that wagons getting roomy - a TTC and waiting TTC thread

[nobodyputsBBinthecorner]

ha ha no names mentioned this time

Despararion does weird things to people, but I am not making excuses for them, they should have been honest and open from the start.

I am so sorry, this must be a nightmare for you, your life has been going towards this for a long long time, and now it's all gone

Yeah, you can stick around there are plenty of us who aren't actively ttc. I mean I am not even a Mum yet, amd not ttc till Sept and I still spend far too much time on this thread!

Well if us pregnant ones can stay on a TTC board, I don't see why you can't Besides, you are a mum of two, and will have handy advice and examples for others, I reckon we need you here

cool!!well i might see about helping some other close friends who also need a surrogate... I've spent almost the last 2 years thinking about beign a surrogate for my friend and for this to happen is awful, but i know not everyone is like that!! Otherwise i might convince DH that havign our 3rd now is a good idea!!!

Well word of warning, if you go down the route of convincing DH, don't swop a DC3 for BJ's, it isn't worth it

haha, when i found out i was expecting dd he said i needed to give him more bj's but he probs gets much less now that he did then!!haha!!

right i'm off to do the nursery run with ds!!! last trip for a 10 days!!!! wuhoo!!!

Oh no Glaskham, what a blow? Oh a dc3 is the way to go i think

Diege I love the programmes where people have so many kids they lose count

There is a section on here for those with larger families (4 or more) that I'm an honorary member of- it's called OWLS.

It stands for Old Women Living in Shoes (obv less of the old)

LG&T and Liaghen are fully paid up members, I have the temporary badge because I'm trying for no.4!

We chose HE because she wasn't going to learn anything at school that we can't teach her at home.
She hated being away from us for 6 hours a day and she started to conform verrrry quickly. Putting her hand up at the dinner table to speak etc
She also stopped asking questions, which was the final straw.

Since HE'ing we are all immensely close-knit and I really feel they are having the opportunity of an extended childhood. Kids seem to be in such a hurry to grow up these days and the peer pressure is starting a bit too early for me.
She has no clue what's cool atm bless her & she is interested in what she likes to do, not what everyone else is doing. I quite like that, she's learning who she is in her own time, with little influence.

Our approach is pretty fluid atm. Lots of play, real life stuff like chores, shopping, gardening etc plus they have access to the web for educational games and also have workbooks for specific topics. We have a library full of books for them too.

The local shopkeepers know us and are really great with the kids, counting out change with them, asking them what they're up to today, explaining what they're doing as part of their job?

The librarian is on first name terms with them .

We feel much more a part of the community then I think we would've if we lived a different way. Life is slow and rather uneventful and just the way we like it.

The only down side is we lost a considerable sum of money in my dropping to one day working whilst Dh stays at home, but there's a trade-off for everything and now we don't miss the money so much.

If you have it you just spend it right?

We effectively went against the grain because there were no specific reasons such as bullying, illness etc that you normally associate with HE.

Okay my cuppa isn't going to drink itself

Have I scared everyone away with my soapbox?

I'm sitting down to chat here you know, rare that it is

i was away taking ds to nursery!! and my sis is coming in a bit....

I love the idea of HE but dont think its for us really... DH would have to do all the teaching as i doubt i could remember much from school!!

Sorry Squack, had to actually do some work, damn work, taking up all my MN time!

Thats exactly what I like about the idea of HEing myself, all the things I would love to be able to give my kids, rather than learning how to pass sats!

ah you'd be surprised

we are doing it until dd is at least 7 because we think the testing of young children is ridiculous. After that we'll see.

Ah Glaskham, the point is you don't have to teach you learn with your children, its all about facilitating learning rather than teaching as such. Read some of the HE threads, it certainly widens the posibilities. Of course it really isnt for everyone and I may be desperate to pack them off to school when I get to that stage . I will, however, be serioulsy considering it as as valid an option as school. I think a lot will also depend on the HE support groups in my area and how active they are.

and yes, I am sure if I did do it they would eventually go to school. I also hate the constant testing of our LO's in school when I worked as an LSA/TA and was training to be a teacher (before I got ill again) I used to hate the constant assesment/testing and the prescriptive national curriculum, literacy and numeracy stratergies that are part of school life.

whereabouts are you BB?

I assume you meant me Squack . In which case I am in Hampshire.

actually so is BB!!!

Ooh sorry .

Sometimes I read the post, click 'add' and by the time it gets to the bottom of the page I've forgotten the original question, or who I'm talking to!

The South (Portsmouth, Southampton etc) tend to have a very good network of HE'ers.

You have loads of resources round that way too, lucky things!

It's getting pretty good up here now, lots to see and do. We visit London a couple of times a year, because there's loads to see & do there.

