Home education

We have decided to home educate our boys.

It's been a tough decision but one we feel is right for our family right now.
Both boys are so happy with the decision and are putting great efforts into their work. We are using a relaxed approach aiming to cover the UK and Brazilian national curriculum. (UK curriculum can be found here).

So far our days go at their pace but cover reading and phonics, handwriting/creative writing, maths (we're using maths mammoth), science (animal studies, microscope work, human body, life cycles, trees and plants and anything else that comes up - so far, weather, how things are made), history (we use Story of the World - followed by drawing and narrating the story, which I note down and keep in a folder together with the drawings), they have a football/sports class once a week and go swimming a few times a week. Other subjects are incorporated into everyday learning and in general we visit the library once a week.

The big question that we have been asked repeatedly over the past months is 'what about socialisation?' Well, we have play dates several times a week, they have football club, they are out in society more for everyday errands and they communicate with a wider range of people than they would if they were at school all day. We are teaching them respect and confidence through real life activities and giving them peer opportunities as often as we can. They are still young so this could become an issue further down the line but at this point they have no complaints regarding the amount of time with friends.

Below are a few of the materials we are using to make school fun (affiliate links). 
We would love to hear your thoughts both from other home educators and those in the mainstream system. What would be/are your worries/concerns? How do you cope with your decision for education? 
Please leave us a comment below and be sure to follow our daily homeschool journey over on instagram 

Complimentary education/homeschooling?

For those of you who read my last post, you will know how unhappy our family has been with the entrance into the school system here. After a couple of months, I have seen how weak the level of teaching is and have decided I have to up my game on the homeschooling front. We have always educated our kids at home, but usually in a complementary manner, trusting the system, yet helping our boys to reach their personal learning goals. Well, that has gone right out the window, and here's why.

I took my son out of school for one day. My youngest son had an event at his school (a breakfast meet and greet for the whole family), which I thought was important for my oldest son to attend. After the event my youngest went to his class and I kept my oldest with me for the last two hours of class, as I felt he would already have missed the day and we could spend some much needed time together. We actually used the time to visit his friends at his old school which he had be longing for - and this was the perfect opportunity. 

Anyway, the next day he went to school as normal but came home with 6 pages of homework (purely for missing one day of school). I was dumbfounded. We diligently sat and completed the exercises which were mostly "circle this", "colour that" type drills. He complained a little but we managed to complete all 6 pages within an hour and he went off to play.

Later that day I went through the three notebooks that had come home with him that day. All the activities were the same. The level (in my opinion) is very basic - pre-lit skills, comparative math skills - and each sheet way too small for the size of his handwriting i.e., age.

When we went to bed, I managed to subtly ask him about his schoolwork and he confirmed my fears. This is what he must complete each day at school - in silence - sitting down at a single desk. 

Well, clearly this won't help him to enjoy learning or find the potential joys of his life. So, I've upped my game at home. I have little power within the school (as my previous post demonstrates), but I can give him an oasis of knowledge at home. 

Now we are playing maths games, including Cuisenaire rods, on a daily basis. I'll be posting plenty of videos of our games and methods on our youtube channel so be sure to sign up.

We are reading daily and (as you already know) we read heaps of chapter books (checkout our chapter books of 2018 here).

We make time for drawing and writing (content, not style). And, conversations that come up are completed in depth to include quick youbtube videos or google searches of anything we can't find in our encyclopedias!

We have done away with daily TV time and replaced it with app time (they choose which app from a pre-chosen selection - see our app post here).

And lots of play. 
Free play, lego play, role play. Simply any kind of play they can come up with. 

And do you know what? They are thriving on it all. They enjoy the ease of learning. The fun we have together, the simplicity of it all. No-one needs to sit and complete endless sheets of activities, it's all happening here in our front room.




Some of the resources we use (affiliate links) are shown below. We appreciate all your support and continued interest.Please add any thoughts or suggestions below in the comments or on our Facebook page. Alternatively you can find us on instagram @independent_individuals

School in Brazil - it's no carnival!

Today I’m going to tell you about school.

As this blog is written in English I’m sure I’m writing to an audience who (likely) send their kids to UK or USA public or private schools.

Today I want to tell you about our school choice here in Brazil and how it is affecting our family.

We have chosen to send our 6 year old (year 1/first grader) to a state public school in the south of Brazil where we live. It is in a good neighbourhood and should be a go to school for the community around it. But it isn’t. Our son is in a class of 13 children. At the introductory meeting six families were present from a potential 40 (one class study in the morning and another in the afternoon).

Why, you may ask. Well so far we have felt the school has given little or no information. We are not welcome inside the school except once a year on family day (or the odd open day). We must drop our tiny 6 year old off at the main gate to make his way amongst giants (14 year olds) to find his classroom in a place that he has yet to be familiar with. This in itself has caused several stressful departures and afternoons of sensory play and swimming (which he luckily has full access to at home). When asked about parent participation, the school were curious to understand what this might be!

So why do we send him there?

