| I’m very interested in the idea of home education and have not yet made up my mind whether I want to send my kids off to school when they reach school age next September. There seems to be so many long-term benefits to be gained from teaching your kids at home (instilling the values that are dear to your family,no exposure to bullying,being able to go on lots of interesting visits to interesting places whenever you fancy not just at weekends and holidays,more opportunity to spend time with a wide variety of people rather than the 29 other local 5 year olds each day etc etc). I’ve written several posts on this blog (under the category of Home Education) and have linked to some great HE website s and resources. While I muse the options of how best to educate my kids I am putting this page together as my own personal HE resource in case I do take on the challenge and the responsibility for home educating both or either of my children at any point in the future. I’m going to record here ideas I see in practice at the pre-school nursery my children attend two days each week which may come in handy in the future and I’ll forget if I don’t jot somewhere. Ourselves: - Looking at Then and Now photos (baby pics and now pics)
- Building photographic family trees
- Drawing on a map where they and members of their family live
- Self-portraits
- Drawings of what they can see outside their bedroom windows
- Likes and dislikes (my perfect day,my favourite book,my favourite meal)
- Tracing over dotted lines of their names
- Talking to mummy and daddy about when I was born
- What I might like to do when I am a grown up
Popularity:1% [?] Until recently I was always the one cursing under my breath each time I parked at the supermarket and yet again FORGOT to make sure I had brought a 1 pound coin with me for the trolley deposit. Acres of trolleys waiting for me to put my two little children in and do my weekly shop and only a tenner on me. Grrrr and double grrrr! Hoorah for Morrisons because they have had the sense to produce a nifty low-tech keyring which has a pound coin shaped token clipped onto it. I always have my keys on me so I now always have a pound coin sized token for the trolley which is miles better than dragging the kids into the store to buy one small item to get some change. I paid £1 for it but they sell them on eBay for far less (and they don’t advertise a supermarket unlike my Morrisons one). I recommend getting some for all your stressed supermarket shopping chums http://search.ebay.co.uk/trolley-token_W0QQfrppZ50QQfsopZ1QQmaxrecordsreturnedZ300QQpqryZtrolleyQ20token Popularity:1% [?] 
I was incensed today from just a quick 5 minute visit to the local recycling centre in our new Worcestershire home town. We just had a few lager cans,bottles and some cardboard to recycle and I didn’t want it hanging around the house so my daughter and I went to get rid of it. We had to be quick as we had to get back home to look after my son as Bealers was due to visit Tewkesbury at 1pm to pick up a free sofa we had been given using the local Freecycle network. I was telling my three year old about our new sofa but I was distracted and feeling more than a bit cross by the people I could see bunging plastic washing up bowls and plate-stands into the refuse container instead of taking them to the local charity shops (there are three in our town just one minute’s walk from the dump). I tsk-tsk’d about this and mentioned something out loud to my daughter as am teaching her green values but was interupted by her exclaiming ‘Look Mummy that man is putting a lovely blue sofa into the rubbish dump’. And so he was,cushion by cushion and then the main powder blue chesterfield settee itself got heaved from his car and over the side of the vast refuse container clearly labelled ‘Landfill’. Now all those who know me will confirm that I’m pretty emotional at the very best of times but this ignorant act really made me furious and for a couple of reasons. - Since downshifting to a more rural life at the begining of the summer we have been very grateful to receive a number of unwanted furniture for NOUGHT pence using the local Freecycle networks. We are being careful with our money since I quit my City salary and we are now living on Darren’s salary only so our being frugal by taking possesion of a couple of unwanted wooden chests of drawers,mahogany bookcases,a beautiful big desk,space duvet cover sets and outdoor toys for the kiddies has meant a great deal to us. To stand and watch someone throw what looked to me like a pretty handsome piece of furniture into the industrial sized bin was to deny it to all those needy folks who would love to have it in their houses.
