G's Birth Story!!

Admittedly this did happen in July but I'm finally getting round to doing this now, one week off halloween!!!


G’s Birth

Had been having very strong Braxton hicks since 35 weeks and sporadic bouts of contractions but despite being told by Aida (my luffly IM) not to ignore any contractions….naturally I kinda did!!! So at 38weeks the babe’s head engaged – much merriment as this had never happened in either of my other pregnancies as they didn’t engage until I was well into labour. By 39 weeks the merriment was wearing a little thin as having a baby's head fully entrenched in your pelvis does not make for happy hips….it makes for very, very sore hips and crappy nights. I had 3 possible due dates. My scan put me at 40weeks on the 7th of July, my LMP put my due date on the 9th of July and add 2 days to that to accommodate my cycle and we got the 11th of July…..I always stated that given my previous history of going to 40+ weeks that I would be very surprised to see the babe before the 18th….so colour me surprised!!! My Mum had come down on the 7th but had a wedding on the 12th an hour away. SO Fri 11th and the BH are still very strong, pushing the baby’s head against my cervix and I was getting a lot of pressure in my lower back, down my bum and once when I went to the loo I was rather surprised to find things down there…rather open, shall we say!! I had one contraction on the way out to the allotment which made me pause and then a few more that evening but nothing major and it had all settled by bedtime. Sat Morning I send Mum off to the wedding….where she has no signal. By Sat lunchtime I was having very strong BH/contractions the lines were definitely blurring but having spent early labour with L doubled up, anything that didn’t pull me up short was not going to be paid attention to! The contractions continued and got a little more regular but were nowhere near painful….not even uncomfortable, I just noticed they were happening. At 2pm I decided to time them and by 5 pm they were every 8-10 mins but still very mild and short so I sent a text to my Mum to let her know as well as Aida and Berny who was to film the birth, however, I also sent Dan off to work. I still hadn’t heard from Mum so I texted the number of a random person (turned out to be Jason , my Mum’s partner’s son) whose number I had been given in the event of my Mum not having signal. I texted “Did you give my Mum the message” I got back “I will do in a sec they are doing the speeches” Clearly a man who didn’t understand how quickly things can develop. I then called Dan to tell him I might need him to come home and put on my TENS. I then put the boys to bed and the contractions were getting more noticeable and I was having to pause and concentrate a bit more on them. As I was putting L to bed my neighbour came round as she had been in hospital having sympathy pains for me and demanded (very nicely) that I get on with it as she hadn’t slept properly since Thurs!!! The hospital had agreed that she was having contractions despite being 63 and very unpregnant and had suggested she come round to see me in the hope that they went away. By this time my Mum had texted to say she was on her way home. She got to me by 8ish and about 20 mins later Dan walked through the door having decided that I probably was in labour and he should fill the pool. Aida rang and asked if I wanted her, I said I probably didn’t need her yet (despite regular contractions every 8 mins) but she said she would come anyways as my house was probably quieter than hers. I then called Berny to tell her Aida was coming out and she said she would mosey on over too. Spot the similarity? All these people knew I was in labour, the one person who didn’t? ME!!!!! So by 9.30 Barbara (my neighbour) had gone home, Dan has begun to fill the pool and is doing some work on the laptop, T has come downstairs to see what’s going on and is now watching Pirates of the Caribbean and me Mum, Aida and Berny are all chatting whilst I make comments about me probably being in latent labour which should be re-named boring labour. Aida points out that my contractions are now 6-7 mins apart but I declare that they are only lasting 30 secs max and are mild and can’t possibly be doing anything. Aida smiles in a knowing way but goes along with me! By 12 I’m still pootling along, by now having to stand up and rock whilst leaning on the back of a chair but still utterly convinced I’m not in labour. I even ask Aida if its sado-masochistic to want the contractions to be more painful….she points out that it really is!! So then I send everyone to bed, including myself. Dan re-arranges the bed so I can sleep on my left but facing the edge of the bed (coz changing sides of the bed would be far too easy??!) and allocate Berny and Aida their beds. I last all of 12 minutes in bed where I have 2 contractions which I can’t lay down for so I get up and join Dan downstairs, followed 20 mins later by Aida then my Mum. I’m still telling Aida that I think I’ve got a hell of a long time to go as the contractions are too short to be doing anything. She tells me of a client whose contractions only lasted for 20 secs and she had the babe very quickly. She also suggests that I’m not realising it’s a contraction till its peak and she’s been timing them from when I start to wince and fidget!! I also go to the loo and have a show which I find slightly more encouraging although with L I had the show on the Wed morning and had him on the Thurs afternoon so, if I’m honest….not that encouraging, to me it just meant I may have the baby in the next few days!! I was also farting like a trooper, seriously I was just one gianormous bag of wind especially when Aida had to listen in, I just farted sooooooo much! By 1ish I was hungry but didn’t want to chew anything so Dan made me a protein shake. Then the contractions began to get a little stronger but nothing on L’s early labour so I still wasn’t convinced. By 2.30am Berny joined us downstairs and there was much chuckling as I kept having to bring my knees together during a contraction due to the pressure in my bum which I apparently kept telling Aida was because the baby was posterior?!?! I think by this time Aida was adopting the mantra of “Just smile and nod at the crazy lady who thinks she’s not in labour!!” She also suggested I might want to get in the pool but I didn’t think I was anywhere