Elberry Cove

Wow a blog post on the day it happened. 

Today we met up with a few of the families from the local home-ed group and went to Elberry Cove. It was a beautiful day and even though the schools are now on holiday the beach wasn’t too busy. The Children amused themselves for hours by the ruins of the old bath-house throwing stones, exploring, paddling, rock climbing, playing with seaweed and watching the Beadlet Anemones open up as the tide came in and covered them with water.

It was such a relaxing day but we were tired out by the time we came home and Maisie fell asleep on the sofa.

This evening while watering my raspberries the sky looked like this

sounded like this (swifts flying about)

and smelled of this (nextdoor's Jasmine growing over our hedge)…………….beautiful.

Norman Feast

After a few hiccups we managed to have our Norman Feast. The girls dressed up while the boys carried swords (my old highland dancing swords) and shields made from dustbin lids. When we arrived Fraser announced that he was Saxon and not a Norman. We had medieval food (with a bit of modern thrown in for good luck), music and costumes. Some of the children drew their own version of the Bayeux tapestry while others rehearsed their medieval play. It was a good day and we even had a bit of “Normans got talent”.

Canonteign Falls

Towards the end of April we had a home-ed outing to Canonteign Falls. It states that it is the highest waterfall in England but in fact Cautley Spout (Yorkshire) is the highest in England. The UK’s highest is Eas a' Chual Aluinn near Kylesku, Scotland. I never knew this until I posted this blog and I’ve been to Kylesku a few times as we had friends who used to live there.

English Civil War re-enactment day

Eeek it’s been a while since I’ve posted, so much for at least once a month.
Way back at the beginning of April there was a Civil War re-enactment day in Exeter. It was nice to have something that the boys could really join in with, handling pistols, marching in formation and ending with sword fights. They also learnt about the daily life in the time of the Stuarts.

Our home education - part 1

Some changes in the home educating front.

I’ve started this blog post so many times but never finished it so I thought today is the day.

Last September (2010) we made a few changes on the home education front mostly coming about through chats with the children and finding out what they wanted.
Firstly we started a new work card system which is a bit like the workbox system but with more control for the children. We still roughly follow the Charlotte Mason principle.

Each child has a set of cards that lasts approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Each card has an activity some done on their own and some with me/Paul. I made the cards business card size with a different colour for each child and laminated. They like being able to choose what they do and when they do it. I like to think of learning new things as food for the brain. Like the food we eat it’s healthy to have a balanced diet and to allow time to digest it, especially after a big meal (I think I got the idea from Charlottte Mason). The children and I talked about this and they liked the analogy. Cameron reckoned the Wii was like chocolate and spelling was green veg, then the rest of them discussed their chocolate and green veg activities. We’re flexible with the card system and allow for home-ed outings etc.

So far it’s working really well, Fraser likes to get up fairly early and start before breakfast, Kirsty & Maisie do bursts here and there mixed in with playing and Cameron gets stuck in after breakfast (once he gets up) then usually has another burst in the evening.

December 2010

Some of the home-ed outings this month. First a meeting at Bygones (Torquay) where the children dressed up and celebrated a Victorian Christmas. Then a “bring and share lunch and craft day” at a friends house where Fraser tried sewing, he wasn’t too bad. Our last home-ed trip of the year was to Killerton House.

So far this autumn/winter we’ve all had our fair share of colds and bugs which is not the norm for us but I know there are others out there suffering worse than us so we really don’t have anything to complain about.

In Paignton we avoided the bulk of the wintry weather, particularly during Devon’s heavy snow event of Sunday 19th into Monday 20th (Paul pointed out "with a brisk South Easterly wind persisting as the weather front crossed Paignton the relatively warm sea (compared to land) temperatures, ensured rain as supposed to the 10-15cm of snow that the rest of Devon experienced"). So far this winter practically all of the UK has ground to a halt with snow and ice which prevented our friends from coming to stay on the run up to Christmas.

Christmas was a quiet but pleasant family affair for us and Paul managed to have the day off again this year.

