We’ve not done any structured learning this month apart from Spanish classes which continued until the end of the normal school term. The girls have mostly entertained themselves whilst us parents have been working, decorating, sorting out life admin and all the things you do when you take a “break”. The girls have spent far too long on screens but they’re still alive and now have a wider selection of memes they like to tell us about!
Planning
I’ve spent lots of time this month putting together a plan for 2023/24. I went on lunch dates with each daughter separately to talk through what they wanted to do this year. I’ve summarised what subjects we’re doing with a Venn Diagram. Sad I know, but visually very effective! You can read in more detail what’s in store for Team Wint in 2023/24 on this separate post.
Craft Projects
This month has been our first year anniversary of attending crochet club in Halifax. A year ago the girls could just about crochet a single chain. Now look what they can do! We all still love going, and booking other things in on a Tuesday afternoon is very much frowned upon. We can’t thank Clair of Halifax Hookery enough. She inspires the girls and feeds their enthusiasm with constant encouragement and genuine delight in what they make. Clair is one of those people who has made our home edding extra special.
Music
This month saw a big change for Peggy. Sadly we’ve had to say goodbye to Tony Tuba who has now been replaced by Timmy Tuba. Tony was a half-size tuba (half the tubing) with valve keys whereas Timmy is a much heavier full-size tuba but in compact form (thankfully) with pedal keys. Peggy has to put a lot more puff into Timmy but he produces a much richer sound.
She changed at the start of July but got on brilliantly with Timmy. So much so, that Peggy did her Grade 4 tuba exam with him in mid-July and got a merit. As if that wasn’t enough, she then went on to be named the Training Band’s Musical Director’s Player of the Year. We’re all incredibly proud of her!
Sports
Aggie competed in three different swimming galas this month, swimming up an age level in two of them. She did really well and they won one relay race with her swimming the anchor leg.
After many months of training, Aggie competed in her first ever external gymnastics competition. She was incredibly nervous but the whole team from her club supported each other brilliantly. Aggie just wanted to do two clean vaults and remember all her floor routine but she managed much more that than: she came in 6th place in her age category and got a medal.
Books
Our reads for this month have been:
Peggy – Saphique by Catherine Fisher (now out of print) and Engineers Making a Difference by Dr Shini Somara
Aggie – As Good as Dead by Holly Jackson and The History of Medicine in 100 facts by Caroline Rance
Dom – Children of Dune by Frank Herbert
Susan – The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell and Animal Farm by George Orwell
Day Trips and One-off activities
We had a brilliant time visiting Yayoi Kusama’s exhibition “You, Me and the Balloons” in central Manchester. It can put a smile on anyone’s face! It was brilliant to see her creations and then how everyone in the space responded to them. You can watch a video of our visit on the link above.
Determined to do a proper walk somewhere new, we ventured down deep into the Peak District to do a circular walk taking in Thor’s Caves on the way. We loved exploring in the cave and seeing the amazing views across the valley. The weather was even kind to us too!
Trips Away
We booked onto a home education day down at the Houses of Parliament so we decided to turn it into a mini holiday. We had a great four days down in London, staying in a wooden cabin just 30 minutes outside of central London in Essex.
The Houses of Parliament day was brilliant. We got to tour all round the Parliament building and go into both the Houses of Commons and Lords. They were a lot smaller than they look on the TV! You can see some pictures and read about what we got up to on the day here.
We spent a few hours in the Science Museum which, to be honest, felt like a poor relation to our Manchester Science Museum but we loved a quick look round the V&A Museum; we’ll definitely be returning there for a much longer visit.
The highlight of that day though was going to the Royal Albert Hall to watch a BBC Prom concert. It started off weird but ended up very inspiring.
We spent a good four hours at the Tower of London to finish off our 2023 tour of castles (for now). It was very busy as the summer holidays had started but we still enjoyed everything there and thankfully only had to queue for half an hour to see the Crown Jewels. They were worth the wait though: wow!
So that was July!
We may have done no structured learning this month but there was still plenty of learning going on! We’re all now refreshed and ready to start our new academic year in August. We always start back early as we go away in September once the schools go back. One of the major perks of home educating!
