British Wildlife Centre

A day at the British Wildlife Centre near East Grinstead to find out about all the wonderful British wildlife. We saw wildcats, owls, polecats, foxes, deer, otters, mice, hedgehogs and badgers.

Owen Plants Garden Peas

Home School Calling's First Harvest

Pumpkins, Courgettes and Tomatoes were a success. Carrots and spring onions were okay and beetroots, cauliflower were a disaster!

Swimming Lessons at Brockwell Lido

Owen, Anya, Nancy and Amber are all homeschooled kids. This is their first lesson at Brockwell Lido.

Work with Wiggle - Kinesthetic Learning

Kinesthetic learners learn best by moving and touching. They are 'hands-on' learners need to experience what they are learning - not just read or hear a lecture about it. Sitting still is a huge hindrance to their learning. Kinesthetic children possess a "hands-on intelligence" that makes our world a better place to live.

Characteristics of Kinesthetic Learners
Here are a few clues that you may have a Kinesthetic child:
•Learns through first-hand experience
•Taps or doodles while listening
•Explores through touch and movement
•Is naturally skilled in physical activities such as sports or riding a bicycle
•Enjoys putting things together and taking them apart
•Uses fingers to figure out math problems
•Tracks with finger while reading
•Sits still for 5.2 seconds at a time!

Ideas I'm Testing Out

Trying resources that can be read aloud, uses manipulatives, or is experimental in nature.

Focusing on activities that include projects, simulations, and real-life applications.

Allowing Owen and Anya to sit on an exercise ball whilst listening or doing an activity.

When reading aloud I allowing my kids to move around the room, doodle, builds with clay or Lego.

Include dramatization, recipes, simulations, creating period art, or building models and games.

Using manipulatives and games for writing, spelling and grammar and maths.

Cook while learning fractions.

Use manipulatives and whole body movements to learn letter sounds.

Science is a great subject for hands-on learners. I will focus on resources that offer plenty of hands-on experiments (not just cut-and-paste activities).

Is There a Link Between ADD and Kinesthetic Learners?

I am convinced my daughter has ADD. However, ADD is very poorly understood in the UK. I was referred to the Adolescent Mental Health Unit when I mentioned ADD to my doctor. The psychiatrist discounted ADD because she didn't demonstrate an attention difficulty at school despite learning very little. Anyone with a good understanding of ADD knows that it is not about attention but more about being Distractable, Impulsive and Sensation Seeking. She was given a provisional diagnosis of ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder).

Anya has a very unsual learning style which I have finally identified as being Kinesthetic. Kinesthetic learners:
- like to be active whilst learning.
- Like to move and fidget
- Do not enjoy watching presentations
- Do not enjoy listening to presentations
- Touch manipulate and try things
- Use gestures when speaking
- Enjoy moving to music

I don't think this learning style is accommodated at all in school and may be the link between Anya's difficulty learning at school. Only 5% of the population are Kinesthetic Learners and their style of learning would be very disruptive in class.

I have been reading an article by Association for Comprehensive NeuroTherapy about a possible link between ADD and Kinesthetic Learning. The article discussed how children may have been misdiagnosed with ADD and ADHD and simply be Kinesthetic Learners. I also wonder if all people diagnosed with ADD and ADHD are Kinesthetic Learners?

Find out your child's learning style with the Learning Style Survey

OPAL project: an opportuntity to take part in a free educational survey of hedges this autumn

We will be taking part in the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) project , an educational project being run by Natural History Museum, Imperial College London and thirteen universities and educational organisations across England. This survey will focus on the local biodiversity value of hedges. It will involve 30-45 minutes of fieldwork which can be carried out in gardens or local area. Participants complete activities that assess the hedge’s structure and management, food supply, invertebrate diversity and importance as a wildlife corridor. The survey is structured so that each of the separate components tell a story about the hedge’s importance for wildlife.

For the Biodiversity Survey, a great deal of survey work has been done in the past on hedges in farmland, but no-one knows much about the current national picture of the condition of hedges in urban areas (especially in gardens), so this survey really will add to our scientific knowledge.

Taking part in the OPAL Biodiversity Survey is easy. All you need is safe access to at least one side of a hedge (hedge needs to be minimum 3m in length). This doesn’t need to be a classic farmland hedge of hawthorn – garden hedges (e.g. privet and laurel), a patch of ornamental shrubs at the edge of a car park (if safe to access) or a line of trees with leaves close to the ground will be equally as valid.

OPAL has funding to supply individual survey packs (one per child) to home educators throughout England. If you are interested in receiving survey packs, or if you would like to discuss the OPAL project in more detail, please email opal@field-studies-council.org.

Resolving Rudeness with Books

My son can often be 'rude'. It is usually when he is feeling excited or impatient but can be when he is stressed or anxious. Reading stories about 'rude' characters that show how a situation may be resolved might help. However, Owen's rudeness is often directed towards adults that have been 'rude' to him or unfair to him. I also am aware that rudeness is cultural and often moralistic and I am becoming increasingly aware that moralistic parenting does not encourages insincerity.

