I can’t believe it’s been just over a full year of home education for Eva. We are getting prepared for our LA meeting next week and it’s given me a chance to reflect on our year.
I was terrified at the start, home education was the unknown and I wasn’t sure if we were up to it, with my health issues, fatigue, brain fog I worried a lot but whilst I am nervous about our meeting, having written myself some notes I’ve realised we’ve done A LOT in just one year! A part of me still feels it’s maybe not enough but I know my anxiety always gets the better of me so I’m trying to see the positives.
Eva has a fantastic tutor Julia from FCL Chester Le Street who provides us with workbooks each month covering the core subjects and Eva’s interests. If Eva is stuck we can message Julia or book an online lesson to help her understand what she needs to do which has been a life saver! We did have a little hiccup where Eva didn’t finish a few write ups or upload them to google Classroom so we have spent this month going back through to see what has been missed and thankfully Eva is catching up nicely.
We are due to move soon, we have had our offer accepted on a house and just waiting for the survey to be completed to move forward, I feel this is partly to blame for Eva falling behind as we have been travelling a lot since May to view houses. Julia has assured me Eva was beginning to work ahead of herself anyway so she is still where she is supposed to be rather than behind which is a relief.
Eva loves using Duolingo and has been learning French and Greek and has almost 440 days of achievements! She is great at finding educational games and resources when she takes ‘breaks’ between written work.
Having taught herself to crochet, Eva has made so many amazing things this year from crocheted toys to clothing! She wants to continue this and study business so that she can go on to set up her own crochet business/craft shop selling yarn, accessories and her makes. Obviously we have encourage this, helped her research what would be needed to do this, what educational qualifications would help, which laws and regulations she would need to adhere to, designing logos etc. She is currently working on an amazing raccoon sweater!
Eva’s interest in crochet has grown so much we’ve attended Fun Palace sessions at our local library, showcasing our crochet makes and teaching people to crochet. Eva volunteered during the summer reading challenge and took her crochet with her and ended up showing other kids how to crochet too, it’s been a great boost to her confidence.
Having received her Jack Petchey award last year for being kind, she has also been invited to an awards ceremony for her volunteer work during the summer reading challenge next Tuesday which we are looking forward to. It’s nice she’s still been involved in the community and receiving awards for her efforts.
We have attended quite a few different home ed sessions across the year from jump giants, flip out, rock up, forest school as well as some more relaxed home ed meets at parks and the cinema, I feel she has actually socialised a lot more this year, made some great friends and happy memories, which is a lovely turn around from last year when she felt she would never make friends or trust people again.
Eva has also shown a big interest in cooking this year, beforehand she was too scared and unsure to use things like the kettle or toaster which she now does with ease. She’s been making meals for us all as a family, often inviting my sister and others, often cooking for 6 people at once! Her favourites are beef burgers made from scratch, Swedish meatballs with creamy gravy and chicken noodles. She often discovers a new recipe and asks to give it a go which is lovely, especially getting to try it all haha!
We have had some awesome days out and about too, visiting Camden market, learning about the history, tasting all the different foods on offer which was Eva’s favorite part, she kept looping back around the food stalls as they kept handing her testers haha!
We also have annual passes for Southend Sea Life centre so we took advantage and booked experiences to feed penguins and meerkats which have made some lovely family days out and birthday gifts for both girls.
The most important thing for me that stands out after a year of home education is the drastic improvement in Eva’s mental health and wellbeing. Her confidence seems to grow by the day, with her suggesting new things to learn or try and whilst I still worry she’s missing out not being in a school and she is hopeful to go back to school when we move, I’m glad we took the step to try home education. I still remember how stressful school days were, how broken Eva seemed at the end of every day and I’m just relieved to have my happy, bubbly, flappy daughter back! 💜
