Home Ed groups - then and now

I've been home educating for over 20 years now. I'm not saying that makes me any kind of expert or anything but I have seen quite a few changes, especially in regards to local groups.

15 years ago, I knew of only 3 Home Ed groups in our region that I could take my son to, each one meeting on a monthly basis. Two were in our local town and one was on the other side of Leeds and involved a train and two buses to get there. The two local groups consisted of the same four or five families - one was an art group and the other was a social meeting in a small room provided by the council (other families occasionally turned up there too). There were very few children my son's age  at these groups and it was a struggle to get him to go sometimes.  Luckily, he understood that I needed to meet with other home educating parents and he would agree to come along. There were occasional trips to theatres and workshops, but communication was often sparse. We sometimes missed them because the only way to find out about things was down the phone tree (which often didn't work) or through a printed monthly newsletter. There were no yahoo groups that I knew of and definitely no Facebook. Not that it would've helped anyway as we had no internet and neither did the local library.

This week we went to a new local group in a local park. I'm really not sure how many families were there as some sat in the playground, others played cricket on the playing field and more were sitting in the room that was our official meeting place. I reckon there were at least 18 families who had travelled from different parts of West Yorkshire to come to play in the park. Most of these we see regularly at one group or another, some were new families with younger children just starting out on their home ed journeys. The group had been organised through yahoo and Facebook. No phone tree.

It really struck me how different it is (and how old I am) for HE families nowadays. Every week there seems to be a new group being started in areas where none have existed before. Every week there are new workshops and trips being organised by parents all over West Yorkshire. My children were playing in the park with friends that they have known since birth, with children that they see two or three times a WEEK at different groups and with new friends. The world seems full of home educated children today whereas 15 years ago, I had to search the EO contact list to find the very few other local HEors.

This experience made me determined to organise groups and trips myself so that my younger children wouldn't struggle with isolation in the same way my eldest son had done as a teenager. I never envisaged the growth in the number of HE families that I have seen, nor did I envisage the way the internet would change the way that we communicate. Back then, I was inspired by an American HEor living in Leeds who put tons of energy into organising groups and activities. She showed me what was possible, how trips could be organised and how groups could be set up and run. Consequently, along with other local HE parents, I have organised trips, set up groups and met some fabulous families. I have many people to be thankful to, and for, on my HE journey, but that American mum stands out in my memory. Wherever you are in the world today, Judith Shalkowski, I thank you. You were an inspiration :)

Cycling at the new HE group in the park

Picsticks Review and Discount Code

I was offered the chance to review some photograph magnets from Picstick.  They offer nine photo magnets 50mmx65mmx0.75mm for £9.50/$14.99. You can upload photos from your computer, your Facebook account or your Dropbox. Postage is free worldwide :)

Picstick encourages people to create photo magnets from photos shared on Facebook. On the FAQ page it states "You can also browse your Facebook friends and groups you follow and select from the photos they have shared. (Perfect for creating surprise presents!)". I can kind of see the lovely friendly gift-giving idea behind it, but I don't really want my Facebook friends or random group members making magnets from my photos. I also felt that this suggestion contradicts the Terms and Conditions which state that "You warrant...that you have all required rights or permissions necessary to incorporate third party material into your Products". So those surprise presents could cause you some problems :/

Setting up a Picstick account is simple and free. For some reason, I was unable to link my Picstick account to my Dropbox account where most of my photos are kept. It kept timing out or giving me a blank page. I don't know if that's a Picstick thing or a Dropbox thing. I didn't try connecting to my Facebook account , so I don't know if that process is easier or not.  In the end, I chose to upload photos from my computer which proved to be fairly easy because of the straightforward instructions on the website.

Because I was writing a review, I tried to choose different subjects rather than all family photos.  I went for colour, brightness, detail, landscape vs portrait,a  computer generated image and some family photos. Any editing that needs doing has to be done before you upload the images to Picstick as the only editing tools available are crop and rotate. One or two pictures looked like they had a black line across the top of them when I placed them in the grid, but I had no need to worry about that as it wasn't on the magnets when they arrived.

I quickly got an email to say that my order had been received and my magnets were being made. I received another email the next day saying that my order had been shipped and they arrived the day after that. Speedy service!!

The magnets arrived in a strong cardboard envelope which also contained a card with a thank you message and thumbnails of my photos. Very cute. I was, however,  a bit disappointed in the magnets. They looked very grainy and mottled. At first I thought this might be because I had cropped some photos as far as the website would allow, but when I checked the image I'd made in Photoshop I knew the colours should've been solid and they weren't:(

But all was not lost. I contacted Picstick via the Contact form on their website and quickly received an automated email saying that replacements would be sent out sharpish. The next day, I received a more personal email that addressed my questions directly and asked me to let them know if the replacements were ok or not. They were. Not a mottle in sight :)

The colours are vibrant and details are clear. . Although next time, I may make my images brighter before I upload them and use more close-up photos as they definitely work better. That said, I think they're a lovely size, they stick very nicely to my fridge and I can see all sorts of uses for them :)

They'd be ideal to slip in a Christmas or birthday card to friends and relatives.
You could add text and use them as magnetic business cards to give to customers so that they never lose your contact details again.
You could make your own large print magnetic flashcards to help with reading or maths or language learning.
Every member of the family could have their own photo magnet that holds their personal 'To Do' list or messages to the fridge door.
You could scan your children's artwork and make magnetic copies to send to friends.
Or you could make your own magnetic calendar, or timetable if you're very structured, or a chore chart......

