tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-224925002012-01-04T23:00:00.772ZWe have been home educating, in England UK, since July 2005. Our blog follows the ups and the downs, as well as the sidetracks, of our journey to date. It's not always about home education - but it is always about life.thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.comBlogger5401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-30931044340923684392010-07-03T07:35:00.009+01:002010-07-03T08:10:06.114+01:00

At the weekend we started the celebrations for William's 8th birthday.His actual birthday was on Sunday but Josh was out most of the day at Celebration Surrey event where SAVVY where performing.That's Josh on the far left of the picture - shades on of course!Actually it was so very hot - being the hottest day that we'd had of this warm weather - that they came home from the event earlier than we

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-66365843061903237322010-06-26T09:48:00.004+01:002010-06-26T10:00:36.699+01:00

It is very rewarding to watch things growing in the garden!These were images from the garden taken on 27th April when plants were just starting to grow.Then in May we had those frosts and everything was covered up.Now... now the harvesting is starting!We've already had about 2kg of potatoes, 600g of carrots, and over 1kg of strawberries so far, plus numerous bowls of salad leaves, and herbs to

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-35492474087258682732010-06-07T07:53:00.003+01:002010-06-07T08:29:00.521+01:00

Jonathan is three! How did that happen? Doesn't seem that long ago...He had said that what he wanted for his birthday was "party hats, balloons and biscuits". When asked what he wanted as a present he said "a bouncy ball". For his cake, he wanted "Peppa Pig" and when I asked whether he wanted Peppa or George he said "all of them". So...We tried to accomodate this...He came downstairs to find

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-47237905674248515632010-05-28T11:31:00.007+01:002010-05-28T11:56:44.714+01:00

Crikey I didn't realise it had been so long since I blogged!What have we been up to?We had my niece's 1st birthday party at my brother's house (she's the little girl in pink watching whilst everyone else plays with her new toys!).Everyone dressed up for the occasion and, ironically, Roarke, Josh and William all wore blue shirts.That meant I got a lovely photo of my "boys in blue" (one of whom is

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-22150276594264300472010-05-13T19:24:00.006+01:002010-05-13T19:53:11.884+01:00

I get a feeling that I might look back at my last post, with it's lovely pictures of all the things growing in my garden, and weep by the end of this week!What IS it with this weather?! A few days ago we had snow in some parts of the country again, and widespread frosts at night.I panicked. I don't have a greenhouse. My tender plants - courgettes and tomatoes - were already out in the garden

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-5580535044690799552010-04-27T10:45:00.010+01:002010-04-27T11:06:25.974+01:00

Growing in my garden at the moment:Yellow beetroot (I've also got ordinary beetroot growing but they aren't as big)Thyme - this plant is from my original bought some 10 years ago and split and taken with me in three house moves!Sweet Cherry Tomatoes (I have two other varieties to come yet)Summer cabbagesStrawberriesMixed salad leaves (sown by Josh)Two rows of carrots that were sown second, but in

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-23451618268904343692010-04-26T18:16:00.005+01:002010-04-26T18:39:47.687+01:00

I love reading food blogs. They inspire, encourage, inform and entertain. I've got a whole list of them plugged into my Google Reader.I keep thinking of posting *my* culinary escapes on my blog and then I think, hmm, would anyone be interested?! I never write down what I've done, rarely can remember, and I never think of taking a photograph until *after* we've eaten something and thought "yum!

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-14955449975912360602010-04-24T13:52:00.006+01:002010-04-24T14:31:47.113+01:00

Wednesday afternoon a friend took me out for lunch, to lift my spirits, and also ended up talking me into letting them dye my hair! Actually the afternoon of having my hair coloured, washed, dried and styled was really nice. Surrounded by males, I'm not used to any sort of "pampering" so having a young girl friend offer to give me a "girly" afternoon was quite a novelty :-)Thursday was spent in

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-39162994704014581272010-04-21T07:15:00.004+01:002010-04-21T08:00:33.568+01:00

"Love doesn’t end with dyingOr leave with the last breathFor someone you’ve loved deeplyLove doesn’t end with death""…Bill always seemed to be someone who would go the extra mile. He is going to be enormously missed by so many people and I am proud to have known him…"Four years ago today my beloved Dad died. The quote about him above was just one of many messages we received from friends in the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-28973400709146399362010-04-19T20:39:00.003+01:002010-04-19T21:17:32.705+01:00

I feel like I've been paying for my two lovely days of self indulgence, because I got up this morning to the realisation of a very long list of things to do!I managed to get done most of the things I needed to do in the garden. I planted out another 12 cabbages (and put the remaining 12 on freecyle), 6 more broccoli plants, and the pink fir apple potatoes, and sowed another row of carrot

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-46740906609966499322010-04-18T09:45:00.007+01:002010-04-18T10:10:21.790+01:00

This weekend has certainly turned out so far to be one of the most relaxed, happy, and enjoyable birthdays I think I've probably ever had.All of it has been made possible by the friendship of many amazing people, who I am truly blessed to have as friends.On Friday I spent the day baking, cooking and preparing for Saturday.The marinaded/slow roast beef was joined by cola ham, and chicken roasted

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-64980448270719584152010-04-15T09:54:00.003+01:002010-04-15T10:36:03.405+01:00

