History Matters blog

My name is Joanna, I am 42 and I live in the North Cotswolds, Gloucestershire. I am married to Bill and we have 2 daughters, Jade age 5 and Shannon who is almost 2. I home-educate Jade and I also work part-time.

Our day started in the usual way, too early for me after being woken several times in the night by Shannon. My husband left for work around 8am and then the rest of us got up and had breakfast (cereal and milk, toast and jam, and coffee for me to try and wake me up). The children watched some TV while we had breakfast.

Around 8.40am our dog was brought back from a walk by our dog-walker. This is done under the Fair Shares Time Bank, for which I also work, so she earns time credits for the dog-walking and can spend them on getting someone else’s help or skill when she needs it. The principle is one of co-production where each participant is both a giver and a receiver, and everyone’s time is of equal value. However today is not a working day for me – my job-share partner is in the office instead.

After breakfast we got on with some learning activities, although I try not to separate ‘work’ and ‘play’ too much but instead to integrate learning into our everyday life as much as possible. Jade did some colouring while I read to her from a book on food and eating and the human body. She loves to learn about the body and says often that she wants to be a doctor – I wonder if she will? Although there are other ways to work in health or human biology. I have studied nutrition to degree level myself and don’t think that doctors have the monopoly on how to be healthy! Shannon pottered about with various stacking toys, shape sorters and scribbling madly with coloured pencils.

After the reading, we moved on to some websites with interactive activities connected to food and the body, including watching some short videos and playing some games. Jade then wanted to play on the CBeebies website so she did this and Shannon watched her while I got on with sorting out the laundry and some other domestic tasks.

By this time it was around noon so we had a quick snack and then I got Shannon to sleep for her nap. While she slept, I also had a doze as I was still particularly tired from the night before, and then Jade and I had some lunch.

After lunch we set off to go swimming with the local home education group, on the way picking up another mum and her son. To get to the swimming pool at Shipston-on-Stour we had to travel along the Fosse Way, the old Roman road. I sometimes try to picture what the surroundings would have looked like in Roman times. I recall very little from my own history education, and am very much enjoying beginning to fill in the gaps by studying things with Jade. I have managed to live perfectly well without much historical knowledge or awareness, but it is satisfying to learn more.

We had a long swim, with both girls making progress as they grow braver and try different things. It was enjoyable and relaxed, as ideally all learning should be.

We got home around 5pm, after which the girls played and watched some more TV while I made dinner, consisting of brown rice mixed with sweet potato, peas and sausage, seasoned (unconventionally!) by some Caesar salad dressing. Then an early night as we were all exhausted.