Chapter books 2020

Best book we read 2019

I've decided to write another post on the books we are reading this year. During this time of lock-down, we're reading a bit more than normal. There is also a definite dragon theme going on but I am always on the look out for more ideas!  

Last year I didn't have time to write in all the books we read but one stands out that I must add here in this post. We read it together and it was one of the best books I think I've read with the boys. They give it five stars and have spoken often about things from the book. I think we will re-read in the next weeks but here it is for you now in case you want to start The Secret Garden gets 5 stars from these boys:

The Christmasaurus
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: finding him

Brilliant sequel
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: everything!

Rise of the Earth Dragon
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: worm destroyed the
rocks of the cave

Saving the Sun Dragon
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: When they meet
the moon dragon

Secret of the water dragon
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: when the dragon stone
glows

Chill of the ice dragon
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: when rori came back

Flight of the moon dragon
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: the prime dragon
stone

Song of the poison dragon
Boys rating:5
Best bit: the poison

Roar of the thunder dragon
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: thunder dragon

Search for the lightning
dragon
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: the baby dragon

Power of the fire dragon
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: when worm takes
them to places

This set of three was a huge hit with the boys who give it a five star rating and love the fact that dragons come from dragon fruit (we now have a dragon fruit tree in our garden!)

Bubble boy
Boys rating: 5
Best bits: when he goes outside

Mildred is a favorite here.
Boys rating: 5
Best Bits: When she gets star back

Now we're reading all the how to train the dragon books.
Although they are very different from the films the boys give them a five star rating and want to read them all day everyday!

This is a great continuation
to the dragon series. It explains
most of the dragons in the books
Boys rating: 5 stars

They have read this whole 
series and highly recommend it
5 stars 
Best bits: They defeat the baddy!

Now we have begun the
Harry Potter saga!
5 stars from both boys
best bits are the animals 
and magic!

Another fun series they are enjoying
5 stars again and the best bits are
when they meet a skywing.

The fourth in the series and just as good
5 stars and we cannot wait for book 5!

  

Time for an adventure

This week has been a roller coaster of emotions. We left our beloved house where the boys have grown up. We have the painters in to sort the last bits out before we hand it back to the renting agency. We're temporarily staying at the boys' uncle's house testing out all our camping gear and making our final preparations. The dog has had his blood tests and we await the results this week. It really is a hectic time!

Bye Floripa!

Testing the equipment!

Both boys have been great. We've had the odd moment of sadness or difficulty, but it has passed quickly with lots of reassurance and explanation.

We're ready!

Beautiful early morning walks

We are so excited to start our adventure. It's hard to focus on work/school but we're managing to get our activities done and create new ideas for our travels. The boys have travel journals to write in and collect things. We'll be posting plenty of our activities over on instagram  

Today I am sad

I’m sad

In a little over a week I have to leave the place where my family began. 

I’ve lived in this house for a little over eight years. But it’s not really the house or the time. 

It’s each piece of floor my babies crawled on. 

It’s the kitchen I paced when I was in labour! 

It’s the stairs Alexander taught Eron to climb. 

It’s their room - the happiest place on the planet. 

It’s the bed  time stories 

It’s the snuggles in the middle of the night 

It’s the excitement of a new day. 

It’s our life. 

I’m so excited for the next adventure, but ending this one hurts so deeply.

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.”