On Thursday night, M was 'too tired to get to sleep' after the late nights and excitement of our trip to Ironbridge, and really did struggle to do so, so it's not surprising that we had a quiet day at home. K finished off her Blue Peter project and now just needs to write the letter to accompany it before we pack it up, send it in and keep our fingers crossed that it earns her a Blue Peter badge!
After a relaxed day on Friday, today was quite busy. K had her Grade 2 ballet exam this morning, which I took her to, and A had a bank appointment. M was very happy that A thought of asking our friend S, mum of her best friend J and A, if she would mind looking after her, as our usual babysitter wasn't around.
K was very relaxed about her exam, it just doesn't occur to her that it's something to be nervous about. Afterwards she told me that she thought it went okay, but that she had made one obvious mistake, when the music was slower than she'd expected and she went too fast.
Around midday I had a phone call from the library to say that if we were still interested, the event that we were on the reserve list for, had some cancellations. So after lunch, we went along to Gargling with Jelly with the poet, Brian Patten. By the end of the first couple of poems, which were about annoying siblings, and involved a brother with strange dietary habits who ate, among other things, a tortoise and the postman and a sister who microwaved a pet, K was sitting with her fingers in her ears. Despite the fact that they were clearly over the top and not meant in the slightest bit seriously, she was quite upset by them, so she left and went to read a book in another part of the library where she couldn't hear anything. M & I stayed and for the most part enjoyed it.
Saturday, 30 November 2013
Our first residential home ed trip - part 4.
The final day of our first, but certainly not our last, residential home ed trip, started unsurprisingly with packing. In addition to the tiredness, another reason I had been keen to have K & M back in with me, was to try to ensure that we had all our things in one place to make packing as easy as possible. As it turned out I found a pair of M's socks, K's slippers and a wolf hat/scarf in friends' room, but I haven't found anything missing since we arrived home, so I think it was a good idea.
K, M & I had visited all but one of the museums that are open at this time of year, so before returning to Blists Hill, we paid a quick visit to Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron. It was a bit too quick really, but we can always go back again with our annual passes.
We moved on to Blists Hill Victorian Town, where we met up with E, C, L & J at the candle dipping workshop and spent the rest of the day there with them and other friends for part of the time.
The candle dipping was very clever. The children started with a plain white candle, with three containers of melted wax in front of them; red, blue and yellow. Then under instruction they dipped the candles into the hot wax and the bucket of cold water next to them to produce rainbow candles, a couple of the boys chose to do green candles of varying shades.
After candle dipping we visited lots of different shops, businesses and homes. Including the chandler, where we saw how they would have made the candles from scratch. The 'nodding donkey' was an ingenious machine, that allowed several dozen candles to be dipped at once, but was also a balance scale that 'nodded' when the candles were finished after 25-30 dips.
We went in the drapers, where I bought some hessian with the plan of doing some rag rugging and the lady in the wood turners, very kindly cut up and sharpened a wooden clothes peg for the purpose for a few of us. Although the original plan had been to make a rug, a visit to the doctor's cottage changed that.
So now the plan is to make our own rag rug Christmas wreaths too. K & M spent some of their money, which we had changed at the bank into Victorian money at the exchange rate of 10p to the farthing, in the Post Office. They each bought themselves a quill pen for the price of 10d.
Upstairs we had a look at the little Post Office museum and were very impressed with this cycle.
We also had a look at the school, a couple of different cottages, as well as the plumbers and the blacksmith, as well as buying some rolls and flapjack from the baker for our lunch.
We took a trip into the clay mine on a little train and learned about the children who worked down the mine and the dangers for the workers such as blackdamp, which snuffed out lives as well as candles.
We left Blists Hill at about half past three for one last very quick visit to Enginuity, mainly so that I could spend money buying various Christmas presents in the gift shop, before heading home.
We all had a fantastic time and K & M have been asking about keeping in touch with various new friends as well as having enjoyed spending lots of time with old ones. Thank you very much KL for organising it!
K, M & I had visited all but one of the museums that are open at this time of year, so before returning to Blists Hill, we paid a quick visit to Coalbrookdale Museum of Iron. It was a bit too quick really, but we can always go back again with our annual passes.
We moved on to Blists Hill Victorian Town, where we met up with E, C, L & J at the candle dipping workshop and spent the rest of the day there with them and other friends for part of the time.
The candle dipping was very clever. The children started with a plain white candle, with three containers of melted wax in front of them; red, blue and yellow. Then under instruction they dipped the candles into the hot wax and the bucket of cold water next to them to produce rainbow candles, a couple of the boys chose to do green candles of varying shades.
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| K candle dipping. |
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| And M's turn. |
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| The end result. |
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| The chandler and his nodding donkey. |
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| A rag rug wreath in progress. |
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| And a finished one! |
Upstairs we had a look at the little Post Office museum and were very impressed with this cycle.
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We also had a look at the school, a couple of different cottages, as well as the plumbers and the blacksmith, as well as buying some rolls and flapjack from the baker for our lunch.
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| The blacksmith at work. |
We took a trip into the clay mine on a little train and learned about the children who worked down the mine and the dangers for the workers such as blackdamp, which snuffed out lives as well as candles.
We left Blists Hill at about half past three for one last very quick visit to Enginuity, mainly so that I could spend money buying various Christmas presents in the gift shop, before heading home.
We all had a fantastic time and K & M have been asking about keeping in touch with various new friends as well as having enjoyed spending lots of time with old ones. Thank you very much KL for organising it!
Our first residential home ed trip - part 3.
On Wednesday we went to the Jackfield Tile Museum. Fortuitously we happened to arrive in time for the guided tour of the factory, which at this time of year is only once a week. We were shown round the factory, which was quite interesting.
After looking round the factory, we went into the museum, which in the first section told the story of the village of Jackfield, where the factory was situated. There was an incredible new video clip of the awful destruction caused by the abandonned clay mines, which was flooded. The subsidence caused as a result was in the order of a foot every two days and it is still a problem in the area, despite works to try to prevent it.
Upstairs there were many, many tiles to look at!
K was particularly taken with two of the Shakespeare scenes that were there.
For the afternoon we moved on to the Coalport China Museum. The children enjoyed doing the trail, answering questions around the place, finishing by finding the bear that the clue pointed towards.
K got rather frustrated, as she wanted to do the trail without any help, but didn't want to get left behind on her own. Since M did want help and consequently managed rather faster than K and rushed on ahead. The tiredness caused by two very late nights certainly didn't help either.
After looking round the museum, we returned to watch the glassblowers, who had been on their lunch break when we first came to their workshop. It was fascinating.
Seeing all the stages it takes to get to the finished product, not to mention the fact that gold leaf was involved, it's not surprising that the beautiful vase is so expensive.
Then we returned to the watch a woman making clay flowers - very clever!
