Twenty-First Century Education

We’ve had a few changs to our family life due to me starting a college course. I go off to the city four days a week and do classroom based learning. I must admit to enjoying every minute of it although did smirk a little when one lecturer told us to stop asking questions otherwise we wouldn’t get through the work in time. Times have changed since I went to school twenty years ago . The teaching is much more focused, there is a list of things which we need to know and be able to do and the teachers are very good at delivering exactly that while cutting out the waffle. I think this is what people call ‘teaching to the test’. Things have also become modular sometime in the last two decades. When I studied for my GCSE in Biology the first topic that we learnt in the first term of the course had to be remembered and recalled for the exam nearly two years later where one or two questions about it might come up. This time round we do the topic then do the exam, for me this is so much easier as it tests my current understanding of the topic rather than my ability to retain and regurgitate the information two years later. The other main difference between then and now is the internet. Back in the day when I came home from school not understanding something my parents would shake their heads apologetically and by the next lesson we’d have moved on to something else and it was very easy to remain secretly ignorant. Now when I come home not understanding something I google it and skim through sites until I find one that explains it in a way that I understand. There are other things that have changed. The register is a spreadsheet on a computer rather than a big book with red and blue lines and zeros. People don’t get told off for passing paper messages to each other under the table but for texting each other under the table. Thirty students don’t crowd around ten books trying to see a black and white diagram, the diagrams are now a brightly coloured power point presentation shone on a whiteboard at the front of the class for all to see. I’m really glad to have the chance to see how much education has changed and it’s almost hard to believe that homework wasn’t always set electronically, essays done in Word, sums solved on iphones and every classroom having a recycling bin.

So my going to college has obviously impacted on everyone else. Colin has reduced his hours to cover the childcare aspect. I was initially concerned about how he’d take to spending the majority of his time as the number one parent but he has taken to it like a duck to water. They’ve managed to get to a regular home ed group, several park and beach meet-ups, a birthday party and a dentist appointment. They’ve done shopping, baking and cleaning. He’s played lots of football. Ms R has also taken to it quite happily, from her point of view nothing much has changed. She still gets to see her friends, has plenty of time to read and gets to do some baking. Master R did feel affected by it and was a bit emotional with me for the first couple of weeks, I’d find him in my bed in the morning and spend the bulk of my time at home with him in my arms but he seems to have acclimatised now. They insist on being woken up to say good-bye on the days that I leave early, I phone them everyday and we always have snuggles and cuddles when I get home. I’m doing a good job of compartmentalising it all so that when I come home I’m available for them so although I’m spending less physical time with them I don’t believe I’m any less emotionally available to them. And of course with the amount of time Colin is spending with them he has got to know them on another level and is more available to them than he has ever been before. The advantage of being a student is the amount of holiday time I get and I’m looking forward to half term as it will be a whole week of not having to leave them.

We’ve had a couple of great daytrips recently. One to Paradise Park which hasn’t lost it’s appeal in the six years we’ve been visiting. This last time Ms R spent a lot of time reading about how fossils form and what we learn from them, she found it really interesting while Master R was busy running around with his cousins. The other trip was to the museums in London. The Rs wanted to see where I went every day and had memories of the pattern pod in the science museum. We haven’t been to the museums for a couple of years so for them it was fresh and new although an exhausting day with so much walking.

I’m slightly torn about the whole ‘learning to read’ thing or rather, the ‘not-learning-to-read’ thing. I love that within the home ed community there are examples of children (especially boys) who weren’t reading fluently at primary age yet who went on to develop a love of reading later on. I’m aware that there are some children who don’t enjoy learning to read when they are young and never go on to develop a love of reading.

So should I be worried that Master R isn’t reading? I mean he is only, only six. I can’t possibly believe that he could grow-up not being able to read, although as a home-educating parent, it’s a secret fear of mine that he might. So I’ve been thinking about it lately and wondering why he isn’t reading. So far I’ve come up with:

1) Genetic factors. The older males on my side of the family weren’t known for their early reading skills.

2) Dyslexia? My brother was diagnosed at eight (but has since disclaimed it) and apparently my paternal Grandfather has always got "his letters muddled up".

3) I just haven’t taught him.

The first one I’d be happy to ride with in all honesty if I thought it was the only factor but I would still at six years old expect to see some recognition of familiar words.

My second ‘excuse’ is a possibility but the more I read around the subject the more blurry it becomes. As he’s not reading or writing at all then he isn’t getting certain letters back-to-front or misreading words. There are ‘Early Indicators’ to look out for, however as he hasn’t been in school learning to read the ones for his age group (such as misreading words, not recognising recently read words, spelling the same word differently every time etc) just aren’t applicable and not many of the symptoms in the Pre-school column match either.

So I think it is mostly a case of Number Three. Now I don’t think I taught Ms R yet she managed to progress through a series of small steps which eventually lead her to the stage she’s at now of being able to read anything and everything. I suspect I spent a lot more time focusing on letters and sounds with her, not only because she was my first child and I felt the responsibility of our decision to home educate but also because she was genuinly interested in letters and words. Master R doesn’t have much interest in letters and words, he’d much rather talk about how the first [human/dinosaur/plant/house/clothes] came about than practice any form of written communication.

I’m not ready to try a regime of formal lessons and structure, I don’t believe it will yield good results. I do still believe that Master R can learn to read in a way that some describe as ‘osmosis’. However I think that the foundations are important and I hope that if I start laying them thick and strong then Master R will continue to build on them at a rate that is comfortable and relevant to him.

So here’s the plan:

More word games. We already play Eye-Spy (starting with the sound of) on journeys, now we’re including games that involve thinking of a word that begins with [every sound of the alphabet] or words that rhyme with/end the same way as, etc. If we play at bath time then we choose the sound by randomly picking a foam letter, this reinforces the letter with the sound. Similarly spotting letters out doors and thinking of words that start with that letter. Letter Lotto, a bingo style game with picture game cards and letters. Generally trying to handle letters more and being more aware of sounds and syllables.

More card games. We all like playing Pairs and Master R seems to be especially good at it. It is good for his self-esteem and it involves matching which enforces the idea that numbers and letters are static (ie a 2 is always a 2 and a b is always a b). Other card games involve sequencing which can apparently be a weakness in people with dyslexia so no harm in improving those skills.

More dot-to-dots and mazes, chalk and bath crayons. He loves these things, again the sequencing thing for the first one, general pencil control plus the chance that holding a writing instrument will inspire him to write something.

A return to some of our favourite picture books. We’ve been enjoying chapter books recently (currently Ginger The Stray Kitten by Holly Webb) but looking at books with few words written clearly might encourage him to spot letters and words that he knows.

Education City starting in September. He has recently enjoyed playing a free internet trial of Reading Eggs and these games often feel challenging but doable with the side effect of learning.

Much of the time it probably looks like we don’t actually do much. For all our confident statements of "We home educate!" we can’t say much about lesson plans, key stage levels or reading age ability. In fact even compared to other home educators we don’t talk much about childrens Shakespeare, cuisine rods or guided tours around places of great historical importance. Activities termed extra curricular, that many children become involved in and seem especially important for those who are home educated, hold little interest for my children. Neither do they have a Great Interest in something that looks likely to oneday lead them into a career. So what do we do? And what on earth are my children learning from it?

My children have done a couple of things lately which I’ve felt happy about, not the sorts of things that a parent might praise a child over but things which might reassure a parent that their children are on the right track. 

I was sat on a bench in the park reading an article in Mike Fortune-Woods Home Education Journal titled ‘Growing Up Engaged’ by Ian Wild and keeping half an eye on the R’s who were playing quite happily amongst the uniformed children from the school near by. Master R is getting more confident talking to children he doesn’t know and seemed to be making sure that the little group of same sized children were all taking turns and playing fair on the zip wire. Ms R was pottering around at the top of a climbing frame/slide/bridge structure and seemed to be sometimes talking to the crazy boys who kept racing past her. Between one eye on the text and one eye on them I was also vaguely thinking that while the article was very inspiring, the sort that you nod your head while reading, my children don’t appear to have those engaged moments. I had just got to the point in the article that talked about how home educated children are more likely to be able to emotionally engage in an experience having not been jeered at by peers or reprimanded by teachers when Ms R ran towards me yelling at me to come and look at something. I nearly refused, feeling a bit silly about climbing up a piece of childrens play equipment in a park full of school children and watched curiously by their Mums, but the air of excitement about her made it clear she really wanted to share this new discovery with me. It turned out to be a ladybird that had caught her attention. I did have to glance across at her to check she wasn’t pulling my leg, after all I have been pointing out ladybirds and other interesting looking creatures to her for years and she has never shown any interest before, but she had a look of awe on her face as she breathed "It’s so pretty" and we watched it for a while before it flew away. So my daughter who doesn’t like bugs and who has no interest in wildlife or nature had an unashamedly emotional engagement with something as simple as a ladybird in a park full of children right at the very moment that I was worrying about it not happening.

But it doesn’t stop there. Tonight when reading another chapter of Charlottes Web to Master R, who is loving the story by the way, Ms R sits bolt upright (we have stories laying down on my bed) and asks me to stop reading for a minute. She needs to find a book, it is a particular one that has a big square of numbers in the front of it. It is really important that we find it immediately so that she can look at the numbers and do tricks with them while listening to the story. Completely out of the blue, a real genuine desire to look at a times table square. Sadly we couldn’t find it quickly and Master R was grumbling and looking suspiciously like he might fall asleep before the end of the chapter so I promised to make one after the story. She watched me draw the squares, being suitably impressed by my use of a ruler, and then directed me with which numbers to write where. Underneath I was going to write out some of the times tables to demonstrate more clearly their patterns but before I even finished the square she was pointing out patterns to me so there was obviously no need.

So there. A couple of pefect examples of ‘engagement’ and a good feeling about my child.

I have to say, as well, that Master R has also surprised me a few times lately although for different reasons. This morning we visited a park which had three girls in of about the same age as Ms R so she fairly quickly joined in with them while Master R was happy to do his own thing. Then two smaller people came in, they were very small but talking and not wearing nappies so I’m guessing they were about three years old. They came together while their adults stayed sat on the grass quite a long way away. I always keep my eye on Master R when there are smaller people around because he hasn’t yet shown much understanding for their lack of understanding. In other words if they push him he might push them back, if they throw a stone at him he might throw one back and it never looks good if your six year old is pushing or throwing stones at toddlers. But before I knew it he was pushing them on the big swing and stopping immediately that they asked, helping them onto the seesaw, giving them a gentle ride, helping them off when they wanted to get off and generally helping and looking after them. I think even he was quite surprised at himself.

So yeah, I still can’t tell you what subjects I’m teaching my children or how they’ll earn their living when they are grown-up but I am confident that they are learning to engage with themselves, with others and with the world around them and I think these are pretty good skills to be going on with.

Well, a bloody fantastic holiday actually. We’ve been looking forward to it all year so the excitement had been building up to the point that neither Ms R nor I managed to sleep a wink the night before. Thankfully it was a very early start (3am) so it was only really half the night we didn’t sleep for, the other half we were supposed to be awake. We spent a couple of hours giggling and bouncing around Gatwick with my parents before boarding a plane to Spain. Ms R sat next to my Dad and fretted over whether there’d be enough oxygen in the plane to last until we got there, Master R was far more relaxed about it all and happily chomped away on my Mums sweets while me and hubby sat next to each other reminiscing about pre-children flights we took together. It was lovely listening to their exclamations over the views and they both loved their inflight breakfasts.

 The week mostly consisted of eating and swimming with a little bit of beach play, some alcohol for the grown-ups and some not-too-bad evening entertainment. The Rs made friends with a girl called Harriet and had a fantastic time playing all together or one at a time with her while the other spent time sitting and chatting with the adults. Ms R joined in with a couple of the games, Master R wasn’t so keen but got dragged into one game (an air hockey type) and managed to win himself a medal which he had to go up on stage in the evening to recieve. He was thrilled to bits as apparently he has always wanted to win a medal and he wore it pretty much for the rest of the holiday so that everyone would see that he was a champion. I was half expecting a little jealously from Ms R but she was fantastic, congratulating him afterwards by picking him up and spinning him around and didn’t once comment that it wasn’t fair. The next day she won a game and had a chance to go on stage too. Hubby joined in with everything (water volleyball, archery, pool etc) and won loads of certificates. There was one point where Ms R said she wanted to join in with one of the games but she couldn’t because Harriet said she wouldn’t be her friend anymore if she did so we talked about that a bit but I suspect Ms R really felt the lure of peer pressure.

Ms R and I snorkelled in the sea. Although we didn’t actually see anything very exciting (nothing like when I snorkelled in Thailand) it was a wonderful experience. Master R had been looking forward to it but before he had even got his face wet my Mum tried to point out three little fish she’s seen swimming past and as he turned round to look where she was pointing their shadows loomed out in front of them and he thought the huge rippling shadows were great big fish about to bite his legs so he had a bit of a panic and removed himself from the sea as quickly as he could. He did later snorkel in the pool but didn’t get back in the sea. Mum showed him how to dive head first into the pool so he did lots of that as well as lots of jumping in and swimming under water. Another day my Dad took them to buy buckets and spades and they spent a few hours building sandcastles and digging holes. Someone also bought a football so a couple of times we had a kick around on the sand in the evening. 

It was a really lovely holiday and a great first experience (in their memory) of flying and being overseas.

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Home-Ed Day, a photo by beyondmywildest on Flickr.

Lots of home educated children joined in with Pinning the Grin on the Chesire Cat, Finding the Mouse sleeping under a teacup, decorating hats, Painting the Roses Red, Egg & Spoon races, a scavenger hunt in the woods, kite flying, facepainting and an Eat Me/Drink Me session.

