Home Education Diaries April and May 2022: Day in the life of a home educator

Apologies for lumping two months together! But I hadn’t realised that I had missed out April! So here we are, a double month diary entry for our home ed journey! I’ve most likely missed things out, so apologies for that. As I’m so late with this post I’ve just used photos and our calendar to remember what we’ve done.

Here is our last two months to get an idea of what it’s like for a day in the life of a home educator!

Table of Contents

History – Day in the life of a home educator

History is always a favourite topic of the kids. We listen to various podcasts, with the history ones being National Geographic Greeking Out and Who When Wow. This is where they get so much of their Ancient Greek knowledge and knowledge of people relatively forgotten by history books.

we have also been reading various non-fiction and fiction history books, with the focus in Ancient Greeks. Completely the kids choice, I don’t get to choose what we read usually!

Northumberland

We’ve also visited various places throughout the North of the UK. Starting with a trip to Northumberland on the Easter weekend. We have driven past Bamburgh castle many times, so I really wanted to visit! The kids were happy to come with me fortunately!

They have a kids trail, usually seasonal, although there is plenty else to read and explore aside this. The castle is still occupied in certain areas, but we were able to explore most the castle.

Unicorn Day

When the eldest had chicken pox (kindly given to his by his little brother), the youngest and I visited Stirling castle. The main reason was to meet the unicorns for Unicorn Day! The unicorn is Scotland’s National animal, so there are plenty of unicorns to spot around the castle.

Whilst we were in Northumberland we also visited Holy Island. Another place we had be planning to visit for a while. Obviously it has an interesting Viking history, but there’s also a lot of other interesting history too. The Lindisfarne Priory is great place to explore, the staff are very helpful at explaining things too.

Burrell Collection

Back in Scotland we visited the Burrell Collection. Recently reopened after being shut for 6 years. And they have done an AMAZING job with the interactive areas, the kids were kept thoroughly busy and interested in our visit and we’ll certainly be back again soon. We learnt a lot about everything from Persian carpets to famous artwork and craft techniques.

Isle if Tiree

At Hynish on Tiree is a little village. It’s a bit different to other villages on Tiree as it was built for the lighthouse keepers and their families. The lighthouse can be seen in the far distance at Skerryvore. But there is a great little museum explaining the design, construction and more. we could also hear corncrakes nearby!

Child standing in front of old buildings on Tiree

We also visited the Isle of Tiree in May with my parents. It’s a beautiful island with stunning walks and a variety of interesting history. The little island museum in Scarinish is a great start to learning more about the islands history. With some great stories, including the floating mine that washed up on a beach. It was declared safe and children played on the mine at the beach, but later it was washed back out to sea and exploded!! Lucky escape for the kids!

The Ringing stone is a ancient cup-marked rock that is assumed to have been used for ceremonies. However it also has a special quality that gives it a metallic ringing sound when hit by a stone. a very interesting a musical piece of history!

Near the ringing stone are the ruins of a broch. A broch is really a round fortified house, made of stone, but lived in by an extended family. It is thought that this broch would have been used by an incomer who would supervise those renting their land.

Geography

Visiting Tiree was great for a little geography on coastal erosion and rock formations. There were lots of fantastic curved and smooth rocks at Happy Valley. All had been carved out by the rocks being washed up on the pebble beach. Perfect to explore, pick out pretty rocks and spot pieces of Iona marble.

We also learnt about human geography at Hynish, where families had to chat to their husbands at the lighthouse with flags and other items. It was quite interesting how they had constructed a reservoir to flush out sand from the harbour too.

The children have also been watching a documentary series about the history of the UK. which has been great for them understanding the different time periods and what happened in each.

Science

As usual we spend a fair amount of time listening to podcasts, including science podcasts. Favourites are always Wow In The World, Tumble and A new podcast – Flip and Mozi. The kids learn about everything from dinosaurs, ’why do oceans exist’ to camel’s unique adaptations. I highly recommend them to anyone looking for kid friendly educational podcasts, great for summer road trips!

Plenty of time playing on UK beaches has meant the kids spent time on beach science. Experimenting with the water to sand ratio is important for sandcastle building, as the kids always find out!

The eldest has spent a lot of time building lego as usual. Including train tracks, trains, planes, cars and buildings. The littlest also started making a few Lego items, although he prefers to let his brother do the Lego building! In case you wondering why this is listed under science, I’m including Lego under the engineering section of STEM.

It was my husbands birthday in May and the kids spent an afternoon baking him a cake. Baking is science, maths and art all in one. A great way to see chemical reactions in action! They’re getting great at knowing what to do when baking.

Homemade cake, children with dad and crads

Maths – Day in the life of a home educator

Obviously baking is maths too with the measuring skills. The kids enjoy baking every so often, although the eldest also likes to help make dinner occasionally. He’s getting quite good at reading a recipe and measuring ingredients.

The kids have also enjoyed playing Prodigy maths over the last couple of months. It has certainly helped with their maths abilities. We’ve also played various board and card games including Zeus on the Loose. It’s great for quick addition and subtraction.

English

The eldest often has his head in a book, which is fantastic. But we also spend a lot of time reading together. Every night we read stories before bed, even to the eldest despite the fact he can read himself. It’s always a tradition I like to keep up, for as long as the kids want to!

The youngest has also been practising his reading with Reading Eggs online. It’s definitely helping him, although he’s still not reading fluently yet.

Great Outdoors – Day in the life if a home educator

With the warmer spring weather we have made the most of the great outdoors. We have also been building up the hours on the kids 1000 hours outside. They definitely spend a lot of time outdoors!

We’ve been on walks locally, playing in the woods and by rivers, as well as climbing some crags above Callander. There’s so many beautiful walks all around us in Scotland. We’ll be visiting plenty more places nearby over the summer!

We also visited Jupiter Artland with home ed friends. It’s a fantastic sculpture park with lots of exciting things to see, hear and even go inside. It’s also a good opportunity to discuss what constitutes art and what they would create.

Of course, when we were on Tiree we spent most our time outdoors. Both on walks and playing on beaches, plus the kids playing on the trampoline outside. It’s certainly a fantastic place to enjoy spending time outside.

Clubs and Groups

The kids have also been attending their usual groups and clubs. Littlest, pictured below, is soaking wet after a slightly warm day in the sun at a home ed group. So he and his friends decided to drench each other with their water bottles!

They’ve also been at Cubs, dodgeball, drama, gymnastics, dancing and swimming lessons for the youngest. We’re always very busy!

Home Education Diaries April and May 2022: Day in the life of a home educator