Finally we finished off with some painting.
M & I painted mugs, which we had to leave there to be fired before posted on to us, while K chose a money box, which she could take home with her.
After finishing our painting, it was a bit of a rush to get to the bus stop to drop A off to get the bus to Telford, to get the train home. He had a meeting in London on the Thursday and was then going straight to Brussels for another one on Friday. As it turned out we needn't have hurried because the bus was 15 minutes late, but not so late that he missed his train fortunately.
The girls and I then joined most of the rest of the folks in having fish 'n' chips for tea. Later on, K & M joined in a game of Uno with the French children, the fact that some of them speak little or none of the others' language not seemed to pose a problem at all. This was followed by a game of Carcassonne, with a mixture of seasoned veterans (K & M), novices and absolute beginners. I think everyone enjoyed it though, and given that at least one of the beginners has since bought their own game, I think it's fair to say that it worked well!
After a fair amount of stropping from M on the Tuesday and a really rather tearful K at the China museum on theWednesday, due, I'm pretty confident, in no small part to overtiredness, I insisted on K & M sleeping in with me for the final night. They did protest somewhat and hardly had an early night, but I think it was a good idea, so that we could make the most of the final day of our trip.
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| Most tiles are pressed from a powder. |
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| More shaped ones are made from liquid poured into moulds. |
Upstairs there were many, many tiles to look at!
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| Some individual examples. |
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| As You Like It |
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| A Midsummer Night's Dream |
For the afternoon we moved on to the Coalport China Museum. The children enjoyed doing the trail, answering questions around the place, finishing by finding the bear that the clue pointed towards.
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| The bear! |
K got rather frustrated, as she wanted to do the trail without any help, but didn't want to get left behind on her own. Since M did want help and consequently managed rather faster than K and rushed on ahead. The tiredness caused by two very late nights certainly didn't help either.
After looking round the museum, we returned to watch the glassblowers, who had been on their lunch break when we first came to their workshop. It was fascinating.
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Then we returned to the watch a woman making clay flowers - very clever!
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| Making a daffodil. |
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| The result! |
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| And some more that she'd made earlier. |
Finally we finished off with some painting.
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| Concentration! |
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| And from K too. |
M & I painted mugs, which we had to leave there to be fired before posted on to us, while K chose a money box, which she could take home with her.
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| K's cat, Peggy. |
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| M's mug with Christopher on it (3 times). |
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| And my mug, back... |
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| ...and front. |
The girls and I then joined most of the rest of the folks in having fish 'n' chips for tea. Later on, K & M joined in a game of Uno with the French children, the fact that some of them speak little or none of the others' language not seemed to pose a problem at all. This was followed by a game of Carcassonne, with a mixture of seasoned veterans (K & M), novices and absolute beginners. I think everyone enjoyed it though, and given that at least one of the beginners has since bought their own game, I think it's fair to say that it worked well!
After a fair amount of stropping from M on the Tuesday and a really rather tearful K at the China museum on theWednesday, due, I'm pretty confident, in no small part to overtiredness, I insisted on K & M sleeping in with me for the final night. They did protest somewhat and hardly had an early night, but I think it was a good idea, so that we could make the most of the final day of our trip.
Friday, 29 November 2013
Our first residential home ed trip - part 2.
On Tuesday, we didn't get going particularly early, unsurprisingly, but since the museums open at 10am and none were more than 10 minutes drive away this didn't really matter. We walked down with 4 other families to the Museum of the Gorge, where we looked at the 12 metre long model of the Gorge as it would have been in 1796.
After having a look around the museum, we then all watched the video presentation before K, M, A & I left the others, rather reluctantly on the part of K & M, to have a look at the bridge as it is today, before heading back to the hostel for the car.
We then met up with my second cousin for lunch. Last time we met was almost 3 decades ago, which he has no recollection of, but I recall quite clearly as I ended up in A&E getting gravel scrubbed out of my knee! We had a lovely lunch together, chatting and playing Shake Spell, before he headed back to work and we headed for our third museum, the one that K & M had been most looking forward to, Blists Hill Victorian Town. A couple of weeks before our trip, K & M had asked if I would make them Victorian outfits for them to wear here and had been rather put out when I had said no, with a couple of rather busy weeks leading up to our visit, but when it came to it I don't think they'd remembered that they'd wanted to dress up. We had a couple of hours here, visiting various shops and cottages, including the druggist, the Post Office, the sweet shop, the photographer's, the chandler, the wood turner (who was also the undertaker), the doctor's surgery and cottage and the bank, but there was plenty more to see when we returned on the last morning of our trip. As Blists Hill closes at 4pm and Enginuity doesn't close until 5 o'clock, we returned there, to show A, for the last 45 minutes or so, before a quick trip to the supermarket to get something for tea and then heading back to the youth hostel.
That evening, having played Shake Spell with F, between the first museum and lunch, I got it out to show A, F's mum and quite a few of the adults ended up having a play, which was quite fun. K & M again had a sleepover, this time with 6 of them in the room for 2! A & I nearly had our own sleepover with L (who is French), who asked if she could come and sleep in our room and that her mum, Au, had said it was okay, and when I told her that K & M wouldn't be there, she told me that it was me she wanted to share with because I speak French. Au and her children, N, L & T used to live in Nottingham, but are now in Liverpool, so it was really lovely to catch up with them. I am particularly fond of L, since Au told me she asked her why I have English children, when I'm French, after I talked with her in French at a mutual friend's birthday party!
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| Looking up the Gorge. |
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| The Iron bridge in 1796. |
After having a look around the museum, we then all watched the video presentation before K, M, A & I left the others, rather reluctantly on the part of K & M, to have a look at the bridge as it is today, before heading back to the hostel for the car.
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| The bridge in 2013. |
That evening, having played Shake Spell with F, between the first museum and lunch, I got it out to show A, F's mum and quite a few of the adults ended up having a play, which was quite fun. K & M again had a sleepover, this time with 6 of them in the room for 2! A & I nearly had our own sleepover with L (who is French), who asked if she could come and sleep in our room and that her mum, Au, had said it was okay, and when I told her that K & M wouldn't be there, she told me that it was me she wanted to share with because I speak French. Au and her children, N, L & T used to live in Nottingham, but are now in Liverpool, so it was really lovely to catch up with them. I am particularly fond of L, since Au told me she asked her why I have English children, when I'm French, after I talked with her in French at a mutual friend's birthday party!
Our first residential home ed trip - part 1.
On Monday, after the usual (on my part) stresses of last minute packing and making sure we had everything we needed, K, M & I set off, aided by Emily (our satnav), for Ironbridge. My Mum has been saying that it's somewhere we must visit for ages, so when the lovely KL organised a trip, I jumped at the chance to take part. I also discovered that my second cousin, who I last saw when we were both 10 (so almost 3 decades ago) has fairly recently become the senior curator there, so having got contact details of his mum from mine (they're first cousins) I got in touch and we arranged to meet up while we were there.
