Travels in space and time.
As we hurtle towards the
end of another ‘term’ it is amazing how much the boys have done in the last few
weeks and looking through their work they have achieved some really great
things. We’ve all learned lots from being out and about including visiting some
interesting museums and also enjoyed wandering around the internet and various
reference books looking things up.
 |
| Out and about with boat school. |
Although the current topic
is still space and that is being explored far and wide (pun intended) with constellations,
space exploration and comets amongst other things, going off topic is often
encouraged. World book day saw them creating some really great craft items
related to their favourite books, and they each, with varying assistance, wrote
great book reviews which they posted on their blogs. I must mention one of my favourite books at
this point – http://www.mathsformumsanddads.com/ , whether you are home educating
or trying to help with primary school homework the ideas and games in here are brilliant
not to mention the invaluable definitions section, this is possibly my most
thumbed resource book.
 |
| Giant sticker space poster, very popular activity. |
The music sessions have
been really good, they have played recorders, played with vibrating glasses of
water to make sounds, sung and danced to a huge selection of music and started
learning basic theory. It has taken us off in all sorts of directions as well.
A visit to a bagpipe museum (yes, really, it was part of a larger museum, http://www.spain.info/en/conoce/museo/asturias/museo_del_pueblo_de_asturias.html
and it was actually very good!) had us listening to hurdy gurdy music on the internet then on to more research into the Celts, whilst listening to and practising the Asturian anthem led on to the Spanish civil war and mining via politics including autonomous regions and dictatorships!
and it was actually very good!) had us listening to hurdy gurdy music on the internet then on to more research into the Celts, whilst listening to and practising the Asturian anthem led on to the Spanish civil war and mining via politics including autonomous regions and dictatorships!
 |
| Horreo (granary) at the Asturian Peoples Museum. |
Art sessions have been equally
popular especially exploring the use of images as branding in companies and as
book covers leading to the production of covers for the mini books they are
currently writing and a very gluey session putting patterns together.
Sewing is definitely the
most popular subject at the moment and they have even been known to sit over
the weekend finishing off a project. The range of items they have created
certainly reflect their different interests. We were very pleased to find a
shop locally which sells large sheets of felt cheaply and have recycled a holey
duvet as stuffing, finding an old cross stitch sampler in the bottom of the
sewing box was also a hit as they have seen me doing cross stitch and were keen
to try it themselves. The idea was to teach them the practical skills of sewing
but it also seems to be encouraging planning, perseverance and care, it has even
encouraged research of various textiles and their production.
 |
| Sewing projects. |
One of the lovely things about home educating is the weaving together of threads to make a wonderful rich education, this is certainly happening as more topics are covered and more links between them are uncovered, there are certain recurring themes especially the Romans and the Celts and each time they come up we add another layer of knowledge on top.
We’ll carry on with space
for a while longer as there is still lots of interest and there is also school
report day (http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport/) coming up for the 2 eldest so the planning book for the next term is out, this
terms work has all been recorded and it’s nearly time to pack away the books,
down pencils and enjoy Easter – I might sneak some home work in but don’t tell
them. ;)
If you’re interested in our boat school here are some other
blog entries you may enjoy:
http://sarahontarquilla.blogspot.com.es/2012/09/end-of-summer-holidays.html
http://sarahontarquilla.blogspot.com.es/2012/05/boat-school-update.html
http://sarahontarquilla.blogspot.com.es/2012/01/no-school-today-then-boys.html
You can also follow Tarquilla on Facebook
Comments
Post a Comment