Half Term — HomeGrown Learners

Last week I took advantage of the fact everybody was on half term and spent most of the week trying to clear my work load. I don't feel half as guilty doing this knowing everyone else is on a break. It works out well as the usual places we go to tend to get very busy during holidays and the benefit of home schooling is we can do our excursions once everyone has gone back to school when it's quieter.

It wasn't all work, work, work though. We've enjoyed time in the garden together picking strawberries and caring for the animals, we've hung out at the local parks and chilled in the house.

One of my favourite trips last week was to Park Campus. I had an overwhelming amount of stale bread and the ducks there are always incredibly grateful for a feed. To our delight there were lots of baby goslings, ducklings and moorhens! It was enchanting and the children were captivated.

We also enjoyed picking strawberries from our garden. Jenson particularly likes the wild strawberries that grow in our raised veg beds, but we also have your common strawberries too. Jenson is very much into making smoothies at the moment. He enjoys the taste of them but for me, it's a great way to get some protein in him in the form of raw egg whites. Coupled with full fat yoghurt to help slow down the release of sugar and fingers crossed we can avoid these dips in moods he gets. It seems to be helping a little.

My infinity studio paper roll also got some use too. I had come to the end of the roll and so let the children loose on it. No paint this time, but they made some lovely pictures with pens.

Naturally, there was some TV watching. More so than usual but it won't kill them and it helped me get some work done.

There was much role play, as usual. This time the dog was the subject of their game. Doctor Jenson and nurse Wren took good care of their patient as they checked her ears and combed her fur!

I couldn't get away from the LEGO shop. While we do try and cap the purchases, I do encourage LEGO building as it is so good for concentration, dexterity and cognitive learning. This set was for 8-14 years and he accomplished it without difficulty.

As always, the garden is a wonderful source of learning and discovery. Occasionally Jenson will take a little stroll around the vegetable beds commenting on the plants that are growing. He doesn't do it frequently but when he does it's lovely to hear. It just so happened, while we were admiring Wren's pram that is literally bursting with nasturtium and sunflowers we grew from seed, Jenson spotted a ladybird.

Just look at this blooming buggy!

The children love the chickens too. They're not always keen to help collect eggs and clean them out, but last week they showed lots of interest in both activities. Here they are cuddling one after Jenson caught her by her tail. He's a bit of a pro at catching chickens these days. I'm very proud of him! It's great for his confidence and teaches him about responsibility.

The rabbits are also well loved. Last week there was lot of cuddles as the children climbed into the run to feed them.

Without any table or chairs inside, breakfasts are frequently eaten outside at the moment. The garden is a wonderful place to sit and relax and enjoy the early morning sunshine.

The topic of Jenson's thank you notes for his birthday presents has been a sore one these last few weeks. Jenson does not enjoy writing so I'm really proud of the effort he made here. It would have been easy to let him off the hook but saying thank you, no matter how small, is important and it's as important he understands that. It's not even about the task so much as what it teaches Jenson about manners and respect.

It was lovely to see him get creative with some of the words. It hinted that there is enjoyment there for Jenson.

I love spending time in the garden and last week it was my mission to dig out the old lavender plants that had gone woody. The children and I enjoyed putting them to good use recovering the bird hide. It's smelling pretty good when you sit in it now!