300 Picture Books - the list so far

These are all the books I have written down towards our 300 Picture Books challenge for 2015. I think there are a few more, but this is my starting list!

 

1. The Nature Year: January

2. Abby the Alligator

3. Bubble Bear

4. Copycats

5. The Cat in the Hat

6. Gorilla, Be Good!

7. Jaguar's Jungleberry Jamboree

8. Winter

9. The Lamb Who Loved to Laugh

10. We're Going on a Bear Hunt

11. Olive the Octopus's Day of Juggling

12. The Pig's Picnic

13. Worm's Wagon

14. The First Day of School

15. The Nature Year: February

16. When Tilly Turtle Came to Tea

17. The Story Blanket

18. Hungry Caterpillar

19. New Baby

20. Frozen Storybook

21. Kangaroo Kazoo

22. Teeth are Not for Biting

23. Rosie Rabbit's Radish

24. The Yak Who Yelled Yuck!

25. Monkey's Miserable Monday

26. The Nature Year: March

27. Seal's Silly Sandwich

28. Zack the Lazy Zebra

29. Hide and Seek Hippo

30. The Nicest Newt

31. Umbrellabird's Umbrella

32. Ten Little Caterpillars

33. Enormous Elephant Show

34. The Quiet Quail

35. Tortuga

36. Fifi Ferret's Flute
37. Owl's Winter Rescue

263 to go! 

The Big Bang Science Fair 2015

I originally wrote this post for the UK Home Ed Conference website. Visit the site here.

The Big Bang Fair has become annual event at the NEC Birmingham, and as home educators we can attend on the 'schools only' days (as well as the family day on the Saturday). Here is our family report from the NEC from Friday (schools only day) and Saturday (family day).

On the Friday, we arrived at the fair at 10am and had to queue up with hundreds of school children from all over (there were minibuses from Wales, London, Manchester and other places). It was very different on the Saturday when there were a lot of families around too.

Some of the things we saw and did at the show were amazing. Here are some of them:

Antibiotic Hunters (more info and a great video here)

There were what seemed like hundreds of stands, and the first one we visited was a stall that taught us how scientists are learning from leafcutter ants about how antibiotics work. The exhibitor asked us what we thought the ants were feeding on.  Jay said he thought it was the leaves.  But he was wrong.  The ants collect leaves to feed the fungus that was in the dish.  The ants then feed off of the fungus.  They showed us a separate petri dish and asked us what it smelled of.... it smelled of wet soil and he explained it was the bacteria within the soil that had antibiotic properties.  When the ants travel through the soil, their bodies collect the bacteria and take it back to the fungus which keeps it cleansed and healthy for them to feed on.  They explained that by studying ants, we can learn a lot about making naturally occurring antibiotics.

How crystals formed from lysozyme

We grew some crystals from lysozyme, which is a protein found in tears (it prevents conjunctivitis) and egg white. The crystals grew under a microscope right before our eyes! It was very quick.

Van der graff generator

We saw how a Van der Graff generator works to produce static electricity and hooked up a bowl with some metallic strips on it to the generator. It made some of the metallic strips positively charged, and some stayed neutral. A metallic ping pong ball was placed in the bowl, and it was attracted to a positively charged strip, and pushed towards a neutral strip, which reset the ping pong ball's charge, which was then attracted to the next positively charged strip. This resulted in a ping pong ball that circulated around inside the ball. It is also how the Large Hadron Collider works.

Pinhole camera workshop

Justin Quinnell showed us how to make a 6-month exposure pinhole camera. It was great fun. Watch his video here to make yours!

Oscar the Sellafield robot

One of the really fun activities was talking to Oscar, the Sellafield robot, who answered our  questions, called us by name, and asked if we wanted him to pose for a photo! This was a  big hit with a lot of children, so there was a little bit of a wait to get to meet him.

There were also other machines on the Sellafield stand, where we could do a Crystal Maze-type game where you have to catch pieces of paper that are flying around your head and collect as many as you can in the 15 seconds you have.

Other robotics and machine hands-on activities were available as miniature replicas of how different waste and recycling processes are carried out.

BAFTA games design workshop

Another highlight was the BAFTA Young Game Designers workshop where we got to design a new game, with the designer of the new online game SkySaga. What we found really great was that, in addition to the main schools workshop, they also ran one for children with ASD and other SEN. Jay went to that one, because the main one was far too overwhelming for him. And once in the smaller group, he had a great time!

