The last two weeks in snap shots...

Someone said it's important to remember that blogs are highlight reels, the articles displayed are the things worth writing about, the moments worth remembering.

And that's what these photos are, some of the moments worth remembering over the last 2 weeks. Please know that in reality our life is messier, louder and all in all a little frayed around the edges. Sparrows tantrum, babies cry, Mama snaps and things don't go quite to plan.

But it's all worth it.

Reading Lessons

Jesse, who is 5, has a reading lesson with me every morning, it lasts 30minutes maximum. Whilst the oldest sparrow, who is 6, can read well and learnt phonically whilst at school I was not convinced a phonetics programme on its own was the best way to encourage Jesse to read confidently.

So I did a little reading (how ironic!!) and found a scheme in one of Charlotte Masons education volumes (1 I think) that seemed an excellent balance, including both phonics and sight reading.
How does it work? Here you will find my interpretation (with a few personal tweaks) of her scheme....

We alternate daily sight reading lessons and word building lessons. We work from a literary piece, poem, prose or lyrics, that I have previously chosen and prepared. The preparation involves printing out 3 or 4 copies of the piece. One copy is laminated in full, another in paragraphs, one in sentences and another in words (each word is only laminated once and words he already knows are not included). We use one selection until he is able to read it fluently. So far we have used;

• Eensy Weensy Spider (lyrics)



• I Like to See a Thunderstorm (poem)



• The little Red Hen (prose)



• The Zoo (poem)

Eensy Weensy took a little while longer as we were both getting used to the the new system, now he flies through them, it took him just 8 days to do 'The Little Red Hen'. On our 'sight reading' days we take one sentence of the piece (plus recap of those already learned) and I show Jesse, on his wipe board, one of the words. He takes a picture in his mind and then has to find the word 1) in a pile of words, 2) in the sentence and 3) in the piece proper. Once he has it he places the word in a column.

We'll continue like this until we have done all the words in the sentence (in a random order) all throughout Jesse is reading up and down and left and right his word column. We finish with a read through of the sentence and a read through of the selection as far as he can get.

On the alternate days we 'word build' a kind of phonics programme. He has a jar of laminated lowercase letters he uses to make words during these lessons. I feel I should say that Jesse was already familiar with all his initial phonics sounds and also some of the more complex phonemes before we began this programme. I'll choose a couple of words from the piece that demonstrate well how other words are sounded out. Jesse makes as many as he can with his letters and we go though them in a word column as in the other lessons.

I have been AMAZED at Jesse's progress using this scheme, his enthusiasm for reading has ballooned. Previously in school he was just learning phonics and, although he could recognise all the basic sounds, it was painful to watch him use them in reading. Now on his diet of interesting and fun reading selections (Goodbye Biff and Chip, no love lost here!!) he is thriving.

One happy Mama bird.

That Friday feeling

The Older two sparrows have a flexible morning schedule (and I mean that in the loosest sense possible) from 9am til 12ish, Monday through Thursday. Friday is a no school day and catch up day in this house. So things that have not been fitted in during the week, that I don't want the boys to miss out on, I may fit in to a Friday morning. Then we are free. Friday is trip day and meet-up day.

Friday mornings sandpit visit...

We have a fortnightly home schooling meetup that we do near Cambridge joined by other families which we are blessed by. Just lately we have been visiting with some good friends that homeschool in the next village on the Fridays inbetween. We share lunch and have an activity or two for the children. But mostly the kids play and the adults relax.

Our activity today, inspired by another blogger, was Blessing Bags. I hate that awkward feeling I have passing the homeless on streets, not knowing what to give them or how to help for the best. These bags are full of small gifts, gifts to bless them in their poverty...chocolate bars, toothpaste, tissues, plasters, pound coins, facial wipes, socks, chapstick and more. We also included some handwritten scripture cards because Man does not live on bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. We read Jesus' story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10) to the kids and talked about how we can help our neighbours in need and who our neighbours might be.

No just to pray for the courage to give next time we see a need.

All the sparrows love Fridays.....time for the weekend xx

Of an afternoon.....

The Warreners, a favourite outdoor playground..

The painted man on this information board looks like a portrait of a 16th century Colin- it's so weird!

The boys love to be outdoors, we are out a lot. They run, jump,climb, dig, throw, discover and explore. Fresh air is good for the soul. I like being out with them because there aren't half as many rules outside as there are inside. They are free to let loose without a nagging mama in their ear.

Vermeer Masterpiece; His glowing colours.

The Artist on show this month in the House of Sparrow is Jan Vermeer (1632-1675).

Now on paper for Artist Study we have a change in exhibitor every 3 weeks.....in reality our artists stick around for more like 4 before we move on and change the scenery.