Well, we want to believe that the country we live in and that they were born in can provide what they need. We are not foreigners passing through. We are members of this community, town, state and country and we want it to be better and desirable. And, the other options open to us are costly but do not bring a significantly better option. Private schools offer bilingual programs (not necessary for the boys) and perhaps some extra tech courses but overall the basic education is the same.

Why is this school so bad then?

Well, it’s not! Unfortunately this may be the standard. Unfortunately it may be ok to speak to people in this manner and disregard children’s emotional needs. But it shouldn’t be this way.

So, for now our child attends this school and not at his risk but because legally he must attend school and this is the one we choose. We will be addressing all the issues and fighting for change. Because without this parent force nothing will change. We will protect him, help him and comfort him through all the adjustments like any parent and child have ever done and he will thrive and blossom. I wish I could say this for all his peers and every member of that school, but at this time I cannot confidently tell you that.

So why have I written this to you today?

Because many people think things cannot be soooo bad in other countries. That’s true on some level. But my experience here is that this school should be on another level and nobody is working towards that. I want to help all children to have a fair, balanced and fun education and that needs to start right here.

If you want to know more or have conflicting views I really want to hear from you. I want the best for my boys and for all the kids that will pass through the system. Let’s make this work!

Fantastic quote from Roald Dahl's charlie and the chocolate factory

This is currently my favorite quote from a children's book. The Oompa-Loompa's song about Mike Teavee from Charlie and the chocolate factory by Roald Dahl


“The most important thing we’ve learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set–
Or better still, just don’t install
The idiotic thing at all.
In almost every house we’ve been,
We’ve watched them gaping at the screen.
They loll and slop and lounge about,
And stare until their eyes pop out.
(Last week in someone’s place we saw
A dozen eyeballs on the floor.)
They sit and stare and stare and sit
Until they’re hypnotised by it,
Until they’re absolutely drunk
With all the shocking ghastly junk.
Oh yes, we know it keeps them still,
They don’t climb out the window sill,
They never fight or kick or punch,
They leave you free to cook the lunch
And wash the dishes in the sink–
But did you ever stop to think,
To wonder just exactly what
This does to your beloved tot?
IT ROTS THE SENSES IN THE HEAD!
IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD!
IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND!
IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND
HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND
A FANTASY, A FAIRYLAND!
HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE!
HIS POWERS OF THINKING RUST AND FREEZE!
HE CANNOT THINK–HE ONLY SEES!
‘All right!’ you’ll cry. ‘All right!’ you’ll say,
‘But if we take the set away,
What shall we do to entertain
Our darling children? Please explain!’
We’ll answer this by asking you,
‘What used the darling ones to do?
‘How used they keep themselves contented
Before this monster was invented?’
Have you forgotten? Don’t you know?
We’ll say it very loud and slow:
THEY…USED…TO…READ! They’d READ and READ,
AND READ and READ, and then proceed
To READ some more. Great Scott! Gadzooks!
One half their lives was reading books!
The nursery shelves held books galore!
Books cluttered up the nursery floor!
And in the bedroom, by the bed,
More books were waiting to be read!
Such wondrous, fine, fantastic takes
Of dragons, gypsies, queens, and whales
And treasure isles, and distant shores
Where smugglers rowed with muffled oars,
And pirates wearing purple pants,
And sailing ships and elephants,
And cannibals crouching ’round the pot,
Stirring away at something hot.
(It smells so good, what can it be?
Good gracious, it’s Penelope.)
The younger ones had Beatrix Potter
With Mr. Tod, the dirty rotter,
And Squirrel Nutkin, Pigling Bland,
And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and–
Just How The Camel Got His Hump,
And How The Monkey Lost His Rump,
And Mr. Toad, and bless my soul,
There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole–
Oh, books, what books they used to know,
Those children living long ago!
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
Go throw your TV set away,
And in its place you can install
A lovely bookshelf on the wall.
Then fill the shelves with lots of books,
Ignoring all the dirty looks,
The screams and yells, the bites and kicks,
And children hitting you with sticks–
Fear not, because we promise you
That, in about a week or two
Of having nothing else to do,
They’ll now begin to feel the need
Of having something good to read.
And once they start–oh boy, oh boy!
You watch the slowly growing joy
That fills their hears. They’ll grow so keen
They’ll wonder what they’d ever seen
In that ridiculous machine,
That nauseating, foul, unclean,
Repulsive television screen!
And later, each and every kid
Will love you more for what you did.
P.S. Regarding Mike Teavee,
We very much regret that we
Shall simply have to wait and see
If we can get him back his height.
But if we can’t–it serves him right.”

Iceland - snow and lights

We have just returned from a wonderful trip to the UK (to visit family) and to Iceland (to explore). The boys have completed 55 and 46 flights (6 and 4 years old). We love to travel with them and see how they benefit from all the experiences they encounter. 

Here we share all our highlights from our trip to Iceland and all the attractions we managed to squeeze into our short time there.

Arriving 

We got to several great places on our trip including Whales of Iceland which has its own Orca whale climbing frame/play area!. We visited a thermal pool in the small village of Hafnarfjorour where we were staying. 

