Best pizzas ever

We had a Saturday night pizza-making session - very tasty indeed :-)

Pre oven

Post oven

And we scoffed the lot while watching Dr Who. Happiness.

I forgot to mention last time - our Ben Nevis climb had to be rescheduled (due to a forecast of gales and blizzards!!!!) so we now plan to do it next Saturday (11th June). Will let you know how we get on.

The insomnia continued into the earlier part of last week, so its all a bit of a blur. A got on with bits and pieces, and all the usual clubs/classes, I was in the background trying not to fall asleep! I'm feeling a bit better about things now, but job hunting has to become a priority I think.

With the prospect of employment, and less time around for A, I'm trying to prepare her and encourage her to do more self-directed work. I've just signed her up for a K3 science course, I'm thinking it will give her a taste of science as an academic discipline (we've done quite a lot of 'sciencey' stuff, but nothing structured) so she can see how she gets on and decide whether she wants to take it further. So with that, and her essay-writing course, and the new maths website we're signing up to, as well as all the unstructured stuff she's doing, I feel we have quite a lot covered! And - most importantly - she seems to be quite up for it all.

I got out running a couple of times this week. A bit disappointing this morning - I thought I could increase my running time a bit, but soon discovered this was not going to happen (really thought I was going to collapse in a sweaty heap). After a few minutes walking I went back to 1min run/1min walk, which was fine, seems to be my level at the moment. Really hate this newbie stage, although of course its necessary to achieve anything. I feel the same in the body pump class, because as much as I love it, I have the tiniest weights while everyone else has got big heavy weights. And I still struggle with some of the exercises. The instructor keeps saying to us "if its getting too much just take some of your weights off", but if I did that I'd just be lifting the pole! I suppose I have to swallow my pride and focus on a future where I am running marathons (or my more realistic short term goal of getting round my 2 mile loop without stopping).

We're off for a hike tomorrow, along the beach, not sure if A's legs know what they're in for next Saturday ;-)

Friday

Merry over at Patch of Puddles is looking for HE people to photo-blog 'a day in the life' for her blog carnival, so I thought I would join in.

This was the beautiful clear sky at 7am when I got up for my early morning jog (A was still fast asleep at this point!)


A couple of hours later and A emerges. First things first - facebook check.

Another crucial task - apply make-up.

After breakfast A does some work on her essay-writing course, she's just started it so is looking at paragraphs and how to make them 'flow'.

Meanwhile, I'm preparing a poster we're making of the periodic table. I've measured and drawn out the structure of the table, A is going to do the arty/pretty stuff - colours and script.

A bit later and she's moved on to maths. A is finishing the 'exams' which conclude the online curriculum she's been following. After struggling with some long multiplication, she manages to get 12 out of 13 correct -yay!

Falafels for lunch!

A pause for some prettiness at the top of the stairs - reflections from the sunshine

Next its off to collect the car (we have a car-share arrangement with Granny)

A has control of the camera while I'm driving:

Music (and singing along) is a definite requirement in the car!

20 miles later we arrive in Elgin, have an hour in the gym, then its skating club for A

After skating one of A's mates comes back with us for a sleepover

Crazy makeover fun!

The day concluded with some late night film-watching in bed for the girls, and a vodka & tonic, and vegging in front of the TV downstairs for me.

Not sure if thats a 'typical' HE day, but that was our Friday :D

Maths exams, and the second law of thermodynamics

A seemed to have a good time at the sleepover party. She arrived home on Sunday at about 1pm, shuffled upstairs, collapsed on her bed and fell asleep for a couple of hours. Indication of a good party in anyone's terms.

We had a bit of a lazy start to the week, with both of us struggling to feel motivated about anything. But things improved as the week went on.

