Foggy...

 Sometimes when you're having a bad week it only takes the littlest of things to make it all better...

Glad there wasn't any spiders in them though...

Homework ............

This is going to be a post where I have a moan ... a moan about the boys school and homework in particular.

When Gabriel first started school at age 3 he went to nursery for half a day, during that time they played a lot , mostly with educational toys but it was fun.

At age 4 he was in Reception full time, in this class he mostly played but there was also work done and the odd bits of homework were sent home .


He is now 5 and is in Year One His birthday is in July so he is one of the youngest in his class, some of his friends have already had their 6th birthdays.

During the week he gets a piece of homework which incorporates reading and spelling. Once the word has been learned he can colour it in. He also has reading books which are to be read for ten minutes every night. Once the book is finished I mark it in his reading folder and he is given a new one.

On Thursday nights he is given his ' homework folder' which is to be done over the weekend and this is where my problem starts. In the folder are 3 pieces of work . Two of them are literacy based where he has to read, write, and spell the words and then make up a sentence which incorporates that word and the other is for numeracy.

Personally I do think that this is perhaps just a little too much for a 5 year old but I can go with it. My main objection to this homework is the fact that they have said ' it is to be done over the weekend' !

Now most of the parents that I know work during the week and see the weekend as family time. The two days where you can actually see, spend time and have fun with your children. The time when memories can be made , to laugh, to run about and do all those things that can't be done during the week.

I have no objection to reading at the weekend but all this homework just takes the biscuit so I've decided to take a stand.
I will do one thing when it is first brought home and the rest can be done during the week. On Monday I am going to send a letter into the teacher ( I tried to make an appointment to see her but that was a week ago and I'm still waiting for a response). In this letter I will explain what I have said here and see what she says .

It will probably end in me being summoned to the head teacher ho hum..

So do you think I'm right or am I wrong.... I'd love to know what you think?

Being A Hedgehog.........

It's just gone 1pm and outside the rain is lashing down one minute and then sunny the next. There is only me at home and I'm taking some time to enjoy the silence because it doesn't happen very often.

I've got the heating on, the smell of sausage and bean casserole is wafting through from the kitchen and I'm thinking about making some banana bread.


Autumn is most definitely here and I've just gone into total hibernation mode.  Most days once I've finished work and collected the boys from school I can't wait to get home close the door behind us and wait for it to get dark so I can draw the blinds and shut the world out.

I've gone from wanting fruit for breakfast to hankering after full on fry ups and from salads for tea to casseroles or stews with dumplings or mashed potato. I'm in total stodge mode, which is not good for the waistline!

I just feel like being a hedgehog and curling up for a nice long sleep then waking up all refreshed in the Spring.

Oh and speaking of Spring.... our strawberry plants have just started flowering !!