A year at "HOGWARTS"

 A year at "HOGWARTS" 

Yes you have read the title correctly, we are having a year at "HOGWARTS". No we are not moving into the warner bros studio, nor has my son got a place in the musical. However, as he is Home educated this is our plan for set 2023! 

For Info - Hogwarts = HG and Harry Potter = HP

Lets back up a bit as it's been ages since I posted on this blog, well during covid I think! (no that was my family tree one, never mind!)

In October 2021 my youngest son was removed from school due to ongoing bullying and the fact the school couldn't (or wouldn't) protect him and keep him safe. When he fought back against a gang of 6 lads he was the one who was suspended for 2 weeks for fighting. When we went in to school for a return to school meeting the safeguarding officer (SGO) was really arsey with us. He didn't know why we were so upset over this as it was his 1st punishment and incident. Errr no it's not! He argued i presented him with 2 A4 pages of "incidents" including dates the school had taken him to hospital with suspected broken ribs from being kicked. SGO was shocked and didn't know anything about them all. He went and spoke to a teacher who said "well they are boys being boys you didn't need to know". THAT comment was the final straw and I decided I was removing my son and going to Home educate him.

So, we move back forward. Since being home ed, my son has done various things. As part of this years work he is doing the Pagan wheel of the year and this was meant to be ended (nearly) with a visit to the Witchcraft museum in Cornwall and the History of Witchcraft. My son then said "well you have said about doing Harry Potter theme at some point, can we do it at the same time as the History of Witches?" Well yes we can, i will work on it.

I started looking for ideas and things to do and came across a blog of a lady who home educates in USA and she had done "a year at Hogwarts" and this is where my thoughts went!!! She had done it every day and all lessons were linked to it. Sadly there wasn't much on here blog except this was what they were doing. I know for a fact that my son will be bored doing it every day for a year as he gets bored of long topics after 5 weeks. So I spoke to him, and he has agreed that he will do 1 day a week at "Hogwarts". 

Let's do some maths - there are 39weeks in a school term (approx), so that's 39 days of work. If we do 4 lessons a day that's 156 lessons I need. BUT some HG lessons and activities I've found are fairly quick and less than 30minutes to do, this means a very short day of learning. Back to numbers if I add in 1 more lesson I need 195 in total or if I go to 6 I need 234! OMG! This is going to be mad. My middle son then said, maybe you need a bank of extra bits as well "just incase" something goes wrong or you can't do the planned activity then you have a back up. (Thanks son! start thinking of extras then!) So it looks like I need about 275 different things. (Ideas on a postcard please!)

My son has stated he wants dropping off at the train station 2 or 3 from home by his Dad, with his suitcase, an owl in a cage (toy), and him in wizard robes. He then plans on travelling like it to the local station where I am to meet him, dressed as a WITCH, and we then proceed to get a taxi or bus home so that he can start his HG experience! This is also to be reversed on the last day of each term. He also wants a sign outside on the wall above the post box saying "welcome to Hogwarts" and it's to stay for the year. (My neighbours and postman are going to think I've totally lost the plot! LOL!)

I started planning. I wrote down possible subjects - we have 7 main, a general HG and maths. I then started hunting the internet and saving websites with ideas, activities etc. I grabbed all of our science instructions from kits and a few science experiment books and started making notes - this for potions, that for spells and such. From here I have made (well started) a powerpoint for each subject. So I can start adding the activities to them. This is going to take me a few weeks.

A few things I am 100% certain on:

1. I think I have totally lost the plot on agreeing to this (and actually doing it).
2. My neighbours and postman are going to think I've gone mad, my friends probably will as well but most know I will do anything for my kids.
3. I am 99.9% certain I am going to be fed up of seeing HP/HG decorations and items around my house before my son is.
4. I am going to sell the "work pack" afterwards that I am making as it will help so many others.
5. We are going to change "house" every week, with a new sorting hat ceremony. This means that we can work with a house points system and see which house wins at the end of the year. (Son won't be able to "fix it" for his favourite as it will be done via a quiz, a dice, a spinning wheel online and picking paper from a cauldron throughout the year.
6. Lessons are going to be picked out of a cauldron at the end of the each week ready for the next week, so I have time to get the equipment together, especially as some tasks I am looking at require fresh foods etc.
7. IF I manage to pull it off I think I could end up with 6 weeks to plan another big theme for September 2024. BUT saying that, if son decides he wants another big thing and says soon after we start etc I will have time.
8. I think my printer is going to leave home crying due to the amount I will need to print, thankfully I'm on a pay as use ink programme and they send me replacements.
9. My middle son thinks I'm crazy for even considering doing this and has said he's NOT dressing up or being involved - he will be!

