and he knows all the shapes too) and played with shape pictures for quite a while.

DD also did some colouring by numbers & some other number work (basically quickly revising concepts I know he already understands, ready to step up the game a little ~ he is good with numbers now). We also set up a little science experiment and talked about what 'science' actually is. He is BIG on asking questions at the moment, so this really appealed! Other stuff I have done with him this week; read Three Billy Goats Gruff and did 'language arts' stuff related to that ~ talking about concepts & words in the story, re-enacting the story with finger puppets & playing with playdough mats (I even made the playdough!). A friend put me onto THIS website and actually it's looking like it might be a really great resource for Lilo and DD this year. I've also put Minnie and TP on Science & Language Arts streams too, but they can work through them more at their leisure than my instruction (although I will get involved where I need to of course) ~ it's just another resource for them to access to make life interesting :D ~ This is the Science page that Minnie made a start on, in case you are interested.
At the end of Thursday Taz was doing a crossword based on collective nouns. It WAS challenging and tbh I couldn't have answered all of it without doing a bit of 'looking up'. His problem is that he approaches all of school (and life) like a test ~ he assumes, as I guess all 11 year old do, that he KNOWS everything he needs to know already and therefore he can answer anything worthwhile with the knowledge he already has. Problem is, of course, that he doesn't know that much really, so when he comes up against things he cannot answer easily he has a tantrum!! Despite having well stocked shelves of books and the internet readily at hand he thinks sucking answers out of me, or getting me to do the research is a much better thing to do than look anything up himself. He is approaching 12 ~ this is no longer an acceptable solution in my eyes and so I told him he had to find the answers for himself (especially as I would have had to have done the same) ~ cue major wobble, huffing, puffing, crying, slamming of the computer mouse when the first website he visited didn't have the answers he wanted... cue me getting rather annoyed with him... cue more tears and anger... (does this sound familiar to ANYONE, please tell me it does!!). Eventually he found all but two of the answers he needed, but was FURIOUS that it had taken so long! Welcome to life son ~ things do not always arrive on your plate so easily as the snap of your fingers!!
There have been a few other issues with Taz this week too, but I am hoping that things will settle down as he gets used to this years work load..!

Bugs on the other hand ~ who used to give me SO much grief, has worked like a dream. Long may it continue! :D But we are beginning to think about the future for him too. He is worried (although I am not) about not taking any GCSE's (which quite simply we cannot afford to put him through, and in all honestly I am not sure would benefit him really for HIS future). He is NOT an academic ~ not stupid at all, really quite bright, but not 'sparked' by academic subjects. I cannot see him flying into a career where he is required to use Science, Maths, or English much beyond the normal everyday level that most of us use. I want him to be well grounded and 'up to standard' in those subjects of course, but I do not think an exam in them is necessary for where he is likely heading. He is creative and I want him to be able to enjoy his learning in a creative way. I think that school would stifle him and in reality, IF he went in next year with a view to doing GCSE's, he would hate it more than he realises. SO, what instead..? We like the look of this; http://www.s-cheshire.ac.uk/newcamp/14-19/course14.htm
He would look at doing the 'creative and media' higher diploma (equivalent to 7 A-C GCSE's), with a view to then going on to do the Photography AS/A2 course, but of course that would be optional, he could do pretty much anything else if he chose to at that point and of course he could do additional studies too. SO, here's hoping that this course is open to him (need to make some enquiries), because it looks absolutely up his street and I think college will be a healthier environment for him than school, especially as it is quite likely that some of his church friends are to be going there next year too.

Monday week I have my annual visit from out LEA lady ~ it doesn't worry me as she is very nice and has been consistently visiting us for a number of years now, but still, it's in the back of my mind with recent events and all...

I think that's about all I can think to write just now; pretty 'schooly' I know, but life itself just ticks along, with me getting fatter and the kids getting bigger ~ that's just us!! I still struggle to envisage our family with another little addition in around about 12 weeks time... I am SO not ready for that!