Little Star Homeschool

We are back from our annual holiday, this year we headed for the seaside. Paignton was chosen for its wide choice of clean beaches and visitor attractions. Although the train journey was a little arduous at five and a half hours due to Chesterfield station being closed for track maintenance, it was well worth it once we arrived.

The sun shone and the air was warm. I had heard about Torbay's micro climate but it was a remarkable experience to feel the rise in temperature.

Everything in paignton was ideally located, buses run frequently and on time connecting with other services perfectly. We hopped on two different steam trains, one from paignton to Kingswear with a ferry trip to dartmouth and the other train took us from Totnes to Buckfastleigh in order to visit Buckfast Abbey by a short vintage bus ride.

We visited Paignton Zoo and Living Coasts in Torquay. I was a bit put out at the joint entrance fee just to see the penguins at Living Coasts but John found a shop dedicated to Agatha Christie while we were in Torquay so that made the excursion more worthwhile.

We want to go back again to Paignton next year to see everything we missed because one week isn't long enough.

Any Sunday morning peace and quiet was shattered this weekend when the workman came to fix our leaking bay window roof. It needed re-felting. Robert watched through the bedroom window directly above the bay.

Today he's been drawing and making his own jigsaws from paper plates.

Yesterday he spotted this:

If you look at the numbers 1234567890 you will see the numbers 12 34 56 78 and 90

12 + 22 = 34
34 + 22 = 56
56 + 22 = 78

but 78 + 12 = 90

How strange.

We've made Numberjack One and Zero from felt, quite easy to make using printouts from cbeebies as patterns, some stuffing, stick on googly eyes and embroidery thread for the mouth.

We are making one a day. Robert also wants to know if we can make the other characters - the Problem Blob, Shape Japer and the Puzzler. So once I have figured out how to make a felt ball....

I still haven't had a cigarette since July 1st, so its 27 days smoke free for me *hurrah*

Not much happening here apart from more rain. We try to get out between downpours but its beginning to feel fultile. So we bake and knit and study maths and english, play computer games and look out of the window. I've paid for our annual holiday. We're going to Paignton this year, so far reports are good from friends who have been there already, shirt sleeve weather apparently. Fingers crossed then.

Not much else to report, I've quit smoking...now there's a thing. Well I work in a pub and since the smoking ban I haven't smoked. I always blamed my work environment for my habit, having attempted to quit several times before and failed. So now its been 21 days and I don't feel bad at all. Its a bit quiet at work though. What with the ban and all this rain.

Monday morning and Robert had a wobbly tooth. I have been checking for wobbles since two adult teeth appeared behind his bottom front baby teeth. He was a bit upset by the fact he couldn't eat properly so he drank a lot of milk through the day to keep him going. By Monday night it was out, embedded in some ice cream. Under the pillow it went. Tuesday morning he woke, checked under his pillow and announced, "the tooth fairy did come!" Implying some sort of doubt about the whole thing. Now he has a gap, which he is very self-conscious of.

Stuck for something to do indoors while the rain continues to keep us from any outdoor activity I went looking for something for Robert to do...

Coloring Pages Website - Coloring Pages, Dot to Dot and Free Kids Drawings

I'm thinking of building an ark if this continues.

An average Monday spent cleaning, washing and generally rearranging the chaos left by the weekend when neither John or I have the time to do so much as think.

Robert has been continuing his writing, concentrating very hard on getting it right. He found my knitting bag (has it been that long since I picked up the needles and yarn?) and asked me if I could knit him a jumper. So I have started knitting again.

Lisa phoned with various questions concerning Harry. He has a rash. "What's a viral infection?" she asks John. "The doctor says Harry has a viral infection." I can see his blood pressure rising from across the room "doesn't she know what a viral infection is?!". Lisa's health visitor has enrolled her on the Sure Start programme, John and I sigh, look at each other and hope she gets through the latest drama unscathed. We worry but each time Lisa and Harry visit we can see Harry is thriving.

Robert found concrete poetry on the Woodland Trust website and made a tree poem. He's been practicing his writing, copying out his favourite passages from his Charlie and Lola books. He said to me "I am going to do writing for a whole week!" I guess we have been focusing on maths and science for a long time now so he's ready for a change.

Robert has also found this game from the Environment Agency very useful. Build your own interactive city garden, meadow or pond.

He has also started to take an interest in history recently. So we are looking at some timelines to tie in with science looking at when things were invented and when famous scientists lived.

Robert is such an avid reader. He looks over my shoulder for as while to see the pictures then gets me to read aloud from my current book. So I am reading to him while reading ahead to filter out any content I deem unfit for young ears. So much for a relaxing read!