We're really packing it into the days this week!On Friday Samuel and Josh went to a friend's house from 11am till 8pm. Whilst they were out, we took William and Jonathan over to meet with Vicki and the boys, and we went for a walk/pond dip and general hanging out in the sunshine.Saturday, Samuel went out for the whole day with his friend Alex, for Alex's birthday. They went to the Comedy Club

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-63147603435007749932010-04-08T16:15:00.003+01:002010-04-08T16:41:14.949+01:00

When we moved in here the landlord said that we could do whatever we wanted with the garden.We've got a lovely sunny patio, and the middle section of the garden was just a lawn (an old leaky shed is on the very top bit). We put our trampoline at the end of the garden and just left the grass.Four weeks ago we decided to dig up the lawn to make room for vegetable and flower beds. I've left a one

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-9647417321254276162010-04-08T15:58:00.005+01:002010-04-08T16:13:22.886+01:00

Thanks to the support of opposition MPs, home educators yesterday saw the Ed Ball's "flagship" CSF Bill take some heavy damage.Clause 26 - the home education clause - was thrown out of the Bill.Home educators across the country lifted a glass/cup at 9.30pm to toast our relief, and all the efforts of hundreds of parents and children across the country who had spent the last twelve months fighting

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-8568781022692023252010-04-01T14:10:00.003+01:002010-04-01T14:31:39.896+01:00

Sunday saw our Community Day at church. We had a visiting preacher, excellent worship from Ariki, and a Hog Roast. Roarke went early to help set up and to run the barbeque for the children. Samuel went early (having of course lost an hour's sleep due to the clocks changing) as he was helping in ROCK for both services. I had the opportunity to serve with the others on the catering team in

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-76435102010505930392010-03-27T14:57:00.002Z2010-03-27T15:16:21.576Z

Been cooking again today :-)First, a gluten free olive oil boule from the recipe from Healthy Aritsan Bread in Five Minutes a Day book. If you know anything about gluten free bread, you'll know from looking at this picture that the recipe is AWESOME! Not only does it look like real bread, slice like real bread, taste like real bread, it SMELLS like real bread!Next I used some of the dough to

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-87154996300955600872010-03-26T19:01:00.003Z2010-03-26T19:29:01.888Z

The week has seen the usual regular activities sprinkled with a few extras: church on Sunday (Roarke was serving in creche), he had drama practice on Tuesday (he had a 24hr bug thing on Monday so missed rehearsals as he went to bed at 7.30pm and slept till 9am!), on Wednesday he took Samuel and William on a home education trip to the Royal Observatory.The boys both really enjoyed it, including

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-47977455557692831202010-03-20T18:28:00.004Z2010-03-20T18:35:40.711Z

It is good to see birds in the garden. When we moved in there was just an unkempt border with ugly shrubs, an untidy lawn, and a patio. Now with most of the garden dug up for vegetables there is plenty for the blackbirds and robins to pick over. Seed and peanut feeders in the little tree has encouraged the blue tits in too.I've cobbled together a very old upright shelf system covered with

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-75291560130145752982010-03-18T07:24:00.004Z2010-03-18T07:52:50.872Z

The background thread to the past two weeks continued to be the car. The friend who had kindly lent us his car whilst he was out of the country for three days called us the following week to tell us that HIS car had broken down too!This put us back on the buses; public transport is ok but the sort of busy, disorganised life that we tend to use doesn't lend itself that well to bus travel and

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-75811081883603937302010-03-02T13:57:00.002Z2010-03-02T14:08:11.136Z

Thanks to the generous loan of a car by a friend at church, we got out the house today. Josh and Samuel took the bus (it is an ordinary seater car so we couldn't all get in) to Bromley and the rest of us met them there.We went to the bookshop to spend our World Book Day tokens (which we got posted out to us from EO), then on to the clothes shops. Shock No 1 - Josh now needs to shop in the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-28475928030445020462010-03-01T18:24:00.003Z2010-03-01T19:54:28.963Z

Today was a bit of a kitchen day! I started the day by mixing up a Master Recipe batch from my Healthy Artisan Bread in Five Minutes book. Next I put some chilli in the slow cooker. After that I made a batch of gluten free oat & raisen cookies. Finally this evening I made a self-saucing gluten free chocolate pudding! Yum!In and around this we enjoyed a visit from Grace and the boys who we

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-1895344873656726252010-02-25T12:20:00.002Z2010-02-25T12:29:35.077Z

As is usual in all these cases where a child tragically dies, everyone is now desperate to point the finger and shift the blame.Elaine has summed it up perfectly:Simple fact of the matter is that the school tried to save Khyra, the social services could have saved Khyra, the EWO could have saved Khyra, the police could have saved Khyra, the neighbours could have saved Khyra instead of leaving

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-60850705089605367342010-02-25T10:23:00.002Z2010-02-25T10:31:51.746Z

Having made it clear to my LA that I will not have any more home visits - in protest over Badman/Clause 26 et al, I decided to agree to their "suggestion" that I send a report in instead.I remain convinced that what I see as an accurate, honest and appropriate summary of how home education has looked for our family - and where we see it going - will not be acceptable if DCSF gets it's way.With

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-32089672353448034642010-02-18T15:03:00.004Z2010-02-18T19:21:38.395Z