What have we been up to lately

Cameron got his new brace, he says this one is harder to get used to than the last one.
Kirsty had breathing difficulties which the doctor confirmed as asthma. Over the last couple of years she's developed allergies to cats and dogs, but fortunately
for her not horses.


We took Rainbows and Brownies to play crazy golf down on the beach boulivard. Luckily the weather was fine and we only had couple of minor injuries. Next week
weather permitting we're taking them rock pooling.

I also kept an ipsos mori's drinks survey diary for the week. During the survey I realised I drink too much coffee and not enough water.



When Paul had a day off we went for a walk in the Grove, Churston. The children are really beginning to enjoy going for walks in the country side.

We had a home-ed outing to Plymbridge to watch the peregrine falcons. I didn't know that they were the fastest animal on the planet (up to 200mph).


On the home ed front we read some of "The story of painting", painted a "storm at sea" (will post pictures later) and put a timeline on the wall in the upstairs hall. The children have also made their "own life timeline" and have enjoyed looking at their baby pictures and hearing the stories. We had started Maisie with "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons" but I've kinda stopped it. She didn't dislike it but prefers flashcards. Paul was using the flashcards with her one day and she asked to keep the ones she got correct to make up a story and so started a new game. After one of the stories Maisie's question of the week was "Is jam good for you when you are dead"?

On the gardening front we have lots aphids and the ants are having a ball. I've ordered ladybird larvae to eat the aphids, but the question is when all the aphids have gone will the ants come back inside, I think I'll leave some aphids on the sunflowers. Cameron decided to make a "nutrient rich leaf soup" for the plants, however it stank and clogged up the watering cans so we gave up after a few days. Fraser's sunflower has flowered and I now have 2 red tomatoes and many green ones waiting to turn red. The tomato plant won't win any beauty awards (didn't realise that you're supposed to pinch out the middle shoots) but if they taste nice I'm not complaining.

Mermaid's Purse

Yesterday we attended the Dart Valley Natural History Home-ed group to search for "Mermaids purses" - Skate and Ray eggcases on Goodrington beach. It was a cold and wet day feeling more like March than May. John??? from the Shark Trust came along to show us some examples and explained a bit about the eggcases, unfortunately we didn't find any but it was still a good day catching up with friends. I didn't take any photos (too cold) but I did take some of us having hot chocolate when we got home.

Otter Sanctuary and Butterfly Farm

One of our home-ed trips this month was to the Otter Sanctuary and Butterfly Farm (otters are my favourite animal). I thought “Ring of Bright Water” was going to be one of my favourite films until Mij was killed, why did they have to put that in the film?

February 2010

Our evening “read a loud” book has been Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, as a result of this most of the games in the house revolve around pirates and ships. Cameron’s Lego creations all seem to have a nautical theme and Paul and Cameron watched Empire of the Sea (a BBC history of the British Navy). To round it off Paul, Cameron and I watched Master and Commander starring Russell Crow.

We’re finishing off our Rabbie Burns study and the children are planning their own study next. Cameron wants to do cats, Fraser is interested in Warner Bros (particularly Looney Tunes) and Kirsty plans to do horses.

The last couple of days Fraser has been really engrossed in building his meccano and “Build a Stunt Buggy”, which is great as he’s never really settled to do something by himself before, unless it involved computers or video games which are limited through the week.

The home-ed groups have been quite busy since the start of the year. We’ve met quite a few new families, all really nice, we’re so blessed. One family have just moved from Holland to a village very near us, their 3 boys have similar interests to our boys which is great.

Jan 2010

Yipee posting a blog in the correct year, just need to get the correct month and I’m on a roll.

