Abi's Adventures

My home education journey

  • Rhubarb crumble & other cooking

    We’ve had a few cooking sessions at our Plant Dewi group recently. We’ve made coleslaw, stuffed bread and vegetarian sausages.

    At home with mummy I made rhubarb crumble, with home grown rhubarb. I really enjoyed making the crumble with my hands, it was so soft and fun to squeeze.

  • Oil and water

    Daddy showed me a beautiful rainbow pattern which I learnt is what happens when oil and water mix.

  • Climbing in the woods

    Daddy and I spent hours down in our woods today having a great adventure.

    Learning Opportunities:

    • self confidence
    • balancing skills
    • assessing danger
    • different ecosystems
    • creative / imaginative play
    • observation skills
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  • Welsh Maze

    The final stop on our camping weekend was at King Arthurs Labyrinth. It was too late to do the boat trip but we did explore the maze.

    I recieved a medal for finding all 8 of the baby dragons. I also learnt about Roman Numerals and had to work out what numbers some of the letters made.

    Throughout the maze there were lots of story telling points, each reciting old Welsh folk stories like:

    • John Gethin and the Devil
    • The Lady of the Lake
    • The Giant’s Daughter
    • The Changeling
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  • Portmeirion

    After visiting Tywyn, Fairbourne and Barmouth we carried on to Portmeirion where we stayed on the campsite there. This allowed us after hours access to the village and use of the pool.

    It was created by Sir Clough Williams-Ellis between 1925 – 1976 and inspired by Italian architeture. I called it the Fairytale Village, as it felt like we were inside a fairy tale.

    Learning Opportunties:

    • Hercules, was the Greek/Roman god of strength.
    • We found a shell house and talked about how different materials can be used to create and decorate structures.
    • Seeing trees from all over the world
    • Seeing just how far the tide goes out in the estuary, it looked like someone had pulled the plug in the ocean.
    • Learning about fire beaters
    • Observing a grey heron hunt for food
    • Visiting a dog cemetry
    • Learning about the history of the village

    We also walked around the woods, which joins up with Morfa Harlech Nature Reserve. We followed the tree trail and spotted some very unusual and large trees from all over the world:

    • Australian Giant Tree Fern
    • Japanese Elegant Cedar

    Whilst at the Japanese Garden, we scared a grey heron, who flew to the other side of the pond where we were able to watch it for a while.

    We also came across some fire beaters, that I know now can be used to put out a forest fire. I also know to ring 999 in and ask for the fire brigade.

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  • Tywyn, Fairbourne & Barmouth

    We went camping this weekend and visited Tywyn, Fairbourne and Barmouth.

    Learning Opportunities:

    • cycling
    • hand/eye coordination: skittles, air hockey
    • Talyllyn, Narrow Gauge Railway Museum
    • Fairbourne Steam Railway
    • observing window cleaners with their extending brushes with hoses
    • learning about tides and keels on boats

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  • Caring for our parrots

    I live with two parrots.

    • Lenny is an African Grey, from African.
    • Rosie is an Eclectus Parrot, from Australia.

    I help out with their care. Every day we clean out their room and give them fresh food and water.

    On hot days we put them outside in the aviary.

    Sometimes, I share my breakfast with them. Lenny loves milk and toast. I also share some of my snacks with them, they both love cheese, crisps and apple.

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  • Nature at home

    Living on a small holding in rural Wales means I frequently have closed encounters with all sorts of nature.

    We have a large pond with a family of Canada Geese that return every year to have their babies. This year the parents had six goslings. We feed them corn a couple of times a day but mostly they find their own food.

    This week I found a big hairy white butterfly, mummy told me that it was a moth and we talked about some of the differences between butterflies and moths:

    • Moths are usually thicker and more furry in appearance than butterflies
    • Moths tend to come out at night, whereas butterflies usually come out during the day
    • Butterflies usually have club-shaped antennae while most moths have feathery or tapering ones.
    • What I found was actually a Puss Moth.

  • Roof Inspection

    Daddy let me join him on the roof of our garage today. It has a flat roof so he inspects it every year for signs of wear or damage. The last thing we want is for the roof to start leaking.

  • Digger Driving

    We’ve hired a digger to level some of our field. My uncle has come to visit as he drives diggers for his job. He showed me what all the levers do and I was allowed to operate the bucket.