I managed to upload my new background image from twitter to Blogger too, so I thought I'd better post something to draw attention to it, lol!The photos are used here with kind permission, but are copyright to John Walmsley 2010, educationphotos.co.uk (thanks again John).As always, we seem to have done lots yet done what feels like very little in the past week or so! Roarke took the boys on a

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-18226796059925400412010-02-09T08:09:00.002Z2010-02-09T08:22:04.623Z

On Saturday Roarke took the youngest three boys over to a friend's for a birthday party, whilst I stayed home with Josh.When they left, Guitar Hero had been on so I thought I'd have just a quick go before switching it off.... 50 minutes later I noticed the time! Eek!Once I'd got my sensible head back on I made dauphinoise potatoes, a mushroom duxelle and some onion gravy ready for the family

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-91223660907954097602010-02-05T13:43:00.004Z2010-02-05T14:10:11.939Z

I seem to have caught another bug - a baking bug!For some reason I'm finding myself wanting - even needing - to bake every day.Partly this is down to following the inspirational gluten free journey of Shauna and Danny. Whilst I may scour the internet for ideas and recipes for the family, I had gotten out of the habit of creating my own. Reading her blog, and getting ideas from Danny, sent me

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-17933805829572022092010-01-28T21:46:00.002Z2010-01-28T21:46:57.086Z

Roarke is doing the London Triathlon again this year!See his blog for further details

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-58790136833623469632010-01-17T21:02:00.002Z2010-01-17T21:14:47.054Z

Hmm, my hope of blogging daily for 2010 obviously isn't happening, and neither is weekly at the moment!It has been an odd time, with a real mix of things happening. Spiritually, things are awesome and moving, physically - not so good! We've all had a horrendous cold, with Josh, Roarke and Jonathan having the hacking cough that is doing the rounds. We've also all - except Josh - had the winter

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-15042877398304999572010-01-11T13:01:00.001Z2010-01-11T13:04:37.439Z

If you haven't already signed this petition, please consider supporting my family by doing so.We single issue voters at the moment!No other thing that this (or any government) could do would impact us more than clause 26 of the Children, Schools & Families Bill (unless they made being a Christian illegal that is). Young people can sign too. Thank you!http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-28842439076494897722010-01-06T21:13:00.003Z2010-01-06T21:31:35.062Z

New Year's Eve was brilliant!Our church held a party, which was very well attended. Everyone brought a "cultural dish" for the international supper at the start. I had offered to help with the serving and sorting of the meal, and ended up staying on to help with the whole of the evening, which I thoroughly enjoyed.After the meal, there was a "BCC's Got Talent" show. Roarke sang "empty chairs,

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-44438219418218443732009-12-31T09:16:00.005Z2009-12-31T14:04:50.702Z

Christmas was amazing!Regular readers know that for one reason or another, Roarke and I don't usually enjoy Christmas as much as we could, so it has been overwhelming for both of us to have actually had an amazing time. We have lots of family memories and treasured things to store in our hearts from this season and it has gone a long way towards wiping out the negative "ghosts" of Christmas Past

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-55146778295456919822009-12-22T18:38:00.003Z2009-12-22T20:14:21.341Z

It has been a busy few week and a half!The party on Saturday went really well, and it was lovely to have a house full. The food seemed to go ok too which was a relief.On Sunday 13th our church hosted a carol service in Orpington. Roarke got to do the reading, which he did really well. The whole evening was brilliant, and the school hall was packed. We were honoured to have some of the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-79321046886576846742009-12-10T20:16:00.002Z2009-12-10T20:33:44.019Z

Last Saturday the boys were guests of a friend of ours at the pantomime in Greenwich. They saw Mother Goose and it seems that they enjoyed themselves. Jonathan and I stayed here and caught up on some cuddles :-)In the evening Roarke and I were very pleased to be able to join 140 other guests at the M66 Christmas Ball in Chislehurst. It was nice to have the chance to see friends from church in

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-43337286754802536662009-12-08T11:28:00.004Z2009-12-08T12:30:24.319Z

On Tuesday 8th December from 6.00p.m. home educators are holding a vigil in Old Palace Yard opposite the Houses of Parliament.Inside, history is being made as home educators begin to petition the House of Commons to get rid of Clause 26 of the Children, Schools and Families bill. More than 120 petitions will be presented in a mass presentation with 10% of MPs in the Chamber, smashing the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-23179648364311558342009-12-01T08:10:00.004Z2009-12-01T08:27:00.090Z

Jonathan went to his dietician appointment last week. She was very impressed with his overall diet but concerned at the sudden constipation that he started with a few months ago so she recommended that I made an appointment with my GP.Typically, since booking that appointment it appears to have cleared up, more or less overnight, on its own, no change of diet or anything, stopping as suddenly as

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-82734927071194635062009-11-24T18:22:00.003Z2009-11-24T18:39:24.851Z

Joshua is nervously approaching his Show on Saturday, with just the tech rehearsal on Thursday before the performance. He's also finished the website for his Bronze Arts Award "My Hero" project which you can view here.Samuel is in turn working on his next venture, which is his own gluten free hand made shortbread service! He's designing a website and some leaflets and wants to then leaflet the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-51184609409633463932009-11-24T18:19:00.002Z2009-11-24T18:22:12.623Z