With maths, A has now reached the end of her online course, and has 10 exams to do (these are each one page of varied questions covering what she's learnt throughout the course). She was less than enthusiastic about sitting 'exams'(!) but I'm hoping they will show her how well she's actually doing with maths. Usually I sit with her so that we can discuss any problems as they come up and look at different ways of working things out. She seems to need this - her confidence in her own ability in maths is so low, I think it reassures her to know she can check things with me. I suggested with these exams that I leave her to it, and she does as much as she can on her own, then I'll come through and we can talk about any she's had difficulty with. She completed the first one on Friday, getting 29 out of 30, and needing no help whatsoever.
I don't think its registered with her how good this is - she focused in on the one error (which was just a careless extra nought, rather than a mistake in calculation), and then started wondering "do they make the first exam really easy, then gradually make them harder?" (which they don't). So, basically not acknowledging that "I did really well"!!!
Its like banging my head against a brick wall sometimes - she seems to be clinging on to this notion that she's really crap at maths (which she clearly isn't!) I guess all I can do is keep finding ways to show her that she isn't.

On Friday we watched the first programme in the Wonders of the Universe series that I've been recording. We both learnt lots, mainly about entropy. I did physics GCSE at school, and it was never as cool and interesting as Prof Brian Cox makes it - maybe if he'd been my teacher I would have actually passed!

This afternoon A is off to a Guide patrol get-together, where they will be cooking pasta together. Apparently they get a badge for boiling pasta - A was as bemused as me at this. Still, I'm sure they'll have a laugh, which is what its all about really :-)

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.

Hecticness

I don't know if that is even a real word, but it sums up life round here lately!

There were more celebrations for A, and of course - more cake:

All went extremely well, the sleepover was very chilled, and it was nice that I had a friend here to hang out with too. The only annoying bit was the ice-rink inexplicably closing an hour early, so the girls only got about 20 minutes on the ice, but even that didn't seem to bother them too much (it bothered me - I had paid for them all!!)

It was great for both me and A to reconnect with our friends who came up from Glespin, we don't see them very often but they are important people to us. They ended up staying until Monday because of car problems, so we got them for an extra day :-)

Then, it was my birthday! A much quieter affair for me, we were booked to go to the ballet with the HE group on the actual day, so that worked out well. It was Cinderella, which we hadn't seen before, the set and costumes were pretty wild! At the pre-show talk we went to there was mention of influences from Andy Warhol and Vivienne Westwood, all very colourful and glamorous.

We seem to be doing loads of activities at the moment - A has started a new drama class at the big theatre in Inverness (as well as still going to the local one), and is keeping up with Guides, writing group, ice skating and guitar lessons. While I am continuing with Italian class and pilates, and have taken up Bhangra dancing and boxercise! Its all very exhausting, but in a good way ;-)

Our new HE schedule kind of went by the wayside for about a week, while all the celebrations were going on/being prepared for, but we are back on track with it all now. Granny has been away so A has had to put up with me ignoring her on my work days, which has been fine really. I give her an idea of what I'd like her to work on for the day (mostly stuff she has already chosen as areas of interest) and she gets on with it.

We found this fabulous book - well actually the librarian found it for us and ordered it in - as A had said she wanted to look at the different states in America. The book is so good we have decided to just work through it, covering American history/geography/politics/culture. We've also been playing this game to try and learn where the states are.

Something else we're quite taken with is the Brian Cox series 'Wonders of the Solar System', I had recorded this when it was on TV last year and we've just got around to watching it. Brilliant programme, we are big fans!

Archimedes Screw

Put one of A's National Geographic prizes together today:

Quite a neat little kit :-) and clearly demonstrated the principles behind the Archimedes Screw.

It also reminded us of Mr Archimedes Bath which we both loved when A was younger.

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'.

A is a Planet Defender!!!

She is! In the September issue of National_Geographic_Kids magazine. They have published a letter she wrote about her fund raising efforts for tigers, and a picture of her too - she's very excited about it all :o)

She's putting a lot of effort into fundraising at the moment, but for less altruistic reasons - she's after this game for her DS! So I'm getting lots of help with the housework just now. The house has never been so clean.

So, Monday felt like a fresh start after our longish trip away. First thing - maths! We're on decimals and fractions at the moment, still plodding along with smartkiddies, supplemented with related stuff from the multitude of maths resources I have (I'm obsessed). Then:

some story-writing...

and reading out to me.

A likes me to give her a list of titles to choose from, she writes some great stories, often very humorous. Spelling is still a bit of an issue, weekly spelling lists and tests didn't really work for us (of course they didn't, what were we thinking!?) so we are looking for another method to help A improve her spelling skills. I'm liking the look of spellzone, and would be interested in hearing from anyone who's used it??? A few people have recommended spellodrome, but it looks like a very competitive approach to me, something A would run a mile from.

We've also started reading To_Kill_A_Mockingbird together.

Next up was science, and an experiment out of this fab little book we got out of the library. Ours involved a toaster, some cardboard, and a pedal-bin liner:

switch the toaster on...

watch the bag puff up...

and its away!

So we learnt about air density, and that cold air is more dense than hot air. I love this book - after it describes the experiment step by step, there are two sections: 'why does it work?' and 'how does this apply to the real world?' - giving really clear, concise explanations.

A is back to all her groups/classes this week: drama, guides, piano. Piano is a bit of a bone of contention at the moment. She's not really enjoying learning, and sees it as Mum 'making her' do something. Its a difficult one - on one hand I can see her point of view, why should she be made to do classes she's not interested in? But on the other - she does enjoy music very much and has a real ear for it, it would be a real shame to waste that talent. I would never push her to do exams or anything like that, but reading and playing music to a competent level would be a great skill for her to have, useful in so many ways and situations. I think I may have to agree to stop the lessons, for now anyway, I'm hoping that at some point she will realise how learning music could benefit her.

I've been looking at college courses, ostensibly for A (yeah I know, getting a bit ahead of myself! But was interested in seeing the local intitutions entry requirements, and whether they are likely to be flexible for HE kids, and as A seems dead-set on drama courses I thought I'd do some early research. Looks pretty positive) but I ended up coming across an MA that I really want to do at some point. I remember looking at it when I finished my degree a couple of years ago and thinking 'this is the next step'. I felt really tempted looking at the syllabus this morning, but it would be crazy - I can barely manage my time with HE and working from home, taking on an MA course would be insane! But still, the longing is there... my time will come :o)

Deadlines

(Work) deadlines are looming. And Granny is away. This means I didn't get my usual day and a half child-free 'work' time this week. I was a little stressed about how this was going to pan out, but I shouldn't have worried - A has been brilliant, and I think quite enjoyed proving to me that she's more than capable of self direction.

Yesterday she got loads done, she decided on a couple of activites she wanted to do, and I asked her if she would also write up the red cabbage experiment we did last week. I gave her some instructions about how to write up a science experiment, but (of course!) what she came up with was far more interesting and creative than the boring old formula I would have used. I just want to share the introduction and conclusion with you, as they really made me smile:

Introduction

Hello, my name is Professor H---. Me and my apprentice KittyRae (me apparently) decided to do this experiment because it sounded like a chance for our big brains to shine and our hands to get dirty and everybody enjoys that. We also wanted to find out what pHs are for certain items around the house (pHs are a way of telling acids and bases apart). We were also able to learn lots more about chemistry and that was great!

Conclusion

Our experiment was successful!

We found out that laundry liquid and indigestion tablets pH are around 9 and orange and lemon juices are 5-6, wow! Our brains are going to explode with all this knowledge!

Today she has spent hours reading (!!!) This is because her library book, which she wasn't even half way through this morning, is due back tomorrow, and I casually said she'd have to renew it as there's no way she'd finish it by then. She finished it this afternoon :o)

We also did a 'photoshoot' for the maths article I'm just finishing off. I don't know if they'll actually use the photos, but we had fun anyway.

