Re-Entry (or, Not-Back-To-School) 2025

I think in some parts of the UK, school has already started at the end of last week. On my radar was that it starts this coming week, but I think the timings are different in different places... but anyhow, we feel like we've only just really 'landed' back home. After Vienna, we were back home for just under a week before we went away again, camping in Wales with a national Christian home education group. 140 families! It was busy, it was wet (Wales...), we barely saw the kids the entire time as they were having a fantastic time with fellow home ed kids. 

Mr. did manage to take D(9) up a 'mountain' nearby, as that had been an ambition of D's for a while. And I was so blessed to watch N(10) take part in an acoustic worship session with her guitar, the first time she played in front of others.

River Wye

Lego in the tent with a friend

In worship 

The issue of trying new things 

One of the great things about home education is that each child can really explore their interests, and try many different things. Even in the short time we've been back from Vienna, we've tried a couple of new things: first, we went birdwatching with a local group, which was interesting but unfortunately quite wet. And then D tried fencing, which he had greatly enjoyed as a half term activity some time back - he had a trial session, seemed to enjoy it and won a few battles, but afterwards he decided that fencing wasn't for him. I have a hard time accepting that, having seen that he enjoyed himself, but have held back from trying to persuade him otherwise. His decision.

My trouble is that he doesn't seem to greatly enjoy, well, almost anything! Except for collecting stuff. While N loves so many things, from chess to football to writing / illustrating books, D seems ambivalent about almost everything except for Lego (collecting ever more) and Ninjago, or perhaps TV in general. I try to offer him different experiences in the hope that he will love something - we've tried competitive swimming, all sorts of science-y activities, rugby, model railways, and much more - but while he'll generally try anything, appear to enjoy himself and get on well with it, he's not keen to stick with any of it. The only activity he chose to continue when asked was Badgers, and even that was not an enthusiastic 'YES!' and more an 'alright then'. If I didn't ask him to continue, he'd definitely drop piano and altar serving too. Contrasting this with N's enthusiasm for so many things, I find this quite difficult to accept... but, he is a very different character and will happily play by himself, strongly preferring his own company or that of one or two friends to any group activities. Oh well. I pray for the wisdom to know when to back off, and when to press on.

Bird watching

Lego, Lego, Lego

Shaping our weeks

So our weeks ahead seem to be quite set now. On Mondays we continue attending the Christian co-op every fortnight, alternating with play sessions at the adventure playground and community allotment. Speaking of the allotment: we had our first harvest, having missed most of the tomatoes we planted: there was a big harvest, which all rotted on the vine because we weren't there. I have now decided to give up the allotment again... the kids hadn't really engaged with it (although they do want to continue with the community allotment after-school sessions every other Monday), and I simply don't have time for it. 

D continues with St John's Badgers every Monday evening, after which I take the kids to their grandparents for the night and the day after; this year I work a full day on Tuesdays, followed by a two-year weekly course in Catechesis from 7-9 the same day! So we have decided that on Tuesdays, Mr. goes to visit his parents after work and will cook for them all, which will be a lovely way for them to spend more time with their son - as in previous years it was almost always myself who ferried the kids to and from theirs.

That's their Tuesday. Wednesdays are now free, and also dog free thanks to Cody's wonderful friend Suzanne, which means it's the perfect day for all-day outings. I'm thinking of Welsh castles within reach, zoos and museums, Slimbridge Wetlands, Cheddar Gorge and other full day trips - the world's our oyster! 

On Thursdays, I work a half day now and that's going to be their tablet time, which they generally use for Minecraft and creating stop-motion animations. I've spotted a home ed meet-up at the Zoo on Thursday afternoons so we'll probably check that out, otherwise it'll be a day for quite home activities. I also wanted to do some more baking with them, which isn't my strength but perhaps if I schedule it in as a regular activity....

Friday mornings will now be our grocery shopping time, having decided to give up the convenience of Ocado. Having that did make my life much easier, but I feel it'll be beneficial for the kids to take part in grocery shopping - spotting bargains, comparing prices, making decisions with me. Of course this is much less convenient and more time consuming, but hey. Maybe over time we'll get to where I can send them in the shop and wait outside or in the cafe while they do the shop? - hey, I can dream...

And then it's the weekend. So this is how our plans look at the moment, subject to change of course but I'm so ready for a regular, predictable routine again!