Another one to revive this week, largely for my own records but also because many of you are intrigued by what an unschooling style of home education looks like, is a regular home ed report. So what have we been up to this week? *
Last week, when the girls were unwell, we watched Cats
and read Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats
. So Monday started off with composing poems about our cats in the style of the Jellicles, which led in to discussing and writing rhyming couplets, then sounding out syllables and looking at how words are constructed.
On Sunday evening, they had spent more than two hours composing, staging and performing a production of The Lion King starring Barbie and Frozen dolls in full masks and costumes, featuring the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein. This continued later on Monday and all day Tuesday, followed by listening to more great show tunes and re-watching most of the excellent BBC series Sound of Musicals, which they love.
Wednesday morning started with drawing, a brief look at the tradition of still life drawing and painting (Cezanne is the favourite), and then having a go at our own. Sophia loved this and practised a few times before drawing this bowl of fruit, complete with shading, which she is very proud of.
With the rain not letting up, we went to soft play on Wednesday afternoon where the girls met some fun children to play with and constructed a very elaborate game. Thursday and Friday saw yet more rain, and more documentaries, this time Spy in the Wild with its outstanding technology and fascinating insights into animal behaviour. This led in to lots of talk about habitats, animal behaviour, evolution, food chains and more, which the girls then turned into a long involved play session using their cuddly toy birds and animals.
Tatiana wanted to paint instead and, after a long discussion last week analysing the motivations and emotions of the characters in Frozen, she wanted to paint Elsa's 'swirling storm inside' (left). Rather a good job for a 3 year old! The right hand picture is when Elsa comes out of her self-imposed exile and starts to be happy again.
Bird behaviour, nest building, courting rituals and appearance was the theme for this morning (Saturday), until the sun came out and we decamped to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. No birds there because the sea was so rough, but with a bag of Barbies a fun game was had, followed by a hunt for driftwood, shells, sea glass and other treasures.
Oh and plenty of LEGO, playing, baking and more. And finally to bed, another crazy busy week done!
*At the end of the week I had decided to re-start this series came the tabloid furore around one family whose children spend all day every day playing video games. Having followed their mother's blog for years, I know this not to be the case, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story! Home education follows many forms, happens for many reasons, and is practiced by many people from all walks of life. Let us know if you'd like to know more!
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| A Jellicle cat |
Last week, when the girls were unwell, we watched Cats
and read Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. So Monday started off with composing poems about our cats in the style of the Jellicles, which led in to discussing and writing rhyming couplets, then sounding out syllables and looking at how words are constructed.On Sunday evening, they had spent more than two hours composing, staging and performing a production of The Lion King starring Barbie and Frozen dolls in full masks and costumes, featuring the songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein. This continued later on Monday and all day Tuesday, followed by listening to more great show tunes and re-watching most of the excellent BBC series Sound of Musicals, which they love.
Wednesday morning started with drawing, a brief look at the tradition of still life drawing and painting (Cezanne is the favourite), and then having a go at our own. Sophia loved this and practised a few times before drawing this bowl of fruit, complete with shading, which she is very proud of.
With the rain not letting up, we went to soft play on Wednesday afternoon where the girls met some fun children to play with and constructed a very elaborate game. Thursday and Friday saw yet more rain, and more documentaries, this time Spy in the Wild with its outstanding technology and fascinating insights into animal behaviour. This led in to lots of talk about habitats, animal behaviour, evolution, food chains and more, which the girls then turned into a long involved play session using their cuddly toy birds and animals.
Tatiana wanted to paint instead and, after a long discussion last week analysing the motivations and emotions of the characters in Frozen, she wanted to paint Elsa's 'swirling storm inside' (left). Rather a good job for a 3 year old! The right hand picture is when Elsa comes out of her self-imposed exile and starts to be happy again.
Bird behaviour, nest building, courting rituals and appearance was the theme for this morning (Saturday), until the sun came out and we decamped to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. No birds there because the sea was so rough, but with a bag of Barbies a fun game was had, followed by a hunt for driftwood, shells, sea glass and other treasures.
Oh and plenty of LEGO, playing, baking and more. And finally to bed, another crazy busy week done!
*At the end of the week I had decided to re-start this series came the tabloid furore around one family whose children spend all day every day playing video games. Having followed their mother's blog for years, I know this not to be the case, but why let the truth get in the way of a good story! Home education follows many forms, happens for many reasons, and is practiced by many people from all walks of life. Let us know if you'd like to know more!