Mostly science and music (with a bit of crafting on the side)

We headed off to the science festival at a local college last week, with our HE group. This is the third year we've been and its always well worth it. This year we learnt about 'busy bees', 'frenzied food chains', 'flaming fires', and 'Hetty's human organ chaos' (love that last one!).
This is the second time I've been the contact/organiser for our group, and it all went pretty smoothly. It always worries me as I never think I'm up to the job! But I'm actually ok with this kind of behind the scenes emailing and organising - just don't ask me to present anything or work with groups in person!
The kids were great, we had to split into two groups as there were too many of us for one, and our group ended up being all girls, but a range of ages (between 6 and 13). Most of them joined in and contributed enthusiatically, there are some very bright kids in our HE group and I think the workshop leaders were pleased with the keen responses (although A did point out that one guy appeared to be terrified!!)

A was very quiet, partly I think because she feels she's a bit old for this particular festival (its aimed at the 9-11 age group) but she did enjoy it. Also - its easy to hold back if others are really happy to answer and ask questions, I was like that myself (and still am). I felt a bit uncomfortable seeing that bit of myself in A, as I know for me it comes mainly from a lack of confidence and being easily intimidated - thinking others are much more intelligent than me. I certainly think A has much more confidence than I ever did, but I have noticed her putting herself down a bit regarding intelligence, which really upsets me. She's not drawn to the obviously academic subjects, but - of course - that doesn't mean she's not intelligent, I hope I'm able to get that message across to her.


Saturday we had a wonderfully lazy day, doing crafty stuff on the couch with the music TV channel on. The music videos brought up some interesting discussions, as I became more and more fed up with the endless procession of malnourished girls poncing about in their pants, surrounded by S&M imagery. Thank goodness for Adele, looking beautiful and dignified singing 'Someone Like You'.
There are some exceptions - cynical as I am, Katy Perry's 'Firework' video always makes me want to cry. And there's that weird tennis match video for 'Hello' which made us laugh. But generally, although I enjoy a lot of the music, watching music TV leaves me feeling quite depressed, and concerned for my daughter.

A gets weary with me periodically checking "you do know this is bullshit, don't you???" and we've had plenty of discussions around the issues - how the media manipulates, body image, the connotations of some of the violent lyrics and images - all this and more! She seems pretty sussed about it all, but its hard not to worry. It seeps in. I just hope A can keep her head straight and see it for what it is, after all, we cant hide from it, its about finding a healthy way to navigate around it all.

Garbage in the car

That's what we were listening to the other day - Garbage and Version 2.0 - hadn't listened to these for ages, years probably, but thought A might like them. She gave them an 8 out of 10. She seems to be enjoying more guitar based music now she's learning to play.

Skating is going really well, she's enjoying the social side as well as learning new skills. A bought her own skates on Friday:


Life is busy as ever, hence the two week gap in blog posts!! We are both enjoying the pace though, I certainly feel like I'm benefitting from the increase in physical activity.
We've also found time to get out for walks on our beach in the sunshine :-)

I've found another online maths curriculum that looks promising, A has nearly finished the one she's been using for the past year, and the new one looks more in line with the level she's at now, so we'll probably give it a go soon.

This coming week we'll have a bit of breathing space as most of the clubs are not on due to school holidays. But A does have one exciting activity on Tuesday - an audition with Youth Music Theatre. We heard about it through our HE group email list, and A was dead keen for me to book her a place. I think it will be a great experience for her.

And here is a photo of the fabulous pink hair!!!!

Theatre

We went off to Eden Court last week to see The Rebel Cell, a brilliantly clever and satirical piece of hip hop theatre. Its set in 2015, where the bombing of the 2012 olympics has led to a total clampdown on civil liberties, and rebel dissident Dizraeli is incarcerated in Glastonbury (now the British Guantanamo). The play centres on an interview with Dizraeli by his former friend and performing partner, who is now a journalist.

It was a shame that the audience was so small, as there was a strong element of audience participation and that is so hard when there's only a few of you.

However, I found the whole experience really inspiring and exciting. In a way it made me a bit sad too, because it reminded me of how political and activistic I used to be, and how music played a big part in that. Whereas now I often just feel disillusioned and powerless. And old.