near that yet and was worried it might slow things down and as I was already shattered I didn’t want that. Another hour passed and I was still waiting to feel overwhelmed by the labour or in that weird birth zone you go into but I was still very lucid, joking, gutted when I had to pause in conversation due to a contraction, generally feeling not in labour! However by 3.30 a couple of the contractions got a bit harder and I announced that the pool was beginning to look like a good idea now and I’d give it 4 more contractions ( not 3, had to be 4??!) So finally at 10 to 4 I got in the pool which was lovely! The contractions didn’t stop or particularly intensify at first. I was pulling away more show and we had a lovely conversation about it looking quite fibrous and like an over cooked savoy cabbage leaf!!! NICE! Then I needed yet another poo so I got out of the pool and waddled into the kitchen where I saw it was dawn and for some obscure reason Barry Manilow’s “Daybreak” came into my head??!!! Of all the soundtracks to have playing in my head it is BARRY FRIKKIN MANILOW??!!!! Whilst in the loo I had 3 contractions although tried to get away with telling Aida I only had 2 but Dan shopped me. I hadn’t counted the one when I was sitting down as it was caused by the sitting! Also thought this labour Gabe kept wiggling which kept setting off contractions….which was weird! Suddenly when I got back into the pool it all got very intense very quickly. I suddenly realised that I was very afraid of Transition as it really hurt last time and I didn’t like it. I remember telling Aida “For the record I’d still like a rest and be thankful transition!” Then I started to get a bit panicky. I was afraid of feeling fearful and clamming up so I started to vocalise my fears. “I’m frightened but I don’t know what I’m frightened of” whereas actually I didn’t want to say what I was frightened of incase I clammed up. Mum and Dan at this point started the cheerleading I had requested and I, amazingly, began to talk through my contractions saying things like “Its fine, its all fine” and “this is what is supposed to be happening” I also started to try and smile through the contractions.(what the hell I looked like I do NOT know!!!) But I manage to tell the room that I was smiling because it releases happy hormones in your brain! Then I was hit with a series of very, very strong and overwhelming contractions that came out of nowhere and were really fierce. They made me wail and my voice teacher from drama school would have been seriously impressed with the involuntary arpeggios I was producing. Then I felt a click and a whoosh and announced “That’ll be my waters gone”. Although I assumed everyone must have heard them and seen the gush in the pool. Er nooooo coz I was in water!!! Then Aida tried to listen in but I had to ask her to stop coz I couldn’t bear being touched particularly on the stomach. Weird as in my other labours I desperately needed my Mum to rub my back. My waters broke with L abour 3 hours before I birthed him so I still thought I had a while to go. Imagine my surprise when I start to feel my cervix burning as the baby moved through it! I started feeling him move down (I would like to say pushing but I pushed very little!) whilst I was on all fours. Instinctively I raised my right knee up and put my foot on the floor but promptly got cramp in my thigh (which I remember thinking was a little unfair given the pain I was already in) I also remember thinking that I like the pushing but this didn’t feel like pushing this felt like birthing! So I turned round into a squatting position with my back against the pool (which surprised my Mum a bit when she had to swap with Dan so he could support me). I had watched a programme on freebirthing a week before and had marvelled at a woman who had given a running commentary whilst birthing her baby. With L monosyllabic words were about all I could manage! But here I was saying I could feel him. Aida asked if I wanted to know if she could see the head. I said yes but then said I could feel the head! Then I felt him begin to what I thought was crown (I’d never felt crowning before as T and L had come out all in one go and I’d had a 3 rd degree tear with both of them…tear doesn’t hurt but stretching burns like a motherhubbard!!) I asked Aida if I was crowning and she said I was more than crowning, he was out to his eyebrows!! Then ever so slowly his head emerged, then his shoulders and I reached down and lifted my wee baby boy to the surface to discover that HE WAS ALSEEP! Yup, labour was such a bore that he fell asleep and didn’t deign to wake up to meet his Mummy! He was very floppy but pinking up well so I tipped him forwards in case he had fluid in his chest at which point Aida pointed out that he was fine….he just hadn’t woken up! My waters went at 4.58 and G was born at 5.09am to a very surprised Mummy who thought she still had hours to go! T had been brought downstairs when I turned round to squat and was there to watch his brother making his grand entrance. He then climbed into the pool to have a look up close! L was bought down to meet his new brother straight after the birth and was wholly unimpressed by his baby brother’s slimy head! He insisted on kissing him on the lips to avoid the offending slimy bits! When we called Dan’s parents to let them know the first thing L said was “I have a baby brother and he has dot a slimy head!!!” G made a vague attempt at rooting, still with his eyes shut and I started to get a bit stroppy so knew the placenta was on its way. I asked T to get out of the pool then gave a good push and the reached down to catch the placenta. I then went to hand it to Aida who was taken a little by surprise by her client handing her, her placenta and called for a colander!!! I then got out of the pool and went into the lounge where Gabe had two boobs…still asleep. G Murton weighed in at 8lb 2 oz and was just gorgeous. I got a small 2nd degree tear which was stitched by Joy, my back up who hadn’t been up for 36 hours!!! T held my hand whilst I was stitched and L came upstairs to check (he was downstairs playing puzzles with Berny) and yelled to her from the top of the stairs “Its alright Berny, Mummy’s noonoo is fixted!!” We had decided on a Lotus birth but the cord was very short and Dan was unconvinced so T and L helped to cut the cord at 9.15. Very much a family affair!