Astro Pi (website here)

We have just got our own Raspberry Pi, and we are still trying to get our heads around it. It was  really fun to see the Astro Pi stand at the fair, where they are aiming to put Raspberry Pis into  space! Children can also get involved too, with their competitions. If you are primary school  aged, you can enter The Big Idea competition, and come up with how the Raspberry Pi can be  used on the International Space Station with astronaut Tim Peake. The closing date is the 3rd April 2015, so you need to be quick if you want to enter!

There is also a secondary school Astro Pi competition, where you get to actually have your code launched into space! Deadline for the initial stage is 3rd April 2015.

On another stand we saw about 30 different Raspberry Pis, all being used to calculate Pi!

What on Earth books

One of the very few sales stands was the What on Earth books stand. Chris Lloyd, a home educator himself, is the man behind these books. We will be using these as our timelines in lower and upper elementary. Find out more about the books here. I will also write a blog post about them shortly!

Extracted DNA

I had the opportunity to extract my own DNA, and put it in a little vial, to present my own mum for Mothers' Day! Using salt water, washing up liquid, pineapple juice and rubbing alcohol, I was able to actually see my own DNA rising to the surface of the liquid it was in. To get the DNA there in the first place was slightly unpleasant! I had to swish salt water around my mouth for 2 minutes without spitting it out! Then, I had to put some of that solution, with the cells collected from my cheeks, into a container, add washing up liquid, invert it 3 times, add 4 drops of pineapple juice, invert that 3 times, then add the rubbing alcohol. I asked the people on the stand from the Life Science Centre how they extracted DNA in a lab, and this is exactly the same way!

And here is how you can do this at home! Once you have completed Step 5, you need to leave the liquid, and the white strands and clumps you see forming is your own DNA!

Rowland Emett's Marvellous Machines

Have you watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang recently? The machines in the film, the one that makes the breakfast, makes the 'toot sweets', and all the other machines featured in the film, were designed by Rowland Emett. There was a display of some of his amazing work at the Big Bang Science Fair, and we were fascinated at how beautiful the machines were. Watch a video about them here.

And lots more...

These are just some of the things we were able to do at our two days at the Big Bang Fair. There were loads more, from building a motor using a paperclip, magnet, battery and copper wire, robotics competitions, Formula 1 technology, dancing robot arms, a thermal camera, a presentation by WaterAid where we had to carry water around the stand like they have to in Africa, a model of the Warhorse, making music from vegetables, a huge rocket built from K'nex, a chance to play games using an Oculus Rift headset, a spin on the human gyroscope, balancing a ball on an Airbus jetstream, a planetarium with shows, a robot maze, a look at meteorites and earth rocks, learning how painkillers work with proteins in the body, making paper aeroplanes, changing tyres on a car, a Mars Rover display, talking to inspirational people from the Armed Forces and learning how science and engineering are big roles in the forces, getting dog tags cut, talking to a Beefeater, seeing an eagle, talking to people working on the Higgs boson project and an astronomer working on the Gaia project, where they are photographing 1 billion stars in the Milky Way (only 1% of all the stars in it) and using the world's first 1 billion megapixel camera to do it!

All in all, we had a very packed couple of days. We found the Big Bang Fair to be really interesting and educational. On the Friday we were given many educational resources to help with our current and future learning, and all of the stands treated us seriously as home educators. They were all very excited that we were home educating and many of them offered to run workshops and give talks to home education groups. We made sure we asked everyone what their jobs were, how they got to be doing what they do, and the stories were very inspirational. We got a lot of careers advice, from the people actually in the careers, and their enthusiasm and love for what they do really came across.

There were a lot of stage shows, which we did not have time to do, a lot of hands on activities which served as introductions. We could see how these could be adapted for younger and older children, with a little imagination (obviously they cannot cater for all ages at the same time) and if we talked to the stand holders, they were more than happy to go into more detail for the older people among us!

National Science + Engineering Competition

One of the last exhibitions we saw was for the Crikey Bikey - a harness designed by an 11-year old girl called Sky, to help parents help their children to ride a bike. It was designed as part of a STEM competition, and she was one of many juniors and seniors displaying their ideas at the Big Bang Fair. What struck me about Sky, was that she was very innovative, a great presenter, and very passionate about designing her own products. What a great learning journey she has been on. Not only that, but she won first prize in the Engineering/Technology stream of the National Science + Engineering Competition (Junior Section) along with her sister Kia for the Crikey Bikey!

Unfortunately, as we only attended on the Friday and Saturday, we missed most of these exhibitions. Wednesday would have been the best day to go, as that is judging day for the National Science + Engineering competition. Next year, we aim to go on that day, to inspire our young people even more as to what they can achieve, even before they are 18.