Added to the long list of debt owed to me by DCSF is the loss of the time to blog regularly.It isn't just time though. My life is revolving around the battle to save home education as we know it, I live, sleep, eat, dream it. It has felt that to blog means to write about that fight and, to be honest, I don't want to. I feel enough words and space has been given over to the travesty that is the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-72810622308716293122009-10-21T15:53:00.003+01:002009-10-21T16:12:08.527+01:00

They say a week is a long time in politics... well the past 10 days have been a very long time!The fight that home educators are engaged in at the moment has really consumed those days. Monday 12th saw Graham Badman and DCSF up in front of the Select Committee (if you watched online, that was my head in the bottom right corner of the screen!). I went along and made copious shorthand notes which

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-39762535924159220822009-10-07T15:19:00.000+01:002009-10-07T15:20:06.178+01:00

Press Release from the Badman Review Action Group:PARENTS and their children will be attending a mass lobby of Parliament next week to protest about planned changes to the law on home education that will strip them of their rights and intrude into family life. Nearly 200 adult supporters have confirmed with the organisers that they will be attending the rally on Tuesday 13 October, bringing with

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-68193696448502564762009-09-26T09:03:00.002+01:002009-09-26T09:06:04.618+01:00

For some odd reason the DCSF 2007 Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities has disappeared from their website.EO have asked them when it will be back...In the meantime, a number of people and groups have helpfully put a copy online for ease of reference. So if you are looking for it, you can find the DCSF 2007 Elective Home Education Guidelines for Local Authorities here!

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-26322979761440614632009-09-24T18:47:00.006+01:002009-09-25T08:37:09.180+01:00

Josh is now back at SAVVY. His arts award stuff is coming along, but very slowly. He's running out of time to get it completed before the end of the period (November). Its very hard trying to get the balance between autonomous learning - not interfering or taking over - and encouraging him and keeping him on target.William has made some amazing progress this week with his reading. In true

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-41193152022718108502009-09-16T21:14:00.005+01:002009-09-16T21:31:34.356+01:00

Sunday saw our church moving to two morning services in order to make room for growth. I got to go to both services, one after the other which was just amazing.I'd been highly organised in the morning and had put a curry into the slow cooker at 7.30am so we got a hot midday dinner before Roarke and Josh went off to the O2 in order to take part in Hillsong's 10th Anniversary celebrations up there

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-19116736299753704042009-09-12T19:05:00.003+01:002009-09-12T19:37:29.982+01:00

This week we celebrated 16th years of a most marvellous marriage.I dug out the wedding photos and posted a few on facebook, managing to seriously embarass several people who were there at the time and I've hooked up with on facebook!Here are two of us from that beautiful day:We look shockingly young!To prove how much we have changed, here's a similar pose taken on our anniversary:Even allowing

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-1285451567270918032009-08-30T13:47:00.007+01:002009-08-30T16:43:00.906+01:00

The Government's main plans for home educators focuses on several areas:compulsory registrationthe parent providing a statement of educational approach against which the child's "performance" will be assessedannual inspections, with right of access to the home andright of access (alone if necessary) with the childI can understand that some people who have no experience of home education may fail

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-70756830034117082932009-08-27T13:59:00.002+01:002009-08-27T14:19:05.529+01:00

I'm seriously stressed over a few things at the moment, not least of all Bromley Council's Housing Benefit department.We moved in here around 25th May, and only this week did we get a "temporary" award. They have mucked around with our earning figure. We don't earn enough to need an accountant, but the Council wouldn't accept our submission to the Inland Revenue - apparently it may be

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-67929699937004561232009-08-12T19:08:00.007+01:002009-08-12T19:25:47.221+01:00

Jonathan being very cute the other evening, as he carefully tucked his "babies" in before he went up to bed.Jonathan running away quick in the vain hope that I would not realise it was him who had been digging in the flower pots and spreading compost all over the patio...Today's home ed lesson was building. So I made a chair out of duplo :0)a fully working model chair, as demonstrated by

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-16381319908491601782009-08-10T21:59:00.002+01:002009-08-10T22:09:57.526+01:00

SO much has been happening that I rarely get time to think let alone blog!I've been really busy working on this video for Education Otherwise.On top of that, there has been some pretty cool family stuff going on.Samuel decided to go to Rock Camp, the 5 day youth camp for 7-11 year olds that our church runs every year. For a child with aspergers this was such a BIG deal. Going away from home for

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-32045555694522214822009-07-19T15:08:00.001+01:002009-07-19T15:10:56.377+01:00

I just found out that someone had managed to record my More4 interview from the day that the Badman Report was published.I was so fed up, I'd had a horrendous day, and I really didn't feel in the mood to do it.I think it shows ;0)

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-46200991844896620632009-07-16T11:11:00.005+01:002009-07-16T11:34:50.209+01:00

Sunday saw Josh off to his first music festival, as he went with some of the lot from SAVVY to GUILFEST for a cut down performance of their show. It was hard to wave him off, knowing he was going to be away from us all day. Definately growing up!From his reports, it sounds as if he had a good time and judging by the facebook photos, the group had a good turn out for their piece.Roarke was

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-57562695862997798132009-07-11T19:12:00.003+01:002009-07-11T19:55:57.858+01:00

