still not on full form

Jasmin has still been really struggling with her cold, so last week we stayed at  home and had family time.

In between the snuggles we started weaving Joshua's blanket, it is lovely to work with merino wool it is so soft.

Jasmin did some more finger knitting she is determined to make a mat big enough for  her bedroom.  At the moment her knitting stretches nearly one and half times around the inside of the house.

We also mastered tens and units, thanks to a post on Lisa's blog.  (I think her blog is really good, have a look at  "http://anordinary-life.blogspot.co.uk", it is full of fun, visual things to do and of course Lisa and her children's journey.  Jasmin enjoyed doing maths in columns.  I can't believe she actually asked to do maths now...

Jasmin is independently reading the Rainbow Magic Series, and is loving the fact she can just pick up a book now. Not bad for a girl who couldn't and didn't like reading whilst she was at school.

I have just ordered her the Sporty Fairies Series as a surprise.  We are going to London on the train on Friday for the weekend, and it will be lovely that she will be able to read on the train.

I finally got the hang of crochet after so many time trying.  I made some basic fingerless gloves and have just started on a pair for Jasmin.

a day when we just needed to snuggle down

I should have known when we woke up this morning, after finally getting to sleep at 4.00am. (Jasmin was not well in the night), that today was not going to be plain sailing.

Jasmin knocked over her juice all over her story she had just started to write and was very upset.  She dropped her bracelet and the dog managed to run off and chew it.

Whilst I walked the dog, Jasmin sat at the table with  her grandma and coloured, completely forgetting to put her drawing mat on top, so one Cath Kitson table cloth coloured with felt tips.

I then decided just to give up and go with a snuggle day.  I certainly hadn't the energy for much else, especially as our lovely student neighbours had kept us awake the night before.

Grandma had said that she would take Josh to school for me, result!!!.  But she couldn't get her car to start so came back and I took Josh.  When I came back Jasmin had made some coloured bows with grandma to cheer us all up, and they certainly worked.

Whilst I made a cake for our church small group tonight, Jasmin watched junior bake off and started doing some finger knitting.xxx

A very early start to Friday xx

This morning as soon as Jasmin woke up she wanted to start building Billie the skeleton. (even before breakfast!) She is fascinated with how her body works so we thought this would be a great project for her.   I didn't realise just how excited she would be..

For the first part, Jasmin placed each of the teeth in the socket and then fixed in the jaw bone.  We then researched all about teeth on line and did some fun quizzes.

Next week she will be adding the brain and eyeballs and top part of the skull.

After breakfast we went on a lovely dog walk, talking of course, about our bones and bodies which was good fun.

Skating in the afternoon went well too, she has her skating exam on Saturday so fingers crossed.. Lots of practise needed this week.

We picked up Anika on our way home and she had a fab play date.

To finish off the day she had choir and managed to sing most of the songs so she was very pleased with herself.

A very long but fun day.xxx

The past few daysxx

Gosh I can't believe we are nearly on Thursday again, already.

We have been really busy since last week.  Jasmin performed in her first pantomime "King Arthur" she was a viking and absolutely loved it.  It was done through our  church and they did three shows.  After Saturday night I had a very happy but tired Jasmin.

On Sunday we went to Caleb's birthday party which was just so lovely.  Happy Birthday Caleb.xx

Monday morning, after athletics,  Jasmin played with Olive and Oona, we all went on a lovely walk. Carol played in the park with the children whilst I took Sascha for a walk around the bole hills.  We cancelled Jazz and piano as Jasmin was just too tired.

Tuesday, we went skating and then went to Alison's to do tie dying which went really well.  Followed by K-Motion, which was fab as per usual.

Today, my mum took Jasmin to piano as I went to a meeting regarding the change over of statement of educational needs to the EHC plan.  Whilst I was there my mum also took Jasmin to line dancing, which she thought was great fun.   Jasmin says she wants to go every week.  I don't think that was on my mums weekly plan..

 I then walked the dog,  and Jasmin and Josh started to build some lego together.   xxx

Science afternoon - Circuits

 Yesterday, we had a science afternoon starting to learn about circuits.  Jasmin received a snap circuit kit for Christmas.  It was really great fun and kept the children really interested, in fact they didn't want to stop playing.

First they made a small complete circuit and watched the light bulb illuminate.  They then removed a connector to see what would happen to the circuit.

Proving that if electricity is to flow around a circuit the circuit must be complete.