January 2010

This year I decided to make Cameron a lego cake for his 12th birthday, it wasn’t as square as I would have liked it but it was a hit with Cameron and the rest of the family except Fraser who doesn’t like cake in any shape or form.
In the middle of the month all the children came down with an unusual virus they had really high temperatures and felt generally unwell, I think the boys are turning into men quicker than I thought as I’m sure it was “man-flu” they had ;0).
The Gymnastics club had an open day and display Fraser, Kirsty and Maisie were performing but Fraser had to miss it due to his virus.
We had a couple of home-ed outings this month one to the house of marbles in Bovey Tracey and the other to the National Aquarium in Plymouth both were enjoyable days.
The House of Marbles is a historic glass and games factory and is free entry, they had lots of things to see and sell and lots of things that could break.
My favourite fish at the aquarium was the long horned cowfish, they looked like something from a cartoon. In one of the tanks there was an octopus, when Maisie went to look it moved onto the glass, she thought it wanted a hug so gave it a hug separated by glass. A couple of days later Maisie and Kirsty made an under the sea picture.
This month we started learning about Rabbie (Robert) Burns and the children have learnt some of his poetry.

2009

January 2009

A very cold, wintry month . . . in fact the coldest winter in 20 years brrrgh!

After much looking we found a church that felt right for us, it’s Riverside in Exeter.

Also we started meeting up with other home educators in the area and began serious house hunting.

Fraser gave us a scare, he had had a cold then one morning he woke up and couldn't walk. We took him to the doctor and they sent us to A&E, they thought it was due to a viral infection. Tests showed his blood calcium level was low so we had to go back the following week for more checks. Of course during the weekend I Googled low blood calcium and none of it looked good, we just kept him in our prayers. The next week he had an ECG scan and more blood tests. Everything came back fine, praise God.



February 2009

My Mum and Dad came to visit, via the train for the first (and probably the last) time. Cameron and Fraser thought this would be a good time to teach Popsie how to play the Wii.

While Mum and Dad were visiting we found our house in Paignton which is part of Torbay (the English Rivera). The house was the complete opposite of what we were looking for, but this is where God wants us. We were looking for rural, inland with a big garden, miles from everyone and eventually bought a Edwardian mid town house, five mins walk from the beach and town with a small garden and we're really happy. The viewing was a tag on to earlier appointments, an estate agents “. . . well I’ve got keys for this place if you want a look”.

The children and I decided one day to take ourselves out to the Butterfly Farm (no butterflies at this time of year) and Otter Sanctuary in Buckfastleigh. I love Otters, they have a cheekiness about them.

March 2009

This month was a whirl of paperwork and phone calls, with every kind of specialist viewing our soon to be house (at Paul’s works bequest). We were also planning my Dad’s 70th birthday so it was a hive of activity between Mum, Stu, Angela and me. We did manage to find time for our second home-ed outing to Escot Gardens .

April 2009

On the 3rd we got the keys for our house and moved in, fortunately our removal men were brilliant.

Devon is a lovely place and the people here seem to be genuinely kind, gentle and thoughtful.

Having half unpacked, we handed the keys over to the workmen (rising damp) and went to the Isle of Lewis for my Dad’s 70th birthday. To celebrate his life so we came up with 70 different (mostly nostalgic) presents and made a scrapbook of his first 70 years.
On the way south we stopped off at Paul’s parents for couple of days, fitting in a wee bit of golf.

May 2009

This month was mainly getting the house sorted and joining clubs and groups. All the children started swimming lessons, and Fraser, Kirsty and Maisie joined gymnastics. Kirsty began Brownies and I returned as a Rainbow and Brownie leader.
It was a lovely sunny month and we had memorable days out at the zoo (free tickets from our neighbours as a welcome gift), Woodlands theme park and the beach.

June 2009

Beginning of June we spent many days at the beach as the great weather continued. We made new friends with the squirrels in the gardens of Oldway mansion. They’re fairly tame, like raisins and feed from your hand. But we decided this was not a good idea when one bit Cameron’s finger and wouldn’t let go. At the end of June Mum and Dad came down with their 5th Wheel for 3 weeks with Dad doing jobs for us around the house during the first week. Kirsty was thrilled to have her Granny watching her at her Brownies Sports Day.

July 2009

Stu, Angela and the children came to stay at the same campsite as Mum and Dad. The weather wasn’t the best but we still all had a great time visiting the Zoo, Woodlands adventure play area, beach etc.
The Friday in between my family leaving and Paul’s parents coming to stay on the Monday we all went Pond-dipping with the RSPB, Fraser took it literally and fell in the pond, fortunately it was at the end of the visit. On the Saturday I took the girls to a Sylvanian Families day out.