This weeks book is The Home Front: Civilian Life in World War One

World War One continues to fascinate but little has been written on the civilian's war. From bombing to rationing, from civil defence to war work, the face of Britain was radically changed as a result of the conflict. More than once Britain was almost brought to its knees by unrestricted submarine warfare and by the end of the war German Zeppelins and Gotha bombers had managed to bomb many parts of Eastern England, while in 1914 the German High Seas fleet bombarded the East Coast destroying buildings in places as diverse as Hartlepool and Lowestoft. The First World War was the first war to have a huge impact on civilians and few were safe from attack. All endured hardship as rationing came into force. What was life like during the war for the civilian population? What hardships did they endure? How did they live? What was the feeling of those who stayed at home? Peter Cooksley tells us the true story of civilians at war on the Home Front.

So airships are the current topic. Huge balloons with engines...it doesn't get much better than that!

Yesterday we went to the Tramway Village at Crich. We have been before when Robert was three to see Thomas the Tank Engine. This time we just went to adore the trams....


Ride on trams...


Have a picnic...with my mum's old picnic bag which she passed on to me because it has Tardis qualities and I am sooo into vintage stuff at the moment. The bag has been to Crich before in the 70's.


Discover new and wonderful creatures....giddy up.


Puzzle over things...


Get lots of fresh air and exercise...up hill an down dale.


Study architecture...


Flop down exhausted....waiting for the bus home.

The good news...it may be fairly expensive to get into the museum (£24 for the three of us) but now because I gave them my details for Gift Aid I have FREE ADMISSION for the rest of the year (excluding Bank Holidays and Special Event Days.) Wow.

Robert and I have had a baking day today. We have made lots of yummy food for a picnic on Thursday. In between baking and chores we watched the bees on the London Pride in the garden.

Yesterday we made collages from old magazines on the theme of 'Our House' rather than our actual house I ended up making a picture of where I would like to live. Mine was a cottage by the sea with an abundant garden. Robert's was a composite image made of woods, fabrics and coloured textures with both indoor and outdoor features....and a car of course.

Later we played Microsoft Train Simulator on the PC and tried to get the Flying Scotsman from Settle to Carlisle in one piece.

Sometimes I have days when my feet barely touch the floor. I do too much I am sure, homeschooling, gardening, going out to work and working from home.... So about once every few weeks we fall back on takeaway food. I know its bad for us but what choice do I have when I am exhausted.

Well now I have a choice and a very good one. Real food, healthy food I can order in over the internet and it works out cheaper for a family meal than Dominos! And they deliver nationwide using a network of local suppliers. How cool is that.

Wiltshire Farm Foods extensive menu has something for everyone – from hearty, traditional favourites such as roasts, pies and stews to more exotic dishes like Duck in Brandy Sauce, Coq au Vin and Fillet of Trout with Prawns.

And if you fancy something sweet, a huge array of delightful desserts await to tantalise your taste buds…from crumbles and puddings to cooler, refreshing choices such as cheesecakes and trifles!

Choose from more than175 delicious dishes and enjoy great food as often as you like, every day, or as a special treat – the choice is yours.

You can enjoy scrumptious dishes like hearty Beef and Stout Pie, tender Lamb Steak with Ratatouille and creamy Coronation Chicken.

Each dish is balanced, nutritious and full of flavour, with carefully controlled levels of salt, sugar and fat.

They can provide details of meals ‘free from’ nuts, dairy, onions etc and also cater for a range of special diets. Look for the colour-coded symbols indicating diabetic, lower fat, reducing, moderate salt, gluten free and vegetarian options.

Convenience is one of many advantages of Wiltshire Farm Foods. Meals are so very easy and quick to prepare. Meals arrive frozen, in sturdy plastic trays, ready to put in the freezer. When you fancy something to eat, it couldn’t be easier, you simply heat your meal from frozen in a matter of minutes and enjoy.

John said to me today quite wistfully "Robert's nearly six, theres only 10 years left 'til he's sixteen."

10 years!

Is that all?

We have only got 10 years to teach him EVERYTHING.

10 Years to teach Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Maths, History, English, Geography, Geology, Economics, IT, Cookery.....AND all about how to survive life in the adult working world.

But we've hardly scratched the surface and in many subjects he's way ahead of his state educated contemporaries. How do they manage?!

*Takes a deep breath*

OK, easy now.....

On Tuesday Robert and I went to Tesco, he asked me to buy him a pineapple. They were half price so I agreed thinking I would end up eating it rather than him. He then asked me to turn this strange spiky fruit into homemade ice cream. I dug out the ice cream maker and froze the bowl. On Wednesday we chopped up the pineapple, blitzed it, added sugar and double cream and created the best ice cream ever! And Robert loves it.

