Table of Contents
Read More About Our Home Educating Family
- Our Home Education Philosophy
- Best Books For Home Educators and Home Schoolers
- How Do You Teach Kids Without Formal Lessons
- The Cost of Homeschooling in the UK
- Educational Activities For Kids
- A Letter To The New Home Educators
- How To Teach Your Child To Read At Home
Home Education Blog 2023
This is the last home education diary for 2023 and so I thought I’d recap a little of what we’ve done over the past year.
Littlest has went from being able to read nothing, to reading books slowly. So although he still needs to spell out lots of words, he is getting there at his own pace. Both kids have progressed a lot on the Prodigy maths app and have a good understanding of maths for their ages. The eldest has worked his way through a huge number of books and has begun writing his own stories. I’ve been impressed with the vocabulary he’s used in them.
They have both significantly improved in their climbing abilities at the rock climbing wall. Littlest has had parts in a variety of shows over the year, improved his gymnastics abilities and singing. Whilst the eldest has improved his chess playing abilities and now making Lego sets aimed at adults.
Both children have learnt a lot about the geography of the world, visited a variety of places and can now kayak independently in the sea. The littlest swimming has improved immensely and he now has the ability swim a good distance in open water. We’ve listened to what seems like millions of podcasts. Both kids have a wealth of historical knowledge, particularly in relation to Greek mythology. They often correct me on my Greek knowledge now!
So yes, they’ve learnt loads and visited lots of fantastic places, plus had great fun with all their friends. Yes, a lot of people seem to be obsessed with kids being at the correct ‘level’ with English and maths (I have no idea what ‘level’ mine are at, they don’t sit tests and don’t care at this time!). However, in home education the only correct level is where the child is now, they can choose when they are ready to move on with their education. The knowledge of everything else in the world around them, the history, geography and arts are equally important in our kids lives. And I’m so glad that we can give them time to progress in all areas of their education and particularly in the ones that interest them.
History
One of my kids current favourite topics of interest is history. Greek mythology being a big one of course, thanks to the Greeking Out podcast and thousands (slight exaggeration!) of books we have.
There have been stories about the Muses and Bellerophon & Pegasus amongst others, which the kids loved. They also enjoy the Who, When Wow podcast series, learning more about Amelia Earhart and Anastasia (the Russian heiress). Podcasts are definitely a great way to learn more about history.
The kids also have enjoyed watching Horrible Histories, a fun, but educational television programme for kids. They have watched everything from WWII to the Tudors. Definitely an easy way to get kids interested (and knowledgable!) about history!
Aside listening to podcasts, watching TV and reading books about history, we’ve also visited a variety of places too. This includes Stirling Castle, where the kids enjoyed playing with their friends, learning more about the history and listening to the actors speak about the castles history. The Stirling castle re-enactors are amazing and seem to know everything about the history of the castle and area! We also visited Stirling Castle for the play ‘A Christmas Carol’ one evening. Although it’s not historical, it does show bits and pieces of how people used to live and was held in the Great Hall.
A visit to Doune Castle in the rain, coincided with my mum visiting. So the kids happily explored the castle with headsets. They’ve been many times before and so this just helps to reiterate the history and improve their knowledge.
At New Lanark the children learnt about the mills historical significance. Plus the history of Christmas! There is also information on how the old mill worked, which we enjoyed.
Finally we visited some clearance villages on the Isle of Mull. Learning a little about what life was like then. Plus information on one village that was a victim of the disease Typhoid.
Science
Science is still fun for the kids, but they have done so many repetitions of kitchen science experiments that we don’t do them now. We should really look for some newer options for experimental science. But, there’s only so many bicarbonate and vinegar experiments that you can make!
We do listen to various science podcasts, including Wow In The World, Mysteries of Science and Tumble. They have learn about the meaning of dreams, whether aliens are likely to exist, robots in space and Otzi the Iceman.
Science is also everywhere around us, from the kids building Lego (engineering) to baking bread! So it’s easy to incorporate, even if it’s not official chemical experiments!
Let’s not forget that animals and their ecology is part of science. When visiting Doune castle I pointed out some Pipistrelle bats hibernating in the castle walls. The kids were excited to see the little furry faces peering out!
Geography
I absolutely love geography, so the kids can’t get away with not knowing things, I’m going to tell them whether they want to listen or not! This month we’ve discussed where countries are on the map, the names of the continents, with contention at the dinner table between my dad and I for Oceania/Australasia, which the kids also listened to!
They also learnt a little about sand dune succession and why we don’t break fragile ecosystems where marram gras is just starting to take over. And discussions on the formation of volcanic dykes on the Isle of Mull. Which incidentally are great fun to use as walls to climb and walk along. Plus a short discussion on raised beaches when we were walking across a great example on Mull. It’s surprising how much geography and history can be covered on a walk!
English
The youngest has been progressing with his reading well. We’ve been reading a few pages of a book together every day to help with word retention. It seems that his reading fluency is increasing the more he practices with us. It seems to work better for him than using online reading programmes, like his brother used.
Our eldest has been working his way through various book series, with the Wings of Fire his current favourite. Although he has also read a few other books in-between waiting for books to arrive at the library!
Maths
Maths has been predominantly board games through the Christmas holidays and the online game Prodigy. Prodigy is free to use and a great tool for children who are a bit reluctant at learning maths in other ways. It’s all about wizards and trying to save the world by casting spells.
As the eldest has completed many Lego projects, including the modular Lego Police Station Icons building that he got for Christmas. Lego is all about engineering and logic, so definitely useful for learning maths too.
The Arts
Littlest is part of his local National Youth Choir of Scotland (NYCOS) group. So he had a winter concert at the nearby cathedral, which was pretty impressive. The children are taught how to read music and sing with a conductor.
We also watched the youngest in his panto (3 shows) with the local theatre group and then went to watch the Aladdin panto in Glasgow. Plus a Christmas Carol play at Stirling Castle too! So it was a fabulous month for theatre!
Whilst we were on Mull we visited Calgary Arts sculpture trail (the main buildings are closed for winter, but the trail is open). It’s an amazing trail with lots of excellent sculptures. The rope kraken eating the fishing boat and rope lady were two of our favourites. I always love the oystercatchers too, they’re a favourite seashore bird of ours.
1000 Hours Outside – Home Education Blog
We spent a surprising amount of time outdoors this month. With walks on the Isle of Mull after Christmas. Edinburgh Xmas market, orienteering fun day, walks in the dark on the beach whilst on Mull and plenty of time playing with friends outside too.
We also burnt a cardboard Viking shop on Loch Venachar for the kids adventure challenge. It was windy so we had to tie it to a tree to stop it being toppled and ending up on the shore. Don’t worry though, we brought back all the remains and polystyrene float etc.!
A visit to New Lanark earlier in the month was also excellent for wandering around the beautiful village and up to the Falls of Clyde.
Groups and Clubs – Home Education Blog
Some clubs finished earlier in December, but the kids still went along to their Cubs and Scouts, plus helping with the Santa sleigh fundraiser and delivering Christmas cards for the Scout post.
The kids dodgeball group restarted and they also enjoyed playing at the local chess club. Littlest also had his Stagecoach show, panto, gymnastics and dance classes. So a pretty busy month still!
All Our Home Ed Monthly Diaries For 2023
- January 2023
- February 2023
- March 2023
- April 2023
- May 2023
- June 2023
- July 2023
- August 2023
- September 2023
- October 2023
- November 2023
- December 2023