We were staying, along with over a dozen other HE families, for three nights at the (group bookings only) Coalbrookdale Youth Hostel. As we couldn't check in until about 4pm, we and E, C, L & J had agreed to meet up at one of the 10 Ironbridge Museums, Enginuity. We bought annual passes for all 10 museums for K and A & me, saving £1.75 because it was cheaper doing that than a family pass for 2 adults plus children, as M's Blue Peter badge got her in free! We were all impressed with our the first of the museums. Everything there has a hands-on element and all five children, aged nearly 6 to 10, were engaged the whole time we were there.
At various points we all had a go at fitting 3d shapes together into cubes with varying degrees of success, but both the children and both mummies spent a considerable amount of time concentrating on this particular activity.
There were various 2d puzzles too, including this brilliant Pythagoras puzzle, which K & M looked at with me and we also talked briefly about 3, 4, 5 right-angled triangles and K worked out that it does indeed work, since (3x3)+(4x4) does indeed = 5x5.
The thing that all 5 children spent most time on was the water area, which had various dams and an Archimedes screw among other things.
After about three and a half hours in Enginuity, we managed to tear the children away (mainly because it wasn't going to be open for much longer anyway) and headed to the youth hostel. After settling in the children disappeared enjoying time making new friends and spending time with old ones. A joined us, having got the train and bus from a meeting in London. After some debate, we agreed that K & M could have a sleepover, which ended up with 5 girls squashed into a room with one set of bunk beds plus a mattress on the floor. I'm sure they had fun, but not so sure how much sleep they had!
We were staying, along with over a dozen other HE families, for three nights at the (group bookings only) Coalbrookdale Youth Hostel. As we couldn't check in until about 4pm, we and E, C, L & J had agreed to meet up at one of the 10 Ironbridge Museums, Enginuity. We bought annual passes for all 10 museums for K and A & me, saving £1.75 because it was cheaper doing that than a family pass for 2 adults plus children, as M's Blue Peter badge got her in free! We were all impressed with our the first of the museums. Everything there has a hands-on element and all five children, aged nearly 6 to 10, were engaged the whole time we were there.
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| M about to test her structure for resistance to earthquakes. |
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| Using struts to strengthen a structure. |
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| K, C, L & J moving little balls round using various mechanical means. |
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| C & M concentrating hard. |
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| M still going and E trying hard. |
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| Success! |
There were various 2d puzzles too, including this brilliant Pythagoras puzzle, which K & M looked at with me and we also talked briefly about 3, 4, 5 right-angled triangles and K worked out that it does indeed work, since (3x3)+(4x4) does indeed = 5x5.
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| The square on the hypotenuse.... |
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| ...is equal to the sum of the squares on the other two sides! |
After about three and a half hours in Enginuity, we managed to tear the children away (mainly because it wasn't going to be open for much longer anyway) and headed to the youth hostel. After settling in the children disappeared enjoying time making new friends and spending time with old ones. A joined us, having got the train and bus from a meeting in London. After some debate, we agreed that K & M could have a sleepover, which ended up with 5 girls squashed into a room with one set of bunk beds plus a mattress on the floor. I'm sure they had fun, but not so sure how much sleep they had!
Friday, 22 November 2013
Cracking on with the list and talking about 'stranger danger'.
We managed to cross off quite a few more things on our list today, including plenty more hugging. This morning we started a game of Monopoly which all went well until we continued after lunch, when M got upset at having to break into her last £500 note and had something of a strop. It wasn't so much that she minded losing in the end, but she really was not happy at having to give up her favourite property. Still, we did plenty of maths while we were playing and by the end all was well again.
Apart from Monopoly, I managed to make the Christmas cakes (ours and a little one for my brother) and we got household jobs done and some tidying, although that one is a never-ending task, alas!
K had her ballet lesson at 5 o'clock. During the lighter evenings, she has been walking to and from ballet on her own and indeed when I first suggested she could walk home on her own in the spring she was very keen on the idea. Now though, she would rather be taken and picked up although doesn't mind walking on her own, it's generally not a problem to pick her up though and now it's dark I prefer to anyway. Today, due to timing of cooking, I knew it was going to be tight, so having dropped her off I said that I would try to be there to pick her up but to start walking home if I wasn't. Ballet usually is at least 5 minutes late finishing and I was just arriving at shortly after 10 past, when I walked in to find one of the two teachers about to phone me, to ask if was alright for her to drop K home, as a 'strange man' (as in nobody knew him) had been seen hanging around outside and she hadn't wanted to let K go on her own. As a result of this, it seemed like the ideal time to talk about what to do in a situation where she was approached by a stranger. I asked her what she would so if a stranger started talking to her when she was on her own and she didn't feel comfortable and she said she would ask them to leave her alone. I said I thought that was a good idea and asked what about if they continued and K said she wasn't sure, so I suggested if it was, for example, when leaving ballet, she should quickly return to where she knew a grown up and ask them to phone me (she knows my mobile number by heart). We also agreed that going somewhere light, with plenty of people and/or asking either an adult she knew (such as one of the ladies who work in the Co-op, who we see regularly) or a mummy with children for help was a good idea. I also told her if anyone touched her or tried to get her to go somewhere with them, then it was absolutely fine for her to scream, yell, kick, hit, punch, bite or anything else she thought was necessary to get help or to run away. She giggled a bit at this and said that she thought she would enjoy that! I did point out that she might feel rather scared, which probably wouldn't be such fun and that the violence was a means to escape and that given the choice of another punch on the nose or running, she should choose running, and on reflection she took my point. We did also agree that the likelihood of needing to use any of these strategies was very small.
M was feeling rather grotty this evening, to the point that she was in bed about an hour and a half earlier than usual, asking for a chapter of Pied Piper (which was also on our list). It was a rather upsetting chapter, with German planes bombing and strafing a road with fleeing French civilians during the invasion of France in the early part of the war. Although there were no graphic descriptions at all, it was interesting that K, who has a very vivid imagination, asked why the author had to describe it so much, but when I pointed out that there was very little of that, she did agree. Although they were clearly uncomfortable, neither K nor M wanted me to stop reading the book, which I don't think would have been the case a year ago. K did express a desire for something not about war for our next book though.
Apart from Monopoly, I managed to make the Christmas cakes (ours and a little one for my brother) and we got household jobs done and some tidying, although that one is a never-ending task, alas!
