Is it the weekend yet?

There has been a change to D's Spanish lessons this week. There are now two of them in the class instead of three, and they are now progressing onto proper sentences. D came back really excited from this lesson which is good news.

To make things even easier for me, his teacher is now picking him up from home and bringing him back, and as the lesson is now first thing in the morning, it gives us much more time. This also means I have an hour with J to concentrate on things that interest him.

This week, J decided he wanted to do Vikings again. This will be the third time we have done them, but each time it has been in more depth. He will do some more on this next week and then we will be going to York to visit Yorvik and the Dig which will help to reinforce the things J has learned. Both the boys love doing anything like this, so it will be a good day out. I think this will be planned for the beginning of April.

J and I will then have another interesting project ahead. We will be studying Romeo and Juliet to GCSE level. I'm looking forward to this as it is the Shakespeare play I did for my O level. I have seen a couple of resource books that will help so we plan to start this when he comes back from visiting his dad. J wants to do the study and then go to the theatre to see a production.

After lunch Wednesday, we had to go to town before J's survival swimming lesson. A book he has been waiting to be published has come out. Unfortunately, WH Smith didn't have it in stock, so we have had to order it. We will collect it this Wednesday before his swimming.

Thursday morning we went to a Film Education showing of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. This is the second time we have seen this film, and we still cried! This tied in very nicely with the work the boys have just done about The Holocaust.

By Thursday, J had the beginnings of a cold, so Thursday afternoon and evening, he was a bit quiet(nice for me) but he was well enough to go to Monkey Bizness Friday morning.

This was a home ed session-there were 82 children there, about 150 including adults. With this many children in the activity area, you can imagine the noise! Two hours is definitely enough, but it's great for getting rid of excess energy.

The boys have been doing a lot of research on their own about robots. From some of the things they have been looking at, I think they would like to build one of their own. I am sure I have seen kits for making basic robots, so I will keep an eye out and see if I can find one for them to have a go with.

My bathroom is now looking very much like a greenhouse. Added to all the pots with their seeds waiting to germinate, D has his potatoes chitting. These will need to be planted out in about a fortnight.

After watching "Grow your own drugs" on BBC2 the other night, D has given me a list of plants we need to grow. He has it all planned out as to which pots will be used for what. Don't worry, nothing more drastic than figs and kiwis and another plant I cannot remember. There is another programme this week, so I am sure there will be more things added to the list.