Day one of the cream legbar egg sit

Sweetie, our hatchling from last year has gone broody. Plumped up like a teacosy and all the feathers on her breast have been plucked away...its made egg retrieval a bit icky when you stick your hand under her and its all warm and fleshy!! So we've decided to give her some eggs. Instead of last year where we hatched bantums we've decided to introduce a different breed into the mix in the hope of creating some good laying a table birds. So instead of going for a Dorking or Orpington (the logical choice) I wanted some blue eggs so we picked cream legbars! After a post on the practical poultry forum a lovely lady has sent us 6 pale blue Cream Legbar eggs and much to the disgust of sweetie today I took away her clutch ( made up of two of hers and one of Hatty's and Mrs Pretty's marked with green food colouring for identification purposes) as well as 3 of the eggs laid today that she had grabbed as well and gave her the new eggs. So having googled it would appear that chook gestation is 20-22 days so that would put hatch day between the 5-8th of June! All very exciting as I'm hoping to get atleast a one hen and a cockrel out of the hatch!
T is not happy about the dispatching of our Cockrel from last years hatch...although when T went out to cuddle Specky (said cockrel) he pecked him!! He's starting to crow at 4am-ish, is a bit of a bully and has trampled and eaten the eggs a good few times. Also with having a new lot of chicks on the way I don;t trust him not to kill them. The other girls weren't too bothered by the arrival of Sweetie, Specky and Chubs but he's got a bit more attitude to him, that and although he's beautiful to look at, there's not much meat on him and he is only able to mate with the smaller ladies and so would only make for small birds.....so Tomorrow he's being slaughtered by our next allotment plot neighbour........and I hope that the kids won;t be too traumatised by it! I'm all for them learing the fact of life - ie we eat meat therefore animals must die but on the otherhand I do feel like an evil Mummy too.......we'll see eh

Feeling like poo!!!

