Blueprint

I watched the new BBC NI programme Blueprint last night. I rarely make an effort to watch TV as it happens now, preferring instead to watch the few shows I like online via the BBCi player or something. But this I wanted to see properly, and it was well worth it.

The show described how the land we live on has changed over millions of years, how it's position on the globe has changed, how 2 sections of the island were formed from land masses that were once thousands of miles apart. I was fascinated to learn about the Caledonian mountain range stretching across North America, Ireland, Scotland and Scandinavia, and which in these parts, now comprises the rolling hills of the Sperrins near where I lived. I never knew this land was once a baking desert, or covered by a tropical ocean. See what a good school education can leave out.

It was great to see such a well made, local science programme. The special effects looked good. I liked the sand world map on a Sligo beach to demonstrate plate tectonics. William Crawley is an engaging presenter, though I did wonder why he was wearing pale coloured trousers as he kept having to tramp through mud.

But guess what, there have been complaints to the BBC about the programme. I was reading the presenter's blog and came across a comment I assumed was a parody; "I, along with many others are disgusted that the BBC is using license payers money to spew out this filth over the airwaves. It is evolutionary nonsense, which is in complete opposition to the Biblical account of Creation."

Eh?! That can't be for real...can it?
Unfortunately I soon saw a link to a group criticising the programme (I've broken the link) and its makers for not covering their notion that somehow, the bible should be accepted as a literal interpretation of the earth's formation;

In it [Blueprint] they will teach the theoretical 600 million year history of the island of Ireland. No reference will be made to a Creator or Intelligent Designer and no reference will be made to important biblical events such as God's 6-day creation or the worldwide flood of Noah's days as recorded in the book of Genesis.
...
I am very angry that the BBC, yet again, is siding with evolution in the debate about the origins of the world. These programmes are about to launch a massive attack on the Christian values of our country and I hope Christians can be persuaded to make their voices heard with the BBC. I think this is the most dangerous TV series in NI for years. If possible, I would like to see Christians gather in prayer outside Broadcasting House in protest at this insidious attack on our society's foundational values.

They even suggest a form of letter to use in complaining to the BBC about this "massive/insidious attack";

Dear Mr Crawley,
In relation to the upcoming series of BLUEPRINT programmes I wish to register my protest to the BBC NI about this offensive abuse of the licence fee money of the many Christians in Northern Ireland who accept God's account of His own Creation as recorded in His Word in the book of Genesis.
I would ask, for the sake of balance, that BBC NI expend a similar amount of finance and give a platform to Scientists, who are Christians and 'Biblical Creationists' to explain the visible scientific evidence that concurs with their beliefs on the origins of the island of Ireland.

Dear oh dear.

But, thankfully, sense and science have prevailed. Many people, theist and not, will enjoy this series and learn from it. I'll be watching again with Lady later. What a bonus for our home-education!

1st April

I was just watching BBC Breakfast with Gordon when they showed a film clip from a new natural history programme called "Miracles of Evolution." The clip was said to show penguins as never seen before.



Tery Jones was not in the short clip shown on the news nor was the story about their "migration" to the tropics, so it took me that bit longer to twig onto what was happening, but once the birds were swooping over the water it was obvious. Nicely done though!

Happy Days

Wednesdays are busy days. Thomas has a gymnastics class at 3.15, Lady has gymnastics at 4.15, the boys have an art class at 4.30 and Lady has Brownies at 6.30. Thomas has also just started Jujitsu on Saturdays with Lady. He really loved his fist class. He always gets stuck in at these things and really tries so hard.

At home, the children have been playing and learning. I had a look through Lady's Brownie badge book to see what badges she might go for. It seems like she already knows enough to get most of them, or already can do the activities for the practical ones. It was quite reassuring to see, that she has picked up so much knowledge and skills.

Thomas was recently reading a story with me on the Starfall site. Duncan came and sat behind me watching and listening. Each time we went to a new page, Duncan would read it, really quietly to himself. Thomas took a lot longer to decipher the words. Duncan seemed to find it easier to read, when I wasn't focusing on him. So I just kept on with the activities, and he kept getting everything right. He actually knew a lot more than I thought. He has been playing at these sorts of sites by himself, especially the Starfall site. I can often hear him repeating the words after the narrator. Yesterday, I overheard him practising how to say 'Jacques Offenbach'. It's really good for self-directed learning; the type he's best at.