Week 1..... is always an introduction to the artist, the sparrows get to look at a large selection of works, some in books, or on the IPAD and printed out and laminated. They learn a little about the artist himself and the talent he/she displayed and then they choose their favourite piece. The pieces they choose are displayed in the 'Dining Room Gallery'.

We have an art file on the IPAD with all the artists work that we have covered to date for them to look at (and scribble on!!) at their leisure. The laminated copies are also left out in the lounge for perusal.

This year I have used a great book "13 Artists children should know" by Angela Wenzel, to plan out the artist study schedule. Just to lay a foundation really...after that we are free to dive into the plethora of amazing artists waiting to be discovered.

Week 2....We take a more detailed look at the pieces they choose. Usually we play an observation game and the story game with each piece. They like to talk about what makes it their favourite work. We also recap on artist details.

Week 3...... Create your own masterpiece!!

We are in our last weeks of enjoying Mr. Vermeer's beautiful pieces and it was time to create our own masterpieces!

I chose for recreation 'The girl with the pearl earring' as of the 3 displayed pieces it best demonstrated Vermeer's skill with colour and the contrast in his paintings.

First we stuck white paper to the wall. Then the two biggest sparrows (No.3 didn't want to play!)chose coloured scarves, just like pirates I was told, to cover their heads. Once the lamp was pointed at them we were able to trace the silhouettes. I pencil drew in a few details for them (eyes, lips mouth) and they created the masterpiece, aiming to show Vermeer's glowing use of colour. Gabe used acrylics and Jesse used oil pastels (my favourite).

The boys really concentrated on the pieces and once finished I mounted their portraits on black paper and added them to the Dining Room Gallery. Gabe's is in red, Jesses' is the orange. I was so pleased with the effort they put in and loved their finished paintings.

The Sparrows admiring the new additions, with Toran casting his discerning eye over them.

All the while, No.3, who didn't want to paint, was sorting dinosaurs :)

Outdoor Hour Challenge continued.....

So you will remember that the Sparrows had to choose something to take home/write about from their outdoor challenge...


Gabe presents 5 fascinating facts about Jackdaws inspired by Isleham church roost:

Five fascinating facts about Jackdaws!!!

1. Jackdaws are considered to be amongst the most intelligent birds in the world, consistently scoring high in intelligence tests. In fact a special part of their brain matches that of chimpanzees in relative size. Many country folk have raised them as pets.

2. Jackdaws are real scavengers, they eat almost anything …..young chicks, stolen eggs, berries, insects, grain, human food…. the list goes on!

3. Jackdaws mate for life- forever love!

4. Jackdaw families will often join together with crows and rooks to form giant roosts.

5. Jackdaws live on average 5 years in the wild, the oldest known (pet)Jackdaw lived for 19 years.

The above facts were researched by Gabe using websites he is familiar with and google search engine. He used RSPB.org, Brithish.wildlife.co.uk and the BBC nature site. Once he found a fact he thought worthy of the title 'fascinating' (and that's hugely subjective!) he came and explained it to me and I typed it up for him. Then he printed it out and stuck in our seasons diary along with a picture of a Jackdaw. So now you'll feel like you them a little better next time you see one...

60 minutes and a large box of lego......

And the sparrows can do this....

Ok....so sparrow number 3 may have had help with his! They learned from a master (not me!).

I love to see their creations. They demonstrate a wonderful blend of creativity and logic in all their designs infused with a hearty dose of imagination. Not long ago we had a Lego 'Creating Competetition'. I am ashamed to say (but a little proud also) that the wee ones blew me out of the water. Now I really can appreciate the effort that goes into producing their masterpieces.

Outdoor Hour Challenge 1....

The wind let up today and skies over Isleham were blue so we grabbed the chance to get out of the house.

I challenged the sparrows to find something interesting to take home or write about in their nature journals. Of course, they are old pro's now...


Searching for tigers...or hibernating ladybirds, whichever comes first! As it turned out they did indeed find a sleeping beauty. The field next door was home to sugarbeet until the November harvest, the adults and the larvea ladybugs love the insects that pest the crop so no surprise to us to find him fast asleep where we did.

The 'King Chair' a good spot for a look out.


Past 'Richards Farm Fresh Eggs' and round the corner and Toran spots the mushroom mountain that everybody else had missed. It was in a garden so we couldn't get a closer look to figure out what it is...

It was these though that Gabe liked the best:

Watching them lined up in the shade chattering like a group of schoolchildren.

And we were home in time for lunch with a friend.

Happy New Year from all the Sparrows....

This blog IS because everybody asks... and really it isn't an easy question to answer....
"Why and how do you homeschool?!"
I hope to journal a little of our life here because really home education is a way of living. Maybe after reading you will know a little more about the why and the how....Be blessed in the knowing.