Then Robert started asking me about gravity.

Gravity is a force which tries to pull two objects toward each other. Anything which has mass also has a gravitational pull. The more massive an object is, the stronger its gravitational pull is. Earth's gravity is what keeps you on the ground and what causes objects to fall. Gravity is what holds the planets in orbit around the sun and what keeps the moon in orbit around Earth. The closer you are to an object, the stonger its gravitational pull is. Gravity is what gives you weight. It is the force that pulls on all of the mass in your body.

He has been experimenting over the past couple of days with various objects from a balloon to his own body weight in air and water. So I've added Dead Famous - Isaac Newton to my Amazon Wishlist.

I've found the perfect cure if you are feeling down in the dumps. And to celebrate the return of big Brother (which I vehemently loath and detest) a return to the good old days of innocent but mindless violence on TV.

We spent the evening making paper planes from the Paper Plane Kit that came with todays Guardian newspaper. Designs were contributed by Nick Robinson and Mark Bolitho. Here's one of Nick's designs if you missed todays Guardian, just click the image to see it full size.

I came home from work yesterday to find this strange concoction in the kitchen.



I wondered what it was and Robert was keeping quiet on the subject. An empty sugar packet was a clue. Then John came in and said he had wondered why Robert's hands were blue earlier. He thought it might be felt pen.

So here's the recipe - don't try this at home!

Half a packet of caster sugar (oh yes not just any sugar but my baking sugar)
Several drops or maybe a splash of blue food colouring (I don't know the exact amount)
Some seedless grapes (mushed up of course)

Mix well with bare hands and grin when its done.

Robert has spent most of today sleeping and watching a bit of TV because he is poorly. The usual symptoms, runny nose and sneezes yesterday and general malaise today.

Monday night I had a dream. I dreamed huge rabbits were flying, using their large ears as helicopter blades. They flew towards me through a beautiful field of daisies. On Tuesday I told Robert about this dream because I knew it would make him laugh. After the giggles subsided he said, "you know Mummy. You had the dream because you watched Curse of the Were-Rabbit and that had a giant rabbit in it and Sonic Heroes and that has a rabbit that flies with its ears in it."

Thank you Sigmund.

Bugguide is a great site for bug fans. Its focus is US and Canada insect life but worth a look at if your kids are doing a project on mini beasts.

Bugguide is hosted by Iowa State University Entomology and is easy to use when beginning to learn about species classification. The photos are high quality showing the detail you need when studying insects.

The community is run by an online community of naturalists who enjoy learning about and sharing our observations of insects, spiders, and other related creatures.

Robert's latest mathematical quest is to know the names of every 2 dimensional geometrical object. If you are curious too, here they are (courtesy of Dr Math):

1  monogon                  (Monogon and digon can only
   2  digon                     be used in rather special
   3  trigon, triangle          circumstances. Trigon and
   4  tetragon, quadrilateral   tetragon are alternatives to
   5  pentagon                  triangle and quadrilateral;
   6  hexagon                   the adjectival forms trigonal
   7  heptagon                  and tetragonal are more common.)
   8  octagon
   9  enneagon

  10  decagon
  11  hendecagon
  12  dodecagon
  13  triskaidecagon
  14  tetrakaidecagon, tetradecagon
  15  pentakaidecagon, pentadecagon
  16  hexakaidecagon, hexadecagon
  17  heptakaidecagon
  18  octakaidecagon
  19  enneakaidecagon

  20  icosagon
  21  icosikaihenagon, icosihenagon
  22  icosikaidigon
  23  icosikaitrigon
  24  icosikaitetragon
  25  icosikaipentagon
  26  icosikaihexagon
  27  icosikaiheptagon
  28  icosikaioctagon
  29  icosikaienneagon

  30  triacontagon
  31  triacontakaihenagon
  32  triacontakaidigon
  33  triacontakaitrigon
  34  triacontakaitetragon
  35  triacontakaipentagon
  36  triacontakaihexagon
  37  triacontakaiheptagon
  38  triacontakaioctagon
  39  triacontakaienneagon

  40  tetracontagon
  41  tetracontakaihenagon
  42  tetracontakaidigon
  43  tetracontakaitrigon
  44  tetracontakaitetragon
  45  tetracontakaipentagon
  46  tetracontakaihexagon
  47  tetracontakaiheptagon
  48  tetracontakaioctagon
  49  tetracontakaienneagon

  50  pentacontagon ...
  60  hexacontagon ...
  70  heptacontagon ...
  80  octacontagon ...
  90  enneacontagon ...
 100  hectogon, hecatontagon
1000  chiliagon
10000  myriagon