I suppose it is partly age, and partly circumstances, but I sometimes feel that all the 'important' stuff is pushed aside to make way for all the mundane stuff - watching X factor, shopping at Tesco, and all the other bollocks that I buy into, however 'reluctantly'.

I try to ease my conscience by telling myself that we have a balance - its not all Tesco and crap TV, we also have local fruit and veg, and documentaries. Well done me. But is this just a convenient compromise? What are my real, core values, and why is it so hard to live by them and teach my daughter about them?

Maybe I'm just lazy. I am still angry though, about a lot of things, I've just lost sight of what to do with that anger. So when I hear things like Dizraeli's lyrics, which strike that chord of recognition in me, it brings mixed feelings. A boost in motivation from knowing that there are people out there with a similar outlook who are enthusiastically promoting a positive message. But I also feel a sense of hanging in limbo, and that I'm a bit of a hypocrite.

A said she enjoyed it, but it was less of an intense experience for her. She just likes rap. We did talk about the political issues it brought up on the way home, so hopefully its encouraged her to think about some things a bit more deeply.

We Are Winners!

Friday was a very good day.

To start with I had a text first thing from a friend asking if her daughter could come over for a couple of hours. A was delighted to have a mate over, so maths and English went out the window, replaced by piano and guitar playing, and making up and filming a dance routine to enter a competition with. Happy girls :o)

In the afternoon a delivery man knocked on the door, handed me a parcel, and said 'I've got another, larger one in the van'. He wasn't joking - came back with an enormous box! I was desperately thinking 'what the hell have I ordered recently? Is this the result of some drunken internet shopping spree I've forgotten about??!' But no - it was the breakfast hamper I recently won on Hannah's National Breakfast Week giveaway, full of exciting new kitchen stuff:

and yummy cereals:

I don't often buy cereals, we usually stick to porridge or toast, so this is a real treat for us :o)

The other parcel turned out to be a prize for A - she had won a competition in National Geographic Kids Magazine (we're not sure which one as she's entered a few). Looking forward to playing with these:

Later on I had a phonecall from a very close relative to tell me that he and his partner had snuck off and got married that afternoon!!! They've been together about 14 years, and didn't even tell their kids until they'd done it! Very, very happy for them :o)

Techfest in Aberdeen

We went to this last year and A didn't seem that impressed, so I was surprised she was so keen to go again this year. Anyway, I signed up for us to go with the home ed group, then realised our sessions would start at 9am, and seeing as we're a 2 hour train journey away we decided to go the night before and stay at a B&B. And of course we had to go out for a nice meal because it felt like we were on holiday - so a half day science festival turned out to be rather an expensive trip! Still, we had a great time, so it was worth it :o)
Our group was much smaller this time - 9 kids and 5 adults - and I have to admit I found that a lot easier, and had a good chat with the other parents there. A seemed to get more out of it too, I think this was because it was just a morning with 3 sessions, rather than four sessions with a lunch break in between as it was last year. They had an interactive 'bodyworks' workshop, a 'supermarket science' show with several other groups - lots of fun, and a session with 'Mr. Bug' where we all got a chance to handle giant African snails (slimy) and cockroaches (wriggly), and to meet a lizard, tortoise and a snake.
The whole event is well organised and run so efficiently, very impressive. We're both really glad we went.
Did I get any photos with all those fantastic photo opportunities? No, of course not :o( I was however suffering from sleep deprivation after sharing a twin room with A muttering and shouting in her sleep, and at one point knocking a glass of water across the room with her flailing arms - splashing me, my phone and my book, not a good way to be woken at 2am! So that is my excuse.

A is now talking about having guitar lessons, so thats something I've got to look into. She's finishing with the piano lessons next month, so I'm quite pleased she's decided to take another musical route. Her grandparents bought her a half size guitar a couple of years ago, and she messes around on it from time to time, mostly with her grandad who also plays. Its really nice for them to do this together, and I think he's quite pleased she's decided to have a go with proper lessons, so we'll see what comes of it.