We spent three nights in Iceland and had such a wonderful time. It is  a magical land and the energy of the country is amazing. We all loved playing in the snow and managed to go sledging with our friends over at Slow Travel with Kids who also loaned us all the winter gear we needed for the boys.

We also spent an afternoon at the Blue Lagoon where the boys enjoyed swimming and playing in the thermal waters while the air temperature was -5! We wondered why they made all children wear armbands in the lagoon even when they could swim but once in the water we realized it was the safest way to see all children, as visibility was very minimal amid the steam!

On our last night, we were blessed with a show of the Northern lights. The Aurora is a spectacular thing to see and we were fortunate to see it from the bedroom window!  

Last night - dream come true 

Iceland is a wonderful place to visit with small children and a place we will be sure to visit again in the future. It is full of wonder, snow and what can only be described as magic. The only downfall for the kids was the smell of the natural hot water (eggy farts, apparently)!!!

Chapter books we've read in 2018

This year we've decided to show you all the books we've read with the boys. They are now 4 and 6 (in a few days) and they both love to be read to. We read chapter books with them more and more and thought it would be interesting to add our selection for you. We also read picture books, especially with the 4 year old, but we've decided to stick to chapter books for this post. Every time we finish a book in 2018 it will be added here (affiliate links). I am adding the boys ratings with their opinion of the best bits and the lows - and be warned, they are extremely critical! Enjoy, and if you have any great suggestions, please let us know in the comments below or over on Facebook.

The Lion, The witch and the wardrobe.
Boys rating 3 stars and 0 stars!
Best bits: the end and killing the witch.
 Lows: The turning to stone

Magic school bus: Electric storm
Boys rating 5 stars
Best bits: When the magic school bus goes small

Tom's Midnight Garden
Boys rating: 3 and 0 stars
Best bits: Travelling back in time
Lows: The start. I hated it!

Zoey and Sassafras -
Caterflies and Ice
Boys rating 5 stars
Best bits: Baby caterflies and
 funny sassafras
Grown up caterflies but not the salt ruining
 the catnip plants!

The Christmasaurus
Boys rating 5 and 4 stars
Best bits: the christmasaurus
lows: The hunter

The Velveteen Rabbit
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best bit: real rabbits
The fairy

Gobbolino the witch's cat
Boys rating: 3 and 4 stars
Best bit: turns into kitchen cat
the end
Lows: abandoned, the start 

Ask Oscar
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best bits: when he finds the dog
All of it!

Magic Tree House:
Valley of the Dinosaurs
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best bit: stroking dinosaur
flying on the pterasor

The otter who wanted
to know
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best bits: the ride in the
airplane

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best buts: chocolate!

James and the giant peach
Boys rating 4 stars
Best bits: the seagulls
Lows: the aunts

I, Houdini
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best bits: we want a hamster!

Magic tree house:
Night of the Ninjas
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best bits: Ninjas, Magic

Magic tree house:
Adventure in the amazon
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best bits: rain forest and animals

Magic tree house:
Moon mission
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best bits: mouse, space

Magic tree house:
Mammoth to the rescue
Boys rating: 5 stars
Best bits: Ice age people,
secret caves

The Magician's Nephew
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: meet aslan

Prince Caspian
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: he turned
into a prince!

The Horse and his Boy
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: he meets the girl

The voyage of the Dawn Treader
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: the end

The pod and the bog
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: all of it

Charlie and the great
glass elevator
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: shooting knids

Who was Albert Einstein?
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: he's the best
thinker in the whole world

A mouse called wolf
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: the mouse when he sings

Magic Tree House
Diving with Dolphins
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: the dolphin and
the submarine

Magic Tree House
A Wild West Ride
Boys rating: 3
Best bits: echo, horses
Lows: ghosts

Magic Tree House
Lions on the Loose
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: Giraffe, all of it

Magic Tree House
Icy Escape
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: polar bear mother, huskies

The Sheep-pig
Boys rating: 5 and 4
Best bits: trained to be a
sheep-pig
Lows: the wolves

Ace
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: getting a skinful!

Daggie Dogfoot
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: all of it,
swimming

Who was King Tut?
Boys rating: 4
Best bits: when he died
Lows: the fights

The Animals of Farthing Wood
Boys rating: 3 & 5
Best bits: the fox and vixen
Lows: the humans

Alice in Wonderland
Boys rating 5 & 3
Best bits: the rabbit
Lows: the queen

Winnie the Pooh
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: when pooh bear
catches himself in a hole

The Wind in the Willows
Boys rating: 5 & 4
Best bits: the crazy toad
Lows: the toad!

Dragons at Crumbling Castle
Boys rating: 3
Best bits: Dragons
Lows: some of the stories are
boring.

Who was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart?
Boys rating: 4
Best bits: piano
Lows: he's not a mouse!

Magic tree house 17-24
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: all the books together!

Gulliver's Travels
Boys rating 5
Best bits: when he's tiny

Goodnight stories for
rebel girls (aka: the ladies book)
Boys rating 5
Best bits: finding out about the alive
ones and watching the songs.