Sailing, Radio & Roma

This week Sean is off to the Sailing Camp in Cariligford from 9.30 to 4.30. I don't know myself! I have all sorts of plans in the back of my mind and am on track with some of them... Yesterday I spent time with Niall driving around with him whild he was working. I enjoy doing this. After we collected Sean from the Sailing Club I took him into town to buy him a pair of booties for his feet as his old ones were too small and his feet were sore after wearing wet runners all day. We headed to the Roma for our tea and then off to the Radio Station with Niall and listened to the men hosting their weekly Christian show.

Today I visited Angela, a sister from the Church. I got the weekly shopping, spent time in the Library looking up some books for Sean's schooling, watched half of the BBC's 'Romeo & Juliet' on video there, went to a resourse centre and gave them Sean's old school books to sell, went home and cooked dinner, picked up rubbish from the street where I live, and blogged! Let's see what happens tomorrow...

Tornado in Dundalk Bay!

Last Sunday while out visiting in Annagassan I looked out the window in the conservatory and saw something in the bay. At first glance I thought it was a boat in distress sending out a flare and shouted to the men and my son to come quickly and have a look. Straight away Niall said it was a water spout, a tornado in the bay! We took Kevin's camera, took a snap and the batteries died... aaahhh! Very frustrating! We weren't sure if the picture took or not. We were in such a tizzy, expecting it to disappear at any moment that we didn't think to use the telescope just beside us!!!

We only saw it for about two or three minutes and then it went, but it was a thrill for us. My dad, who has been out in boats of all sorts since he was a lad, said he saw one only once in his life but experienced two little ones while out sailing as a young man. He said the local fishermen called them 'Fairy Puffs".

As you can see, the photo came out all right! Just click on the image to see it clearly.

Harvest!

Here are some photos taken today in our back garden. The apple in the jar is a trick. You hang a bottle or jar on the tree with a small apple in it and watch it grow. Then, when the apple is so big that you cant take it out, you pick it and show it to your friends and ask them how the apple got in, in the first place!!!

Another photo is of a herb which has grown a flower, and the last photos is of our raspberry bush which Sean has just harvested and is now washing the berries in the sink!

I am no gardener but I have to say that since I started schooling Sean at home I have tried, for his sake to do a little gardening and I just love it! I am taking it slowly and planting a couple of plants and waiting to see how they turn out. I find that looking at the results, no matter how small is is giving me the confidence to keep going.

I cant tell you how much I enjoy stepping out the back door and picking herbs to put into my cooking! It's something I had often read about but never done. Small compared to some of the stuff I read about other bloggers...simple but great!

2007 Summer Project

Here's the collection of photos from this year's Summer Project.

The children visited Funtasia, Bettystown; Q-zar & Bowling in Blanchardstown, Dublin and The Ulster-American Folk Park in Omagh, Co. Tyrone.

Summer Project

Funny picture!

I got this picture from Amy's `Humble Musings'

Q-zar, Blanchardstown, Dublin

Well, today is Tuesday and I have put in two days with the children on the Summer project. Yesterday we spent some time in the community hall here to let the children and leaders get to know one another. We played games etc and finally, after lunch, went to Funtasia in Betty's town.
Today we went to Blanchardstown in Dublin and the children enjoyed Bowling and Q-zar. (a fun fighting game using toy laser weapons)

Getting prepared for a very busy week

Next week, starting from Monday, I am going to be involved in a 'Summer Project' here in C.C. There will be many children involved and lots of helpers and we plan to be off with the kids from Monday to Thursday going on various trips. I was involved last year and am looking forwards to it this year.

Today I got the five boys that I will be in charge of, and a couple of Sean's other friends, and we got down to some serious T Shirt crafts. We used 'Gellies' tabric paint which are fantastic and you can find out more about them here. Some samples of this work is on 'Flickr'. We have WWE, Star Trek, Dragons and Football fans! In between all this we had pizza & milk and while the boys waited their turn for help in using the sewing machine, they played with blocks, cars and Transformers! I just love this stuff!!!

Annagassan again!

Some of us went snorkelling again in Annagassan a couple of evenings ago. We took a photo of the small harbour on the way out and another on the way back...

This is Niall and Mick pouring over some maps laying out a course for some future trip on a RIB no doubt!

Sean will be taking part in a weeks sailing course the week after next in Carlingford. I am sure he will really enjoy it. He loves anything to do with the water and boats. Sean's Sports & Hobbies

Some places to check out this summer with your kids, family, friends or all three!

Welcome to Louth




Environment & Heritage Service N.I. Department of Culture, Arts & Leisure

The National Trust N.I.

Belfast Festival at Queens

Saving wetlands for wildlife & people

North Down Borough Council

• ULSTER AMERICAN
  FOLK PARK

• ULSTER FOLK & TRANSPORT MUSEUM

• 

  

ARMAGH COUNTY
MUSEUM

W5 Belfast

I've always suspected it..

When I first started schooling Sean I decided to teach him year round and take breaks when it suited Sean, and us as a family. When he went to school for one and a half years I didn't teach him over the summer and I found, as a result of this, that he had forgotten quite a lot of stuff.

Every now and again I am tempted to finish the schooling at the beginning of the summer and let Sean have the Summer free to do what he likes and then I read something like this and it strengthens my resolve again!!!

Studies show that students can lose months of learning over the summer—don't let this happen to your child!

The average summer vacation lasts about 12 weeks, during which time millions of children have little or no enriching or reinforcing academic experiences. When young minds sit idle for three months, the result is a phenomenon known as "summer learning loss." Because of these learning losses, teachers must often spend the first six to eight weeks of the school year—or roughly 22% of the year according to a study at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Summer Learning—re-teaching forgotten information to students instead of teaching new information and skills.

In a study conducted at the University of Missouri, summer learning loss for children on average equaled at least one month of instruction as measured by grade equivalents on reading and math standardized test scores combined. In addition, on average students lost approximately 2.6 months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation and spelling skill over the summer months.

"The summer break can cause learning losses that make it more difficult to understand and retain concepts taught in the next grade," according to Richard Bavaria, Ph.D., vice president of Education, Sylvan Learning Center. "Fortunately, by engaging children in learning activities over the summer, parents can avoid the 'learning loss' and help prepare them for the new school year."

Newry Agriclutural Show

Last week Sean and I went up to Bessbrook where his nanny lives and met up with his nanny, auntie and cousins at the Newry Agricultural Show. I had taken Sean there a couple of times before when he was small and I used to live in Newry.

There is always lots to see, gymkhana, Tractors (a big hit with the small cousins) stalls and, I am glad to say, Christians giving out tracts! We enjoyed out time there and spent the remainder of the evening in Tess's.

Here's a little sample of what was at the show this year, including a stunt motorcyclist and a moving miniature farm

Windmill

During the week Sean was working on one of his books and had to find out about an old building and find out about its history, so instead of writing in the book, we decided to make it more interesting!

First of all, we decided which building we would use in Dundalk; the old windmill in Seatown. Then we found out all about it on the net. Then Niall phoned up the Smyth family, who own the windmill, and asked for permission to view it which they kindly allowed.

We then went to see the windmill and took some photos of it in its surroundings of a garden with rose bushes in it, but I think that the highlight of the day for Sean was finding loads of snails and petting their dog!

Some silly things!

Here are some silly and inconsequential things Sean and I like about home schooling...

Sean can learn in his pyjamas.
I can teach in my pyjamas.
We can get up when we want to.
The €400 plus that we would usually spend on Sean if he started his new term in school, can be used on buying very fun and interesting resources for him, and can be spent on lots of interesting field trips that I can enjoy with him!
We can do our work in the front garden, back garden, local park, poolside, bath, bed, sitting room, kitchen table, Library, apartment, Granny's, friends' homes, back of car, bus or aeroplane!
Sean loves me instead of a teacher!
We choose to go on holidays whenever we want!
We get to go to fun places when they are not packed with a million other children.
We don't have to Q up for long when visiting the above mentioned places!
Sean and I think home schooling is more fun.
Sean can take longer breaks.
We can home school any old time.
If a particular book doesn't suit him, we change it!
Dad can join in too.
No rush.
No report cards.
No school bag.
No homework.
No uniform & no PE kit.
No smelly, mouldy lunch boxes.
Sometimes he can teach himself!
Sean can learn about a vast and interesting array of music.
We go to Theatre, local Radio, national TV, Zoo, Sweet factory, Library, Park, Shops, Church, Museums, Photographers, Beach, America, Spain, Boating, Swimming, Football, Drama Club, Farms, Watch DVDs and call it schooling.. Yippee!

Thanksgiving

A couple of days ago I was sitting on top of my bed with Sean doing a bit of work with him and we ended up talking about things. Eventually the conversation turned to how sometimes we are not satisfied with what God gives us and then we talked about thanksgiving. This was very relevant seeing that it was Sean's birthday recently and he is inclined to receive quite a lot of gifts. (But that's a whole other story in itself!) I said to him "Let's thank God now". I started to thank God for things in out lives and I looked around the room for examples of what He has given me.

I have got to say that I just love my bed and not only just to sleep in! (Niall pointed out that this statement might come across in a way that I didn't mean so I have to say that I also love reading the Bible in bed, prayng, cuddling up with Sean on the bed and watching movies!) I know I am probably a sad case, but I get a great sense of satisfaction from seeing my bed all made up, and as I work throughout the day and see it, I feel good, however, when the bed doesn't get made and is in a ball it just reinforces in me the knowledge that I am too busy and under pressure.

I like the colour beige and have a lot of it in my room. If you judged our bedroom by the world's standards you would see the marks on the walls where we had drilled holes to hang up curtain poles and where they were filled in at a later date but had never been painted over. You would see the wax stains from candles still on the radiator cover. You would notice that the pine headboard doesn't quite match the bed side lockers (Bit of an understatement!) and you would notice how I don't always remember to dust the light shade!