Watch this space for more updates on our "Year at Hogwarts". I think it will work out really well when it comes to it.

More things to do at home on isolation with the kids

So things have been posted on FaceBook (FB) and ive saved them so i can share with others. Please do the same (in order to keep each and every mum sane during this time)

Many schools have sent out/home homework packs for children to do, but please remember they are just as scared (if not more so) than us adults are. My thoughts are yes do some of the work everyday BUT it's more important to be there for them, so play some board games, read a book together, get a notebook/diary and log down what you do (it's proof they weren't watching tv or on a pc for the next however many weeks.)

This was shared as a joke on FB and it did make me smile, I hope it does you as well. However, my sons Godmother said that after they have counted the rice they need to write one word on each grain of rice and then make stories. That made me laugh even more than the post did.




Before i start adding activities i will share a few websites that WILL be a godsend to all parents/guardians.

• Pinterest has hundreds (more like thousands) of things you can do, it is free to join and you can save all the things you like in one place, make different sections etc, you can find crafts, meals, school worksheets all sorts on there.
• Twinkl has loads of free worksheets and activities use code PARENTSTWINKLHELPS to get more free ones.
• Scouts UK has shared activities you can do at home (you could even make your own certificates and badges to award).
• This blog  has a list of loads of free worksheets and websites, ive not looked at them all but they may help someone.
• Quirky Momma on FB has shared many things including virtual museums  and places you can "visit" online.
• colouring pages can be found everywhere online if you dont have books at home, and this page on FB has shared loads for free - you just need to print them.
• glasgow science center is doing online science bits
• cre8tive resources has loads of free worksheets 

if you google "free school worksheets" there are pages upon pages that come up.

Now for the activities ive saved.

• Make your own monopoly board - use  local places etc, this would be best done on cardboard and use proper monoply money if you have the main set. There are blank templates online for monopoly boards.

• Make a RAINBOW and put in your window - the idea is for people to create rainbows for others to find when they are on a self-isolating walk, there are many groups popping up on FB linked to it, this one is linked to Whitehaven, Cumbria. I have also seen groups doing similar with hearts.
• my personal pinterest boards have hundreds of items saved type in "yummymummyamy" and you should find it.

• In summer 2014 i made an activity journal/book for my sons, yes it's mainly summer themed BUT i'm happy to share it and hopefully you can make use of it with your children. I didn't make the worksheets they were found all over the internet. 

There are also loads of websites offering free courses for adults to do, alison.com, skills network, futurelearn, and the open university have some

i hope this info helps someone.

October 18th 2015 - Go henry

My son is off to Buckingham Palace in a couple of weeks and needs to take 2 pieces of id with him or he wont be allowed in.  Well this was looking to be a big problem for us as, 1 piece of id will be his St John Ambulance id badge but as for number 2 we had no idea.  His birth cert is not in his changed name by deed poll, i'm not sure if deed poll would be accepted, he has no passport and isn't old enough for a driving licence, he doesnt work and therefore has no payslips or national insurance card, his phone is on my contract so not in his name and he doesn't have a bank acocunt.  As you can see we were fast running out of options.

Anyway me and my friend were talking and she said that she had just got her 13yr old son a pre-pay credit card type thing from a company called Osper.  I took a look at it and didn't like that you were tied in for 1year.  Seems a long time that I have to pay money onto a card for my son to spend on most probably sweets!  I started looking around and found another company that does similar called go henry.  This company does not tie you in for a year and you can cancel at anytime and they will send card within 7days.  We have paid the extra to get him a personalised card that says "go Jarred" not go henry, my theory was it will be more easy to locate if it gets stolen at school etc. (he is the only Jarred).