K had her ballet lesson at 5 o'clock. During the lighter evenings, she has been walking to and from ballet on her own and indeed when I first suggested she could walk home on her own in the spring she was very keen on the idea. Now though, she would rather be taken and picked up although doesn't mind walking on her own, it's generally not a problem to pick her up though and now it's dark I prefer to anyway. Today, due to timing of cooking, I knew it was going to be tight, so having dropped her off I said that I would try to be there to pick her up but to start walking home if I wasn't. Ballet usually is at least 5 minutes late finishing and I was just arriving at shortly after 10 past, when I walked in to find one of the two teachers about to phone me, to ask if was alright for her to drop K home, as a 'strange man' (as in nobody knew him) had been seen hanging around outside and she hadn't wanted to let K go on her own. As a result of this, it seemed like the ideal time to talk about what to do in a situation where she was approached by a stranger. I asked her what she would so if a stranger started talking to her when she was on her own and she didn't feel comfortable and she said she would ask them to leave her alone. I said I thought that was a good idea and asked what about if they continued and K said she wasn't sure, so I suggested if it was, for example, when leaving ballet, she should quickly return to where she knew a grown up and ask them to phone me (she knows my mobile number by heart). We also agreed that going somewhere light, with plenty of people and/or asking either an adult she knew (such as one of the ladies who work in the Co-op, who we see regularly) or a mummy with children for help was a good idea. I also told her if anyone touched her or tried to get her to go somewhere with them, then it was absolutely fine for her to scream, yell, kick, hit, punch, bite or anything else she thought was necessary to get help or to run away. She giggled a bit at this and said that she thought she would enjoy that! I did point out that she might feel rather scared, which probably wouldn't be such fun and that the violence was a means to escape and that given the choice of another punch on the nose or running, she should choose running, and on reflection she took my point. We did also agree that the likelihood of needing to use any of these strategies was very small.
M was feeling rather grotty this evening, to the point that she was in bed about an hour and a half earlier than usual, asking for a chapter of Pied Piper (which was also on our list). It was a rather upsetting chapter, with German planes bombing and strafing a road with fleeing French civilians during the invasion of France in the early part of the war. Although there were no graphic descriptions at all, it was interesting that K, who has a very vivid imagination, asked why the author had to describe it so much, but when I pointed out that there was very little of that, she did agree. Although they were clearly uncomfortable, neither K nor M wanted me to stop reading the book, which I don't think would have been the case a year ago. K did express a desire for something not about war for our next book though.
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Some little ups and downs.
We didn't have the ideal start to the day, as I was woken by K & M arguing loudly and physically fighting on the stairs. However after a short time apart, they were soon getting on fine and happily comparing their various bruises and marks they'd previously inflicted on each other! So having moved on from that, we made a list of the things that we wanted or needed to get done over the two free days we have today and tomorrow, as the only thing on the calendar is K's ballet lesson tomorrow. Under instruction I added 'hugs' to the list and M proceeded to add 'more hugs' five times.
We did manage some of the things on the list, I've made the Christmas mincemeat, for example and we have done plenty of hugging, as well as going to the library and doing the bit of shopping we needed. We also did something that wasn't on the list, we had a go with a game that K received for her birthday for the first time; Shake Spell. It's really rather good and the perfect size to fit in your handbag if you need something to do in a waiting room for example.
We did manage some of the things on the list, I've made the Christmas mincemeat, for example and we have done plenty of hugging, as well as going to the library and doing the bit of shopping we needed. We also did something that wasn't on the list, we had a go with a game that K received for her birthday for the first time; Shake Spell. It's really rather good and the perfect size to fit in your handbag if you need something to do in a waiting room for example.
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Psychology and advertising.
After a very slow start this morning, we left the house at just before 12.30pm and didn't get home until nearly 7 o'clock, all three of us rather worn out.
This afternoon we went to Nottingham University for the first of two visits for each of the girls to take part in a research project about concentration at the School of Psychology. We've been there on a number of occasions in the past, although most recently it's only been K taking part, M being outside of the desired age range and consequently extremely put out at not being allowed to join in. K was happy to let M go first and have her turn in a couple of weeks' time when we return. So while M disappeared with the researchers, K & I had a little room to ourselves and got out the games we'd brought with us. We played The Game of Life and Phase 10 and K did some colouring from one of the books that were there. I had a look at a poster about the history of experimental psychology that was on the wall and pointed out to K that it mentioned the Stroop Effect, something we've come across previously, when finding out about the senses if I recall correctly. We got on to the topic of advertising and spent quite a long time talking about this. It was mostly me talking, but K, who was colouring at the time, was clearly interested, as she kept prompting me to continue. So when K said that she wouldn't buy something that has an annoying advert, I told her that advertising has two main aims, selling the product being one, but making people aware of the brand being the other and annoying adverts that get stuck in your head are very good at the latter. We also talked about adverts 'selling a lifestyle' or creating a desire or need for a product, before giving the idea that you 'need' their product in order to have fulfil that desire or need or attain that lifestyle. Using the example of a particular formula advert, I explained about how language is very important. The advert in question talks about 'moving on' from breastfeeding, as opposed to 'giving up' or 'stopping' because that makes it sound like a positive choice rather than a negative one, it also makes it sound as though that's the normal thing to do. The same advert has a breastfeeding mother in a gloomy room in winter when it talks about breastfeeding being the best start, then the room becomes bright and sunny when the picture changes to the mother, now having 'moved on', bottlefeeding in spring.
We continued the conversation in the car on the way home, talking about how adverts for children are targeting two very different groups of people, the children and the parents, and how they might try to do this and why. Parents are generally the ones who buy the products in question, but it's often because the children have been persuaded to ask or indeed pester their parents to make the purchase. K in particular is very keen to find out more about advertising, so we'll have a look at some links I've found tomorrow and watch some television adverts and find some print ones to compare and analyse.
M seemed very happy with what she'd been up to, which from what she's told me, was various games, mostly on the computer with a load of sensors on a sort of hairnet on her head for most of the time. I wasn't allowed to take a photo of her, which is a shame!
Having left the university, having had the foresight to take ballet and swimming things with us just in case we didn't have time to come home first, we went straight to take K to ballet, then M to swimming, then I dashed back to pick K up and then back again to get M before we all came home together for tea! That's the last time we'll have to do that fortunately, as it's K's ballet exam a week on Saturday and we can't make it next Wednesday, so it'll just be her usual lesson on Friday next week.