I'd love to know what other ideas you can come up with. I like to find an educational use for everything if possible :)

Picstick have offered all my lovely blog readers a 25% discount. Just use the code below at the checkout.

WEATHER25

Disclosure: I received a free set of photo magnets in order to be able to give a complete and honest review. All opinions are my own. No money exchanged hands :)

Toilets and Trips

Our last local group themed session was on Toilets. As parents we had all felt a little challenged by the topic, although it proved to be a more popular theme than anticipated. We had 16 families come to the session which is about twice as many as usual.
The activities included investigating tipping toilets and designing a water container that tips when it is full; listing the synonyms of 'toilet' including the more impolite ones; matching the translation of the word 'toilet' with the correct country on a large map; making miniature model outdoor loos from toilet rolls; a toilet related board game; learning about U-bends and making a working model; playing outdoor toilet related games like toilet Tig, Mother May I and toilet roll relay race; and making toilet pests from empty toilet roll tubes. I was very busy most of the day making toilet roll flies but I did catch a glimpse of the toilet roll relay race and the ensuing carnage.












Totally coincidentally, another local HE mum organised a trip to a water treatment plant and a sewage treatment plant which tied in very nicely. Both places were very interesting, although I found it a bit sad when they told us that 30 people used to work in the water treatment plant which is now computerised and has only a couple of people working there. And the same at the sewage treatment works that would've employed up to 300 people and now employs only 8. Not that I'd want to work there. It was a bit too smelly.
The two plants, one at Headingley and the other at Esholt, are education centres for Yorkshire Water, each venue had its own classroom. There were computer activities in one venue and models of roadworks and films of protozoa in the other.
I thought my children knew about the water cycle, we have covered it before, but they seemed to either have forgotten everything or were too shy to answer.
We were split into two groups, so I stayed with The Girl while Boykin hung out with his friends in another group. There was a lot of information to take in, but they gave us some really nice looking resource books to take home and have a look through. They were mostly aimed at KS2, but that doesn't bother us as we aren't limited by the National Curriculum and happily jump around resources as long as they are interesting.
One of the things that surprised me most, was the ornate sewer exit constructed by the Victorians. There we were, looking at real-life pieces of poo floating out of the sewer through a fancy bit of stonework complete with coat-of-arms and Latin motto. They were so proud of their sewage works those Victorians. It made me realise just how much we take our sewerage system for granted, and just how lucky we are to have it.

As part of my own home education, I had to look up the motto. Labor Omnia Vincit - Work Conquers All. The sewage works certainly went a long way to conquering some of the Victorian health problems, we don't get cholera outbreaks anymore, thankfully.
One thing that both my children mentioned having learnt that day was that Fat, Oil and Grease (F.O.G) shouldn't be put down the sink. I already knew that, but thought it was to prevent my house pipes blocking up. I now know that it's to prevent the main sewers blocking up. I'm usually pretty careful anyway, but I'll be a bit more careful from now on because some poor bloke has to go down there and chip it all out by hand :(
The sewage and waterworks trip was free and was open to children age 7+. If you have one near you, I'd recommend going along as soon as your children are old enough. It really is an eye-opener.

Yorkshire Water Educational Resources

Never the Same....

Yesterday felt like a bit of a non-day to be honest. The Girl was pretty exhausted from her Scout camp at the weekend which involved caving and walking . The walking I can get on with, but not the caving, especially as she demonstrated how she had to move through some of the low, narrow tunnels 8-o Ugh! Makes me shudder just thinking about it. I'm so very grateful that she has an active Scout group with dedicated leaders who can take her to do all the stuff that I'm too  wussy to do - that would be anything involving water, heights, small spaces.....


Anyway, she had a bit of a lie-in yesterday while me and Boykin did some maths. He also wrote a postcard to send to his new penfriend and finished off his sequel for The Day The Crayons Quit which he did for one of his Picture Book Explorers activities. His sequel is called "The Day After The Crayons Quit" :)  He did a really fab job. His letters from the crayons were funny and his illustrations complemented them beautifully. He even included a letter from Duncan which had a wrapper for the naked Peach Crayon in the envelope. I was impressed with the amount he wrote and with what he wrote. I found some parts of it hard to read though because his handwriting is still very irregular and he'd written all the letters in wax crayon. Anyway, he has agreed to work a little bit more on his handwriting. We're using a book from Schofield and Sims to help him along.
In the afternoon they informed me they were doing media studies and would be watching a St Trinian's film as it also covered history too. Cheeky or what? ;)

Boykin took the book he had made along with a couple of other things to Cubs which gained him his Creative Challenge badge. One happy Boy :)

Anyway, all in all, yesterdays day of films and relaxation meant everyone was in a much better mood today after an early night. Me included :) I think the sunshine helped.

