Half way through · Monday March 26, 2007 by Lily
I’m half way through the blog already.
I think it reads as though we are very structured. We’re working towards ds going college to take probably 4 GCSEs next year and we feel we need to prepare him with some background studies.
We did have another fairly structured year when R was 12/13 and he sat GCSE ICT at a small college. We chose to do this for several reasons. Firstly, it was a natural progression from the IT studies he’d already done, secondly we wanted him to see what taking a GCSE course and exam was really like, he had very little concept of exams apart from the dreaded SATS and thirdly for the “bit of paper” it would lead to; but all done in a small class specifically for younger children. He used to go with dh on Saturdays, making a very early start and doing a 2 hour practical class and a 2 hour theory class. Actually it was during the walk from the station to the college that the bus interest arose, something to pass the time as it was a very long walk. During the week he/we would spend most of the time typing up class notes, reading the chapter in the text book and doing the homework or past papers.
On the whole, I think we have been fairly autonomous. We have spent a lot of time out and about. We’ve visited the Opera, Ballet and theatre, we’ve seen Shakespeare many times in the theatre and in ruined castles, we’ve been to art galleries and museums, concerts, and Royal Institution lectures; he managed to go to all of the Christmas Lectures last year. We’ve peered down holes in the road, walked into town reciting the odd numbers on houses one way, even going back, we’ve been taken upstairs to see the inside of a tudor house not open to the public and so on. We’re fortunate to live in an historic town where there have been recent archaeological excavations and we’ve been able to chat to the archaeologists and official metal detectors as they’ve dug up Roman and Medieval artifacts. They even gave us specimens. We watched a rare salt ship being dug out over a period of months and were able to see it lifted inch by inch and loaded onto a lorry and taken away for preservation when the town’s children were at their desks. We’ve been to weekly table top sales and bought old glass bottles dug up from local soil and other odds and ends for a few pence. We’ve trawled the charity shops, looked in on auctions, the list is endless. I used to write a daily diary, but time is too precious now though I keep a lever arch file of tickets and brochures for every year of HE.
There is never enough time. We could fill our days 5 times over.
