Toddler Tapping Yoto

After several weeks of the toddler pressing the music button on her toys and wandering off to play, it became a bit grating hearing the tuneless beeping masquerading as music. We needed a better solution. It was clear she liked having music on while she played – she was also prone to pointing at the stereo for us to put music on. We needed something she could put music on that wouldn’t make us want to tear our ears from our heads.

After some research,and firing questions at the makers, we settled on a Yoto Player. We needed something that the eight year old could use and enjoy too and the Yoto seemed to offer a broad range of audio options in its library.

To start with we bought a player and starter pack as well as some story cards for the older child and a classical music pack for the toddler.

The player is robust enough for the toddler to handle, and the cards can tolerate little hands trying to load them into the play slot. It also works whichever way around the cards are put in – perfect for avoiding frustration with a toddler!

We did buy a silicon cover (Adventure Jacket) for the player after a scuff appeared on the edge of the screen. But, our player has done well in the couple of months we’ve owned it. It goes in the car, and curls up in the corner with headphones when the eight year old wants to listen to a story in peace.

We love how vast and varied the library of cards is. So many options of songs, music and stories for a wide range of ages and tastes and in a variety of languages – perfect for exposure to other tongues. The app offers a great level of control for the grown ups, and allows access to the cards without the player. There are several international kids’ radio stations that are playable through the app, as well as a wide range of podcasts.

As grown ups we’ve used the Yoto too, once the smalls have gone to bed, to listen to music either using the cards or as a Bluetooth speaker. Maybe the creators will branch out into a parents’ library of music, podcasts and audiobooks – why should the kids have all the fun?

In summary, a great little robust device which is complemented by a wide and varied library for all ages. Definitely worth the investment. We’ve found the tech and customer service teams super helpful and really prompt too – well done Yoto.

Preparing for Brexit

I am no expert. Not in politics, not in parenting, not in home education, not in Midwifery. However, through open and honest discussions with a range of people in a range of fields, and through reading around things and asking relevant questions, I have an idea of what I think the Brexit situation risks are.

So, what do I think?

Lots of media outlets worldwide have already spoken to me over the last few months. They’ve mostly asked the same questions. One thing they’ve all covered, at least to some extent, is am I panicking? Over reacting? Crazy?

The UK is ever closer to B day – 29th March 2019. Each week, sometimes each day, brings more news from parliament and/or Number 10. Each time more information trickles in the way the future looks fluctuates, but only slightly. Now, just ten weeks away, and it’s look more likely than ever that the UK faces dropping off a cliff edge into, mostly, unknown waters.

Unkown doesn’t mean unpredictable though. We can cross the road with our eyes closed and ears blocked, but we can predict whether we might get hit by a car, even though we don’t know if there may be one there. In a similar way it can be predicted what the likely result of a no deal Brexit will be. The experts – experienced knowledgeable people – in a variety of fields have discussed it at length already.

As a summary, here’s how I’ve understood the “worst case” situation, and what I’m doing to cushion my family where appropriate:

Delays with imports

This includes food, medicines, packaging, parts, materials, raw ingredients, chemicals and anything else the UK imports from ANYWHERE in the WORLD.

The estimates for the length of delays varies quite widely.

Ultimately, fresh produce – fruit, veg, meat – will be most affected as they have a very short shelf life in the first place.

Shelf stable items may suffer in the short term, whilst things settle down, but hopefully after a couple of months there will be a flow of some sorts getting to the shops.

Panic buying may occur when shelves begin to empty, this will likely not be product or origin specific but, much more general mass purchasing of whatever people can get.

Shortages may occur on unexpected items as a result of panic buying and substituting of difficult to obtain products.

We have bought in extra of the shelf stable items we would normally use and also considered some alternatives to short shelf life things we would normally have – eg. milk, fruit, vegetables, meat etc. We’ve considered less obvious things too like pet food, toilet roll and sanitary protection. We have also started growing vegetables in the garden – trying anyway – as a way to supplement whatever is available.

Stockpiling, as we have, is different to panic buying. We have bought little and often – an extra pack of rice/pasta each time we shop – and we always follow the “never leave a shelf empty” rule to ensure there is something for the next person. Gathering a supply in this way, now, also means that supermarkets and chemists (in the case of medicines) can restock easily and adjust the quanitity they purchase now, while they still can.

 

Electricity

Curently, the UK is part of an EU wide system that allows an “exchange” of electric between those with excess and those with deficit. This allows us to maintain sufficient power for our needs 100% of the time. Currently, the UK does indeed draw on this system fairly regularly. Leaving the EU may mean shortages of electricity during peak demand periods.

I am not expecting major disruption to power, though many Brexit Preppers are. What I envisage is rolling blackouts at planned times, when electricity will be rationed to essential services.

To prepare for this we have done very little. We are already campers so have equipment for cooking etc without electric. We have made sure we have spare batteries for the torches, and know where to find said cooking equipment should we need or want it. We had solar panels put on our house anyway, though these are currently useless in a power cut as we are still awaiting the import of the equipment to take them off grid in a power outtage. In the meantime, the solar panels contribute to the UK’s self sufficiency for power production, more than none at all at least!

Water Supplies

This is a slightly more tricky one to predict. Some of the chemicals used to treat our drinking water are imported, some of these have a very short shelf life. Delays in imports may affect the availability of water treatment chemicals. Water is also pumped using electricity, interruptions in electricity supply may affect the pumping of water.

Whatever happens with the water, it is likely that a clean water supply would be prioritised in some way.

We have a Drink Safe water filtration bottle, and spare filter, to use with our large rain water harvesting tank.

Tariffs for imports

Leaving the EU means leaving the Customs Union (Tarriff free trade) and all the Trade agreements we currently enjoy with the rest of the world.

The result will be tariffs applied to everything we import (and export) making everything more expensive. This is likely to be passed on to the consumer so, things will likely cost more for us to use and buy.

We have fixed our electricity and our mortgage. Stockpiling also protects our wallet from price increases, as well as shortages of products.

Travel

Fuel may be in short supply, and more expensive. Some understand the risk to be greater with Diesel than Petrol.

Flights in and out of the UK may be affected as once we leave the EU our airports, planes, pilots and maintenence etc will be technically unregulated. The UK have stated they will not prevent flights landing but, that doesn’t mean other countries will reciprocate

This doesn’t just affect EU flights or flights going through EU airspace. As I understand it, the airspace is not the issue, our lack of regulatory body may be of concern for all airlines, WORLDWIDE.

We plan to keep the car filled up when we can. We have not booked a holiday for this year yet, and will not until things become more clear. We are making sure we all have usable bicycles for local trips.

So, what if it’s not as bad as predicted? What if we don’t crash out of the EU?

Then I will be one very happy woman! We’ve bought and done very little that we wouldn’t have anyway. Most of the surplus food will go to food banks, the rest we’ll use as normal.

We are less anxious about the whole uncertain situation knowing we have invested in a small insurance policy for our family by way of our stockpile. It’s there if we need it, if we don’t then great, we’ll simply pass it on to someone else who does.

And to those who think what we’re doing is selfish or irresponsible:

It’s quite the opposite. We are making additional purchases slowly and in advance, during a period of time where it’s still possible for supermarkets to restock and adjust their ordering accordingly. This will mean more is available for those that can’t prepare in advance.

We are also preparing boxes for friends and family who cannot for themselves – it’s not a lot, but hopefully enough to be of use to them.

Brexit Means… Be Prepared?

 

A no deal departure from the EU is looking like a real possibility and, that would not be without widespread implications to so many everyday things the people of the United Kingdom take for granted every single day. Whether you voted to leave or to remain, whether you’ve changed your mind or not, everyone should be aware of the issues.

At the moment the UK has few, if any, trade deals in its own right. Rather, all the deals with other nations are through the EU. That is, the other nations have a deal with the EU and, as a member state, the UK can utilise these deals. What this means is in a no deal scenario (a transition period has already been agreed in the event a deal can be struck) the UK will have to begin renegotiating all of these deals (After Brexit UK Treaties).

The impact on everyday life is huge. This is not just going to affect foodstuffs originating from the EU. This is going to affect EVERYTHING that the UK currently imports, including packaging, ingredients for products, power, and fuel. As well as treaties regarding things like travel – no you can’t just fly to America/Africa/Asia instead. Food and other things that originate in, say, China are going to be affected too.

What this might mean is massive delays at the import points in the UK. Long lines of lorries are expected at Dover, indeed changes are underway to the M20 in Kent to accommodate miles and miles of queuing lorries (M20 Lorry Park). Food, medicines and other products are likely to be caught up in the delays both in and out of the UK. The bottom line is, even if it can get to your home, it’s going to take much longer to do so.

As a family of five at best we are anticipating sporadic availability of most items we are used to being able to get when we need to; at worst we’re preparing for long delays of essentials for at least a couple of months. That is basic food items and medicines, both for us humans and our furry friends. The items most sensitive to these delays are fresh produce and medicines. Even if temporary, emergency agreements are put in place, that may well take several months to sort out – the proper, long-term agreements could take years. Following the resolution of the flow of supplies, we are anticipating a change to the products, and types of products available in the supermarket, not to mention the cost.

Whatever side of the fence you sit, given the facts, there is no denying that a no deal Brexit is going to be catastrophic – at the very least in the early stages, though probably for much, much longer.

For us we are stockpiling foods we would normally eat, but have a long shelf life, starting to grow vegetables (we are categorically NOT gardeners!) to ensure at least sporadic access to fresh veg for vitamins, buying some vegetarian sources of protein (we are very much an omnivorous family!), keeping on top of medicine prescriptions, getting extra paracetamol in and ensuring we are prepared for possible interruptions to power supply amongst other things.

On Saturday I did something I have never done before, I attended a protest march in London. The march was in support of The People’s Vote, a campaign to put a final choice of options to the public vote, a campaign to give everyone a voice. The proposed options cover: whatever deal the PM has agreed, no deal, and remain. The purpose of a People’s Vote is to give Leavers a voice, Remainers a voice, and I’ve-changed-my-minders a voice.  The vast majority of placards and banners there were against Brexit but it was good to also see a large number of placards wanting a second chance, eluding to having voted Leave the last time: “I didn’t vote for calamity”, “We voted on fiction, now we want to vote on fact”, and “I didn’t vote for THIS” as just a few examples.

To use a phrase seen on many placards: Even Baldrick had a F**king Plan!

 

The Curiosity Box – Science

 

Targeted at 6-11 year olds, this box is above the youngest and right at the top end of the middle one. We started our subscription at the start of the year, when Middle It was almost 12 and Little It was almost 4. We had hoped that Middle It could work alongside Little It so both could get something out of it.

It has taken quite sometime to review as they still haven’t completed the first box of activities. While Little It was mostly engaged, the activities were far too arts and crafts based  for Middle It’s tastes, with the scientific content not really being at the right level for him. The box we have partially tried was themed around light.

What we were hoping for and expecting was something with a bit of hands on science stuff that is a little trickier to source things at home for. What we got was entirely things that use basic materials to build and craft things. I cannot say if this was specific for this box or a more general theme for other boxes too – we do have one more box that we have yet to open and explore.

I think this box is better suited to children who enjoy crafting things, something Middle It avoids as much as he can!

Should you wish to check them out yourselves, they can be found here: http://www.curiosity-box.com/

Making Some of the Hardness of Home Ed Easier… Trying Anyway!

Home Education is hard, whichever angle you approach it from, whatever age your children. Home Education is hard. It’s time consuming, it does no good for your bloodpressure or self doubt, and it can be expensive if you try to combat the other drawbacks.

In the last twelve months we’ve tried a couple of different educational subscription boxes, with mixed results, to try and balance out some of the learning and alleviate some of the self doubt. I think this is a specific exploration journey that will continue until all the children are finished with their education.

To do each box justice I feel they need a post of their own. I’ve already blogged about other subscription boxes, the next few will be purely educational.

I also gained a step daughter at the end of last year, she began her home education journey in September, age four, when she would have started Reception if in school. This itself has brought a whole host of new and extra challenges to the home ed journey. Hours and hours and hours spent trawling the internet looking for resources to put together to make projects on topics we want to cover. Worrying about reading and writing – something my own son could do before he came out of school and began his home ed journey. Juggling all this with time with her mum who has her a couple of days a week, but the days are never consistent.

