What have we been up to over the Winter Months?

What have we been up to over the winter months?

Well J has spent a lot of time on Conquer Maths as he has decided he really wants to do GCSE Maths in September so he is ploughing thru Conquer Maths. He has spent a lot of time on Minecraft designing farms with land and stables and veggie plots etc. He has also been on Sims 3 designing houses from around the world. He has been learning about the Samurai, Dragonflies, Cephalopods, Ants, Romans, different types of weather and why they happen, Deserts, did a lap-book about Xmas around the world, used Sim City 4 to build and run a city, used apps on his ipad for art, cooked his dad a birthday meal, learnt about 1920’s gangsters, researched Drifting with cars, he went to the beach with his grandad, we discussed wind turbines and their benefits as he spotted some after a round of golf, lots n lots of golf including the Easter competition, went to Bridgend Home Ed group were he sat in on GCSE classes for Maths and then the teens played table tennis, went to church youth and was involved in arranging a Mother’s day meal and also went to a Christian gathering and watched a Christian Rock band, he went to Cardiff with a few home ed kids for a few hours, had an audiology appointment and a CAMHS appointment, had an ‘Oscars awards’ party at Bridgend Home Ed group, is going to a gig with his pal this weekend and we got a new kitten so he has been learning all about Kitten care.

For anyone who thinks unschooling is sitting round doing nothing and learning nothing as you can see it is so not true!!!!!

Looking forward to Spring and loads n loads of stuff planned J

These are a few of my favorite things....

Ok im no Mary Poppins so il stop with the song titles lol. I thought id post some of my favorite sayings ive found on some of the many groups and pages ive visited :)

Bit of what we got up to in 2012.

Last year was when we became so much more relaxed and moved to unschooling. As I've mentioned J my son still does some 'work', hate the word but not sure what else to call it, he likes to use Conquer Maths to study Math, he reads books on his kindle, he learnt about the Romans and that included a lap book he made and he made a bust of Ceasers head etc. He also learnt about The Victorians and what they did for us. He enjoyed doing a lot of cookery....home made pizza, Mississippi mud pie, Honeyed Chicken, you name it, he also grew his own potatoes, he joined in African drumming classes which he loved, he did a Silver Art Award in portrait photography, learnt about WW2, Rainforests etc.

Also he competed in a lot of Golf competitions, he plays with the Disabled Golf Association and was picked for their Wales team ( only junior on the team). He also played in the British Disabled Junior Open, a two day competition and he came 4th. He also played some mainstream competitions at his local golf club that he belongs too.

2012 was also a tough year as we lost my gran to cancer and a week or so later her husband/my grandad also to cancer, this knocked J for six, he is a very sensitive soul. Later in the year we then lost my other nan who passed in her sleep.

O and of course that annoying socialisation word.....for any wondering he went to a home ed group full of adults n kids, he went to a junior golf group, played golf with the adults at Disabled golf Association events (and won), he went to a church youth group, etc.

Well that's a taster of 2012 and a few pix :) Now we are full flow for 2013 and enjoying life and learning.

Our Unschooling Story so far.

Well it all began in May 2011 when I deregistered my son after years of being bullied at school and being suicidal id decided enough was enough. Originally I did the school at home type thing with timetables books etc but soon felt it wasn't right but at the time hadn't learnt a lot about home ed/unschooling etc so tried different more relaxed ways of doing things trying to find what worked and although things got better the more relaxed things were it still wasn't 'right'. I had obviously then heard about autonomous but again it wasn't really explained to me then unschooling and a whole load of other terms so though ok need to learn more so started to join groups and research and soon discovered Dayna Martin and her blog and her family and it seemed so right and so I knew unschooling was the way to go.

I've always tried to parent with attachment parenting and respectful/peaceful parenting even before knowing there were terms for it so the Whole Life Unschooling really made sense. Before researching id always thought unschooling meant no learning but realized it was in fact child led which was what I was looking for. My lad does like some structure and routine so likes to know the night before the next days stuff but its not as in lessons at x,y,n z times and x,y,n z lessons ...he likes to do Maths as he wants to do a GCSE maths class at home ed group in September so I've got a subscription to Conquer Maths for him, sometimes he likes to do English 'work' but other times he just likes reading, same for the other 'topics'....he covers them but not in a sit down and do this book on history type thing. He has learnt about Desserts after watching a golf competition on telly and it snowed in the dessert and so the next day he spent researching desserts, he has learnt about Samurai, you name it...he learns off games, learns off telly all sorts. He also likes to play console games and PC games and also plays and competes at golf. Learning happens at all times in all ways.

I always respect his choices and decisions in life, he has been a Christian from a young age (im atheist and interested in paganism but its not my place to decide his beliefs). Yes there have been times when ive had to work through my feelings or fears but that's what you do when you love and respect your child, for instance he tried Sea Cadets and wanted to join the Navy but im against war and Queen and country etc but I pushed that aside and got fully involved, he got to the point were he had learnt n done enough so left....its his choice. I don't limit television or consoles or games time, we don't have set meal times and he doesn't have to eat what I eat, if he wants his hair long, short, pink, blue is irrelevant...its up to him its his hair. He kind of has a bedtime....he cant sleep at all without melatonin, its in us all but like a lot of kids with autism, tourettes n adhd he doesn't produce it so without it would be up 24/7. If he is playing golf the next day he tends to go to bed earlier, same if its the night before home ed group but this is not me telling him, we have chatted and he wants to go earlier to be awake for the activities.

I realize the way we live is not for everyone but it is for us so many blogs will include inspiring quotes or blog posts etc. but also the usual updates on what we have been up to.

Well if you got this far thanks and I hope you enjoy my blog.

Dayna Martin...

http://thesparklingmartins.blogspot.co.uk/

http://daynamartin.com/

Our Home ed group...Bridgend Home Educators.

http://bridgendhomeeducators.org/

My friend Sonya's site which has an article written by me and a link to my old blog.

http://www.homeschool-activities.com/homeschooling-children-with-autism.html#.UTAPwKLF-So