A LIFE WORTH LIVING....: Drumming and dressing.

Wednesday 10 December 2008

Drumming and dressing.

Busy busy day today = one tired Mummy.

Off to do some shopping this morning before Home ed group.Fabulous drumming workshop at Home ed, the sound of 20 or so Djembes was amazing;-)I didn't drum as it would have been too much physically for me but I loved watching and listening.Everyone young and old really enjoyed it and we are talking of doing more workshops regularly.That would be two activities we have found that will become regular,we go to a local farm and do pottery,walks in the woods to make memory sticks,and last week we made wreaths.Some of the kids joined in but most of them chose to be outside in the frost.In future we aim to do orienteering and den building amongst other activities.The kids love it there,a river and lots of space to wander.The couple that run it are really inspirational and a valuable lesson in the fact that you never stop learning as they diversify and try new ventures.

After home ed a quick stop off at home to drop things off and then out again into town to exchange some clothes I had bought for Emily that were too small.I was intending to go back on Saturday and was surprised when she said she would come in as she hates shopping.On our journeys through town to pick Alan up on an evening she had spotted a shoulder back in the window of New Look,it was perfect to hold her Alethiometer and has decided that some of the money she makes from her car boot sale on Sunday will go to the bag, so she wanted to check it out.They only had two left so I bought it for her and she will repay me.Got all the clothes changed,bit of a mad dash and then picked up Al.

Home to make tea while they walked Beauty.A little strictly take 2 and then tree dressing,with dancing hyper excited child:-)Mulled wine and lots of toasts by Milly for happiness and family time at Xmas and peace to mankind:-)I have just finished wrapping a few more of the family presents and just have Milly's to do at the weekend,they are scattered all over the house in various cupboards so I hope I remember them all!!

I have clutter in the living room with box's of Dec's and candle holders etc waiting to find a home around the house.I have clutter at the top of the landing as we have cleared so many toys from Emily's room for the car boot sale and more clutter sitting on her bedroom floor waiting to be sorted.I will be glad to get this weekend over with so I can sort the place out and get it all back in the loft out of the way.

A day at home tomorrow,probably in PJ's :-)We sent for a darker henna to go on Emily's hair to give a chestnut red colour, so will be elbow deep in cak for a while in the morning and while she is cooking for as many hours as she can sit with cling film on (her record so far was 4 hours) we will be pricing all the toys for the car boot,whilst constantly wiping the henna that drips from under the clingfilm!! It is a faffy job but the colour is great and has lasted ages as well as giving her a great shine on her hair.Thanks to Jax for recommending LUSH.

Off to bed now,hoping I can sleep as I have had two terrible nights waking up lot's and not able to get back to sleep:-(
Night night xx

4 comments:

Michelle said...: lol I've shoved all the empty boxes back in the cupboard just now!; 10 December 2008 at 22:49
Unknown said...: Oh drumming workshops are so much fun. All that ebergy that's created is amazing isnt it?

GL with the hair colouring. I don't do this anymore, but when I did I made a heck of a mess.; 11 December 2008 at 10:03
stefndawniy said...: gosh isn't this time of year just so busy, no wonder your a tired mummy x; 15 December 2008 at 00:34
Claire said...: It always makes me smile when I hear about home ed groups coming together and organising great stuff.; 18 December 2008 at 16:43

This is me.....

There comes a time when you have to stand up and shout: This is me damn it! I look the way I look, think the way I think, feel the way I feel, love the way I love! I am a whole complex package. Take me... or leave me. Accept me - or walk away! Do not try to make me feel like less of a person, just because I don't fit your idea of who I should be and don't try to change me to fit your mold. If I need to change, I alone will make that decision.When you are strong enough to love yourself 100%, good and bad - you will be amazed at the opportunities that life presents you.” Stacey Charter.

