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:

In sickness and in homeschool...

The wheel really came off this week when I was ill! I lost my voice on the weekend and so have been practising 'parenting without voice' (God has a sense of humour) and schooling without teacher!! Ha ha. Actually Matthew has been around (he had to stay at home for his own health at the beginning of the week, and then I have been incredibly ill for 2 days with mastitis so he had to stay at home as much of yesterday as possible, and then all of today). Of course Matthew is the teacher too (the Biblical homeschoolers say he is Principal of our Homeschool - I do agree with that but I don't think we are as Biblical as them in other ways). Seeing as this blog is fairly new (although not widely read!) I will stay away from *Biblical* controversy for now. :)

So school has been a very natural thing recently! They made a volcano village, it finally erupted on Tuesday (separate post to come about that) and have done various other things.

Good opportunity arose yesterday when Grandma visited and had her magic reading tests in her bag. I don't really care too much for diagnostic-thingys but I can say that because so far whenever we've done one it has been really encouraging. I will say here what the results are (and what they were last August).

Little H#1 is 7 years 5mths old. Waddington Reading Comprehension Test 2: 10 yrs 6 mths, Burt Word recognition reading test: 10 years 11 months, Spelling age 10.2. (August he was Reading Comprehension: 9 yrs 7mths, Word recogntion 9yrs 11mths, Spelling age 9yrs).

Little H#2 is 5 years 2mths old. Waddington Reading Comprehension Test 2: 8yrs 4 mths, Word recognition reading test: 8 yrs 1mth. I spared him the ordeal of a spelling test because we are still beginning writing and he is keen but I don't want to push it. He enjoyed the reading tests though. (Last August his Waddington Reading Comprehension Test 1 was 6yrs 1 mth (at the age of 4 yrs 5 mths).

Very encouraging and a fine day's work for them when I was able to do absolutely nothing myself and was glad of the extra pair of hands for a few hours.

I have to say though, that being so ill (though it rarely happens) seems worse when we are homeschooling. In reality though I have more helpers at home, we don't have a school run and They. Can. Still. Learn.

I forgot to mention that yesterday morning Little H#1 had a craft project in mind (he thinks a lot and reads in his room before we know he is awake a lot of the time) and he drew a jungle picture and tore up bits of different coloured paper to make a kind of mosaic collage. It was a family affair and his brother did it too. They just did it together with a little Daddy help in the drawing stages. This morning before I had braved even calling it morning he came into our room fully dressed and announced he had finished his maths in the playroom. They have a table in there we tend to work together on now, and I haven't cleared it in a few days and put the schoolwork back on the shelf. That was a definite high to start the day.

They ended the day with a Daddy and boys' adventure out to Waterfall Gully after Little H#2's and 3's sleep, and #1's 'reading in cubby' time. I was finally able to stand and cooked the tea and just enjoyed the baby for a bit.

That's how sickness and homeschool have looked in our house recently. Writing it down is good, it helps me to see the light that what we are doing is ok, and works even when it isn't Working.