Ms R caught up with a friend she’s met a couple of times before and had been desperately hoping would be there, Master R played with his usual friend and some of the other boys and I had a lovely time chatting.

Six weeks ago the vision in Master Rs left eye showed great improvement after six weeks of very strict patching. Today again, there was improvement. For the first time in the two and a half years we have been visiting Scott at the hospital Master R could make out all of the 3d shapes shown to him. It took him a long time and at times while we held our breath and willed him on we actually wondered if he’d fallen asleep behind the red and green spectacles but eventually he’d murmur the answer and point at what he could see. I’m not sure why I get more excited about him being able to see shapes through coloured lenses than I do about him being able to see tiny letters far away on a screen but I do and today felt like a huge step forward and a big inspiration to carry on nagging him about wearing the patch. Scott thought that an increase in concentration helped, he is now able to look at the fuzzy dots long enough to actually see what’s there. Master R has been trying a free trial of Reading Eggs, like all online reading scheme things it’s a bit repetitive but he is determined to get to the end of the map before the free trial runs out and will not let the computer beat him. He has been wearing his patch and struggles to get through the activities with moving words as they go to fast, he can see them but it takes a moment longer to focus. I’m guessing the more he does of this type of thing the quicker his eye will get. Afterwards we made the most of the sunshine by playing in the park behind the hospital.

We had friends visit this morning, always lovely to catch up with our friends who we don’t see enough of due to clashing work hours and distance. Ms R spent the time waiting for them laying on her bed with a Jacqueline Wilson book and pop music blaring, Master R played around me while I did housework. 

As hoped the year so far has been very relaxed with no real stress or pressure on any of us. Colin went back to work on the first day of the New Year and we all fell back into ‘normal’. January and February started the year with a few trips ice-skating at the temporary rinks set up locally. Both Rs got quite confident on the ice and didn’t need to hang onto me quite so much. We had a very successful trip to London seeing Cheryl Cole at Madame Tussauds, sharks in the London Sealife Centre and views from the London Eye. March is Month-of-the-Birthdays. Master R turned six and enjoyed a quiet mid-week birthday visiting family for present opening with the cousins visiting after school for pizza/bbq and more presents. It was quite Ben 10 themed with toys, bag, dvds and a Wii game all in the name of his favourite character. Ms R turned eight. She got Polly Pocket, Barbie and pop music inspired presents and had her friend E for a sleepover. We had our first play-on-the-beach visit and a last Theme park visit. April brought sunshine, a few home-ed park meet-ups, swims in my Mums pool, paddles in the sea and a farm trip for me and Master R to stroke lambs and watch birth. May gave us more beach trips, a visit to our favourite gardens, a gynmastics trophy for Ms R, strawberries and a Family Fun Day at the races. June is Month-of-the-Holiday! We are all brimming with excitment. There’s also been the regular stuff. We’ve done a few child swaps which work out well, Ms R goes thataway to play with other little girls and in return they send a boy to play Ben 10, make insect homes and do climbing with Master R. We’ve ventured over to our regular home-ed group, although not on a very regular basis as it involves a train and two buses. Master R dropped gymnastics shortly after Christmas saying he preferred to not spend an hour away from me Saturday morning when I was away working all of Saturday afternoon. Ms R recieved a trophy and certificate for working hard throughout 2010 but it is looking like she will be giving it up too. They both really enjoyed gymnastics, but not enough to carry on going. We’ve been swimming a couple of times at the local pool, Master R discovered he could go down the big slide so both he and Ms R do lots of that leaving me to swim. Ms R continues to read, Master R continues to wear his patch and life continues much as before with lots of playing, chatting and time together and with friends.

I always feel like I should do a wonderful blog post signalling the end of the previous year in a ‘Look what a great year we’ve had’ kinda way and then another one quickly outlining exciting plans for the coming year but this year I can’t be bothered. We have had a wonderful year, for us 2010 was what some might call plain and boring but I haven’t had many years in my life which have been consistent from beginning to end so for me it was a wonderfully consistent year. I remember saying to Ms R at the very beginning of 2010, right after we’d watched Big Ben chime and taken silly photos of ourselves that we’d remember 2009 as the year she learnt to read. This time Master R was still awake too so we took photos of the three of us but couldn’t think of a particular event that defines last year, there is no ending to the sentence "2010 was the year that we…". Sadly many families we know suffered tragic losses, devastating news or extreme bad luck, for some reason it passed us by but I’m ever aware that it could be us next.

We have no immediate plans for the coming year other than a holiday booked in June. I’d like us to have a go at learning Spanish but looking at how our dabble with French went I won’t be disappointed if we don’t get past basic greetings. I love the idea of all the wildlife stuff that many home educators get involved in but the R’s really aren’t interested enough to warrant the stress of dragging them along to look at birds, plants, endangered species, rivers etc and it is almost a relief to admit that those things just aren’t us. I do enjoy daytrips we have with friends to favourite places so am looking forward to the better weather, I used to con myself that they were ‘educational’ but now I’m happy to admit that they are as much for socialising. Ms R is social, she loves people and the interaction she has with them. She seeks people, she cares about them and she feels comfortable around them. Maybe all this concentrated socialising that is so important to her at the moment will lead her into the role she plays as an adult, maybe oneday after she’s made her career choices we’ll nod to each other and say "She always loved people". Or maybe not. Maybe she’s just not ready to see further than the people around her but given a year or two she’ll suddenly realise there is so much more to the world than people and set about dragging me on muddy walks to look at edible plants and old buildings. She finds numbers interesting and I think she would love some sort of Maths group but I’m not sure one exists. The other week I asked her how much an £18 item would cost if it was in a sale with 75% off, I thought she looked a bit confused so started to explain about cutting a sandwich into four pieces and how one quarter was the same as 25% but before I’d got much further she blurted out "£4.50". After a quick check of my hypothetical snack I had to admit that maybe it was time we moved on from cutting sandwiches into four. She’s made it quite clear that crafts are a definate no-no. She doesn’t want to make shapes out of playdoh, decorate glass jars or ever make Christmas cards again. She might like to paint peoples faces though, as long as they play with her afterwards of course. Master R isn’t particularly bothered about wildlife stuff either although he does enjoy making things so I must make an effort to have some craft things on tap for him. He has a couple of special friends who he looks forward to playing with but doesn’t get excited by the thought of making new ones. He likes using his body so gymnastics really suits him, he gets to run, jump, hang, balance and do handstands. He gets a thrill out of riding his bike, likes to climb up doorways and run really fast. He would like to learn how to fight karate but I’m holding off on that one for now. He happily entertains himself by playing screen games or watching tv/dvds, easy enough for me to provide but not sure I’m entirely comfortable just leaving him to it for hours at a time. His numeracy is about where Ms Rs was at the same age, the other day he paired up some little figures and demonstrated how he could count in twos. It is very exciting seeing him discovering these things just as it was when Ms R did them but unlike two years ago I no longer feel the need to shout it to the world. I don’t need to flaunt it as proof that I am not denying my children an education. I no longer feel smug that I’m doing a fantastic job but rather feel proud and excited for him. He is no closer to learning to read but I know I don’t need to worry about that. They have both said that they want to go to theme parks again this year and I think we might just get a couple of visits in before our passes run out providing the weather is okay. Ms R is already planning another sleepover for her birthday, Master R hasn’t thought about his yet other than to wonder if he’ll get any money and what he might do with it if he does.