I'm feeling a bit frazzled just now. I decided to try doing a bit of work for an American company who use lots of freelancers to write very short articles for online sites. The pay is really crap, but the format is very structured, so I thought if I got quick enough at producing them it might be an ok way to bring in a little bit of regular income. Well, after spending a ridiculous amount of time on a job that was going to earn me a little less than a tenner, then having it rejected and told to do a complete rewrite, I have come to the conclusion that it is just not worth it. I found it really hard trying to write in the company 'voice', when I am used to writing, don't know how else to put it - from the 'heart'. With all articles you have to have in mind the target audience and what the publication wants in terms of style and content, but you still write from your own perspective and in your own 'voice'. This just felt like selling my soul, and for very little!!
Part of me thinks I'm not really in any position to be so precious about it - I need to make some money! But I just don't think I could get to the point where I'm churning out pieces like a machine, about things I have no interest in, from some corporation's 'point of view'.

Back to work

Really feels like a 'back to work' day with HE today, after our holiday break. We did some revision on the division A had been trying to get her head around before we went away, and she seemed to remember it all very well. We had a look at some of the other topics in the online course she is following (in a very flexible way, ie avoiding all the timed assessments that send her into a brain-freezing panic) and A asked me what there is to like about algebra. As I launched into an enthusiastic defence I could see her eyes glaze over, and almost heard the word "nutter" escape from the corner of her mouth. So I have been on Amazon and ordered a load of murderous_maths books, in a (probably futile) attempt to prove that 'hey - maths is fun!!!'

We also had a look at 'spelling'. We have a new approach to spelling, using this book. On Monday A is given 16 words to learn and on Friday we have a test. Very simple, very schooly, but she seems OK with it. Spelling is the one area where A really falls down. She has a great vocabulary, writes wonderfully, has a fairly good understanding of punctuation and grammar, and has no problems reading, but her spelling is pretty bad. I used to say to myself that as long as she is reading and writing lots the spelling would come eventually, and maybe that's true, but we've both become aware that she seems to be lagging behind her peers in this area. Embarrassment - as wrong and unfair as it is to be judged on your spelling skills - can be a strong motivator, and A wants to improve. We've used the 'fun' spelling workbooks and games in the past, but feel the time has come for something a bit more intense. We'll see how it goes...

After maths and spelling A decided it was vitally important to tidy her room. She's been up there for a couple of hours now and there has been a lot of guitar playing going on, and apparently she's just "nearly done the splits!!".

Some more ideas have come up for themes to work on:

• research into Anarchism (A started using the Anarchy symbol as her initial, but only had a vague idea of what it stands for)
• a creative/arty look at the periodic table, as A seemed so interested in it when looking at this book
• artists profiles - I have recorded several programmes on different artists recently, and we'll link this into doing some studies of favourite artists work

Had another 'nutter' moment this morning. Popped out to pick up a few things in town and bumped into an old acquaintance - very nice lady - who asked me if I was still 'home tutoring'. I smiled and replied 'yes', and she raised her eyebrows, gave a wry smile and a little sigh, nodded goodbye and walked off. Now I have no idea what was really going through her mind, but there was a definite vibe of 'nutter' I feel. At least I'm a happy nutter though.

I am - most definitely - back

OK, enough with the blog break. It didn't work. Even if no one reads it or wants to know what I think or what we're doing, I have to blog.

I have been motivated today, by some positive news on the work front, to give myself a good kick up the arse and stop being so lazy. I cant use the 'not enough time' line as an excuse - there is NEVER enough time to do everything I want to, thats how my life is. Truth is, I like blogging, I enjoy it, and I've missed it.

I think there may be changes in the way I blog, it has evolved along the way in any case, its bound to. I'm toying with ideas about changing the name and how it looks, but am not sure yet. I think a slight change in perspective may occur, posting more about me and work, but then my life is still predominantly about parent/home ed stuff, so not that much of a change perhaps.

I am going to try to be more honest here. I think I've held back on a lot of issues because I'm not sure who's reading and don't want to upset anyone. A bit ridiculous really, why should I care? Its my blog.

Anyway, here is a little update on some of the things we've been up to:

• went to the science festival at a local college with our HE group. A bit stressful for me as I had been the contact for the group, so lots of emailing to and fro, but all went well on the day and we learnt about volcanoes, made solar power models with K'nex, and met lots of creepy crawlies.

• went for a loooong bike ride in the sunshine.

