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I think this winter a lot of people are going to be asking themselves should I get the flu vaccination? I think that before you do that jus...
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“ The New Year Pearls” 1 st January 2018 in the book “366 and more things to do “ ISBN 0709706855 It talks about Mistletoe ...
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I have been going thought my book shelves again, and see what I would like to keep, sell, donate and re gift. I try to do this every 6 mont...
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https://youtu.be/qGJ5G4UNFJI Now that we are now going to have another lock down on the 5 th November until 2 nd December a lot of events ...
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3 months a head! Again it is September and in all of the retail outlets "It's Christmas!" Before Halloween or Bone-fire nigh...
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eBay the bargee boys Callan and Bryndly Link(s)
Thursday 30 December 2021
Tuesday 28 December 2021
Friday 24 December 2021
Thursday 23 December 2021
Sunday 19 December 2021
Saturday 18 December 2021
Thursday 16 December 2021
Online Privacy for Kids - Internet Safety and Security for Kids
Wednesday 15 December 2021
'Twas the night before video games' with Katherine Ryan | IM & Electroni...
Tuesday 14 December 2021
Sunday 12 December 2021
Thursday 9 December 2021
Otters at the Otter and Butterfly Sanctuary and Dorset
Book(s) My Book(s) and Home Schooling information “366 and more things to do “ISBN 0709706855." Part Four
Book(s) My Book(s) and Home Schooling information “366 and more things to do “ISBN 0709706855." Part Four
Wednesday 8 December 2021
Things that you can do with Conkers
Things that you can do with Conkers
I have added some link(s) of what you can do with Conkers
10 Things Your Kids can do with Conkers (getoutwiththekids.co.uk)
What To Do With Conkers, Acorns & Hazelnuts - Activities for Kids (familydaystriedandtested.com)
15 Conkers Crafts (aka Chestnut or Buckeye Crafts for Fall (redtedart.com)
Simple Ways to Grow Conkers: 13 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow
How To Grow A Tree From A Conker – Animal Enthusias Blog (animalenthusiastblog.com)
I hope you find them useful.
Tuesday 7 December 2021
Being Closer to Nature
Being Closer to Nature
I think that one thing that I love about home schooling is the ability to get closer to nature and to chose what items I use to teach my children and where I buy them from.
One thing that I have always done with my children is to teach them that second-hand is OK to buy despite Covid 19.
I was not brought up to use second-hand and was told to always buy new, but now that I am a parent I am happy to teach.
Reduce
Reuse
Recycle
Upcycle
is the new way to live life.
So one thing that I am looking at doing is to keep some of the things that I teach seasonal and to be more closer to nature and use what we have around use to learn who to live life to the full.
This year we were not really able to do any foraging like we have in the past, so I am going to use the items that I already have around the house and have not done any thing with yet.
What we will do is make then in to gifts for our family and friends and also to decorate the house with.
So please follow us during our gift making session over the next few day(s)
Monday 6 December 2021
Should I teach my children R.E. if I am home schooling?
Should I teach my children R.E. if I am home schooling?
One of the things that I have been looking at is, should I teach my children R.E. now that I am home schooling?
Over the last several years we have been teaching our children a mixture of different religious ways of life due to our own family and friends beliefs.
A lot of this was done so that my children would know more about the ways that people are brought up and may and may not believe.
My self I was brought up Church of England with a Catholic and Protestant Parents and Grandparents.
Now that I am a parent my self we have gone back to a more Pagan up bringing with our own children and would still attend “Messy Church” once a month before lock down.
Messy Church
Iis "a way of being church for families". Its slogan is "Church, but not as you know it".
But when I look at my own up bring and being forced to do R.E at school we were only taught the basics that included the three following faiths.
Christianity.
Judaism.
Islam.
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest religion, with about 2.5 billion followers. Its adherents, known as Christians, make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories, and believe that Jesus is the Christ, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible (called the Old Testament in Christianity) and chronicled in the New Testament.
Judaism
Judaism
is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the
collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization
of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in
the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Modern Judaism evolved from
Yahwism, the religion of ancient Israel and Judah, by around 500 BCE,
and is thus considered to be one of the oldest monotheistic
religions. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the
expression of the covenant that God established with the Israelites,
their ancestors. It encompasses a wide body of texts, practices,
theological positions, and forms of organization.
