In which we go swimming and I get lots done

Yesterday morning I got up, made the bed and did some laundry. My children are late risers and slow starters - like me - so I've been trying to get some house stuff done rather than chase them round in a frustrated way. So I did a whole load of laundry and saw to the chickens before they wandered down for breakfast.

Breakfast was Frosties, and a juice ice lolly for the baby, who would live on a diet of ice lollies and crisps if I let her. I am fasting today (until 3pm) so nothing for me except lots of coffee! Cleared breakfast and then my mum came to take the girls to their music group. I read Jude his stories (Seabird and Joan of Arc), he did writing (copywork is the story of Samson, Judges 13) and recorder practice, then he got to go on Minecraft.

I had a bit of “free” time! More laundry, dishes, cleared out fridge, did a freezer inventory, sorted out our homeschool basket, tidied and hoovered front room, tidied bookshelves in dining room. Got lots done.

Mum and girls returned about 12:45, then we had lunch. Tesco shop coming tomorrow so lunch was bits and pieces - bagels, fruit, carrot, crisps, leftover pizza, baguette with honey or chocolate spread. We just finished Heidi, and so started Five Children and It (free ebook), which everyone really enjoyed, and Jude laughed out loud a couple of times. Poor baby was falling asleep in her high chair, so Mum took her back to hers for a nap - she sleeps very well in the quiet there!

Cleared lunch, then Jude’s friend whom we take to swimming with us came over. We left for swimming at 2:15ish. Normally I have Phoebe with me, but because Mum had her I had 25 minutes to myself while the children swam! I grabbed a scone and coffee, and read Teaching from Rest.

Children got changed super quick (for once), then we picked up Phoebe, dropped off Jude and his friend (with Jude’s Cub uniform and subs - he’ll be dropped off there later) and came home. Isobel and Emily watched A Bug’s Life and the baby pottered around. I hung up the swimming kit, bit more laundry, got the dinner on. Tonight it’s Garlic Chicken and CousCous from the Once A Month Meals Israeli Mini Menu.

While I’ve been doing housework today I’ve been listening to audio from the recent Christian Home Educator’s Conference in Devon. It’s good, encouraging.

Andy did Bible Time with the girls after tea, and when Jude got home from Cubs he read me An Afternoon with the Secret Seven (from a Happy Meal box!) and I read him The Invisible Girl Part 2, a series that friends of ours are in the process of writing and publishing.

When the children were finally in their rooms Andy and I watched an episode of Fargo on 4OD. Great programme - really enjoying it. Loving little Hanks - oddly pleasing to watch the children of great actors that you've grown up with.

The TV! The TV!

Plug it in! The TV! The TV!

I’m going to stop severely cut down on watching television. Not for Lent, have missed that boat and also want to finish watching Homeland first! And I’m not anti-television - the children watch it, we have Netflix, iPlayer and tons of DVDs. In the last few months I’ve enjoyed House of Cards, The Good Wife, Jonathan Creek, Breaking Bad, Dexter, Modern Family, Criminal Minds, Buffy, Angel, Jericho, Jack Reacher, Master and Commander, Nashville, Made in Chelsea, The Killing, Grey’s Anatomy..

That’s a lot, right? I’ve got into the habit of watching it while nursing Baby Bear (16 months now but still going strong!), and doing housework - folding laundry, tidying rooms, sorting and putting away, and for a sit down with a cup of tea.. I can get through A LOT of hours that way. Admittedly I very rarely watch it without also doing something useful, but it’s definitely been increasing its pull on me, and that’s what I don’t like. I feel like there are better ways I could be spending that time - with my children for one, praying or reading the Bible for another. And although I enjoy.. LOVE TV, I don’t believe that it adds value to my day, at the moment.

The TV question in general is a tricky one, how to find a balance. I’ve been swayed by the arguments in Pam Sorooshian’s article "Economics of Restricting TV Watching of Children” (if you restrict a thing, you increase its value and desirability, so people become more attached to it, not less.). I also agree with the points made by a poster (DaughterofEve) on the Ambleside Online forum last year (see here for full thread):

I dont hold with the fear tactics, so telling me that screen is going to make my child dumb - or conversely if they dont have screen theyre going to be left behind - is not the way to convince me to your point of view. I seek to work on principles and observing the past. History tells me that all new things were regarded with an element of fear by the establishment - until they proved themselves. (And even then they were not necessarily completely accepted). 

This 'screen' age is just thinking in a new way. I need to set aside my biases and look at it for what it is, how it works, what it can do. I need to observe it, look at it through the light of Scripture, consider my unique life and family.. 

Screen can be addictive. So can sugar, alcohol, work, leisure.. and a host of other good things. The things are not inherently wrong, its how they are used. I need to be proactive and put in the work and figure out how to use them well. 

Screen can isolate. Screen can bring the isolated into community.
Screen can reduce productivity. Screen can increase productivity.
Screen can damage real life. Screen can enhance real life. 

Instead of villifying screen, I need to put in the effort and look for behaviours to target or encourage. This is much harder to do. MUCH harder. IT is easier to control a tangible object, than to put the effort in and know my kids.

But, there is a flip side. Almost everyone I know in Real Life sets quite strict limits on their children’s viewing, and I respect them and the way their children are being raised. I appreciate the arguments against restrictions, but I also think that viewing can become a habit - the more you do something, the more you want to do it. I think that often there is nothing wrong with what the children watch, but I think there are things that are better, that have more value. Reading, playing together, playing outside, creating.. although much of my son’t creations and play acting originates from what he watches.

The way our day goes at the moment, the children have Free Time after lunch, or when we get home late afternoon after an Activity, and then sometimes before bed. At weekends there are no restrictions while at home, but we go out a lot too.

I need to think on this, pray on it. Maybe limiting my viewing with also have an effect on the children - at least I’ll be more available to them.

Blog roundup

In which there is a chicken emergency, as one of my new girls manages to tear her claw.

(Can it still be a roundup if I've only managed one post? Yes, I answer myself, resisting the urge to write Must Try Harder, as I never manage it. One post is quite an achievement!)

Reactions to Home Education

I can't imagine doing that. That would be like hell on earth for me! 

I really didn't know what to say. Maybe something along the lines of "of course, it's like anything - it will suit some families and not others." Horses for courses? except that sounds a bit naff. Unfortunately the conversation ended there - I really wanted to find a point of connection, but by that time I was feeling like a bit of a freak, so we parted ways.

I told Andy when we got home - he pointed me to a verse in 1 Peter:

Since you call on a Father who judges each person's work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. (17)

What we do and what we believe will make us very strange to lots of people around us - I have to remember to expect that, and not feel bad/take it personally when people react. I want to do my best to answer people graciously, and not make them feel defensive. Sigh. Hopefully it will go better next time!

HE moments

9:45AM - Jude (8) and Emily (4) still asleep. Eating breakfast with Isobel and baby Phoebe. Listening to a Tchaikovsky playlist on Spotify (the Ambleside composer for this term). Isobel wants to hear Swan Lake, as she loves the DVD Barbie of Swan Lake. Isobel is listening and keeps saying I know that bit, I know that bit! Phoebe is dancing along. Everyone is laughing. Lovely!