Roarke finally got in a 1am Thursday morning, after his mammoth travelling session, made worse by the fact that part of the M40 had been closed.The next morning I was up to take Jonathan to his paediatrician's appointment. To be honest, it was the same old same old. Jonathan is "obviously" thriving, happy, healthy, exceeding his "targets" therefore there can be nothing wrong. As for the colic

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-15789183926130393392009-07-09T21:55:00.000+01:002009-07-09T21:56:14.518+01:00

(Forwarded with permission:)Dear Friends,Re: Mass lobby about the Badman Review and White Paper: Your Child; Your Schools; Our Future: Building A 21st Century School System.In response to a suggestion by an MP, some home educators are organising a mass lobby of Parliament on Tuesday 13 October 2009. Please keep that date free if you want to join in. The more people who come, the greater the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-15165027910524499372009-07-08T20:13:00.004+01:002009-07-08T20:50:11.145+01:00

Well it has been a fun two weeks with an immobile toddler! Or rather, an increasingly mobile toddler...For four days the little fellow didn't want to move anywhere or do anything. Then he realised he could sit on the floor and play. Then he realised he could drag himself around. Shortly after that he realised he could - just about - crawl. The first time he got someone to take him out into

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-24348461152839556862009-06-23T21:27:00.002+01:002009-06-23T21:35:12.696+01:00

Did you see the t-shirts my boys designed? Saying "we're not hidden, we're home educated"?Well today we certainly weren't hidden - we went to A&E again!Long story, but basically Jonathan tripped over Joshua's legs whilst he (Jonathan) was running around on our trampoline. He screamed and screamed and after 40 minutes we took him to A&E.Turns out he'd broken his leg!!However... bear in mind four

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-46646782608675482472009-06-19T19:34:00.004+01:002009-06-19T20:15:31.812+01:00

Well I guess the majority of my readers will understand why I've been absent for a few weeks...On 11th June Graham Badman published his Report into Home Education, and Ed Balls simultaneously published his response.I don't know what I can say that hasn't already been said. I'm utterly exhausted, emotional wrung out, angry, frustrated...I feel betrayed at a personal level by Graham Badman. I

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-88705134323257562009-06-03T08:08:00.004+01:002009-06-03T08:33:45.517+01:00

Scarily, without being on broadband and therefore not as involved in my online world, I've still managed to fill my days and end up with stuff undone by the end of each one.It has been lovely though to be in our own place, and the sunny weather has added to the general holiday, freedom, new phase feeling permeating the family.We had a family come around at the start of the week who are taking

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-19110830475907180032009-05-25T14:10:00.000+01:002009-05-25T14:11:41.101+01:00

It has been such a very long time since I blogged but I have a good excuse -we’ve finally moved!On top of which, our broadband is not back on until 2nd June so I am currently on-pay-as-you-go dial up (hence I have written this off line and am just going to cut and paste it in when I’m online!). I am struggling to cope with being offline, only being on for between 15 and 30 minutes a day late of

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-15268233703323761582009-05-03T14:20:00.004+01:002009-05-03T14:53:14.241+01:00

The housing tale is not over - we are still pursuing the council for what we feel we should be given, but the basic update is that we are waiting for a 4 bed house in Keston to be finished being renovated and then we will be moving in. Its a private rental, and housing are only paying 3 bed rate of benefit...My main priority though is to get the boys moved, and to get Samuel and William the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-81532421296391533932009-04-25T11:11:00.004+01:002009-04-25T13:13:25.367+01:00

First, an update on the shambolic housing tale:After the howler complaint email I sent on Thursday evening, we finally got contacted by two Council officials on Friday.One said that if we signed something to say we realised that they are only paying a 3 bed rate of LHA for us if we go into a privately rented 4 bed house (the one the Council introduced us to in Keston) and that we realised we have

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-23263637646424287172009-04-22T19:27:00.003+01:002009-04-22T19:34:33.648+01:00

Well it didn't work out for that house :0(The housing officer who had said we could get a 4 bed was obviously mistaken - housing benefit turned it down flat even with a VERY strong letter from the doctor to say how the whole family is deteriorating due to being in 3 beds and the two autistic boys sharing.We've taken it to our MP, to the Press, and to the Department Head - the whole process has

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-71042274992070728052009-04-13T18:00:00.006+01:002009-04-13T18:16:58.937+01:00

Well the big news for us is that we have seen a house, found a house, that we love (this is a picture of the garden) and that would be perfect for us. It definately FEELS like it is meant to be, so now we're just trusting in God to handle the paperwork for us... we need the Dr to write the letter saying that our two kids on the autistic spectrum should not share a room (which pushes us into the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-46343596738623882172009-04-07T13:32:00.002+01:002009-04-07T14:19:48.315+01:00

Apart from having just burnt my arm on a removable bottomed cake tin (long story, which I've already bored my friends on Facebook with), what else have we been up to?Samuel had a day long birthday celebration with one of his friends on Saturday. They kindly invited Josh to, so they went to the cinema, then to the Noodle House. Josh then came back and Samuel went on with the others to the swimming

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-63968091952936639112009-03-31T16:36:00.000+01:002009-03-31T16:37:43.865+01:00

As some of you may know, my Dad died 3 years ago suddenly due to cancer brought about purely by having been an undiagnosed Coeliac. Following his death we found out that my brother also had the disease without knowing it, and he is now managing his diet.1 in 100 people in the UK has coeliac disease but only 1 in 8 of these individuals has been diagnosed. At the moment GPs do not have a target in

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-14397699824073518982009-03-28T19:02:00.002Z2009-03-28T19:21:31.966Z

On Tuesday I had Jonathan all to myself. He was really stuffed up with a cold and is not sleeping well, so Roarke took the other three off to Beaver Water World with the home ed group. They got to see lots of small animals, beavers, and reptiles. Josh did the reptile handling and seemed to enjoy it.Wednesday was a tough day. In the morning I went for William's diagnosis result, which was ASD.

