Never Bored

What do you do all day? It's a fair enough question when you don't go out to work and your family is together all the time, most people don't know what your day looks like.

Midnight: daddy and mummy are awake with Plum who had a very late nap at 6 pm for 2 hours. The nap had happened in the blink of an eye. I was feeding Pippin when Plum came and curled up next to me. "Are you going to sleep?" "No. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"
Shortly after midnight mummy and Plum are asleep together.

3am Pippin wakes up but is happy with a feed.

7am daddy leaves for work and comes to say goodbye. Pippin is woken up but settles for a feed and sleeps for another hour and a half.

7.30am Bean and Pumpkin get up and go downstairs. The start their day by watching Stampy. Mummy is in bed feeding Pippin and generally stuck between two sleeping girls.

8.30am Pippin wakes. Feeds again and then we get washed and dressed. 

9-10am We are eating and playing minecraft. Bean and Pippin have pancakes for breakfast, Pumpkin cereal and Plum (who gets up about 10am) has pasta with pesto on, tomato sauce and salad cream. Pumpkin wants me to play minecraft with him. This involves me having a tour of his biom and him demonstrating all the games they have built but not being allowed to break, build or play anything myself. 

10 - 11am Plum and I feed the guniea pigs. Bean wants to play chess and sits with the instructions next to him. We analyse and play around with the moves of the knight and he plays both sides for the end game. Plum puts odd pieces on the ludo board and instructs us on her own unique way to play, and then we play 'shut the box.' Pippin sits and watches us the whole time.

11-12noon I am feeding Pippin, whilst playing board games with Plum. Then Pippin lies around nappy free for a while. We discovered that she seems to enjoy this quite by accident. Bean reminds me that we were going to look at how to download Mods onto minecraft so we look at a link from a friend and download a launcher. This takes more time than Bean has patients for and mummy has to remember more account names and passwords than she cared to. 

12-1pm I cook food and Pumpkin asks to go to the park. Plum chops cheese and carrots and cucumber for lunch. The boys get dressed and washed and we eat. Pippn falls asleep peacefully in her chair, which is the first time ever. It seems a shame to move her into the buggy but she wakes anyway with a sudden sound of a passing motorbike.  

1-3pm We walk to the park. We make a daisy chain and plau IT and Hide and Seek, I spin the smalls on the roundabout and then they run off and play together, Plum befriends a boy of similar age and they share his ride on car. I feed Pippin and then she lays in the sun on the grass for a while. The smalls are all unanimous in their decision to eat ice cream when we get home. Pippn falls asleep on the way home and continues to sleep in the buggy in the garden.

3-4pm The smalls eat ice cream. Bean settles in his cave on the sofa, Pumpkin and Plum and mummy sit/play in the garden. I continued to look at the Mods launcher with Bean and we trialed the downloading of a Mod. So far, no virus or spam. 

4-5pm Pippin wakes and feeds a little. Plum gets various items from the doll's house and brings them into mummy's bedroom to play with. Pumpkin is keen to play with Pippin.



5-7pm Mostly food prep and housework. The smalls have been helping themselves to snacks and fruit all day so none of them are overly hungry. I wash up the days dishes.Plum eats more pasta and sauce, Pumpkin has beans on toast and Bean is not hungry. I open the vegetable box that was delivered this morning and prepare dinner for me and daddy. The boys are playing minecraft together, Plum is playing with her Peppa Pig toys. They play Simon Says together. 

7-8pm daddy come home. Pippin, mummy and daddy eat dinner together. 

8-9pm Pippin is very tired and so I take her upstairs to change and feed her. Plum comes too and rolls around on the bed whilst Pippin feeds and sleeps.

9-10pm I have a bath and then feed Pippn again as she falls asleep and lies in her bed for a sleep.
Plum is very tired but is finding it difficult to settle as mummy can't cuddle her until Pippin has finished  feeding. I read her stories and try holding her hand.

10-11pm The smalls have stories altogether with daddy. Mummy starts to blog. There is a scuffle with Plum and Bean. Bean is upset. Plum asks to go to bed. Mummy takes her for a cuddle and Bean returns to stories with daddy. Plum falls asleep in mummy's bed with cuddles. I finish the blog post. After this I shall drink tea and knit a row or two before going to bed.

Today I have also phoned the car insurance company, had several conversations via text/messenger and spoke to my mobile phone company and probably a whole bunch of other stuff too.

Imagine

Imagine being able to sleep when you are tired, get up when you wake naturally, eat when you are hungry and go to the toilet without having to ask permission.

Sometimes home education is a simple as that.

Turn off that TV (again)

About 18 months ago I posted about our move into unrestricted access into the technological world, commonly broadcast as "screen time." It has been in the top five of posts read ever since and today had 182 visits almost 12 months after I wrote it. So, it's time for an update: 

The first thing to note is that there are defiantly seasonal changes in the usage of all things screen related (that is: ipads, tablets, computer, smart phones and wii.) The Winter hibernating months naturally mean that we spend more time at home and there are more technology based activities going on. The other thing that has changed is the amount of time that mummy and daddy spend with the smalls doing what they are doing. Mummy and daddy both have minecraftPE and we daily play minecraft together. Minecraft really needs its own post. Suffice to say that it is a big part of our home ed and family life. But in addition to this mummy has also become a master at other games such as 'Plants vs Zombies' and she is working on 'The Sims,' 'Skylanders,' and 'Mariocart,' amongst others. 

