New Year

Well, I haven't done very well with keeping this up to date. I was really keen to keep on top of it as I really wanted to have some sort of diary to look at back the beginning of our home ed journey. But between a phone with no memory for photos, a PC with no virus protection and just being flat out busy I didn't quite manage it. But now it is new year, I have a shiny new phone and so I am back ON IT! 

We have managed a full term of home ed and have all survived, I haven't torn out my hair, the boys haven't become illiterate introverts with no social skills or friends and we are all HAPPY. So I am looking forward to what this next term brings. 

I feel confident I have made the right decision, the boys are doing great, Momo is picking up reading and writing wonderfully, without me making him do it, just something he is happy to do. He loves the different groups we go to and I love the fact that he gets to play with such a wide age-range of other children, he wouldn't have that at school. 

Squashy is happy too. He is more relaxed, the anxiety is lessening. Not entirely gone butch better than it was. He still struggles with some situations, some of the groups can be a bit noisy or busy, but he gives them a go and we just make sure he always has a book and his mints so he can go and find a quiet corner to switch off a bit if he needs too. He has made some friends and even been invited to play at other children's houses! More than once! This is amazing as he hasn't had any sort of socialising with other kids out of school for years. It made me so happy. 

Over the term we have done all sorts, home-based and out and about, including electricity workshops, farm visits, baking, crafting, ice skating, library visits, bike rides, picnics, camp fires, cinema trips with the youth film festival,  and loads more. There has also been a big jigsaw thing going on here with both boys loving puzzles just lately. We are also lucky enough to tag along with Hubby for work sometimes and this has meant we've had trips out to some lovely places including Cheddar Gorge which was just gorgeous and so interesting reading about how it was formed, and also a day in Banbury, where we searched out Banbury Cross, took some rubbings and hen hunted out some delicious Banbury cakes-purely for education reasons of course. 

The one thing I sometimes find a little difficult is that because Momo is such a bad sleeper, he often doesn't go to sleep until we do, so there is much time on my own, or with hubby. But hopefully that will settle over time, and I'm lucky that most mornings I get a peaceful cuppa before they are up! 

Overall I am really happy with the decision to home ed, I feel like we are all learning not just the boys and I'm really looking forward to what adventures 2014 brings us.