Stamina Building

Wednesday morning we went to the library as D's Spanish had been cancelled. J's books by Bear Grylls had arrived and we needed to pick them up.

In the afternoon, J had the first of his personal survival swimming lessons. This is to be a four week course for the certificate, but they are having two weeks to build up stamina and improve on their technique. There are sixteen children from the home ed group doing this course, in two groups of eight. They are using the pool at Ponds Forge, Sheffield which has an Olympic sized pool. J has never been in a pool that size before.

Before they even started, they had to swim 4 widths which was followed by an hour of swimming using floats to build strength in their legs and to help improve the strokes. Just before the end, they had a chance to swim in shorts and t-shirts to practice swimming in trousers and tops next week. They also practised the help position, which helped them see how that changes the body temperature.

Needless to say, J didn't go sledging when he came home, his legs were aching and he was exhausted. I now have the perfect solution to wearing them out!

Thursday, the boys went sledging again and disappeared for three hours. We may get more tonight, so I might lose them again tomorrow.

Friday was ice skating. With the cold temperatures, you could have ice skated on some of the paths outside. One of the parents was giving tips to D on how to improve his technique so he can skate faster. When we went to Magna, J bought a metal model kit. The other morning, this little man appeared. I think D screwed him together as J was having problems getting his fingers in the right places. He looks as if he is going skiing here. There should be a car to make too, that's if Tugger hasn't lost the bits. He has the knack of getting in where he isn't wanted.

The boys were out yesterday, and some of their friends have already received their copies of Your Sheffield. This is the issue with J's interview, so he brought a copy home last night. It seems really strange to open a magazine and see yourself looking out of it. When we go swimming on Thursday, we will take it so his MEND instructor can see it.