So really it’s a nice quiet, relaxing year on the agenda. No stress, no big commitments (other than the ones we’ve already made to each other) no huge lifestyle changes. Just lots of being together, seeing friends, chatting and doing the usual looking up of stuff we are interested in. Of course it could all change in the blink of an eye but for now the plan is that there is no plan.

I heard those magical words whispered into my dreamy world "Mummy, he’s been!" at about four thirty in the morning when Master R was woken by a coughing fit. He snuggled into bed with me but continued to cough until I made him get up for a drink of water. At about six o’clock I carried him back to his bed where he sleepily told me he was still awake. I did go back to sleep for a couple of hours but at eight o’clock gave each child a little shake because surely stockings are for opening early while you wait for the day to begin not for emptying in a hurry because the day has begun without you. We spent a good hour looking through everything Father Christmas had brought them Ms R being especially pleased with a mini doll and pram set and Master R liking his alien-in-a-bathbomb thing. The plan was to visit Nana "Not before 9.30" so we got ourselves dressed, had a bit of a poke around at the presents under the tree and de-iced the car which was under a thick frost. Nana was in good spirits and we all sat on her bed opening our presents from each other. She was thrilled with our presents to her and we were with her presents to us.

Home again and present opening commenced. It always surprises me how presents that I’ve spent weeks choosing, shopping for and wrapping, often things that have been asked for are so quickly cast aside without much more than a glance so that the next present can be opened. My plan had been to keep gifts minimal this year and rather than go for a huge pile have presents that were wanted and that would get used/played with. Ms Rs main ask fors were Barbie, Polly Pocket and books so she was thrilled with her stash which contained all three plus a portable dvd player so she no longer has to beg Master R to watch a movie that she’s chosen. Master R was trickier but we managed to meet some of his requests, namely a toy laptop, an alien creation chamber and a dressing-up outfit. He got some books too and I’ve no doubt that sometime in the next couple of years he’ll read them but he didn’t show quite the same level of gratitude to them that Ms R showed to hers. While they explored their toys Colin and I constructed the four-in-one games table from his sister which seemed to be a hit too. 

Mid afternoon we went to my parents house where more presents were exchanged, more toys and games explored. A huge feast was served and lots of laughter was had by all. My brother showed Master R how to play his new Wii game and Ms R spent lots of time playing with a new Barbie. I took lots of photos some of which can be seen here. The only thing that was missing were my nephews who couldn’t be there due to being a couple of hundreds of miles away with relatives on their mothers side. Only we know now that they never actually went so feel a bit sad that they could have joined us for some present opening and festive fun with their cousins if only their mother had allowed. Apparently they aren’t getting back until the 27th so we’ll have our second Christmas with them on the 28th.

We came home tired, happy and with full bellies. Both the R’s watched a new dvd before having cuddles and going to bed late. It has to be the best Christmas we’ve had so far, we all recieved presents which we wanted and will be used and are looking forward to the next couple of days of staying home and playing.

While most of the country have been under feet of snow we’ve managed to miss it almost completely waking up to thick frosts some mornings and not spending any longer outside in the minus temperatures than absolutely necessary.

We visited an outside museum and took part in a workshop organised by another home ed Mum which we signed up to weeks ago on the basis that we knew nearly everyone who was attending. It was interesting to watch the Rs sitting at desks politely listening to something they weren’t that interested in and then being set the task of making a Christmas card. It wasn’t Ms Rs thing at all, she’s long since had any interest in anything that involves scissors and glue but she got on with it without any fuss for which I was really proud of her. Master R enjoys being creative and with a little help from me created a card he was happy with. After a whole hour for lunch in which we stayed mostly inside a non-heated draughty barn to shelter from the sleet and I ate Colins soup out of a new thermos he bought especially for the occasion we traipsed off into the muddy woods to collect holly so that we could weave it through a pre-built frame along with some Ivy to make a Victorian Christmas tree. Ms R opted to sit out and after a few close shaves with long bits of holly in small peoples clutches Master R and I stepped back too. It was nice to have chance to chat with friends and good to be able to say that we did a proper home-ed workshop but we were bloody freezing by the end.

A friend hosted a festive craft day where Master R decorated a little box, I decorated a jar and both R’s made some chocolate truffles. It was warm and festive and full of friends. Ms R got to play Barbies with other girls and Master R got to do boys stuff with other boys.

Our regular home ed group Christmas party went ahead despite the snow. Last year it was cancelled due to bad weather, this year we mostly all managed to get there although I’m not sure any of us realised quite how much snow there had been in the location. I had been a bit grumpy about having to provide a present for my children, even though it was only meant to be something cheap I felt that it cost us enough to get there and a few extra quid for party food to share that I didn’t really want to spend any more money on tat just a few days before Christmas. In the end I realised that I’d probably bow to pressure to buy them a magazine each anyway and that actually that would make a good present to wrap up. The bouncy castle was out, kids were excited and fuelled by sugar so chaos reigned. Master R got hurt by another boy in the punched, pinched, hair pulled kind of way which left him with a cut lip, hair sticking up all over the place, a sore head and severely shaken up. He was carried to me crying by a Dad and took a long time to calm down. I know that he has a short temper and is quick to lash out if he thinks he has been provoked but I think on this occasion he was innocent of any wrong doing. It was hard listening to him telling me that he was trying to run to me but couldn’t get away. The Mum of the guilty child was very apologetic, kept checking that we were okay and then kept a very close eye on the said child after that as did I. Thinking back I did notice that the boy seemed to be having a hard time of things leading up to the moment he hurt Master R so I’m hoping that his behaviour was a result of an accumulation of things rather than him just being prone to violence because then maybe there’s a chance we can set things straight. I really don’t want Master R to have to be frightened of anybody. When Master R had finally recovered and gone back to playing happily with his two little girl friends Ms R came racing to me asking me to stop another child from chasing and grabbing her. In my still sensitive state I asked that child quite firmly to stop chasing her and then when he wrapped himself around my leg and started fawning over me I spoke to him firmly again at which point he ran off crying and needed two nicer-than-me adults to console him. The Rs will tell you they had a great time. Me? I was happy when the party was over.

Master R has been wearing his patch for a full four hours a day after his last hospital appointment revealed deterioration from two months patch free. I’m happy because it means his eye still has a chance to improve, he’s not as happy about it as me but more accepting than he’s ever been before.

A while back we moved Ms Rs room around bringing her bed close to her door so that she gets enough light from the bathroom light being on that she doesn’t need to have a light on in her room. As a result she is sleeping far better as it is darker and she isn’t tempted to read.