We're learning about Ancient Anglo-Saxons & Celts atm and are thinking of visiting Skara Brae up in Orkney. Quite excited about that. Gathering materials to make our own model of a round-house this week.

The best thing about HE for me is discovering things again, like my love of History and the joy of Science experiments. Forgotten how much fun being a kid was!

Not to worry Squack, it really doesnt bother me, I have nearly done it so many times!

I am nearly Portsmouth 9about 17 miles away)Yes you see I would love all of that too, we have loads of great things around here to do with kids, particularly with regards to history. I adored them all as a child, my favourate place was the weald and downland open air museum in West sussex where they have brought together a collection of houses from accross the agees (e.g victorian school, working water mill, tudor house etc etc) I used to look forward to going there every year!

Oops loads of typos, I should really stop half working half MNing. So on that note I am going to do some more work!

Squack - I found what you've said about HE really interesting. I hope you don't mind if I ask a few questions? Apologies if you've already said somewhere else but, how many DC do you have? How does it work with (assuming more than 1) different ages? And do you plan to HE for a certain length of time? Genuinely interested as it is something I've often wondered about and never met anyone who could talk to me about it.

Ask away, I don't mind.

I have 3 kids aged Dd6, Ds4 & Ds15mo.

The ages don't really make much difference it's their learning styles that are completely different that can be tricky.

We took Dd out after 1 term of Reception. She had attended a Nursery for the previous year which was fab, and which she/we loved. School was a whole other kettle of fish.
Ds's will not go to school at all, unless they request to attend.

At first we said just until they get past SAT's, but now we might do it until GCSE's. It depends on them.

They can both read, Dd was taught through phonics, Ds has just learned by himself . I would like to take credit but I can't.

They have very different interests atm, but will come together to learn something new.
Dd will continue to learn through scrapbooking, art and drawing of what she has seen and done.
She's much better at holding a discussion and is a great one for fluid conversations, one topic leading into another.

Ds likes books and tv and interactive games. He's very focussed and prefers a structured approach atm.

Follow-up work after a visit out will be tailored to the way they learn best.

Sounds probably like more work than it is.

Sounds really good - what was the actual process of taking your dd out of school like? Did you have to be 'inspected' is it were? (sorry, thats probably not the right term!!!). It sounds a very natural way of learning. I'm quite concerned about dd going to school (not for ages yet, but thinking lots about this issue). I am an A Level teacher, and find the low standards of general education and behaviour so depressing... something is obviously going badly wrong somewhere with the way formal education is organised. On the one hand I worry about the 'missing out' on the social aspect which I'm sure you more than compensate for. My dd doesn't go to nursery and I look after her 4 days and dh 1 day per week, and I know how we feel when our friends talk about the 'social aspect' of nursery - we obviously don't feel she is missing out, so I guess I've answered my own point there! On the other hand... I'm concerned about the 'risk' we'd be taking with her education hinging on whoever else she happens to share a class with - and their various behaviours etc. Dh thinks I'm being too precious, but you only get one chance... you've really got me thinking.

And - its taken my mind off ttc (almost!!!) - been a horrible day for me today. I'd convinced myself utterly that I was pg, and now that I'm not I feel so despondent. I know some people go through this feeling or worse time and time again so feel really silly but...

Afternoon,

Just skimmed through,

Sorry about DS2 Nat, I hope he is feeling better.

Sorry about your friend Glaskham. It is better you know now rather than finding out when you are in labour etc.

Squack, I think I'd enjoy home schooling but I don't know if DH would agree but we have a while until DS is at school age.

Been to the GP's with DS as he has eczema and typically the chemist doesn't have what I was meant to get.

whereabouts are you roughly HN?

the de-registration is quick, simple and painless

Simply a letter handed into school reception, a copy for them, a copy kept for yourself. There are templates to access on the EO website, or I can let you see mine.

Then the LA will contact you usually by letter to confirm what you have done and may send some info out about HE.

Your LA's response unfortunately depends entirely where you live.

Mine is absolutely fine with HE thank goodness.

We have opted for home visits, yearly. They may have access to the children to speak to them and can see work they have produced. You don't need to consent to anything like this though.

The visit is about 30 minutes and was very informal. 2 people came to us, a former Ofsted inspector who has knowledge of the NC and the head of admissions within the LA both were very complimentary on our family and the way we are going about HE.

There are Yahoo groups where most local HE'ers get in contact and the area I live is thriving, and growing at a shocking rate.

They still do things like Rainbows, gymnastics and ballet with other kids who are schooled.

We do art club, Science workshops. Meet weekly at least just for play as a large group. We ice skate once a month, visit friends and family etc. Dh uses his annual leave to come to things with us like the skating etc.

On Tuesday it was a beautiful sunny day so I rang him at work and he took the afternoon off and we all went to the beach! The freedom it gives you is good.