And so it is... back to school time.

Well all the children are back at school or starting school for the first time, my facebook page has been inundated with posts on how all the little ones are starting nursery for the first time and the anxiousness that goes along with that, but on the upside they get to have their lives back and start embarking on a new chapter of their lives, childless at least for a few hours a day.

Photos of little ones in pristine new uniforms that have no doubt cost a small fortune but looking very smart on their first day, I always have that little chuckle to myself as you know within the first month there will be holes in knees I remember very well my older two being all smart and pristine for the first few weeks and then it slowly went down hill including a reluctance to brush hair in a morning or brush teeth which was always  a contentious issue in our home.

I feel such a feeling of warmth for these families at their joy of sending their little ones off on a new adventure and it makes me feel a little uncomfortable that we are now outcasts and on the edge of the snide remarks of allowing their children their independence and opportunity to mingle and their own as parents new found freedom to explore new chapters of their own life.

Nursery is not compulsory for three year olds in the UK but the uptake is at a level that you would think it was, babies growing up and being cast out into the big wide world because it is fare better than being with parents who should be out working and earning a living and showing the little ones that work is the only thing that matters once you become an adult and this is the only role model that is acceptable in the UK which is a far superior option  than being a bum on the dole as one mum puts.

I applaud the Government for their efforts to separate children from parents at a much younger age than ever before, removing the need for parents to be involved in their children lives on a daily basis and handing them over to the state to create the person the state wants them to be and thus ensuring that these parents do not abuse their children, child protection has become the hub of UK society and to the cost of being a parent because the State has decided that UK parents are not capable of caring for their offspring in a manner they see fit so shove them all in nurseries and the education system as soon as you can where they can be saved.

My choice to home educate starts here and home education is a choice and one I have thought carefully about, I want to be a part of my children's education and people need to realise education otherwise than at school is a legal choice and is not a cover for child abuse, it is a careful thought out choice, well researched and fully embarked upon with eyes wide open. I chose to home educate my children because I have seen first hand the failures of state education for myself, my own experience was not particularly outstanding and my two older children were thoroughly let down by the system and the very reason they attended school for an education they did not receive and both graduated with NO exams and I do not intend to let that happen to my twins.

People bang on about socialisation or the lack of with home education, this of course is bunkum and they will have plenty of opportunities to meet with other home educated children as they do so now and there will be opportunities within the usual after school clubs they will undoubtedly attend along with family and friend gatherings and unfortunately for my older two socialisation caused massive problems and was a big part of their failings at school, they were too busy trying to impress their peers with competitive bad behaviour and the impression that not attending was cool. That is the type of socialisation I wish to avoid, the attitude that education is not important

My aim is to encourage my children to get out in the world and explore whether that be by education or other means who knows but that will be at the center of all my teachings, after reading and writing, the world and what it has to offer is firmly on the agenda.

So for now we shall continue to discuss the shape of the plates and divide the lego into relevant colours and splash around in a water bowl full of bubbles seeing if a leaf will float and a stone will sink, wasting mornings watching mickey mouse fun club and spend the rest of the day wandering round the local country park splashing in the river and skimming stones all whilst singing the alphabet song.

I see no need to change what we do we are very happy with our life of education and if that means we are now outcasts because we are not conforming to what is deemed suitable, then so be it.
I am looking forwards to and have much excitement and anticipation of making new friends and having new adventures with new people...and so our journey begins a new chapter.

Killing two birds with one stone....

This week I have been trying to clear my house out giving it a spring clean and make way for new rubbish to enter the house as the twins birthday is looming and I am in no doubt there will be a new influx of items to be strewn round the house.. 

I have felt like I have been banging my head on a brick wall all week as each room I clean out the twins end up destroying again as they aren't being 100% supervised whilst my attention is on the cleaning out, so today I had a eurika moment and decided to let them get involved with the cleaning and I came up with a fantastic idea of education and cleaning... 

I tipped their food toys and pots and pans etc into the bath filled it with bubbly water and got them to start cleaning... as they passed them to me they practiced colours and matching (if there were two items of the same) and counting as they were giving me things to dry off...

Then the dolls went in to give them a good well needed bath...

We all had a great time and as they got bored which doesn't take much with my two I gave them the watering cans and we had a 123 go game which involves them filling their buckets and watering cans and after 123 they tip it out as fast as they can into the bath to see who can do it the fastest all whilst I happily get the items dry...

All in all a very productive game they had a lesson consisting of
Physical Development

• Improves fine motor skills - lifting containers with water
• Improves eye-hand coordination - pouring water

Cognitive Development

• Shows math and science concepts: sinking and floating, volume
• Shows that the same amount of water may appear to be different when poured into different sized and shaped containers
• Increases vocabulary - wet, dry, sopping, sink, float

Social-emotional Development

• Provides opportunities to imitate the play of others - children wash baby dolls
• Provides opportunities for imaginative play             
• Helps dramatic play - together children develop social skills 

Not forgetting the colours and counting....

I felt very pleased with myself being able to get what I needed done today... I think i am really getting the hang of this home education, lets hope I get some more eurika moments like this one.