• watched and discussed a programme called 'American Hate' about the Black Panthers - their history, and the current 'new' Black Panthers. We're going to watch the second part, about the Ku Klux Klan, sometime soon.

• A wrote a letter and drew a picture to send to the African child her Granny is sponsoring

• A created some more fashion designs for her label

• We discussed and researched setting up our own shop on Folksy - watch this space!!

• Talked to Nonno and Nonna about our plans for Italy next year - they are taking us to meet some of A's family out there.

• Lots of maths, English, piano, drama, art, singing, laughing, eating of cake....I could go on...

Another busy week!

I really feel I need an extra day in my week.

I was at a conference on Tuesday - 'Immunity From Pandemics: Protecting Yourself & Your Community', put on by the Shen_Foundation . Very interesting stuff with some excellent speakers. In particular Prof_Mark_Harrison from Oxford who spoke about historical perspectives on pandemics; and Dr Zaijin Ren who talked about her extensive experience of flu prevention projects in China, particularly in relation to use of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Meanwhile, Granny took A to see a play - Playing_a_round_with_Shakespeare , which they both enjoyed very much. I'm sad to have missed it myself, it sounded great - very funny apparently.

Choir and drama on Wednesday again - the choir have their first performance next Friday and A is very excited about that, and rehearsals for the drama performance (next month) are developing well. A and her friend are coming up with some great ideas about costumes and slapstick routines for their roles, they make a good comedy duo.

A had her third piano lesson and I am so thrilled with the way its going. Its not so much the level of playing (although she's catching on to things very quickly), but more the way she approaches it and communicates with the teacher. She is showing herself to be a very mature and intelligent young person, and I feel very proud of her.

On Friday we had a home ed group visit to Duff_House , where the children learnt about how it was used as a POW camp during WWII. The activity leader was really good - in character as a soldier, but not too shouty or intimidating. I think the kids had a lot of fun.
A certainly enjoyed it, and also enjoyed seeing a few friends again, particularly the girls who came over to ours a couple of weeks ago. She managed to have a bit of time with them after the group activity, and we're going over to theirs sometime soon.

A has spent this weekend with her Grandparents, and also had the chance to see her little half siblings and their mum. She's not back yet so I don't know how it went, but I'm sure they will have had a lovely time, and Nonna will be exhausted!! (but in a good way).

Films, drama, singing, piano-playing...

This has been quite a hectic week for us. We saw some films as part of the
national_schools_film_week , the first time we've taken part in this as we were away last year, and the Steiner school A used to go to (unsurprisingly!) never participated. It was very easy to book (online), they had no problem accommodating home educators.
On Monday we saw Kirikou_and_the_Sorceress , a fantastic West African film about a little boy born with the ability to walk and speak. Very different from the usual Disney/Pixar films we're bombarded with.
Tuesday Granny took A to see The_Secret_of_Moonacre , which they both seemed to enjoy.
Yesterday we saw The_Spiderwick_Chronicles , which I found a bit scary, although A didn't. Quite fun though.
Kirikou was definitley my favourite, A says Spiderwick was hers.
A also watched The_Cat_Returns , at home. I only saw tiny bits of as I was too busy to sit and watch it, but it looked really good, and A really liked it. We've seen a few of these Japanese animation films now, and love them.

A is having a great time at her new drama class, and they are preparing for their Christmas show next month. Its so good to see her enjoying drama again, she's been in various drama groups since she was about six and always loved them, but there was a bit of a gap where we couldn't find a suitable one, until a local class started up this August. One of her best friends goes as well, and they usually get together after class for a while, so thats a good arrangement for all.

A has also joined a choir, which I'm delighted about because I've been encouraging her to do this for ages (she has a great voice). Its at her old school, so she knows most of the people already, and is a mixture of adults and children which I think is really good. I drop her there and wait in the car - there's no way you'll get me singing (it would be very unpleasant for all invovled) - which is ok as I get to catch up on some reading for an hour or so.

