How We Homeschooled Today #81

A whinge in the woods

Today was definitely a mixed day. There was willingness and defiance, joy and whingeing, in equal measure.

Via Unsplash

This morning got off to a difficult start because a plumber had to come and look at a leaky tap, which meant the children (ages 5 and 7) and I couldn’t settle into our normal work routine. Before he arrived they both did some nice work in the Jolly Learning books. We’ve had a pause on these while we waited for a new book to arrive, and they were both keen to get back to it. My son is still on Pupil Book 1, but my daughter has just started Grammar 1. It’s a one-stop-shop for spelling, grammar and punctuation. For the first Pupil Books (1-3) I didn’t bother with the teaching guide. There are ‘listen and write’ exercises in the early books for which I just made up appropriate sentences. But for Grammar 1 I have bought the teaching guide, and I’d recommend it if you’re using the same books. There’s lots of helpful information beside what spellings and dictation exercises to do.

After that each child did some work in their Usborne Adding and Subtracting activity books. They were sitting at our (small) table and I was trying to help both children with different maths problems simultaneously. It wasn’t very easy, My daughter got frustrated and refused to continue after the first activity. We’ve decided that next time they both want to use these books, we’ll take it in turns and go one at a time. Then we all played a Number Hive game, and started a second, but got derailed by the plumber.

There was much complaining about having to learn French and Greek, and I started to get a little grumpy. Normally the children are pretty willing and good-natured about their learning, and when they’re not it feels like my choices are either to make them do it anyway, or give up and give in. I don’t like either of those options (and actually neither do they, because when I give up they know I’m cross about it which doesn’t feel great to any of us). We did manage both in the end (French seemed to involve me singing ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ in French while the children laughed), but I didn’t feel like much learning had taken place.

After lunch all four of us went on a family outing to a nearby wood (my husband is The Common Reader, if you’re new here, and he was in charge of us not getting too lost today). One child in particular was apoplectic at the very suggestion of leaving the house. You won’t be surprised to hear that they were also apoplectic when we later told them it was time to leave the woods and go home. We saw a really cool red fungus, lots of sweet chestnuts, and dozens and dozens of sticks, which were all appraised for their worth before being discarded or brought home to be treasured forever. There was lots of whining about how tired their legs were. But, it was also lovely to be out altogether in the sunshine, and it was so warm we had an October ice cream at the top of the hill.

Super cool fungus!

Back at home, I read aloud to them about krill and Antarctic silver fish from Polar Lands, and whaling in DK Eyewitness Whale. These both follow on from the reading we did about whales recently, and our visit to the Polar Worlds gallery at the National Maritime Museum. The children have asked to do some research into what whaling is still taking place today and how whale populations have changed since the 1988 international ban.

Today was not the best day ever, though there were certainly some lovely moments and there was much laughter amongst the grumbling. Sometimes a bad day—or just a bad maths session—can feel much worse than it really is. Remember (I’m talking to myself here as much as to you), it’s only one day, and tomorrow we all get to start afresh all over again.

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