Christmas Reading

19 yrs ago I worked in a school nursery and loved getting out the boxes of picture storybooks appropriate to the coming season and decorating the room likewise. I have done this at home ever since. 



The arrival of the 'new season's' books down from the loft was always exciting. 

Percy Park Keeper/Brambly Hedge/Old Bear/Shirley Hughes/Kipper all lend themselves perfectly. (See the sections on Favourite Books, Unit Studies) I guess this update is about missing those favourites and adopting new, more grown-up, titles and traditions. The 13 Days of Christmas/Christmas Carol/The Christmas Mystery have taken their place. 


I recently saw on Pinterest a book advent calendar ~ wrap up 

12 or 24 books in Christmas paper and snuggle up to read the mystery book each day.

 Why not start a new reading tradition for your family this year? 

Ignite the Spark of Classical Music

I guarantee there will be a piece of music they will fall in love with - you just have to keep looking for that first spark that excites them... 

Even if it's just movie themes like Jaws, or from adverts [Hall of the Mountain King - Alton Towers, Flower Duet ~ British Airways for eg], or even the beautiful O Fortuna [Carmina Burana ] from X Factor. Or for girls ~ Barbie Swan Lake/Nutcracker animations, for boys James Bond themes. Everyone will know something from Disney's Fantasia, or Saint Saens' Carnival of the Animals. Ignite that spark people!!! 

grin emoticon Best of all get along to a concert. Its a whole lot more exciting than watching YouTube.

Expose Children To Classical Music Whether They Like It Or Not  says Nicola Benedetti

Then do some SQUILT with your children.

 What is squilt? Check out this link. 

 It is a method designed by a HE mother to encourage children to listen quietly to music and to jot down how it makes them feel, dynamics, tempo, and instruments heard.  Simple!

The whole package has a small charge though some elements are free, but we just use the free Squilt worksheets and do our own thing.

Follow this with reading up, and some notebooking/worksheets about composers, maybe take a look at the whole era of the time, and the country he is from, and you have yourself a unit study.  See 'Our Favourite Books' tab for help in choosing resources. 

Free Worksheets

What is Notebooking?

Some Music to Help You On Your Way

Using Gardening As An Educational Tool (Pun intended)

Its been a loooong winter here. Not so much low temperatures, but damp and windy. Crisp frost enables you to wrap up warm and go see the beautiful outdoors, all sprinkled in a sugar coating, but the wind and rain - not so good.

In anticipation of Spring we are planning our fun veggie patch.

Here's the children's brief for this year -

M & M’s Gardening Project Feb 2015

Find out the last date of frost for our area  -  gardenfocused.co.uk

Work out a planting schedule for the seeds that you have chosen, bearing in mind the last frost date.   Print off a blank calendar to show this. 

Use the on-line tool to make a planner for the raised beds. — gardeners.com

    Find out about organic fertilizers that we can use.  

Make a vocabulary list of new words

    Recycle pots, newspapers (use pot maker) and egg boxes into seedling containers.

    Make a plan of the whole garden on graph paper, with room for all the elements that you want to have. Stride out the garden and make an accurate scale plan.

Plan out your Pizza Patch on  paper, then say how you will mark it out in the garden.

Paint the ‘name stones’ of your plants 

When the time is right, set out a ‘Tee-pea’ of bamboo.

Make notes and keep a weekly growing diary, recording  insects that come into your garden.

HAPPY PLANTING!!!

Books::-

Grow it Eat it

Roots, Shoots, Buckets, and Boots

New Year, New Book

''Rather than filling our child’s educational plate and saying, “Eat up. Trust me. This is what you need,” we hand them the menu and say, “Order something that looks good to you.”  

Where have we been since October's post? Christmas extra-curriculum activities and social events mean that spare time has not been available in too much excess. But that's what we love, isn't it? Or we wouldn't be ''the wizards'' we are, at ''conjuring up learning experiences.''

Then there's the post Christmas period of mellowing into an existence, less galvanic, and more human, after being overwrought with excitement and anticipation... and that's just mum! 

So with a ginormous cup of coffee, I flopped into the comfy old armchair, resolving to become engrossed in a Christmas present I was given - a book, written by author Lori Pickert. Project ~Based Homeschooling. This is an approach that we slid into by accident rather than by design, when writing for writing's sake was taking it's toll and left each of us feeling like the hamster in it's perpetual wheel, and asking ''What for??' 
I was thrilled that this method of 'ours' was recognised and even had a name, and someone far more qualified and reputable than me, was flying the flag for Delight Lead Learning!
 Hurrah!!

Choir concerts and extra rehearsals, parties, Nativities, plays, and home made present making days, employed us fully throughout the Christmastime. 

Decorating the community village tree

Making Christmas cake gifts