During Paul’s parents visit Paul and his Dad spent a day away at a Hampshire cricket match while the children, Mary and I went to woodlands. Grandma was definitely more daring than me, she put me to shame. We also played lots of games of Uno and ate lots and lots of cakes and cream teas.

This was our first home-ed visit with Dart Valley group, we went to Coleton Fishacre, the D'Oyly Carte (The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company who staged the Gilbert & Sullivan operas) family holiday home.

Also somewhere in the mix we spent a day with friends from Edinburgh who were holidaying in Devon.

Lastly I got my hair cut shortish, first time in about six years.

August 2009

This has been such a busy month, on the 4th we took Maisie to Woodlands to see Peppa Pig, even though it was pouring rain and extremely busy she had a lovely day. Paul celebrated his birthday on the 6th by working a nightshift. Kirsty started Pony Club on the 8th and absolutely loved it. Monday the 10th to Friday 14th was our church's holiday club both Paul and I were leaders so it was a whole family affair.

I had my eyes tested on the 10th to discover I needed glasses for reading and the PC.

Maisie turned 4 on the 11th and the holiday club all sang Happy Birthday to her which she loved, we had a small birthday tea for her when we got home.

We had a lovely day when we met up with friends from the Isle of Man who were holidaying in Devon.

The week of Monday 24th to Friday 28th Cameron attended the holiday club at the Zoo, which he really enjoyed. This is a break through for him as he doesn’t really enjoy large group activities. He thinks he’d like to join the Sea Cadets now and Fraser seems keen on Cubs, Go-karting and Motorbikes (hopefully he’ll grow out of later one even though both his Uncles are into them). On Saturday Kirsty went to Pony Club again. On the last day of the month (Monday) we started back home educating. We didn’t take a complete break form home-ed through the summer but we’re back to our normal routine.

September 2009

Schools went back so all the clubs and groups started back, we’re members of quite a few home education groups Christian and Non which is nice for the children and me.

We bought a whiteboard for the wall, it’s been a great hit with everyone from drawing pictures and diagrams to leaving messages.
We started a study of WWII and got into mind mapping.

Paul and his Dad had a golf weekend in St Andrews, (it had been planned for many months) unfortunately it was cut short as I came down with vomiting bug, of all the weekends.

Cameron started attending our Church youth Club for High School age children. We thought he’d be quite anxious with the large group and all older children but he absolutely loves it.

October 2009

We had a home-ed visit to Princetown, Dartmoor, I thought the Isle of Lewis was bad with sheep on the road here it was cattle and of course the Dartmoor ponies.

This term we’ve been studying the Second World War, which they’ve all really enjoyed. Cameron has developed a liking for tanks, Fraser’s interested in the Enigma machine, and Kirsty loves Vera Lynn, The Andrew’s Sisters and Glenn Miller, Maisie well she loves dancing to the music and colouring pages of tanks.

Later on in the month I took the children to my parents in the Isle of Lewis and we all had a great time, visiting family and friends. Mum taught Kirsty how to knit and she made a shawl for one of her Sylvanian Families. The children were out a lot on the bikes or the Go-Kart my Dad built for Fraser. Spending a lot of time in Eoropie (very North of the Island) where I did most of my growing up. My parents are renovating my Granny’s old house in Eoropie and are hoping to make the move from Stornoway next year.

November 2009

This always seems to be my busiest month, with 7 close family birthdays and planning for Christmas. I obviously didn’t think it was busy enough and decided to clear out the spare room of all the boxes of “stuff” we’ve accumulated over the years.


December 2009

Our big event this month was Paul’s Baptism on the 5th along with 14 others from our church at Riverside Exeter, at the Riverside Leisure Centre. He’s been a Christian for almost 3 years and felt the time was right. It was an amazing day and he feels that it has made a real difference to him in my spiritual walk.