The Elephant and the Baby Baby by Elfrida Vipont

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig by Eugenios Trivizas and Helen Oxenbury

Princess, Princess by Penny Dale

Second hand books can be purchased from Abe Books

The Link Between Behaviour & Emotions

A good friend of mine who regularly comments on this blog suggested that I investigate a more creative approach to "managing behaviour". She doesn't feel the term behaviour management is appropriate because the word behaviour is mainly attached to "good" and "bad" and management implies "supervision". The articles I have read demonstrate a strong link between behaviour and emotions. This is backed up by the results of my behavioral diary which showed undesired behaviour being triggered by anger, stress, worry, disappointment and jealously. Therefore, it would make sense that behavior (both desired and undesired) is an outlet for emotions.

I regard myself as "autistic-ish" which has gifted me with many abilities neurotypical people do not have. But I think it has left me less able to understand my own emotions. This presents me with a complex problem if I am to emotionally educate my own children. Emotions are divided into four main categories: Glad, Sad, Mad and Scared. Whilst I support my children's Glad emotions I think I am guilty of trying to "fix" my children's Sad, Mad or Scared emotions through discipline or distraction. Owen and Anya should understand that emotions are not bad. I plan to support my kids in identifying their emotions and help them to understand and respond to their feelings in an "acceptable" way. I am going to try the following strategies to help them identify, explore and understand their emotions.

Emotion Worksheets

Working with Images (Help The Aged, Salvation Army, RSPCA, NSPCC)

Feelings Meters/Barometers

Books for Exploring Emotions

Kids Hate School

"As a society we could, perhaps, rationalize forcing children to go to school if we could prove that they need this particular kind of prison in order to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to become good citizens, to be happy in adulthood, and to get good jobs. Many people, perhaps most people, think this has been proven, because the educational establishment talks about it as if it has. But, in truth, it has not been proven at all"

Auditory Processing - Barnabys Burrow

Owen and Anya have auditory processing problems. Instructions get mixed up in their brain so they often forget part of the instructions or the order of the instructions. I have found this wonderful game for developing their listening skills and developing their ability to listen to questions or more complex instructions. We love playing the game too!

Barnaby’s Burrow has been created by a company called LinguiSystems. It provides practice for the auditory skills of memory, discrimination, closure, and synthesis. The auditory processing tasks and content within each deck of game cards are arranged at increasing levels of difficulty. The 310 game cards are organized into four decks. Within each deck, the items are numbered and arranged from easiest to most difficult:

Talking Circles, Talking Sticks & Children

I have decided to try an introduce a Native American Talking Circle to resolve problems and discuss family matters. The idea is we sit in a circle listening to the person who holds a talking stick. The person that hold the stick is allowed to speak for as long as they wish without being interrupted. (In native American culture is is rare that people talk for too long but due to my kids tendency to indulge in long monologues I am going to restrict there talking using an egg timer.) Once they are finished talking the stick will be passed to the next person. Hopefully, this will make the kids feel more secure that they will be listened to without someone butting in.

A Tribute To Red The Ferret

Owen and Anya's beloved pet ferret Red died this month. We found him three years ago in my new warehouse in Brixton. Mark (my husband) didn't want to keep him as he was frightened of ferrets. Red turned out to be incredibly gentle and great fun.

Owen used to communicate his thoughts and feelings to Red. Both the kids are very upset but Owen is particularly sad. The kids have learned a great deal from Red including the importance of nourishment, care, cleaning, vaccinations, play and finally death. This concept is tough for Owen as he is a non-theist and so can't be fobbed of with stories of pet heaven.

Planting The Vegetable Garden

We have spent the weekend putting together our vegetable boxes and planting out the vegetables. http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aVkf3pvEgM

Say No to SATs

Until we begin our home education in September, the kids are still subjected to the ridiculous SATs. Anya was crying in bed last night because she doesn't understand what she is supposed to be doing during the test. She is 6 years old and is subjected to complex assessment at such a young age. The child next to her has special needs which are more severe than Anya's. Anya said during the test that her friend didn't now what to do and Anya wasn't allowed to help her. Is this really the right way to educate our children? Anya has ASD (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and early signs of Dyslexia. She needs some help with her spellings, reading and some social language support. She does not need these tests.

Word Shark

Wordshark is a computer program which combines the fun and excitement of games with the serious task of learning to read and spell. The program allows children to begin with a very simply group of words. The exercises for each word group include spelling and reading tasks which are exciting and engaging. I decided to invest in Wordshark as both my kids have real problems with reading and spelling. The software cost £67.50 but the software arrived today and both Owen and Anya were keen to try it out. The concept seems very good and the exercises and games are very engaging.

Our Decision to Home School

Like most parent we simply want our children to receive an education that allows them to reach their potential and develop with a positive image of themselves. After much deliberation, careful thought my husband (Mark) and I have decided to remove our children (Owen and Anya) from main stream education and educate them at home. We have struggled with the local school to provide them with adequate and positive education but after four year we do not feel they (not any other main stream school) has the ability or capacity to allow our children to reach their full potential.