Islam
Is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion started by the prophet Muhammad in the early 7th century. It is the world's second-largest religion with 1.9 billion followers, or 24.9% of the world's population, known as Muslims. Muslims make up a majority of the population in 47 countries. Islam teaches that God is merciful, all-powerful, and unique, and has guided humanity through prophets, revealed scriptures, and natural signs. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, believed to be the verbatim word of God, as well as the teachings and normative examples of Muhammad.
I personal hated R.E. due to the way it was forced onto me and the way that R.E classes also included other subjects like.
Personal Physical Education
Sex Education
Fashion
Health and Well-being
Religious Days and Events
Family Relationships
Charitable Beliefs
Death and the After Life.
Rights and men, women and children.
Plus may other subjects, however it was not a subject I enjoyed and I hated having to be made to read allowed in this lesson and to read about things like how sex before marriage is a sin.
I think to be taught this subject at any age for me I found very confusing and even with my own children the information about R.E. is some what hard to teach and explain.
I remember my children believing that Farther Christmas was at the birth of Jesus Christ and that all people who are Muslim are terrorist.
This is from being taught in state ran and Christian schooling.
State School
State schools or public schools are generally primary or secondary schools that educate all children without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation. State funded schools exist in virtually every country of the world, though there are significant variations in their structure and educational programmes. State education generally encompasses primary and secondary education.
A Christian
A school is a school run on Christian principles or by a Christian organization. The nature of Christian schools varies enormously from country to country, according to the religious, educational, and political cultures. In some countries, there is a strict separation of church and state, so all religious schools are private; in others, there is an established church whose teachings form an integral part of the state-operated educational system; in yet others, the state subsidizes religious schools of various.
Types of school
Types of school - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
So now I think to myself will I teach R.E at home?
One thing that was on T.V recently was Hanukkah and I did not minded my children learning about this and did a day on what Hanukkah was the same with Diwali.
Hanukkah is a Jewish festival commemorating the recovery of Jerusalem and subsequent rededication of the Second Temple at the beginning of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BCE. It is also known as the Festival of Lights.
Diwali is a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists, notably Newar Buddhists. The festival usually lasts five days and is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika (between mid-October and mid-November).
Yet I think personal I will look at teaching a more Pagan way of life and teach about what I call “Holy Days” when required.
Pagan
Paganism
(from classical Latin pāgānus "rural", "rustic",
later "civilian") is a term first used in the fourth
century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who
practiced polytheism or ethnic religions other than Judaism. In the
time of the Roman empire, individuals fell into the pagan class
either because they were increasingly rural and provincial relative
to the Christian population, or because they were not milites Christi
(soldiers of Christ).
“Holy Days”, a day on which a religious observance is held.
Below I have added some links that you may find useful so that you can make your own mind up.
Should religion be taught in schools? - netivist
Four Reasons Why You Should Teach About Religion in School (Opinion) (edweek.org)
Religion in Schools Pros and Cons | APECSEC.org
Schools should teach religion. What they shouldn't teach is faith. (nbcnews.com)
Sunday 5 December 2021
Wednesday 1 December 2021
De-Schooling my son again
De-Schooling my son again
After trying to give my son the best state education that I can where I live and to try and get an EHCP in place for him I have gone back to home schooling again!
EHCP*
An EHCP outlines any special educational needs that your child has. It also covers the support your local authority must put in place to help your child: The EHCP is a legal document. That means your local authority has a legal obligation to provide the support in the plan.
So my aim now is to apply for one direct and to cut out the school direct.
For six years I have tried to get my son the support I feel that he need but with covid and budget cuts I have been unable to archive this.
So I have chosen to put his health and wellbeing first and have stated to home school him again.
That way I can give him the one to one support I feel that he needs at this moment in time in his life and focus on his strengths and work ion his weakness.
At the moment my sons main weakness is manual dexterity.*
*skill in performing tasks, especially with the hands.
So this is a skill I believe needs working on the most before any thing else can be achieved well.
My son is also left hand and due to this a few things need to altered to help him, today you can get things like left handed scissors.
https://www.anythinglefthanded.co.uk/
Again I feel that in main stream school these needs where not met and that equipment was not provide for my sons needs due to being left handed.
So I will look at how I can help him improve his manual dexterity at home.
Just like learning to use any part for your body at times you may need help and the right tools to achieve this.
Sunday 28 November 2021
Wednesday 24 November 2021
Should I subscribe to magazines to help me home school?
Should I subscribe to magazines to help me home school?
When it comes to home schooling “The world can be your Oyster.”
One of the things that I would like my children to be able to do is to read.