Each of the smalls interacts with devices in their own way:

Bean, 7, is most definitely the biggest user. His primary activity of choice always involves his tablet. He plays games, he learns minecraft parodies, he watches youtube videos, he loads and deletes and manages his account, he fixes small problems. He uses the computer to watch dvds and netflix and cbbc, we google places and people and questions together, we plan visits and buy tickets and put items onto his amazon wish list and he plays minecraft with this friends. When he wants to see if his friend is available to play he used to ask me to message her mum, now he skypes her directly. He records his own lego dramas and minecraft games and loads them onto youtube and we've even had a go at stop frame animation. And he has his own digital camera which he takes hundreds of photos with. It would be wrong to say that everything he does in life involves technology but even the interests he follows (like investigating growing mould and creating a '"Total Wipeout" course in the back garden are ideas that were generated by watching something.

Pumpkin, 6, uses screens for all the same things that Bean does but just not as much. He can often be seen to be playing lego on our living room window sill whilst others are using the computer. He gravitates towards it when he is tired and enjoys playing together or watching together with Bean. Their top games to play together are minecraft and Lego Indiana Jones. He really enjoys watching funny videos: cartoons, Mr Bean episodes, You've Been Framed.

Plum, 3, is fluent and capable at using the tablet and knows what she wants to use the computer for but just needs someone to use the mouse for her. She mostly watches youtube or iplayer or dvds. Current big hits are Peppa Pig, Surprise Eggs, Bing, Melody and various Disney movies. But she could honestly take it or leave it. She is just as readily found playing doll's house, playdough, painting, Peppa Pig toys, in the garden. If we are up first together it is not uncommon for the computer to remain off and we are doing something else together. 

It would be fair to say that when we are at home then the computer is on and being used...or appearing to be used. Sometimes we can be playing a game together or colouring or baking or bathing and it is on but really no-one is concentrating solely on the programme. The use of technology is central to our learning journeys. Each of the smalls use it differently but they do all use it and mummy uses it to. It is a simple and effective way of organising events, booking places, linking up with family and friends, recording our journey, relaxing with film and music, ordering the weekly shop and keeping on top of finances. I don't regret our decision to trust our children and allow them the freedom to use technology as they see fit.

Is there a downside? YES! You know that Sunday afternoon feeling, the one where you want to curl up on the sofa under a blanket, rest and watch a family movie together? IT'S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN! The smalls want to go roller skating, or to the park, or swimming, or the beach. There is at no point that we can say 'let's watch together' and they will jump at the chance because it's not a treat or a one off event anymore, if there's something that they would rather be doing then we're doing it because the screen is always an option at any other time.  

Do they spend more than two hours a day using devices? Yes. Most days there are at least two devices on all day. Some days the computer is on but really we are busy doing other things.

And all the time the learning goes on. 

Fire Station

March 3rd

A visit to Storrington Fire Station with a group of home ed friends and then a playdate at one of our friend's houses. 

Pumpkin loved driving the Fire Engine and having the blue lights flashing.

At our friend's house the children all played battles, each with their own weapon and armour. The game was so involved that leaving took an hour longer than we had planned and the battle had to be paused so that it can be resumed another day and we had to make a future date to make sure that it would happen.


March 4th

A trip to Fisher's Farm where we bumped into our friend M. We stayed for four hours. Plum tried out the new train ride and they all used the bouncy pillows and indoor play area as well as cow cannons. Pippin had one feed when we arrived and then slept the whole afternoon cosy in the sling. 

New Forest Get Away

February 27th - March 2nd

In truth we mostly spent our time watching A Night at the Museum and A Night at the Museum 2 interspersed with Over the Hedge! There was also a lot of game playing: monopoly, Blackbeard's Treasure, Caterpillers, fuzzy felt, rush hour, jumping frogs, bricks and duplo.

Saturday we took a visit into the New Forest to play football and ride our bikes/walk. It was windy and bitterly cold. Pippin did not like it at all and we had forgotten to pack Bean a coat. Somehow we managed to last two hours and Plum and mummy had a decent walk too.

Sunday we went to church and then down to the beach at Pumpkin's request. Again it was windy and bitterly cold. The boys enjoyed the play area but Plum was too cold and mummy and Plum went back to the car and watched the bird life on the beach.

Monday was Plum's birthday outing. We took her to Peppa Pig World at Paultons Park and we had the best day. Bean had been a little apprehensive about the Peppa Pig idea but it was soon forgotten. There were a whole bunch of rides that were suitable for us all as a family and the boys were able to ride on some independently which they liked. Bean asked several of the attendants about the rides before he got on and Plum, who initially had said that she didn't want to see Peppa and George characters, watched from afar and by the end of the day went to wave close up.

We drove home in the evening. Plum was ever so disappointed that Grandma and Pops weren't there and wanted to stay until they came home. 

Pizza Making

February 27th 

We were up early and walked across town to join a home ed group at Pizza Express to make pizza! Both the boys loved it but Pumpkin was in his element. He asked me the other day when he could start being a chef.

We took our pizzas into town and played on the bandstand with our friend M. She is fast becoming a close friend of Bean's which includes them organising their own social calendars. Today this meant that Bean offered for her to come to our house and make pizza after he accidentally knocked her box over and the pizza ended up on the floor. She was a little upset and this was Bean's solution. So, next week she will be coming over to our house to make pizza.

The afternoon was spent packing and driving to the New Forest for our belated family get away.

Legomania: Bricks in Motion

February 26th

For the third year running we traveled to Milestones Museum in Basingstoke to visit the Legomania exhibition and, in my opinion, is the best one yet. It's still our furthest drive in a day but still well worth it and we have plans to do a second visit, probably nearer the end of the exhibition when the live build will be almost complete.

 The arcades were a big hit with all three of the smalls. Plum enjoyed the rides and the boys enjoyed the puppet theaters and sweet grabbing games (which they were rather good at!)