However, when I was giving thanks for what God has given me I started with the bed. When Niall and I got married almost five years ago a friend from Scotland passed on her bed to us. The pillow cases were given to us as an engagement present from Mary (Along with a beautiful bedspread which I haven't a clue what happened to!) That bedspread was replaced by another one just as beautiful that matches perfectly by a friend and neighbour Natasha. Another set of pillow cases were given to me by my dad and stepmother. I bought an amazingly soft pale cream blanket in Wal-Mart for the end of my bed when I was in Mississippi last year, and also have another duvet cover and quilt at the end of my bed that used to belong to my first mother-in-law (Who I loved very much and I have very fond memories of) The bed is on top of a lovely soft cream rug given to us by the same lady who give us the bed, because there was a stain right on the middle of it... but it's under the bed and nobody sees it, so who cares!!!

I stopped there and quickly let my mind flick through the other rooms in my home, rooms that less than five years ago were empty and that the Lord had filled, and I decided that I wouldn't go any further than my bed in my thanksgiving to God. For the time being I would think and appreciate all the people and memories associated with my old bed and at a future date, take my time and thank Him for everything else in my life.

And you know, when I am content with what I have, and appreciate it and thank God for it, I don't notice the marks on the walls, the candle stains on the radiator cover or the dust on the light shade so much...

1 Timothy 6:6 "Now Godliness with contentment is great gain"

Another lesson learned, by both me and Sean, from the One true Teacher!

One for the school teachers!

My husband received this in his e mail a few months ago and I put it on our class room wall. I decided to put it on my blog just as a tribute to the hard working school teachers out there and to let you know that you have my full respect and sympathy...

After being interviewed by the school administration in a US school the eager teaching prospect said:

"Let me see if I've got this right. You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every walking moment with a love for learning. And I'm supposed to instil a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their destructive behaviour, observe them for signs of abuse and even censer their T-shirt messages and dress habit.

You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self esteem.

You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, fair play, how to register to vote, ow to balance a chequebook, and how to apply for a job.

I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize sighs of anti-social behaviour, make sure all students pass the mandatory state exams, even those who don't come to school regularly or complete any of their assignments.

Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap. And I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card. All of this I am to so with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books. a bulletin board, a big a smile AND on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps!


And you want me to do all of this and yet your expect me ....NOT TO PRAY?

A Card From my husband...

On Sunday five years ago my husband proposed to me on a secluded beach out in Blackrock after taking me out for a lovely meal in the Ballymac. Sunday was the anniversary for the proposal and Niall remembered and gave me this card along with one of my favourite plant!

When I saw them on the kitchen table I was delighted and knew they were for me (I didn't remember the anniversary but Niall does these things regularly thank God!) but when I read the envelope and it said 'To the proud mother' it really threw me and I hadn't a clue who it was for. Anyway, I went ahead and opened the card (of course!) and it said 'You have twins!'

My mind went to all the people I know who might be expecting a baby while I opened the card and then I read 'Double the trouble but twice the fun!!' and Niall had written under this...'Five years ago, when you said 'yes' to the man on bended knee, you probably didn't realise you'd be raising twin boys for the rest of your life!!! I love you gorgeous.'
Now you know why I married him! Thanks Niall.

If you want to know how I have a 9 year old son and a 5 (Almost!) year old marriage just read my life story.

This is just beautiful

Review of 2006

I thought I would give a quick review of 2006 so here goes...


January Started back at home shooling Sean after a break of one and a half years. Lisa from Latvia is teaching Sean how to read write and speak the Russian language. We got a great Junior Dictionary & Thesaurus and Niall picked out 100 words for Sean to find and to fill in a similar word. When he finishes this he can go to the Pirate's Den for a treat. Field trip to RTÉ television network with his friend Rhys. Visits to local Library. Meet up with Nadia and her children for the first time. (Other home schoolers) Field trip to Paddy Clark's photographers. Visit from Janet, our school teacher that helps us out. Rent out an allotment.

February Visits to allotment. Attends the children's Bible Club every week. Field trip to Dundalk FM 100 local radio station to learn to edit. Work on computer. Interview on Dundalk FM100 about Sean's allotment. Working on developing a flower and fruit bed in our garden. Working with a science kit about bugs. (oh joy!)


March Writing letters and post cards. Organizing a fun sport/science day with Sean's friends in the local hall here in CC. Sunday School every Sunday morning at the Baptist Centre. Bowling with family. Swimming at Aura in Dundalk. Planting seeds and walking in woods in Ravensdale. Visit from Nadia and her children. Working on our allotment. Visit to Blackrock beach.

April Visit to RTÉ television station with Sean's friends Grace and Peter. Joined in on a TV programme and won! Visit to St Helena's park and playground on our bikes to meet up with Nadia and her children. Organized fun sport/science day with Sean's friends. Work on flowerbed in back garden. Got a new and more interesting spelling book. The last one was awful. Field trip to Natural History Museum in Dublin. Working with sewing machine. Visit to Blackrock and collected shells and stones etc. Visit from Janet our teacher.

May Week holiday with swimming in Aura, Gardening in back garden and Field trip to W5 in Belfast City. Working on scrap books for different field trips and also a newspaper scrap book. Regularly watch interesting videos that we pick up from the Library about history science etc. Visits to our allotment. Weekend away to Portaferry in Northern Ireland to visit Niall's family. Visit to library and listened to a lady telling children's stories.

June Watched video about accidents around the home. Field trip to the Garda Station in Dundalk with Nadia and her children. (Police Station) Visit to Library. Week holidays with outing to Pirates Den with Niall, Sean's birthday party in his nanny's and a joint birthday party with his friend Grace science with our friend Kevin who is a scientist and swimming.(Just shows you how learning never stops!) Gardening in back garden. Trampoline play and visit to Blackrock beach. Holidaying in Portaferry and continuing to HS. Visit to Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry. Drew up a menu for dinner. Walk and play with horse.

July Whole week of Summer Bible Club here in CC with arts and crafts, Bible stories, songs and sports. DVDs about WW11. Whole week of CC Summer Project where we visited New Grange Farm, Dublin Zoo and a huge park. Swimming. Movies with friends. Church lunch with slide show and talk about different cultures around the world. Play and feed horse. Bird watching and listening. Play on beach and in park. Keeping up a book about the garden. Met Kate, our new teacher. Whole week of football with Samba Soccer in the Rugby Club grounds. Outing on a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) from Northern Ireland to Sanda Island, an island off the coast of Scotland.

August Meeting with children for DKDK Drama club in hall in CC. Trampoline play. Working on allotment. Working on the internet. Scrapbooks. Visit to School Library and meeting up with workers there to arranging to borrow up to 50 books long term just the same as the schools can. Horse riding. Four days of play and swimming at the Aura Swimming Camp. Swimming in Newry Pool with Sean's nanny Tess. Field trip to Armagh Planetarium. Read and discuss about disabilities in people. Learning about Classical music & Tchaikovsky on internet, video, books and cds and keeping a scrap book. Visit from our teacher Kate. Visit to hospital to visit new member of our extended family, my niece's baby girl Jasmine. To trips on boats, RIB and a sailing boat while visiting Northern Ireland. Visit to exhibition in Library of old photographs of Dundalk.

September Visit to field service in Monisterboyce near Drogheda with play and crafts with other children. Continuing to have Russian lessons weekly with Lisa. Continuing to work on computer using maths, science and spelling pc educational games.Swimming. Sewing on sewing machine and making a gift for new cousin, Lucy. Long awaited beach party in Blackrock with Sean's friends. Play with horse. Discuss short video we found on internet about disabilities. Visit to Blackrock at night to experience the warm wind and wild sea of the tail end of a Hurricane! Fun time in CC hall with friends playing with Lego. Visit to Mississippi in US.

October Continued visit to Mississippi. Trip on sped boat, swimming, trampoline, Book on US history. DVD about Hurricane Katrina. Keeping a scrap book on EVERYTHING we see, do and experience! Lots of photos and writing in it. Continuing a small bit of Sean's regular book work. Sean and his dad flew to Virginia for the weekend and visited US battleship. Lots of interaction with children, Church activities, swimming and playing with animals. Went to hear The Allens singing. (home) Learning to iron. Reading about Irish history. Visit to Library.

November Fancy dress party in friends home. Trampoline. CD Dawn Chorus with poster of birds. Stay in Peter & Grace's home minding them and continuing to HS while the children went to regular school. Found out about Irish artist Louis Le Broquy (90 yrs old) who's work is currently being shown in Dublin. Learning how to wash his hair, boil an egg, cook pancakes and clean and light coal fire. Play badminton with me in hall. Visit art exhibition by Michael Mc Keown in Town Hall and write a post card to him about it. Family visit to funfair. Helped out with conference in Church building and met many people there including the director and president of the Association of Baptist Churches of Ireland. Visit to park in Dublin and ride on boat. (RIB)

December Sean took his English test with our teacher Kate. He did well I am glad to say. Average in a classroom set up and above average for his age. Visit to new park in Coxis with friends. Visit from Margaret from the Argos newspaper to interview Sean and me about home schooling. Also visit from Argus photographer. Keeping up with Drama and Bible clubs. Went to charity football match between the Guards and the Army in JJB Sports. The Guards won! We went to the Point Depot in Dublin to see the Nut Cracker performed by the Russian Ballet Company. Afterwards we met a Russian ballet dancer and she signed Sean's scrap book for him so that took care of his Russian language, Tchaikovsky and Classical music all in one fell swoop! Dress rehearsals and live performance of the play 'Three little wolves and the big bad pig'! in local hall here in CC. Holiday in Co Mayo and kayaking on a lake.

Sorry, it was supposed to be a quick review!!!

Video, Music and Politics!