Yet today there are so many ways that this can be achieved. One way that may help is magazines.
You can still get magazines for pretty much any thing in the world, via paper, or digital now days. So you do not always have to subscribed to a paper copy if you are looking at reducing the amount of paper work that you have around your home.
You could subscribe to a digital copy of your favourite magazine and even look them up on social media like Facebook, twitter...
So if you are looking for gifts for you children, loved ones, family and friends this years then magazine subscription may be an option.
I like using on line and buying aper copies still. If you buy paper copies you could always reuse the information time and time again, cut them up to make artwork or even sell them to make some pocket money.
So have a think about magazines and how they may help you in to home school in the future.
Taking care of you.
Taking care of you.
Right I have not posted for a while with trying to keep all of my children in mainstream school.
Now I have chosen to home school one of my children and will start again with this transition.
However before doing this one thing that I think that we need to do as parents is take care of you first.
In oreder to take care of your child/ren you must be ab.e to take care of you first.
So once you deside to home school take some time out for you and use this time to reflex on the things in your life.
You now now be going from that mad morning school rush come rain our shine, and then pick up times to having our child/ren 24/7 365(6) days a year.
So think of you and your needs too.
For me over the last number of months I have taken the time to think about what home schooling will mean to me?
What do I aim to get out of it?
What are my hopes and dreams for my child/ren
What are my child/rens hopes and dreams too?
How much will things cost?
How long will things take to do or plan?
How will I support all of my family?
So take some time to make a list that you can work though and take every day one step at a time.
This is the start of a new adventure.
Sunday 14 November 2021
Thursday 11 November 2021
Wednesday 10 November 2021
Where did the NHS come from?
They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning,
we will remember them,
we will remember them.
From 'For the Fallen' (1914), by Laurence Binyon
Sunday 7 November 2021
Wednesday 3 November 2021
Friday 29 October 2021
Keep moving forward.
Keep moving forward.
With Covid still hanging over everyone aiming to move forward is not easy. It feels like all that we are doing is asking one step forward and the having to spend 14 days staring at 4 walls all over again.
So one thing that I am working on is how to set up some more community led projects/groups for 2022.
Living in the Heart of England means that getting to Nuneaton is probably one of the easiest places to reach. You can get here by pretty much any form of transport and walking from most places usually takes a few hours too.
The main thing is to KEEP SAFE!
So I am looking at a number of places where I could run community groups from that are disability friendly, have car parking, toilet facilities and can offer basic catering options too.
The main thing that I need to look at is having the right insurance both public and employee support when required.
So please bear with me and feel fee to follow my blog(s) or other social options.
Thank you.
Monday 25 October 2021
Saturday 23 October 2021
Friday 22 October 2021
Sunday 17 October 2021
Friday 15 October 2021
Monday 11 October 2021
Saturday 9 October 2021
Friday 8 October 2021
October 2021 Nest Egg Ideas, should I have for the future?
Thursday 7 October 2021
Wednesday 6 October 2021
Tuesday 5 October 2021
Friday 1 October 2021
Thursday 30 September 2021
Wednesday 29 September 2021
Making prototype(s), How long? How much? Septembers 2021
Making prototype(s), How long? How much? Septembers 2021
Making prototype(s)
One of the things that I love doing is trying new things, although now that I am older I do not do that much now.
I also loved taking things a part to see how they are made and to see if I could make them better.
I love making prototypes of items that I am thinking of making one day and doing reviews on products when I can.
At he moment I am designing a children game for my sister to try out for 10 children under 5.
So we will see what happens and what feed back I can get from it.
How long?
Over the past few weeks I have been looking at getting back into art and seeing how long artwork will take to produce and then hopefully sell.
I did not realize how time consuming it can be when you are waiting for paint to dry.
looking around when you are hand making items you know that each items is going to be different a little.
But will it sell?
How much?
That is the question, I can not charge NMW for my work other wise some items would end up being £100.00 of pounds
So I am having to still thing about price points and how much my time is worth.
https://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/calculate-the-cost-price-of-your-creative-product/
This is why so many items are made overseas in sweet shops and not in the UK where we have more employment rights to protect people.
Yet if you are self employed or an artist you are still underpaid for your experiences.
But is an artiest not like a Plastic surgeon? One paints with a brush the other with a knife
For me it should not matter what job you do you should be paid for your work experiences , not just your qualifications.