This afternoon we went to Nottingham University for the first of two visits for each of the girls to take part in a research project about concentration at the School of Psychology. We've been there on a number of occasions in the past, although most recently it's only been K taking part, M being outside of the desired age range and consequently extremely put out at not being allowed to join in. K was happy to let M go first and have her turn in a couple of weeks' time when we return. So while M disappeared with the researchers, K & I had a little room to ourselves and got out the games we'd brought with us. We played The Game of Life and Phase 10 and K did some colouring from one of the books that were there. I had a look at a poster about the history of experimental psychology that was on the wall and pointed out to K that it mentioned the Stroop Effect, something we've come across previously, when finding out about the senses if I recall correctly. We got on to the topic of advertising and spent quite a long time talking about this. It was mostly me talking, but K, who was colouring at the time, was clearly interested, as she kept prompting me to continue. So when K said that she wouldn't buy something that has an annoying advert, I told her that advertising has two main aims, selling the product being one, but making people aware of the brand being the other and annoying adverts that get stuck in your head are very good at the latter. We also talked about adverts 'selling a lifestyle' or creating a desire or need for a product, before giving the idea that you 'need' their product in order to have fulfil that desire or need or attain that lifestyle. Using the example of a particular formula advert, I explained about how language is very important. The advert in question talks about 'moving on' from breastfeeding, as opposed to 'giving up' or 'stopping' because that makes it sound like a positive choice rather than a negative one, it also makes it sound as though that's the normal thing to do. The same advert has a breastfeeding mother in a gloomy room in winter when it talks about breastfeeding being the best start, then the room becomes bright and sunny when the picture changes to the mother, now having 'moved on', bottlefeeding in spring.
We continued the conversation in the car on the way home, talking about how adverts for children are targeting two very different groups of people, the children and the parents, and how they might try to do this and why. Parents are generally the ones who buy the products in question, but it's often because the children have been persuaded to ask or indeed pester their parents to make the purchase. K in particular is very keen to find out more about advertising, so we'll have a look at some links I've found tomorrow and watch some television adverts and find some print ones to compare and analyse.
M seemed very happy with what she'd been up to, which from what she's told me, was various games, mostly on the computer with a load of sensors on a sort of hairnet on her head for most of the time. I wasn't allowed to take a photo of her, which is a shame!
Having left the university, having had the foresight to take ballet and swimming things with us just in case we didn't have time to come home first, we went straight to take K to ballet, then M to swimming, then I dashed back to pick K up and then back again to get M before we all came home together for tea! That's the last time we'll have to do that fortunately, as it's K's ballet exam a week on Saturday and we can't make it next Wednesday, so it'll just be her usual lesson on Friday next week.
Monday, 18 November 2013
Some information to digest.
This morning K & M played several rounds of The Game of Life (the original edition). They told me that they played 'their version', which I don't think differs wildly from the standard rules, but does mean that they are quite likely to run out of money to use apparently.
This weekend K & I had talked about continuing with our body project and she had expressed interest in doing so. I'd asked if there was anything in particular she wanted to find out about, suggesting the digestive system or the reproductive system as two possibilities and she had said digestion. So I did a bit of planning and preparation, which involved finding a website we'd used before when we were looking at the skeleton and asking on a great Facebook group for any other suggestions, which was a very good idea!
First we watched The Magic School Bus - Digestive System feature, which K & M both absolutely loved and when we'd worked our way through the other links that had been suggested went back to watch it and a few more episodes.
We also watched this computer generated 3D animation of a trip through the digestive system, which K & M were a bit wary of initially but we all found it rather fascinating!
We worked our way through this Children's University of Manchester page and then did pretty well with the quiz at the end of it. We will definitely come back to this site, it looks like a really good resource.
Although this BBC Bitesize link is GCSE level, K & M found it pretty straightforward to understand.
We had a look at this site, but it was definitely well beyond an 8 & 10 year old!
After watching the various videos K & M had a go at labelling this diagram and did pretty well getting 12 out of 15 on their first attempt, particularly considering we hadn't seen mention of the epiglottis up until that point. They got full marks between them on the second attempt.
Finally we returned to this website that we'd used previously when we were finding out about the skeleton. We went through the guided tour, zoomed in on the various organs of the digestive system and then each had a go at organising our organs.
I think that was a fairly comprehensive trip through the digestive system! We're planning on getting our non-fiction books out to see if there's anything else we can find out about it later on this week. We also had a slight detour to find out the current thinking on the purpose of the appendix.
This weekend K & I had talked about continuing with our body project and she had expressed interest in doing so. I'd asked if there was anything in particular she wanted to find out about, suggesting the digestive system or the reproductive system as two possibilities and she had said digestion. So I did a bit of planning and preparation, which involved finding a website we'd used before when we were looking at the skeleton and asking on a great Facebook group for any other suggestions, which was a very good idea!
First we watched The Magic School Bus - Digestive System feature, which K & M both absolutely loved and when we'd worked our way through the other links that had been suggested went back to watch it and a few more episodes.
We also watched this computer generated 3D animation of a trip through the digestive system, which K & M were a bit wary of initially but we all found it rather fascinating!
We worked our way through this Children's University of Manchester page and then did pretty well with the quiz at the end of it. We will definitely come back to this site, it looks like a really good resource.
Although this BBC Bitesize link is GCSE level, K & M found it pretty straightforward to understand.
We had a look at this site, but it was definitely well beyond an 8 & 10 year old!
After watching the various videos K & M had a go at labelling this diagram and did pretty well getting 12 out of 15 on their first attempt, particularly considering we hadn't seen mention of the epiglottis up until that point. They got full marks between them on the second attempt.
Finally we returned to this website that we'd used previously when we were finding out about the skeleton. We went through the guided tour, zoomed in on the various organs of the digestive system and then each had a go at organising our organs.
I think that was a fairly comprehensive trip through the digestive system! We're planning on getting our non-fiction books out to see if there's anything else we can find out about it later on this week. We also had a slight detour to find out the current thinking on the purpose of the appendix.
Friday, 15 November 2013
Money and making.
This morning K & M were busy in the playroom and I clearly wasn't wanted there, so I baked a cake. K & M later appeared with some work they'd produced. M had been painting another of the giraffe reflection pictures that she had seen on Mister Maker and had a go at before and had sent to Uncle S & Auntie P.
K had found something she wanted to try in a spirograph activity book she had been given a while back. She explained that she had initially tried it with wax crayons, as per the instructions in the book, but that it hadn't worked very well, so she tried again this time using oil pastel crayons with better results.
She coloured patches of lots of different colours and then covered it all with black before using the spirograph to take off the top layer revealing the colour beneath. She was quite pleased with the effect, but might have another go to try to make it more colourful.
M used the same technique but did a scribble on top rather than using the spirograph.
This afternoon K & M were looking on ebay at playmobil and lego advent calendars. They had seen some in our local toyshop but they are rather expensive and not something that I would pay for, so the girls decided to see if they could find a more affordable one and share the cost. While they were doing this, from another room, I heard a rather intriguing conversation. I asked K about it later, when I took her to ballet and she explained that M has a 'savings account' with K. This is to help M save up for some lego that she wants, K keeps some of her money and when she gives it back to her, she gives M some interest! I'm not sure about the interest rates, nor how long M has to leave her money in the bank of K to get any interest, nor indeed if there's anything in it for K, other than helping her sister save up, but it was interesting!
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| Very effective! |
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M used the same technique but did a scribble on top rather than using the spirograph.
