We had a really nice break over Christmas but definitely felt ready to get back into the swing of our regular groups and meet ups, the only problem being we still only have one car! So we’ve been stuck at home for the last few days. Luckily being able to walk down to the beach means that the kids are happy. They absolutely love being down there and building dams / throwing stones in the water. Although when it’s cold it is definitely a struggle for me to leave the house, I’m so looking forward to spring.
To make the walk to the beach more fun yesterday the kids made treasure maps and took their swords and eye patches with them. They had great fun looking around on the sand for ‘X marks the spot’.
They’ve also been having fun with a stop motion app on the iPad.
I always get this urge to plan lots of activities when the schools go back so I’ve got a list of things to do over the next month, mainly craft based things as anything else isn’t met with a lot of approval! I generally only suggest things when the kids are struggling to think of things themselves though, usually they are so happy deciding what to do that I don’t feel like I want to step in. I think it’s a really great skill to have so I don’t want them to lose it.
One change I’ve noticed recently is how Tiger has suddenly become interested in academic learning, he’s spending a lot of time on apps which teach reading and writing and is always asking me what letters are in words. He actually knows a lot of numbers too, the other day he told Cherry a number was 24 and I have no idea how he knew that!
The kids have free access to the iPad and it’s a great tool as there are so many educational apps on there, Cherry is really enjoying using the Teach my Monster to Read app and Tiger loves one where you write the letters with your finger. We did make the decision to delete the YouTube app from it though, we just felt like they had become completely addicted to watching those crappy opening egg videos and a few times they had clicked through onto different things altogether and we didn’t know what they were even watching, plus the adverts aren’t always suitable. I don’t really think any adverts are suitable for kids, or even adults for that matter!
We are changing up our groups a bit this term too, Cherry will still be doing gymnastics as she loves it but we’ve found a science group that is just down the road so will be giving that a go. There is also a home ed sports class about 10 mins away so we’ve signed them up to that. Then a cooking group which we will go to from time to time, it’s on gym day so a bit of a tight squeeze to do it every week but it’s nice to see lots more happening really close to us.
This Homeschooling Life is a linky for you to share either a week, a day or just a moment from your life as a homeschooling family. We are hoping it will be a really nice way to discover new blogs and learn how we all do things differently.
2. Link up a post from your month, no more than 3.
