Tag: Home Education

Home Education · Travel

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas

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I’ve been a bit quiet here for a few days but rest assured that we are still here. A lot of our time and energy has been taken up acquiring our new bus that we are going to convert into our home. Our little puppy, Doughal, is blogging about it all over at TheLittlestHobo. We have two sleeps left until we pick the bus up and bring her home.

Other than the bus, we have been really busy with the run up to Christmas. We’ve attended Anna’s nativity play twice – she loves being on stage and her performance was hilarious. She lapped up every second of attention and generally enjoyed herself to the max. Elsa and Olaf have been busy making Christmas decorations and writing endless piles of Christmas cards. We took part in a Home Ed card exchange with nearly fifty other families, it has been an epic experience and the kids have thoroughly enjoyed receiving their huge pile of cards. Hopefully they’ll be enough wall space to hang them all!

The Man has only three working days left until his Christmas break, and I can’t wait. I love having him by my side, and we’ve got lots to do in the run up to Christmas Day. We’re still short of a few gifts for a couple of people, we’ve got tickets to see the Christmas Pantomime, there’s a local village to visit where all the houses decorate with lights and Christmas scenes for charity, and there is epic amounts of gift wrap to acquire and adorn the gifts with.

We decided not to have a tree this year due to the risk of mayhem that would be present due to the puppy and the cat. I can’t say that I’m not missing it, it seems odd not to have that shiny, twinkling symbol of festivity in the corner of the room. Maybe I’ll take the risk for a couple of days and put it up next week. I really do miss it. We helped my mum decorate her tree earlier today which really got us all in the right mood for the season. I’ve promised the kids that we’ll spend next Christmas in a place that gets snow!

Home Education

Some Of The Perks

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Not being tied to school all day means that we get to take advantage of places when they are quiet, and the kids get to experience things that they would otherwise miss out on.

Today, for example, we popped out for breakfast at 9am and they made the most of the empty softplay area at the restaurant. Buffet breakfast and free play? It doesn’t get much better than that for an eight year old and a six year old.

Tomorrow we are going to see a local nativity play in a nearby village. I can’t quite understand why they are putting it on during the day but they are, and we can attend. We’re very much looking forward to it as the kids are really feeling in the Christmas spirit. Did you know, there’s only two Mondays left until Santa comes?! We haven’t even started gift shopping yet!!

Another local attraction is the temporary ice rink that appears in town for the Christmas season. It is heaving on a Saturday and Sunday, but thanks to our flexibility we are able to skate while most kids are at school.

Of course there are plenty of other perks, but these seemed very appropriate given the time of year.

x

Home Education

The Coach Layout

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Coach Plan.png

It’s not perfect yet, but here she is! The front cab section is not quite the right size, but any discrepancies will be deducted from the Lounge Area.

We have opted to go with huge beanbags and loose cushions as seating, as opposed to fixed furniture because we think it will be more relaxing and definitely less formal.

All water tanks, batteries, etc. will be stored underneath the living area, in the luggage hold.

We plan to keep the overhead lockers in the master bedroom and kitchen/dining area, but the rest will be removed to give the illusion of more space.

There will also be sliding doors at each end of the bunkroom so that the bedrooms are nice and cosy for sleeping.

The master bed will hinge up on hydraulic lifts to access the huge storage area underneath, where we will keep our clothes and shoes. There will also be a storage area under the single bunk, for the kids’ clothes and shoes.

The wood burner will be our only source of heating, and we don’t plan on having any running hot water. We have found a battery powered (D cells) portable shower, and we will boil water (mixed with cold water) to put in the bucket/tank that will feed the shower. This will be done as and when we want to use it.

All kitchen appliances will be gas powered, so as to minimise the amount of electricity we will use. There will be solar panels on the roof to charge the leisure batteries but we don’t want to rely on this source of energy for heat and cooking.

