An Empty English Heritage Site and a Fluffy Koala Face

Today we seized the day!

We met up with my sister and her two adorable sons for a hot chocolate at a local English Heritage Site.

 We had the whole place to ourselves!

After lunch we were back to business.

The Boy made mini pizzas as part of his Cooking Week

He also requested some time to make...

...THE CUTEST koala known to man.

Panda Girl made an awesome panda for her thematic unit on pandas.

And Monkey Girl finished this amazing Oliver Twist scene, complete with all the characters.

Clever pumpkin!

Poor Ballet Girl is still unwell.  She watched Sense and Sensibility this afternoon, curled up on the sofa, which in my opinion, is THE best way to spend a rainy afternoon! Get well soon Sweetie.

Panda Girl also went to Tap Dancing and Modern Dancing today, and Monkey Girl went to Sea Cadets. 

Oliver Twist and Broccoli Steamers

Today The Boy's cooking project was sausage pasta with buttery broccoli.  He made fork holes in the sausages to stop them from bursting open.

He waited patiently for the bubbles to start in the pan before adding the pasta.

We talked about  using a steamer for the broccoli to keep the goodness inside.

He was also fascinated with leaving the sausage fat to cool and solidify before disposing of it.  We talked about how it can block sinks if you pour the liquid fat away and he had gross, messy fun scraping the solidified fat into the bin.

So far he's made all three lunches this week!

 Monkey Girl had some fun icing Oliver Twist biscuits this morning as part of her Charles Dickens project.

While the kiddies ate them she summarised the plot for the two youngest who have yet to read it.

She also made a brilliant backdrop to an Oliver Twist scene she is designing.  I love the dirty cobbles!

Panda Girl did some cute panda work on the computer.

And this afternoon we had three hours of various gym classes.

This little man (pictured yesterday) is a trooper when it comes to evening ballet chauffeuring for his big sisters.

Shepherd's Pie, Panda Biscuits, Charles Dickens and The Book of Kells

Continuing their own thematic unit ideas this week, The Boy learnt how to make a shepherd's pie from scratch.  He followed his great grandmother's recipe, which I think may have been altered to allow for Second World War rations.

It was delicious!  Good job!

Panda Girl is doing the sweetest panda project, using her vast collection of panda books for information and ideas.

After some written work she took a break and made some panda biscuits.

Papa enjoyed his one with a moustache!

Monkey Girl made a brilliant Life of Charles Dickens poster.

For our art and picture study work this afternoon we looked at The Book of Kells.

The Boy worked SO HARD on his Celtic picture, taken from the Book of Kells.  It's smashing!

Monkey Girl's picture was the Virgin Mary, The Christ Child and four angels.

Panda Girl loves patterns and today's art suited her very well.

Ballet Girl remains unwell with her foot infection.  She spent the morning listening to a story cd of the BBC adaptation of Robin Hood and some time on Minecraft, with a bit of Spanish work thrown in.  I feel grateful for antibiotics and our NHS.   

The Boy had football this afternoon and Monkey Girl went to Intermediate Foundation Ballet.

A Thematic Unit About ?

We have been doing thematic units every week for nine years!!  

We have covered Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, Advent, Easter, The Saints, The Good Shepherd, Space, Dinosaurs, The Romans, The Anglo-Saxons, The Vikings, The Normans, The Middle Ages, The Tudors, The Stuarts, The Georgians, The Regency Period, The Victorians, The Edwardians, The Great War, World War II, Africa, Australia, South America, USA, France, Italy, Scotland, Mexico, China, Japan, Human Anatomy, Mad Science, Maths Fun, The Gruffalo, We're Going on a Bear Hunt, Habitats, The Rainforest, The Sea, The British Coast, The Arctic, The Antarctic, Bats, Spiders, The Desert, Weather, The Olympics, The Winter Olympics, St. Valentines, Leonardo da Vinci, Castles, Life-cycles, Farms, Pumpkins, The Incas, London, Camping and a whole load more that I cannot remember!

We all work together on them in the morning, leaving the afternoons for the rest of our school work.  They can be incredibly cross curricular, hands-on and a great deal of fun!

With this in mind I wanted to allow the children to choose their own individual unit to study this week!

Ballet Girl has chosen to do myths and legends. 

Monkey Girl chose a project on Charles Dickens.

Panda Girl predictably chose pandas!

Watch this space!

And for my Boy I chose to spend a week cooking with him as it is his favourite thing in the whole wide world (aside from may be hammering nails into wood, climbing trees, cycling with a determined look and snuggling with his Blankey).

We started with bread; learning how yeast make it rise and salt gives it taste.

Good job!

That was lunch sorted!

A second variation of dough.  The Boy liked its texture after allowing it to prove for an hour.

This time he plaited the dough and used an egg to glaze it.

Yumma!

Ballet Girl has a bad foot infection and has been feverish and on medication for a while. While she's taking it all in good spirit, she's had a rough old time with it and not much sleep.  She rested all day today and Monkey Girl sweetly sat with her for ages reading her stories and telling her jokes.  I love my children :) 

The Boy also read some pages of his new book Ben Bug, spent some time at his workbench in the garage doing important things with a hammer and a piece of wood, and the rest of the day was for trampolining lessons and Sea Cadets.