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Home ed

Find advice from other parents on our Homeschool forum. You may also find our round up of the best online learning resources useful.

Original poster

Free to all

113 replies

sorkycake · 21/12/2006 16:19

Hahaha! you all though it was super-dooper freebies. No!
Just thinking on the hijacking of threads, which is rampant on HE threads I've noticed, and it's all fillyjonks fault

I think I'm now allowed off the naughty step and would like to ask how you all are?
We broke up today and are now officially on our own. It's took 5 'roses' sweets before I could type this as I've re-entered panic mode!
Oh and I'd like to know if it's too early to teach a 4.5yo about Yule and the Solstice.

Feel free to hijack or converse as you feel the need to

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HowTheFillyjonkStoleChristmas · 21/12/2006 16:45

must go out now and do yule

good thread, will be back later

take care

SueBaroo · 21/12/2006 17:16

Too early? Isn't it this week?

I'm tired today, which explains the facetiousness all over the shop. I'm gutted that we've got no roses sweets here.

munches on some old liquorice sticks

We don't do 'terms' as such, so I don't think we'll ever use to phrase break-up... well, not unless it's in the context of my head going pop.

Actually, when are the dates for the solstice and Yule? I'm a Christian and completely out of touch with the outside world at the moment. By which I mean I've been housebound for months so I've only really been aware of what we're doing, not that a Christian wouldn't know about Yule.. oh, I'm just confusing myself now.

Mince pie, anyone?

Original poster
sorkycake · 21/12/2006 18:06

Facetious, now there's a good word!
Solstice is today!
Yule is more complicated as it's dependent on phases of the moon I think, but I'm sure it's tomorrow - 22nd.

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Heartmum2Jamie · 21/12/2006 18:23

I never thought about "breaking up" as ds officially left school on the 14th. As it turned out, we have all been feeling under the weather this week with the obligatory christmas colds and even if ds had still been at school, I probably wouldn't have bothered sending him this week.

we haven't done much on the home ed'ing front either as mon/tue ds1 wasn't well enough, ds2 started really badly with it yesterday and today and today, I feel like poop. I do like the fact that if we don't feel up to it, we don't have to do anything! We have had lots of cuddling time, watching tv under fleecy blankets, floor picnics and playing games. May not sound educational, but it has been fun and made spending the day with 2 poorly children go by much faster.

Original poster
sorkycake · 21/12/2006 18:37

Hope it clears for you before Christmas .

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HowTheFillyjonkStoleChristmas · 22/12/2006 07:57

how are we all today?

can i be nosy and ask more about everyone else?

i have 2 dc-ds is 3 and dd is 18 months. so know naff all about HE really but do have every john holt book ever written (including rather a lot of issues of GWS and his collected letters .

SueBaroo · 22/12/2006 09:36

I'm waiting for a Tesco delivery this morning. Quite nervous about it, given that Sainsbury's have royally cocked up their deliveries apparently...

I've got three dc at the moment, all girls - 5, 3 and 1 and a half, and I've got another sproglet due in the new year.
We decided to HE well before we had our first, because I had a friend who did it, and it set us off investigating the possibility.
Not read any John Holt or some of the other authors I see mentioned here quite a lot, we've been quite influenced by Charlotte Mason, and I suppose we do a mix of gentle Mason-style learning with 'real books' and have a fairly casual approach to things at the moment. We're prolly going with a more formal 'classical' approach when our oldest has turned 7, but we're deeply laid-back about things before then.

Heartmum2Jamie · 22/12/2006 10:02

Good luck with the Tesco delievery Sue, I am terribly jealous you got a slot so close to Christmas, lol! Mine came on Tuesday and we have been trying hard not to eat everything before Christmas gets here, lol!

As for my lot, I have 2 ds's, the eldest is 5.5 and the youngest is 2.5 today (where does the time go??) and I really haven't got the foggiest about home educating either but we will get there. I have just recieved delivery of 2 John Holt books, how children learn and how children fail. Which would you recommend reading first Filly?

Anyway, dh has to finish his xmas shopping today, the youngest and I still feel blah which is a shame as ds2 was supposed to be going for his 1st ever haircut today, I would like to be able to see his face on pics, but worried that he will cough and they will slip with the scissors

Runnerbean · 22/12/2006 10:05

We are off to our HE xmas party today!
My dd 7 has written an xmas play which she will be performing today with her he friends.
She has also taught herself 'Good King Wenceslas" and "We wish you a merry xmas" on the recorder!

Have read John Holt, John Gatto and Free Range Education all very inspiring books.

SueBaroo · 22/12/2006 10:53

Hurray! it all came and no nasty surprises came with it!

Heartmum2Jamie, I really hope you begin to feel much, much better soon, nasty weather for feeling under it.