Four traveling seats, with seatbelts, will double as the dining area. There will be a loose stool for the fifth person for when we sit to eat meals.

So, yep, there she is. All we need to do now is buy her!

Home Education · Travel

Coach Conversion Costs

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The only thing stopping us from hitting the road right now is money. We’ve spent a few days figuring out what we’ll need to achieve the conversion we want.

  • Driver training/test/licence – £2000
  • Purchase of a coach – £4000-6000
  • Solar panels and leisure batteries – £700
  • Kitchen appliances (gas, not new) – £250
  • Internal fixtures and fittings -£2000
  • Gas bottles and water tanks -£300
  • Misc – £500

We plan to do the conversion ourselves, so there will be no labour costs to pay.

The above list is also the order of purchase, as it seems to be the most logical way to us. It goes without saying that I will need my driving licence before I can buy the coach.

We also need to build an emergency fund of at least £1000, given that a new tyre alone will cost us about £500 should we need one. In an ideal world this fund will be as large as possible and not touched unless we absolutely need it.

Home Education · Travel

Once upon a time…

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… I used to enjoy Sundays.

Long, lazy mornings in bed with coffee and breakfast, followed by a stroll around a random pretty town and a quiet late lunch with The Man. Dinner was minimal, clean up was almost non-existent and the evening was calm whilst we prepared for the inevitable Monday morning that would follow.

Sundays now are a work of the devil. They are long, tortuous days that start with an early whirlwind of noise and activity, have a middle made of arguing and cries of “I’m bored”, and then culminate in an evening of tornado-like chaos with the kids refusing to bathe or sleep. On days where we dare to show our faces in the wider world, further bedlam unfolds and we are invariably left exhausted by our weekend and “day of rest”!!

 

Home Education

The Day That Never Ends

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Yesterday was that day. It was long, exhausting, and relentless. The kids were nothing short of vile. Even the puppy had it in for me.

It started off ok. We dropped The Man off at work, and I’d even remembered to put the puppy in his extra large crate, as we weren’t returning straight home. We set off on the five mile practice run to the school that Anna is trialling today. That went well, and the timings worked out perfectly.

And then it all went pear shaped.

Elsa became evil. There is no other word for it. The foul language that was emitted from her mouth throughout the day would even have made Roy Chubby Brown blush. Where does an eight year old learn that? Besides the language, her whole attitude stunk. Nothing was good enough, everything was boring, and it was all my fault. Doors were slammed (repeatedly) and feet were (literally) stomped. All bloody day.

Onto Olaf, who can be the sweetest, kindest, gentlest of souls. He has another side though. And guess which side reared its ugly head yesterday! He spent his day flying round the house playing the loudest games he could invent. He teased his sisters until they lashed out, and then shouted and screeched some more. He wound the puppy up, who then decided my arm made a good chew toy.

Anna did ok today, except for the constant nasally whines about her feral siblings. Oh, and the never ending demands for food (without ever making a decision about what she wanted to eat).

The highlights of the day included Olaf eating his way through The Man’s entire box of birthday chocolates, my brand new bottle of vanilla extract somehow evaporating without anybody knowing where it had gone, and the complete destruction of my sanity.

The absolute last straw was when the puppy got into the bathroom bin and kindly shredded three used sanitary towels all over the landing. You couldn’t make this shit up.

To add insult to injury, the underwire came out of my favourite bra.

Seriously, FML.

Home Education

Giving Children Autonomy

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I try to let my children live their lives as autonomously as possible. Sometimes we have to step in for their health or safety but generally they choose their own way forward.

What happens when they choose something you don’t want?

Anna is adamant that she wants to go to school, as I mentioned in a previous post. She does not want to accept substitutes. She wants school.

It goes against everything I believe to tell her no. But, there’s always a but, there is no quicker way for a child to lose their autonomy than to be enrolled at school. The dilemma here is huge!