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This afternoon K & M were looking on ebay at playmobil and lego advent calendars. They had seen some in our local toyshop but they are rather expensive and not something that I would pay for, so the girls decided to see if they could find a more affordable one and share the cost. While they were doing this, from another room, I heard a rather intriguing conversation. I asked K about it later, when I took her to ballet and she explained that M has a 'savings account' with K. This is to help M save up for some lego that she wants, K keeps some of her money and when she gives it back to her, she gives M some interest! I'm not sure about the interest rates, nor how long M has to leave her money in the bank of K to get any interest, nor indeed if there's anything in it for K, other than helping her sister save up, but it was interesting!
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Rushing around.
Yesterday, after a fairly relaxed morning, we went out to the library and to buy a birthday present for a friend and got home to find that my mobile phone had arrived back from being fixed. It was only when I opened it, replaced the sim card and turned it on, to find a very recently send text that we realised that we'd completely forgotten that it was ice-skating! So we bolted our already started lunch, dashed to the bus stop and managed to make it there for the last half an hour on the ice.
Then, a fairly short time later, we had the rushing around that we already knew was going to happen, with dropping K at ballet for an extra lesson because of her up-coming exam, then taking M to swimming (which K usually goes to as well) and leaving her there to come back and pick K up, before dashing back to collect M. It all went pretty smoothly, but I'm very glad we don't have this on a regular basis, just once more next week and then it's back to normal with both of them in the same swimming lesson and ballet just on Friday.
Today we were invited to L's birthday treat, a day out at Twinlakes Family Theme Park. It's somewhere friends have recommended on various occasions, but we'd never got around to going. We had a lovely time, both in the big indoor areas and outdoors too. We all had a go on the obstacle course which caused much hilarity and the three mums had great fun on the zip wires, while the 7 children when on to play elsewhere with P, the birthday boy's dad who had managed to finish work early to join us.
Then, a fairly short time later, we had the rushing around that we already knew was going to happen, with dropping K at ballet for an extra lesson because of her up-coming exam, then taking M to swimming (which K usually goes to as well) and leaving her there to come back and pick K up, before dashing back to collect M. It all went pretty smoothly, but I'm very glad we don't have this on a regular basis, just once more next week and then it's back to normal with both of them in the same swimming lesson and ballet just on Friday.
Today we were invited to L's birthday treat, a day out at Twinlakes Family Theme Park. It's somewhere friends have recommended on various occasions, but we'd never got around to going. We had a lovely time, both in the big indoor areas and outdoors too. We all had a go on the obstacle course which caused much hilarity and the three mums had great fun on the zip wires, while the 7 children when on to play elsewhere with P, the birthday boy's dad who had managed to finish work early to join us.
Tuesday, 12 November 2013
A weekend away, a couple of evenings out, a birthday and more.
Having waved goodbye to Granny at the station in Birmingham on the way to Thinktank on Thursday, on Saturday we were off to visit her and Big Grandad, having planned this trip a while ago. It was mainly as a getaway for A's birthday which was on Monday, even though he took his laptop and did some work while we were there! It did mean though that he and I were able to pop out for a drink - a rare treat! - on Saturday evening with my little brother, aka Uncle M and again on Sunday this time with my Dad.
On Sunday we went up to see Great Grandma in the morning and we also popped round to see Great Grandad, late afternoon. The latter is usually something of a trial, as he is generally very hard work as conversation is like getting blood out of a stone. This time however, he was almost chatty and then we found common ground when we mentioned Strictly Come Dancing!
On Monday, having packed up, we left in the morning and headed to Stratford-on-Avon to visit Shakespeare's Birthplace, one of our favourite places to visit. We needed to replace our annual pass, so M was wearing her Blue Peter badge, as it's one of the many, many places you can get into for free if you have one. It wasn't clear from the Blue Peter website, but it does include all of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust properties, which is a very good thing, slightly disappointing was that a family ticket was 40p cheaper than two adults and one child, so it didn't save us any money on this occasion. I'm hoping very much that K will have managed to earn herself a badge by the time we need to cough up again in a year or so's time! We had lovely chats with a couple of the actors who we have spent time with previously, both of whom were very impressed by M's badge.
From there we went straight to Asfordby for the regular twice monthly group we go to, which was a board game and crafty theme. We had taken a few games with us to share and we had a go at some others. K & M both made various things out of beads and pipe-cleaners, which became part of a new game they played with various friends. It sounded rather complicated, with elves, fire-fairies, kings and queens and baddies trying to steal 'bloodstones' which allowed entry into different worlds. It all seemed to make perfect sense to them though.
A & I had a go at Othello, which we had both played before but not for an awfully long time. It was a close game, but I won! I saw M playing Blokus duo with her friend Z, that we'd taken along. A couple of families had a go at Destination Hogwarts, another game we'd taken with us and A & I introduced E, the friend who organises the group, to Carcassonne. We also offered to let her borrow it, which she eagerly accepted, but then we accidentally brought it home with us, so we'll take it when we see her later in the week. The final game that we, A, M & I had a go at, with Z, was Zoo Am I?, which was fun.
By the time we'd got home, given A his birthday cards and presents and the girls had had something to eat it was time for Brownies and A & I had a curry later as a birthday treat.
Today was our usual busy Tuesday. Piano lessons, Phase 10 while with each girl while the other was having her lesson, home for lunch, then out for gymnastics. Both girls today completed their Level 4 Proficiency Core Gymnastics Award. Then it was home for an early tea before being picked up by the friend that takes them and her girls to korfball training. Tomorrow is a quiet day with just swimming usually, although as K has a ballet exam coming up soon, she is doing an extra ballet session instead, which is something of a feat of logistics, as M will be going to swimming as usual, but we have managed it before, so it's doable.
On Sunday we went up to see Great Grandma in the morning and we also popped round to see Great Grandad, late afternoon. The latter is usually something of a trial, as he is generally very hard work as conversation is like getting blood out of a stone. This time however, he was almost chatty and then we found common ground when we mentioned Strictly Come Dancing!
On Monday, having packed up, we left in the morning and headed to Stratford-on-Avon to visit Shakespeare's Birthplace, one of our favourite places to visit. We needed to replace our annual pass, so M was wearing her Blue Peter badge, as it's one of the many, many places you can get into for free if you have one. It wasn't clear from the Blue Peter website, but it does include all of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust properties, which is a very good thing, slightly disappointing was that a family ticket was 40p cheaper than two adults and one child, so it didn't save us any money on this occasion. I'm hoping very much that K will have managed to earn herself a badge by the time we need to cough up again in a year or so's time! We had lovely chats with a couple of the actors who we have spent time with previously, both of whom were very impressed by M's badge.