We’ve had proper winter now with two days of snow. It was heavy, laid thick and was soft and fluffy to play in. We ventured down to the beach the first day because it always seems the obvious place to go to enjoy extreme weather and had a snowball fight on the way back at Master Rs insistance. The second day we wandered into town to buy milk and picked up some books and a mystery puzzle/book thing for Ms R who had been moaning about having nothing to read. We played the Wii together and put the Christmas decorations up. Then the snow disappeared as fast as it arrived revealing green grass and grey roads again.

We had a Christmas party organised by my work. I told the Rs they could have a new outfit for it as I had some vouchers to spend on clothes and Master R decided he needed a shirt and tie just in case he saw Father Christmas. It was pretty good as kids parties go with a chance to meet the big man himself, a couple of party games (Ms R won a chocolate Santa), a huge buffet and a magician who really did produce a white rabbit which everyone queued up to stroke. They both came away with a big bag of Toy Story books which we’ve been reading together.

An attempted spontaneous trip to London was a bit non-productive. Ms R wants to see a certain popstar/judge at the wax works and Colin reluctantly agreed to join us for the trip. I hadn’t put a lot of thought into it though otherwise I’d have realised that the day government voted on university fees was not a good day to choose. First the train broke down in a tunnel on the way delaying us by more than half an hour and having us to get off our busy train and filling onto another busy train at the next station. It was crammed packed with people standing in the aisles but two kind people offered their seats up for the children. When we arrived in London we made our way to the Underground only to be evacuated from the station due to a technical emergency. The announcement sounded quite alarming and people were being hurriedly chased out by guards so we exited as urgently as we could to find ourselves at the bus station. A bus for Waterloo came along and knowing that the London Eye is that way we jumped on it. And there we stayed for nearly an hour due to diversions and the heavy police presence. Finally we got to the London Eye only to find it was closed due to a technical fault. We were alone in viewing the 4d show and then we got drinks from McDonalds which we drank overlooking the Thames, Big Ben and watching the five or so helicoptors hovering over us while wondering if the train station had re-opened and if it hadn’t how we were going to get home. We were relieved to find the tube open and decided to get out while the going was good. Sadly we never got to the wax works but thankfully we made it home without any further ado. I got to read three newspapers and it was rather nice being out just the four of us.

Master R is currently doing a lot of counting on his fingers and telling me what different amounts add up to. Ms R has had a couple of days suffering with sore throat, earache, high temperature etc so we know that the psoriasis is likely to rear it’s ugly head again within the next few weeks. I don’t think there’s much I can do to prevent it so it is just a case of loading her up on good food, making sure she gets plenty of sleep, using emollients and stocking up on Piriton  

Christmas is less than two weeks away and as usual I’m the most excited one. My plan was to keep it as minimal as possible with a couple of decent gifts for the children rather than trying to make a big pile of presents but this year they haven’t wanted a big main present but rather lots of smaller things. Master R has been hoping for a Ben 10 toy for a long time which I managed to get half price a couple of months ago and had also requested some more Bakugans and a (toy) laptop both things I found in clearance sales before the Christmas stock came in. Ms R is hoping for some Polly Pocket stuff after playing with some at a friends, a cowboy hat and some books.

So again time has passed and I’ve not been blogging, but that’s not to say things haven’t been happening.

We are at that time of year again where Colin doesn’t work and we are all really enjoying it. He is less tired, less grumpy and less often asleep on the sofa which is great for all of us. He is applying for jobs but we are all hoping that we get to keep him until after Christmas. We have had a big tidy up of Ms Rs bedroom which was littered with too many books for the amount of bookcase so a trip to Argos was in order. Between her and I we drilled (you know that thing you do with the electric screwdriver) and banged them together giving both the R’s two bookcases each. We managed to be quite ruthless with broken toys, crafts from her Rainbow days that last year she said she’d never throw out but this year laughed at when I asked if she wanted to still keep them. Colin splashed a paint of coat over the grubby wall, we emptied the fishtank being very careful to re-house the three snails that we knew of plus the hundred or so of their offspring in my only vase and rearranged her furniture. We sorted out all the books that she really has grown out of for Master Rs room and now she has a very clean, tidy and big-girl looking room. Master Rs bedroom got a similar treatment with his curtains rehung, toys sorted into the correct toy boxes and his bookshelves organised tidily full of books that he is very close to being able to read.

We have been swimming thanks to the British Gas Free Swim voucher scheme and opted for the walk in pool a little further from home. I’m really enjoying swimming now that they are big enough to get themselves dried and dressed without any help. The first time we arrived to an empty pool only for it to fill up with a school shortly after. Ms R quickly became the centre of attention of a small group of girls who were clambering over each other to be her best friend, she was somewhat of a novelty and enjoyed being put on a pedestal. Two of the girls came over to me to tell me they’d made friends with her and ask if we’d be there the following week, the teacher on the side was clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing and kept trying and failing to distract the girls. We did go back the following week but at an earlier time with other home educated friends which worked just as well. It did lead me to ask if she sometimes wished she went to school so she could always be surrounded by a group of girls but she assured me that she’d much rather not go. She is so much more comfortable in social situations than me, taking after my Mum who is the sort of person who makes friends in supermarket queues and swimming pool changing rooms. Master R like me, baulks at the idea of strangers and crowds and needs a little time to get used to the idea of other people. Of course I’m doing my best to encourage him to see strangers as friends we haven’t met yet but I think that initial feeling when meeting someone new go deeper than just upbringing.

Bedtimes have got later and later. Evenings are often spent with Ms R curled up next to me reading a book and Master R either on my lap or snuggled up with Colin watching television, unless there’s a film on and then they accept that the tv isn’t suitable and go to bed.

Today was fairly typical in that it was different to every other day. Ms R remembered her bath bomb set so they made a bath bomb each first thing and then had a bath. I wanted to go to the home ed group as I hadn’t paid our membership money, we went via a working ATM so I really had no excuses this time. The Rs went straight off with their lunchboxes and sat in a group of friends to eat before disappearing off to play mostly in pairs and threes but sometimes in a large group in the hall. The adults sat around making Christmas party plans, all very exciting. We ran out of sugar so when I went to buy some Ms R came with me making the most of a bit of one-to-one. She worked out how much change from £20 I should have after giving £15.50 of it away, told me how much the sugar would cost after taking the 10% discount off, worked out which biscuits were cheaper based on packet size and price and then worked out how much change I’d get from £2. Occasionally I worry (or at least, feel that I should) that children her age in school are doing hours worth of Maths lessons every week while we’re doing none but then she demonstrates relevant real life numeracy reassuring me that she’s learning Maths as an important life skill rather than a boring subject and that she would have the mental capacity to learn the school work Maths if ever it became necessary. In fact maybe I should look up what Year 3 children are doing, it’s probably quite advanced by now. On the way home we popped into a couple of shops, I needed to measure Ms Rs feet to check her size for a pair of boots I’m buying from ebay, tried on some bras in another shop which appealed to Master Rs sense of humour and needed to find teatowels for part of Nanas present but as their attention and good behaviour were waning by them I let them choose some sweets and then let them stay in the car. Master R phoned my Dad while we were driving back to let him know we’d be visiting and we had a quick stop off at a park but stayed in the car discussing Christmas plans. Dad was wrapping Christmas presents when we arrived so Ms R helped him with that and then we all had a look at Google Maps at the holiday destination we are hoping to go to in the summer. It was dark when we left although not late, at home we decided on kiev, pasta and veg for dinner which Master R helped prepare. And then because it was Monday we watched Merlin and Dr Who.