The family dynamics have changed significantly, which has brought both relief and extra challenges. The home education journey marches, or plods on some days, on!

Atypical Summer Holiday with Children

No, that’s not a typo, I really meant atypical:

atypical

eɪˈtɪpɪk(ə)l,aˈtɪpɪk(ə)l/

adjective

1. not representative of a type, group, or class.

What exactly do I mean? Let me try to explain it.

For most families, the school holidays often go along the lines of planning a few days out, staying at home, sometimes going away on holiday for a weekend or a week or even a fortnight. If the weather is bad, or someone is unwell, or there has been a busy day previously, plans are juggled around or postponed to a more feasible day. Simple. Most things can be done this way, barring the actual holiday away, even if days out can’t be postponed in this time period there’s always another time – at the weekend, or later in the year.

Not so when your very ability to leave the house is dependent on facilities that are simply not present in most places.

We have friends who have this very issue. Adam is almost 11, he’s a full time wheelchair user and cannot stand, not even for a second to transfer. All he needs to be able to go out is an accessible toilet with a changing bench and a hoist. He can use the toilet, but needs a hoist to transfer to a bench, to sort clothes and change slings, and then hoist over to the toilet. Strangely the majority of “disabled” toilets can’t even accommodate his wheelchair, let alone his mum as well. They certainly don’t have a hoist and bench that he can use.

The toilets Adam, and many others, need are known as Changing Places or Space to Change toilets. There are companies that will assess and fit them into spaces, not as much space is needed as you might think. There are also mobile versions called Mobiloo that can be hired for events and so on.

In Cornwall, where we live, very few places have a suitable toilet for Adam. So, a couple of local charities have arranged for a Mobiloo to come down a few times over the summer holidays. But a few times, on specific days, does not allow for bad weather, illness, or a busy few days.

Last week we went to a local theme park on a day that was pouring with rain. We did not reschedule, because Adam couldn’t. This week Adam was excitedly awaiting a day out to the zoo. He’s unwell so can’t go. He’s upset because he knows that he can’t just go another day when he’s feeling better.

In addition to the unnecessary issues with days out, Adam and his family cannot simply go on holiday either. That too is fraught with issues, difficulties, extra expenses, and stress. There are not so many places with hoists fitted in the accommodation, and if there were, where would they go on days out anyway. In the past airlines have destroyed Adam’s wheelchair, his only means of getting around, what is he supposed to do then. Places like Disneyland are all to happy to invest huge sums of money into whole new sections of park, but are yet to install suitable toilet facilities.

It shouldn’t be like that. Toilets should be available PERMANENTLY at the majority of places. Them not being there is discrimination against those that require them. It would be deemed unacceptable for places not to have standard toilets – properly accessible toilets should be no different. And no, standard “disabled” toilets do not count.

What makes the situation even more shocking, is that the majority of places, when contacted, either brush it off, or ignore the request completely. A common excuse is: “our customers don’t need one”. That may be because the customers that do, can’t be YOUR customers.

Fun, inclusion and days out with friends should not be limited to specific days simply because your needs are slightly different from the majority. Particularly not in a county based on tourism, and particularly not when you are 10 years old.

Every holiday period, every day out, every trip to the supermarket, every day is atypical for Adam and his family. Really, every day should be as “normal” for him as it is for other children.

For more information on accessible toilets see the blog written by Adam’s mum: Ordinary Hopes

 

 

100 Ways to Home Educate: With The World!

Today I am taking part in a Home Education Blog Hop initiative, here is a little about what Home Education looks like for us.

Home Education for us: 

If I had to describe our style it would be Semi Structured dabblers in Worldschooling. This basically means when we’re ‘at home’ we follow a loose and flexible timetable with subjects and activities guided by E’s interests and future plans, but we also try to take lots of breaks around the world and country, of varying lengths of time, to discover and learn about different areas and cultures.

We try to adventure, rather than holiday, doing things a little differently to a standard package holiday where we can. At the moment we are exploring the Southern Hemisphere (have a look at my recent blog posts for more information) but have also traveled by train to Italy, driven around France for a month (sleeping in the car as well as camping) and stayed with friends in Spain. In addition we try to get out and about in the UK including camping in Cardiff, a few days a year in London, Chester Zoo (which is an awfully long drive from Cornwall!) and more.