From there we went straight to Asfordby for the regular twice monthly group we go to, which was a board game and crafty theme. We had taken a few games with us to share and we had a go at some others. K & M both made various things out of beads and pipe-cleaners, which became part of a new game they played with various friends. It sounded rather complicated, with elves, fire-fairies, kings and queens and baddies trying to steal 'bloodstones' which allowed entry into different worlds. It all seemed to make perfect sense to them though.
A & I had a go at Othello, which we had both played before but not for an awfully long time. It was a close game, but I won! I saw M playing Blokus duo with her friend Z, that we'd taken along. A couple of families had a go at Destination Hogwarts, another game we'd taken with us and A & I introduced E, the friend who organises the group, to Carcassonne. We also offered to let her borrow it, which she eagerly accepted, but then we accidentally brought it home with us, so we'll take it when we see her later in the week. The final game that we, A, M & I had a go at, with Z, was Zoo Am I?, which was fun.
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| M got this surprisingly quickly. |
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| A - he took a while to get this. |
By the time we'd got home, given A his birthday cards and presents and the girls had had something to eat it was time for Brownies and A & I had a curry later as a birthday treat.
Today was our usual busy Tuesday. Piano lessons, Phase 10 while with each girl while the other was having her lesson, home for lunch, then out for gymnastics. Both girls today completed their Level 4 Proficiency Core Gymnastics Award. Then it was home for an early tea before being picked up by the friend that takes them and her girls to korfball training. Tomorrow is a quiet day with just swimming usually, although as K has a ballet exam coming up soon, she is doing an extra ballet session instead, which is something of a feat of logistics, as M will be going to swimming as usual, but we have managed it before, so it's doable.
Friday, 8 November 2013
Wobbles, arguments and talks.
Generally speaking I'm not a naturally tidy person, but I do find that although I have a certain tolerance for mess, there comes a point when it starts to get to me and then I get stressed and grumpy. We are fortunate enough to have a good sized house and the girls have a playroom. Although it's their playroom, it is still a communal space, so we expect them to keep it reasonably tidy. I try not to get too naggy with K & M about this, but, like me and unlike A, they seem to be procrastinators and frequently, when I've asked them to tidy up the playroom, they might do a little bit, but then stop to play the piano, make something out of lego or otherwise get distracted. When this has gone on for a few days and usually in the meantime the mess has increased, I end up getting shouty and this results in bad feeling, although eventually the room does end up tidier.
Today was one of those days. The playroom has been messier than it has been since we talked about the possibility of getting rats and the necessity of keeping the room tidy so that they could come out to play, and had been for days. What I tend to do is ask the girls to tidy their mess and then we can do x, y or z, all of which are generally things that I know they would like to do and then leave them to it. When they were younger I would tidy with them, but generally now they are capable with a bit of guidance at times of doing it themselves. I left them to it while I went to sort out washing and when I returned there was no discernable improvement and I started to get rather cross.
Part of the issue for me is that, although this blog concentrates on recording and sharing the things we do, it feels to me at least that we waste so much time as a result of this sort of thing. I have no problem with K & M playing for extended periods, but I don't think that it was happens when they are avoiding tidying. So following the ensuing shouting, which did have some effect on the tidyness of the playroom, I explained my feelings, while having a big hug on the stairs with K and then M too. I told them that I don't like nagging them, but that the playroom as a communal room does need to be kept tidy enough to use and that the state it gets into means that they don't have the space to do the things that they want to and could do much more easily if it were tidier. I told them that there are things that we like to do together, that they have said that they want to do, such as my reading to them, doing more work on our human body project, watching dvds etc and that because I often ask them to do a quick tidy first and they don't we miss out on doing those things. I told them (as I have frequently pointed out before) that if they tidy away as soon as they've finished with something or before it gets too messy then it's much quicker and easier and then the mess doesn't build up to the point that they can't face getting started. They both said they understood what I meant and agreed to try to keep it generally tidier. We then agreed that I would quickly clean the bathroom and they would tidy the playroom and then we would just about have time for something before K's ballet lesson.
Happily this worked more or less and so I then read them some more of Nevil Shute's Pied Piper. While I did so K played with stacking cups and a ball and M got some Lego out, which of course they then left out as we were in rush to get K to ballet on time! They did however tidy them away at almost my first request before bedtime.
Today was one of those days. The playroom has been messier than it has been since we talked about the possibility of getting rats and the necessity of keeping the room tidy so that they could come out to play, and had been for days. What I tend to do is ask the girls to tidy their mess and then we can do x, y or z, all of which are generally things that I know they would like to do and then leave them to it. When they were younger I would tidy with them, but generally now they are capable with a bit of guidance at times of doing it themselves. I left them to it while I went to sort out washing and when I returned there was no discernable improvement and I started to get rather cross.
Part of the issue for me is that, although this blog concentrates on recording and sharing the things we do, it feels to me at least that we waste so much time as a result of this sort of thing. I have no problem with K & M playing for extended periods, but I don't think that it was happens when they are avoiding tidying. So following the ensuing shouting, which did have some effect on the tidyness of the playroom, I explained my feelings, while having a big hug on the stairs with K and then M too. I told them that I don't like nagging them, but that the playroom as a communal room does need to be kept tidy enough to use and that the state it gets into means that they don't have the space to do the things that they want to and could do much more easily if it were tidier. I told them that there are things that we like to do together, that they have said that they want to do, such as my reading to them, doing more work on our human body project, watching dvds etc and that because I often ask them to do a quick tidy first and they don't we miss out on doing those things. I told them (as I have frequently pointed out before) that if they tidy away as soon as they've finished with something or before it gets too messy then it's much quicker and easier and then the mess doesn't build up to the point that they can't face getting started. They both said they understood what I meant and agreed to try to keep it generally tidier. We then agreed that I would quickly clean the bathroom and they would tidy the playroom and then we would just about have time for something before K's ballet lesson.
Happily this worked more or less and so I then read them some more of Nevil Shute's Pied Piper. While I did so K played with stacking cups and a ball and M got some Lego out, which of course they then left out as we were in rush to get K to ballet on time! They did however tidy them away at almost my first request before bedtime.
Thursday, 7 November 2013
Thinktank!
Today we finally made it to Thinktank for one of their Home Educator days. It's somewhere I've heard good things about on numerous occasions, but every time there's been one of these days previously it seems to have clashed with something we really wouldn't want to miss (generally Fun Club), so I had high expectations and it didn't disappoint.
We got the train from Nottingham to Birmingham with Granny, who then continued on homewards, and we had planned to meet friends, E with C, L & J and their Grandma P, at the station and walk there together. This didn't quite work out, but we all got where we needed to be when we needed to be there, so it wasn't a problem. K & M had chosen the same three sessions (fortunately since they need an accompanying adult!), two of which were the same as C and her brother L, who we were meeting up with, the first one was different though. We started off in the Science Garden for a session called Movement and Machines and explored three different types of simple machine, levers, pumps and pulleys.
