Project 154: More Board Games

 Like a lot of people we've ended up with far more board games than we generally have time to play, so we decided to have a week of playing board games. We last had a board game project back in Solomon's first year of home education (see Project 32: Board games), so it was a good opportunity to introduce some games to Sam, and hopefully clear the cupboards of some of the most childish games. In the end, however, the project stretched over two weeks, we still didn't have time to play all the games we wanted, and only managed to persuade the children to give one game to the local charity shop. 

Week 1

We set off at at good pace in the first week, and managed to play 41 different games, from simple snap card games suitable for everyone to more complicated strategy suitable only for the big two. 

1. Mousetrap
2. Tummy Ache
3. Mr Men Card Game
4. Guess Who
5. Snap (animals)
6. Snap (numbers)
7. Dominoes
8. Hare & Tortoise
9. Operation
10. Pass the Word
11. Frozen Memory Game
12. Paddington
13. Rummikub
14. Pass the Pigs
15. Memoir '44
16. Rockin' Robot
17. Wall Game
18. Junior Scrabble
19. Upwords
20. Destination Norwich
21. Mastermind
22. Pop Up Pirate
23. Connect 4 Flip
24. Monkey Business 
25. Picture Tri-onimoes
26. Don't Rock the Boat
27. Countdown
28. Where is Moldova?
29. Frozen Labyrinth
30. London Underground Game
31. Top Trumps (Marvel)
32. Monopoly (Despicable Me)
33. Ants in the Pants
34. Spinergy
35. Around the World in 80 Days
36. Timeline
37. Hungry Hippos
38. Dobble
39. Ticket to Ride First Journey
40. Catan
41. Mario Match

Week 2

We found we couldn't quite keep up the pace in the second week, and only managed to play another 28 different games, partly due to playing pandemic three times. 

1. Shopping List
2. Mario Monopoly
3. Carcassonne
4. Snakes & Ladders
5. Pandemic
6. Kerplunk
7. Picture Lotto
8. Scotland Yard Jnr.
9. Tell the Time
10. Backgammon
11. Loopin' Chewie
12. Stratego
13. Fortnite Monopoly
14. Ramses Pyramid
15. Downfall
16. Staying Alive
17. Scrabble
18. Ticket to Ride
19. Robochamp
20. 3 in a Row
21. Flag Dominoes
22. Cubeword
23. Boss Monster
24. Bugs in the Kitchen
25. Othello
26. The Peterborough Game
27. Risk
28. Subma-Fight

Pandemic was the only game we bought specifically for the project, and everyone enjoyed it. We think Monica was particularly attracted to the collaborative nature of the game, rather than having to face the competitive nature of her older brother, so we'll definitely look out for more collaborative games in the future. 

The children were asked to pick their favourite top 3 games out of the 69 played over the two weeks.

Monica's top 3:

1. Frozen Labyrinth
2. Mastermind
3. Monkey Business*

(* mostly picked because this one was designated for donating to the charity shop)

Sam's top 3: 

1. Risk*
2. Subma-Fight 
3. Marvel Top Trumps

(* also Solomon's favourite pick during the first board game project)

Solomon's top 3: 

1. Pandemic
2. Subma-Fight
3. Memoir '44

Subma-Fight, picked by both of the boys, is a 2-player submarine strategy game that Solomon designed for his mum's birthday; it was high praise for Pandemic to knock Subma-Fight off the top spot. The Peterborough Game is another game you won't find in the shops, a game from 1992 that we picked up in the local charity shop; it actually turned out to be an interesting game with some novel elements, although it's a bit tricky to win, so now mostly being kept for historical reasons. 

Next week: Light and Space

Project 153: Stuart Little

Our first book project of the school year was picked because it was suitable for all the children, from the youngest to the eldest, and they'd all enjoyed the author's work previously (see also Charlotte's Web). 

Most of the week was spent reading the book and watching the three films (Stuart Little 3 was on Amazon Prime).

