Between our tv dinners, and our bedtime, 9.15…

Oh i wish. I coughed and coughed last night, long enough that i ended up lying away listening to Frances coming down with the same thing; got up to give her some Tixilix for dry coughs and decided to take a few spoonfuls myself. Worked a treat 🙂

Today has again had a pleasant feel to it; i’m enjoying the feeling of doing projects with Fran and Maddy on an almost equal basis, with Amelie joining in as and when. Oh, we are so much happier without the nursery run 🙂

Fran and i spent the morning on the SATs tests again – she did the level 3 English without much trouble at all (given it was a 5 page story to read and a comprehension to do, for her first ever go at such a thing she was excellent.) Maths one a bit tougher again; it’s got some slightly peculiar things in it, stuff that you really need a method with some logic attached for and she wasn’t up to it. I am probably guilty of leading her through things a good bit, if i’m honest, so i think it might be worth looking for some maths where she has to use those skills. I’ve dug out some appropriate CGP stuff from my “last day of HE discount” stack. Wasn’t so much that she couldn’t do it, more that her brain went blurgh at the thought of trying. Know that feeling only too well 🙁 Other than that, she just busily finished off Heather the Violet Fairy (7 books in a week, WONDER who she takes after…..)

Kate and i gossiped while they all generally entertained themselves – ought to have done something more positive with Maddy but, tbh, she is so much more motivated generally to occupy herself that i don’t feel i need to so much. Amelie is still going through her major digital phase and has Leapstered and Cbeebied her way through the day; she and Maddy also co-operatively (in the loosest sense of the word :roll:) played the DK Oz game.

After lunch we went back to our China project; while i quite like the idea of lapbooks, the whole thing is too fiddly for me, or for the girls’ writing size and dexerity. I did have a stack of paper folders though, so we are customising the idea and making a zig-zag book – lots of folders (the sheet of thin card slightly folded type) all stuck together with info on the front and back for as long as we can honestly be bothered. Today they did regional maps of Asia, all sat round our little table with me with them; everyone coloured in countries they could see on it that meant something to them; Fran got China, Vietnam (Miss Saigon) Russia (including “is it Europe, is it Asia? conversation) Iraq, Egypt, Mongolia (origin of Mulan baddies) and Japan while Maddy managed China, Mongolia and Egypt. Quite successful and not a bad haul of countries really. Oh yes, and India – and i made them giggle by telling them i always think it looks like a willy (or a belly as it has somewhat confusingly been renamed by Amelie – “daddy got a belly…”) with wee dropping off it! Then we did a final world map, to place China on it, coloured flags for the front page and did the SOTW colouring page of the story of Chin (little rice field boy) – while they did those we recapped on on the reading from the day before and i was impressed with their recall using the SOTW questions.

Tomorrow i think we might do rice growing in more depth and perhaps have a walk up to Sainsburys to buy some cheap different varieties for a rice picture or two.

We’ve finished off with dancing, parcels (pleasingly busy atm, thankfully, as i ordered a lot of stock!) and Puss in Boots. Am enjoying my MP curriculum a lot, it is just hitting the spot here.