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-29231333318951333232009-03-23T13:58:00.002Z2009-03-23T14:08:55.382Z

The end of the week was fairly quiet - which prepares me for the rest of this week which is manic.Josh had SAVVY, I had a media interview, we went to see Bromley Council for our housing appointment (which went as well as these things can. Just a waiting process now. Not posting much about it as its all a bit too personal for a public blog if you see what I mean). Roarke was out all day on

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-34468494633231342512009-03-18T17:56:00.003Z2009-03-18T18:16:58.319Z

I'm not sure where the past week has gone, but it seems to have flown by.The low-light was definately the visit by Graham Badman to our home ed group. I found it quite disheartening to see him in that environment seemingly missing the WHOLE POINT of it all. When we've had reporters come there to meet with us, they have all been impressed by the kids, by the parents, by the whole atmosphere.

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-51082942514251911342009-03-10T20:08:00.004Z2009-03-10T20:27:50.163Z

Saturday's little tea party for my nephew was nice. Samuel made a new friend in one of my brother's neighbours, and when they found out they both use Club Penguin he was even happier.On Sunday I went out to take Roarke to work, before we went to church, only to discover that the car wouldn't start. To cut a long boring story short, the alternator on the Kia has gone. Fortunately we've been

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-21426603004733307912009-03-09T21:16:00.000Z2009-03-10T14:17:59.549Z

You might like to read an article I wrote for Digital Journal, on the petition by Roxane Featherstone, for Ahed, calling on the government to abandon the review into home education.The article is here.

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-71637277029866415762009-03-07T13:38:00.003Z2009-03-07T14:00:09.499Z

It has been a slightly quieter week this week, thank goodness.On Tuesday we had our regular outing to the indoor play area in the Medway Towns, with three other families. The mums had a good chance to chat and put the world to rights, whilst the children played. Once again it struck me how boys and girls of vastly different ages could accept each other so readily and play alongisde, and even

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-5313262260958068462009-03-02T09:17:00.000Z2009-03-02T09:19:02.194Z

From ARCH's website:"Increasing amounts of sensitive information about children and their families are shared between education, health and social care services. The Government’s Information Sharing Guidance says that children from around the age of 12 can usually give valid consent to allow this personal information to be shared. During the past year, ARCH has been funded by the Nuffield

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-13310184494444021522009-02-26T14:18:00.004Z2009-02-26T14:30:56.972Z

This is just proving to be a daft week.On Tuesday I had a media meeting in London to discuss a possible programme on home education with a production company. I then had to rush back to take Jonathan to his blood appointment - I had 15 minutes between getting in and going out again!I had chance once we got home to catch up on some emails and stuff whilst he slept, then I did dinner for the boys

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-87539043927203137202009-02-25T14:50:00.003Z2009-02-25T15:00:39.522Z

Someone has pointed out how long it is since I last blogged so I thought I'd better show my face!Family life, plus EO stuff, and most significantly the home education review have really taken every moment of time. I manage to update my Facebook status, but that tends to be it. I'm so far behind on other stuff that its getting silly. I keep flagging up emails that I need to "do something" with

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-57832862316147662452009-02-07T13:37:00.003Z2009-02-07T13:49:11.611Z

Well the snow has hung around for us. Despite it raining on and off for most of the week, most of the snow persisted other than on the main roads, and then last night we had a few hours of snow again. It then froze overnight so I've just been out hacking ice away from the drive to try and keep it clear.Roarke managed to get to his rearranged casting, and then had a second audition during the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-56638549203931315302009-02-02T16:39:00.005Z2009-02-02T16:56:27.032Z

It has all been about snow today! Jonathan played in snow for the first time last night - we went out late in the evening and had a quick play in the dark. He was sooo cute.Today the boys spent many hours outside. We had 6 inches of snow by 9am, and now (coming up to 5) it is 10inches plus all over the garden. It is still snowing too.I've made three snowmen (one on top of the car, one down the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-21599368575725714962009-01-28T14:55:00.004Z2009-01-28T15:19:04.143Z

January has been a very interesting month.Obviously the home ed review is the thing on all our minds most of the time, but there is stuff going on still.The regular activities for the group have resumed, with our indoor play met, the hall, and a couple of trips being organised by various members of the group. Then teens now meet regularly for a meal as well as their regular bowling session.Samuel

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-54527509328177374832009-01-26T15:46:00.002Z2009-01-26T15:52:37.029Z

I can't express how offended I am by the Action for Children advert "Dan".I spend all the time now worrying that either of my two Aspie lads will see it, and Josh keeps an eye out for me and knows that if he sees it, he must turn over if the others are around.How dare they suggest that our beautiful children are monsters. They seem to think they need modifying to make them "normal" - wasn't it

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-77955302781823990372009-01-22T10:51:00.001Z2009-01-22T10:51:40.475Z

I've just had a blog article published in the Telegraph http://tinyurl.com/c8cxow

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-44870351173889553802009-01-22T08:42:00.002Z2009-01-22T08:48:54.528Z

On Monday the Government launched yet another review into home education.You can read the full insult here and the response issued by Education Otherwise a few hours later here.The loaded e-consultation document that seems to be what DCSF will call "listening to home educators" is here. The revealing questionnaire being sent to LAs is here.More to follow soon.

