Here's what we've been doing in the first half of this autumn term...
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| Enjoying the new trampoline (we put it up after the building work was all done) |
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| Trying out his new bed in the loft room |
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| New bed for Zachary too |
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| Zachary continues his schoolwork - maths, spellings and journal each day before breakfast |
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| In our Ancient Civilisation studies, we moved onto the Assyrians; this is a board game we created to demonstrate how war-like they were |
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| Dressing up and making hats for our China project |
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| Building our own great wall of China |
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| Turning the great wall into a ping pong net (ping pong is popular in China) |
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| Football club at Head Hub (one of the home ed groups we go to) |
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| Making bird feeders at Head Hub |
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| Hanging them up in the garden for the birds; they only seemed to like the Cheerios, not the seeds! |
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| Riding on the bikes at Hedge group (another home ed group) |
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| Adding Mentos to lemonade to create a big carbon dioxide explosion at Hedge |
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| Mixing bicarbonate of soda with vinegar and watching the reaction |
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| More fun play outside at Hedge |
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| A last ice cream at Orange Elephant parlour before it closes for the winter |
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| Exploring the maize maze hand in hand |
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| A visit to Knightshayes, a Victorian Country House |
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| Dressing up in the servants' quarters |
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| Looking smart |
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| Shaping butter in the kitchens |
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| We saw a huge newt in the pond here |
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| Enjoying the hot September weather by creating a water slide |
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| Re-enacting an Assyrian siege, using battering rams and siege towers (which were lined with iron to make them flame-proof) |
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| Colouring in Chinese Dragon pictures to make our lanterns |
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| Our finished Chinese lanterns |
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| Playing a Chinese fortune sticks game |
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| Making gingerbread cuneiform tablets at Head Hub |
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| Junk modelling at Head Hub |
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| Playing shopkeepers at Hedge group |
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| Using cabbage juice as an indicator for testing pH at Hedge group |
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| Properties of materials in Mystery Science - making a hat that is well suited to a desert island |
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| Exploring dens at Haldon Forest |
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| Enjoying the Zog walk at Haldon Forest, with our friend Noah |
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| Playing giant Jenga at Fab Club |
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| Making our own version of Assyrian cherubs |
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| Testing the insulating properties of materials by grabbing bottles of hot and cold water with different 'gloves' |
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| The Chinese pig dances to the Chinese music |
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| Chinese fans |
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| Kids in China like playing this game, called Round and Round, in which the blindfolded child is the spinner |
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| We made some Chinese Chicken Chow Mein for Daddy (and everyone) to try |
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| Preparing for our new country project on America |
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| Doing a British Isles jigsaw at Head Hub |
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| The tuff tray activity was picking up coloured pasta shapes with wooden tweezers |
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| We made some amazing coloured fish at Head Hub |
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| Naughty Tahlia spent ages setting up her dolls' tea party instead of going to sleep! |
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| Playing trains after Whipton toddler group |
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| Dressing as a pretty princess |
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| We didn't have the chance to do this diffusion experiment at Head Hub, so we did it at home (using skittles and water) |
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| Making the mixture to grow our own ruby crystals |
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| Making a volcano using plaster of Paris. Then we erupted it, using bicarb and vinegar through a tube |
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| Dressing up at Okehampton Museum. We were pleased to have Uncle Humphrey and Auntie Amanda visiting us from Florida, USA |
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| Building at Okehampton Museum |
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| Exploring the graveyard at the top of Brent Tor |
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| Having a rest at the top with Auncle Humphrey, Auntie Amanda, Auntie Marilla and Grandma Jeanette |
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| A family game of Rummikub |
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| It was Daddy's birthday, and he had lots of help opening his presents |
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| One of Daddy's favourite presents |
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| Playing with the trains at Darts Farm |
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| Visiting The Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter |
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| Setting up a little house and stables |
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| Zachary was excited to see a real cuneiform tablet at the museum |
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| Making a Roman mosaic |
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| Listening to a man talking |
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| Exeter Cathedral |
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| Playing some party games for Daddy's birthday |
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| Daddy's birthday treat meal: an indoor BBQ |
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| "Happy Birthday to you" |
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| Building the tallest tower (just before it collapses) at the House of Marbles |
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| Our friend Harrison is now joining us for our country projects; here, they are doing a flag hunt for USA state flags and checking them off the list |
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| Harrison's baby sister, Elizabeth |
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| Making our own American cornbread (which they all thought was delicious!) |
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| Making vegan chocolate mousse at Head Hub with Shireen |
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| Painting clumps of ice cubes to resemble gemstones |
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| Making greetings cards using acrylic paints and a salad spinner |
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| Spinning the card around to spread the paint |
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| Enjoying the chocolate mousse |
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| Building Lego houses at Bumble's house |
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| Jory built a very neat back garden with double slide (and a lift) |
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| Snuggle time! |
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| Tahlia built an ultimate Princess Castle with a car park for all her visitors; Jory added a public transport link |
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| Making chainmail as part of our Assyrians project. The Assyrians were the first people group to smelt their own iron; this gave them a huge advantage in Mesopotamia (Middle East) and helped them expand their empire. |
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| Making kadeh (sweet Assyrian pastry) |
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| Making chocolate peanut butter cookies as part of our USA project |
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| Squidging a peanut butter cup into each cookie |
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| Making an edible model of the heart at Head Hub |
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| Yum! |
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| A theatre workshop at Head Hub; the children then did a performance as characters from Toy Story |
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| French class at Head Hub |
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| Playing Snakes and Ladders at the World of Country Life, Exmouth |
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| Learning about magnets at Hedge group |
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| Using a magnetic ball to pick up some little counters |
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| Building a tower out of storage tubs. Unfortunately, they had to empty all the toys out first! |
We'll be carrying on as normal this half term, as Daddy is working, but we'll be looking forward to Grandma Jeanette and Grandad Harry visiting in early November (and, of course, Mummy's birthday!).