- How can anyone put such a huge item into a refuse dump without thinking of what will happen to it next? It isn’t going to magic itself away despite it undoubtedly being replaced with something swankier in the house it used to reside. The sofa will sit in a festering hole somewhere on this planet and at some point in the future we,our children or our grandchildren will bitterly regret that their is no more space available for rubbish and we probably won’t be allowed to burn it either.
Normally I would have ignored my great British reserve and would have gone over to have a word with the guy who was about to lob it in if only to spread the word about Freecycle’s principles and how so many people would have willingly come to his house to collect the sofa without him having to lug it to his car. This time I didn’t –I don’t know why. I had my little kid with me (and she needed the loo) Popularity:1% [?] Because we radically downshifted three months ago we are on a long-term aim to reduce the amount of ‘stuff’in our house,to minimise the amount we spend as a family on thngs we don’t really *need* and to make sure we home cook healthy family meals twice a day I have become a frequent visitor to our local library in order to borrow cookery books. I’ve always been an avid fan of libraries. I grew up in a very bookish household and my father,like me,is slightly addicted to non-fiction and reference books but it had never occured to me to borrow books for new recipes until I happened to notice Hugh fearnley-whittingstall’s ‘The River Cottage Year’at the library and borrowed it for a read on how to be more self-sufficient. It was only when I was chatting to my friend Tissy and she mentioned that she has banned herself from purchasing any more cookery books that I realised I had found an obvious solution to the problem of wanting access to an almost infinite number of foodie tomes but not having the finances or space to house all of them…Borrow cookery books from the library. Popularity:1% [?] We make bread using our breadmaker most evenings so that we have a nice fresh loaf in the morning and it is very cost effective as each 53p bag of flour makes about four loaves.
Because the bread is preseravtive-free we find that we often have chunky stale ends of loaves to use up. One of the easiest ways to use them up is to make croutons to accompany soups or salads. Just chuck all the stale ends of bread into a bag in the freezer until you are ready to make some croutons. Spread the stale bread slices with butter,cut into cubes and then season with some salt,black pepper,onion salt and any herbs you enjoy (I use basil,oregano and parsley) Spread out on a large baking sheet and put into a medium oven until they are golden and toasted. Take out of the oven and using a slotted slice onto a plate to cool. I noticed the other day that a very small bag of croutons in the supermarket was £1.50. Popularity:1% [?] 
Whilst on the way to taking the kids pre-school yesterday I saw a group of three people who appeared to be looking for something on the ground at the edge of the village field by the car park. ‘Oh look’I said to the children ‘that man must have lost something very small and he is lying down and looking for it on the ground’… Being an inquisitive/nosey/do-good type I swung the car into a space close to the strange looking trio and realised on closer inspection that the man lying on the cold,wet Autumnal ground was in pain. He was on his front but was holding his head a distance from the ground. I told the chidren that I was going to see what was happening and grabbed the handy pillows and blankets I keep in the car for the kids. I popped one under the injured gent’s head and wrapped him as best I could including his head in blankets to try and conserve some heat. In first aid classes one thing they keep hammering home is the statement you should announce when stepping in to help with any kind of incident. ‘Hello I’m a trained first aider and I will help you’. This helps to stop everyone on the scene from panicking even though you might be thinking ‘Oh no I can’t remember anything I learned in that first aid class’it promotes an air of knowing what procedures to follow rather than urgent chaos. I issued my (slightly pompous sounding) statement and the two other folks fell upon me with gratitude for coming over as they didn’t know what to do. I quickly ascertained that no-one had phoned for an ambulance. This is another important fact I had managed to remember –as a first aider helping someone who is injured you are simply helping them to be safe,to reduce the risk of further injury and to preserve their life UNTIL THE EMERGENCY SERVICES ARRIVE (hence the term *first* aid I guess) but this critical assistance you give before the ambulance and or fire brigade turn up can mean the difference between life and death. The chap who was on the floor was called Ron and he begrudgingly told me he was 74 and that he wasn’t very good at falling (who is?). He kept saying ‘I’ll be alright in a minute’but luckily the woman who took the details on the phone as we requested an ambulance backed me up by getting me to bossily telling him he wasn’t allowed to move (despite the other folks helping suggesting he should see whether he could wiggle various limbs). Poor Ron. He was most worried about his ancient dog Ben who he’d been walking with before he fell so I dispatched one of the bystanders to go and tell his wife what had happened. She eventually arrived in her car and popped the dog inside. I didn’t stay much longer than necessary when the paramedics arrived but as I wanted my blankets back I had to wait until they rolled him over and did an assessment of his injuries. It looked to me that he’d broken his arm or shoulder and he was in agony but hopefully not in shock due to the fact we’d kept him warm and calm and got the ambulance out quickly.