We did look at a bank account but they are going to take longer than the 2weeks we have until London so I needed a quick fix.  Plus if my son gets silly with the above card I cancel it.

If anyone is interested in a go henry card and a free £5 when you activate it please click on the link below, it is classed as a friend referral.  https://www.gohenry.co.uk/secure/?utm_campaign=refer_a_friend&utm_source=inviteLinkWA#ref_lnk_1445176129203962735_Ya

May 29th 2015 - Sir Topham Hat craft

May 29th 2015 - Sir Topham Hat craft

Today lil man came downstairs with 1 of his Thomas Tank books and asked if we could make Sir Topham Hat (aka the  Fat Controller).   "Errrrrr......Ummmmm.....I'm not how we would do that" says me.  "it's easy, we follow the instructions I need a toilet roll tube, a egg and tape" says lil man.  So I take the book off him and have a look.

It says that you need to scan the picture of Sir Topham Hatand print it to fit the toilet roll tube, well I don't have ink so I drew the image of his shirt, jacket and trousers on the toilet roll tube.  Lil man proceeded to colour it in with felt tip pens and did the same to the polystyrene egg and drew a face on it.  I set about making a hat from thick paper.

I'm really impressed with how it turned out.  We may have to re-do it when I get some ink as well.

February 3rd 2015 - Croup & Asthma

February 3rd 2015 - Croup & Asthma

NOT a good combination!  However, this isn't the 1st time its happened so we are aware of signs, symptoms and ways to treat etc.

HISTORY - My middle son is now 9years old, he has suffered with croup since he was a baby and has been treated as asthmatic since he was 18months old and had his first "asthma attack" when walking up to Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, he didn't want to go in his pushchair but walk like his brother.  He got part way and started to slow down, we thought he was just trired, but then he started to cough and then wheeze as he breathed.  Having had asthma since I was 7 I always have an inhaler with me, and I used it on my son.  It stopped the wheeze and eased the cough. 

When we got back to where we were staying we rang the local doctors and explained that we were on holiday and what had happened with my son.  The doctors agreed to see us but told us to take him to the park and let him run about for half an hour before his appointment.  We did this and he started coughing again.   Well at his appointment the doctor said "I think he has early onset of asthma."  And with that we left with a prescription for a spacer and inhaler.

As I put above he has suffered with croup since he was a baby, the first time he had it was very scary, the cough that sounds like a dog or seal barking and the husky cry gets you out of bed very quickly and is a sound you don't forget.  I thought it was whooping cough, so off to out of hours doctors we went to be told it's croup.  They told me the signs & symtoms to look out for and simple ways I could try and treat it at home.  All good.  The same with his asthma, just before 2years he had another asthma attack from running around outside, his inhaler didn't work and I had to call an ambulance to him, again a very scary process, the crew were brilliant and hooked him to nebuliser straight away but he didn't want the cute teddy mask on his face!  I had to hold him and the mask to his face as he wriggled all the way to the hospital.  Anyway, we got sorted and were told of what to keep an eye out for.  So he gets croup and now throw his asthma attacks into the equation as well = a very stressful time.

Both croup and asthma cause the walls of the upper airway and windpipe to swell and inflame causing it hard to breathe and talk and swallow.  Most people just suffer with one or the other, but my son has to be different and suffer from both!!!  This means that nearly every time he gets croup he has an asthma attack shortly afterwards or at the same time.

NOW - as I put above he is now 9years old and according to most sites on the internet croup is suffered from those under the age of 5years.  But as the doctor said yesterday he is ticking all the boxes for croup despite his age.  This is what was said over 6months ago when he got it as well.  They have no idea how come he is still getting it or if it is just coming across as croup but is his asthma.  He doesn't wheeze very often with his asthma but gets a cough and even when he has an attack (not very often now thankfully) he coughs when struggling to breathe.  Coughs linked to asthma are not very common but they do exist.  His asthma attacks are usually triggered by a change in temperature - hot to cold, dry to wet and vice versa, he can also have asthma attacks if I change the washing powder!

