In sickness and in Homeschool... again!

Well we are in a health blip - nothing major but even if they were at school, Little H's #1 and 2 would be having a fair time off at the moment with a flu virus that just seems to be going on forever! No-one is spared, so with a family of 6 we having been nursing someone or other (usually more than one) for about the past 3 weeks...

School still goes on, kind of, but it has been even less formal (and less organised!) and there is beauty and blessing in that, as well as a bit of extra guilt and stress for me!

I have had a bit of an exploration of the NAPLAN standards, a year ahead, so that I can see where we are in terms of what is expected of Y3 which Little H#1 will be next year. Really the thing I am interested in is how the maths curriculum compares and I am glad to have looked at it now - not because we are going to go anywhere near NAPLAN next year ,but because I can see what gaps we have in what we are doing. I have listed those for myelf but a noteable one was logic problems. I used to love those as a child anyway and we haven't done much logic and not enough probability (which actually Little H#1 copes ok with). So I will supplement what we are doing in maths (I don't really feel the need to apologise for concentrating on number, but I will do some more of the other things to make sure we are a bit more rounded).

We did some beginner logic problems on Friday and I enjoyed doing something very different with Little H#1, and he enjoyed them too. They were free off the internet of course. :)

We also have done some money play and work recently - we definitely need to do more of that, and I think the time has come to start with pocket money and saving up and actually using money in shops.

The boys have been playing games really nicely too, and there is definitely an improvement in the patience of taking turns, accepting that they may not win, and also importantly being willing to attempt things like forfeits (or action cards, required in a lovely game we have called Bright Buttons). The Bright Buttons game is aimed at 3 year olds but even last year when I bought it, neither of the older 2 felt able to attempt any of the easy actions if they required physical movement or impersonations etc. So it's a nice game they can all play together and still get something from.

Little H#2 is very keen now and is asking for work even when ill, which is difficult because obviously it is harder for him to concentrate and he gets upset with himself for getting letters back to front or questions not quite right.

They have inspired me again with Bible time, we have had some lovely devotion times recently and Little H's #1 and 2 are reading fantastically from their Bibles. Little H#3 is also desperate for "work" but his attention span is age appropriate and it's a little hard to keep him engaged sometimes in preschooler activities. ANyway. I am trying to master setting work for 2 slightly different developmental stages (they are closer in maths than I might think) and soon I will have a better idea of how to balance all 3. There are those scholastic bliss moments (like hotweels maths last week) where they all work together, Little H#3 can join in and we all come away with something good. I will detail that lesson separately but here is a sneak preview: