Easing back in

So I haven't been in this space for a few months. So many visitors, swimming class and then la rentrée! September is always a hectic month trying to get used to new activities and find new ways of organising our time. I've come to the conclusion I'm a bit slow as it does seem to take me a long time to get used to changes. 

Beach football with friends

 

She enjoyed it so much more than it looks in this photo!

And changes we've had with quite a few new activities thrown into the mix. Our youngest in particular has upped from two to four activities this year which makes for very interesting Wednesdays (no school in France) as I ferry kids around from one place to the other.  

I also had a birthday which didn't seem such a big deal this year, why is it that birthday's finishing in 0 always seem so much more special? Here I am at the beach having a very nice time thanks to great weather, some cycling and a wonderful cake backed by Noah. We had a very hard time lighting the candles! And in case that kind of thing interests people, my hair was expertly plaited by Maya. 

Not much more to say today, we've been at the beach a lot! But we have also done quite a few experiments that I'll be sharing too as well as some craft and arts projects. In the meantime, check out this amazing piece of beach art curtesy of Maya and I, having fun on a lovely day out to the wonderful Ile Kerner.

 

Holidays, Field Trips and Home Education

Stonehenge

People often ask us if we take the school holidays off. The simple answer would be no. We don't stop learning for the holidays. Psst neither do school kids! 

In fact we don't really change our way of learning much at all although we may privilege certain experiences over others. School holidays are great times to work on socialisation skills, spending time with friends and family who are more available. 

It's also the moment to learn new skills or activities that our normal schedule doesn't leave time for. Things like swimming lessons and sewing projects, gardening, cooking and kayaking.

Mont St Michel

Another thing our holdiday's are full of are field trips. On our recent trip to the UK we took in Utah Beach, The Mary Rose, Stonehenge, Glastonbury Tor, the Roman Baths and Fashion Museum in Bath as well as Darwin's House and the Mont St Michel. 

Some of those visits responded to areas of interest and studying we've done over the last years, others will kick start new interests and some are just because they're interesting and on the way. Follow up work might include watching documentaries, writing a report or reading up about something we found out that intrigued us.
 

Learning how to shoot arrows!

So Maya (12) has read up on women's fashion and prepared a report after the Bath visit. Lotta (6) is learning about the iron age and how StoneHenge was built. Noah (8) continues to be fascinated by WWII and has just got a load more books out of the library on just that subject. Visiting Utah beach was a dream come true for him. 

Learning really is something that is happening all the time for all of us. But it's not just classroom style learning, reading or writing or solving a problem. It's also learning how to interact with other human beings. And it's learning how to take good care of yourself and others. It's discovering what you enjoy and what makes you excited and passionate and want to know more. 

All these things don't stop for the holidays, so neither do we. For us there's no strict time on and time off if you like, but rather a continuum of projects and living and projects and sleeping and eating and living and projects. May it so continue! 

The Mary Rose in all her glory

Trying Something New

Utah Beach in Normandy

Hello! We've been on the road again, computer-less and with minimal internet connection. It's been lovely to be so reconnected as to not even be checking my emails, but it's also nice to be back now and reconnecting with people, ideas and the stimulating world of the wide web!

Following on from my post about Learning all the Time, today I'm going to share with you about trying something new. Trying something new can be life-changing, it can be energising and it can be great great fun.

Part of our holiday was a birthday celebration at the amazing outdoor pursuits centre Yenworthy Lodge. We spent one of the best weekends of my life with a group of the most amazing people I've been lucky enough to meet. And I spent an afternoon surfing! (no that's not me in the picture above!).

I have to admit I'd been rather dubious about this activity. Everytime I thought about trying it, I kept imagining all the ways I would make myself look ridiculous by having a go! 

First there was the wetsuit. Now I consider myself to be in not bad shape for a 40 year old mother of 3 but wetsuits are very unforgiving and images of beached whales and heffalumps came to mind.

Me, ready to Kayak

Then there was the looming disgrace of my lack of sporting abilities compared to the rest of my immediate family. Former 110m hurdling champion of Rhone Alps - check. Kids who are literally great at every sport they try - check. Severe awareness of being a little out of shape - check. 

All those things combined to have me pretty much ready to hang out my wetsuit to dry and take up a spectators position. And then I read these words from a friend and other participant, she said,  

"well I'll give it a try and if I'm no good or it's not that much fun, I'll just go chill on the beach". 

What wisdom! So often as adults we take ourselves a bit too seriously, we worry a bit too much about our dignity and in so doing cut ourselves off from trying to many fun things. What a shame for ourselves. And how far from the example we want to model for our children. How can we tell them to give things a go, have a try if we're not prepared to do it ourselves.

Noah preparing to belly slide off a kayak!

I've seen it over and over again with language learners, how they're too afraid to speak because they are so sure they're going to make mistakes or sound stupid. Put your pride away I'd say and give it a go. It's the only way to get better.

Me and my life long friend off to surf!

So I decided to take my own advice, put my own pride away, stopped worrying about my dignity and decided to just have fun. It really helped that I teamed up with my best mate Cath, I couldn't have asked for a better partner.

Maya catches a wave

Lotta surfs in

Oh yeah, I know you're all dying to know how it went... was I as awful as I'd thought I might be? Did my kids and hubbie show me up? Well, yes my Maya and Lotta were natural surfers much to everyone's envy. And yes Frank did not too bad nor Noah before he took an early raincheck. But, yes there's a but, I was actually not bad! 

I was stood up right after!

I managed to ride a wave which was one of the greatest highs I've experienced in a while and even stand up on my board if only for seconds! I cannot begin to describe how happy and content this made me feel. I was not only pleased I'd given it a go, I actually discovered something I really enjoy. What better encouragement for me to get out there and try more new things. 

Today, surfing in Devon, tomorrow the world! 


 

How to be observant

Observation is one of the cornerstones of any good scientific process. All good scientists know they need to look closely at things to work out how they work or notice minute changes if they're conducting an experiment. They have learnt how to be observant.

"Observation is essential in science. Scientists use observation to collect and record data, which enables them to construct and then test hypotheses and theories." (Science Learning Hub)

 
Today I'd like to share with you one way we've been fostering observance in our home education through natural sciences. Many children have a natural interest in the outdoors, in nature and animals. Fostering this interest and using it to encourage careful observation is an excellent way to encourage your children's scientific tendencies.

What this means for us is many different things. It may be spending time by the riverside or at the beach. It might be leaf collecting or painting tulips, going bird watching or star gazing. All these activities cultivate not only great observation skills but our children's sense of wonder. 

The activity I'd like to share today is botanical drawing. That sounds fancy but round here it mostly means taking time to draw, colour and paint plants and flowers. 

Supplies

• Nature journal or paper. We like water colour weight paper best either in notebooks or loose leafed. We also love water colour postcards. 
• Drawing pencils
• Coloured pencils or felt tip pens or watercolour paints. The latter are our favourites because we're big fans of botanical books and they're often illustrated with watercolours.*
• A frame or things to mark out a square (we used four barbecue skewers) 

 

Method 1 Nature Trail

1. Take turns to be the guide. The first guide leads everyone to a plant or flower of their choice.
2. Everyone draws the flower or plant. 
3. Take time to observe the details, the shapes of the leaves or petals. 
4. Add colour.
5. Once everyone has finished, the next guide leads them to a new flower or plant. 

Observing and drawing flora and fauna has been part of education for centuries. Keep your eyes peeled for examples in old books, on postcards and tea towels. Or in Cecily Mary Barker's delightful and accurate Flower Fairies Books.
 

This activity encourages children through art to explore flora and fauna. Drawing activates our observational skills in a different way to photography for example or using words. 

Method 2 Make a Scientific Record of a Designated Space

1. Someone picks a spot (on the grass, in the soil, on the forest floor...). Place your frame on the ground. 
2. Record what you can see in the frame in a drawing. 
3. Add colour if you wish.
4. This can be repeated in as many locations as you wish.

This activity is actually very similar to what botanists do out in the field. They make Plant Surveys. They do it to find out how many of a particular species is present in a particular place or to discover the distribution and populations of many plants in a particular place.

In our version the emphasis is on observing what's there and finding a way to record it. So far we haven't explored the idea of trying to tabulate this in a graph or table. 

To extend this activity, grid your frame so you can be even more precise about distribution and use graph paper to make an even more accurate representation. 

Be Observant Together  

Children of all ages can enjoy botanical drawing. The important thing is that whichever activity you pick to do, make sure you do it with your children. Seeing you observing and drawing is the best encouragement there is!

 
*Matt Sewell is one of our favourite illustrators. We love his gentle water colours which make the  birds seem so vivid.

Visiting Historical Sites - one great way to make sure History is fun!

We study a lot of history. Noah (8) is history mad and I come from a family that's always liked this subject. I love watching history documentaries and reading history books. And when I wrote this piece about Fun Educational History Activities I shared many of the other things we do to keep history interesting. Today however I'd like to tell you how field trips are one great way to make sure History is fun for your kids. 

Field trips for me are quite unlike the other tools in the educational arsenal. They have the power to be really memorable experiences that stay with us long after we've stopped studying whichever period of history prompted them. Memorable visits for me included Tintern Abbey, Falaise Castle in Normandy and a local WWI memorial. 

