And the rest of February.

This time of year always seems to be a bit dull; maybe it is just me but i struggle to bring myself to rush about when it is cold, wet and horrible really. Not that i’m a great rusher anyway, but when you have to be out all evening for gym etc, dashing about in discomfort through the day feels like too much effort!

Forgot to mention in my last round up that i took the girls to see Holiday on Ice – Spirit on a whim one day. It was extremely near by and we’d had a tough few days and was good fun to watch. I laughed the most when the man doing a back somersault (on ice, wearing ice skates while going at 40mph) drew no more than criticism from Fran for technique 😆

The big two girls worked very hard on getting their Egypt projects finished and were both pleased with what they achieved.

Maddy and Amelie have both made it through their maths chapters on multiplication and distinguished themselves, Maddy also working on square numbers. Amelie has also done a chapter on division, mostly using blocks but gradually getting more confident in working out in her head and seeing the relationships between numbers. Fran has been on a chapter using decimals and large thousands and moving on to large numbers where the sum has 3 parts. All of them have got on with learning their tables and we’re doing a weekly tables test to keep them on top of the knowledge. I know lots of schools no longer believe in rote learning, but i have to say that knowing my tables well has stood me in very good stead all my life and it is one of those things i really want to ensure my girls have.

We’re having a concerted attack on doing text booky type stuff while it is horrible, partly so they are finished and we can have a relaxed summer. Maddy restarted her English book, using a computer this time as written work stresses her so much, with a much greater success. Amelie was extremely reluctant to start GP1 English but sat beside me for the first comprehension and seemed to really enjoy it. She certainly did it very well; she has quite a logical, analytical mind and unlike the older two, is better at retaining instructions and so she stuck at it well and did it right.

Josie has been the real star of the fortnight, reading her way through several early Peter and Jane books and spending lots of time playing with letters.

She is really loving the whole reading thing at the moment and is proving to me that 4 children doesn’t mean you’ve seen all versions of learning to read. Fran and Maddy were reluctant to be taught, but needed teaching, but came to it gradually by 8ish. Amelie taught herself and was reading easily by 6ish, having used computer resources to learn. Josie appears to be very focused indeed on acquiring the skill, but wants to do it with me and wants me to guide her. I wonder which version (or new version) Titch will be?

She is also loving patterns…

…jigsaws…

(She does far more complex ones than this but notably, this was the first time i had seen her do this one where she used the number sequence to start it, rather than the picture)…

MoshiMonsters (so long as a big sister will help her learn the puzzles)…

…and Club Penguin.

The other massive thing she has been doing is sums – all she wants is pages of sums. I’ve been writing out 20 at a time, adding up to 20 and she can do them all. I’ve barely marked a single one wrong in the entire time. She does forget number 13 though, so whether working out n her head or with blocks, she tends to shout “what’s that number after 12?” which amuses me 😆

I’m charged with buying her a maths book. Honestly, i tried so hard to teach the older two things at this age and then the younger ones beg me for knowledge when i want them to have a slow start and a longer play based childhood! 🙄

Fran’s started a new English Chapter – we’ll gloss over some of her notions of how a comprehension is supposed to be done. Suffice to say that her comprehension of the word comprehension was a little slim 🙄 She did very well in the end, though she isn’t a child who feels reading the question is an important part of the process 😆

Maddy has been doing science, Amelie has been reading something educational voraciously (can’t think what) and also more fairy books, Fran has finally moved off Tudor books and on to something else. She loves the GP reading lists that come with the chapters, so has started Theatre Shoes alongside Carrie’s War and a couple of others. (ROLLS EYES AGAIN!) Maddy has been back into the Celts and Romans.

After a particularly over emotional day the other day, e all sat and read a chapter on Eastern Civilisations together, which everyone got plenty from.

Big girls have been playing networked games of Civilisation II (sorry Ali!) with us.

Amelie has been doing loads of French Knitting following a trip to Hobbycraft. Fran doing more machine sewing and all doing Hama Beads.

We had a good science and French session where the bean experiential followed nicely from Fran’s GP chapter on experiment controls. French pleased all of them by stretching them after a journey where M,A and J tried to play a whole imaginative game in French, with reasonable success.

Very long conversational ed about sex, HIV, medical drug families, illegal drugs, risks and social effects of drug taking etc etc – all at dinner table. Was exhausted by the end of it!

Maddy loving Taekwondo.

Grading next week. She adores it and rugby is also going well.

Josie finally allowed someone to turn her upside down (Fran) in a supported flic and showed the gym coach.

Fran managed a baby giant at Thursday gym (woot!) and Amelie got Gymnast of the Month. She was thrilled 🙂

Really, despite lots of minor irritations, a good month with plenty achieved.