Grizedale...

Hi its Eilidh here with my first post!! Grizedale is a lovely forest. here are some pics of us at Grizedale!

us at the playground

us with the big man

us with the ape

That's all for now folks hope you enjoyed the post.

Handing over the reins....

Well. seeing as how I am so hopeless at keeping this blog updated (note last date!!) the kids have decided that they will do a much better job! So from now on, it's down to Eilidh and Ben .....I'm sure there will be a lot about Lego, animals, friends and other exciting things! I guess that's how a blog about home educating should be!!

Water, water everywhere....and lots of sunshine!!

The last few days have mostly been spent in water, by water or gazing at water!! The weather has been amazing here, unbelievable that a couple of years ago we were easter egg hunting in snow!!

Swinging in the river at Staveley

The rock princess at Grasmere, love this beach!!

Wherever we go, the scooter goes too....

Trying to drown Action Man....again!

Shhhh the troll under the bridge is busy reading..........

...and there's another one!

Sailing boats by the River Kent.

and there's more sunshine coming tomorrow.....Yay!

We don't do School.....

There's been a few discussions on groups in the last couple of weeks about what 'type' of Home Educator you are...unschooler, radical unschooler, structured, autonomous etc, etc, etc.  I never knew there were so many names for what we are doing, personally I haven't got a clue what we are and don't really care!!

We've been 'home educating' (for want of a better term!) for about six years now and I guess we've mainly got past worrying what other people think or feel about our choice. We don't follow a curriculum, we don't 'do school' at home, we don't tend to do a lot of written work although occasionally one of the many workbooks we have on the shelf gets dusted off and worked on, we don't do exams......yet we still have two very bright, intelligent children who are capable of reading well above their age, happily socialise with other adults and children, can workout intricate computer games and build incredible Lego models (which is a skill all of it's own!!)  Go figure!!!...........

Eilidh has taught herself how to do joined up writing because she wanted to rather than having to, Ben just doesn't write but would probably be able to get us all out of an emergency situation if the need ever arose (Bear Grylls is the best!!) and can spout out facts about animals and history I never knew, as well as knowing all the characters of Star Wars!! They can work out slices of cake fairly, figure out how much money they'll have left after buying that must have Lego set and are far too good at bargaining money for doing chores!! They pooh, pooh silly science experiments with rolled eyes and 'we know that Mum..' and look bored when we get our 'you need to know this' hats on because most of the time they already do, just from living and being able to explore the world without the constraints of having to do something in a certain time, in a certain way.

They're not angels either but this is just so you know where we are..... we just go with the flow. I have to admit to baulk at the idea of being truly 'autonomous' in every aspect of our lives as I've seen  a few children whose families pretty much allow everything and it has most definitely put me off!! So we're sort of in a halfway house,  not completely autonomous but also a long way from structured ....at the moment.......
We have two happy, healthy, intelligent children who are learning all the time and teaching us much of the time, they may be behind their school friends in some areas and way ahead in others, it doesn't matter because they will achieve what they want to achieve when they're ready....not when others say they should be.   

So that's our 'Home Education' story, every child and family is different and there are many, many ways of doing it and it can change from day to day............But we definitely 'Don't do school' ...........(at the moment!)     

This is perfectly normal.......right??

January in a tent on still frozen grass with a picnic lunch..........doesn't everyone do this??

Still, it was a beautiful day today, sun was shining (well most of the time!) and we spent all afternoon at Fellfoot Park. We only got strange looks from a few couples walking past otherwise we had the place to ourselves!!

It's a New Year

I know I'm a bit late with our New Year but as in the previous post ( Limbo Land ) it's all been a bit different around here. We are still in Limbo Land as after tests and scans we still don't know what's going on with Dave's weird pains, at the moment it looks like a suspected Hernia but they can't seem to find anything. So although we're not sure what's going to happen we just have to get on with it!!

So........it's a New Year and we have dreams and plans to work towards, some dreams will be years away but the planning and doing starts now. Although money is extremely tight at the moment and compared to lots of others we don't actually spend much, we are planning to pay off our debts within the next couple of years, which means cutting back on all the extra little bits, like cups of coffee, lunches out, ice-creams etc, selling off things we don't need, and generally getting ourselves sorted......then we will be free to get on with the grand plans before the kids get too old (or we do!!)

It all feels pretty impossible at the moment and a long way off but we're going to try so it's packed lunches and flasks at the ready!!      

We love Free!!

Winter time in a big touristy area can be the best time of year for the locals! We have a few attractions near to us which are open at reduced prices or even free in the quieter times of year and we love to take advantage of these when we can. After being cooped up for a few days with the ongoing rain (doesn't seem to have stopped for weeks here!) we decided to go and visit Greenlands Open Farm who have free entry until the end of the month ...hurrah! It made for a very lovely afternoon, although I managed to get conned into letting the kids into the indoor play area which wasn't free!!

Aaaah cute baa lambs!

Goats!

Maggie May - gorgeous if a little stroppy Clydesdale!

Eilidh riding the tyre pony

In the Straw Barn play area

Ben discovered the Go-Carts!

Recycled Lanterns...

The Christmas tree had been taken down, all our lovely twinkly lights had gone and it was all looking a tad boring!! After spending far too long on Pinterest (again!) I saw that some of the other Home Eddy people were busy getting themselves organised for this month, looking up Chinese New Year.....aha...light bulb moment....we'll make some lovely Chinese Lanterns to cheer up the blank space and have a seasons table instead. Then ....aha.....another light bulb moment........why not use the old calender which had beautiful flower pictures on to make them with....

TA DA...........

Not got as far as hanging them up yet but aren't they pretty? Now got to figure out what else to do........

Limbo Land....

I have been put to shame by all the other bloggers out there who seem to have made New Year resolutions to write their blogs more frequently....well....almost! I'm not going to promise anything at the moment but we'll just see how it goes.

We've had a weird couple of months, DH has had mysterious pains in his lower abdomen area for a couple of months now, the Doctor is baffled, scans and tests have showed nothing and after much to-ing and fro-ing he is due to see a Consultant tomorrow to see if he can figure it out! This has meant that as a Self-Employed Handyman who can't even pick up his toolbox, he hasn't been able to do much, let alone work. The run up to Christmas was not looking great in our house. However we have had some fantastic friends and family who have really been like our Christmas Angels, and we are extremely grateful to them. Logs have been chopped and stacked, food has appeared from people we have only just got to know, gifts we never expected have been given and even some anonymous financial assistance has landed on our doorstep. People out there are still fantastic whatever anyone else may tell you!! We had a lovely, relaxing Christmas Day and it was certainly helped by our Angels, we really hope to be able to pay it forward sometime soon.....

Now onto New Year......We're hoping tomorrow will bring some clues as to how we can move forward but this New Year it feels like we are living in a kind of Limbo Land, we can't really think about what 2012 may bring until we know where we stand and how it's going to effect work and our home life etc....so for the moment we are ever so slightly plan-less (is that a word?!) and will just have to go with the flow, that includes Home Ed!!

For now we have to remember....we have happy, healthy kids, we have a roof over our heads, heat in our fire, food in our cupboards, great friends and families and even the luxury of a nice car to get around in, we really are blessed where others aren't......

Have a blessed New Year and may it bring all you need and wish for x