Urgh I have some kind of virus! The gland in the left side of my neck is feels like a melon and my ear is intermittently blocking........generally a really poo couple of days coupled with the bank holiday weekend and a hubby in the restaurant trade does not make for a happy Mummy. But we've coped. The kids have been very good really. T has doen some more good work today - we've time lined up to the end of Henry II's reign and yet again he remembered stuff we covered last week pertinent to Stephen and Mathilda's reigns!!! We then attempted a word search which I had previously avoided coz I thought it might be above him but he did a grand job. Then we had a good crack at EC and he has finally finished Literacy yr 2 and I've moved him up to yr 3....not bad considering he should only be in yr 1 if he was in school. He's been struggling over 2 or three sections which we attacked today and went over together before he did them himself and suddenly he has finished!!! He was very chuffed with himself indeed and we're now just waiting for the level thingy to move up so he can go and explore the new "games"!!! He's about 3/4 of the way through maths but chugging along quite nicely and isn't close enough to the end yet to want to start moving up, which is good coz there are still some concepts he hasn't quite got his head round so he needs to stay int he Yr 2 bracket for a wee while longer. We finished the day with a Feudal system quiz which he stormed through! Apparently the answers where obvious......of coarse coz the feudal system is just so simple! But actually it is and the History on the Net pack explains it so well and clearly that on reflection the answers are obvious! Its starting to get to the time when I'm going to have to get an Ed city bit for L. He's desperate to join in and with T's encouragement and help I reckon we've got about 6 months before he'll be chomping at the bit to have his own "games" to do! I just need to get his PC skills a bit more precise and reiterate that shouting at the PC doesn't help.....well at least not when I do it!
I feel better on days like this blogging what we've done. I've also had a list going so I can actually see how productive we've been despite me being decidedly lack lustre!

Days like these!

Another one of those God I just want to curl up in a ball in bed days that turns out to be very productive despite the odds! The Medieval project is really going well – very much helped by BBC4’s medieval season. So far we have watched the lead up and effects of the Battle of Hastings, created a medieval time line, worked out who was on the throne and what they did and coloured in a section of the Bayeux tapestry. Today T started copying out the main section of the timeline and we covered from William the Conqueror to Henry the 1st and then thanks to a luffly gesture from a friend who sent us a fab medieval pack we explored the Feudal System and used cut out cards with pictures and statements to compound what T had just learned. That and the 20 mins on EC as well as reading us his latest book “Captain Pepper’s pet” from the “I can read series” made for a rather surprising day! Not bad for a preggy Mummy with glands the size of apples and a mood on her like bear with a sore head! So one in the eye for the “how will you cope?” brigade!!!

Histowick Warwick!

To kick off our next project on the medieval period we decided to capitalize on our countries fabulous castles and booked a visit to Warwick Castle with the added benefit of an EO discount. (Price should have been £45.50 and we got it for £28). Sadly we had had the night from hell the night before, with the boys being up at 5am and me being up since 4.30am because of the bed at my Mum’s being equivalent to a device of medieval torture. By 5.30 am T and I were on the downstairs sofa with me pretending to be asleep in a desperate attempt to convince myself that tiredness would have no bearing on the day. It didn’t help that my ribs were so bruised from the bed that I couldn’t take a full breath in and by 7.30am I had a very “tired and emotional” meltdown……not nice. Anyways, meltdown over we piled in the car at 9.30 and made our way to Warwick with 2 semi conscious children. We got out of the car to a biting wind and an uphill walk…..not the best of starts especially as I couldn’t complete my sentences due to bruised ribs as I tried to explain to T why the castle was built on top of a hill. D even offered to get me a wheelchair to do the day in……. hmmmmmm.
Anyways there weren’t that many people there when we arrived apart from a large party of foreign students….who were quite rude so we avoided them! T spotted the archery tent as soon as we got though the castle gates and because it was so quiet he was allowed to shoot a few more arrows that we paid for! L even had a go! We then retreated inside to get out of the cold. Sadly we ended up in the Edwardian bit which wasn’t that interesting for the boys but it did give us a chance to warm up! We then made our way to the great hall to have a look at the suits of armour and even try bits on! Naturally D joined in and I turned round to see various bits hanging off him!!! We then wandered down to have a look at the Trebuchet and watch the talk. The guy doing the talk was brilliant - very engaging to both children and adults, T was totally absorbed and to our surprise to was L who had a proper little chuckle when the Treb master described how dead pigs were sometimes shot into castles as early germ warfare!!! According to L pigs don’t fly!! On the way back from the Treb we got chatting to a guide who was really happy to talk to us about the middle ages and sayings that we get from there “Don’t shoot the messenger” (they once fired a page sent out during a siege to negotiate a treaty and the siege army sent him back via the Trebuchet) and “Pot luck” (food was cooked in huge pots over the fire and instead of emptying it out of the end of the day they just topped it up so it was pot luck whether you got the fresh stuff at the top or the festering goo at the bottom….which may just kill ya!) He pointed us in the direction of knights and Squires exhibit and the dungeon. We took loads of pics – It was very dark and although great fun and very atmospheric not that great for an achy preggy lady who can’t really see her feet! The exhibit was great tho with films at the beginning, waxworks to look at and armour along the way to touch and again try on. In the laundry room we had a lovely chat with the guide there who explained why the ragged staff emblem was on everything. I was also really impressed when we got the apothecary bit that both boys could identify a lot of the herbs!! That’s what happens I suppose when you grow up with a hippy Mummy and a chef daddy!!!! The dungeon was cold and damp and very tempting to consider adding to our house……there is a lot to be said for an oubliette!!
D then took the 2 boys on the perilous journey up the tower, along the curtain wall and back down again - lots of stone spiral stairs…..thin railings with big gaps and sheer drops that made me shudder. So I sat in the sun and circled my ankles and tried not to freak when the boys leaned over the painfully thin railings to wave to me….bless them!
So after their trek up the tower and a discussion on Machialations and Crenellations and all the other “ations” we find in a castle the boys disappeared off to the archery display, we hit the gift shop and D started making plans to rope G (our next allotment neighbour) into making a mini Trebuchet……. Bows and arrows (hey we could even go and source the correct wood from the dog walk)………..practice swords!!! Coz its not like they have taken to using any available stick as a sword or anything!!! All in all a really good kick off to the project – perfect castle to go visit if a little on the pricey side and it would have been much more enjoyable had it not been so blinkin cold. But the guide book is fab as are the kids bits I picked up and it would appear that the whole jaunt really captured both kids imagination – Job done!!!!