The first task was balancing a see-saw, which is a type of lever, the catch being they had bottles filled with varying amounts of water. They started off with just two bottles, then when they'd managed to balance those, they had to add another one to the equation (putting it in the middle was not allowed), finishing up with 5 or 6.
The children were put into groups fairly randomly, although it was really enforced, which meant that K & M weren't in the same groups. K was a bit reluctant to be in a group with strangers, but actually after the first task, which apart from a bit of frustration with some boys who kept trying to add bottles before they had balanced what they already had, it was fine.
The second task was about pumps and after a brief introduction when the man talked about the pump in our bodies, and how the heart pumps blood around our bodies, which if you lay out all the arteries, veins and capillaries end to end would stretch twice round the world for a child and double that for an adult! They then used pumps to blow up balloons.
The final task was to pull a very heavy weight up a short slope, first with the help of one pulley and then with the help of two. The children discovered that it was much easier to pull the weight up when there were two pulleys than when there was just one.
M had a quick go on something else with pulleys, before we met up with our friends to have our packed lunches.
Most of us had a couple of hours before the next session, except E and J, who was too young for some of the sessions that the rest of the children were doing. The children had such a good time on The Street that they didn't really want to explore much of the rest.
The second of our sessions was Cauldron Chemistry, which was a demonstration of various ways that Tom could 'cheat' to pass his magic exams by using science. He made 'potions' change colour and 'smoke' (using universal indicator and dry ice).
He made his wand spark with different colours, by dipping the end in different materials and then waving it over a flame. He showed that helium would be the best choice to help him levitate on his broom, by setting a flame to a hydrogen filled balloon, which exploded, showing that although it floated too, it wasn't as safe.
At the end I asked K if she'd liked it and she told me in no uncertain terms, and very disapproving tones, 'No, he shouldn't be encouraging people to cheat!'. She was torn whether to go and tell him so and that he seemed better suited to a career in science than magic, but in the end shyness won out and she didn't.
We then headed for our final session, which was a CSI activity about forensic science. The children had to solve the crime, working out which of the three main suspects had stolen a valuable brooch from a museum display, by looking at fibre and hair samples, finger and shoe prints, dna evidence, blood type and handwriting. They also got to take a print of their own fingers to take home.
As well as working out which of the blood samples matched the one taken from the scene of the crime, the children were asked to work out the blood type of each of the three main suspects, by comparing theirs with the control samples of each of the four main blood types. They looked at whether each sample formed a 'scab' when 'Anti A' or 'Anti B' protein was added, Blood Type A formed a scab only with Anti A, Type B only with Anti B, Type AB with both and Type O with neither.
It took a while to tear K away from here, as she had returned to the fingerprints and was studying her own and identifying the different pattern on each of her fingers. While she was doing this, I told Tom, who had led this session, as well as the Cauldron Chemistry one, what K thought about encouraging people to cheat and that he might be better suited to science rather than magic and he laughed and agreed.
This was the final session of the day and we had half an hour or so before the museum closed, so we had a look around the level where it had taken place. K & I had a go at an interactive thing about precious metals and what they do at the assaying office, which was quite interesting.
When we were finally kicked out, we headed back to the station with E, C, L, J & P. We had talked about finding somewhere to eat together, but in the end that didn't work out and we ended up buying something to eat on the train. We finally got home at about 7.30pm and after a planning session of their next puppet play with A & Mr Fox (it's a comedy apparently) K & M went up to bed.
We got the train from Nottingham to Birmingham with Granny, who then continued on homewards, and we had planned to meet friends, E with C, L & J and their Grandma P, at the station and walk there together. This didn't quite work out, but we all got where we needed to be when we needed to be there, so it wasn't a problem. K & M had chosen the same three sessions (fortunately since they need an accompanying adult!), two of which were the same as C and her brother L, who we were meeting up with, the first one was different though. We started off in the Science Garden for a session called Movement and Machines and explored three different types of simple machine, levers, pumps and pulleys.
The first task was balancing a see-saw, which is a type of lever, the catch being they had bottles filled with varying amounts of water. They started off with just two bottles, then when they'd managed to balance those, they had to add another one to the equation (putting it in the middle was not allowed), finishing up with 5 or 6.
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| M balancing the see-saw. |
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| K working with others to do the same. |
The second task was about pumps and after a brief introduction when the man talked about the pump in our bodies, and how the heart pumps blood around our bodies, which if you lay out all the arteries, veins and capillaries end to end would stretch twice round the world for a child and double that for an adult! They then used pumps to blow up balloons.
The final task was to pull a very heavy weight up a short slope, first with the help of one pulley and then with the help of two. The children discovered that it was much easier to pull the weight up when there were two pulleys than when there was just one.
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| Heave! |
M had a quick go on something else with pulleys, before we met up with our friends to have our packed lunches.
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| Having a go with the digger. |
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| Potions. |
He made his wand spark with different colours, by dipping the end in different materials and then waving it over a flame. He showed that helium would be the best choice to help him levitate on his broom, by setting a flame to a hydrogen filled balloon, which exploded, showing that although it floated too, it wasn't as safe.
At the end I asked K if she'd liked it and she told me in no uncertain terms, and very disapproving tones, 'No, he shouldn't be encouraging people to cheat!'. She was torn whether to go and tell him so and that he seemed better suited to a career in science than magic, but in the end shyness won out and she didn't.
We then headed for our final session, which was a CSI activity about forensic science. The children had to solve the crime, working out which of the three main suspects had stolen a valuable brooch from a museum display, by looking at fibre and hair samples, finger and shoe prints, dna evidence, blood type and handwriting. They also got to take a print of their own fingers to take home.
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| K & C looking at the Fibre Sample Library. |
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| The Fibre Sample Library with the yellow fibre found at the scene of the crime. |
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| Blood samples. |
As well as working out which of the blood samples matched the one taken from the scene of the crime, the children were asked to work out the blood type of each of the three main suspects, by comparing theirs with the control samples of each of the four main blood types. They looked at whether each sample formed a 'scab' when 'Anti A' or 'Anti B' protein was added, Blood Type A formed a scab only with Anti A, Type B only with Anti B, Type AB with both and Type O with neither.
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| K studying the fingerprints. |
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| M looking at the (simplified!) DNA profiles. |
This was the final session of the day and we had half an hour or so before the museum closed, so we had a look around the level where it had taken place. K & I had a go at an interactive thing about precious metals and what they do at the assaying office, which was quite interesting.
When we were finally kicked out, we headed back to the station with E, C, L, J & P. We had talked about finding somewhere to eat together, but in the end that didn't work out and we ended up buying something to eat on the train. We finally got home at about 7.30pm and after a planning session of their next puppet play with A & Mr Fox (it's a comedy apparently) K & M went up to bed.
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