Christmas was a quiet affair (just us), well as quiet as it can be in our home, the girls and I made trifle but it was only Paul and me that liked it. We had hoped to get up to Paul’s parents in between Christmas and New Year but the weather in Scotland was too bad.

There endth 2009 and looking forward to 2010.

Back in Cyprus, Aug 2008

We flew back on Sat 9th (6 hours delayed this time), it was Maisie’s 3rd birthday on Mon 11th we had a small birthday tea for ourselves and got the Nintendo Wii for Paul’s belated birthday, he wanted a drum kit but that’s on hold until we move to the UK.
It’s all go for the move now, we had our pre march out last week, just minutes before the man arrived Fraser thought it would be interesting to find out what Maisie would look like with hair full of liquid had soap. Our car gets shipped in just under 2 weeks, the removals come in 2 weeks and we leave in just over 4 weeks.
We’ve managed to get to the beach a couple of days and also to the waterpark.
We won’t miss the summer heat but we will miss all the wonderful friends we’ve made. Also I love the Cypriots attitude to family and children, having 4 children is regarded as a blessing, makes a change from hearing "4 children, you must be crazy."
I think the children are a bit unsettled at the moment with everything getting packed up round about them.
We’re planning to go to Theos Villas again once the removals have been. We had hoped to go to Israel, but it’s going to be too rushed, so hopefully we’ll go next year. It’s not really anymore expensive from the UK.
We’ve been looking into the Charlotte Mason home educating method and feel drawn to her philosophy. However the home educating during the next month will be a bit paired down, once the bulk of our stuff is shipped back to the UK.

I was sent this homeschool video from a homeschool forum I'm a member of, it made me giggle.

“Oh, the misconceptions and realities of homeschool life," from comedian (and homeschool dad) Tim Hawkins.

May 2008

We’ve been studying ancient Rome, below are some photos of our Roman creations.

First week back homeschooling originally posted September 11 2006

Fraser and Kirsty officially started homeschool last week (see first day of homeschool photos). We've started them with Jolly Phonics, Kirsty loves it and wants to do extra, Fraser's happy but needs lots of breaks. Kirsty loves writing and colouring while Fraser is passionate about cutting and gluing.

Cameron is also very enthusiastic about his schooling. This year we're doing a different subject each day in addition to the daily Maths, English and Bible study.

Mondays: History
Tuesdays: Science
Wednesday: Music and Art (assisted by our friend Rowena who is a music teacher)
Thursday: Geography
Friday: Cyprus day where we'll take trips learning more about the island, it's people and (hopefully) the language.

Every morning (except when he's on day-shift) Paul takes the children (minus Maisie) for half an hour of exercise. I enjoy this time too, it's lovely and quiet after the hustle and bustle of breakfast, and allows me to take stock and prepare for the day ahead. I also get to spend time with Maisie on her own before her morning nap.

Last Friday we went to the old port area of Limassol, where we found a weather observing compound. We also saw lots of Cyprus cats and had our picnic by the sea then finished with an ice cream at a café.

The children's clubs and groups start up this week, they all go to swimming lessons on a Saturday morning, Cameron has youth club on Wednesday afternoon and he's thinking of trying hockey on Tuesday evening and perhaps golf Monday afternoon. He occasionally volunteers at the cat sanctuary, he's mad about cats.

Kirsty attends Ballet lessons on a Thursday afternoon, which she loves, in a couple of months she'll start Rainbows. Fraser doesn't do anything yet (groups wise) but when he turns five he fancies football and maybe St Johns Ambulance.

When Paul's not working I take Maisie to Parent and Baby group, or Musical Tots. I also go to a Wednesday morning ladies bible study. This week we're starting a Beth Moore course called "Believing in God", which I'm really looking forward to, however I can't attend every session.

Paul is such a blessing, he's so supportive and is brilliant with the children. He's returned to regular squash and badminton and has also volunteered as a youth worker at the base youth clubs (initial training course tomorrow afternoon).
Heather xx.

Here are some photos of the children and photos of Cameron, with his friend Jake, at the Cat Sanctuary this afternoon.