And December is upon us

Finally we are in our favourite month. December is upon us and we are busy beavering away on Christmas crafts and making cards for friends. This blog has been sadly neglected as I was unsure of whether I wanted to blog anymore as people I know have been reading and I am not sure how I felt about it. But then I remember how I enjoyed blogging, how good it was for me to put home ed things on there and photos of things we had done and how lovely a way it was to store memories to look back on, so I think I will start blogging again.

Our days currently are very relaxed and generally spent playing and crafting with the odd bit of reading thrown in. That and the cold daily dog walk that can take us up to an hour has been our December.

I have spent so long reading home ed theories and how different people do it different ways and I just can't decide what I want to do. What I do know is things need to change. We need to fill our days with more I am just not sure how to do this and still respect my children's autonomy. Theo sadly said to me why does he have to do 'work' when I don't and I thought it a fair and valid point. I don't want my kids to see the stuff they do as work, nor do I want them to see it as something to do during school hours and term time. But I need to find the balance of us actually getting stuff done but making it feel part of daily life. The way I can read to them every day and they don't see it as school work so they are happy to be read to, that's how I want our projects, our read alouds to become. Part of real life, of breathing.

I also need to be aware of my Local Authority and how they want to see progress and expect regular reports so there is a pressure for the kids to produce things. So I need to find a balance for that, for normal life to take place and for learning to naturally occur. I am finding inspiration from many unschoolers, some on Facebook. So on that note I am off to bed to read one of my many unschooling books for sweet dream and a refreshing start to the day tomorrow.