On the side of this blog you will find 'Sites that I visit'. In that list there is 'Free Movies' and if you click on that and then scroll down to 'Latest Cartoons and Animation' you will find 'Conflict 1983'. This is a short Russian animated cartoon that Sean and I watched today. It's very interesting and touches on war using matchsticks! It's very cleverly made and I think, thought provoking.

Recently I got a CD out of the Library. It is a selection of songs by Luke Kelly who used to sing and play for the Dubliners but he is now dead. There was a particular song on it that would break your heart called 'Scorn not' that I played to Sean, and it broke his heart too. Here are the words of it...

See the child with the golden hair but eyes that show the emptiness inside,
Do we know, can we understand just how he feels or have we really tried.
See him now, as he stands alone and watches other children play at children's games.
Simple child, he looks almost like the others yet they know he's not the same.

Scorn not, his simplicity but rather try to love him all the more.
Scorn not, his simplicity oh no.

See him stare, not recognising the kind face that only yesterday he loved.
The loving face of a mother who cant understand what she's been guilty of.
How she cried, tears of happiness the day the doctor told her it's a boy.
Now she cries, tears of helplessness and thinks of all the things he can't enjoy.


Scorn not, his simplicity but rather try to love him all the more.
Scorn not, his simplicity oh no.

Only he knows how to face the future hopefully, surrounded by despair.
He won't ask for your pity or your sympathy, but surely you should care?
Scorn not, his simplicity but rather try to love him all the more.
Scorn not, his simplicity oh no.

A pat on the back

I have been thinking about something that was said to me last week, chewing it over and if I am honest, savouring it a bit, and after deliberating for over a week now, I have decided to bite the bullet and blog it.

When I was in Dublin in the Phoenix park last Friday at the 'Bloom in the Park' a woman started to talk to me. Seán and the woman's granddaughter were playing with what looked like a giant strawberry filled with sand swinging from a tree. As the strawberry swung around, the sand made a pattern on a plastic sheet underneath. Of course the children thought it was great fun pushing the strawberry over and back, and when the sand had run out the kids had the extra fun of sweeping it up and putting it back in again. They used brooms and brush & pan sets.

I am not sure what the older woman noticed about Seán, but she asked me what age he was. I told her he will soon be nine and she told me that she thought he was very intelligent! Of course I beamed at the poor woman and thanked her for her lovely comment! We continued to chat and I told her that I home schooled him. The reaction was the same as it normally is, surprise and interest. I told her that we teach Seán to tidy up around the home and that he has specific jobs to do. Lighting the fire, cleaning downstairs loo etc. She couldn't get over it and eventually went over to her daughter and told her all about Seán.

It's very encouraging when total strangers notice something in Seán that's different... not strange, not weird... but different, in the best possible way. It's not the first time it has happened and, well, when it does, I just savour the moment.... and thank God!

Wet Suits

Seán has a very mild touch of Asthma. He really only suffers with it if he gets a cold so years ago when he was very small we bought him a wet suit. It was full length. Ireland is not known for its long hot summers let alone good weather for the rest of the year so he gets to use it many many times during the year. Whenever he goes to the beach to play in the water we put the wet suit on him and he plays all day in it without getting cold. Normally, we would have to change his wet shorts and t-shirt because of the breeze - he would get cold very quickly.

Now that he is bigger and not so quick to catch a cold he still wears a 'shortie' wetsuit. Regularly, here in the estate, he puts it on and plays with water balloons and his water guns and can have lots of fun with his friends without any danger of his Asthma kicking in. Rhys, who also has Asthma, also got a shortie and wore it today for the first time, and was able to join in the fun, something he usually can't do!!!

They are quite expensive usually but recently they can be bought in Dunnes or Penneys for between €15 and €20 and more recently in Smyths Toy Shop for €30.

30-Hour Day please!

One reason I started this blog was to answer one of the main questions that people put to me... Has Seán enough interaction with other children? I am not offended by this question because there are so few children in Ireland being home-schooled, let alone in Dundalk, that if I were not teaching Seán at home I would be asking that same question myself!

If you have been following this site or looking at the other blogs associated with it (Seán's sports & hobbies DKDK etc.) you will see that he gets more than enough interaction! However this past week or so has been particularly full, so much so that I made sure that both Seán and I would stay home and chill out today. I found an interesting insight on a blog the other day The Cost of busyness and it talks about the expense of being busy, which is another aspect I hadn't though of.

I have got to admit that it got to the point that all I wanted to do was clean the house, do the ironing and watch a light DVD.... Sad but, unfortunately, very true. I sat down and thought about what I was doing, prayed to God about it and realised that it's up to me to slow down and put God back in first place and all else after Him. When I am right with Him, all is well with the world and I can cope with anything. When I get too busy there is a higher cost that can be paid than just money... my relationship with God Himself. Too little time with Him and reading His Word, and I find that even the most joyous times become hollow and empty.

Like I said, I would rather be ironing and keeping the house and have the time to read the Bible and pray than have the most busy and seemingly happy lifestyle without Him.

Anyway, this is a diary of what we got up to ....


Sunday.... my birthday: Church lunch followed by members' meeting followed by party in my sister's house followed by my birthday tea at home.




Tuesday.... Drama Club followed by Ice skating





Wednesday.... Shopping in town followed by Cillians birthday party
Thursday.... HS in St Helena's Park followed by Seán's friend Corey and his mum Nikki coming to visit followed by Bible Club.


Friday.... HS trip to the Phoenix Park in Dublin to 'Bloom'





Saturday.... Visit to Paul & Gwen and children followed by visit to Blackrock with Rhys






Sunday.... Dinner at home with Mick, Kevin and Philip visiting in afternoon.




Monday.... 'Big Day Out' in St Helena's Park with my sister Barbara and three other children (Bank holiday) Rhys has a sleep over.
Tuesday.... Shopping, took on too much today and ended up cancelling the Drama Club (Very annoyed with myself)

Wednesday.... HS in St Helena's Park followed by trip to Jullianstown followed by trip to Gyles' Quay to see replica 15th Century English ship, the 'Matthew of Bristol', a replica of the ship used by John Cabot to travel to Newfoundland in 1497!. (once-in-a-lifetime opportunity)


Thursday.... Seán's birthday breakfast/present time followed by visit from Lisa (Russian teacher) followed by trip to Newry to drop off present for Seán's grandad, Peter, followed by visit (with Rhys) to Seán's granny in N Ireland for party with his first father's sisters and children followed by trip to Carlingford on way home and play in park.
Friday.... Visit to toy shop for Seán to spend the money he received as gifts! followed by trip to beautiful garden centre to buy gift for surprise party we were going to that night followed by picnic on river bank near where I was brought up with surprise visit from my brother, Bill, in a canoe! followed by trip to beach in Annagassan with Niall snorkelling followed by surprise birthday party for Mick, Kevin, Philip, Grace and Seán.

Saturday.... Day of rest in back garden... Seán having yard sale and playing with water guns!

First time on the ice

Finally, after weeks of talk and anticipation, Sean got onto the ice at the Dundalk Ice Dome.

For a first-timer he did quite well. We're still waiting to get his dad on - that should be fun!

Bloom in the Park 2007

Bloom in the Park was a flower/garden/wildlife festival held in Phoenix Park, Dublin over the June Bank Holiday weekend. It was held in the grounds of Ashtown Castle, which is state-owned. The setting was perfect. We went on the Friday - when the weather was excellent - and we stayed for about 7 hours! There were designer gardens, fresh food stalls, bee-keeping demonstration, a maze, wild birds and many other fascinating attractions. Friday was Ladies' Day and many women turned out in their finery. The winner was a lady who designed and made her own colourful hat.

There was so much to do and see that we hardly got time to check everything out - even with 7 hours at our disposal! We had planned to return on the Monday, but passed on our ticket (kindly supplied by Sandra Bell, sculptress, who was exhibiting at the festival) to friends of ours.

For Sean one of the highlights was getting to touch and even hold the wild birds. There were two owls (snow and long-eared, I think) and a Kestrel on display.

HS in the park

I took Sean to a local park to do a bit of work. It was lovely. It took a bit longer to do the work than usual but we didn't mind. Every now and again he would look up and mention the birds etc. When he finished a particular piece of work he jumped up and went on the slides and climbing frames etc and a short time later he would come back and settle down to work again. He really likes it and I am going to make sure we will do it some more this summer. His nanny Tess came along with Niall and we had a picnic. Then a friend of Sean's, Cory, dropped in after school and played with Sean.

Last Sunday we had a Church lunch with a meeting afterwards. Then We went to my sister's who was having a birthday party for her son Daniel. (It was my birthday too!) Then back home to a beautiful tea that my son and husband arranged with balloons, poppers and a gift!

Yesterday, Bank Holiday Monday, we met up again with my sister Barbara and her son and two other boys, Nathan and Kevin in St Helena's Park for a 'Big Day Out'. There was a brass band, bouncy castles, drama, Punch and Judy and crafts. This evening we finished the day by going to Blackrock for a while to enjoy the last bit of sunshine of the day.

Last night Rhys had a sleep over and joined Sean this morning in a bit of home schooling. They did the maths together and it was great to see how much faster Sean worked with Rhys at his side. It encouraged Sean a lot to have Rhys there. Must do it again.

Vincent Van Gogh

The wonder of the creation!

When women finish taking over the world!

HERE'S ANOTHER LITTLE THING TO BRIGHTEN YOUR DAY, I HOPE...!

clipped from yoke.cc

If Women Controlled
the World...

Meeting a cousin

Last week we had a particularly buisy day! We started by bringing Sean along when Niall and I were voting in the general ellecton. We showed him the ballet papers and box and explained all about voting. During the past weeks we have had very interesting discussions in the car about various posters of the people who were running for election and they all ended the same way... It Sean could vote, he would vote for Kirk, not because of his brilliant political strategies...but because he has the same name as Captain James T Kirk from the Enterprise! (Star Trek) As it turned out, Kirk topped the poll anyway!!!

