Home Education Diary the week after we had travelled around Germany

When we got back from Germany we were so tired but obviously there was a lot to do. It started on Monday with a visit from our local Elective Home Education Officer. Now my county are really good at making it clear that we do not have to have visits or follow a curriculum. A lot of home educators believe that you should not let them in and that you are asking for trouble. For us this lady seemed nice (apparently you never know who will take over her job though) and gave us information and cards to show that the boys are electively home educated. When she arrived the boys had been writing up about their trip =, and were also researching things related to it, online. She said that they didn’t need to be working and also explained about how anxious some children are about visits. She seemed really accepting of all different ways people chose to home educate too. The Sensory Seeker had great delight in telling her that we go to McDonalds a lot and that we saw a man peeing when on our travels! Afterwards the boys played board games whilst I caught up with washing etc and submitted the 10 year old for the grammar school test in September (in our county you have the whole of June to register). Then we went to the local trampoline/soft play area. Later The Sensory Seeker had swimming and he was so tired there is talking of moving his lesson to a different day.

Tuesday the boys again used the internet this time to translate a magazine we had bought over in Germany and one we had from France. They did more writing in their books and played board games again. The boys had their Explore Learning session and then I had running club where there was plenty of cake! The 10 year old had his swimming lesson.

Wednesday we were invited to a home education session at the Cheltenham Science Festival and then were free to explore the rest of the areas. It was great as there were only 2 other children and so the boys got some really focused attention. This was the same as we went around, especially after the school children left. They were particularly keen on the circuits and the virtual reality stuff – and Dave from our science group was very popular with his slime! The best of it is The Sensory Seeker didn’t think he was going to do any learning! It was so good that we missed Home Ed Sports and The Sensory Seeker’s Explore session (10 year old still did his 11+ session).

Thursday we had to take the teen to the orthodontist. We had quite a relaxing afternoon with the 10 year old making a cake for his dad’s birthday. I spent time sorting out my 40^th birthday holiday to Spain with the girls with my mate on the phone whilst the boys played. The boys then went to Youth Group where they spoke to their friends who had also been to the Science Festival with school.

Friday we celebrated my husband’s birthday early as we were going to be in Italy without the boys on his actual birthday. They were meant to go to an extra session at Explore Learning but instead I cooked a roast chicken dinner and took them over to my inlaws.