And... I have managed to find a great piano teacher who lives just round the corner from us! I've been trying to find someone to give A piano lessons for months - asking around a lot etc - so its fabulous to have found someone so near. (I'm having to borrow the car every week for choir now as that is ten miles away and we have to get straight back for drama the same night, so I really didn't want to have to borrow it another night for another class.) The piano teacher seems very direct and clear in his approach, but in a gentle way. He doesn't 'talk down' to A, but treats her as the intelligent person she is, and already seems well aware of her tendency to panic when she gets things wrong, reassuring her that she's doing really well. She's only had two lessons so far, but I'm really pleased with how its going, and more importantly so is she!

Workwise, things are going well so far, although I still have panicky moments where it all feels out of control. I'm struggling with time management, but I knew I would, and I also know I'll get there and become more organised as things progress - I'll have to!
Trying to sort out the official stuff like Housing Benefit has been a bit frustrating (again - I knew it would be!) They like all the information to fit the boxes they have to tick, and want definite figures for earnings etc, which is all a bit impossible if you are just starting out as a freelancer! So I'm doing my best to give them as much as I can, hopefully it will all get sorted soon, as its highly unlikely I'll make enough to pay all my rent at this stage. That is the ultimate aim of course, but it will take a while to build things up.

Today was the first day this week we could just be at home, so we had some maths and English this morning - we've been working on place value for maths and A has struggled with this. I think its getting a bit boring for her going over it again and again, I've tried to find different ways of explaining it to make it clearer, but then I worry I'm making it even more confusing by explaining it differently! But I've found some games in this book which a friend gave me a while back that might help. For English A chose to use A Ladybird 'Grammar and Puctuation' workbook that Granny gave us (strangely I cant find a link to it!?). As workbooks go it wasn't bad, and A seemed to focus very well with it. In between all this 'sitting down learning' stuff has been much drumming and other percussion type noises going on in the kitchen, which is always good :0)

No swimming today!

Actually, this was a few days ago, its quite nice today, but the weather has been so changeable we haven't managed to get in the sea again :0(

This is one (of many) creations that happened recently, we have been having a lot of arty time. The other day we got Noughts_and_Crosses by Malorie Blackman on audio book from the library. We sat for about four and a half hours listening and crafting -mostly making cards - its a great story. I think its probably aimed at children slightly older than A, and I wasn't sure if she'd enjoy it because at its heart its a love story between a young girl and boy (A is not interested in all that 'soppy love stuff', yet) but she was engrossed.

A has been doing a bit more reading. She decided to do the summer reading challenge at the library, and is on her second book. She seems to be enjoying it, she likes the fact that she can choose whatever book she wants, and tends to go for more comedy orientated ones.

Some of this has been going on - A informed me this was inspired by a scene from St._Trinians, where the girls have to get through a corridor laced with infrared light beams, avoiding tripping the alarms. She spent ages setting these up (with red wool) and working out different ways through. It was great, but a bit of a pain in the arse when I wanted to get through to the kitchen to make a cup of tea! I was very bad at it, and would have set the alarms off immediately, I don't think she'll let me be part of her criminal gang.

A has also become very preoccupied with dusting for fingerprints and looking for evidence. One of her favourite games at the moment is setting up crime scenes for each other - so I'll leave several clues as to who the 'perp' is, and she'll come along with her kit (weirdly this is kept in a jewellery box) which mostly consists of black eyeshadow and a big brush, sellotape, paper, pens, and little clear evidence bags. Far too much CSI is watched in this house.

Music is another theme at the moment, lots of it, and very loud. We just got La_Roux 's album, which has had us both jumping about a lot, very happy, dancy stuff. I'm so glad that there are certain areas where our tastes meet, we both love music so much it would be unbearable if there was nothing we both liked. However, A will not tolerate Nick Cave in any way, shape or form, and only lets me put the Clash on if I've been really good. And sometimes she does really evil things, like sneaking Beyonce or even worse - Katie Melua - into the car when I'm not looking, she then waits til I'm driving on a main road and changes the CD to hers and I'm trapped, the minx.

Singing Nonno!!

I had to post this link which A's auntie just sent to me - this is A's lovely Nonno singing on YouTube. Hope you enjoy :-)

Are you impressed??

With my first attempt at knitting - the fabulous dishcloth!!


Probably not!! But I am quite impressed with myself. Off to get some wool tomorrow and will attempt some stripy arm warmers next.

Bit of a stressful day today, just one of those days where I seriously doubt myself.