We don’t go out of our way to celebrate Halloween really but something usually comes up. This year while I worked on the Saturday Colin and the Rs visited my Mum, brother and nephews where they carved pumpkins, had balloons with little lights in and ate flavoured gelatine in gross shapes. It sounded like they all had a fantastic time and I’m glad they got a bit of a celebration. We all went back for more on Sunday. The cousins showed the Rs how to play Scooby-Doo and Ben10 on the wii (additional items now on Christmas list). Colin, Ms R and I went to Tesco to buy meat and potatoes for dinner which was started at my parents house and then we all went to a local park to run off some steam before my Dad arrived home and dinner was eaten. I’m really happy that the Rs had two consecutive days playing with their cousins.

Monday we went along to our home ed group where the Rs played with their friends outside in the sunshine and I got to sit still, drink tea  and listen or participate in light chatter. A friend very kindly donated some DS games to us which have kept the Rs and Colin busy since.

Tuesday Ms R woke up a bit sniffly but otherwise okay. I spent the morning sorting and building the fake lego to separate it from the genuine stuff. It looks the same as lego but just doesn’t fit as well and it is too frustrating trying to build things that keep falling apart because the fake stuff won’t hold so it is going. I also made puzzles to check completeness and sellotaped dodgy puzzle and game boxes back together, more things to go. Colin got ruthless with the kitchen junk cupboards (Gee that man is good at binning stuff!). I got ruthless with old and incomplete art work, broken toys and the Rs played games and dusted. We have a whole pile of puzzles and games yet only a couple of favourites get regular attention so the rest will be passed on. I’d like to condense what is left of kids stuff in the lounge to a size that it will fit into Ms Rs bedroom as soon we’ll want space for such things as decorated trees and wrapped presents. In the afternoon we visited my Mum where tv was watched, computer word games played and lunch consumed.

Wednesday started fairly early (for me) for some reason. I made pizza dough for dinner and cheese scones for lunch with help and then we headed over to the park by the river (and airport and railway line) to meet Master Rs friend A and co. Master R and A went straight into game mode, Ms R did a bit of toddler worship and I got to discuss serious topics like vaccinations, learning to read, child trust funds and school. Again the sun shone on us and we had a good couple of hours of fresh air. When we left Ms R was asking about orange juice and the difference between long life and fresh. She got quite excited when I said we could squeeze oranges so we went to the far away Tesco to buy one of those little plastic juicer things and some oranges which she got right onto when we got home. They got bored juicing after the third orange but enjoyed the juice remarking that it didn’t taste like they expected it too. While I was at work Colin made bolognaise pizzas and then they walked over to the beach to look at the lights of the fair and buy candy floss.

It’s been an interesting week getting up early for swimming. On Tuesday we had to make our own way there so thanks to Master Rs alarm clock were up, ready and out the house by 8am. Master R admitted he felt like rolling over and going back to sleep and Ms R looked hollow from the shock of a second early morning. We scootered/walked along the seafront, the cold wind stung my face and reminded me of why I don’t really want an early morning outside job again. Thankfully Colin phoned at just the right time to let us know he was home so came to collect us. Wednesday it was raining but Colin came with us (so we went in the car) to watch some of each lesson and run an errand in town and we had use of the car for Thursday and Friday. We talked about how if the Rs went to school we’d be out at that time every morning for the long walk even when it was dark and rainy. Ms R made a friend in her lesson and wanted to swim with her afterwards in the big pool, I let her on Thursday and Friday but felt slightly uncomfortable with her not being eight yet. She also went off to shower alone while I watched Master Rs lesson and she said it made her feel very grown up. She looks like she’s got the hang of breast stroke although said it didn’t feel quite right, her back stroke is not as smooth as it was on her last lot of lessons but we’ve talked about that and think we’ve sussed out why. Her crawl is also coming along and she continues to be confident with jumping in and diving. Master R was in the non-swimmer class and these always show the most improvement going (hopefully) from non-swimming to swimming to a certain extent. He discovered on Wednesday that he could swim on his back when the instructor told them to walk backwards, swimming if they can. He looked around and noticed that everyone else was swimming on their backs and decided he felt silly just walking so laid back and found he could do it too. He was the smallest in his group but had the biggest smile. After one lesson he was grumbling about being the worst in the class (which he wasn’t) so got a lecture on how it wasn’t a race, everyone was at different stages and it was more important to enjoy the lessons and learn in his own time than to worry about how he compared to the others. The next day he started the same grumble and as I took a big breath to start the lecture over again he sighed and said he knew and repeated it all back to me. At the end of the last lesson they both recieved a ‘Congratulations for completing the course’ certificate and Master R also got a badge and certificate for being able to swim 5 metres. Although it has got slightly easier getting up as the week progressed we are all looking to a lay in tomorrow.

In other news Master R had the opticians. My Mum took us into town and he asked if she could take him in so she did. Apparently it went well and he was reminded to wear his glasses all the time.

Ms R got a Crayola colouring book with special pens in the post for a picture she submitted to a website a couple of months ago. She keeps on sending postcards and letters but isn’t getting much back at the moment and she’s finished yet another library book, this time The Worst Witch All at Sea by Jill Murphy. She really enjoyed it and was thrilled to find it is part of a series. We visited Waterstones while Master R was having his sight test, she was very excited to discover such a place and has added a whole long list of books to her Christmas list. She still has a Michael Morpurgo and a Dick King-Smith book waiting in her pile.

It was still dark when I got up! We had planned to get to the local swimming pool by 9am to sign both the Rs into swimming lessons for the half term break. Thanks to my wonderful Mum who decided that she’d like to begin her extremely long day by swimming we didn’t have to scoot or run to get there. We arrived in plenty of time giving the Rs time to have a swim with Mum before Ms Rs lessons started. She did extremely well, got lots of praise and said afterwards she found it easy. Master R was feeling nervous to be starting his very first swimming lessons despite being rather competent for a non-swimmer and I thought he’d want me near by but as we approached he went straight to sit on the side with the other children without any prompting or hanging back. He answered his name when called and got the ‘have I just had your sister in the last lesson?’ treatment which although has never happened to me (being the oldest) I was aware happening to others at school at the beginning of every school year and realised would be something that he would already be used to if he was at school. He was given his yellow swim hat which made him look very baby-faced. Comparing him to the level Ms R was at when she did the non-swimmers course two years ago I expected him to be very much in front of the rest of the group but all the children were equally almost swimming (except for the child weeping in the corner because she didn’t want to do it) which meant they got straight on with it. Master R seemed to get a bit confused about whether he was holding a red float or a blue float and seemed to go regardless of what colour was called, he even swam like mad across the pool when "Only Toby" was called . All the time that I could see his face he was grinning like a chesire cat. He appeared to be friendly with the little boy next to him but told me afterwards that the other boy was a bit silly and that they weren’t friends. He was very proud of himself announcing that he could swim now in his usual style of expecting instant results and said that he was going to listen harder tomorrow. We were home by about half ten and read through all the leaflets that were in the swimming bags they were given, made flapjacks which Master R plans to produce en masse to sell for huge profits and played Junior Scrabble which we abandoned before the end due to boredom.

