We began back at school full throttle this week and it has gone very well. Everyone has done maths each morning for an hour, with C12 and L12 both scoring high on their end of topic tests.
A6 continues to read with mum. She will start some copy work over there as well. A6 has a major concentration issue and works 100% better at mum’s house where there are absolutely no distractions.
B4 has started school with me and we are enjoying our 1-2-1 time together each morning whilst the older ones do maths. We are moving much slower through letter learning than I thought we would but she is getting there and having lots of fun:
The rest of our week was spent looking at Renaissance class system. The girls created a portfolio of classes by dressing up for each one. Here is the beggar class portrayed by L12, begging in rags:
They also made a poster about social mobility during the renaissance:
The rest of the week has been spent on the Exploration Age. We are currently doing an in depth explorer study on Christopher Columbus so whilst we were learning more about ships we created his ship the Santa Maria:
We also made a captain’s log book:
and learnt how sailors during the renaissance figured out what speed they were going, by making our own Chip Log:
In addition we created our very own half hour sand glass so we could approximately tell when each half hour passed aboard ship:
The older children also finished off their Atlantic study by answering a GCSE English paper which just happened to be on the polar regions. They did it under exam conditions over a period of two days. It has been a fantastic opportunity for me to see their strengths and weaknesses when placed under exam conditions and I know far better now where to direct their learning in this area.
As always we have been having lots of fun away from the school books. A6 has spent almost all week making a theater and puppets to go into it. All. By. Herself. I was so impressed by, not only the imagination it took to do it but the concentration it took for hours at a time to complete it:
It has given me huge hope for the future of her education as she rarely concentrates on anything for longer than 2 minutes. I was a very proud mummy! Of course once she saw the fun her big sister was having, B4 wanted in on it, asking me to find her a box so she too could make a puppet theater. Again she had no help and I think for a four year old she did a grand job:
The gardening frenzy has continued with T and the little ones planting bulbs for Granny, moving plants around and drying bay leaves:
As you can see it has been glorious weather here, just right for getting sprayed with the hose and bicycling:
A6 was the only child not to receive a new bike on account of the fact the girls old bike was still okay for her to use. It did need stabilisers though as she has not yet learnt to ride without (she is very close). Gary fixed her stabilisers to L’s old bike yesterday and she has been attached to it ever since:
The other big news is that T13 has got his braces fitted:
The other (slightly revolting) picture of C12 is of her tongue having tried out T’s disclosing tablets. She was fascinated by the fact they turned her tongue the exact colour of her jumper!
The last couple of photos are me trying to keep a promise to myself and include more photos of me:
In the second photo A6 has just given me a wet sloppy kiss:
Happy days!
Lovely as always to hear all your news. xxxx Lots of love to you.
Thanks Carolyn.
It is lovely to see how happy your children are. I love seeing it!
Thanks Francis.
Indeed a lovely week :-). Thanks for sharing, Claire.
Thanks Brenda.
The puppet project does look impressive – it’s so much fun to see them exploring and creating independently. It looks like the Santa Maria turned to be a lot of fun, too. Nice to get a glimpse or two of you, as well 🙂
I prefer to be at the other end of the camera, but I’m trying to at least capture one of me each week!
What a brilliant puppet show, I love it!
Thanks Rachel
You all seemed to have another fun-filled week! The boat looks awesome. I really enjoy the pictures. I’m visiting from Weekly Wrap Up!
Thanks Nita, it has been a fun week!
I love the puppets and the explorer’s boat! All very well done, especially on account of the younger girls’ level of concentration and effort! 🙂
Yes, I was particularly impressed by their concentration. It shows me she can do it when she wants to.
Sounds like it was a super week for ya’ll. I especially love those last two pictures. I miss having little ones.
Every moment I spend with them is bitter sweet. I really want to make every moment count whilst they are so young.
I’ve loved reading about your explorer studies this week. Love their puppets too. Your kids are so inventive.
Thank you Christy. We’ve had lots of fun with the explorer learning.
I know I’ve said it before, but you are all soooo creative and beautiful!
Thanks Sylvia!
That is quite an impressive puppet stage, it looks like something Princess would make.
For those of us not in UK, what exactly are the GCSE standards? I’m assuming it’s some sort of exit test, but we don’t have the same thing here.
Try 2
GCSE stands for General Certificate of Secondary Education. Students do between 5 and 13 different subjects and they are a preliminary to A levels which students do 3 or 4 of. These exams are the ones you need to get into uni.
I’ve just got back from a cruise round the Canary Islands (it was wonderful!) and I saw at least two replicas of Colombus’s ship – I will upload photos soon. There was a funny story linked to the ship and the Catholic church on La Palma.
Oh wow! Please do share the photos of the ship. We’re currently half way through a study into Columbus.
I’m so impressed with the young one’s puppet theaters – and their determination to get it all done! So creative!
Thank you Marie!