A wanted a music lesson, which I was quite happy to go along with, thinking it would be lovely - she is very interested in music and already seems to have a good idea of what she's doing. Well, it ended with her in tears and me walking out of the room saying 'we need to get a proper music teacher for you because I'm obviously no good'.

We did discuss things once we'd both calmed down, and continued a bit with what we'd been looking at, but I'm really at a loss as to why we cant seem to work together on this subject. Maybe its my attitude, I did study music for several years as a child/teenager, so maybe I make assumptions about how easy or difficult things are, but we don't seem to have that problem with other subjects.

Maybe its just A's resistance to learning the theoretical side of music, even though she says she wants to. She spends a lot of time on her keyboard, but is used to making up tunes herself, and playing by ear. Having to sit down and read music is not as much fun - and doesn't feel so creative I suppose. I think I'll have to have a look around for some teaching resources that are more fun and interesting to help us. I really want to encourage her in this area as I think she is naturally quite musically talented, and learning the 'mechanics' of music could be very helpful in the longrun, but today just felt like I was doing it all wrong and putting her off.

Maths and English coming along nicely though. She seems to like the Letts workbooks (we're using the age 8-9 at the moment). Maths is more of a struggle, but she gets there in the end. I'm very impressed with her English, we did a dictation test the other day - I just took a passage out of one of our books - and her spelling and handwriting were really good. Her lack of enthusiasm about reading books obviously isn't holding her back.

Films, Dance and Music

We went to see a film today at the Ballerina_Ballroom_Cinema_of_Dreams film festival, something very exciting that's been going on locally. We saw a strange little 1957 East German film: 'The Singing, Ringing Tree' (it was apparently on British children's TV as a series, but before my time as I had never seen it). Possibly the weirdest film I have ever seen, but very enjoyable, even to the many children there, who must be used to all the clever digital trickery of todays kids films.

The venue was the old 'Ballerina Ballroom', which had been used as a dancehall and music venue years ago, although I had only ever known it as a bingo hall. It had been decorated beautifully for the festival, a little cafe to one side, and the main room set up with deckchairs and beanbags for the filmshow. (We were quite comfy on the beanbags, but I'm glad it wasn't a long film!). The whole experience was lovely, not a bit like the multiplex!! There was such a friendly atmosphere, more like watching a film with a huge gang of friends, with cheering and clapping, and plenty of laughter. I'm now regretting not booking for more films, but hopefully there will be another festival, there is certainly the demand for it - they had to put the film on again because so many people got turned away for the first showing.
Its wonderful when something like this turns up on your own doorstep!

We have watched a few films at home recently, mostly dance films: Step_Up; Step_Up_2_The_Streets; Save_The_Last_Dance; which have been inspiring A. She did ballet classes from the age of three, but recently gave it up. The classes had become much more geared towards doing the exams, she did her first exam last year but really didn't enjoy the experience and was very clear she didn't want to do any more. Although her teacher said she didn't have to do the exams, the class was all about learning what was needed for it so I think it became quite boring for A. I felt quite sad at her leaving, because she was quite a good little dancer (I know, I'm bound to say that as her Mum!). But she had been saying for quite a while that she wanted to leave, and as the person who paid for the classes and gear (!) there seemed little point in pushing it if she wasn't enjoying it.
She has always loved modern dance too, and used to go to a drama/dance class that my friend ran, which she enjoyed. She doesn't seem keen to join any classes at the moment, but is very happily making up her own routines. She even tries teaching some moves to me (oh dear!).

Another activity she has been doing a lot recently is composing songs on her keyboard, some quite impressive (again - a Mum's view!). My immediate response to all this musical 'talent' is to encourage her to have lessons, and as with her other creative/artistic endeavours she is very unenthusiastic about classes or lessons. I'm not sure how far to push her on this one (if at all), she seems to be very 'musical', and picks things up quite quickly, and I think if I found a good teacher lessons could reveal to A just what she's capable of. But then again, I had piano lessons from the ages of 5 -12, and although I can read music and have a good understanding of the theoretical side of it, I'm certainly no pianist and never play now - I just never had the passion for it. The music exams I did as a kid killed any confidence I might have had as I was so focused on 'not getting it wrong'. I think I'll just let her tinker for a while longer before pushing the idea of lessons.