Half a Year of Home Ed

I am feeling a bit low about our home ed journey at the moment

For a multitude of reasons

These first 8 months have not been

What I hoped they would be

I have been using the excuse the we are all

Including me

Deschooling

But really we have just struggled to find a rhythm

A routine

But I refuse to give up

Because I really want to make this work

And I don’t feel we have really had the chance

To prove ourselves

Not living in our own home

For 7 months

Has been challenging and disruptive for us all

We need to go home

And make a concerted effort with education in the new year

spain

We have not done nothing over the last few months

But it has not been as well thought out

Planned and structured as I would have liked

I want to put a routine in place

Ready for 2017

That will become so much easier

Once we move home

farm-forest

What Do We Do?

So what do we do?

At this moment

What does home education look like for us?

We have no structure at the moment

Every day I try to do at least one learning activity

That could be reading

Writing practice

Mental maths

Comprehension

A computer based activity

Such as Reading Eggs

Or IXL Maths

focus

We do not manage this every day at the moment

But most days

Monday is our dancing day

Esther and Bea do ballet

Esther and William do Acro

This is later afternoon

We spend Monday mornings at home

This will become a structured morning in the new year

On Tuesdays

Bea does gymnastics and Acro Tots

Her classes start and end our day

In between we go to soft play

Or to an outdoor playground

Or to the woods

On Wednesday we have a free day

We always used to see my Aunty and Uncle

Who all the children adore

I am hoping our Wednesdays can start again in the new year

And this will allow me to spend some one to one time with each child

Esther and William go to Beavers on a Wednesday night

Which they seem to really enjoy

On Thursdays Esther and William have ukelele lessons

With other home schooled children

Then in the afternoon

Bea goes to a church toddler group with Granny

Giving me two hours to focus on learning with Esther and William

We usually do reading, maths and a writing activity

During this time

happy

On Fridays we tend to get out

To a farm or local place of interest

Saturday sees Esther at RAZZ Theatre School all morning

William goes to a local music school

Which he loves

Sunday is a family day

Obviously the children are learning all the time

But I want to make it more themed

Structured

And I want to be more organised in how I record what we do

Over the last few months

We have done swimming lessons

Though Esther and William enjoyed these

They did not really learn anything

We are going to build in swimming to our family time

As David and I are both strong swimmers

We feel this would be a good use of our time

And allow use to spend money on other things

Esther would like to learn the piano and the violin

And I think William would benefit from individual ukelele lessons

Either on top of or instead of the group sessions we attend

Esther is also desperate to ride and attend Pony Club

There is a Home Ed Pony Club that I think Esther will continue to attend

Once a fortnight

But I think she would like individual lessons too

One of the reasons I want to home educate is because it means

There is more time for the children to explore their passions

And follow their dreams

Though Esther has asked me to look at non Home Ed Pony Clubs

That run every week

At weekends

first-aid

We have tried lots of different activities

Over the last few months

Our first months learning at home

Some things have been a success

Others we need to evaluate

Ready for our new start in the new year

At home

We have done lots of fun science and STEM activities

We also do lots of art

We spend a lot of time out and about

Going to the theatre is our favourite treat

On good days we are having the time of our lives

But there have been bad days too

Days when I have wondered if I am crazy

Whether they would be better at school

But I am not ready to give up yet

Because I think when we find our feet

Pick our pace and projects

We will fly

drama

Esther and William have learned so much

In recent months and weeks

Without us even trying

So imagine what they will do

When we put our master plan into action!

What Will We Do?

My master plan

Every morning will start with an individual task

Colour sorting for Bea

Practical phonics task for Esther

Spelling practice for William

Every day we will complete a weather diary

We will look at the calendar

Noting special days as they happen

Monday will be science and topic based learning

Tasks that Bea can be involved with

Tuesday will be nature study day

Between Bea’s classes

Wednesday will (hopefully) be spent with Uncle Steve and Aunty Carolyn

During this day I will do individual

Reading, writing and maths tasks

With Esther and William

Thursday will be topic work in the morning including music lessons

In the afternoon

I will again do focused individual learning

With Esther and William

Friday’s will continue to be about

Getting out to places of interest

Linked perhaps to our topics

I have it all worked out in my head

We just need our house back

And access to all our belongings

To really make it work

I have also decided not to add any new group activities to our week

Beavers, Ballet, Acro, RAZZ

Music lessons

Pony Club

I think that is enough

In February Bea will start two mornings a week at preschool

Which will be wonderful for her

And give me more time to meet Esther and William’s needs

What Does The Future Hold?