Yet due to NMW that is to protect people and help them to be tread fairly, it is used to keep people down. In 2021 very few people archive more than this due to the current economy,
Even when I looked at going back to teaching full time at my local collage I was only offered £18,000 per annum.
So when it comes to your future you need to take the time to research, adapt, plan and budget.
I have added some link(s) below that may help.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vat-exports-dispatches-and-supplying-goods-abroad
Salary checker
https://www.totaljobs.com/salary-checker/salary-calculator
https://www.monster.co.uk/career-advice/article/salary-calculator
Income Tax Checker
https://www.gov.uk/income-tax/check-youre-paying-the-right-amount
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/check-tax-code/
UK Pay Scale
https://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Country=United_Kingdom/Salary
https://www.mirror.co.uk/money/what-you-should-you-expect-19337047
Holiday Entitlements
https://www.gov.uk/holiday-entitlement-rights/holiday-pay-the-basics
Becoming an Apprentices
https://www.gov.uk/become-apprentice/pay-and-conditions
Self Employment
https://www.stepchange.org/debt-info/self-employed-income-calculator.aspx
https://www.gov.uk/working-for-yourself
https://rsaccountancy.co.uk/working-out-what-your-self-employed-day-rate-should-be/
https://www.freeagent.com/guides/expenses/food-and-drink/
https://www.gov.uk/vat-businesses
https://www.thedesigntrust.co.uk/calculate-the-cost-price-of-your-creative-product/
Acas
https://www.acas.org.uk/pay-and-wages
Travel Costs
https://www.hrzone.com/community-voice/discuss/mileagehow-much-should-be-paid
Benefit Support
Benefit Checker
https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators
Child Maintenance
https://www.gov.uk/calculate-child-maintenance
Pension Information
https://www.thepensionsregulator.gov.uk/en/employers/managing-a-scheme/contributions-and-funding
Monday 27 September 2021
Should I get the flu vaccination this winter?
I think this winter a lot of people are going to be asking themselves should I get the flu vaccination?
I think that before you do that just like with an vaccination you should do your research and make sure that you are fit and healthy before doing so. Also remember that some times after any new vaccination you may feel unwell.
So before making your chose I have listed some link(s) below that you may find useful and will help you to make the right chose for you; to stay safe and well this winter.
NSH Website
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vaccinations/flu-influenza-vaccine/
GovUK Website
BBC News Website
Sunday 26 September 2021
Thursday 23 September 2021
Wednesday 22 September 2021
Using work books to help with home schooling.
Using work books to help with home schooling.
Education will always be big businesses and cost you money no matter what type of education you chose to follow.
Yes everyone in the UK is allowed to be in full time education from the age of 5-19, yet depending upon who much money you have and where you live will depend on how good this education will be.
Then of course there is making use that "every child matters"
Yet home education is something that I am thinking of again due to not being 100% happy with what is currently on offer for "free"
So if home schooling is in the cards are using work books that you can buy from most places now the right way to go?
When both of my children where off school last year it was interesting to see who classes and records of what my children where learning were supported by their schools.
My oldest son had work books that I was use to using and have at home. I love them because the answers are ion the back for parents to help teach subject you may not know that well. It is also a good way to keep school work tidy and in order. So I would set a target of 5 pages per subject per day.
With my other child who was younger it was paper based teaching and getting you to watch on line classes and programmes on TV.
Over time both schools opted for more on line learning and keep up to date records and targets that had to be meet on a weekly basis.
Yet I found book books to be best. I did not have full time internet and could not afford to by a new PC , laptop or I phone to keep up to date with online education.
Although some of the online information was useful and my children love watching the National Geographic Channel, which is why I pay for both Netflix and Disney Plus.
For me nothing beasts sitting down with a book, pen and paper.
I like teaching "old school" so that I can find out if my children have any underlining learning disabilities and can read and write.
Yes every thing is done via modern technology and using computer programmes that help you to read, write, spell and do mathematics.
But what if these where to fail, be programmed in wrong, where not available and you did not know who to use them?
For me school/education is their to teach you the basics, how to read, write, spell and mathematics. Yet children are still coming out of education not knowing how to do theses things. I was one of them.
So if I can home school and teach my children theses life skills of how to read, write, spell and mathematics then this is sure the key foundation that they need in oreder to survive and become independent??
Yet I am still wanting my children to go to school, yet maybe part time, so I am going to look into this.
In the mean time I am using work books at home with my children to help them and to find out if they may be are not reaching their full potential, due to the way the school educational system to set up.
I will post some links on my blog of the types of work books I have used and have found useful.