Any South Wales Home-Ed people

[redshoes]

Hi
We are thinking of moving to a farm north of Swansea. We are in Brighton at the moment. My eldest (14) would go to the local school, but I would like to home-ed my younger 3 (6, 4 and 2), at least for a while - maybe until they have learnt Welsh! Is anyone else HEing in that area?

Hi redshoes, we're in Cardiff, which is a bit of a way away (though would be great to meet up!) but there are quite a few HE'rs in Swansea.

A few of us meet up in Cardiff, and there's a biweekly meeting in Newport...I can't imagine there isn't anything in Swansea! I'm on a yahoo group with plenty of Swansea members!

Where exactly are you planning to move to?

We're considering a place near Ammanford. But I am struggling to commit! Always lived in cities you see. Tell me some nice things about Wales I might not know?

well it has lots of trees and mountains.

the light is very nice.

it doesn't rain all the time, just most.

uh...

(you're speaking to the wrong person, tbh...I'm a Londoner and even cardiff is way too small for my liking)

Oh, btw...you do you there are welsh medium schools, and they can enter at 7, I think? (if you kick up enough fuss).

HE is fabulous, but I wouldn't advise doing it to learn welsh, tbh, unless you're fluent yourself. Oh there's organisations that can help you a bit, and welsh medium playgroups.

Swansea is THE place to live

I know nowt about home-ed in Swansea but Im sure Filly will help you in that area

Swansea has everything you could ever wish for

And I live there

Swansea has WelshBoris, RS

Who could ask for more?

I would quote Dylan Thomas but I can't be arsed to google.

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.

hmmm...can i be arsed, can i?

no, still can't

and its bedtme

( "My birthday began with the water -
Birds and the birds of the winged trees flying my name
Above the farms and the white horses
And I rose
In rainy autumn
And walked abroad in a shower of all my days"
)

A springful of larks in a rolling
Cloud and the roadside bushes brimming with whistling
Blackbirds and the sun of October
Summery
On the hill's shoulder,
Here were fond climates and sweet singers suddenly
Come in the morning where I wandered and listened
To the rain wringing
Wind blow cold
In the wood faraway under me.

Ah

Feel MUCH better now

Oh. So it's all green hills and people wandering in the rain quoting poetry is it? Hmmm, bit like Hardy's Dorset? Visualizing you as Tess, WB...
I actually am very fond of Swansea - DH is from there. That's why we decided to find a smallholding reasonably close to there. Do you know Ammanford at all WB????
Fillyjonk, I wouldn't be home-edding to teach them Welsh, just that I couldn't send them to Welsh schools as they wouldn't understand ANYTHING and think it would be too much. So, might home-ed them and see if they can get classes in welsh somewhere, ease them in gently...

ah, i see, that makes more sense.

the welsh thing is something all he'rs round here seem to struggle with, btw, except the bilingual ones.

If they went to regular schools they would learn welsh, I think its a lesson or two a week or something pretty useless.

There are some organisations which theoretically should help but in practice are pretty rubbish-eg TWF (pron toov). We've had a cd off them, thats about it.

Probably what we'll do in a year or two is advertise for a welsh speaking studenty type to come and play with the kdis for a morning a week or something. Will probably see if any local HE'rs want involvement in that.

Thanks for the info FJ. We are thinking of getting a local in to teach them Welsh in a casual way too. Are you going to have lessons yourself???

did welsh gcse when ds was a baby

might do more later...dunno...too much else going on and i want to learn swedish...

you can do intensive courses btw, specially designed, called an wlpan.

Swedish???
Intensive course sounds good. Who runs them?

I know of Ammanford, but I live near the city centre.

My DD will be going to a Welsh school, Ive started looking a few.
I think the idea you have of a local teaching Welsh is a very good one

cardiff uni does them.

would be mightily suprised if swansea didn't also.

intensive swedish is, alas, harder to find.

Filly my father (estranged) teaches for wlpan. Redshoes, it's sort of like evening classes, I think you can progress with it quite quickly if you want to.
Schools - you don't HAVE to Welsh-medium school them you know (although you might want to of course!), you'll find plenty of English speaking primaries and lots of monoglot (E speaking) Welsh people more's the pity. Welsh is a national requirement however, so there'll be W lessons in some form.
Ammanford - there's some very pretty areas around here, the Towy valley for eg is beautiful (think green rolling hills). The Black mountains around Ammanford are also quite atmospheric, in a sort of purply brooding way. Swansea itself doesn't move me much, unless you had the Gower in mind, which is stunning but pricey.
Filly & WB - were you thinking of DT's "ugly lovely town" for a Swansea quote?? I also like Twin Town's "pretty sh*tty city" ...no offence meant!
hth Redshoes...

meant to add, he teaches in that area - Carmarthenshire etc.
BTW think a farm somewhere around Ammanford could be quite idyllic

Thank you Sancerre. Are you in Wales?

Sancerre, it seems that all the little local schools near to this farm are Welsh medium eg Penygroes.

FJ thanks - I'll check out the Uni courses

To be honest Sancerre, Twin Town showed Swansea in a bad light and that quote still gets my back up

No city is perfect but personally I believe Swansea has everything. And more

I take it you dont live here?