Quick catch up – Friday

A day of normals and not much more.
Peter Pan was watched on and off throughout the day – I guess I shouldn’t feel guilty about that for M, as it counts as English really 😉

We did a bit of bike riding in the field at the back of the house; J has finally decided he actually wants to learn (mostly because Cubs are doing a safe cycling course next week) so I’m trying to take advantage of that now. K is almost there, J still terrified and therefore going so slowly he falls off anyway, squawking at the slightest wobble and stropping at every bit of advice 🙁 M whizzing round the field like a maniac (another reason for J to learn soon), L bemoaning lack of a bike her size and A stomping alng behind wailing. Not an unqualified success then 😕

Singapore Maths is still in revision mode, but brought up some interesting things about how hard division is for M, so I think we’ll revisit that in a week or two. His times tables knowledge is fab, so that’s a good start.

L, K and M each made lots of crocodile sentences, which L and K copied out as English/handwriting and M read to me for pronunciation practice.
M and L also did a reception level worksheet on seasons, which we extended for M by adding in months of the year and which ones fit into which seasons, then working hard on how to say them (notable July, not Julie).
J finally got back to doing some Galore Park English – still finishing Book Two when I have a feeling we should have started Book Three, especially if he’s to have a 6 month break from English next year. Ah well – the books are meant to be a help, not a straightjacket 😉
Latin for the day was Cogito ergo sum, along with a bit more on nauta sum, agricola sum and so forth.

Violin happened, although with some stroppiness from J and L (they seem to either get on incredibly well or clash like anything); still amazing enthusiasm from M though. K’s cello also happened, and piano from all (M still waiting for his music to arrive, but doing his best with sight-reading the harder pieces from K and J’s books). We didn’t get as far as recorders though, so that should probably be a priority for the weekend.

I had my first lesson with Mr B, a new student who is rather a departure from the norm for me as he’s retired and wanting some holiday French to top up what he learned at school 40 years ago. We’re starting with basic hotel/shop/train type vocab, but mostly concentrating on understanding what he hears, as he’s quite good at making himself understood anyway, but his ultimate goal is to be able to understand conversations in bars and cafes. He’s doing it on a budget, so we’re going for reduced rate, fortnightly lessons and lending him books for the in-between weeks. Not much money in it for me, then, but I think I may end up developing some new materials which might give a start point for future classes.

Curry for tea – korma which all the children liked, a slightly spicier tofu curry made with generic Indian curry base, which they all struggled with a little, especially M who found it pointy in his mouth 😆 poppadums (success), mango chutney (not sure) and then kulfi (roaring success – big sigh and “that’s better!”). I’ve promised lassi and naan bread next time 🙂