I managed to speak to one of the people involved with engaging students with the competition, and he would love to see more home educated juniors and seniors entering the competition. Hopefully we will see more home educators entering and exhibiting too in the coming years! Find out how to enter here.

Would we go again? What is our main tip for people going next year?

We will definitely be going back. One tip we really have is that you need to be enquirers yourselves, especially if an activity seems too simple or too complex for the children you take. The people there are more than happy to pitch at all different levels to match a child's questions and interest (we were adults, an 11-year old and a 3 year old and we all learnt loads!). It might not be so obvious upon first seeing a possibly simple craft activity or stand, but we found out so much, even the adults have had a reinvigorated enthusiasm for science! Oh, and ask for resources. We came away with three full bags of books, posters and information to use as springboards for our learning in the coming months!

Did you go to the Big Bang Science Fair this year? How did you find it? Will you go again? We would love to hear your experiences!

300 Picture Books - The Introduction

I found out about this reading challenge today from a fellow home educator on her blog. We are a book-loving family, and Addie absolutely loves picture books. In fact, today alone she has asked me to read several! So, although we are a little late in the game getting started with this challenge, I think we can still do it (although Jax recommends starting on a lower number now, we are up for 300 by the end of 2015!).

I have a record of all the books we have read together, so I will make an update post very soon with all of them in.

So, what is the challenge? It is to read 300 picture books by the end of the year.

A picture book is defined as a book that uses pictures/illustrations and words to tell a story. The Reading is Fundamental site says: "In a picture book, the illustrations are as important as the text, and both work together to tell the story. When you share picture books with children, be sure to pay attention to the illustrations - reading picture books means exploring the art as well."

If we had started the challenge at the beginning of the year, it would amount to reading 5-6 books a week - easy right? Well, the challenge is to read 300 different picture books for the year, so rereading a book doesn't count, ok?

As of today, there are 296 days left of the year, so that is one a day plus 4... but we have already made a start, I am going to count the books we have already read too towards that target. It isn't cheating either by the way, in my opinion. It is a 2015 challenge, so I will include all the books we have read in 2015 :-).

There is also a hashtag on Twitter, which is #300PBs that you can use to follow the challenge on there.

A note from a Montessori point of view: There is a lot of discussion over Montessori and fiction for the under 6 age group. We tend to pick books that are either realistic in their stories or, where animals, for example, are shown to be talking or doing human things, we talk about that a little and how it is good for the story, but obviously dogs/kangaroos/cats, etc cannot actually talk like we do. It isn't spoiling the fun, before anyone says anything about that! We still love and enjoy reading these books together... ! And we love reading non-fiction picture books too!

One thing we also make sure we do when we read the books is to discuss who the author and illustrator are. In our company, we employ illustrators, so hopefully this will create a point of reference for Addie and Bear as they grow up.

Useful article: Getting the Most out of Picture Books (RiF)

Build it, and it will come

I couldn't really think of a great title for this post, but I think this sums up a little of what I wanted to get across.

One of the main downfalls, in my opinion, of Montessori home education or homeschooling is the lack of other children in the learning community. This is a big thing in Montessori, where children learn in multi-age communities, and often learn skills from observing or being taught by their classmates. At home, this is a lot less possible, and while I have toyed with the idea of opening a co-op in my home (but found that it would probably be too overwhelming as I would possibly become the 'teacher' rather than just another co-op parent) this lack of community has been something that I have been quite sad about at times.

For Addie, in particular, I have felt this could be an issue. As the oldest, she has no older children to observe and learn from. And she is a great observer. One thing that struck me today was that she will probably have to learn from me and what I do. So perhaps I need to be doing a lot more work with the materials myself, as my own work, when she is working. Even the much later stuff, to entice her and show her what the future holds.

Bear, on the other hand, I am not so concerned about... Today, he started doing this, copying his sister!

So, perhaps all is not lost, but the relationship between siblings is going to be a very important one, and one we need to make sure we build on. I know some siblings that never get on and are never close. Luckily, Addie is a natural teacher to Bear, and she loves helping him (far too much quite often!)... so even with presentations I might be tempted to adapt or even skip, I need to make sure I don't and that I do things properly, so that if she has the opportunity to teach, she can do it in the 'right' way. 

So, as the adults, and the main adults affecting our children's education, we must build a solid Montessori environment, in order to best facilitate this as a family of learners, each teaching each other. This reminded me of one of our scriptures: "Organise yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, ...a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God." 

Build it, and it will come...