From the polling Station we went to go to visit Sean's grandmother Tess. On our way up to Camlough we saw a squirrel on the road and managed to film it! While we were in Tess's we met a cousin of Sean's, Kevin, that we never met before. He was building a stone wall in her garden and of course Sean got stuck in right away! The two of them spent some time chatting and got on very well with one another.

Later we went to collect one of his other cousins, Jack, from play school and after playing in the play ground there, went on to his house for a play time with his three brothers and baby sister. It was a full day that ended with us coming home to Dundalk and going to the Bible Club. Phew!

Clontygora Court Childrens Bible Story Telling Club

Well, this Club is back with a bang I am glad to say with plenty of children attending and enjoying the Bible stories, songs and crafts. Sean just loves it and looks forwards to seeing his mates there. Daniel and his new US wife Chasity are back in Ireland for the summer and are with us every Thursday.

We changed a few things like replacing the chairs (which are very noisy) with floor mats and also making and giving a special gift to the child who behaves the best.

Preparing for next Yard Sale

I've got to say that I really like Sean having Yard Sales with his friends. He is learning all about buying and selling, sharing and handling his own money. The last two went very well, in so far as there were plenty of children that supported them and everything eventually went for hard cash or for free!
A few weeks ago he planted flowers in little pots and since then they have really come along, what with his watering and re-potting them.
We hope that some day soon Peter and Grace will join him again and when he is selling his plants, they will be having a lemonade stall with cookies. I am told that this is an American tradition, and so I am looking forwards to it for more than one reason!!

SCIENCE

Check out this site for some cool recorded experiments!! Many thanks to Kaber's blog for the link!

Here is a great example... EGG IN A BOTTLE
It is a much better quality video than the one below and it explains the whole concept of the experiment.

Hotel Ballymun!

Ok... Just click here and find out more about the madness of Hotel Ballymun!!!

DKDK

Sean has been continuing to go to the Drama Club most Tuesdays. The children are currently working on their own book of poems and pictures. They hope to record the performance of their own plays here in the hall in CC and then include a DVD of the performance in with the book. Here is a sample of Sean's work.

Testing

I know that testing doesn't go down very well with some parents who home-school their children but Niall and I have decided to pursue it for several different reasons. One reason for having Sean tested by MICRA-T (Mary Immaculate College reading attainment test, Level 2 Form A) and Drumcondra Primary Reading Test - Level 3 Form A (standard tests that most school children in the country take) is to help me keep track of how he is doing in his education.

As I mentioned earlier in this blog, I am using the same curriculum that is being used the country over. I need to know how Sean is faring, and make sure I am doing enough work with him. Also I need to know for my own peace of mind, that I am doing a good job with him. Another reason for allowing him to take these tests is that if he goes to secondary school (The jury is still out on this one!) he will need to have these tests if entry into school is to go smoothly.

When we went to take Sean out of school in December 05 we were told that the only problem he had was with reading. Last year he took his first MICRA-T test as a home-schooled boy and thankfully he went from below average in reading to above average. (In a classroom set up he tested average, and for his age, above average) This result did more to encourage me than anything else and it gave me the strength and courage to continue with educating Sean at home.

Last week Kate, the teacher who comes up from Dublin to assist me in teaching Sean, tested Sean in the Drumcondra test. Kate assures us that he achieved very good marks and that we should be pleased.

Americans are NOT alone!

Here is something to cheer your day; It's titled "Only in America" but as you will find out, most of the comments apply to the Irish!!! Read on and enjoy....



Only in America can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

Only in America are there handicapped parking places in front of a skating rink.

Only in America do we award someone $3,000,000 for spilling hot coffee in their own lap.

Only in America do we have labels on baby strollers to remind people to remove the baby before folding up the stroller.

Only in America do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions.

Only in America do people order double cheese burgers, large fries, and a DIET coke.

Only in America do banks leave all the doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and leave useless junk in the garage.

Only in America do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

Only in America do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America do we use the word "politics" to describe the process so well: "Poli" in Latin meaning "many" and "tics" meaning "blood-sucking creatures".

Only in America do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering!

Children's Stories

Here is a book I have just finished going through with Sean. It's called "Children's Stories by JC Ryle" published by Christian Focus Publications Ltd. www.christianfocus.com info@christianfocus.com

John Charles Ryle (1816 1900) was an Englishman who after hearing Ephesians chapter 2 read at the Church service became a Christian at the age of 22 and was ordained four years later. He was a well known writer of tracts and books as well as a faithful pastor.

This little gem of a book was written by him, to children, and I have spent many evenings with Sean reading it to him, bit by bit. It is strong and true to the Gospel. Any child who is able to listen to an adult reading a story to them is old enough to have this read to them. I would recommend it to anybody as one of the best children's Christian based books I have ever read to Sean.

About HS kids and socialization'

I picked up this short piece on the net today and it pretty much covers my views about whether HS kids have a problem socializing or not.......

"Far from being a drawback to home schooling, as the myth would have it, socialization is actually one of home schooling's greatest virtues.

Like their public school counterparts, home school students have plenty of opportunities to mingle with their peers. They belong to organizations like Boy Scouts and 4-H. They participate in sports. And many are involved in church youth activities and volunteer work.

But unlike public school students, who spend the greater part of each day almost exclusively in the company of people their own age, home school students, whose days are often spent in the company of people of various ages, are less likely to depend on their peers for validation of their choices and values."

Given all the socialization benefits home schooling has to offer, the next time you talk to someone whose kids go to public school, you may want to ask the question posed on a bumper sticker I used to have.

"Public schools? Aren't you worried about socialization?"

www.roanoke.com

MMMmmmmm................

HS Material

Last year Janet gave me a game for Sean called "The Potty Professor". It is a fun way to learn multiplications and divisions. Sean and his friends plays with it regularly and enjoyed it so much that I bought him another two;

"Piggy in the Middle" and "Greedy Gorilla". Piggy in the middle is a fun game to help children learn about money. It has a board that you make up with a plastic piggy bank in the middle.



Greedy Gorilla is just as fun to play with. It teaches children the difference between junk food and healthy food and has a gorilla that burps when you deposit junk food cards in his mouth!

In an age where every child seem not only to have a play station in his home but also PSP's etc, I can honestly say that these games have been a huge success with Sean and his friends... and me! Children from the ages of 8 to 12 have been playing them with Sean and loving them! These games are made by Orchard Toys and you can check these and others on www.orchardtoys.com

When we went to the Museums on Saturday I bought another game... Dominoes! But with a twist! These are made by TATE and instead of having spots on them they have the following works of art! Patrick Caulfield, John Constable, David Hockney, Sir Howard Hodgkin, Piet Mondran, John Singer Sargent and Joseph Mallord William Turner. I am hoping that as he plays with these he will develop an interest and perhaps a love for the arts.

When I was in Mississippi last Autumn I picked up something from WalMart. Kelloggs were giving out sheets of cards free. These cards had very colourful pictures of all sorts of animals and birds from South America. On one side it shows a picture of a creature and gives the name and some interesting facts about it. The flip side of the same but in Spanish. I got several sheets, took them home, divided them up and Sean and I play snap with them. Whoever wins each pile of cards has to read out the information on the card!

Field trip to museums in Dublin

Last week I promised to take Sean to Dublin for the day so I asked my sister Barbara and her son Daniel to join us and we went on Saturday. We went to visit Trinitty College first and then we went to the Natural Museum of Ireland followed by a quick visit and snack in the National Museum and then on to a visit to Archbishop Ryan Park to let off a bit of steam!

It was good for the boys to have each others company and good for us parents to catch up on our news. I hope to take Sean back up to Dublin, perhaps next month and check out some of the other attractions. Collins Barracks seems to be a good choice. They have an exhibition free of charge (as the other two were) called "The Irish at war at home and abroad since 1550"... Across from Trinity we enjoyed listening to a lady playing the harp and watching a street artist working with chalk on the pavement. More photos on Flickr

Update on creatures

Sean's frog spawn seemed to be coming along nicely, they turned into tadpoles to the amazement of all the kids in the drama club. One of them sprouted legs a couple of days ago but then it died. However we still got one left and we and watching him (or her?) closely., We went to the allotment and got some more pond water and when we poured it into the dish with the tadpoles we discovered that there was another creature in there too... a small fish! Sean is delighted! We left him in with the tadpoles but it frightened the life out of them so we put it in to the tank with Leviathan (or stinky as I call him when Sean doesn't clean out the tank often enough!) The new fish hid for a couple of days but now he is out in the open and I think Stinky OOOps! I mean Leviathan likes the company!
Peter and Grace got themselves two new Newts...

World's most polluted river

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It was once a gently flowing river, where fishermen cast their nets, sea birds came to feed and natural beauty left visitors spellbound.

Villagers collected water for their simple homes and rice paddies thrived on its irrigation channels.

Today, the Citarum is a river in crisis, choked by the domestic waste of nine million people and thick with the cast-off from hundreds of factories.

So dense is the carpet of refuse that the tiny wooden fishing craft which float through it are the only clue to the presence of water.

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Their occupants no longer try to fish. It is more profitable to forage for rubbish they can salvage and trade - plastic bottles, broken chair legs, rubber gloves - risking disease for one or two pounds a week if they are lucky.

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The Big Nite Out

On Friday the 5th of May we took Mick and his model Ark to Lisburn Baptist Church. They were hosting the annual children's event called 'The Big Nite Out' organised by Baptist Youth. Last year's theme was the Creation and this year's theme was The Flood.

Education is not the filling of the pail, but the lighting of a fire...

Today is the last day in April so to take advantage of the good day I took Sean outside to do some work with his multiplications. We took some chalk and drew a number line on the footpath outside the Community Centre here in C.C. Some of the neighbouring children joined us not realizing that they were continuing in their learning after spending the day in regular school!