It reminded me that injuries can happen to anyone at the most unexpected of times and it really does pay to know how to respond to an emergency effectively. Those of us who are responsible for the welfare of children and/or babies should really be given some basic literature to keep in an obvious place for those horrendous times when they choke,burn themselves,swallow something they shouldn’t,get something in their eye or lose consciousness. As the adult in charge it must be appalling to not know what to do when first aid is needed. There are loads of courses available but I found this helpful page from the BBC which has interactive learning as well as local course finder. I’ve been refreshing my somewhat rusty knowledge on how to check that someone is breathing if they are unconciouss,what are the first three assesments to make at the scene of any accident and more. Fingers crossed that I’ll never have to use any of these skills again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/first_aid_action/ Popularity:1% [?] School becomes one of many resources,such as libraries,computers,television,etc.,to be used when the child and the parents choose,according to a contract between them and the local school.You can download an information pack here. Flexi-Time Schooling.pdf More info here on http://flexitimeschooling.info Popularity:1% [?] A lack of landfill space is reaching a crisis situation. By composting our own garden and kitchen waste we are each able to do our bit towards reducing the amount of landfill space needed for refuse.
We’ve never had a garden as big as the one we now have. When we lived in London we had a pretty but mini little garden and we gave all our food and garden waste to the council via one of their little kitchen waste boxes and a big brown bin. Since downshifting and moving to the countryside we nowhave a home made compost pile (made from some old wooden pallets as walls and a couple of sections of fencing). The heap is getting nice and big but does have a lot of fruit flies bredding on it. We have a fair few grass clippings and because we are eating so much more fruit and vegetables than we did in our previous life I have investigated how to get the most from the heap as I vaguely remembered that grass clippings were not good for compost heaps and suspected I was perhaps about to end up with a huge heap of stinky slime instead of rich dark crumbly earthy goodness for the garden next year. I had already figured that worms and a bit of soil were probably useful additions but had not actually looked into what I should do make and maintain a really good compost heap in order to get great compost for the plants I’m planning to plant next year.
