Learn without Limits CIC Blog

This week M had difficulty with his Briteschool maths assignment on fractions, which for M is very unusual and so this took up more of our time than anticipated. M is behind in maths, not because he lacks aptitude for the subject but because his previous school career was so disjointed and he spent several years unsupported and unable to access the curriculum. We also went for our first appointment at the new GP to get the persistent verrucca on his foot looked at. I was so pleased that he allowed his foot to be examined and asked sensible questions about the wait and procedure to have it removed. The OT's advice at our last appointment was superb and really made the difference as prior to her prescribed desensitisation programme M would not have consented to the examination. This represents a major success in coping with his sensory issues for M! Wednesday was Bonfire night and M's recent forays into reading the newspaper have made him curious as to how the government actu...

This was the week I felt like social activities for M in our new home and locale are finally falling into place. Our regular activities are now as follows:- Monday Evening -  Social club at Families for the Disabled. (Council activity for SN kids with any diagnosis). Wednesday Evening - Puppy Training class Friday Evening - Youth Club at the Trehafod Gospel Hall Sundays - Sunday School at the Trehafod Gospel Hall. Monthly - Porthcawl Home Ed Group (date will vary as some activities are more suitable than others). In addition we have learning related Home Education Trips planned with other home educators at various points during the year. I'm particularly looking forward to the Tudor House trip to Tenby. Unfortunately M's current diagnosis means that he is ineligible for Trehafod organised autism outreach activities and I have to admit this has confirmed to me that a mainstream school in Swansea would have been wholly unsuitable for his needs. Previous bitter experience...

This week was a week of highs and lows on the socialisation front for M. On the one hand our first trip to the Monday social club was declared a roaring success. The children present were such a lovely range of ages and abilities, and the staff so welcoming that M immediately absorbed the non-judgmental atmosphere and soaked up the feeling of acceptance with gusto. I also appreciated being able to take 5 minutes to take a phone call about a recently hospitalised relative who is causing great concern. It was also nice to hear the Mums present swap stories about behavioral issues. No issues with M having me around in the background "just in case", at this event! The consensus from both of us was that this needs to become part of our regular schedule. The success of Monday meant that the contrast with Friday's expedition was made all the more stark. M has been before, knows the children and some of the parents from last year's Rhos group. In addition we traveled there ...

This seems to have been a week where M has demonstrated his mastery of skills learned and his increasing confidence in his own abilities. Lots of consolidation has taken place. M has enjoyed using the skills learnt on his futurelearn science course to plot a graph showing the weight of his bantam eggs over time. It has been nice to see him easily generalising a skill independently without adult prompting as historically this has been a real area of difficulty for him. It was also useful revision of an important maths topic. He enjoyed visiting a Church craft fete at the weekend with friends and is getting quite confident about money, change and the social skills needed for a purchase. So confident in fact that, he intends to do the shopping for the roast dinner he plans to cook unassisted for myself and his Gran. This is a new target he has set himself to accomplish and demonstrates his improvement in his motor skills. This week he learned how to make the roast potatoes and the yor...

The weather this week was very changeable. We had a lovely afternoon, and a morning looking at the free RNLI KS2 resources on beach safety. We've also spent lots of time on social stories, to try and help M cope when he realises that older children are teasing him at social events and activities. It sends him into a panic and can upset him to the point of meltdown so really needs addressing before our next community farm visit in particular as some of the teens there honed in upon his vulnerability to torment him when we last visited. To do this we've used our "Lego Story Starter" trial pack and done lots of role play. Luckily our 15 year old neighbour is on the spectrum, and understand's M's fears - enough to role play the solutions after school M has decided upon with my help during the day. Hopefully M will now be willing to try some new organised social activities in the weeks ahead, instead of just relying on play dates and dog walks with neig...

With the Xmas season approaching, home made sweeties can be a lovely gift to make together for friends and family. Using the microwave is often easier to handle safely than a hot stove top when dealing with molten sugar. Here are some recipes to get you started, the coconut ice & peppermint creams require no cooking at all, so is perfect if there are toddlers who would like to get involved, while perhaps an older child operates the microwave.  This is my version of Scottish "Tablet "which is a "crumbly fudge " 450g (1 lb) caster sugar 125g (4 1/2 oz) unsalted butter 170g (6 oz) EVAPORATED milk . NOTE not CONDENSED MILK ... ( USE THE BIGGEST BOWL YOU CAN GET IN THE MICROWAVE ..TO WILL NOT BELIEVE THE MESS IF IT OVER BOILS lol ) Prep:5min › Cook:12min › :2hr setting Pour all the ingredients into a LARGE microwavable bowl (as the mixture cooks it expands) and beat well. Place in the microwave on high for 12 minutes. ( I keep checking and beating ) every ...

We went for a lovely walk on Thursday in the sunshine with the dogs to look for flowers, so that M could study the flower structures from his Briteschool homework task of the previous week. We also had great fun searching for wild plants that can reproduce via runners in our surrounding neighbourhood. The pace of the Briteschool KS3 science curriculum is quite a brisk one, so we can't always find the time for this sort of thing. It takes M so much longer then the norm to produce any written work, even the models he's been producing in recent weeks instead of reports are time consuming to produce. The British weather may not be on our side for much longer either, as it's hard to make scientific observations in the driving rain. I'm really pleased with the diagrams that M has managed to produce so far this term as it's a tangible sign that his fine motor skills are improving. His drawings are so much neater than when we began our homeschool journey, mak...

Thursday is M's long day with his online school, so is the day I can do my planning. This week I decided to gather together all the free resource links I've found to date and pop them in one place for easy reference in the future. We are unlikely to use them all this school year. Free Home Education Resources Parliament Book a parliament loan box to learn about how government works http://www.parliament.uk/education/teaching-resources-lesson-plans/parliament-loan-box/ British legion http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/remembrance/schools-and-learning/learning-pack Farming, & food production Grow your own potatoes http://gyop.potato.org.uk/PreRegister.aspx?PageId=51 Grain Chain We are using the map poster as our introduction to Geography this year. We start each week with a global breakfast on Monday mornings. http://www.grainchain.com/Teachers/order-resources.html   In the spring we will grow our own grains in the garden (probably sweet corn, amaranth and...

High Interest/Low Reading Age books (courtesy of Swansea LA) Name Description Age Range Publisher/Supplier Jump Start Early intervention for children who are falling behind.  RA of 5, but IA of 6+ 6+ Years 2-3 Collins Educational www.collinseducation.com Wellington Square A series of reading books with an initial RA of below 6. There are 5 levels available.  The CD ROMs are very useful for KS3.  Levels 4 & 5 include a secondary teacher’s handbook. KS2 Early KS3 Nelson Thornes www.nelsonthornes.com    Jets (Young Lions) 39 motivating books for reluctant readers, written by the UK’s leading children’s authors Upper KS2 KS3 Collins www.collinseducation.com Wolf Hill Popular  -  look like real paperbacks. Five levels of difficulty for reluctant or struggling readers with a RA of 6.5.   Ye...