Hey Blog! One thing I haven’t really talked about is where I live, so today I’m going to tell you.

Those readers who live in Derbyshire (where I live, and have for nearly five years – wow, five years!) may have guessed that I live somewhere near them. I live just to the north of Belper, which is great for home-edders as Belper has one of the best home ed communities in the area! Covid kind of scuppered a few of our groups, and has caused others to stop running temporarily, and not start up again yet. There’s a Games club, and Craft group, Eco Group (mentioned in a previous post), regular “Woods meet-ups”, Home-ed Drama, and then more which are not exclusively for home-eddders, such as Scouting, Drama and Cricket.

Derbyshire also has places for nature, something really important to me. I have seen many animals and birds I did not even know existed before we moved here.  I used to be interested in hawksbill sea turtles when I lived in Barbados, then it was glossy starlings in Ghana, here it’s badgers! Plus, there are awesome history sites around here, such as Peveril Castle, Cresswell Crags and Arbor Low.

Hey Blog! An appropriate topic considering we had cream of mushroom soup at lunchtime…

At the moment I am doing an online course with The Home Ed Institute on “Folklore and Funghi”. In each class we start with some folklore about funghi. For example, the ancient Greeks thought mushrooms appeared when Zeus was using his lightning bolt and it hit the earth. The reason for this was that to them, funghi was so complicated that it could only be a gift from the gods! The amazing thing is that if you look at the mycelium, or hyphae under the surface, they look very similar to forked lightning! Later in the classes, we learn about funghi. One activity was to making a wheel with the seasons which mushrooms grow in on one side, and the habitats they live in on the other.

Autumn is a great time for funghi, as it is moist, not too cold, and this year seems to have been a good year for it. In fact, it’s so good a year that we have mould in the bathroom where we’ve never had it before…  Outside, we’ve found plenty of funghi on walks, including some we’ve identified (not without difficulty), such as Fly Agaric, Candlesnuff, Sulphur tuft, and possibly Destroying Angel. That last is DEADLY POISONOUS, so be careful!

A few fun facts are: did you know that funghi can sing? And all orchids rely on different types funghi to be able to survive? And they don’t grow extra cells to make a mushroom, they just expand the others with water? And that they are another kingdom of life, alongside plants and animals? Funghi are seriously cool!!

Hey Blog! I put my investigative skills to the test this week.

We meet up with friends every week, and this week we decided to do a Treasure Trails trail (https://www.treasuretrails.co.uk). We downloaded the booklet and did the Duffield one, which was a (TOP SECRET) murder mystery.

According to the Chief Inspector’s background information, the crime came to light when Tina Paint was found slumped outside her house. Four young detectives (plus three senior investigators) were on the case! To begin, we looked at the list of suspects and each made a guess as to which of these we thought had committed the crime.

We then followed the directions and solved the clues by finding names or dates on signs, buildings, or memorials. Finding the answers meant that we could then eliminate suspects or weapons from the list one by one.  Eventually, we solved the crime, and I guessed the weapon right!

Later, one of the senior investigators sent a message informing the Chief Inspector (i.e. the Treasure Trails HQ) of the name of the criminal and the weapon used. The Chief Inspector is pleased with us and has entered us into a prize draw for the chance to win £100. If we are lucky enough to win, we plan to spend it on hot chocolates and more days out.

Hey Blog! My first “Focus on” week.

Music is a diverse subject. It contains history (looking at & listening to old instruments and music), geography (finding out about where composers come from), maths (time values), and finger skills. It also can help with concentration and calming down.

I play the piano, an instrument designed c.1700. Before the piano, there were no keyboard instruments which sounded louder/softer depending on how hard you pressed the keys. I am currently playing pieces out of “The best of grade 2” and “Piano Misterioso” books.  I started learning in 2018 and I haven’t stopped since! I like fast, lively, and exciting pieces. I have lessons once a week with an excellent teacher and usually practice five days a week, though I’m actually meant to practise six…

In terms of listening, I like listening to Classic FM radio in the car while we are driving somewhere; they do some good pieces on there!

Hey Blog! Eco week this week.

Yesterday I went to the National Stone Centre with the Belper Home Ed Eco Group. We were looking at items under a SEM (scanning electron microscope). It was a “Bring your own items and we’ll look at them” session. I took a dead dragonfly, which we broke up and put on mini microscope slides. These were tiny studs, which looked like cuff-links, and had double-sided tape on the top. It was SOOO cool! You could even see the hexagons which make up its eyes! I also brought a piece of slow worm skin and under the microscope you could see the different scales, like plates, which caught the light in different ways. It was amazing!

Today (also with the Belper Home Ed Eco Group) I went to a workshop at the Derbyshire Eco Centre. We learnt about why and how it was built. We also played habitat loss games and I planted a sweet chestnut that I hope will grow into a tree.

The other thing I want to talk about is Earth School. Earth School (Earth School 2020 on TEDEd) is “30 Quests for students around the world to celebrate, explore and connect with nature”.  Today I finished the 30th Quest. I thoroughly recommend them! After completing the video, there are “Dig deeper” and “Discuss” sections for people to explore. The quests really help you to understand why we need to make choices to help the planet.

Hey Blog! Welcome back to my weekly posts.

On Monday I found a Lesser Stag Beetle on the wall of my shed. There are apparently three species of Stag beetle in the UK: The Stag Beetle, the Lesser Stag Beetle, and the Rhinoceros Beetle.

This week we went to Ashover Pumpkin farm with friends. We went to the Ashover Sunflowers in the summer, and the pumpkins were just as awesome! I picked four: a green-orange knobbly one, a large orange one, and two yellow ones. I’m going to make the big one into a pumpkin lantern, and we’re also going to make some pumpkin pies or muffins. Some of the ones we didn’t pick were nearly 75cm across, and weighed what felt like a ton!

Today I did an online “Tudor cook-along” with Dig Ventures, an archaeology organisation. We made Bosworth Jumbles, made of flour, sugar, spices and water, a biscuit-cake that might have been served at a Tudor period (1485 – 1603) “Banqueting Hall”. These halls were usually temporary structures, often in gardens. The legend goes that the recipe was found by Henry VII’s men after the battle of Bosworth and that Richard III’s chef was an expert at it. They’re very tasty!

Hey Blog! Here’s the first of my weekly posts, so I’ve chosen an ordinary topic to start with.

You may be wondering what home education is like. Well, it’s different for every person, of course, but here’s a typical week for me:

At home: English, Maths, Science, Poetry, online Philosophy group, Languages (on Duolingo, Chinese and French), Piano lessons, Geography/History with Jake@ “Humanatees” and now this Blog!

Out of the house: Scouts, Day out with friends, Swimming, Cricket (in the summer), Drama.  Once a month I also have YAC (Young Archaeologist’s Club), Wildlife Watch, Eco group.

In the Shed: Making things, thinking up stories, making a mess…

Hey Blog! This is my first post on Home Ed In A Shed. Keep looking every week for posts about my Home Ed adventures and exploits.