As a small craft activity the children created their own little mice on sticks.

We also spent some time learning about mice and mouse-like creatures. Solomon particularly liked the sound of the grasshopper mouse, while Monica pointed out that jerboa appeared in Into the Jungle, so we read that section of that book too. 

Next project: More Board Games

Project 152: Autumn and Harvest

It didn't feel particularly autumnal at the start of the week, whatever the calendar said, but it nonetheless seemed a good time to bring together topics covered in previous projects for the younger members of the group.

The children started the week by putting on their autumnal shorts, t-shirts, and sun hats, and doing a nature walk:

They learned about the seasons (see also Project 12: Time and Calendars), the harvest (see also Project 105: Harvest Festival), revisited the different food groups (see also Project 6: Nutrition) and even watched a bean start to grow (see also Project 80: Plants and Flowers). 

By the end of the week it had turned a bit colder, and the children helped make a stew and some bread rolls (see also Project 50: Bread!), which they all enjoyed. 

Next project: Stuart Little

Project 151: Abominable!

This week's project was prompted by some resources on the Into Film web site, and the availability of Abominable on NOW TV. 

The film focuses on a Chinese girl helping a yeti get back home to the Himalayas, so we used it as an opportunity to learn about mountains, cryptozoology and a new aspect of Chinese culture. 

The children watched a video about where mountains come from, and looked at a PowerPoint about Mount Everest. 

They learned about cryptozoology, and drew their own mystical creatures:

And we also introduced the traditional Chinese game of Mah Jong:

It turned out there has been a bit of a run on yeti films in recent years, so the children also watched Missing Link, and Smallfoot.  

Next project: Autumn and Harvest

Project 150: Pirates!

Pirates! was picked for this week's project by our youngest child, Sam, as it was his first week of home education. There were quite a few pirate worksheets on Twinkl, and to try and make the week as fun as possible (and without much possibility of a big trip out) we also included a number of films and finished with a pirate tea party.

We started the week by reading the abridged Usborne Treasure Island, and bought two new pirate books for the big occasion. The big two were also expected to read the full version of Treasure Island in their own time (a book they had struggled with in Project 56: Treasure Island). 

The children designed their own flags and composed their own sea shanties (using a TES worksheet). 

They did some pirate science experiments:

And a treasure hunt and a treasure dig: 

Over the week we watched three films: Muppet Treasure Island, Hook, and The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! Sam's favourite of the films was Hook:

The pirate themed tea party was also a big hit.

Next project: Abominable.

3 Years of Home Education!

Our 3rd year of home education has been very different to the first two thanks to the coronavirus, with a few more book projects and a few less trips out (2 Years of Home Education and 100 Projects!; Reflections on 1 Year of Home Education). In comparison to the traditional school system however, our education journey can be said to have emerged relatively unscathed!

Monica and Solomon's Progress

We have broadly continued with the same project-based structure we introduced in the first year, and it seems to be working. Both the children continue to do well on reading, writing, and maths; especially maths, with Solomon starting key stage 3 and Monica working her way through key stage 2. 

Their favourite projects of the last year have been Project 149: Don Quixote for Solomon, and Project 140: Presentations for Monica. Over the whole of the three years Solomon's favourite project has been Project 1: History of Computer Games and over the past two year's Monica's project has been Project 50: Bread! (mostly because it was her first project).

And then there were three!

Unsurprisingly, the coronavirus has not persuaded us to look into more traditional schooling, although as we will now be home educating all three of our children there will undoubtedly be new challenges for the year ahead. The most noticeable of which will be that we now have to come up with projects that are suitable for children from the ages of 4 to 7.  

Project 149: Don Quixote

Another week of the coronavirus pandemic and another book project, this time the all time Spanish classic: Don Quixote.

We read the abridged Usborne version, and the children loved it with plenty of laughter all around. 

They also created their own Don Quixote silhouettes:

And country fact sheets on Spain:

Next project: Pirates!