Rations and Football

In 1940 Britain created the Ministry of Food and rationing began.  It didn't end until nine years after the end of the war.  The children made their own ration books and national registration identity cards.

The Boy made one for his most special Blankey and he even measured his 'height' to have all the correct information in his national registration identity card.

We measured out a weekly ration for an adult.  1 egg and 50g of cheese is not much at all.  Goodness.

After lunch the children worked solidly for two hours on English, Science and Spanish.

 Panda Girl had Grade 3 Ballet this afternoon.  The Boy was Star of the Day at Football!  And Ballet Girl and Panda Girl had an hour of Inter Foundation Ballet.

World War II and Evacuees

Moving through our 20th Century thematic unit we have paused on World War II.  

We have some super memorabilia from my maternal grandparents who were in the RAF and WAAF.

I set out lots of posters, propaganda, newspapers, articles, government leaflets, and photos for the children to look through in the morning.

And we commenced with the early 1939 pre-war precautions: evacuating the children and providing gas masks in case of gas attack.

The children dressed as evacuees and packed their suitcases (one set of clothes, teddy, book, biscuits and gas mask).  Unbeknownst to them I had pre-arranged with my sister to drive to hers and offload them as evacuees in her lovely, grand, old house.  They were unsure of our destination and we talked about how this must have been how the evacuees felt.

They had fun role-playing in her empty upstairs rooms.

After lunch the kiddies worked on Maths, Spanish and English...

 ...And The Boy drew a super dinosaur!

Monday afternoons are for Trampolining and Sea Cadets.

Homes and 'Wicked'

 We worked our little socks off today! My baby Royal Marine did some cute work about homes and houses as our home was built in 1911, which is in the decade we are studying for our 20th Century unit.

He did a tangram puzzle, worked on consonants, letter forming and rhyming words.

This fidget needs to move about when she's working.  I love her :)

The two of them made some cute houses.

The two eldest had some multiple choice work for World War I, learning more advanced words and understanding military terms.

This afternoon we read two chapters from our favourite history book.

 Following the beheading of King Charles I, Prince Charles his son, escaped and hid in an oak tree, before eventually fleeing to France; meaning Oliver Cromwell became Lord Protector and the country became a Commonwealth.

The kiddies also worked on their Spanish, English and Handwriting, 

And I'm finishing the week with an evening out with a bunch of my siblings and then a trip to the theatre with friends to see Wicked tomorrow. Yay!

Ballet Girl is spending the weekend at Sea Cadets  for her Continuity Drill Training practice for the Area Competition and also working towards her First Class promotion...

...and Monkey Girl, Panda Girl and The Boy have a cousins get together, Lego at the library and a play-date to look forward to this weekend.

World War I Trench Cake

In our 20th Century Unit study we have arrived at World War I.  Panda Girl and The Boy made a Trench Cake which was a fruit cake made from simple, cheap ingredients, that friends and family would have sent the soldiers in the trenches on the front line.

It was tasty, all things considered.  I have taught my children a recipe for a cake that my grandmother used to make which is similar to the Trench Cake.  I wonder if its origins were in the Trench Cake.

All four children wrote a letter each to a solider in our armed forces which we will send this week

And each spent some time on some World War I resources, available on the BBC School site.

This afternoon the children worked on Map Work, Science, English, Geography, Story-Writing...

...and Spanish.  We finished at 4pm.  Phew!

There were lots of play-dough breaks.

And then it all got very artistic and we had to cook the play-dough to harden it into these masterpieces.

Finishing with Sea Cadets tonight for the two eldest and their Papa.

The Wright Brothers and a History Degree

This morning we measured flights!

The Wright Brothers first flight was 37 metres and their fourth was a little longer at 260 metres.  The children were delighted to measure a huge length of road in our village to work out the distances that the Wright Brothers flew on their first flight test in North Carolina on 17th December 1903. Apparently measuring the pavement in front of passing cars is extremely amusing.

Having blown away the cobwebs, the two youngest worked on their Wright Brothers project...

...while the two eldest began looking at the causes of World War I, including the significance of imperialism, militarism and nationalism.  Please appreciate the fact that we are all writing with quills today - I have no idea why.

Today I started my BA (Hons) History degree!  It's going to take me six years and I am daunted, excited and I think, slightly insane.

I spend a lot of time with my kiddies at their various activities (three hours at gym today - here's Panda Girl waiting for her class to start), so the plan is to spend some of that time being useful, i.e. studying.  Here goes nothing!