When the chalk got a bit worn and couldn't be read so easily, we cut out paper squares, drew numbers on them with crayons, and taped them onto the drive in our garden. The kids skipped along the number line using the numbers two, four, six, eight and ten; they also used their footballs to bounce along to make it more fun! Sean finished his work with the help of his friend Rhys doing his word search.

Shellinghill - Cooley Peninsula.

We visited Shelling Hill three days in a row. This is small beach on the Cooley Peninsula. It's partly stony and partly sandy. Immediately Sean got down to something he loves doing - trying to dam the water. There was a small stream flowing onto the beach. It had made its own course across the rocks and sand. We decided to change it a little! On each of the three visits we made new channels and routes for the water - sometimes with more success than others. The water occasionally had a way for taking it own preferred course, no matter what we did! but the plan was generally successful. When we went back on the second and third days we found that the new channel we built had remained intact. Sean had his friend, Rhys, with him on the third visit, so there was even more 'hydro-engineering' work completed!
At first we called the new 'river' the 'Father & Son' river. But after Rhys's visit we renamed it the 'Clontygora River'.
It was great fun.

World Championships at Ice Dome

We met up with Nadia and her children in the Ice Dome to watch the teams get a bit of practice in between games. Rhys and Dannan came along too. The Dundalk Ice Dome is currently hosting the Ice Hockey World Championships with New Zealand, South Africa, Armenia, Ireland, Luxenbourg and Mongolia competing. I took Sean to the new Zealand V Mongolia game. New Zealand won.

Working outdoors

Since today was so beautiful for April, we decided to do our work outside. Niall, me and Sean are going to be on the radio tonight hosting a Christian show (Heart of the Matter on DUNDALK FM100 about encouraging fellow Christians with music and Scripture and while I was preparing for this, Sean got on with his written work.

Later two of the neighbouring children, Rhys and Thomas, called by and joined in the learning by playing a game of multiplications with Sean!

Later still, both Sean and Rhys worked together; Sean with his maths and Rhys with his own homework. It was good seeing them working together and helping each other. After all the hard work they cooled off by playing football with the other children in C.C.

Using different resources

There are two magazines that can be put to good use while education children whether at home or in school. These are 'Creation' and 'Answers'
The 'Creation" mag has articles on anything from dinosaurs to space and 'Answers' have all sorts of different interesting articles on a wide range of topics. It also has a pull out section especially for kids.

Last week Niall and I went to see the movie 'Amazing Grace' about the Christian William Wilberforce and how he had a hand in the abolition of the slave trade. In 'Answers' there is an article all about William Wilberforce, so there is potential to use this kind of material in teaching our children about how God uses his people to ease the pain and suffering of the world in general.

You can go on line and check out 'Answers' for yourself on 'AnswersMagazine.com'

'The Old Schoolhouse' is a good magazine to read for anybody who home schools. It's good to read up on what other parents are doing and how they, and their children are coping! There are only about six families home schooling in the Dundalk area and I have contact with only two of these so I think reading mags like this one can help a lot in encouraging me!

Easter 2007

Now that it is Easter and there are plenty of extra outings planned for children who are on holidays we took Sean back up to W5 in Belfast. This is our third trip in as many years and it still amazes and stimulates us! There is just so much to take in and so much to do that it's hard to know where to start!

There are more photos on 'Flickr".

Baking & cooking

Today Sean wanted to help me to cook the dinner so together we cut and cooked the chicken, cooked the rice and on top of that he baked an apple pie... with the USS Enterprise on top of it!

Hobbits & Birds!

Sometimes the newspapers give out free DVDs and because friends know I home school Sean, sometimes they collect them for me if they think they would be of any use to Sean's education. This is a very good way to collect free resources!

One particular newspaper gave out a series of free wall charts every week for several weeks. They were fourteen charts about salt water life, birds of prey, wildflowers, wild foul etc.

The RTÉ Guide gave out a free CD called The Dawn Chorus. This was a special production by RTÉ's Mooney Goes Wild and it is a recording of birds singing in different areas of Ireland; Cuskinny Marsh Nature reserve, Cobh, Co. Cork and The Phoenix Park in Dublin.

I incorporated both the wall charts on birds and the CD and had a unique teaching tool for Sean!

When I was about Sean's age my own school teacher spent time every Friday afternoon reading to us. She would tell us to fold our arms and relax and then she read us 'The Hobbit' by JRR Tolkien. She also played Peter and the Wolf and The Nut Cracker on albums and I used to love it. I never forgot it or the influence it had on me in later years, although I can't blame her on the fact that I love 'The Lord of the Rings'! Just recently we started as a family to take turns to read 'The Hobbit' and it looks like it will be the case of 'like mother, like son'!

Yard Sale

This has been Sean, Peter and Grace's second yard sale here in C.C. The children collect old toys and bits and pieces and set up a stall in the front garden. Whatever money they made they divided it equally among themselves and also donated money towards Gavin and Des Campbell's Christian work (Rose of Sharon Ministries) in South Africa.

Sean's Granny, Tess, came down from Camlough to support the yard sale and Jean stayed for the sale and helped out. Sean decided to save his share of the proceeds for his holiday in Spain in September.

Music & Theatre

This spring Sean has been listening and learning about Jazz music. We got some books out of the Library about Louis Armstrong and also bought some DVDs of various bands and singers. We hope to maybe go to Dublin during the summer and catch the RTÉ orchestra playing Jazz during one of the many free performances they give every year.

Rebecca Lambe, a member of the Dundalk Baptist Church, goes to the Grammar School here in Dundalk. She auditioned successfully for a part in 'Stage One New Musical Group' (SONG) and performed for several nights in the Town Hall here in Dundalk. The actors in the group are all students under the age of 19 and the performance was 'Les Misérables'.

We got the DVD of it two weeks before we planned to attend the live production and we all enjoyed watching it, especially Sean! We booked seven seats for Thursday evening and my sister Patricia, nephew Dean with his friend, Fionnuala, his brother Daniel, me, Niall and Sean first enjoyed a nice meal in the 'Jade Garden' Chinese Restaurant before attending the musical.

We met Rebecca's mother, father and grand mother there and settled down to enjoy the night. It was brilliant! In Sean's opinion it was even better than the professional production on the DVD! I wish I could have recorded more of it for you to enjoy, but do watch the small samples here. We decided before we left the building that night to go back and see the show again the next evening but we found out that it had been sold out months ago!

Allotment in Spring 2007

We went back to work in the allotment this spring and found that we had to do a lot more digging than we expected! The weather has been beautiful this past week and it has been a great pleasure to be there.

Last year we started planting small bushes around the perimeter as we hope to be allowed to keep up the allotment for many years to come. We hope to continue doing this and have bought some more bushes to plant.

Last week we planted rhubarb and started to plant our strawberries. We have potatoes but didn't get the chance to plant them yet.

As usual, the frog spawn is the big hit of the season with Sean taking some home with him (to the delight of his friends) and has been watching their progressive growth with great interest.

Russian & Geography

While Lisa has been teaching Sean the Russian names for different countries around the world, Niall has been working with Sean in planning a fantasy 'round the world trip by boat'! Sean loves both! He is keeping a scrap book of the journey recording what ports he stops at, what currency that country uses and what kind of food the people would eat!

Last year a friend gave me a loan of an electronic globe for a couple of months where you can touch it with a special pen and it will tell you the name of the country you touched, the capital of that country and how far it is from Ireland. It had games on it and it was an immense help to Sean.

St Patrick's Day Parade in Dundalk 2007

A LOT of hard work went into the preparation for this parade for the Dundalk Kidz Drama Klub! We made costumes of Vikings and American Indians because the theme was 'Voyages of Discovery'. The children decided to portray the discovery of America by the Viking Leif Ericsson.

Like I said earlier, this club covers Sean for Arts & Crafts, Drama and mixing with his peers. It was a terrific day with Jean and Jeff helping out, and of course Niall!

Afterwards we went to the 'Marshes' shopping centre and had a Burger King. The place was packed with people, with a puppet show and a band (The Merry Macs) playing live music with Sean's uncle Gene playing drums! More photos on DKDK blog.

link on top of this blog.

Grace in Armagh

One of Sean's pals, Grace, has been learning ballet about two years now and she was performing in Armagh recently so we decided as a family to go and support her.

We got delayed by traffic among other things and only got to see her last performance but it was well worth the trip! She looked great and her dancing was great too! Well done Gracie Girl!!!

Old ties.

Anybody who knows my family well will know that Sean's natural father died in a car accident twelve weeks before Sean was born. His father was called Sean Campbell and his best friend is called Noel Bennett. I am very glad that Noel still keeps in contact with us, we meet up, and talk on the phone. He never forgets Sean at Christmas, Easter and his Birthday, and we can always rely on him to help us out when we need him. Thank you Noel.

Of course Sean has plenty of contact with his fathers family up in Northern Ireland and so now he has three families, his natural father's, mine and Niall's. He is definitely spoiled come his Birthday and Christmas!

Dad's birthday cake!

Here we are tricking around with chocolate! Sean wanted to make dad a birthday cake made in the shape of a Viking ship! Between the drama club getting ready for the St Patrick's Day parade dressed as Vikings and his history project all about Vikings, his request doesn't surprise me!

With a little imagination and a big mess we finally cracked it... I think, even down to putting the candles into it, lighting it and making it look like a burial ship!

Niall's birthday falls on Valentine's Day so we always try to make the day just a little bit extra special. Rhys, Sean's friend, joined us for the party too.

Field trip to Chocolate factory.

Every boy's dream come true! I remember going to an ice-pop factory when I was a child. An experience I never forgot! I hope Sean will remember this visit to the Danucci Chocolate Factory here in Dundalk. It's good for him to know where the shops get their produce from. The staff were terrific and Niall liked the visit too!

