A real Home Ed cliche, but the kids have been loving hot beads (I mean like Hama beads, but we have the cheap Ikea version!) this week. Papaya is making a maze here, the pinky beads represent people :)
I got the beads out in the first place to make some numbers to go around the outside of our non-numbered kitchen clock, we're slowly getting them made....
We're still officially "de-schooling", but Povey in particular could do with some help with his time concepts (not just telling the time, days and months too) so I didn't think it would hurt to add some pointers and information to our kitchen.
Tuesday we went to the National Maritime Museum on the recommendation of my friend Sally.
I was expecting the museum to fairly dry and serious, but actually it was packed full of information and things for the children to do.
Papaya's favourite part was the compass card system, where throughout the museum there are stamping machines so you can collect stamps representing stories about the artefacts.
You can then take your card and read the stories on one of their computers or at home. They also loved the "Children's Gallery" perfectly designed for children to learn about life on a ship. With map drawing....
Communication including flags and morse code.....
...... Povey's favourite part, a game where where you got to fire cannons pirate ships.....
......a galley kitchen where you could pretend to prepare meals for the crew....
....and even a crane to have a go at loading the cargo!
We were very impressed and will definitely go back as there was just so much to learn. unfortunately just as we were about to leave and I had taken the children to collect a few last stamps in the East India Company gallery, a guide came over and told me I needed to keep the children quiet as it was disturbing other people..... I wouldn't have minded but the children were being quiet... in fact remarkably so for two lively kids! It was a shame as it left a bitter end to what had been a lovely visit.
We had a very successful first ever try at studying the life cycle of cabbage whites. I think our "butterfly jar" will be in use for many years to come :)
Some bath-time spelling of their favourite comic book characters....
Papaya even chose to make a wire sculpture of Calvin....
My parents discovered Calvin and Hobbes when my brother and I were still small. My brother then became a huge fan, identifying with Calvin and his deep thinking. Now my own boy has been a fan for a few years.
The whole comic strip is a message of praising the individual over society's expectations and for that reason I have recently discovered it is much loved by home educators too! I think these examples give you an idea why ;)
On Tuesday the children and their aunt and I visited the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. Baby Superdragon was cared for by my mum to give her mum a moment off.
The Cutty Sark is an English Clipper ship first builty in 1869 and used to transport tea and wool and other cargot before a brief life as a cadet ship. In 1954 she was first put on display at Greenwich in a dry dock. She's undergone significant conservation work (during which time there was a dreadful damaging fire in 2007) before re-opening to the public this year.
I have a vague memory of visiting the ship before the more recent conservation work, but not enough of a memory to compare really. I know there have been some objections to the raising of the ship and of enclosing it in glass, but I personally liked the effect of the glass, as if it is riding on waves, and loved being able to look underneath the ship.
The whole exhibition surrounding the ship is very well done, with a lot of information about her history as a clipper and wonderful details such as interactive sailing games, tilting benches to give the feel of being at sea, and even the smell of tea!
Papaya's favourite part was on the top deck where they had recreated the accommodation (she decided the Fist Mate's room was nicest!) and all other aspects of life aboard the ship.
The Cutty Sark is off course named for her figurehead, "Nannie", who wears the ill-fitting "Cutty Sark", an old Scots name for a petticoat or undergarment.
Nannie herself was taken from a Robert Burn poem called Tam O'shanter in which she is a witch chasing the drunken eponymous anti-hero. The lines are here.....
Her cutty-sark, o' Paisley harn That while a lassie she had worn, In longitude tho' sorely scanty, It was her best, and she was vauntie,- Ah! little ken'd thy reverend grannie, That sark she coft for he wee Nannie, Wi' twa pund Scots, ('twas a' her riches), Wad ever grac'd a dance of witches! But here my Muse her wing maun cour; Sic flights are far beyond her pow'r; To sing how Nannie lap and flang, (A souple jade she was, and strang), And how Tam stood, like ane bewitch'd, And thought his very een enrich'd; Even Satan glowr'd, and fidg'd fu' fain, And hotch'd and blew wi' might and main; Till first ae caper, syne anither, Tam tint his reason ' thegither, And roars out, "Weel done, Cutty-sark!"
It needs the Scots accent to appreciate it fully though, so I found a wonderful version of the poem (complete with images) on Youtube I also wanted to share....
We enjoyed ourselves and learnt a lot.We plan to head to London every other week from now on to take advantage of visiting all the museums and other educational venues.