Last Friday we had a wicked shopping day in the big city (thats Inverness. I was being sarcastic). Met up with lovely Nonna for lunch, and bought some exciting stuff including curling tongs -

Red Cabbage Experiment

A drew up a schedule for Friday. I was a little apprehensive as it was a very long list, but it worked brilliantly. She did have to cut things out as the day went on, but that was ok. Our main activity for the day was pH indicator-making with a red cabbage:

The cabbage was first chopped...

then boiled for ten minutes

Meanwhile, several household substances were gathered

Once the cabbage water had been drained and cooled, it was distributed between 10 glass containers (I knew all those jars I was hoarding would come in handy one day!)

Then A added a different substance to each jar - recording how much was added and any differences occuring to the cabbage water.

And here are the results - A has estimated the pH of each substance based on how blue or red the cabbage water turned.

Next came the 'experimental healthy biscuits', this involved chucking a load of vaguely healthy ingredients together, shaping into biscuit shapes and baking.

They weren't at all bad actually.

Other activities included:

• another crime scene investigation project, this time looking at DNA evidence
• writing a short story in 20 minutes
• online maths assessment on multiplication (she got 10 out of 10 - yay!!)
• 'geograball' - a game A made up with her Granny which involves throwing a ball at each other and naming countries/cities beginning with A/B/C etc
• piano practice
• smoothie making session

We ended the day with pizza-making, and both felt very satisfied with our day. Its great to see A so motivated, she seems to be entering a new phase (or something) where she's taking much more responsibility for her own learning.

The art session with the HE group went really well, I think A was quite inspired by the artist taking the session, and had a good look at her website when we got home.

A had her first night at Guides on Thursday. She was extremely nervous about it, worrying that she wouldn't know anyone, but as it turned out she already knew a couple of the girls, and was put into their patrol, so she came home with a big smile, keen to go back next week.

So all good then. I'm off to the pub tonight - haven't done that for ages. I think I'm in a lager mood tonight...

"Science is not really my thing"

So says A.
But we had one of those wonderful, flowing, 'home education at its most effective' afternoons last week.

It started off with a request from A to solve one of the crimes in this book:

which involved looking at corrosive liquids and what they can do to aluminium drinks cans. This led on to her asking what the hell pH levels were all about. I explained the best I could, but she still looked a bit puzzled, so I dug out this book:

which had a perfect little section on pH levels, including an experiment involving a red cabbage where you make your own pH indicator. I have bought a red cabbage and that is on our to do list for this week.

What made me smile most of all was the fact that she kept going back to the chemistry book all that evening. Sat in front of the TV at about 9.30 that night she started asking me about the periodic table. That was the point I thought to myself 'why did I not pay more attention in chemistry class?'. (The answer to that is we had a very creepy chemistry teacher so I gave the subject up at the earliest opportunity, ie age 13, but thats a whole other story). But anyway, we talked and read a bit about the periodic table, and both learnt a bit more.
She still says science is 'not her thing', but at least she's open to being interested in parts of it. I hated science at school because it was 'boring'. It actually was very boring because of the way it was taught, and I shut off from that subject completely.
Fast forward a few years and guess where I was working? In a medical science lab. I loved this environment, it suited me perfectly, but because I'd switched off from science at school I had to enter at the most junior level and never really made a career of it. I know I could have done if I'd put the work in, but it all seemed too hard and other parts of 'grown-up' life got in the way too much. I cant help feeling that if I'd had the right teacher, teaching in a more interesting way I would have realised how much I enjoy science much earlier on and it would have been a viable option for me.

On to something that definitely is A's 'thing' - art. This is her latest drawing:

We are off to an art session with the home ed group tomorrow, really looking forward to that. Haven't been to a group meet for quite a while, a bit nerve-wracking for me with my crap social skills, but A will love it, which is the main point of course.

Busy week all round this one - various appointments, back to drama and piano, and A is finally getting to start Guides. She's a little apprehensive but I'm hoping it will work out well for her.

The stressful situation I'm in just now is ongoing, cant say much more, but I am doing something positive about the way I'm coping with it all.

Forensics

We went off to Elgin on Monday, to go to the big library, but also with the intention of buying a chemistry set for A. This is what we came home with!

