Just before the start of the October Half Term we were sent a bundle of Oaka Books Topic packs. I was allowed to select a handful of packs to try at home with L. Helping to make learning fun, easy and engaging they were just what we needed.
I have made no secret of the fact L struggles at school. He gets so upset and it’s starting to dawn on him the holidays will be ending soon, so that upset is coming to the forefront of his mind. He worries that he’s not good enough and he finds the work so hard, he’s even more worried about a new teacher and a new school year. It’s hard to watch and I don’t know how to help. So we turned to Tutorful.
Continue reading A Little Help from TutorfulAlways one of our favourite days out we headed to Pensthorpe Natural Park at the weekend to check out what they were up to this summer.
We started our trip with a visit to Hootz House indoor play, but upon setting foot inside L decided he’d rather be out in the sunshine. Fair enough! So we spent the first hour playing outdoors and making the most of all the play equipment on offer. It was a lot quieter in the morning than when we walked through later in the day so that’s worth remembering.
Continue reading Summer Fun at PensthorpeYou may remember that recently I shared the news that Reading Eggs had launched their first ever awards to celebrate the efforts of all the young learners who have been working so hard this year, against all odds and with a huge amount of upheaval. We’ve also started trying the programme ourselves and excitingly have the chance for you to win some of their fabulous workbooks.
Continue reading Reading Eggs – Review & CompetitionIt’s fair to say I’ve felt a bit gloomy recently. Far from my usual positive self. Whilst it’s definitely ok to feel whichever way you want and I’m certainly not a fan of hiding emotions, they’ll only build up and up until they force their way out anyway, I do feel the need for a bit of my usual positive self to shine through. So I’ve taken a few minutes to jot down some of the things I’m looking forward to now Spring is on it’s way.
Continue reading Looking Forward to SpringI am a big fan of mindfulness, I meditate and enjoy yoga when I can. After spending the vast majority of my adult life, if not all of my adult life struggling with my mental health I can safely say finding mindfulness was a turning point for me.
Journalling, meditating and just being more aware helped change me as a person. I became more aware of what was good in my life, what made me happy and what I needed to be more level. It helped me notice sooner when I was falling under and it helped me pull my way back up.
I’m feeling really weird about all the back to school messaging right now. I’m pleased he’s going back, he needs it, I’ve tried my best but ultimately I’m not a teacher and in a very poor substitute for playtime with his friends. I’m also sad he’s going back, I really will miss him. I’m worried too, worried it’s too much, too soon, concerned that it might lead to further lockdowns and the impact that would have.
Now I need to stress that these are just the rather muddled thoughts of a stressed out, worried, tired and confused mum. This is not a well balanced, researched and thought out view on the current state of affairs. I know very little about politics. I haven’t researched anything. I’m just trying to get by and writing helps.
So how’s this lockdown treating you all? I’m finding it rather testing of I’m honest. Some things are so much better, some things are so much worse and oddly some of the things that are better are adding to the worsened. Any of that make sense? Probably not. I think there’s every chance I’ve lost the plot.
The first lockdown was ok, the weather was good, I had all those extra time to spend with L. We got the paddling pool out, we raised frog spawn, we cycles and walked and explored areas of our local countryside we’d never been too before.
Continue reading Lockdown ThoughtsI’m literally trying to write this review and help my one son with his school work for the day. It isn’t going well. It has taken nearly 15 minutes for me to get to this point whilst busy trying to explain a contraction. I didn’t know what a contraction was until this morning, well at least I didn’t know the name for one, look at me using contractions!
The thing is I’m fed up getting up at 5am so I can write in peace, doing school work all day, Monday to Friday then heading off to my day job all weekend. I am super lucky that I only have to worry about one child’s education and luckier still that my employer has let me my normal 4 days of mid week hours into the weekend. I am lucky and I know that. It doesn’t change the fact that I am tired, so very tired.
Continue reading Making Home Learning Fun with Busy ThingsWell that’s it, he’s back to school. Today is the end of his first week and we have had a rollercoaster ride of emotions. Tears, anxiety, worry, excitement, joy. I won’t say it’s been great to have him back in school, but it hasn’t been bad either. Just another change to get used to. Overall it’s been tough but manageable.