Space project!

And its FINISHED!!!!!!! Our first ever lap book project on space (which is a heck of a broad subject btw) has despite all the odds finally reached completion! It was started in earnest back in September with us emptying the library of any book remotely concerning space, we had loads!! Books on stars, constellations, planets, the sun and space-travel filled every available surface! I decided that instead of buying books on space, this time we would utilise the local library and home ed on a tighter budget…….. great idea in theory and totally do-able but I learnt that you need to be both highly organised and very selective or you just end up with a barrage of information to wade through that’s not necessarily aimed at your child’s age group. In hind site I would have bought the Usborne discovery book on space which is internet linked and a couple more age appropriate books as the information and pictures are more engaging but nevertheless we managed. So after a few experiments, dropping rubber balls onto baking trays full of flour to create craters, making volcanoes out of vinegar and bicarb, laying out the solar system (made up of tomatoes, apples, balls of blue tack) across the garden and having poor Pluto end up in the allotments only to have to turn around mid discussion and retrieve Saturn from the dog, Neptune and Uranus from the chickens and Jupiter from the shortest child and playing with cornflour and water for no other reason than it looked like fun; we decided to opt for something a little more structured. Thus I searched for Space project and came across http://www.liveandlearnpress.com/ and that’s where we got into the wonderful world of lap booking.
I have to admit that as an ex-teacher a project with stuff laid out to do really appealed to me as it has a certain element of structure to it and when I have my wibbly moments I can look at what we’ve achieved and think “Phew! Everything is fine!!” Also T has really taken to the idea and towards the end of the project was doing 3 mini books a day in an attempt to complete a spread so they could be glued in and he could look back over what he had done. (Obviously he gets that little bit of work freak from me!!!) The art work is still on the go and so far we are up to Jupiter on our planets as well as T producing an amazing painting of the solar system in poster paints which he spent ages on and, to my mind, is just stunning! That and the cover illustration and he is turning into a little Van Gogh!!!
November and December saw me throwing up for Britain and structured home ed going out the window which is why I think this project lasted so long but its really been a good way to work for our family. T seems very motivated by the style and presentation of the work, has learned loads and is immensely proud of his first complete project. We’ve been finding out the info, then he puts it into his own words, I write it out and he copies it into the book……….and funnily enough this has really helped his reading as well as his hand writing. I was discussing this with a friend and she was saying it was a Steiner method; instead of just using sight to read they use muscle memory, aural, oral AND sight to read and write out the word!!!! He up for doing 6 pages of his books straight off, less guessing more actual reading of new words and damn me if he can’t read the Sky menu when that flicks up!!!!
We also made a start on times tables with the promise of a pound per table on being able to recite it and pass a test on it. He is nearly at the end of yr 2 maths and Literacy on Ed City and is rocketing along with exercises that 6 months ago would have confused the hell out of him. What’s even more encouraging is L’s reaction to all this learnin. He is now asking to do “home ed bits” So whilst T does a mini book L expects to do colouring in on the same subject as well as counting and letters. T has taken to going through sums and letters with L when he asks a question which I LOVE!!!! So when misguided LA’s and misinformed people make comments like “Oh its alright educating one but what about when you have all three on the go at different ages?” Erm………. Well if a subject is interesting then its interesting no matter what level you are at!!!! Show me another 2 yr old that can confidently name planets because its funny and they have funny names!!!

