What Home Education Looks Like - 25th October 2013

One of my favourite parts of home educating is being able to do things when it's nice and quiet and everyone else is at work or school. It's always nice to be at the cinema when there is no-one else around.

This trip was even better though as it was a free screening of The Princess Bride as part of the National Youth Film Festival.

The Princess Bride is one of my all time favourite films and originally came out in 1987 (when I was ten!) but I had never actually seen it on the big screen before. For anyone who doesn't know it, here's a trailer.

In the cinema there was just we two home educating families (two adults, 6 children) and one school group of around 20.... that was it! A shame that more didn't get to see it, but wonderful to hear all the children really laughing and really "getting" the movie. The boys in our party had been unsure about the film, I suspect because the title made it sound "girly", but they loved it and the eldest boy loved spotting all the comedians! We mums mostly enjoyed seeing this on a big screen.....

It was one of those days that I really love home educating. A day out, a cult movie and the chance to look into filmaking, fairytales, comedy etc. and all for free!

Afterwards the children were curious about where the actors were now. They had all recognised Billy Crystal's voice from the Monster's Inc movie. I found this photograph of a recent reunion of the stars to show them.

What Home Education Looks Like - 11th October 2013

It was the Primary Proms at the Royal Albert Hall this week. As home educators we were able to apply for tickets (for free!) and as we were a small group (unlike a school) this also meant we got seats in a box all to ourselves! Well actually two boxes! 6 of us in one and 8 in the other.

The children had a wonderful time, with the percussion group, Krupa Percussion Ensemble performing Mission Impossible being the favourite! Here's a video I found of them on YouTube.

They did also have a good old bop to the St Albans Big Band performing Soul Bossa Nova.....

An amazing experience we'll definitely sign up for again!

What Home Education Looks Like - 4th October 2013

Finding a real life Very Hungry Caterpillar!

Unfortunately his resemblance to the titular creature made him difficult to google! Luckily a friend with a nature book (sometimes books are best!) was on hand to identify him as the larvae of a Pine Hawkmoth. He was huge.... and a bit feisty, kept rearing up at us! We took him back to where we found him so he can grow up to be this....

What Home Education Looks Like - 27th September 2013

Learning about the human body at our Home Ed group by making life-size pictures of the skeletal system and internal organs.

What Home Education Looks Like - 20th September 2013

Papaya and I were very proud to take part in the Brighton version of The Color Run (Americanised "misspelling" is actually correct; it's brand name!) a 5K run with added crazy colour fun in the form of the same powder thrown during the Hindu festival of Holi. It was mad, and fun, full of music and colour! We'll definitely be doing it again next year even if Papaya was tuckered out afterwards!

What Home Education Looks Like - 13th September 2013

This week we revisited a museum we go to a lot; The National Maritime Museum!

It is a favourite for practical and  personal reasons. Practical, because it is close to the home of the children's little cousin (who features in these photos!) and personal because it is just a lovely space, packed with information and things to learn. It has a great "children's gallery" with hands-on games and equipment....

....and other such things scattered throughout the museum, such as this ship simulator where you can test your sailing skills....

....one of the newest parts is The Great Map.... a huge map of the world laid out in the largest space in the museum. This time we had a try of the interactive tablets that are aimed to help you explore the map and shipping history itself.

Unfortunately this didn't live up to expectations. We assumed the tablet would interact with the map as you walked around the space but actually you have to roam the map manually on the tablet so actually being in the space is unnecessary. This may not be right though as the staff member who explained the tablet to us didn't appear to have been fully trained in it and we discovered more about how to use it ourselves after she had gone. It didn't help her to be fair that ANOTHER member of staff interrupted her whilst she was with us and sent her away!

This leads me to the real problem with the National Maritime Museum. As I said it is a lovely innovative and inspiring space filled with information, but it is completely let down by the staff. Every time we have been we have experienced the staff as unfriendly, unhelpful and suspicious. They seem more concerned with telling visitors what they can't do than what they can do. I've said here previously that a staff member told me to keep the children quiet when they actually weren't making any noise. I had hoped this was a one off from one member of staff but unfortunately it seems to be the same attitude across all the staff. On this weeks' visit the staff we saw lurked around unsmiling and occasionally jotting things down in notebooks. They were very quick to admonish people for apparent misdemeanors (touching a ship, sitting down at tables when the cafe was about to close, etc.) and did so in such an unfriendly awful way. I bought something from the shop that was a different price at the counter than on the shelf and the staff were so rude about it in the end I just asked for a refund. Had they explained in a nice way I may well have kept it despite the higher price.

It is such a shame as the museum is lovely. I'm not sure what is happening internally in the museum to lead to such miserable staff who seem suspicious of all visitors, but it won't stop us going along, I just hope it is better next time we go. 

What Home Education Looks Like - 6th September 2013

Taking advantage of the last of the summer sun for a family day at the beach.

Then heading to a closer beach once everyone else has gone back to school!