It turns out that chucking bits and bobs onto a pile including masses of grass clippings will eventually rot down into soil as it is the planet’s way of keeping everything as tidy as can be BUT the more effort you put in to making sure your compost heap has the right ingredients and conditions the better compost you will get out of the heap (and it will be quicker too). The following list from www.gardenorganic.org.uk gives an idea of what can go onto the compost heap and what kind of ‘rotters’they are: Hotter rotters (activators) - Comfrey leaves
- Young weeds
- Grass cuttings
- Chicken manure
- Pigeon manure
Other compostable items - Wood ash
- Cardboard
- Paper towels &bags
- Cardboard tubes
- Egg boxes
A balanced diet - Fruit and vegetable scraps
- Tea bags
- Coffee grounds
- Old flowers
- Bedding plants
- Old straw &hay
- Vegetable plant remains
- Strawy manures
- Young hedge clippings
- Soft prunings
- Perennial weeds
- Gerbil,hamster &rabbit bedding
Slow cookers –very slow to rot - Autumn leaves
- Tough hedge clippings
- Woody prunings
- Sawdust
- Wood shavings
Best avoided- Meat
- Fish
- Newspaper
- Cooked food
Do NOT compost - Coal &coke ash
- Cat litter
- Dog faeces
- Disposable nappies
- Glossy magazines
Apparently if most of what you compost is kitchen waste and you are adding it in small batches like I do it is better to augment it with lots of bits of cardboard such as toilet roll middles and used kitchen paper towels. It is better altogether to add a full layer to the heap each time as this means it will heat up properly with the increased microbial action. If you have a great pile of material (as I now do having been chucking it all in a random heap for the last 12 weeks since we moved here). It is better to give it all an almighty mix up,leave it for a few weeks and mix again after it has heated up and beginning to cool down. More moisture needs to be added if too dry during this mix up session or more dry material such as straw,shredded autumn leaves,cardboard if it is too soggy. Links: Popularity:1% [?] Janet,my neighbours gardener,is a good person to know as she has a head full great countryside knowledge. Last week when she came to have coffee with my grandmother and me she very kindly brought me a jar of honey from her bees and a newly planted Aloe Vera ‘puppy’. She told me that her children and grandchildren all use the sap for soothing nettle and insect stings or bites,for sunburn and for eczema. In the short time I have had the plant it has sprouted several new leaves and looks to be enjoying life on our kitchen windowsill. I have looked up its healing properties and the entry for it on Wikipedia tells me that it is as great as Janet claims. Aloe vera (syn. A. barbadensis) is commonly used externally to treat various skin conditions such as cuts,burns and eczema. It is alleged that sap from Aloe vera eases pain and reduces inflammation. Scientific evidence on the effects of Aloe vera sap on wound healing is contradictory (Vogler and Ernst,1999). A study performed in the 1990s showed that the healing of a moderate to severe burn was sped up by six days when covering the wound on a regular basis with aloe vera gel,compared to the healing of the wound covered in a gauze bandage (Farrar,2005). In contrast,another study suggested wounds to which Aloe vera gel was applied were significantly slower to heal (Schmidt and Greenspoon,1991). Many cosmetic companies add sap or other derivatives from Aloe vera to products such as makeup,moisturisers,soaps,sunscreens,shampoos and lotions. Aloe gel is alleged to be useful for dry skin conditions,especially eczema around the eyes and sensitive facial skin. In addition,it has been used for treating fungal infections such as ringworm. An article published in the British Journal of General Practice suggests that Aloe Vera is particularly good at treating long suffers of athlete’s foot. The topical application of Aloe vera is not an effective preventative for radiation-induced injuries. Whether or not it promotes wound healing is unclear,and even though there are some promising results,clinical effectiveness of oral or topical Aloe vera remains unclear at present.
Popularity:1% [?] A letter from our local rag (Worcester Gazette)caught my eye… John Brayne from Redditch wrote: “I felt the need to write regarding the huge financial burden placed on financially hard-pressed parents. A new trend since the days of my sensible schooling is to have the school logo on each of the items that the children need. Asda and Tesco both sell sensibly priced school uniforms,which unfortunately for most parents in Redditch are unsuitable because it seems the schools have latched on to a good money-making idea. At a time when we are being encouraged like never before to recycle almost everything because this planet’s resources are becoming ever more scarce and global warming is never more evident,surely it’s high time this money-makng idea was scrapped althogether so more of the items can be recycled. I was offered a purple book bag by my nieces,nothing wrong with it apart from my daughter attends Vaynor school and the book bag on offer had Oakhill splashed all over it! If the schools really don’t want parents to believe that they are ripping us off then why not have the common sense to introduce iron-on or stitch-on logos. These would easily be transferable year in year out. Another initiative they could show is to introduce the same colour uniforms to all first schools,then maybe a different colour for all middle schools and so on. People with older children in the family who attend different schools would then be able to put redundant school items to good use for their other children. If any other financially hard-pressed parents want to get in touch about this so that we can start campaigning against this unfair system please feel free to do so.” 13 Northside Close
Oakenshaw
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