"Passion surprises. One doesn't search it. It can happen to you tomorrow."

Day 101-102:

Yesterday seemed to fly by and I didn't take a single photo so I'm lazily adding these two days together. Last year we visited Attingham park a few times around this time of year in search of the Lesser stag for Opeies photo collection of found beetles. Each visit we came away with some photos of some interesting new beetles but sadly never the Lesser stag. As we walked home yesterday through the woodland near us, we turned over logs looking for beetles and there she was, sitting there waiting for a photo. I love how things like this can really make our day and we can now cross off Lesser stag from our list. Next up... we still haven't found Opeie's favourite, the elusive violet ground beetle.

“Learning never exhausts the mind.”

Day 11:

When all this Coronavirus drama is over and we all go back to our usual routines I wonder how many of us will have acquired new hobbies and skills. It would be a waste to not be trying new things while we are all stuck in our homes and lets be honest if you are anything like me at the moment, anything that can get you back in to bed quicker is a bonus and time really does fly when you are doing something interesting. 

We've started watching some drawing classes and have lots of others to watch on various things. I've also been trying to master the Rubix cube. After a few days I can get this far, which I'm feeling pretty chuffed about. Ive just got to master that top layer now.

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."

I love the build up to the boys birthdays, I get so excited about all the prepping. When I asked Opeie what he wanted to do for his birthday this year, that little beetle lover of mine wanted nothing more than to take his friends to the butterfly farm in Stratford-upon-avon, after a very exciting visit last year. Our previous visit was one of those days out that will stay with him for a long long time and that was all down to the interesting and very well educated staff. So it was no surprise really that he would want to go again and share the magic with his friends.

Our previous visit was a dreary and wet day but this time the sun was out and it was amazing to see the difference in the butterflies as they seemed so much more active with the sun shining through the roof. One of the things I love most about the butterfly farm is that the excitement begins as soon as you walk through the doors to the butterfly area. Within a minute each of the kids had a new friend land on them and that was pretty much all they needed to kick start an amazing visit.

One thing that always sticks out when visiting is the interesting and friendly staff that work there.  These guys are so full of amazing informative information and from a home education point of view this is priceless. Mark took us through all of the stages of a butterflies life cycle, pointed out lots of different types of butterflies and answered every question we could throw at him. This visit was a little more exciting too as the kids were able to handle the giant stick insects, millipede's and other fun creatures from the Mini beasts area.

I could spend hours at the butterfly farm, happily sat on a bench with a sketch book, doodling as people walk around in awe of all the beautiful butterflies fluttering by. Being able to bring Opeie's friends along too was a lovely experience for him as many of our visits to various places has just been the 2 of us, so it was nice to share the fun that we have with other Home-Ed children. If you are out for a day trip to Stratford-Upon-Avon then we cant recommend the Butterfly farm enough. I'm sure it wont be long before Opeie wants to visit again. Another truly amazing visit to a place that's full of magic.

"Human life is beyond comprehension."

If there is one thing that I have learnt from the first few years of home education, it's that child lead learning really does work. Being able to design your own timetable around the things that they are interested in is not only effective in their development but the things that they are learning really stick. When I was at school I hated reading and writing comprehension at school. The information I was given was generally dull which meant that I answered the questions based solely on what I had read. I know that's the whole point, but being able to make the reading part an interesting piece full of facts that are of a genuine interest makes all the difference.

 
As we sat at home today shying away from the cold weather for a change, I printed out a sheet about beetles (Opeie's current interest aside from Teen Titans and being chained up only to escape like harry Houdini). I then set out some questions for him to answer in full sentences and left him to it while I made lunch and cleaned the house. Opeie shouted through the house telling me that his activity was fun (a sentence you would have never heard me using when taking about written comprehension).

It was a great activity for putting in to practice all the writing skills that he has learnt over the last couple of years while also giving him fun facts about one of the things that he enjoys learning about most. A win/win for home education. 

"Less is more. I truly believe in buying a few pieces with better construction."

I wasn't sure how I felt when LEGO Mixels were first released, for me they didn't bring out the same need to collect, that the minifigure range have done over the years but I was drawn in by the pocket money prices and tried to steer the boys towards then but with no joy when series 1 and 2 were released. It wasn't until series 3 that Opeie (while in our local toy store) asked if he could please give one a try. It was that day that I saw the true awesomeness of the Mixels range

Not only were they great for the price each bag was filled with some really interesting pieces like eyes, teeth and fun joints. If you are just starting out with LEGO the Mixels are a great way to build up your parts without breaking the bank and because unlike all of the big LEGO themed kits they are not trying to recreate anything from cult movies meaning that it feels more like LEGO taking a step back to how they were originally.

With the introduction of teeth and eyes in each pack even the youngest or most novice builders could create anything using the parts and pop eyes and teeth on and instantly have a new Mixel, amazing! With the release of LEGO Mixels series 6 me and the boys built GURGGLE (Glorp Corp), KRAMM (Weldos) and BERP (Munchos). As always the use of all LEGO's small parts and joints made for a really interesting mini build. As soon as they were built though we set about creating our own and me and Opeie had a 20 minute quick build while dinner was cooking.

LEGO Mixels Series 6 is definitely worth getting your hands on and with Christmas not to far away LEGO Mixels are the perfect creative stocking filler.