So today, we have had some interesting discussions about the Bible including whether or not the Book of Genesis could be interpreted as saying that people should be vegetarian.
Then The Girl went to her ballet lesson and Boykin continued reading his current book in the How To Train your Dragon series. When The Girl got home, we all sat down and watched last year's Children's Author's Live with Cressida Cowell and looked at some of the activity sheets and did the quiz. We're signed up for this year's event, which will be on 2nd October - Dragonese Day.
This afternoon, The Girl has happily spent her time designing and making some new greetings cards to sell on her stall at the next Scout coffee morning :0) While Boykin watched The Fairly Odd Parents which arrived today from Lovefilm. Then it was his turn to go dancing. It'll be another early night tonight for them.

In the meantime, I have to find an activity to do for our local Home Ed group tomorrow. The theme is Toilets. Any suggestions? Please?

Book Review and Dino-jaws

It's been a busy week. We started Monday with a pyjama day keen start into the full on routine of term time life. Oh, I know we don't stop for holidays, but we do ease up somewhat to make time to see schooled friends. None of the Monday activities had started yet and the kids had had a weekend in Blackpool with their dad, so they were more than happy to wear their self-styled home ed uniform once more ;)

We spent quite a bit of the day reading The Story of The Amulet by E. Nesbit. This is the third book in the trilogy which begins with Five Children and It and includes  The Phoenix and The Carpet. I have to say, my children have thoroughly enjoyed listening to all three of the books. I think they would make a great base for unit studies too. There are so many different places visited by the children, both in England and abroad, and in the last book, they travel through the ancient world. This was especially exciting for The Boy as he recognised quite a few of the places mentioned from our reading of The Story of the World: Ancient Times v. 1 .
There's lots of opportunity for discussion when reading the E. Nesbit books too. What would you wish for if you could meet the Psammead? Where would you go on the magic carpet? Which time period would you visit with the Amulet? There are also lots of things that we had never heard of casually mentioned in the book as if they were common knowledge, presumably they were at the start of the 20th Century. Lots of opportunities and incentives for historical research there :)
In case you don't know the stories (we didn't), the books follow the adventures of four Edwardian children who live in London and their baby brother. While on holiday, they meet a sandfairy, the Psammead, who grants wishes. They have lots of mishaps by being a bit too vague with their requests. The children are very realistic and bicker amongst themselves quite a bit in all the books. In the second book, they meet a Phoenix with a magic carpet. Again, they get to wish to go to different places and again have lots of adventures. In this book though, they are a little more careful with the wording, having learned from their time with the Psammead. In the third book, they rescue the Psammead and he shows them where they can find half of the Amulet. They spend the rest of the book trying to find the other half so that they can get their hearts desire. Each of the books could be read as a standalone, but we were all rather glad that we read them in the correct order. My two would recommend them to anyone of any age and I would recommend buying the books rather than downloading the free kindle versions because you don't get the line drawings that help the story along :)

Anyway, we eventually finished the book at Tuesday lunchtime, just in time for our local Home Ed book group :) Everyone else enjoyed it too, it seems :)

Wednesday we went to the Dino-Jaws exhibition at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Another Home Ed event :) Me and the Boy went by train which meant we had a lovely walk on the river. The Girl really isn't that interested in dinosaurs anymore so she wentto spend the day with her Nana instead. Anyway, I think she would have rolled her eyes at us two enthusing about odd shaped buildings with fancy Victorian architectural features (Not windows again!)
All in all, Boykin enjoyed the exhibition. He filled in the questions on the quiz sheet, did the interactive stuff, and built a Lego model dinosaur that was displayed on the reception desks along with everyone else's models. I'm glad we went as a group though, as it was pretty expensive for the amount of time we took to get round. The animatronics were good fun though and Boykin particularly liked the vibrating floor with the T-Rex roar.

But for me, one of the weirdest things we saw all day was the hologram person on Leeds train station telling people not to take luggage up the escalator. Just a bit too Doctor Who for me :/ Mind you, it was interesting working out how it worked and lead onto a discussion on how and/or if science fiction influences the development of technology.

Thursday, after all their out of home activities, we sat and watched Dolphin Tale. We all enjoyed it and found it very inspiring. We ant to know more about the actual dolphin that the story is based on, and we want to know if the home-schooled daughter of the animal doctor actually exists.

 I wonder if this might be a good starting point?