On the 1st of February I had to take my youngest to the out of hours doctors as he was crying with pain in his ear, as I don't drive this meant we all had to go (parking is terrible at out of hours) so hubby stayed in the car with the older 2 boys.  This is where I think my middle sons problem started as they were sat in a car in the cold for about 20minutes (yes the heater was on but there was snow outside and temp was 1C.  When we got home he started to cough so I made him take his inhalers and thought nothing more of it.  He coughed a few times during the night but seemed ok to go to school on the 2nd.  When he came home on the 2nd his vouce was husky and he was no longer coughing but barking like a dog/seal and said that he had had to use his inhaler a few times at school and his chest hurt when he coughed.  I rang the doctors and they said they had no appointments (I didn't think they would at 4:15pm), but I asked for a doctor to ring me as had an asthmatic son that has a croupy cough and is struggling to breathe - not bad enough for an ambulance yet!  Well the receptionist came back and said 5:30pm appointment they had squeezed us in.

Quickly rush to do tea before we head to doctors.  The doctors were running half hour late by the time we got seen.  Before the doctor even asked what was wrong son was "barking" again and the doctor said sound like he has croup.  So it went from there, he had a temperature, a barking cough, his voice was husky when he spoke and noisy breathing (pretty much all on todays pin).  Doctor initally said to put him in a steamy room and see how he goes - I said he is asthmatic and usually goes downhill quickly with crop and asthma linked and would probably end up in a&e by morning.  The doc hadn't read all his notes but had a quick look through and saw what inhalers son is on and said he would issue prednisolone (steroids) and antibiotics to help me sooner rather than later.

Poor thing was awake most of the night with his barking cough, despite being propped up on pillows in bed.  This does mean that he hasn't gone to school today, and he's still barking away upstairs.  But he has had his second lot of steroids and his second lot of antibiotics so hopefully they will get into his system and start to work soon.

After all of this I will get to the medical bits.

What is croup?
Croup is is a condition that causes an inflammation of the upper airways — the voice box (larynx) and windpipe (trachea). It often leads to a barking cough or hoarseness, especially when a child cries. 

Most cases of croup are caused by viruses, usually parainfluenza virus and sometimes adenovirus or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Viral croup is most common — and symptoms are most severe — in children 6 months to 3 years old, but can affect older kids too. Some children are more prone to developing croup when they get a viral upper respiratory infection.
Most cases of viral croup are mild and can be treated at home. Rarely, croup can be severe and even life threatening.  The term spasmodic croup refers to a type of croup that develops quickly and may happen in a child with a mild cold. The barking cough usually begins at night and is not accompanied by fever. Spasmodic croup has a tendency to come back again (recur).  Treatment of symptoms is the same for either form of croup.

Signs and symptoms of croup
May have cold symptoms, like a stuffy or runny nose and a fever. As the upper airway (the lining of the windpipe and the voice box) becomes more inflamed and swollen, the child may become hoarse, with a harsh, barking cough. This loud cough, which is characteristic of croup, often sounds like the barking of a seal. 

If the upper airway continues to swell, it becomes even more difficult for a child to breathe, and you may hear a high-pitched or squeaking noise during inhalation (called stridor). A child also might breathe very fast or have retractions (when the skin between the ribs pulls in during breathing). In the most serious cases, a child may appear pale or have a bluish color around the mouth due to a lack of oxygen.  Symptoms of croup are often worse at night and when children are upset or crying.

Treatment of croup
Breathing in moist air helps and ibuprofen or acetaminophen (only in children over 6 months old) can make them more comfortable. As with most illnesses, rest and plenty of fluids are recommended.
The best way to expose your child to moist air is to use a cool-mist humidifier or run a hot shower to create a steam-filled bathroom where you can sit with your child for 10 minutes. Breathing in the mist will sometimes stop a child from severe coughing. In the cooler months, taking your child outside for a few minutes to breath in the cool air can ease symptoms. if the croup appears serious or there is a suspicion of airway blockage. Doctors often treat croup with steroids to decrease airway swelling. For severe cases, doctors will give a breathing treatment that contains epinephrine (adrenalin).

If you think your child has croup try the home remedies of steam and/or humidifier before going to the doctors, but if you are concerned ring your doctor.