Oh, and I stayed up until after midnight on the day they opened deliveries for the 22nd, just to make sure I got a slot. I'm disabled, and the idea of my poor husband having to do the big Christmas shop was nightmarish for all sorts of reasons!!

wanders off to pog on some stollen

Saturn74 · 22/12/2006 13:30

Oh good, a chatty HE thread!
There are getting to be quite a few HE parents on here now, which is great.
We're HEing our two boys, aged 10 and 9, and we've done so for about 2 years.

HowTheFillyjonkStoleChristmas · 22/12/2006 20:35

re holt: hmm depepends where you are at really

how children learn is a nice book, an observation of (free) schooled kids juxtaposed against his preschool nieces and nephews

how children fail is IIRC, more of a polemic. It was the first holt book i read, i liked it but...its more unschooly.

SueBaroo · 22/12/2006 20:42

I love the wide variety of thought in the HE community. People seem to come at from such different angles.

pulls slippers off that's me done with education for the day

HowTheFillyjonkStoleChristmas · 22/12/2006 20:50

yeah agree sue

it always makes me laugh these "what do HErs do about

cos we've got to be one of the most diverse groups of people in the country really

SueBaroo · 22/12/2006 20:58

Thought of a response the socialization question -

"Oh, we're going to let them decide whether or not to be socialists themselves"

HowTheFillyjonkStoleChristmas · 22/12/2006 21:08

i am not going to let my kids decide that

they might decide wrong

BlessThisMess · 22/12/2006 21:29

Just coming out of the woodwork to say hello as another HEdder - DD age 5.5 and DD age 2. As for John Holt, I would recommend reading How Children Fail first, and How Children Learn second, as that's the order he wrote them in.

Heartmum2Jamie · 22/12/2006 21:54

I ended up having to teach a lesson about death today, rather unexpectedly as poor ds1's rabbit became poorly this morning and died this afternoon It has been a rather difficult day all round and we still had tears at bedtime.

Now, if only I can explain to him why it is not a good idea to jump straight into getting another rabbit, however tempting it is as our female rabbit looks so forlorn right now

Original poster
sorkycake · 22/12/2006 21:56

Ooh chatty threads are much better aren't they?

We've had our first HE day today and done bot all , except play games and do jigsaws.

I have Dd-4.5 and Ds 3 and due boy in Early Feb. Suebaroo I bow to you, though really you've got the magic number of kids going on there for HE-4.

My Christmas present arrived to day from Amazon, Fail & Learn by Holt, Gatto's Dumbing down and Terri Dowty's, but can't remember the name.

Are you all ready for the fat guy?

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Original poster
sorkycake · 22/12/2006 21:57

Oh HM2J,
sorry to hear about the rabbit. how did you explain it to him?

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Heartmum2Jamie · 22/12/2006 22:08

It was mucgh more difficult than we first thought. We kind of told him straight away that Cookie had died (well, when I got off the phone to the vet), but I don't think he knew what "died" meant. I then picked Cookie up from the vet so we could bury him and explained that Cookie went to bunny heaven...which he understood, but then wanted to know how Cookie could be in a box on the patio and in heaven at the same time . That got us onto a conversation about souls. A very hard conversation to have when you don't actively follow a religion. In the simplest of terms, we explained that the soul goes to heaven and that the body stays here so that we can bury it so that we have somewhere to go when we want to visit with Cookie. He seemed to understand but it was heartbreaking to watch him cry when we put the box in the round and cover it with dirt He was sooo good and helped us cover refill the hole and findsomething to mark the grave so we can find it, especially as we buried him in the forest. Ds thought he would like that

Heartmum2Jamie · 22/12/2006 22:09

Well done on your first day of HE! Sounds exactly like my whole first week, lol!

HowTheFillyjonkStoleChristmas · 23/12/2006 06:37

aw heartmum, how difficult

we don't even believe in souls here, though my mum follows a religion that believes in reincarnation...god am dreading those converations

am reading a good book atm "miseducation-preschoolers at risk" by david elkind (the guy who got me through my child psychology modules years ago!). Its very good.

I have some books that I am not reading right now. One of them is this terri dowty book. I honestly cannot stand it, tbh, the only reason I am not giving it away straight off is that a lot of people do like it so I have leant it out a lot.

Anyway, if anyone wants to borrow terri dowty then shout. I have some more I'm happpy to lend too, but they are more unschooly? I get the impression most of you guys do actual lessons/teaching? Anyway, if that helps pls shout.

Original poster
sorkycake · 23/12/2006 11:26

I can't get past chapter 2 in the Dowty book fillyjonk. It's cack!

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SueBaroo · 23/12/2006 12:02

Oh Heartmum, that's a tricky proposition. We've only had to deal with dead fish so far.

Not heard of Terri Dowty.. might skip that, then.