Archery

These past couple of months Sean has taken to archery much to Niall's delight! We three went up to Ravensdale, a local forest and beauty spot for a walk and a bit of practice.

Nanny Bernie's birthday.

Nanny Bernie was 75 this January so our family arrange a party for her and most of the children and grandchildren managed to get to it. Mum looked great and loved the photograph we had put on the cake. It was a lovely one of her when she was 18 and living in Bundoran.

Sean had a good evening meeting up with his aunts, uncles and cousins which are many considering Mum has six daughters, three sons, twenty grandchildren and three great grandchildren!

Field trip to Paddy Clarke's Photography Studio

This was both interesting and fun! Emma Clarke, who is an multi-award-winning photographer was very kind to show Sean and me around the studio. She showed Sean the camera, teaching him how to use it and then she showed him how to arrange the lights.

After all this she took photos of Sean herself and then gave him the chance to take photos of me, and as you can see, he had great fun; playing around on the computer afterwards changing the images etc!

H.S. visit to a model!!!http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

I took Sean to visit his cousin Roseanne Berrill who is a model by trade. We had a talk with her about her job and asked her lots of questions about it. She showed us her portfolio, explaining what photos were used for what magazine. Roseanne is the model for John Rocha (if you click here you will see Roseanne) and during London Fashion Week and she travels to London and Paris a couple of times a year to be fitted for, and model his clothes. She gave us some pictures from magazines she is in and eventually signed Sean's scrap book. When all this hard work was over Sean played with her cat!!!

Mini break in Sligo

Well, our friends Dave and Stella come to the rescue once more and kindly gave us use of their holiday home in Sligo over the Christmas break. It's always nice to get away and also to leave the books behind! We tried our hand at archery and boating and came home refreshed and ready to face the new year!

We took a trip over to Castlebar and went to see 'Eragon' the movie. It's a fantasy about dragons. Naturally, Sean loved it!

Carrol singing in C.C.

Because of the time of year, the Bible Story Telling Club here in Clontygora Court decided to take the children out to sing songs to our neighbours and give them a free gift of a Christian calendar to each home. The rain held off and we enjoyed the evening, especially the goodies afterwards!

D.K.D.K Play

The children finally had their play in the hall in C.C. They all made their costumes and after the play gave our visitors tea, minerals and biscuits. They raised over forty Euros which they gave to Orphans in Zimbabwe.

Charity football game

We read in the paper that there was a charity football game being held in the Soccer Dome between the Guards and the Army so we decided to go along and support the match, seeing that Paul the Guard was playing! Paul was the Guard that showed us around the Garda station for a couple of hours during the summer. We met Sean's friend, Sean Rooney there. He was there with his class from school. We also met Ken, the photographer from 'The Argus', there! It was a very good match with the Guards just beating the Army!!!

Dundalk FM100

Because of the newspaper report on home-schooling we, as a family, were invited onto the 'Dundalk Daily' morning programme on Dundalk FM100 by Harry Lee. Sean had been in the studio on many different occasions and so he wasn't too nervous! The interview went well. When we were there Sean noticed some big old albums hanging on the wall and asked how come the CDs were so big!

Newspaper

Recently there was an extensive series of articles and photos of children in schools in Louth. Almost every child in the county had their photos on the Argos and so a reporter for the Argos newspaper came out to interview me and Sean about home schooling. Her name was Margaret and she was also going to interview Nadia about her children's schooling too. Margaret was very nice and after interviewing us she went off to cover Berty Ahern, our Taoiseach, who was visiting the Ice Dome which is just over the road.

A couple of days later a photographer from the Argos came and took some photos. He spent some time showing Sean his camera and explaining how it works. It just shows that you can turn almost anything into a learning experience!

The importance of grandparents.

Although this is not part of Sean's formal education, it is important to keep up family ties.

Sometimes Sean's granny Tess helps him with his book work when he has to find out how people lived in years gone by and what school was like in his grand parents day.

This is Sean with His granddad Mickey and his step grandmother Adeline. Mickey wrote a story about a storm based on a true event in his life when he was a lad, and he dedicated it to Sean.

Also a family picture of Sean with his nanny Bernie on her 75th birthday. We can't forget his granddad, 'Peter" who lives in Newry and has occasional contact with Sean.

Music

Kate suggested that Sean be exposed to different types of music and instruments so we decided to play certain kinds of music to Sean and at the same time teach him a little about the composer and history of it.

I started with Tchaikovsky and we listened to c.d.'s and tapes that I had at home already. We found out all about him on the internet and started up a scrap book.

We went to Dublin to visit old friends of mine, Dave and Stella and that evening Sean and I went to see the Nut Cracker in the Point Depo. Stella very kindly gave us the tickets for a gift and so we were there for the second time: the first time was nine years ago with Stella when I was expecting Sean!!! After the ballet, Sean and I met a member of the dance team and she signed Sean's scrap book. A lovely end to a terrific night. Thanks Stella!

Church meetings.

We take Sean along to some of the Church meetings in our building as well as other Church centres. Last year he met up with Dr. Walter Boyd, who is a lovely Christian man who preached to us in our own building. He has a particular gift when dealing with children and as you can see in the photo, Sean took to him, showing him his Lego toy!

On that visit we met Jim Graham, a friend who was at our wedding and who was handing over his title of President of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland to Harry Dowds. Sean knows Jim and said 'I can't believe I am meeting a President!'. This year one of the bi-annual meetings was held in our own Church building for the first time and we took Sean along to meet up with our friends and Brothers.

After the meeting we went to Dublin with Mick and had a spin on a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat) in Dublin bay.

D.K.D.K.

The children that were at Grace and Sean's party in June wanted to start up a drama club so I said I would help them out. They started in September, meeting in the hall in C.C. most weeks and also invited a couple of kids from the area to join them. Sometimes if the group was small and the weather bad, I would light a fire and we would hold the club in my home. They spend the first while talking about what happened during the week and discussing their news. Then they take turns to pray and ask God to help them be friends and to help them make up if there is a problem. Then they vote in any new members, what they are going to do etc. All the decisions are made by them with me keeping an eye on things.

Rhys and Caomihe are the treasurers, collecting one euro from each household and recording it in a book. The children decided to call themselves Dundalk Kidz Drama Klub! They started to prepare for a play to be held over the Christmas holidays called The Three Little Wolves and the big bad Pig! Kate assures me that all his speech and drama needs are met by doing this club, along with his arts & crafts! Sean is also keeping up with friends and neighbours. There is a link at the top of this blog that you can click onto if you want to find out more about the club.

Work around the house with dad.

We can always get caught up with the academic part of education and leave out the more practical stuff. This is one of the areas that Niall takes over and this is where he tends to excel! He is great at encouraging Sean to go one step further when helping out with jobs around the home.
We need to keep his future life in view and try to teach him skills that will carry through to when he has a home of his own with Gods Grace.

When we buy flat packs Sean helps his dad, and recently he and his Russian friend Artem helped him work on the new shed.

Arts & Crafts

Sometimes I can find myself doing too much of one particular subject and not enough of another. Arts & Crafts can be like this by times. Sometimes I don't do enough with Sean and other times we do too much! Its a subject we both really enjoy and so it's not a great burden on either of us. Actually, none of the subjects we study at the moment has been a burden to us. yet!!!

I bought some craft materials in craft shops here in Dundalk and while we were in the U.S. Other materials we pick up here and there. We bought some cloth bags for our shopping one day while shopping in Aldi and ended up making a nice present out or them. We went to the Reminent Basket shop and bought a small bag of left over cloth for two Euros. We cut out the flower patterns and sewed them on to the cloth bags, finishing them off by putting the names of Sean's aunties on them and gave them as gifts.

Welcome to Kate, our new teacher!

Kate has been coming to us now and we are getting along very well. She has given me a catalogue for different resources, one of them being a timer. This is a fun, colourful clock where you can change the different times and different sounds to suit the student. It is to encourage Sean to do some of his work under certain time limits. So far, so good. Soon we will be testing Sean in his reading, the same tests every other school child will be taking the country over.

Janet gets married.

When we were away in the U.S. Janet got married to her fiancée Sean and after going on honeymoon,is now living in Australia! Of course we miss her terribly and wish her the best and pray that God will bless her marriage to Sean for many years to come.

However she looked after us very well before she went. She spent hours buying Sean his books for the next two years, going through them and the curriculum and highlighting what I need to take account of. She also stet up a meeting between us and Kate. Kate went to college with Janet and is also a teacher and most importantly a Christian. We are delighted with Kate and are glad she took us on, driving up from Dublin most months to help and advise us. Tanks Janet and thanks Kate!

Minding Peter & Grace.

When Jeff and Jean had to go abroad, we stayed in their home minding their children Peter and Grace. It's always a great pleasure minding them as they are great kids and friends to Sean. While the children went to school, Sean and I got on with our learning. I say Sean and I because this is what it has been for the past few months, I have been learning and enjoying myself along with Sean. I didn't expect this real bonus when I started and am loving every minute of it!

Holiday in Mississippi U.S.A.

We went to Mississippi to spend time with friends in Wiggins. The Lowery family home school their children so I took material along and schooled Sean while Sarah and Ellen were also learning. We didn't do an awful lot, just enough to keep Sean from falling behind. Sean made a scrap book and put in lots of photos and memorabilia. It is nice to look back on.

Niall had been making a Blog based on the holiday but with a slant to it... The Irish Vikings visit America in search of dragons! If you want to have a look just click on it!

Swimming camp & beach party.

Well, I made the mistake in January of promising Sean that we would have a beach party in the summer for all his friends and have a sand castle competition... he couldn't stop asking me about it for many many months! Eventually, we got a beautiful day where almost all of his friends were available to go. We headed to Blackrock with food, shelter from wind, sticking plasters, prizes, buckets and spades and food. The weather was just fantastic and the kids played for hours. Jack, Peter, Sean, Corey, Molly, and Rhys were there along with Jean, Nikki and Snoopy! Niall joined us for a short time and dug out an enormous sand castle! We went out and met the tide coming in and ended the day watching wind and sail surfers.


