In the interests of education and sanity

...I will now be trying to update this blog on a more regular basis,with updates on exactly what we are studying and how.This will,I hope, have two benefits. Firstly,it will give anyone who may be interested in what the peanut is studying a fairly comprehensive overview.Secondly,it will provide me with a handy reference point for the dreaded review reports,because although I have been keeping notes,anyone who has read my handwriting will tell you that after 24 hours something magical happens to my handwriting and makes it completely illegible.This is a feat normally only found among doctors and other purveyors of prescriptions,or anyone in my family who attempts to write out a recipe. So,on with the update...
This week has seen the peanut announce that she would like to become a herbalist. I blame this on warrior cats (thank you Erin Hunter-like you dont already take the blame for her obsession with cats...)and possibly on a dog eared copy of Neals yard remedies I consult fairly regularly-hey,Im an old hippy,so sue me! Now,while my initial response was surprise,after thinking it through I believe we can actually work this to my advantage...the next segment of biology is fairly plant heavy,while the next segment of chemistry is concerned with melting and boiling points,and how a substances composition affects how it will react to such.
It is with this in mind that we have created the peanut handbook of plants.This is a thickly bound notebook which is divided into five sections. The first section is now full of basic plant biology; germination,fertilisation,photosynthesis,soil acidity and alkalinity and the basic composition of soil types.To be added is a section we are due to start in the coming weeks on genes and heredity involving the infamous pea plant experiment.
Section two is comprised of individual plant information.For example,where it grows,when it grows,what type of soil it prefers,when is a good time to harvest,which bits are useful,which active chemicals the plant contains and what their function is.The latter includes which parts of the body they work on,and how they work. There is also a line on contraindications, and a list of things it is possible to make with each,for example tincture,infusion etc. We have completed pages on nettles and dandelions so far,and harvested and experimented and tasted each.We are currently growing several others peanut is keen to test,and are scouting for many more while out walking. The kitchen is beginning to resemble a horticulturists nightmare,and its best not to drink ANYTHING which may be laying around in various test tubes etc.
Section three is something of a recipe book.How to make tinctures,infusions,balms,bath muslins etc as well as more traditional recipes such as nettle soup and the like.
Section four comprises diagrams of certain plants as well as anything interesting which peanut feels warrents a diagram of its own,and also experiment write ups.
Section five is a glossary of terms such as anti emetic,antitussive etc.
This is very much a work in progress,and will be added to over the course of this term.
In maths,we say goodbye to algebra,and are now looking at conversion and units. This,for the peanut has involved converting from imperial to metric,largely using old recipes and herbals. (see the tie in there?!)Next week we go to area and perimeter,and the units used. We are still very much following curriculum here,with bbc bitesize and cgp revision and a little help from maths is fun.There is also the genius that is jedi teacher on youtube,without whom algebra would have been far worse...whoever he is,I salute him,its a rare thing to find someone that talented at teaching a subject like maths,and I only wish he'd been my maths teacher...
As far as english goes,peanut is still relentlessly ploughing her way through every book in sight,often before it even gets home from the bookstore. Thank gods I get waterstones discount-although for how much longer I dont know...She is also reading several herbalism texts of varying age and getting a pretty good grounding in terms specific to medicine at the mo! She is currently reading vast chunks of world history,and the measly middle ages,which brings me on to...
History! We are currently on the middle ages.Peanut is particularly fascinated with plague and medieval medicine...charming Im sure,take two leeches and call me in the morning please kinda thing...We are hoping to try a genuine middle ages recipe for rose pudding next week...hey,the kitchen cant get any worse...
Odds and sods,otherwise strictly known as art,p.e. and design tech...there has been an invasion of Fimo. If you can think of it,it can be constructed out of the stuff,and if you hold still long enough,you can be covered in it too. There are a few sewing projects in the offing,and we are getting plenty of exercise walking down by the river searching for various herbs etc. Still no foreign language as such,but we are picking up a fair bit of latin one way and another...
Well,that was this week. Its been fairly green in many senses,and I can see this enthusiasm lasting until the end of this term. I am trying to sneak in as many different subjects as possible under the banner or herbalism,and its proving surprisingly easy to do so. I am also surprisingly enjoying myself,so we are two happy hippy herbalist homeschoolers signing off for the week!
(incidentally,this counts as alliteration. Please,do not ask peanut about alliteration,onomatopea,assonance etc. It is a current obsession,and you would not believe how many innocuous sentences contain examples of such...its driving me crazy,but hey,at least its education...)