Botanicals, maths, money, swimming,writing.

Blokey and I had some official stuff to sort out at the Council in Stafford ( more about that later). Owen decided he needed to pack a rucksack ... Just incase. Both boys were brilliant and patient throughout our trip to the offices.

Afterwards we grab a quick bite to eat in town and got a birthday present for a friend. Next there was the much awaited trip to the park so the children could let of steam, after sitting still and quietly in the office bit.

Owen doing his Joy Division pose and in reality trying not to laugh.

Doing the balancing walk and seeing who could stay in the longest ...

Sam disappearing into the distance in his usual dashing around manner..

The favourite spinning part of the playground. The children also enjoy watching the skaters from here.

Walking back along the river Sow's edge.

Sam loves the echoes under the bridge.

The boys think this is like the Herbology class in Hogwarts.

We had a great look around the parks botanical green house.

This smelt beautiful.

We were intrigue with the 'spiky plant'.

And the boys took some convincing these were actually real bananas!

Owen was really tired by this point, so we headed home. Sam played with his friend on our home server and Owen watched videos and read. We then watched a film together in the evening.

Well demand avoidance really made an appearance this morning. Some how by holding my nerve and joking a round we got through it. Sam wanted to earn some money , so did jobs off our list whilst I supported Owen.

Owen worked really hard on learning some new maths problems. He tackled and learnt about how to multiply fractions with different denominators. He had cracked it in the end and managed to work out the multiplication bits on his own in his head. He also decided to write it down on a pad as he went.

The big issue now is whether he can retain the information he learnt today...I struggle with how this makes me feel. Watching him work so hard , then not remember later ..it's very demoralising for both boys at times. We just never know what will stick.

Next he asked me to write somethings out, which I made a joke of, then he copied my writing. His hand shakes so bad but he persevered. He's frustrated his writing isn't like his typing, which is excellent and articulate..the writing process stalls all his thoughts. So we are hoping that me writing things in pencil for him to copy over, may take the pressure off. He really wants to do it too so we said we would try a bit a day. It just depends on how he's feeling about it really. I could do with input from an Educational Psychologist really ..but can't afford seeing one anytime soon.

When Sam had finished his jobs, he worked on maths with Khan academy looking at decimal number lines, fractions, multiplication and long division.

There are very similar issues to Owen, remembering the processes is very hard. Yet if I explain each step he can usually supply the answers. Decoding the questions, especially if they are worded different ways..eg: the word equation is used instead of Sum etc..then he can't figure out what's being asked of him. Retaining this process of working is the hardest bit of maths for both boys and is especially frustrating for them when they have a head for numbers and number patterns.

He also wrote a and drew pictures on his pad. His letter formation is getting much better but he struggles to get the thoughts from his head onto paper.

Ironically Sam will not go near a banana..

Both boys also watched some more history programmes and learnt that downloading unchecked files from the Internet causes huge problems on your PC...massive viral issues that are taking ages to resolve..they are very upset.

Later the boys went to their jujitsu class. Owen has been tears on and off all day, he doesn't know why..I suspect hormones are playing a part. He asked Blokey to have a word with Sensei to 'let him know I am feeling a bit fragile..I still want to go but I am sad'. He managed ok but there were more tears and lots of cuddles needed at bedtime. He things watching some prank videos may not have helped because he found them a 'bit mean'. We talked feelings through and he settle into a tired slumber. Sam is still pretty manic after the excitement of class, so it's way past 10 before we can get him to sleep but he managed to stay in his bed reading quietly.

In the morning Sam wanted to write 'a page of words that start with every letter of the alphabet'. This was great fun and he spent time choosing his favourite from his own and others suggestions.

He went over the letters he had trouble with on a separate sheet.

Next he did some more maths. He finds learning new skills very frightening and needed much encouragement to complete one of the tasks. The things that throw him were in this instance , a sum  working out change from a purchase,  that was written in words instead of figures. So you have to work out what the equation is you need to use. In this case subtracting the cost of the items from the money in your hand, so you know you have the correct change. I know Sam can do this pretty competently in a real life situation..however, when put as a 'maths ' problem he convinces himself he cannot do it. So we sat and had a chat, I broke it all down and he did it easily. He looked surprised and then asked for more. 