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What have we covered so far on our current adventure? So much it’s hard to know where to start, but I will try to summarise some of the points! We have learnt about time zones, body clocks and jet lag. We have experienced these first hand, as well as the opposite seasons in the other hemisphere. Currency conversion and cost estimation while out and about, as well as supply and demand affecting pricing – just why did our laundry cost so much to have done on the ship?! We’ve looked at native species, deadly species, cautions for them, and sun safety. We’ve seen a dam, learnt how and why it was built, and the strong relationships formed plus other benefits of those from different cultures coming together with different skills. We talked about evolution and natural selection, multiple times, and the risks of introducing species to an area. We’ve seen differing coastlines and mountains, a rain forest and icy cold waterfalls, learnt about sounds and fjords. There have been discussions about relationships between settlers and natives, what we think went well, what didn’t and why that might have been. We’ve all learnt lots about earthquakes, volcanoes and glaciers, which led onto a discussion over dinner about natural disasters and any ways we know to protect ourselves from them (duck and cover, seek higher ground, enter a basement etc). We’ve seen and talked about Maori traditions that still live on, learnt about the Haka and what it really is and means, beyond rugby!

I’m sure I’ve missed plenty, and I’m sure there will be plenty more to come. To put it into perspective a little, we’ve been away for precisely three weeks. I feel we’ve covered far more in that time, in far more depth and breadth, than we could have at home, and we still have another week to go…

Some background to what we do, and why:

E came out of school at the end of year three, after a change of schools crushed his optimism and love of learning. He plans to do his GCSEs as an external candidate, studying the material from home. Maths and Science are his favourite subjects, and I have insisted he also sits the exams for English and studies the material for French (as he has been learning French for several years now). He also covers computing (including coding/programming) within his timetable. Then there’s the local Home Ed trips out and meetings to juggle.

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O is not Home Educated at the moment, although he has been in the past, currently he is studying at college for his A levels and he went to a small independent school to sit his GCSEs as he has Asperger’s Syndrome so mainstream school  was not able to meet his needs and he did not wish to sit exams as an external candidate. His school set up has meant we’ve had greater flexible for adventure than many families with one or more children in school.

Blog Hop:

Previous blogger:

The Start:

100 ways to home educate – launching a blog hop.

 

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Dry Run With Friends

A weekend of dry weather and friends wanting to wild camp in their converted camper locally meant we jumped in, with our nowhere near ready set up, for a single night test run.

It differed from the planned adventure in July in several ways:

• Our car is far from ready
• We are far from having everything we need
• We have a foster dog at the moment, as well as our dog
• The weather is nowhere near as warm as we hope it will be
• It was only one night, and was very local
• So we had a lot less gubbins than we will have – but that’s fine because the storage isn’t quite sorted yet

Despite these differences there was much value in doing it. It helped to spot things that were or were not needed as well as any pitfalls from what we already had – for example the carabiners for the bags were not big enough to go on the handles above the doors as planned.

The dogs loved the space, the training leads were ideal for hooking them up to the load D rings in the car (neither has great recall at the moment!). We took the foster dog (Gilda) in the car overnight, and our friends took our dog (Indy) in their van. Gilda slept fine in the bed on the front passenger seat, and Indy slept fine in the bed in the living area of the van.

 

 

The beds fit in beautifully, and both of us found them comfortable and spacious.

There is lots of space under my bed for storage, and I have ordered a couple of Really Useful Boxes to slide underneath. One for kitchen bits and food, and one for dog bits and food.

There should also be enough space on top the the boxes to slide our camping chairs and the ‘bog in a bag’.

 

 

There is a fair bit of space in all the footwells, apart from the driver’s seat, and I have also ordered Really Useful Boxes for each of them – one each for mine and my son’s clothes and the third for ‘bits and pieces’ such as wipes, towels, bog refills etc. There will be space on top of these for other things too.

The cubby holes along the roof will be used for underwear, toothbrushes, toiletries and tablets etc. The door pockets will hold the curtains, sunshades and anything else not already housed.

