School Free Double the Fun: Microscopes, leaves, writing, sushi and film nights

Sam achieved a new certificate for his maths today.

Owen can't concentrate again today because 'it's only a few more days till Dad is off work for a whole week!'

It didn't help me distracting him by setting up the microscope kits.

He couldn't wait to try it .

First we made a mini magnifier using water drops.

The boys got busy avoiding the set activities and looking at various objects they could find on the table.

The cloth fibres were a particularly exciting thing.

And the light refracting on the water droplets.

We also looked at the set activities and filled in our sheets. But as usual the children found lots of off curriculum learning of their own.

We then moved on to an Autumn craft using leaves we found outside. I had dried and pressed them overnight.

The children chose colours to make ears.

Sam worrying about getting glue on his hands, but soldiering on despite it.

This is Sam's finished fox, he coloured the edges of his leaves with orange. He tells me it is supposed to have a big and little eye, because it's a 'Mum Fox' ..like your eyes Mum. 😂😂😂 . The purple nose is because 'it's one of your favourite colours' .

Owen liked how his fox has nice pointy ears and he loved sticking on his nose.

Our sycamore tree had dropped most of its leaves this week, so I decided to sweep up as many as I could. Sam decided to help and chuckled as he worked.

We made a huge pile of leaves and he had me film him diving into them .

Sam by the massive pile of leaves we collected. Our composter and garden bin were completely full, so we had to stack up 12 waste bags! There was still a pile of leaves in the corner when we finished !

After we had unpacked the shopping ( when I say we..I actually mean me..Sam just held the door open and shouted random things at me) , we started with maths.

Owen is struggling with division and the explainations on the app are confusing him..so I showed him another way..which would work if he actually listened to it *beam me up* , instead of dramatically throwing his head to the table and yodelling 'I can't do it!'.

I stay calm and we manage to make some head way..eventually...

Sam works happily on his own, he's really getting to grips with the methodology behind the equations.

Whilst he is waiting for me to finish with Owen , Sam practices his writing.

We move on to journaling next. Sam chooses another spelling page . He has to think of 20 words, each needs to have 7 letters...he ponders for a while.

Owen decides to do some drawing in his journal but practically gives up immediately. He's stuck but will not allow me to help him. He's being incredibly frustrating at the moment, we have found that at this time of year his behaviour can become more challenging. We think it's Halloween, bonfire night and the lead up to Christmas . He's already counting down the days, plus we are hoping to take the children camping if the bus is ready enough.

Sam finished his spelling.

Owen scribbled over his Tiger shark *sigh*..which was really good ..but he couldn't see how well he had done. ( to self : don't comment , don't comment)

The boys then chose some items from the house and garden to examine under the microscopes.

We had coconut fibre, hair, sycamore seeds, Rosemary ( with frost on) , some stalks, seed heads and stones.

There were many 'Ohhh's' and 'ahhhh's'. Owen also looked at his giant snail.

So many ziplock bags for fun.

More supplies to look at. Coffee, chocolate, flour, sugar and salt. The boys described what they see and I wrote their notes.

We then dissolved the coffee , sugar, etc, with hot water and reexamined it. The boys described the differences. Some things dissolved better than others. Some things looked dissolved, so we added food colouring. This highlighted some crystals we had missed.

As we were doing this our sushi goodies arrived...of course Owen is now desperate for sushi for his lunch.

The boys try their new blue light filter glasses on. Sam's consultant recommended them , so if they use their iPads before bedtime , it shouldn't affect their ability to go to sleep.

I am not totally convinced yet..but they do look adorable in them. I will let you know how it goes.

Very Joe 90..

We made some breadsticks and a loaf because we are getting low and none of us fancies a trip to the shops .

Our sushi making skills are improving too.

We went to the library ...and the boys nearly caused me to have a hernia carrying all the books to the car!

This is a huge bag!

I also had the foresight to photograph the children's lists of non fiction books, they would like to look at....*I know!..Go me eh?'

The children are still enjoying lovely interactions with the staff in the library and there are whoops of delight over new non fiction books that have come into stock. The librarians smile and discuss the boys finds and the cover illustrations with them.

In the non fiction selection, Sam finds language books and a CD, also some reference books on marine biology and some guides to Wales and Scotland...'because I want to choose where we might like to visit in the camper bus,'

Owen has chosen history books about WW1 & 2 , the Hollocaust ( tried to dissuade him because *I * find it upsetting ) and the universe...( whispers and everything..tips hat to Hitchikers Guide ) .

We have to do a few errands, so we get home around lunchtime and I crack on with some food.

The next day we work through the final activities in our Royal Microscopic Society box.

There is a forensic section, the boys look at the evidence to try to work out who did the crime.

Hmmmmmm says Owen.

They both need some guidance to arrange their work here , this allows them to see who has most evidence against them.

We also check back on our solutions from the other day. Some have re-crystallised and are well worth another look. The boys found it incredibly interesting.

We also studied herbs, sand, seeds, soil and some more crystals.

The forensic kit and separate samples.

It's looking more and more like Winter time and I wake early to their lovely view.

Sam dancing as we collect the camperbus. He's very excited because Blokey has finished work for over a week and he will be working on it, with the intention of us all getting away for few days.