With the apparent appearance of spring we’ve been out on the allotment a lot more recently. T now not only has his plot to do but has commandeered the boarder the other side of the fence that runs along side the car path into the plots. We didn’t want to grow veg there coz of the passing cars BUT flowers will make a great soaking up barrier! So as well as our growing army of sweetpeas (which are now in the brassica frame hardening off) we sat last night planning the boarder………never…ever ….ever say to a child “Oh you can have what ever shaped boarder you fancy” coz really? They take you literally!!! So after a little guidance on logistics and garden design we had established a theme – Space and after a bit more experimenting, drawing out, rubbing out and moving of the 5 pots which will contain the all important sweetpeas, we settled on the shape of the beds – shooting stars at either end, 2 hearts then a waxing and waning moon in the centre……………….. so not complicated at all???!!!!! Then it was colour schemes and plants. So Sunday is raid the plan the beds and raid the garden centre day for lobelia, allysum, begonias and marigolds!!! He’s got a brilliant eye for colour so I’m sure it will look fab and if it keeps the weeds down as well then I am very up for it but boy is it going to be a big plan!!

Its really fecking COLD!!!!

And why does this not seem to bother kids????? I'm standing there freezing my bits off, supervising the planting of the sweet peas we bought yesterday.....and we bought a LOT of sweet peas, 1 x multi pack which had 100 seed in + 3 packs containing 25 seeds each...... and 20 planting tubes!!! So 4 seeds went in each tube, then I battled with the shed which Dan has packed to bursting and trying to fit my Bump around the strimmer to locate more pots!!! Which T was thankfully happy to fill ...I wasn't about to - too flippin cold, then we watered them, and stuck them in the greenhouse and I'm hoping the soil won;t freeze!!! L was very happy to play in the ice and near freezing puddles in the bottom of buckets with no gloves on???? But they are all in and I just hope they grow!
T did some reading for me this morning after a bit of cajoling and a fair few threats. He tends to guess alot of the words which I'm assuming is normal, he would also rather read what he thinks is there as opposed to whats actually on the page but when he actually looks at it he does really well!! We're up to 6 pages at a time which means he actually knows what's going on in the story. We also did a mini book for our lap book on Space - its a did you know about the moon. Quit impressed with the things he's remembered. I ordered the Sam Neill "Space" series on DVD as they only last half an hour and really seem to push the right buttons. All in all, despite the fact that I am shattered and doing a very attractive waddle we seem to be getting stuff done!
Writing endless lists for T's party on Fri! A request has been put in for Doritos, apparently the normal organic crisps are getting boring!

Surreh PIA council!

The past two months have involved some serious letter writing of the "Disgusted of Surrey" kind! Despite the new guidelines issued by the DCSF ( which are actually alright - they appear to have taken on most of what the home ed community wanted) Surrey seems firmly stuck in the dark ages and hell bent on trying to push visits and monitor the quality of education being provided as opposed to just checking that an education is taking place. So in Jan a number of things happened; I got a letter yet again either requesting a visit or a report.....coz the fact they recieved one in Aug seems to have been forgotton!!! R found a job vacancy on the Surrey CC website which was so misleading and misinformed it was painful and then she got hold of Pam Berryman's response to the guideline consultation by the DfES.....exceedingly interesting reading!!! so enough is enough they need to dramatically change thier approach and now the guidelines are advocating thatwe've decided to push so the first wave of letters went off 2 weeks ago to the education bods at SCC as well as the head of the council, education select committee councillers and Jeremy Hunt our MP. We had a generic "we're looking into it" response within 4 days, which was impressive considering I am STILL waiting on acknowlegement for a letter I sent to the EbPP team in Sept 2006!!!! It even took them a month to acknowledge my emialed in Ed phil! But its seems if you go a bit further up the food chain you get more of a response. So we'll see...... Its sure to have ruffled a few feathers at least and whilst it would be lovely to think we're going to make a difference I'll not be holding my breath!

