Anyone for Tennis?

Ok.......sooooo, after that summer break :-)
To summarise.....
We've played tennis at the free local courts.
We've picnicked at the palace again.
We've all (me, Andy, Leo) had a birthday. Leo is now 11.
We've seen cousins, grandparents, and schoolfriends.
We've been allotmenteers and have harvested peas, runner beans, potatoes, courgettes, blackberries.
We've been out on our bikes.
Leo has grown a couple of inches in a matter of weeks.
Which means he needs a new bike.....sigh
Leo has had lego set after lego set and has got great at reading the instructions and building them (though he would still rather other people did it for him)...
Leo has designed board games with Gran and collaborated on the latest 'Ned Littlebed' story.
Leo did an archery course with the Home Ed group - each Friday, with about ten other kids. He did really, really well, picked it up quickly - and ended up getting numerous bullseyes! He enjoyed being the only left hander in the group. He doesn't want to pursue it as a hobby, but he did really well. I was proud of him not only for doing so well, but also for speaking up, answering questions, and generally taking part, from the first week onwards!

Basically we enjoyed the summer and the hot weather.

Leo decided he doesn't want to have Home Ed 'terms' as that is too school-y, but he wants Home Ed 'Seasons' which is brilliant, because it means we can use the natural framework of the seasons to give our work some shape, which is something I've always been keen to do, based on the Steiner model. There will always be seasonal related projects and activities we can do.

For the autumn season, we are just starting to plan. Today was our own 'not back to school' picnic at the Palace (again!) where we found a new spot just for us - a lovely picnic table under a big tree...Tomorrow is the first day of the autumn home ed season, and starting as we mean to go on, our planning will involve Leo from the start, and we'll sit down together and plan projects and subjects from the list I've prepared. Also, first new thing of the season is music - Leo wants to learn an instrument and we've decided that I will teach him.

He's still pretty allergic to the whole idea of teachers.....but that's fine. It will have it's place in time, for now I am able to start him off.

For me, I'm so, so, so glad that he is not starting Bay House in a couple of days. He is so, completely unready for secondary at barely 11. Being the youngest in the year at school coupled with his dyslexia and hypermobility has always meant that he has not been ready for what faced him and it's brilliant to have been able to remove that dynamic from his life. I started secondary at 12, not 11, because that was the way it was done then.....suddenly now it's at 11, which is too young in my opinion and for Leo, way too young. I am feeling so happy that we can give him what he needs, and continue a more primary approach for as long as he needs it.

The imminence of what would be his secondary school start date, is making me VERY grateful that he is able to be educated at home.

So tomorrow - planning, and piano :-)