We are going along with what she wants. We have to let her go to school. If it turns out to be not what she expected, then she’s free to come back to home education. There is no final decision, nothing is forever.

She has chosen a school and is going along for a taster day on Friday. If she wants to, she’ll then start full time on Monday morning. She is so excited by it all, she wearing the school uniform today just for the hell of it.

I’ll let you know how it all pans out!

Home Education · Travel

Creating An Income

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By George, I think I’ve done it!

The Man is a very talented amateur photographer, he has taken some beautiful pictures. He enjoys concentrating on close ups of nature and super close ups of architecture. His passion and focus is on capturing texture and the beauty hidden within it.

So, I am going to start to market his photographs. That is my big plan. I have found a website that deals with all the ordering, printing, and delivery. This is an added bonus as it means that having an unreliable internet connection will not be a problem for processing sales.

Obviously I haven’t spoke to The Man about this yet. Surely you’ve figured out my style by now?! I will speak to him over dinner tonight, after all, he does own the copyright. I’m positive he won’t say no. Shh, don’t tell him that I’ve already got two buyers lined up.

Now all I have to do is think of more ways to make money. We definitely don’t want all our eggs in one basket!!

Home Education · Travel

From Hoarders To Houseless

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Not like you see on TV! I promise we are not that bad. Everything we hoard is out of sight but it’s still there and it has to go. We can’t live in a caravan with even a kg of unnecessary belongings.

I have a large cupboard over the stairs. We filled it with “stuff” when we moved here, two years ago. Besides the fake Christmas tree, nothing else has ever been retrieved from that cupboard. It’s now at the point where I don’t even remember what is in there.

Another hidden spot lies under our bed. The space is full under there. With what, I do not know! Clearly it can’t be important or I would know what it was.

All these belongings need to go. There’s no two-ways about that.

There is also the stuff we hold dear; books, toys, tools, and paintings. These have to go too. This is going to be the hardest part of the whole experience, especially for the kids. Obviously we will keep a few things but space (and weight allowance) is going to be tight, and with five of us, that limits what each person can have.

Hiring long-term storage is not suitable. We don’t plan on returning for a long time, and it would be a waste of money to store things that we will never see again. If we’re prepared to leave it behind then we’re prepared to let go of it altogether.

We may still have 12-18 months before we begin travelling but we need to start downsizing the possessions straight away. Things need to stop coming into the house, unless they will specifically be for when we travel.

Let the minimalising begin!!

Home Education

How To: Find Friends

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friends-friendship-quote-special-text-favim-com-329023As I mentioned previously, Anna has expressed a need for some solid, non-transient, friendships. I sought suggestions from a Facebook group that I am a member of, and the lovely people came back at me with a lot of good ideas. I thought it only fair to share these with the wider world, for anybody that is in a similar position. Some of the suggestions take a little more time and effort than other, but they are all well worth it in the long run.

1: Join Home Ed groups in your local area (including Facebook groups).
2: If there are none, start your own Home Ed group.
3: Organise a softplay get together.
4: Sign your child up for ballet, singing, or similar classes.
5: Rainbows, Beavers, Brownies, Cubs, etc.
6: Join a team sport or club.
7: Check with schools to see if their afterschool clubs are open to non-students.
8: If your child used to attend school, make an effort to reconnect with old friends. Offer to pick them up after school for a play date.
9: Frequent your local playpark, especially after school times, you’ll often find the same children there everyday.
10: Hire a local hall and throw a party for your neighbour children – it’s an easy way to find friends that live locally.
11: Put a wanted ad in the local free publication (such as the Friday Ad – you’ll probably find other Home Ed families this way.
12: Scour the local press for activities for children, and connect with families this way.

It’s important to remember that your child doesn’t need friends that are their exact age. They can have very rewarding friendships with children of all ages. Children are generally naturals when it comes to making friends, present them with the opportunity and they will do the rest. Don’t forget to make friends with the parents too!!