Random breakfast questions!

What I love about home ed is the spontenaity (sp) of the learning.....This morning I had my to do list all worked out, the boys chores, my chores and the home ed bits that all needed to be fitted in before home ed group along with the shopping delivery and mealtimes. So we are sitting eating breakfast and T has tha face on that generally means he's percolating a question then suddenly out it pops - "How is soil made?" Totally relevant seeing as we've spent the weekend and past week on the allotment with D rotavating, muck spreading, plot rotation etc. He's been party to conversations about weed mulching, soil acidity and what grows best in previously used areas. So although I have a vague recollection of a test tube with soil and water in it, and the words humus (not to be confused with houmous) sediment and stones I google soil and come across this fab website

www.soil-net.com Genius a cartoon badger explaining many things about soil with interactive games and good graphics! So the list gets postponed, whilst T does some learnin and Mummy gets wistful ideas about chocolate spread jars, soil samples and a magnifying glass!!

So then the playroom gets done and now we are onto times tables.....with cups and buttons and the intrigue of setting it up early has done wonders to engage interest!!! tee hee

New year New Start?

Well November and December passed me by in a whirl of nausea, vommiting and utter disbelief that I could really be that bad at early pregnancy!!!! One minute there we are getting all excited, booking our lovely midwife and laughing about where the birth pool will go since I reorganised the playroom then suddenly the only in depth conversations I seem to be having are with the toilet bowl!!! My lovely Mum had to come down to look after the kids (and me) as I limped my way towards the end of 2007 thinking what and apt ending that was to a pretty pants year! Thank goddess we worked through the summer is all I can say as Nov and Dec was sporadic at best education wise. Telly was watched, walks were had and I believe meals were eaten but its all a bit of a blur really. So imagine my surprise when I sit down with T in early Jan when I'm beginning to feel human again, despite a stinking cold, and I get out his maths workbook and he ploughs through a couple of pages in a matter of minutes???!!!! Apparently the questions were very easy! I was also amazed to see that his reading had improved as well! He sat and read me 6 pages of his new reading book straight off where as it used to be a battle for me to get him to read me two! I was explaining this strange phenomenon to a friend G at home ed group and she directed me to "Free range education" and a chapter called "Lessons from the leg break fairy" in which another Mum describes this continuation of learning despite her being bed bound due to a badly broken leg. Apparently the break just allowed T to consolidate organise the things we had been learning so when he re-encountered them after the break they seemed easier as they had stuck in his brain!!!! I have to say relief was the first emotion followed by immense proudness!

So, sofar we've been cracking away into Jan. Today we sat down with his Live and Learn Space lap book and covered the mini book of the layers of the sun. He also helped D relocate the chooks to a plush new pad in the shed. This involved screwing the rungs on a ladder for them and hammering fance posts into the ground. At this point I had to go inside as 5 yr old + mallet to me signifes a trip to A&E so away I walked and all was well! He even managed to pick up the cockrell without being savaged!

He's storming through Education city now being half way through yr 2 Maths, 3/4 of the way through yr 2 Literacy and having very nearly completed Yr 3 science. Flying through his addition and subtraction books and although its his least favourite thing to do his writing is looking very good.

We sat at the table today with L painting, T writing and me cutting up, and gluing mini books ready for the next page of the lapbook and for a brief moment peace reigned! We're back into Ballet and Gym and enjoying them, he's on about rugby and learning the guitar as well as tennis and swimming and whilst we would love him to be able to do them all and hate to start geting him to choose, the financial pot is not bottomless and with L coming up to the age where he'll start wanting to do stuff soon I think we might have to adopt a suck it and see then choose your 2 or 3 faves approach, especially with baby Mk 3 on the way!

Despite T's happiness with the current situation I still regularly get the wibbles and relish seeing the other parents at our weekly meets to share these collywobbles with. Apparently the doubts stop when the kids are in their 20's with decent jobs!!!!! so only....20ish yrs to go then!!!!!!