June Precious Moments

The last month has gone by in a flash!  What with finishing up exams, as well as completing various courses before the summer holidays, and a couple of shows the children are all performing in….well time simply disappeared.  My children (especially the female variety) have been nagging me to get back to my precious moments posts.  So, here it is!

Homeschool News: Charlotte

School wise, Charlotte sat her Law GCSE and felt she did okay.  It definitely wasn’t an easy subject for her.  However, she worked so hard in the run up that she deserves to do fairly well.  She is spending the rest of the term as well as her summer holidays working on her Latin GCSE.  Again, she finds Latin hard, and as I know very little, I am unable to help her.  We have paid for a tutor though, so hopefully she’ll be able to help.

Homeschool News: Lillie

Lillie did not take any exams, but has achieved 85% in all her course work submitted so far for her Level Two Art and Design.  She has a poster to make and her final project to work on and she has finished.  Hopefully, she will be able to complete these before next Christmas.

She also handed in all her Level Three Photography course work and also achieved 85%.  She was so pleased about.  Photography is at a much higher level than Art and Design and is a subject she does not find too easy.  She still needs to complete a mini photography project, hopefully by next week.  After that she has two more larger projects to do in order to complete the qualification.  Lil has a whole year to complete these though, so there is not too much pressure.

Homeschool News: Little Ones

The little ones (who are frankly too big to call little anymore!) are working their way through some work books.  Now I am not much of a workbook person, but I have been unsure as to where they are at educationally.  I feel I will be better able to plan next year, if I am more aware of exactly which skills need to be worked on.  They don’t love doing the work books, but understand why they are needing to.  B7 has already completed the Year One Set, and is currently working her way through the Year Two Set.  They cover Comprehension, Composition, Grammar, Vocabulary, and Spelling, as well as Maths.  If she were in school she would be going into year three in September, so this reassures me she is where she needs to be.

A9 is currently working her way through the Year Four Set, and is doing surprisingly well.  If I was concerned about any of my children’s learning, it was A9.  But, she is coping really well so far and even better is quite enjoying them too.

I have also been smattering their homeschool day with lots of science experiments and demonstrations:

Family News: National Trust

Having spend very little family time together over the past year, we have all been making an effort now exams are over.

Thomas joins us when he can, but has a very busy life burning the candle at both ends 🙂  The only time I insist he is there is on a Sunday afternoon.

Gary and I have become members of the National Trust which gives us lots of options of places to visit.

The best part is that we have so many close by, I can take the girls and their friends out for a couple of hours.  The older girls hang out on the benches chatting in the sunlight, whilst the little ones play in the wooded playground area:

Family News: Dancing and Singing on the Streets

The girls had a lot of fun dancing on the streets.  They danced the dance they will be performing during their next show.  Lillie dances with three other dancers:

Charlotte, in contrast, sang her rap which she wrote and will also be singing in the show:

The teens have also been working together on songs for the show.  Nothing makes my heart gladder than to see my children, heads together, working on a project….together:

Family News: Keeping the Greens Alive

The weather just recently has been so hot that Gary has needed to go in to work and water his greens by hand.  The irrigation system used to be automated but does not have a working computer part at the moment, which means it’s all down to Gary and his second in command.  This has meant long nights spent watering.  I have accompanied Gary when I can.  The surroundings are so beautiful, and it’s usually just him and me so it is a little like a date 🙂

The little ones come with us occasionally, because if they didn’t they would hardly see Gary right now.  A9 particularly loves it as it has so much nature to explore.  She is completely in her element:

There are lots of ducks and geese, fish that jump out of the water, owls, foxes, birds of prey….it is a naturists heaven.  We even saw some swans with their chicks:

and a deer with its young:

Whilst the greens are being watered, Gary and I often wander down the canal a little, enjoying the surroundings and each other’s company:

It is all so beautiful, especially as the sun sets….

Happy, happy sigh 🙂