Thomas has been asking lots of questions about numbers recently. He keeps doing sums in his head. He'll come up to me and say, 'I know what 7 plus 7 is; 14.' I taught him how to do more sums, by 'putting the number in his head' and then counting on using his fingers. He picked it up right away. I can really see how just learning these things as they come up naturally works. I didn't have to sit down with a workbook and tell him, 'today you're going to learn to add'. Lady spent ages on these things at school, and we still had to re-do them when she started to learn at home.

Another thing we've all played at recently, is making little films with our photos and music. I was inspired to make one about Duncan when I was sent a link to a beautiful song on a comment here. Duncan loved the film about him and decided to make one of his own. It was a very serious undertaking. He decided what photos to use, the order the should go in, what to write on the titles and what effects to use. He's very happy with the finished product. Of course, Lady and Thomas wanted to make films about themselves too, so they each helped me make a couple more funny films.

We've also had many pleasant, dry days and been able to play in the garden or the park. The children were feeling so sorry fr their schooled friends as they collected conkers and went on the swings and roundabouts on a sunny autumn morning.

A couple of days ago, a woman who has just started out with home-education, contacted our local support group. I mailed her back and after a few messages, we discovered that she lives just round the corner from me! So yesterday she visited us with her 2 young daughters and baby son and we all had such a nice time. Home-educating neighbours, how lovely!

Our weekend

Once again, things are looking up around here.

Lady and Thomas are outside, bouncing on the trampoline, playing with the guinea pigs, riding bikes and scooters and whatever else they may be up to. I was thinking of asking Lady to do some sitting-at-the-table type of work, but I think they're much better off enjoying the few remaining days of sunshine together. There'll be time enough for desk work when it's cold and miserable outside.

Duncan is sitting beside me, using his own computer to watch Thomas the Tank Engine videos on YouTube. We have only just started using this amazing resource. Yesterday I helped Lady to search for Harry Potter related videos (there are lots that are inappropriate/plain weird, and she's been told not to use the site unsupervised). We all enjoyed a Harry Potter spoof made for Comic Relief. Gordon spent a few hours last night sitting with a big grin, watching videos by some of the electronic music artists he enjoyed as a youth; YMO, Thomas Dolby, Human League, Kraftwerk, that kind of thing.

Yesterday, Lady alerted us to a bit of a nature battle played out by our back door. A wasp and a spider were tussling on a web; the spider won and we were able to watch it wrap the (still live) wasp in silk, then haul it up to a corner (its larder) and leave it to dangle. It was a fascinating sight I'd never witnessed first hand before.

Thomas had a great discussion also about when he was a baby and how he's getting bigger and then he told me about how he was 1, then he was 2, then he was 3.......all the way up to 100 (though he skipped the 80's; 79 straight to 90!) then at 100 he will die and I will get a new boy. He asked me where he came from, so I told him, the he asked how he got out, so I told him. He just said 'ohh', and went to the next issue. He suddenly realised that I am not 100 yet so I must be growing too. I told him that I stopped getting bigger when I became an adult. He said that if I was still growing I'd be a giant and I'd have to sleep in the Giants Causeway!

We've also been having a few big conversations about our plans for the children in the coming year. Gordon still worries about Lady's education in case she has fallen behind her schooled peers. I have greater expectations from her now; she's older, much more mature and interested in learning about the world, loves to read and just needs some more structure and dedicated time to work. I am aware of things like the National Curriculum guidelines, but mostly I compare her against herself and track the progress she makes in her own development.

We also talked about Duncan. He has been having lots of outbursts, shouting and crying to get what he wants. We talked about how his disability affects him, as that's all that matters when looking at an individual. (Autiemom has a great post about these issues here.) His difficulties are all due to his very limited communication ability. We need to find more ways of helping him communicate without his feeling the need to shout/squeeze my arm/cry quite so much. I try to help him to label his emotions, so as not to deny him the right to feel and express different things, but to be able to show it in more suitable ways. I am learning all the time, and have a long way to go.