Why we Home educate

( Slightly edited from a blog post I did when we started out) In the end the actual decision to take Emily out only took a matter of days but before that it had been around a year and a half of talking about ti and reading books, Free range education by Terri Dowty, Educating your child at home by Jane Lowe and Alan Thomas were two that had a real impact for different reasons. Free range education has lots of examples of real life home educators and I think I can say that it was this one that convinced me the most that we could do it. We are two very average people ,neither of us left school with many qualifications, we went on to do quite well in our chosen professions and had no need to think about the education system at all until Emily came along.

I knew about home education and when Emily was born considered it as an optionbut always felt my lack of education would be a problem and that I wouldn't be capable of providing her with what she would need.Looking back with hindsight it is easy to see how wrong I was!!

School never really suited Emily......After the nursery year at a very highly rated, high achieving school we knew that particular School wasn't for us and took her out. We enrolled her in a lovely village school with only 70 children in the whole school .The ethos of the school was totally different, the children didn't wear uniforms and there was much more emphasis on the children being individuals.The head was a sensitive and principled man who wanted the best for the children. We thought we had struck gold.Over the reception and year 1 Emily gained confidence and really started to bloom. It was at this time she was diagnosed with dyspraxia( we had had to go down the diagnosis route as our observations of Emily's difficulties were not enough to enable the teachers to tailor things so she was helped and given less work in class) but she managed quite well in the more relaxed play orientated early years.Year 2 with more emphasis on academic activities got progressively harder for her. She is very sensitive and it wasn't just the academic side it was the embarassment of having to put her hand up for the toilet,seeing others being told off and worrying in case she did something wrong and got the same treatment, panicking because she couldn't do the work and the teacher never had time to sit with her (alot of this did not come out until she had left school) her behaviour at home became worse and worse she was so angry and obviously stressed . At this time we began to seriously consider taking her out but held back because of my lack of confidence in my ability to provide her with an adequate education ,my health being so poor was also a major stumbling block.

Then in year three it became blatantly obvious that something needed to change .She was struggling on all levels and we couldn't allow the school system to damage our daughter anymore.She became ill with a bug that was doing the rounds and she was off for two weeks , during that time I had a conversation with a friend who home educates her two children and I was so upset I couldn't make a decision and she said just go with whats in your heart and that really helped me to shift my thinking and stop worrying about what I couldn't give her and focus on what I could give her.

We never sent her back.I still get emotional when I think of that time , the look on Emily's face when we told her she would never have to go back to school was priceless,the immense sense of relief that we were off the treadmill of school life and the excitement of the time ahead and to be honest the fear of the unknown......

So here we are four years on and a lot of reading and researching later I feel comfortable with what we are doing . The changes that have happened so far have been helped along the way by the many wonderful blogs out there.They are so varied and there are so many different approaches , I have found ones that I can identify with and have read a lot of archive material that has been written in each and found answers to so many of the questions I have had that they have helped me to sort out what will work best for us .As much as I wish we had done this earlier and saved Emily from the distress that she went through I do believe things happen for a reason and that the time was right for us to take her out and that looking on the bright side one of the benefits is that at least she has had a taste of school and now we all know without a doubt that it is not for us !!!!

It is very liberating to be making decisions based on what works best for us as a family and not what society expects.

Let your child be a child.

No child was ever spoiled by too much love.

Be authentic with your child.

Listen openly to your child’s needs.

Believe in your child’s good intentions.

Find the humour.

Look past the behaviour… what is your child feeling?

Have fun with your child today!

“There is no reason why we cannot say ‘No’ to children in just as kind a way as we say ‘Yes’.” - John Holt

“Play is really the work of childhood.” - Fred Rogers

“The best way to make children good is to make them happy.” - Oscar Wilde

Children thrive in a peaceful and loving environment.

A child needs love most when things go wrong.

Children reflect the treatment they receive.

A few qoutes I like....

Life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in, broadside, thouroughly used up, totally worn out and loudly shouting, 'WOW'.... Beth Moore

The perpetual testing of public school children is like a gardener constantly pulling his plants up by the roots to see if they are growing....(unknown)

Children require guidance and sympathy far more than instuction...Helen Kellers teacher

I hear and I forget I see and I remember I do and I understand...Confusious