This year Sean has been going to the Aura swimming pool with his dad and learning how to swim. When we sent him to the Summer Camp it made a difference in his confidence in the water. He went with Grace, Peter and Molly. A real hit, will go again!

Fun Church day and boating in N.Ireland.

We went up North to visit friends in Islandmagee, Derek, Shauna and Amanda. We went with these friends to the County Antrim Yacht Club for a fun Regatta. While Sean went sailing, Niall, Mick and Kevin went snorkelling... I watched from a safe and comfortable distance! We ended the day BBQ-ing and the next day went on to a Church family day, hence the bouncy castle.
It'd always nice to see a reminder that God remembers us.

Cousin Elaine's 'debs' and Tracey's new baby.

This was a very busy time in Nicola's house. Nicola had a party for Elaine's 'debs' and of course everybody went to it. Elaine looked beautiful... meanwhile, Tracey (or Buddy as Sean always calls her) was in the hospital in Drogheda having her baby! Very emotional for Nicola. Buddy had a baby girl, Jasmine, the very next day with Elaine at her side.

Fionn Cumiskey's 3rd Birthday Party

This is just a little something we've added -ahead of its time - for the benefit of the Cumiskey clan, who entertained us with a wonderful 3rd birthday party for their son, Fionn. Click on the photos to see them fullsize and click on each of the 'play' arrows below to watch the video clips of the day.
(We hope you enjoy the 'senior citizen' trampoliners!

Field trip to Planetarium in Armagh

Recently, the Armagh Planetarium was extensively refurbished and re-opened to the public. We decided to go and have a look. We got some interesting DVDs and other bits and pieces in the shop but the highlight was the show about the size of the Universe. This is a great bit of video, projected onto the domed ceiling! The best bit was that we got to see it for free. We had booked by telephone, but because we arrived a little late (we had arranged to meet with Sean's granny and cousins on the way) they had presumed we weren't coming. However, they found a few seats for us and let us watch the show without having to pay.

If you click on the photo of Sean and Niall with the spaceman, and look real closely, you will see Sean's train tracks.... a once off haircut that Sean is very proud off!!!

Trip to Sanda Island

Niall and Mick organised a trip to Sanda Island off the coast of Scotland (south-east of the Mull of Kintyre) in a RIB (Rigid Inflatable Boat).
Twelve of them (Sean, Mick, Niall, Danann (middle left, with Sean), Paul, Rebecca, Daniel, Philip, Faye, Derek, Shauna and Amanda (top left, with Sean) left from Ballylumford and travelled on a 10-metre Redbay 'Stormforce' RIB which is powered by the newest and quietest outboard engines available, the Mercury 'Verado'. (This is to help with nature trips - it's possible to get closer to the wildlife without disturbing them.) The RIB was called the 'North Irish Diver' and owned by Peter Steele of North Irish Lodge We got to see to seals, gannets, puffins and, we think, porpoises.
The visit to Sanda itself was a major surprise. Although it's a Scottish island there isn't a single Scot resident there. The Laird (Lord) of the island is from Birmingham (bottom left, with Sean) and the only other residents are the two Lithuanian girls who work in the Restaurant/Bar and gift shop! It is a beautiful location and the whole trip took over four hours.
At the end of the journey Peter, the boat's owner, allowed Sean to pilot it back to the harbour at Ballylumford.
As you can see, the whole thing was just too much for Niall - caught on camera by Sean in Derek's house after the trip.
Finally, here's a clip of what didn't happen during our trip!

Sports

Well, of course sports is an important part of a child's development so we decided over the past few years to let Sean try his hand at different kinds. He tried horse riding out in Ravensdale for over a year but he wasn't too keen. He also attended the Rugby Camp in the summer, the Samba Soccer Summer Camp for three years in a row and played soccer every Saturday morning in J.J.B Soccer Dome but found that these weren't his sports either. Though he has expressed an interest in becoming a goalkeeper, I don't think he knows just how dangerous that can be! Watch this:



Eventually we found two that suit him perfectly and that he has a great love for; swimming and boating! He went to Aura swimming camp in the summer with his friends, Peter, Grace and Molly and just loved it! He goes to the pool most weeks with his dad and his swimming is improving steadily. As for boating, well any ship in a storm! He is passionate about boats and gets as many books out of the library that he can about them. We have took him on many types of boat trips over the years, bought an inflatable boat with electric engine and it looks like the sea life going to be his life long love.
Our next plan is to introduce him to Ice Hockey - he never stops talking about it since the Ice Dome opened in Dundalk!

Peter & Sean at RTÉ

Sean was invited to go on to the Den, a children's T.V programme on every week day on RTÉ. The name of the show was called "Totally no Teeth" and the idea behind it was that the presenter, Kathryn, would ask the boys questions in relation to a previously chosen topic and whoever slipped up first, lost. Sean chose "Creatures on Noah's Arc" so both he and the presenter had to take turns naming different animals that were on the Arc and if you laughed and showed your teeth, or if you couldn't give an answer within 5 seconds you lost! Peter choose sports and did well but sadly lost. However, Sean did a little better and beat the presenter and so won a €30 voucher which he shared with Peter and his sister, Grace, who came along for the fun. We all visited Smyth's Toy Store in Drogheda on the way home and the kids bought toys with their winnings!

Library & Noah's Ark

Every now and again we go into the Library here in Dundalk for a change of scenery. Sean picks out books, videos and DVDs to take home with him. He does his regular written work and there is always the chance of looking at and discussing the latest exhibit that are regularly on display. Mike's model of Noah's Ark was on display in the Library and we went to see this, even though it is on almost permanent display in the Church building! Check out the Answers in Genesis website for some great information on the Ark, the Flood and more.

Sometimes we get a video and watch it with the ear phones and some times there are special activities organised for children in the Library like story times where you have authors reading from their books, and sessions of arts and crafts.

Holiday Bible Club in C.C.

This has been our fourth annual Holiday Bible Club. We have a whole week of games, Bible stories, song and crafts and up to fifty children visit us throughout the week. Some old faces and some new! Obviously this is all part of education, the most important part of all!

C.C. Summer Project

This is the first year that there has been a Summer Project run for the children in Clontygora Court. I was one of the volunteers to help out with all the outings planned. There was a whole week of activities planned and Sean was one of the many children involved, along with his friends Rhys and Luke. Some of the places we visited were Newgrange Farm and Dublin Zoo.

Portaferry/ Exploris

We took Sean up to Portaferry again to visit his Aunties and Cousins and while there we visited Exploris. This is Northern Ireland's Aquarium. Open to the public all year round, it's popular with school groups and tourists. The best part is the Touch Pool where visitors are allowed to hold or touch various sea creatures. Sean even got to touch a Shark for the first time in his life!

Change of scenery

We give Sean holidays when it suits us as a family, or when we think he needs a break! It's not hard continuing on with the Sean's work in the summer because most of the children sleep late and don't go out playing in the street until after lunch and Sean is generally finished by then. This Spring and Summer I took him out into the back garden on fine days. One day I was out the back garden with Sean on a beautiful sunny day, and as I did the ironing, he did his Russian!

We made a change in his class room. Niall made Sean his own bed in the smaller room and we changed the larger bedroom into a good sized classroom for him. I don't expect to need this in years to come but for the time being, it is good for Sean and I to have somewhere for us to go to. He has a T.V with video player there to watch the different educational and interesting videos he has and he also has an old computer there so he can use the his educational software e.g. "I Love maths" etc.

Sean's birthday

Over the last couple of years we had a party for Sean in St Helena's park. We took the kitchen table to the park, set up the food, cake and minerals and let the children play on the slides etc. When they were finished playing we gavee them refreshments and then played with them ourselves with games that we had prepared for earlier such as pass the parcel and Panyada. We all enjoyed these party's but thought, after talking to different parents, that parties put a strain on parents since there seem to be so many of them for children to go to and therefore have to supply a gift! We three agreed that we wouldn't have a party for Sean this year, but rather, we would go somewhere with Sean ourselves and spend the day with him. (W5 in N Ireland) We also told Sean that we would organize a fun day at the beach during the summer with all his friends, have a sand castle competition, play in water etc. This way, no presents were expected and instead all the children went home with a prize!

Well, that was the idea! However, Jeff and Jean very kindly invited Sean to join Grace for her birthday and they had a double birthday party, something they have several times in the past. We all had a great day and this was also when the children decided to put on a show for us which eventually turned into D.K.D.K! Click on the 'play' arrow below to see this clip from the end of their performance: The BOW!
People must have felt very sorry for Sean because his granny Tess threw a party for him in Camlough in N Ireland inviting every relative he has there! We arrived with Sean's home made popcorn, chocolate and M&Ms birthday cake and we had a teriffic day. Thanks Tess!

Lots of people gave Sean gifts of cash so he could buy a trampoline so here it is!

Visit from Dublin H.S. Kids

Here is another family who educate their children at home. Mark and Colette Fitzpatrick, along with their four girls came to our Church service and afterwards joined us in our home to talk about home schooling and give us some advice. Their eldest girl started a regular secondary school last September and is in honours in all her classes except in Irish. She has made the transfer quite smoothly. Here are some photos of the children playing in our home with Sean.

BBQ at Salterstown

We spent a beautiful evening at Salterstown beach with Sean's friend. The weather was lovely, as well as the food! Paula is a neighbour, and her son Luke, plays with Sean. They had great fun playing in the water and sand, even having a go with the swingball tennis. Niall and I also had a go and quite enjoyed it!