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-72282827556846465202009-01-10T13:07:00.003Z2009-01-10T14:22:22.724Z

Regular readers know that I have had huge issues with new year in the past, but I am pleased to report that just as Christmas exceeded all our best expectations, so did new year!We didn't "do" anything - Roarke had another chest infection and I wasn't up to taking Jonathan with us to any party and risking such a disturbed night that one gets when you muck around with a toddler's routine. However

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-28708521645318216462008-12-31T14:08:00.006Z2008-12-31T14:36:12.845Z

On Sunday we went to my brother's house where he cooked us our second "family" Christmas meal before him and my SIL and nephew went over to Hungary to spend Christmas with her family.Mum had done turkey, so Leslie did duck and goose, and then in the evening we had another buffet spread. The boys were in seventh heaven! The afternoon was marred however by how unwell my nephew was. In the end Dora

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-64171811901455549522008-12-17T19:29:00.002Z2008-12-17T19:40:15.146Z

Well the whole family of course ended up ill. Josh and Roarke got chest infections, Jonathan and I have had throat infections, and even Samuel and William have the heavy cough with this bad cold. Now my Mum has gone down with it too :0(Reading blog posts, emails to lists, and Facebook status updates it seems like most of the country has either a version of the NOVO virus (which we had last

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-21512479999267774732008-12-13T16:51:00.002Z2008-12-13T16:56:14.401Z

Only two themes to the week really!Jonathan had his first ever casting on Tuesday. It went well but he didn't get it. Still, first one under our belt so... Roarke had two castings. One was quite exciting as it was for one of THE biggest cult show currently on tv and involved him knowing details of a certain Easter Special....However, over and above all that (and partly a reason why I don't

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-83985115188722342008-12-07T20:15:00.003Z2008-12-07T20:29:28.371Z

One of the highlights of the week has had to be our home ed Christmas party!The venue was the rugby club, that one of our members has links with and where we meet fortnightly. Debs and helpers had decorated the hall, and set out drinks and nibbles. Everyone brought their own "party" food.The entertainment was brilliantly provided by Keri, one of our mums, who is a children's entertainer. She

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-63950958816240410952008-12-02T20:01:00.003Z2008-12-02T20:11:20.549Z

Yesterday we took time out to get the rest of the house sorted out with regards to decorations.With Samuel and William there is no such thing as "overkill" and so their room is now festooned with tinsel, streamers, a Christmas tree (3 ft tree from Poundland), and their home made decorations. I have to say, having let them decorate their own tree, it looks really very good.They also have lights

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-90868597043170854482008-11-30T18:13:00.002Z2008-11-30T18:33:50.993Z

This will sound like another busy post but actually there is a lot of ground to cover!We have enjoyed some lovely social activities over the week or so. We've been to visit home educating families at their homes and made new friends, we've had friends over here to dinner and got closer, and been to friends to celebrate a birthday.Joshua had his last few rehearsals and Saturday evening saw the

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-11719412666192428902008-11-22T13:15:00.002Z2008-11-22T13:22:55.432Z

Thursday was a relatively quiet day. I cancelled all our other plans for the day, and just had to face taking Joshua over to his second rehearsal of the week in the afternoon. Fortunately Roarke got back from filming in London in time to go and collect Josh, so I didn't have to sit around/find something to do in Wallington for 3 hours!Friday was our regular meeting at the rugby club in Hayes.

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-57836515991575220352008-11-19T20:22:00.003Z2008-11-19T20:34:29.787Z

Just as I think it can't get any busier...Monday we enjoyed a lovely home ed trip to the Natural History Museum, organised by Veronique. Roarke went off with Samuel and William to do the Dino Scientists self guided session. Meanwhile Jonathan had very fortunately gone to sleep in the pushchair and proceded to sleep for an hour which meant Joshua and I got to potter around the downstairs

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-82527165554658374932008-11-15T18:22:00.002Z2008-11-15T18:32:05.366Z

Roarke has been away most of this week. He's been in Portsmouth, Welwyn Garden City, Milton Keynes, Birmingham... today he's been in London on the first day of what is hopefully five days filming on Dominic Savage's new drama for BBC 2, "Freefall". I'm waiting to hear from him now!Josh has been rehearsing - another 7 hours this week. Getting him to and from the rehearsals has meant a lot of

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-72968204364746744012008-11-09T17:06:00.002Z2008-11-09T17:20:55.973Z