Long term homeschool plans

This morning, for some reason, I felt that I had to consider our long-term home education plans. I have no idea why, and obviously things may change, life and our experiences may change the plans, as they so often do. So far, my ideas have not changed in the last couple of years, but what it looks like in reality at the moment is not what I expected.

Here is what I want to do in our home education journey.

Age 0-2
Lots of experiences, movement, language rich environment, starting to do some practical life exercises.

Age 2-2.5
Lots more practical life activities, language, experiences of the world.

Age 2.5-6
Montessori primary programme, using the Keys of the World albums, spending 1000 hours a year outside (influenced by Charlotte Mason). A major learning phase based on developing practical life skills, handwork skills, developing the senses, having a rich language programme, based on phonetics and within which by the age of 4, approximately, they should be 'writing' using the moveable alphabet or writing on paper, mathematics developing to being able to, by the age of 6, undertake basic mathematical operations. Through language and sensorial learning, comes a good foundation in the natural sciences, botany, zoology, physical sciences, geography, arts, music and a sense of history.

Age 6-12
Montessori elementary programme, using a combination of the Keys of the Universe albums and other Montessori elementary albums. This will include a study of the Great Lessons, which open up learning across all subjects - language arts, including modern foreign languages, mathematics, sciences - biology, botany, zoology, physical science, matter, astronomy, ecology, chemistry, geography, history, the arts, health sciences, peace and citizenship, design and technology. A focus on creativity, action and service, learning the arts, serving the community, being active and participating in sports. The aim, through the Montessori approach to develop learners who are enquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced and reflective.

During this stage, and in the first part of the next stage, I am planning for us to travel the world. At the moment, I do not think that is possible in one chunk, so possibly over 3 years, 3 months at a time.

Age 12-16
Combining the approach of the Montessori adolescent programme, entrepreneurship and business, and the structure of the International Baccalaureate's Middle Years Programme - learning in the 8 areas of Language and Literature, Language Acquisition, Individuals and Societies (geography, history, politics, social sciences, economics, civics, business studies, psychology, sociology, anthropology), Sciences (environmental sciences, life sciences, physical sciences, sport sciences, health sciences, earth sciences), Mathematics, Arts (visual arts, media, dance, drama, music), Physical and Health Education, Design (digital and product design, coding, etc). Within these areas, there is a large opportunity for personal choice and autonomous learning. In addition, there will be goals in creativity, action and service, and a personal project to be undertaken each year (similar to the personal project undertaken at the end of the MYP5). It is my intention to encourage my children to pursue a GCSE or iGCSE or whatever the qualification is a the time in each of the 8 areas as a minimum. We will also start looking at the theory of knowledge which is part of the IB Diploma Programme.

Age 16-18
We will continue to follow a Montessori approach to learning, with academics falling within the IB Diploma Programme structure of 6 subjects - Language and Literature, Language Acquisition, Individuals and Societies, Sciences, Mathematics and the Arts, creativity, action and service and continuing the study of the theory of knowledge. Either this or something more career-related.

Creativity, Action and Service
This is another influence from the International Baccalaureate, and is quite loose in its structure. Creativity is defined as "arts and any other experiences that involve creative thinking", Action is defined as "physical exertion contributing to a healthy lifestyle, complementing academic work" and Service is defined as "an unpaid, voluntary exchange that has a learning benefit for the student". The CAS programme is part of the Diploma, but is something I would like to put aims on from the age of 6, to an extent. In the Diploma programme, it used to be a requirement that students had to complete a minimum of 50 hours of each across the programme (150 hours minimum), and many students completed hundreds of hours over the two years. I have no idea if I will put hourly requirements on the children, but I think it is important for a balanced education to cover these.

Obviously, all of my plans will probably change, and we will be child-led, so some areas may blur, some may be omitted or added to. I do want to have a form of structure to our learning, because I feel this is what will work best, but within a Montessori approach, so they have to have a well-rounded education, and there will be minimum requirements, but there will be a lot of room for maneouvre for personal study and following individual pursuits.

I felt that I had to do this, for whatever reason I felt prompted to. I know it might seem a little too 'planned out', but hey, I am a planner! I actually think that, given the Montessori elementary curriculum is, in places, akin to GCSE level, we may have to look at the 12+ curriculum when we get there!

I also know that many people follow a less structured approach, following the interests of the child. Although I seem to have everything planned out until 2032 (!), I am definitely not saying that it is set in stone. I would like to have what I feel is structure. We will not be sat at desks for hours every day, but I will follow the approach to learning that is established in the Montessori elementary years.

Watch this video for an idea of how that happens:

Elementary Meetings and Conferences from Montessori Guide on Vimeo.