Field trip to Garda Station

We hooked up with Nadia and her three children Jonathan, Lara and Nicholas, to visit the Dundalk Garda Station. Paul "the Guard" took us on a tour around the building which included a detective showing the children a number of different and VERY interesting selection of fire arms! (well, it was to the boys anyway!) He took them to the gym and also to the cells! Sean's favourite part of the trip was getting to play with the camera monitoring system around Dundalk - he and the other children got to zoom and pan some of the cameras around the town for a few minutes! They finished with minerals and sweets and went home, happy and I hope, wiser!

Helping out around the house

Sean has been given more responsibilities around the home. Niall has taught him to light the fire. (and clean it out!) He helps us to cut the grass. His job is to keep the downstairs "Little Room" tidy and clean and care for his goldfish. He gets pocket money every week and he has turned out to be a great little saver! Well done Sean!
Here he is helping Harry paint the hall recently.

Children's Bible Story Telling Club.

This club has been running in Clontygora Court for four years now. Children from our Church attend, along with the children who live in Clontygora. Marie, Jean, Kevin, Niall, me, Yana, Marguerite, Ann and Mary have been involved in the club on a regular basis. Each summer we have a special Holiday Bible Club on for a whole week with lots more leaders helping out. The regular club in on every week during school term and is a great source of Bible education, song, arts & crafts, and socialising. Well may it continue!

Fun and friends in the Pirate's Den!

What can I say about this that every parent is not aware of! The first thing a person asks me when I tell them about us educating Sean at home is: "Does he get enough interaction with other children?" Well.... Yes! It was Sean's first trip to the Pirate's Den.

Field Trip to Museum

The three of us went up to Dublin to visit the Museum of Natural History. Its very fascinating for children looking at all the different types of animals, shell fish and birds. If truth be known we all enjoyed it very much! We had a picnic outside too!

H.S. Update

Well, so far things are going really well with schooling Sean. Janet is still visiting once a month to keep an eye on things and to advise where necessary. Sean is keeping up with the regular school work, along with other work, such as the gardening, field trips, scrap books and reading extra books. We go into the Library here in Dundalk where Sean does written work along with looking at any exhibits that are on regular display there and we also look at educational videos there. It is a change of scenery for Sean and me!

I was also allowed to take full advantage of the warehouse stocked full of books, tapes, maps, DVDs Cds etc that the schools usually use. This has turned out to be a real blessing because I can take lots of this material home with me and keep it for over three months. No more returning books within three weeks!

Sean's cousin David came to play chess with Sean. I won't say who won the game, it might embarrass somebody! Janet also came to visit and help us out.

Easter with Nanny and family

Well this Easter was a buisy time for Sean. We went up to Camlough in N Ireland to visit his Nanny Tess and his Aunties and cousins. As you can see by the photos, Tess had a full house and so we got photos taken of Nanny and all her grandchildren... well, nearly all, there's another on the way!!!
Here's a little encouraging piece that might brighten your day and remind you what Easter's about: HAPPY EASTER

Katriona was very kind and gave Sean a very larg mug from her recent visit to France, with eggs and sweets in it. He was a very happy boy going home that evening in the back to the car!!!
And just in case you've put your smile somewhere and can't find it - watch this........

Springtime in the garden

Well, if we are going to spend any kind of time in the garden I suppose the best and the hardest time is in the Spring! We dug up a bed on the left hand side of the garden and planted two apple trees that Paul and Gwen gave us as a gift. Then we planted different kinds of flowers in the garden and in pots. After this we planted several types of herbs but needless to say, not all on the same day!!!

Park with other H.S. Kids

It's all part of the easy life of being Home Schooled these days! It was a beautiful day so we decided to ditch the books and go on our bikes to meet up with another family who Home Schools their children, Jonathan, Lara and Nicholas. We met up in St Helena's park and while the kids played, their mum, Nadia and I caught up on some news.

Allotment & Boys' fun day

There are allotments for rent in Muirhevna Mor so we went along to have a look and decided to hire a plot. Sean said "I cant believe we own our own land mum!" It looks a bit intimidating but the guys who work there are great and help us out by loaning us spades and giving us plants and advice etc.
There are apple trees, three disused ponds where Sean found frogs spawn and a picnic area. We have drawn out a plan for the allotment and we 'll see how we get on!
We were invited to go on to Dundalk F.M. Radio as guests to talk about our allotment! All went well on the day and it turned out to be an interesting experience for us both!

Now that Sean isn't at regular school any more its important that he doesn't miss out on playing with his friends, especially in a group, so we organized a meeting of the guys in the hall here in the C.C. (Clontygora Court) hall. The guys started with hockey then moved to jigsaws and finally to figuring out some tricky experiments I got ready for them! We have done this several times and all the boys seem to enjoy it.

Sunday School & Marco's birthday

Sean attends Sunday school with his friends at the Dundalk Baptist Centre every Sunday before the main service. This particular Sunday the children dressed up as their favourite Bible character and Sean choose King Solomon.

A couple of months ago the children produced their own audio play about the birth of Jesus during Sunday School. This was brodcasted on Christmas morning on Dundalk F.M. 100

It was Sean's cousin, Marco's first birthday so all the MacCarthaigh clan travelled up to Portaferry to meet for his birthday bash. Great opportunity for us all to meet up with some of the other members of Niall's family and catch up on the latest happenings and for Sean to continue to get to know his aunts and cousins.

Marley's Session

One of the best immediate effects of Sean being educated at home is that his personality is changing back to being his old self again. When he went to school he became a bit cheeky and a little unhappy in himself. Both Niall and I can see a very real change in Sean, more happy and content. Another nice surprise is how relaxed everything is. Instead of getting up, rushing with breakfast and uniform, making and packing lunch in school bag, checking which day is P.E day, we start the day now without all that! It's up, prayer, breakfast, wash and then study.

Recently we took Sean to his first 'Trad' Session in Kevin's house. It was a real traditional Irish evenings entertainment with visiting musicians coming to play from near and far. We ended up singing a song ourselves which is also a tradition! It was just great!

Learning Russian with Lisa & Visit to R.T.E

Instead of teaching Sean Irish, something I am not competent to do and legally, am not obliged to do, Niall and Sean are learning the Russian language. A friend of ours, Lisa, who is from Latvia and is an English teacher herself, teaches them both. Both Niall and Sean enjoy learning to read, write and speak this language and often practice it on people we meet in town like a particular waitress who works in the Roma!I took Sean out on his first field trip to R.T.E in Dublin. His friend and neighbour Rhys was a guest on a children's T.V show and so his mum, Becky, invited us along. We had a great day and Sean was the unofficial photographer for the day!!

School is fun but long and tiring!

Well, Sean continued to go to St Nicholas's School for a year and a half. He got on well with the teachers and made plenty of friends, however, he found it hard to cope with the amount of homework. Actually, he didn't understand why there was any homework at all!! When I was teaching him at home we only had to do between two and three hours work a day and no extra work after that.

Niall and I reviewed the situation and decided, after prayer and seeking advice from trusted friends, for several different reasons, to take him out of school and to continue to educate him ourselves. One of the main reasons we decided to educate Sean at home was spiritual. As Christians we wanted to give Sean a Bible centred upbringing. Legally Irish parents are responsible for their children's education - it's in the constitution - whether at school or at home. Sean was VERY happy with this and so we started home schooling in Jan 2006!

We used the small room upstairs that was office/ironing room and fixed it up for him. We asked our friend Janet Moore who is a primary school teacher and Christian to help us out and so she agreed to come to us every month and give us help and advice.

Niall and I decided to use the current curriculum that Sean was already using along with other material of our choice, and we also decided to register Sean with the Board Of Education. A representative from the Board, David Newton, called to visit us to assess the situation with regard to Sean's education. When he was finished he played a game of chess with Sean and gave him some very good tips!

Sean goes to regular school for a while

Things were going good with Sean's education. For example, because we were not tied down to the normal school year I could take time off with Sean when it suited us as a family. This meant that we could take our holidays whenever we wanted. We enjoyed a hol in Rome where we visited Niall's sisters and Sean's new Aunts, Síle & Kay. While staying in Capranica I continued to do some work with Sean, this is something I have continued to do in America, and also in Spain.

Sometimes I let Sean set his own limits on things like when he wanted to learn how to tell the time.



He was only five but he was very insistent so I taught him. The two years went by and both Sean and I enjoyed it. The plan was to send him to school when he was six. I didn't think I would be able to bring him on any further, especially in the Irish and I looked forwards to having time to myself.

He started senior infants in St Nicolas's Primary School three weeks before the summer holidays. This was good for several reasons. Firstly, there would be no other new children for his teacher to have to contend with so she was able spend more time with him than under normal circumstances. Also, he would have the summer hols to enjoy before going back to school. He really took to Miss O'Neill and mixed into school life very fast, making friends with the children, especially Corey.

In the beginning...

Well, if I say that I will 'start at the start' that means that I go back to the summer of 2002 when Sean was four and Niall and I decided to educate Sean at home for two years until he was six, instead of sending him to regular school. I had never thought of teaching Sean myself until after I became a Christian and went to visit a Christian family called the Lowry's in Mississippi in the U.S. Clark and Sheila have three children, Zac, Sarah and Ellen, and Sheila was educating them herself at home. There were so many things about this type of education that I admired so I guess this family greatly influenced me in my decision to teach Sean. Niall had thought for many years that home schooling was a good option.

I found it both fun and tough. Work wise, it was easy. There are lots of workbooks I could buy in the shops, fun and stimulating jigsaws, educational games etc. I also got the book list from school that children his age would be working on in school and I bought some of these.

Although I had Sean with me all of the time anyway, minding him and teaching him were two different things. There's one thing minding a child and getting on with your work while he plays etc., but another thing disciplining yourself, and him, to sitting down and working together, so at times it was hard during the first year but after that it became much easier and we really enjoyed it!

For more information about Irish Home-Schoolers you can visit the HEN website.