The good news is that Jonathan is almost recovered. Turned out he'd got a secondary infection from his cold and had ear infections and a chest infection :0(He's now on the mend. I can tell that because all I can hear from my Mum's living room is "Jonathan, NO!" and I've had to put the dining room chairs back on the table to stop him climbing on it.At the moment, I have high hopes for improved

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-10743360231263176082008-11-04T20:27:00.002Z2008-11-04T20:34:58.033Z

Poor old Jonathan can't seem to shake whatever this is. Off to the doctor tomorrow for us as he has taken another turn for the worse :0( He hasn't eaten properly for 9 days, didn't sleep last night (I sat up on the sofa the entire night with him), and has slept on an off, cried on and off, and been listless all day...He is noticably losing weight too. Everyone else has recovered now, though

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-17009752748631674412008-11-01T22:10:00.002Z2008-11-01T22:21:27.907Z

If you aren't linked up to me on Facebook, then you might not know that my absence over the past week has been due to the whole family having some kind of winter vomiting virus. If you are on my friend list, you will have seen graphic updates!Sunday night Jonathan became ill, as did my mother. He got worse during the day, and was amazingly sick in our bed during the night (the old

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-58012629768846408712008-10-27T20:09:00.009Z2008-10-27T20:36:00.340Z

I've survived Joshua's 12+1 birthday week (by the way, in case you wonder, not mentioning his age has nothing to do with superstition and everything to do with denial about being old enough to have a teenager!)He had a good week. He got taken out to lunch by his Nan, went out for a chinese with the family on his actual birthday, went to the cinema with some of his friends on Friday, had ANOTHER

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-4029588627356381722008-10-21T21:33:00.003+01:002008-10-21T21:55:24.680+01:00

Roarke continues to cover the UK by car this week, driving down to Newton Abbot today to a prison; they let him out again though, so that was ok!He's still not home bless him :0( and tomorrow he's got to be Mr Motivator Trainer for a bunch of salesmen... I just want him to explain what the plastic brain in the training gear is for!Josh was taken out to lunch today by his Nan as an early

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-49928846984469571892008-10-20T20:13:00.002+01:002008-10-20T20:34:48.772+01:00

You were all so sweet about my blogging, so I'll continue -and remember you only have yourselves to blame!!We just heard that the short film Roarke was in, Washed Up, got voted 5th (out of 28 entries) in the Public Choice Award of "Languages through Lenses" at the PRIX EUROPA 2008.Today he had a casting in front of Stephen Poliakoff which is cool. Actually he has had a busy week. He was filming

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-51362497400854945802008-10-16T13:21:00.002+01:002008-10-16T13:40:24.467+01:00

Sshhh! Don't tell anyone... I've shut the door, turned down the phones, the baby is in bed... and I'm going to blog!I think I'm so busy these days that blogging seems self indulgent and anything about "me" is at the bottom of a very very long list of things to do.When I first started blogging I had every intention of blogging daily, partly as a writing exercise. Then it became about keeping a

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-82030788509719922922008-10-05T09:41:00.003+01:002008-10-05T09:54:21.062+01:00

Silly me for thinking the workload would ease once the site was live! Yeesh!Anyway, websites aside, it has been a good week.The boys are very much into Runescape now and I'm glad to see that it *is* proving to be stimulating. I like the fact that Josh is hooking up with so many of his HE mates online in it too.This weekend he has been at a drama workshop at the Secombe Theatre. This afternoon

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-13439517486507695152008-10-01T18:38:00.002+01:002008-10-01T18:43:23.936+01:00

.... well if you've seen the new EO site then you'll know!This project has taken every scrap of spare time over the past 2 months and more, and has definately taken some of the time that I used to blog.Other than that, life goes on. Samuel and William have hooked up with a science and maths tutor group for home educators that THEY asked to go to, THEY loved, and THEY want to go back again!

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-58175872682968221832008-09-23T20:47:00.002+01:002008-09-23T20:57:29.894+01:00

Running out of hours in the day to blog...Joshua has started back on his sailing - now on his Level 3 - which has made him very happy. He's also got a new bed, a loft bed, to try and make even more use of the space in his small bedroom. We're making a conscious effort to try and turn it into more of a "teen" room. The room he has was originally my brother's bedroom, then (when Leslie moved out

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-4634743715323555502008-09-18T08:11:00.004+01:002008-09-18T08:13:47.727+01:00

Roarke had to send a Director a photo of him fire breathing, for consideration for a part.Husband, father, home educator, business man, Trustee of Education Otherwise, Actor, professional speaker, course leader for dyslexic kids .... and fire breather!

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-26908310812251469852008-09-13T21:25:00.002+01:002008-09-13T21:44:05.819+01:00

Phew, what a week!The BBC London piece turned out ok, which was a relief. Janey did fab in the evening.Vanessa Feltz - that was scary. I was soooo nervous, hopping around the room, running up and down the stairs. But apparently my nerves didn't "show" on the radio ;0)Then the downer of that Indpendent article... still growling over that.On a personal note, well, you know about chaos theory?

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22492500.post-39535990361162164562008-09-11T10:06:00.000+01:002008-09-11T10:07:19.816+01:00

Please respond to this man !http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-children-we-abandon-at-our-peril-925518.htmlhttp://tinyurl.com/6cd98h

thenewstead6http://www.blogger.com/profile/16284472150501306364noreply@blogger.com0