The age of steam, and Santa too...

Every December I take the boys on the Santa Train, a ride on the Great Central Railway's steam train leaving from Loughborough, with a visit from Santa too! And today was the day.

The Great Central Railway is the UK’s only double track, main line heritage railway. It’s the only place in the world where full size steam engines can be seen passing each other, just as it was when steam ruled the rails. We love the way the stations have been preserved, history truly comes alive. And this year the boys were not too scared to have a look at the engine and the furnace.
"Santa" made his way along the train chatting to the children, Isaac didn't like him at all but Reuben was very happy to engage, he was just a bit perplexed with all the "have you been good?", but Santa, I'm always good!!

Our steam engine

The boys enjoyed trying to disappear in the steam

We're moving!

The train has a wonderful authentic feel

Photographer Daddy

Remembrance Sunday

As a life long pacifist I am always in two minds when it comes to war related events, but it is undeniable that many (too many) people suffered during the two world wars and remembering those who died during this time is not something I can criticise. And of course, from a historical point of view it is very important for the boys to find out about these wars and the effects they have on us today. I took them to the d-day landing beaches in Normandy and it was a sobering and touching moment even though the boys are still very young.

Some background (thank you Wikipedia as usual):
In the United Kingdom, 'Remembrance Sunday' is held on the second Sunday in November, which is the Sunday nearest to 11 November Armistice Day, the anniversary of the end of hostilities in the First World War at 11 a.m. in 1918. Remembrance Sunday is held "to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts".
In the United Kingdom, Remembrance Sunday is marked by ceremonies at local war memorials in most cities, towns and villages, attended by civic dignitaries, ex-servicemen and -women (principally members of the Royal British Legion), members of local armed forces regular and reserve units (Royal Navy and Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Marines and Royal Marines Reserve, Army and Territorial Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Auxiliary Air Force), military cadet forces (Sea Cadet Corps, Army Cadet Force and Air Training Corps as well as the Combined Cadet Force) and youth organisations (e.g. Scouts and Guides). Wreaths of remembrance poppies are laid on the memorials and two minutes silence is held at 11 a.m. Church bells are usually rung "half-muffled", creating a sombre effect.

For children to find out more and engage is some activities, the CBBC website has some good information, and for loads of crafts and activities go to iChild

Here's some other activities I came across:

Coffee filter poppy flower

Fingerprint poppy craft

Memorial day poppy project

Time Team History of Britain

I used to watch the Time Team TV programme when it first aired, I think it was about 17 years ago... With our recent interest in Archaeology, I came across this really great book by the team: The guide to the history of Britain, through its archaeological sites.

I bought it mainly for myself but something interesting happened last night. I was watching the TV programme that goes with it and Reuben not only was really interested in watching with me (we then went on to watch another...)  but he pulled out the book and was trying to follow the illustrations and photos of the sites. Not bad for a nearly 5 year old! He was particularly interested in the Mesolithic era and the hunter gatherers!
You can watch the programme here: The way we lived

The book is very useful in a home education environment as it is a great reference tool and relates to real places we can visit in the UK as well as being connected to the programmes we can then watch together.

Archaeology at Charnwood museum

We all do love a good museum! After our new found love of history and archaeology, thanks to the holiday in Normandy, we appreciate our history even more. This morning we spent a happy couple of hours at Charnwood Museum in Loughborough, here's some of the things we did:

 

 

A model castle to build, after visiting Mount St Michel in Normandy the boys have a good
idea of what an imposing castle and moat look like

Reuben loves the microscope, he can analyse fragments of archaeological finds as well as
modern organic matter like wood and insects

Building a castle

Brass rubbings without the paper...

The microscope is connected to a screen so Reuben can have a proper look

Comfortable with the equipment, we have a small microscope at home but this setup is very
special to him

Reuben zooms in and out and has learnt how to focus

The giant oak tree in the museum, you can just about see the glass walkway under which
lies a local dinosaur!

Working out the best strategic way to build a castle