Normandy

We spent a week in Normandy recently, I will post more on the history and all the things the boys learnt, but I wanted to share some photos of our favourite things first.

Collecting shells

The cathedral in Bayeux

Decorating trees with shells

Music by the pool

Shells and sails

Analysing the tapestry at Bayeux

Chic playground in Coutances

Running on the beach

We stayed at La Coquerie so lots of poultry decor!

Little ninja at Mount St Michel

Supper with Ipad

One more shell

One very deep hole

Abbey courtyard at Mount St Michel, with swords!

Cool displays at Bayeux

Resting warriors, at Mount St Michel

Tag outside the cathedral in Bayeux

D-day landing beaches

Nobel prize winner was told at school he had no chance in the sciences

Today John Gurdon must be a very pleased man at having jointly won the Nobel prize in medicine and a little bemused at the emergence of a school report from when he was 15 saying:

"I believe Gurdon has ideas about becoming a scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous; if he can't learn simple biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time, both on his part and of those who would have to teach him."

But he seems to possess a great sense of humour, as the BBC reports:
Sir John Gurdon is relishing the story about his failings at school and how his teachers ridiculed any notion that he might pursue a career as a scientist. Dressed casually in a sweater, and rushed from his labs in Cambridge to face the world's media, a fine sense of humour allowed him to take today's tumult in his stride. When I met him, he admitted to being bemused that a Nobel attracted so much more attention than any other prize. I asked what he thought of the 50-year gap between publishing his ground-breaking paper, in 1962, and winning the award only now. Actually, he said, the experiment on the frog cells was carried out back in 1958 - "rather a long time ago", but he said, with infinite patience, that science works best by making sure one's theories are right.

I just loved this story and wanted to share!

Earth School App

Another great ipad app!
How did the universe begin? How was life born on earth? Where did water on earth come from? Welcome to earth school, Earth School is an educational kids app containing 18 different mini games. It shows the big bang to earth generation, from life beginning to dinosaur extinction.

It is aimed at 2 to 6 year olds but I found that Reuben (nearly 5) went through it very quickly and remembered it all at the end (comets, black holes and the division of cells amongst other things), Isaac though (nearly 3) loves it loves it loves it, and squeals with delight every time he helps to feed the dinosaur!

Subjects covered (that a 3 year old will understand) are:
- The big bang
- Black hole
- Planet generation
- Birth of the Galaxy
- Evolution of species
- Saturn's Ring
- Fossil Hunting

More info here

Make a paper beach

The boys loved the beaches in Normandy and Reuben today had a great idea: let's make a paper beach!!

As usual he is the brains, I am the hands (with a bit more brains if needed...) and he pretty much told me exactly what he wanted. Fist we had to stand up his bodyboard (I tied it to the bookcase) then we needed a big sheet of yellow paper (which luckily we had), then lots of smaller pieces of blue paper to make wavy water.

We sellotaped the blue paper together to make waves then drew wave shapes with felt tip pens

We then drew lots of shells and creatures you find on a beach, to help us we used the Seashore book from Collins Nature Guides and it reminded us of a lot of sea life we have seen in Cornwall, Norfolk and Normandy this Summer.

The boys then grabbed some towels and played on the beach, we are also making fish cakes for supper!

A great wooden toy box for toddlers (and beyond)

I don't usually go to big supermarkets (they give me anxiety and I don't like all the manipulative buying techniques) but this afternoon we found ourselves in our local gigantic Asda store as I had a lot of household stuff to buy as well as food and Reuben wanted a toy he had seen there months before... so while looking for his toy we were very surprised to find this instead:

It's an old fashioned looking wooden box (currently going for £12) filled with wooden toys, the boys saw it and forgot about anything else, we are now at home and they are still playing with it an hour later, therefore I thought I'd share it! You can buy it here if you are interested. There are building blocks, alphabet blocks, a wooden puzzle, a bead and wire toy, a stacking toy, a shape sorter and one of the sides is blackboard for chalk drawing. I say it is for toddlers but Reuben (nearly 5) is having just as much fun!

Co-operative games

While in France, the friends we were staying with had a number of board games for adults and children alike. I found that Reuben disliked the competitive ones and could not get into the whole winner/loser thing, he often cheered when others scored points and did not abide by the rules... (I quite like this about him!)
But the games he did like were the co-operative ones where all players come together to achieve a common goal, you still take turns and follow rules but everyone wins when the target is reached, avoiding a lot of upset or boasting (depending on who has lost or won).
I did a bit of research and found a number of these games on the Myriad website.

They are appropriate for most ages and include:

Shadow in the Woods Board Game

A co-operative game for children 5 years and up, requiring the help of an adult to move the candle. The object of the game is for the Gnomes to unite under one tree. The candle tries to find the Gnomes and freeze them with its light. A second co-operative game on the board's reverse is for children age 7 years and up. Here the candle is stationary, and the gnomes must move through the shadows and jump over the light.

 

 

Orchard

Ripe sweet cherries and plums, juicy apples and pears are hanging from the trees and are ready to be picked. But the bold raven also has his keen eye on the fruit. Can the fruit be harvested quickly before the raven can snatch it away? A co-operative game for 2 or more players.

 

 

Princess

An exciting co-operative fantasy game for age 4+. Our Princess needs to be rescued from a mean guard and a fierce dog. It's not going to be easy, and besides, darkness is coming. Off we go into the fields, woods and meadows in search of things magical and practical required to free the Princess. This co-operative game is a firm favourite with our testers.

 

 

Waiting to catch the ferry

We're in France after having spent a week with some lovely friends who invited us to share their holiday farmhouse in Normandy. Today it's windy and rainy and we're pretty much just waiting for the time to drive off and catch the ferry.
Our time here has really made me see how real everyday life cannot be separated from learning. This blog has been featuring our life and experiences more and more as I can see that education is lots of things: it is all the lovely books we read, the materials we use and the ideas we discuss. It is also all the places we visit, the people we meet, quiet and lively play. It is living and exploring.