All in all it was a resounding success, and very reassuring in terms of feasibility. We really had loads of storage space. We’re hoping the weather will be kind, and allow us another test run before our friends set off on the road early next month.

 

En Route to…

This summer, I am ‘planning’ a road trip in France with youngest boy (biggest boy has asked to be excused, and will instead spend the time with his Grandad). I use the term ‘planning’ loosely, as, for the first time, this trip will not be minutely ordered with check points or an itinery. We know we will cross Plymouth to Roscoff, and we know we will spend just a couple of nights in each location, beyond that we will go where the wind, beauty and urge take us.

We are taking our family car, a Ford Galaxy, and a tent. The tent won’t be used for single night stops, we will just sleep in the car. The car has a glass roof (to see the stars) so there will be no roofbox, and also no trailer. We will have to pack light… Very light! We might also take the family dog, if she can get over her travel sickness before June!

I have pre ordered a new Outwell Polycotton Air Tent (for cool in the hot (!) sun, and ease of erecting/striking over and over on my own), and today we spent much time outside two camping shops trying out combinations of camp beds and Self Inflating Mats (SIMs) to see what the best configuration was that would fit in the car.  We eventually went for a Outwell Posidas single camp bed, with lots of space underneath for storing essential gubbins, and a double layer of 3cm Outwell SIMs for littlest boy.

It’s starting to become a little scary when I think about how little space we will have for gubbins. We have large door pockets, cubby holes all over the place, and a central bank of boxes in the roof of the car (with glass windows either side). There will also be the footwells, and under the Posidas. That is it. Everything we take will need to fit in that. EVERYTHING.

There’s a dog crate, if the dog comes, which will go on the front passenger seat when we’re sleeping in the car. The tent, which will have to go in a footwell, under the bed, or on the driver’s seat. Clothes/towels etc. Toiletries (I predict these will end up in the boxes in the roof). Road maps and campsite directories. Cooking stuff, including the Cobb BBQ which I will make space for, somewhere – I expect we’ll take a Really Useful Box, at least one, to store cooking equipment and food in, this can be left outside if needs be.

Once the tent arrives in mid March, I can have a go at cramming everything in, with the beds in situ. I don’t do packing light. Fitting everything in is going to be the biggest challenge for this trip!

Positive Intention of Cooking from Scratch

So, at the turn of the new year, I expressed several positive intentions, one of which was to go back to cooking more from scratch. To help me along this journey, and give me the best chance of success, I subscribed to a cooking service. The one I chose was Gousto. I promised to report back on how I was finding it.

I am very impressed. Since starting we have had home cooked food most days, with take away just twice, and ‘easy food’ a small handful of times since starting.

Today I received my third box. We have so far sampled five different recipes, across two boxes. Here’s my review.

The box arrives at some point during the day selected. Everything is well wrapped, in appropriate measures. Insulation is provided by sheep’s wool, which seems to do an amazing job of keeping everything nice and cold; suggestions are provided to re-use the wool, I am saving mine to construct a cool box for the summer. In fact, most of the packaging is recyclable in some way.

 

All the ingredients are there, apart from the odd splash of oil or knob of butter, all fresh and many organic. There are clear recipe cards provided, with step by step instructions, and a letter listing your meals and the ‘best prepared by’ date.

So far we’ve tried five different meals, over two boxes, there is only one recipe we disliked. There has been the odd issue with a couple of things, but these have been dealt with quickly and appropriately by the company, who appear to have fantastic customer service.

It has really taken the hassle out of cooking from scratch, the ingredients are all there without planning, in the right amounts, all you have to do is assemble them. There is a wide range to choose from on the website each week, although as a fairly fussy family, there has been one week where it wasn’t possible to choose anything we would likely enjoy.

The whole meal is provided, so no sides to sort out. We have tried ingredients and types of food we normally wouldn’t eat, and enjoyed them! It’s like having another cook in the house, bringing their own tastes and flair to the table.

Tonight we have minute steak cheese melts… Yum!

To give Gousto a try go to: http://www.gousto.co.uk   To get up to £25 off your first box enter code: NEVIN99744