Day 77 - Bunny Rabbits & Blackberries.

I was reminded today about the flexibility of home schooling. I planned to take the boys to the art gallery this morning to participate in a workshop. I had organised sketch books to take with us last night and woke up mentally prepared to get them both ready for the gallery. Over breakfast both boys told me very politely that they really didn't want to go because the activity of 'teddy bear bag making' at the gallery did not appeal to them and they would much rather go to the 'big' park. So we changed the plan. One of the benefits of home education is that plans can easily be changed. I planned to cover Art at the gallery but ended up covering Science in the park. 

I packed up the rucksack with drinks, waterproofs and sandwiches and we headed to the park. The boys played in the play area before we found a nice spot to eat our picnic lunch. 

We went to look at the farm animals and Tristan fell in love with a bunny rabbit. He sat and talked to it before asking if we could take it home. We then looked at the piglets. They provided an excellent counting opportunity for Tristan who correctly counted eight piglets. I used the farm as a chance to cover the Science topic of food chains with Theo. For each animal I asked him to give me a food chain which included that animal. He did this very well.

We had ice creams whilst exploring the park. Tristan was delighted when we came across a wild rabbit. We also saw lots of squirrels, a few horses and some ducks on our walk. Theo was able to talk about the habitats of all the animals that we saw. He asked what food we would be able to eat if we had to live in the wild. We discussed how we would go about catching rabbits which horrified Tristan but Theo explained that as we are omnivores we would need meat if we had to find our own food. I came up with a plan for later in the afternoon to help answer his question.

They discovered a den which had been built recently in the park and they had a great time playing inside it. Theo looked closely at the construction and wants to try to build a similar den near his favourite tree in our local park. 

On the way home they played with their football. Tristan thought it was great fun kicking the ball at his brother. 

Back at home the boys enjoyed playing with their toys for an hour. 

Once rested I took them out to the local park. I gave them both a container and we went blackberry picking. Whilst picking some lovely juicy berries Theo exclaimed 'we could eat these if we were in the wild!' We had a conversation about which plants we would be able to eat if we had to find food.

Tristan loved picking the blackberries and he proudly showed his purple stained fingers to his friend in the park afterwards. Tomorrow we are going to make a blackberry pie which will be a lovely home economics lesson. 

At home later on Theo completed a piece of Music Theory work. Tristan played with the magnets.

We had dinner and then returned to the park for half an hour. We were all too tired to stay any longer. 

Tristan went straight to bed when we got home.

Theo spent the early evening typing up his competition story. The story is great and shows what he is capable of when he does not have to rush his writing. 

Paul arrived home late again. He was really pleased to find that Theo was still up and asked if he would like to watch a film with him. They had a lovely night together.

I am looking forward to teaching them how to bake a blackberry pie tomorrow. It is Paul's birthday on Saturday so I imagine that there will be some card making going on as well. 

Prudence Clarke

29.08.2013