Later we did shopping at the further away Tesco, spent an hour at the park and totally all got the hang of ‘Es que vous comprenez L’anglais?’ . I made a big veggie bake thing to go with kievs and pasta for dinner. Everyone turned their noses up at the chestnuts I roasted and now we are all shattered and ready for bed. 

On Friday we saw our friends-with-the-beautiful-garden now that their house is virus free again. We had considered a child swap but I felt in need of friendly, adult company with whom I can be myself with and not worry about how my children compare on an acadamic level. Pressure free, coffee consuming luxury time. It’s always interesting watching the dynamics of the children. First the Rs joined the two girls and played quite happily together while the youngest played alone. Then the eldest realised that her Mummys lap was free and made the most of that and Master R played boy games with the youngest while Ms R continued playing with the younger girl. Have never seen them play as a five for some reason although if they play as a four it is not due to excluding someone but rather because one of them has taken themselves out of the equation. Another beautiful blue sky and if I remember correctly there was some outdoor play as well. We discussed doing some educational stuff together (like science experiments) but they always play so nicely that I have to wonder if the benefits of doing some group learning will outweigh the disadvantages of disturbing their free play social time. I really like the idea of sharing some science or art with friends, it always looks so appealing on other blogs but it would involve an element of "Shut-up and listen!". I wonder if it works well for other people because their children are all played out, or because they are older, or because it is what the children have come to expect. Hmmm.

Having sat up late again on Friday reading and mooching I nearly overslept for gymnastics on Saturday morning. I was sort of awake in that conscious-but-can’t-move kind of way and figured that as there were no lumps on the bed next to me it must be early. As it happened it was so late that the lumps had been and gone and were now downstairs watching tv. But we made it in time and the Rs kissed me goodbye, told me I could go and didn’t even turn to wave or watch me walk away which felt quite odd. So I enjoyed an hour by myself to carry on waking up. They both came out bubbling as usual. Ms R had been asked to look after a new girl and by the sounds of it had taken this responsibility very seriously. It is lovely to hear them chattering about what they’ve done and mentioning the names of other children they consider friends. I went to work for the afternoon and as always the Rs waved to me from the upstairs window. They always have and always do, I’d have thought it would have worn off after more than two years. 

Ms R has always found it difficult to go to sleep alone. When she was a toddler and insisted I stayed with her I blamed myself for having held her so much as a tiny baby, but looking back even as a newborn so wouldn’t relax enough for sleep unless in contact with me. Maybe it was because she was born at night and we spent the rest of the night cuddled up together that her first experience and expectation of life was to be in my arms or maybe she spent that first night in my arms because whenever I put her in the bedside cot she made funny squeaking noises. Anyway it doesn’t matter now because I realise at seven and a half that the time of her needing to be near me while she sleeps is limited and I’m starting to feel a bit sad about it. She usually snuggles next to me on the sofa when she is ready to sleep even if she was in bed reading. Up until recently I’ve been happy to carry her up to bed when I go but now she’s getting heavier I often try to catch her before she’s in a deep sleep and guide her up the stairs and into bed. Last night I carried her, tonight I took her up before she was asleep and left her promising to return. She hasn’t ventured into our room in the middle of the night for ages either and although she climbs in with in the morning when Colin goes to work she doesn’t even try on Sunday when she knows he is home.

Sunday morning we collected my Mum and went to town for a look in some shops. We didn’t find what we were hoping but enjoyed each others company and the chilly October sunshine. Master R is being quite delightful lately with a suddenly expanded vocabulary. He told me it was easy to make pasties, all I needed to do was make some of that stuff, you know that stuff (Me: "What, pastry?"), yes pastry and then put some good ingredients inside. I’m not sure it is quite as easy as he thinks, especially with Ms R hating gravy but liking the sauce that you get inside a pastie and me not being totally sure what sort of good ingredients we’ll need but we might give it a go next week. We went back to Mums for lunch and chatter and later in the afternoon when I needed to go to Argos (returned and re-bought an item which had gone down in price getting me a refund of £12) Master R opted to stay. He baked a cake and hoovered while Ms R and I did our deed and picked up a couple of bits for the cake filling. We collected Colin on the way back and stayed for dinner. The Rs said they liked it when they choose and dish up their own dinner so we put everything in bowls on the table and they helped themselves. They both liked the pork but not the fatty bits, Ms R had second helpings of leeks in cheese sauce and Master R carefully picked all the carrots out from the vegetable dish. We finished with the cake and ice-cream and came home for baths and early nights. 

Next week is half term and we’re planning to do the intensive swimming courses at the local pool. They start at nine in the morning which means we’ll need to leave home at eight to get there on scooters and foot in time. Not quite sure what possesed me to think that would be a good idea but am hoping we’ll get there in time tomorrow and everyday for the rest of the week.

Today started slowly mostly because Ms R and I had sat up late reading our books but when Master R could wait no longer for company and breakfast we got up. There seemed to be never ending episodes of the Sarah Jane Adventures on tv which had both the Rs mesmorised for most of the morning leaving me free for housework, bathing and sorting through warmer clothes for winter. We lunched on lovely tiger bread and popcorn and when Colin came home left for a meet with friends at the laked park. Again, beautiful blue skies and sunshine made us feel better about needing gloves and coats, I’m loving this autumn weather. Master R got to play with his male friend A and another little boy and Ms R had the luxury of a toddler all to herself. Master R has plenty of female friends who he enjoys playing with and he’s quite capable of falling into a character for the intricate role-play games they play so it is interesting to see him playing with boys where the games seem less detailed and involve a lot more roaring and running around. For some reason the level of excitement goes through the roof and the adrenaline pumps making him much more likely to be aggressive if he thinks someone has done him a disservice and more likely to do things like throw sticks, slam gates and kick up leaves. All the normal boyish things that give them a bad name, but he had plenty of fun and no-one got hurt. My parents arrived home from their holiday and so we went by to welcome them home. They’d come back with chocolate from Spain, stories of good food and tanned skin. It was lovely to see them back and my Dad gave the Rs a £2 coin each.