We then set about finding out if materials other than metal can be used to make an electric circuit.  The children tried, wood, aluminium foil, and a pen.  Only the aluminium foil worked. It was great seeing their faces when the light bulb worked with the foil.

Series and Parallel Circuits

Series:
For our next experiment we added a bulb and a motor to the circuit.  For the first time we connected the circuits in series and the second time we connected them in parallel.

Questions we asked:

How bright was the bulb and how fast was the motor.

To do this we looked at how bright the bulb was with the motor in the same circuit.   Then we removed the motor and replaced it with a connector.  It was brighter without the motor.
This was then repeated but this time we replaced the light bulb with a connector.  The motor was much faster. The motor went going so fast it made the fan spin up into the air, the children absolutely loved this part (and was repeated lots of times, with lots of laughing).

Parallel Circuits.
 We found out when connected in parallel the bulb lit up brightly and the motor ran faster than when connected in series.  Also if one component breaks the others will continue to works as the electricity is still able to flow back into the battery.

building the circuit

does string conduct electricity?

it works.

waiting for the fan to spin off

serious concentration.

feeling the motion of the fan.

series circuits

Setting up our wormerie

Today our wormerie arrived.  Very exciting! Jasmin put it together by herself so she was very pleased.  We now have to leave it a week for the worms to get established in their new environment.

It is amazing what you can compost:

Vegetables
Vegetable Peelings (Potato Skins Take Ages to Rot Down)
Onions in moderation
Citrus Fruits
Fruit / Peel
Coffee / Tea Bags
Bread
Pizza
Rice
Pasta
Flowers (if shop bought - ensure no insecticides are present)
Cereals
Crushed Egg Shells
Cakes/ Biscuits
Sugar
Cheese
Cardboard / Paper
Pet Human Hair (this takes ages to rot down)
Hoover Contents
Baked Beans

The wormerie should not have any flies or smell.  

We are hoping our worms don't escape….

our worms

adding compost with a few worm eggs in

building the base

getting ready for their new home

everything set up ready to go.

Jasmin learnt some facts about worms including:

Worms can eat half their own weight of waste each day. They are photosensitive (don't like light) and can live up to 2 - 3 years

Body - A worm has an anterior end (head) and a Posterior end (tail) and has 5 hearts. If you look closely you will see many rings around the body called segments.

Mouth - On the tip of the head there is a flap of skin called the prostomium which stops things going into the worms' mouth. Underneath the prostomium is the mouth. A worm's mouth is big enough to grab a leaf and drag it around. Worms do not have teeth

Eyes - Worms don't have eyes. They are very sensitive to bright light. They will try to hide as soon as exposed

Movement - A worms has muscles all round their body, and others that run the length of their body. When the circular muscles tighten up, the body becomes thinner and longer this movement squeezes their front end forward the other long muscles squeeze together and help move the rear end of the body towards the front end

Breathing - Worms do not have lungs but take in oxygen through their skin and it goes straight into their bloodstream. The skin must stay wet in order for the oxygen to pass through it, but they can drown if they are in too much water.

How do they grind food? - Worms can only take small particles in their small mouths. Micro organisms soften the food before worms will eat it. Worms have a muscular gizzard. Small parts of food mixed with some grinding material such as sand, topsoil or limestone is ingested. The contractions from the muscles in the gizzard compress those particles against each other, mix it with fluid, and grind it to smaller pieces

Exploring Sheffield Town Centre with Friends

Today we caught the bus into the town centre to meet up with some of our home ed friends.  We arranged to meet in the Winter Gardens which is just an amazing space. We are so lucky to have so many areas to explore in the city centre. The children had a fab time playing hide and seek.

Inside the winter gardens

Throwing coins in the wishing well.

We then walked through the galleries and found a gem of a small garden, where the girls found different coloured glass and climbed trees.

finding gems

Oona climbing trees

Carrying on we walked down to the station, and looked at the mosaic fountain and the children watched their leaves sail to the bottom spiral.

There are some amazing water features all the way to the station. The children had a great time chasing and throwing coins in the water to make wishes. Once we had met Carol's brother we had a picnic and Carol read the children a story.

looking at a small fig

After lunch, we said our goodbyes and headed off to Ponds Forge to go swimming.  Jasmin played being a dolphin in the lazy river and swam a length of breaststroke really strongly.  She was very pleased with herself.

Back  home for a well deserved rest before Choir tonight.xxx

exploring the garden

watching for their leaves

story telling

on the way back from the station