Fortuna Virilis. In Rome, For venus

Today is a special day, celebrated by many cultures for many different reasons all around the world.

 In the Western countries nowadays, today is known as April fools day, a day that goes back in history when they would honour the god Loki, mistakenly known to be evil and known to play tricks, but fear not, Odin adored him.

  In Rome they celebrated Fortuna Virilis which was for Venus and to celebrate her fertility.

 As spring approaches we can see the day at which today unfolds around us. 

The wake of nature, the warmth, the flowers the animals all gather and begin their feeding year.

 (Before i continue i wanted to apologise for the last blog i made about the potato, the text didn't come out as planned, i spent all day trying to rectify it, but failed miserably  at least you know i am human and make mistakes, thanks for being patient with me.)

I thought id take this opportunity to show what we get up to at home when we home educate our children.

I know it is Easter holidays for so many around the world, and usually children are running free and having time off school work. For us here, everyday is a learning day, we don't take holidays like the rest of the community. Even though we live a very routined life here on the farm, we take time off when it needs and work when it deserves.

  I try to encourage my children to always be mindful, and have rewards when suited. 
Apart from the obvious education like Math and Portuguese, History, Geography, English, Science, reading and writing, my youngest is learning to cook. My eldest learns to milk our goats and make it into cheese, he helps mother goats when it is their time to birth to encourage them to feed, and keeps them safe and warm.

  When it is time for new babies, everything at home is concentrated on the mother and baby, when the sun comes out it is all hands on deck to dig the garden, lay out the seeds, mulch, harvest and store or cook.

  With each job we do i involve the children a lot, so they don't use screens so often and learn the vital points of real life. I make it fun and i give them goals at which to work for. 
For example, if i need help gathering in the potatoes, and lifting heavy boxes into the cellar, and sorting through the bad ones from the good, i promise them chips with eggs on toast for lunch. Or, once we collect sticks for the cooker fire oven, i get my youngest Ember, to help me bake a cake, which she is very good at.

  We are very lucky to have access to the internet for our learning, including me. I make sure i am up to date with the curriculum of education from the UK, as well as sifting through the Portuguese curriculum and compare with British. 
We have been given text books from school kids to help guide us in patterns of Portuguese language and how to learn. 
We make sure our work completed is marked with the date and organised in files and folders for easy relocating later.

  I am very impressed with how the mind of children works given the tools around them. My son is nearly fluent in Portuguese now, due to the conversations he has with our neighbours and from reading and watching Portuguese life. Even though my youngest Ember had a hard start to life with being in hospital for so long with her undetermined epilepsy and her slow development due to this, she has come so far in so many ways.

My children are by my side everyday, and when there are those moments when i need to do some jobs that are not necessary for them to join in on, i get them to be creative, paint, draw, write a short story. We don't use social media, and i encourage my son particularly to use the internet creatively. 
At the moment he has been learning code, programming, and using pixel art to be creative. Currently he is trying to complete the documentary about our village, where he has interviewed the old people about life here and how they see the future, incorporating language, translations, composition of storyline, photography, film, editing and music for the film. Watch this space for the premier of it.

Link to Kiva's Pixel art gallery ( https://www.pixilart.com/golem88) Please like and share a comment for him.

  If there are parents out there needing advice on home-ed, and skills to help build their concentration on important life factors, please message me, i can't promise i have all the answers, but can help guide where i can. Ill put up some home activities that we play, or create when we are not working on direct education.