My secret desire

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I am sure most of us have some secret desire or dream job that we like to daydream about. The secret desire of my heart is simply this, that I wish I could home educate my children. Much as I am enjoying the tidier house and quiet times during the day now that Tom and Lily are at school, I can't help but feel that I am depriving them of a better education. You see, here's the shocker, I like spending time with my children and I would love to have the privilege of educating them. I think a love of learning is more important than doing well in tests and exams and I don't think this is something that is of first priority in the state school system.

I often spend my free moments reading about Charlotte Mason and her method of home education. Many of my favourite blogs are those of home-educating mothers and I love to read about what they do in their 'homeschools'. I daydream about book lists, art and music appreciation, nature studies and field trips. I thrill to the idea of my children following their own interests instead of those of the crowd, learning in a way and at a speed that suits them and revelling in their individuality. I think of a world where my children can have their questions answered instead of being made to sit quietly because teacher is talking, where they can play and learn outside whenever the weather permits and where we can learn about the seaside by visiting it instead of reading about it. This is a world where the moral standards my children learn are those we believe in, not those of the state, where we can sit and enjoy books together whenever the mood or an idea takes us and where they know that what they think and who they are really matters. This is not a world that tells a four year old child she can't go and get her cardigan when she is cold, that sends words home when a child isn't ready to start reading yet or makes an almost six year old have to learn in a reception class because the school can't afford a second Year 1 teacher.
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Sadly, this is just a world that I dream about and that doesn't really exist. As we all learn fairly on in our lives, we can't have everything we wish for. I just wanted to say to any home-educating mothers who might read this, you and your children are extremely lucky. I salute you!

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• A good summary of the Charlotte Mason approach to home education can be found here
• This article pretty much sums up my thoughts about why I think home education is better than traditional schooling

Messing about in boats

On the last day of our holiday we decided to have a quiet day as we would spend the next two days travelling. We knew that a mere twenty minutes walk away from our lodge was a loch, with rowing boats belonging to the holiday park. We packed up a thermos for tea, juice for the Podlings and some biscuits and took a walk through the woods to the loch. We spent a happy hour by (and on) the water enjoying the peace and messing about in the boats. Tom and Lily enjoyed the novelty of consuming their juice and biscuits on a boat and even Emma got to have a little ride. It was a lovely way to spend our last day in the Highlands.
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All things bright and beautiful

Marvelling at the glory of God's creation

I love purple heather. I grew up spending a lot of time on Dartmoor and it was never more beautiful than when the heather was in flower. The heather was in full bloom in the Highlands, painting the landscape with its glorious colour.

I was so excited to find this Fly Agaric toadstool (the first of many) in the woods. I've only ever seen pictures of them before. They are extremely beautiful up close.
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Tain Hill

One evening we took a walk in the woods on Tain Hill, a mere fifteen minutes drive from where we were staying. It was a chilly evening, but the sun was bright, the air was fresh and I relished the chance to spend some time in the woods. I was thrilled at the variety of toadstools and mushrooms I saw (one the size of a tea plate and I'm not exagerating) and I yearned for my nature books as I was only able to identify a fraction of what I saw in those woods.
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Contemplation

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Someone had gone to a deal of trouble to build this fabulous little den in the woods. Made from moss and branches, it enclosed the base of a tree.
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My most excellent husband, well-hatted as usual

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Lily had a lot of fun with the binoculars

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Worth the walk - The view from the top

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Over the sea to Skye

Skye Bridge at Sunset

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Mainland Scotland from the Isle of Skye
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Loch Morlich

I took a lot of pictures on our holiday, so I thought I'd share some my favourites over several posts. We were extremely fortunate with the weather the week we were away and were able to enjoy a picnic almost every day. We spent one glorious afternoon by Loch Morlich, about eight miles from Aviemore. It was a picture perfect location for a picnic and the Podlings had a lovely time splashing in the Loch. I donned my wellies and splashed right alongside them and we had a wonderful time throwing stones in the water, watching the fish and getting each other wet. It was a perfect afternoon.
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Emma was more than happy to share our picnic with the ducks

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Emma is a real water baby, you just can't keep her away from it
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Emma cunningly adapted the traditional crawl to save her knees. Clever girl!

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Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!

Emma has always had a lot of hair and it is now long enough at the front to get in her eyes. My attempts to brush it away from her face are usually thwarted by the little lady immediately messing it up again. I'm too much of a coward to attempt to take scissors to my very active baby, so I've taken to putting the front of her hair up in a mini-pigtail. If you get the band in quickly and immediately distract her, she forgets it's there and crawls around quite happily with her crazy up do. I think she looks adorable!
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Sophie's School Days

Having discovered that I can knit quite happily in the car as long as we are on a reasonably straight road (obviously I'm not the one driving!), I managed to get some knitting done whilst on holiday. This school uniform, made to match Lily's own uniform, is the latest addition to Sophie's wardrobe. That little doll isn't doing badly for clothes at the moment!
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Lily's First Day

Lily looking adorable in her new school uniform.

The cardigan is very big on her, but it was the smallest size they did!

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Today was a big day for Lily as she ventured into the realms of formal education. She was very excited and couldn't wait to carry her new princess lunch bag. She told me that she was a schoolgirl now and set off happily on our walk to school. She had a big smile on her face for much of the walk! When we got into the classroom, we hung up her coat and bags and then I took her round the room. She was uncharacteristically quiet for Lily and stayed close to me. This didn't worry me as Lily would often behave this way when we went to playgroup. She has always been uncertain how to join in when large groups are already playing together, though she has no trouble once she finds someone to play with. I have found that Lily tends to get on better with those who are older than her as opposed to those her own age, though she has many friends her own age too. She loves the company of adults more than any other, so she was quite happy when her new teacher took her by the hand and encouraged her to say goodbye. I knew that she would settle down well and hoped she would have a good first day.

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Walking to school.

I had to take a sneaky photo of Tom, who was refusing to pose for me this morning!

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At the end of the day, Lily came trotting out of school as if she had done so a hundred times before. She had a lovely day and seems to have taken to school like a duck to water. She found assembly rather dull ("We just had to sit") and unfortunately she was pushed by one of the boys, but she has already made friends with an older girl (who apparently picked her up!). She got very weepy and emotional about an hour after we got home, but I think that was simply down to tiredness and over stimulation (I could rant here about what I think of having to send four year olds to school, but it's probably not a good idea to get me started on that one!). She is quite happy about going to school again tomorrow, so Lily's first day of school can be rated as a success. The house certainly is quiet without her bubbly chatter and constant stream of questions, but at least I can relax a little knowing that she is enjoying herself. Let's hope they can keep up with her!

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An uncharacteristically quiet Lily surveys her new classroom
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We're back

We returned from a wonderful family holiday in Scotland on Sunday evening. We had a lovely week and I have dozens of pictures to share, but I'm afraid they will have to wait. What with back to school preparations, a very messy house to tend to and about 48 loads of laundry to get through, I find that blogging is pretty low on the priority list this week. Expect to see lots of pictures of our Highland holiday soon though, and I will post this evening about Lily's first day of school. Now, I really must tend to my laundry...
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