A was so thrilled to find it, her interest in forensic science and detectives is ongoing, and she is currently working on something for the next Quaker children meeting to do with solving crimes (I'm not totally sure what its all about, she had a long meeting with the adult who is taking the meeting and has been working on various bits and pieces for it. All I know for sure is that I have to bake some biscuits for it?!)

Sunshine and Science

We enjoyed the beautiful weather last weekend. Went out jogging on Friday morning (before it got too hot), then spent the rest of the morning out in our yard reading to each other. I finished Spilling_the_Beans_on_Charles_Darwin which we both loved (on to STB on Tutankhamen now). A read a chapter of Pippi_Longstocking - a brilliantly funny and anarchic tale about a nine-year-old girl who lives on her own and does things her own way, ignoring adult advice/intervention. This is one of my all-time favourite children's books.

Reading in the sun

We had friends over for a barbecue Saturday night, and we all happily stuffed our faces with Linda McCartney sausages.

A went out with my camera yesterday and took some 'abstract photos' (her words) around the town and neighbouring gardens. Here are a few:

Yesterday was also 'science day' through at Inverness_College, organised by one of our HE group parents and hosted by the STEM club. A had a great time, she worked mostly in a group with two other girls, but there was a really nice friendly feel to the whole group - including the parents, and I had quite a laugh too (much needed at the moment!). Briefly, the experiments were:

Enzymes - looking at how enzymes in pineapple and kiwi fruit affect the protein in gelatin, by leaving the fruit in some jelly for three hours and checking for changes.

Fruit battery - wired up a lemon/orange/grapefuit to a LED using a copper coin and a galvanised nail, then added more fruit to the circuit, testing how many were needed to light the LED.

Fat Content and Diffusion - looking at how fat affects diffusion by adding one drop of food colouring into pots of different types of milk (skimmed, semi-skimmed and whole) and comparing them.

Protective Packaging - each group had to design a container for an egg that would prevent it from breaking when dropped from head height, using newspaper/bubble-wrap/straws/tape. The designs were very varied, but they all worked.

Soda Snakes - using sand, bicarbonate of soda, icing sugar, alcohol, and a match, some very impressive 'snakes' emerged for some groups! Really should have taken my camera - for this alone - but, of course, I didn't :0(

Satrosphere - again!

We got there this time! More of that later.

I took this picture of the piles of boxes in our living room before we moved. I intended to take one of the flat once it was all empty, but couldn't find the camera (in a box somewhere), but it looked so beautiful once it was empty and we cleaned it all, I almost didn't want to leave.

The move went pretty smoothly, but I still found it a very stressful week. We got the keys on Wednesday, so did a few runs in my Mum's little Ford Fiesta that day. Then on Thursday the very lovely man turned up to help me with all the big, heavy stuff.

Friday we (me and A) did a few more runs in Mum's car, then on Saturday my Mum came and helped us with the last few bits and cleaning the flat.

The new house is great, despite a few initial problems - washing machine broke the first time I used it, and the heating is not working properly. Once we get those sorted all will be well. We are slowly unpacking boxes, but it will take some time I think. A absolutely loves the house, and especially her room, she's already made it into her space, and there are no bedtime issues now. Its so handy being in the town, and A is loving her new independence, like being able to pop to the shops for me.



So, yesterday we went off to Aberdeen (again) with our friends. Had a nice day - Art_Gallery first, then we had lunch at Slaine's_Castle - a spooky themed pub, with a waiter who tried very hard with the kids (unfortunately they just thought he was a bit weird!). After lunch we made our way to Satrosphere (hooray!). It was very 'hands on' - lots of interesting interactive stuff for the kids (and us Mums!) to play with. It wasn't as big as I had imagined somehow, maybe I'm just spoilt - growing up in London with easy access to the huge museums there, but what was there was really good, and the kids enjoyed it.

A running away in fear of a woolly mammoth

A and 'the boys' at the Mercat_Cross, Aberdeen