My current plan

Is to use the next 18 months

To get Esther and William

Up to speed

To where they need to be

To enter Year 3 in September 2018

William is actually already working above expectations

For Year 3

In reading, maths and science

For him I need to focus on his writing

Esther is on track to meet expectations for Year 1 this year

I am confident she will easily be ready for Year 3 when the time comes

In the Spring of 2018 we will start to talk about going to school

For Key Stage Two

And if they want to

We will start to look at schools

If they do not want to

Then we will carry on at home

And I will prepare them for entry to Year 5

When I will ask them the question again

Choosing a school will be tricky

Because of their prematurity

We need a school that will take them ‘out of year’

We need a school where we feel Esther and William

Will both have a chance of making friends

I want to find a school

Where I might find some parent friends

There is much to consider

And it will be considered with Esther and William

When the time is right

But before 2018 arrives

I am very excited about what 2017 will hold for us

As we find our feet with family learning

With educating at home

5 thoughts on “Half a Year of Home Ed

  1. Hi Jennie,
    Unsolicited advice so please feel free to ignore but – I strongly suggest finding a school which has more than one year class so the twins can be separated. With my twins (now grown up!) they started in the same class and it didn’t work well – they had (still do!) a beautiful bond which we adore, but they were really insular together. They didn’t make friends well because they relied on each other and their teacher said they were more disruptive in class due to their closeness (whispering, distracting each other, always wanting to do the same thing). When we moved house and schools at year 4 we took the opportunity to separate them – they hated it at first and protested, which was hard, but we told them it was school rules and had to be done. And within a few weeks, the difference was remarkable and we are now all so glad we did this. Without the cover of each other, they concentrated more and made friends. Just a thought! 🙂

    • Hi Lucy
      Thank you for your comment. It is so interesting that you have said this but one of our thoughts for going back to school for KS2 is that they would go into separate classes. I think that would be Esther’s choice as she struggles to make friends as William is very reliant on her. I think it would do them both good not to be constantly compared or worse assumed that they are able to be in the same groups because they are twins. They could not be more different in abilities! We will definitely be considering bigger schools. I also think if all four children go to school it would be nice for them to not be in each other’s pockets all the time x

  2. You probably do much more with them than you realise so please don’t be too harsh on yourself. You have a lot going on with the house and growing another mini human!!

    Your plans for next year are really inspiring and having a child just in reception I will be following what you do with further interest as I will look at ways to help her through your learning with play ideas so she feels like she is getting down time but also still learning.

    Remember with next year you need to factor in the arrival of your new little person and also that you will be home with all 3 heavily pregnant so your energy levels might be a bit depleted to get as much done as you would like so don’t beat yourself up over it. Maybe school next September would be an option if your feeling low as being at home with a new baby and a 3 year old will be tough enough, without trying to be a teacher as well!

    Xx

    • Hi Jemma, thank you for your comment. There is lots to think about but one thing I am sure of is that I do not want them in school for Year 2. Hence not sending them back til 2018, assuming they decide that is what they want. Bea will do 15 hours preschool come Sep 18 which is more than enough time to work with Esther and William on the formal learning I want to cover with them. Having baby will be a new challenge and yet not as she will be our fifth. I am quite confident that I can make it work especially with Bea having her preschool time which I think she will LOVE as she loves playgroup with Granny at the moment x

  3. Congratulations on your pregnancy! I’m a home-edding Mum of 5, soon to be 6, so love reading about what you are doing with your little ones. I think lots of learning happens without it being intentional and structured at their age. I would say though it’s probably best not to expect too much from yourself or the children when you’re expecting another little one. It takes several months to settle into a routine after having a new baby, and trying to do lots of formal work, plus lots of outside groups puts too much pressure on you as the Mum. I think having realistic expectations of the time leading up to and just after baby is born is really important, as it’s very stressful if you feel like you are falling behind or failing them.

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