First Week - Third Term

Happy Friday You Guys!

If you are anything like me you are watching the clock to celebrate (with a wine glass in hand) for making it through the first week back at school for the third term - right.?!

How did you fare?

We made it through without incident - it could be because we have decided to change schedules a little with homeschooling.

What is the point of not being able to do just this. It's part of the reason for it all.. isn't it? Being able to decide how and when it all should be learnt and done.? And all of this at their pace.

We have cut back drastically on the hours a day spent on book work. I was finding that we were spending way too much time with our noses in books and not enough hours spent outside under the Sun. Don't get me wrong, I love to have my nose buried deep in any book. But this is not for everyone. This was not working for us. G is not a child who can cope with not enough fresh air time. The whole other schedule was just too stressful for us both. So we have cut down and are focusing more on one subject at a time with math every morning.

AND its been wonderful.

Math in the morning with breakfast and coffee and then we get ourselves outside after 10am. There is still a chill in the air and the ground is still soaked from dew from the night before. But all this can be made right with the right sized Wellies and a hand knit jersey.

One subject is then read and spoken about while lunching alfresco on a blanket under the Pines. Anything needing to be written or answered in exercise books will be done after, while D has her afternoon nap.

And then after 3 when naps are done and the last of school work has been marked we're all outside for a couple more hours or until it is just too cold to stand it anymore.

Our Coop is D's obsession at the moment. She needs to be in there as soon as I set them free from the cottage in the morning. She beelines there as fast as her Wellie Boots can carry her. And of course he follows.

He is teaching her to clean up, check that their water and food is enough for the day and collect the eggs for lunch. Pine needles are raked to fill their nesting boxes too.

Of course, you know how well that goes with small humans. He does everything and she stands about the coop calling "Cheekins". Did you see that video on Instagram :) ?

I will add it here just in case you didn't ;)

Credit: @a n g e l a 🌙

His Tenth Year

We all welcomed his 10th year here Earth side with him this past weekend.

We woke before the sun and shared gifts under the warmth of the covers in our bed while the smallest and the second eldest slept.

It was a moment just for him and Rob and I.

Rob is in the middle of his final stretch of studies and so is waking and leaving home earlier in the morning, this month, to travel to his college which is in another town.

This year we were able to surprise Garren and take him out to a restaurant for dinner. It is our first year of homeschooling so we dont have to cater for the numbers in the classroom like previous years. But what we did do is make up a few party packs and cupcakes for his team at soccer practice.

Our tradition is that on your special day you get to choose the meal and then a home-baked cake for afters.

Credit: @a n g e l a 🌙