However, despite how fun and interesting history field trips can be it's important to follow a few principles if you want them to turn out that way. Here's my take on the best way to make sure your history inspired visits make sure history is fun!

One - Don't do too much

As adults particularly if we've travelled far like for example when we're on holiday, we want to try and cram in as much as possible. But this is the opposite of best practice with kids. 

When we ask our kids whether on family or school trips to visit too many museums, memorials or Cathedrals (mum?) in one go these visits can have the opposite effect to the one we're aiming for. Yes, for kids visiting more than one site in a day or all the Normandy beaches in a week is nearly always too much. 

Instead take time to really discover and appreciate one place. And make sure you leave time in the day for fun stuff like playing at the beach, swimming in the pool or just running around at the campsite. Kids are way more likely to enjoy themselves if they know their favourite activities haven't been forgotten.

Two - Don't stay too long

Just like golden rule number one, this one is really important. We all know what it's like you feel like you've barely got there and the kids are already asking if it's time to go home, to the beach, for an ice-cream etc etc. 

This can be really frustrating for us adults who'd really like to see that fourteenth century tapestry on the top floor with its original stitching details! But remember, go past their enthusiasm point and they'll be left with a bad taste in their mouths. 

We're not saying it's okay to leave after five minutes but be realistic about how long is long enough for you children given their age and level of interest in the site. And if you'd really like to stay longer than try some of the following tips to make them want to stay longer too!

Three - Plan the trip ahead  

Okay, so this isn't always possible, sometimes you stumble on a hidden treasure, something unexpected. That's okay those can be discoveries. However, on the whole I've found a bit of planning can go a long way.

Mostly this means, talking to the kids enthusiastically about the places we're going to visit. Recently however we planned a Louvre visit by getting a book about the museum from the library and picking out ancient artifacts we wanted to see. 

Last year for our trip around the Loire valley, I went as far as making a personalised guide book for all the kids in the party. This included photos and brief descriptions of all the castles we intended to visit. Beforehand I'd spent time researching each monument to make sure I privileged the most interesting ones for kids.  Which leads me to my next tip.

Four - Pick sites which cater to kids

Many historical monuments now offer activities for children. These range from workshops to discovery trails and worksheets. I can't emphasize how worthwhile it is to make the most of these resources. 

Planning on an abbey? Pick Fontevraud if it still has its amazing toy car racecourse! Visiting a castle? Pick one that has dress-up clothes to put on or sword fighting to watch. Going to a roman monument? Remember to do what I did last week in Saintes and ask if they have anything for kids. They did, a great little workbook about amphitheatres and gladiators. What about a guided tour just for kids? These can be really fun like the one we did in Langeais where an actress dressed up as Queen Anne of Brittany to guide them round her 'home'.

Kids love getting stuck into these kinds of activities and they can really help you get that longer visit you were hoping for! To find out what a specific site has to offer, consult their web page or ring them up. Lots of sites really do offer fantastic activities. 

Five - Let them loose with a camera

Okay so maybe not your super expensive dslr! But kids love taking pictures and through the lens they'll often spend a lot more time looking at details than they otherwise would. Here our some of our kids photos!

 
So to sum it up, plan your visits, pick places that have thought about how to make their visit fun for kids, only do one site in a day and not too many visits in a small space of time and don't stay too long! Oh and if your kids are anything like mine it usually helps if the site has a shop and a small amount of spending money is made available to cover costs 😃 !


 

Moments of Magic - One way to make great family memories

Last week Frank and I celebrated our ten year wedding anniversary. As we got married after ten years together it was also a twentieth anniversary celebration. We wanted to do something special so that we'd remember the day for a long time to come. 

It got me thinking about how we make our special occasions stand out. How do we create moments of magic? How do we make great family memories? 

Following on from my previous post Learning all the Time, on Thursday we decided to go somewhere new, to visit a place we've never been. Like this we felt this time spent together would be different. 

The place we chose very last minute, was the Ile de Berder, a tiny island in the Golf du Morbihan (the little sea) which is only accessible at low tide. We checked the tide info and lucky for us the times fit, we would have an hour and a half on the island if we set off quickly. 

We discovered a mysterious, quiet paradise full of amazing trees, beaches, shells and views. We were all quiet as we walked around the island marveling at the beauty we found and feeling privileged to be there. 

Afterwards we all talked excitedly about going back, exploring the wreck we saw, finding more oysters and having more time to spend on the beach. It felt as if we'd made an amazing discovery. Doing something new, something we'd wanted to do for a while but never seemed to find the time for really did make our day special.