I remember now why I don’t blog very often. On a day to day basis our lives are actually quite boring. Yesterday we did Nanas couple of bits of shopping in the morning managing to get fleeced by Asda (Boxes of chocolates 2 for £6 instead of the £1.98 each that Sainsburys and Tesco sell them for) but due to Colin coming home later than expected we didn’t make it to see Nana before the cut off point for morning visits so we went home again and had egg on toast for lunch before heading off to the park. Although the weather has turned cold we’ve been having bright blue skies and sunshine and I have found a big park next to a layby meaning I can park in the layby and stay in the warm car to read my book but also be close enough to see my children and hear them if they shout. Ms R loves playing in the park, she runs around feeling the wind through her hair and does lots of climbing and swinging, it was something she asked to do more of last time I asked her what she wanted from life. I love sitting in the car as it is warmer than our house and reading peacefully. Master R flits between playing and coming to chat to me. I do feel slightly like I’m being neglectful but other than the two second guilt I allow myself it seems to be a win, win all round. We listened to the french cd in the car again. I got a call from work asking me to go in early which scuppered the plan to visit Nana after she had her nap but before I had to leave for work so I allowed myself a little more guilt for being a rubbish grand-daughter. After I finished work I popped in on Nana who was quite happy to see me and to have her cigarettes.

Today followed a similar vein. After the usual breakfasting and bickering over Cbeebies Vs CBBC we sat down to do some Picasso style art. Or at least I did. Master R got more pleasure from some paint pens making a very colourful flower picture which he insisted on writing his name at the bottom of like a real artist, and doing a good job of it too. Ms R used some old flowery draw liners to cut into shapes to stick on card making flowers and a sunshine which she was proud of and I made a horse picture out of newspaper triangles. I think Ms R also wrote some letters to friends which we never got around to posting today. We dashed to Nanas for a quick visit as soon as Colin got home. Master R decided to give his picture to Nana who ordered me to find something to stick it on the wall with and because she felt she shouldn’t keep the pound that he gave her the other day gave it back to him. I don’t think he realised it was the same pound and now thinks she is kinder than ever and that he is a pound up. We went back home for lunch and then headed out to the same park. We had been hoping to meet friends but that fell through. I watched as Master R showed Ms R how to climb over the fence to save her walking around and was just starting to get a warm fuzzy feeling seeing them sharing a pair of gloves each when Ms R burst in on my little bubble to inform me that Master R had taken her glove without permission. That signalled to me that they had finished playing nicely so we made our way to the library but not before I noticed another little boy greet Master R by name and ask him his age. I was a bit surprised but Master R just shrugged it off as having sort of made a friend, a big improvement from last month when he was quite horrified that I suggested it was okay to talk to other children in the park. At the library we swapped a whole armful of Horrid Henry books for some Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Morpurgo, Dick King-Smith and Jill Murphy. Master R is now adament that he doesn’t want ‘baby’ books, whatever that means and wasn’t very impressed when I showed him the early readers so came away with just one book and clutching a free bookmark he found. We also swapped our Learn French cds for a different Learn French cds. There have probably been some interesting discussions and amusing moments over the past couple of days too, I know there have been lots of cuddles.

It is National Schools Film Week as nearly every home educator will know. It has given us the opportunity for cinema visits the last two years running and we wanted to make the most of it again this year. This is the first year we haven’t had a car handy though so we left home at nine in the morning which is unusually early for us to be up, fed, dressed and packed for the day and via both trains and buses got to the cinema just before half ten to find one other home ed family rattling the doors of the seemingly deserted venue. When we were finally let in we thought for a creepy moment that we’d be the only ones but then two lots of school children filed noisily in and took me back to the days of the school canteen filled with the chatter of hundreds of children. We saw Astro Boy which had sad bits, laugh-out-loud bits, robots, a little boy with super powers, fighting and well everything my boy would ask for from a movie. We munched on our own supplies of popcorn (no Coke this time after Ms R needed five toilet trips during Toy Story 3). We were first out of the cinema although nearly blinded in the process having to walk past rows and rows of hi-vis jackets and boarded a bus at about a quarter to twelve thinking that we’d still be able to enjoy a couple of hours of our home ed group. However, it took an hour and half for the two buses to take us what would have been fifteen minutes in the car. Thanks to Nora Roberts I was suitably relaxed and entertained. Ms R had a book she was reading and Master R was quite happy to watch the world go by with the occasional comment or question, mostly regarding situations surrounding bus crashes, fires and breakdowns.

Ms R made the most of her time with friend Miss E by skipping the usual initial shy stage. Master R looked dangerously like he was going to be a bit clingy but then managed to connect to his friend Miss M, mischievous glances and cheeky grins from them both let me know they were having a good time plotting something or other against the world. It was all over very quickly, by the time I’d said hello, found a chair, comforted a faller and helped tidy up I found ourselves back at the bus stop for another two buses and train home again. On the way Master R fretted once again about wanting money and suggested that I employ him as a domestic cleaner in exchange for enough money that he can buy what he wants. I explained that I wasn’t paying anyone to tidy up their own mess and that me having lots of money was only an illusion brought about by them seeing me buy food, pay for bus fares etc. He had a little discussion with Ms R and between them they decided to open a second hand toy shop and split the proceeds (by giving me the big money and asking me to swap it for smaller coins so that they could share it out equally). They planned to write letters to all of their friends advertising the shop and it was all sounding rather good. Until they realised that Ms R wasn’t actually prepared to sell anything that belonged to her.

After we got home we decided on a quick trip to Tesco for fresh bread and magazines (and an excuse to listen to some French in the car). A spontaneous one-off purchase of a Ben10 and a Jacqueline Wilson mag several months ago when I was feeling generously guilty about something has managed to escalate into a fortnightly expense. Ms R gets good value out of her magazine reading it cover to cover to herself and sharing her favourite bits out loud. Master R just loves the plastic tat stuck to the front of his. Ms R had also taken some of her money left over from her birthday and found a big Horrid Henry book to buy which she started during our visit to Nana. Master R had also taken money but not seen anything he liked so gave a pound of it to Nana for "being kind and a nice person". She’s always very generous with money at birthdays and Christmases and occasionally gives them a pound just because, which he’s picked up on and used to relieve himself of some of the money burning a hole in his pocket.

In the evening we ate together and watched Merlin. Ms R has just finished her new book, I was hoping it would last longer than a few hours. She loves the Horrid Henry books but finds she is getting through them too quickly. She’s not interested in magic kittens, ponies or witches and has read the easiest of Roald Dahl and Jacqueline Wilson. She’s asked for some nice thick books for Christmas but every time I see something that might fit the bill she also sees it and finds a way of getting it.

Last night Master R casually asked if he could sleep with me so I put him in my bed knowing I could move him once I went up if I wanted to. Unfortunately our bed just isn’t big enough for two adults and child/ren anymore so they tend to wait until Colin gets up at five in the morning before climbing in with me and going back to sleep. I wish I had worried less about Ms R wanting to sleep with me when she was younger. I was often heard to say things like "Now she is three/four/five/six she shouldn’t need to sleep with us anymore" but now she is seven she doesn’t need to sleep with us anymore and I almost miss that need.