In the end he covered division, fractions, multiplication and decimals..and variants of all these. 'I don't know why I get so upset Mum, I feel better when I can calm down and see I can do it,' Then he asked for some more, so his confidence was improving. It's really hard sometimes to know if you are doing the right thing sometimes..I often worry. Then they make a leap forward and you are glad you were there to support them through it.

Owen and I played some writing games. He currently can't apply enough pressure to the page , so I invented a game where he had to write hard on the top piece of paper and I had to work out what he had written from the indentations left. He though this was very spy like and giggled the whole time. He had to concentrate on pressing hard , so it was helping enforce his hand to brain/eye feedback and strengthen his muscles. We couldn't do it for long because it made his arms ache. So we moved on to me drawing on his back and he had to guess the letters.

We did maths next and there were a few wobbles , pretty much the same as Sam's but he worked through it and really enjoyed what he had achieved. He covered dividing decimals with whole numbers, multiplying various variations of fractions, some with mixed whole number and some with purely fractions..there was a lot of thinking and remembering, so I helped remind him what he needed to do quite a lot at first. In the end he was more confident to do things on his own successfully.

We also played strategy games, Owen chatted online and played Wordfeud with his nanny and we watched Horrible Histories.

Inbetween all of this I got very stressed out about stuff with the LA, they have suggested the children go back in to school so they can be assessed to see if an EHCP assessment needs to be done. Quite frankly I am gobsmacked by this, so won't be asking for any help off them again. I can't even be bothered to convey the completely non sensical letter I received. In fact the whole sad episode is another reminder as to why I don't want to engage with them again..nothing has changed in all the years the children have been out of school, they still aren't listening to parents. 

We are also trying to work through other medical related issues and the progress report we received this week was much less promising than we had been hoping for. So more battles there...it feels like a never ending hoop jumping exercise , with our children in the middle ...sigh...life as a SEN mum...sometimes it's incredibly frustrating. I felt exhausted by 4 pm.

I woke up in a much more positive mood today. We played maths Brainbox.

Which I find challenging because my short term memory was a bit dicky today.

Then we had a fun time with Brain academy 

We talked about Egyptians and possible projects over lunch, then flew off to swimming lessons. Our friends are there too now and we all had a great time. The boys are going to be moving up to a different class soon, so I arranged for them to watch the instructor on Sunday, to help them transition from Robs class. I have been made to promise that they can switch back to Rob if a space comes up with him later It's a big step for the boys to consider the move, so I am hoping once they see the class in action it will stop them worrying about it as much.

There was more Horrible Histories this morning...lots of it, so I got on with baking bread and making tortillas. Afterwards we worked on money handling skills.

This is the boys working out how much to spend , they did the change in their heads. Owen tries to beat me at mentally working out the change and apart from one error he succeeds.

The bee count ended yesterday , so we checked on the results this morning.

Owen says he wants to do a pretend school day. I smother a chuckle, because he got up at 8:30 this morning because he read till 10 pm in bed last night. I am up for it...Sam isn't too keen ..we shall see.

It was a friends birthday party this week. We are lucky to get quite a few invites but up till now the boys have struggled with parties. However , bar a few tense moments, they did really well today. Being outside seemed to make all the difference and our friend had a quiet area they could slip away to if need be..I do love our friends.

We also went swimming at the local baths. Owen did quite a few lengths this week, he's really growing in confidence about his abilities now. In the afternoon we visited the swimming centre where the children have their lessons. Over a number of weeks I have been trying to gently move them up in to their new class. They wanted to see the instructor in action before they could make their minds up. Thankfully, they really liked what they saw and I was able to confirm their move. Sadly it will mean no more Rob and they are a little down about this, but on the plus side, Blokey will be able to watch their lessons now every week. The lengths and intermediate classes take place on Sunday, so we can all go together.