Reading Enid Blyton with children

Enid Blyton was born in South London and educated on the outskirts of Bromley, Kent. As most people are aware she was a prolific children's author. Children over many years have loved her books although whether her own two girls had a happy home life is debated.

We have Enid Blyton books dating from my husband's and my childhood as well as books that our older children have bought or been given. Enid Blyton wrote several different types of children's books from mystery, books about life at boarding school, books with a magical theme, retellings of older stories, some books about family life and books about nature. There is a full list on the Enid Blyton Society site. I haven't read anything like all of them!

I read Enid Blyton as a child, so did my husband.  Our older children cut their teeth as independent readers on these books. Now, I'm reading the books aloud to a child who hasn't quite got to reading them alone. Rereading them as an adult is proving interesting.

The major benefit of reading Enid Blyton is that her books are easy for early readers and increase confidence and speed. One of the reasons why Enid Blyton books were banned from libraries at one point was their rather restricted vocabulary. The plus side of this is that they are easy for young readers. Once a child has had a little practice, he or she can finish a Famous Five or Secret Seven book in a day. I'm quite grateful for this help with the transition to being a competent reader both for myself and my children.

Reading the books aloud has lead to more discussions and a child who can recognise Enid Blyton favourite phrases and occupations in the books. Food is certainly a recurring preoccupation and descriptions of yet more food lead to the comment, That is so Enid Blyton.

Childhood is portrayed as happy even when quite scary things happen. Scary adventures they often occur in the context of a jolly (and that is an Enid Blyton word) camping holiday.

I probably shouldn't admit to this but I find myself wanting to know what happened next, even though, I know the adventure will end safely and happily.

Some children have become stuck on Enid Blyton and wanted to read nothing else. That hasn't been a problem for us; the children have naturally gone onto other books after six months to a year of enthusiastic Enid Blyton following.

All isn't plain sailing though. 

Another recurring theme is that the baddie looks bad or has a scar or ugly face. We've had several discussions around the Lord looking on the heart and outward appearance not being an indicator of the heart. The children can be quite cruel to those who aren't quite like them. Some of the descriptions in the school stories can only be described as bullying. Gussy in Circus of Adventure had quite  a difficult time for his propensity to cry and his long hair. Cultural differences and a particularly stressful time probably accounted for both.

Adults don't get away without stricture. Robert Kent's mother in Six Bad Boys certainly didn't behave well and didn't arrange proper care for her son but no one seemed to consider whether the fact that she had recently been bereaved had anything to do with this. Whereas the neighbours, the Mackenzies are portrayed as happy and almost unable to do wrong.

There are a few phrases that annoy me: lucky probably being the chief of these.

Adventures always end well. An exception would be Six bad boys which ends well for the major character but less cheerfully for some of the more minor characters. This means that these books are usually suitable reading for fairly young children and even the ending of Six bad boys is more salutary than scary. Still, most of these adventures shouldn't have ended quite so well: some of the exploits are frankly dangerous. Five go off to camp is typical: the children explore old railworkings which are used by a dangerous gang. Again, a subject for discussion.

No, I'm not planning to stop my children reading Enid Blyton. I'm not keen on the magic books and we have generally avoided these but we will plan to continue to read and discuss the others. Hopefully, the younger children will soon be whizzing through Famous Five on their way to reading more demanding literature.



This is linked to Saturday Review of Books.

Frugal educational trips: food and other costs

This is the last part of this series on Frugal Educational Trips.

Questions to ask before a visit

Saving on Entrance Fees

Saving on travel costs.

Today's post is about saving on food, drink and other costs.

I guess that saving on food seems fairly obvious; just take a packed lunch. I often find this difficult in the rush to get everyone ready and out of the house, along with leaving food for those who aren't coming on the trip. Yes, we usually do take a packed lunch and I'm probably the queen of uninspired picnics. However, an alternative is to stop somewhere to buy a baguette, cheese, tomatoes and fruit. OK, not quite as cheap but not far off and very quick! 

Please do comment with suggestions for other quick, cheap, on the go lunches. Creating exciting picnics isn't my forte.

Children seem to become especially hungry on trips. I've learned to take more than I think that we will need. A packet of rice cakes, bag of fruit or packet of crisps and more can easily disappear on the way home from a day trip.

Occasionally, eating has to be a special part of the trip. Some time ago, we took fairly frequent foot passenger crossings to France for the day. Eating French food was part of the experience and we didn't take our own food. 

The end of a day out is tiring and it isn't always easy to find the energy to prepare a meal on return. The simplest way to manage this and avoid buying an expensive meal out, is to prepare in advance. A casserole in the slow cooker or another meal ready prepared at home saves time and money.

When a visit will involve being away for more than one meal, it is worth careful planning. Can a second meal be carried in a cool box or is there somewhere cheap and cheerful to buy a meal? This usually means either going to a supermarket or sometimes, fish and chips. Do remember that portions of fish and chips are often very generous and it probably isn't necessary to buy one portion per person, except for teenage boys!

Drinks are much less expensive if taken from home. OK, I can't say I've never enjoyed a National Trust coffee but generally, we take water bottles and coffee in a thermos. In the summer, one water bottle per person is often not sufficient and it is worth taking a few extra litres from home. The saving from taking drink can be several pounds per trip.

Other costs

Many venues will have a shop full of interesting and generally, highly priced items. It can be very tempting to buy the children a small bar of chocolate, only to discover that it is 7-8 times the price of a basics bar from the supermarket. I try to deter children from spending their pocket money on plastic trinkets although sometimes buying these and discovering their poor enduring value is part of the learning process.

We do buy postcards for journals and occasionally, guide books. 

Please do share your thoughts on saving on trips.

Frugal educational trips: travel costs

Welcome back to this mini-series on frugal educational trips.

Day 1: Questions to ask before a visit
Day 2: Saving on Entrance fees

Today, I'm looking at the cost of travel and a major cost it is too. Petrol in the UK is at least £1.269 per litre ($2.08 per litre or $9.46 per gallon) and usually more. Calculating travel costs becomes relevant!

Thoughts around travel costs have got to start with Is it in walking distance?

One advantage of being in a relatively small country is that there are often trips in the local area. Most villages have war memorials and other signs left from the World Wars; Tudor houses are a frequent finding, in some areas and Roman remains are not infrequent. We try to use local resources as much as possible and often pop round to see a local historical site in an afternoon.

Beyond this, sadly, this will be a short post. Please let me know about wonderful cheap ways to travel that I don't know about!

The specifics of this are about the UK because that is what I know-apologies to those outside the UK.

• In Central London and other large cities, parking is expensive. Parts of Central London are subject to the Congestion Charge which is a charge of £10 for driving in this area during the working week. This means that it doesn't make sense to drive in this area although families with large vans (over 9 seaters) can apply for Congestion Charge exemption.

• Children under 11 travel free on London buses and free on the tube with an adult with an Oystercard. This really tips the balance in favour of public transport in London. The downside of public transport is that it can be smelly, crowded and it isn't easy managing with a child in a stroller. Buses, particularly, are much easier once children have outgrown pushchairs.

• Parking is usually much cheaper in country towns.

• A Family and Friends Railcard costs £30 and saves 1/3 on adult fares and 60% on children's fares. 

• We tend to work out rail costs using the National Rail website. It is also worth checking the MoneySaving Expert site for cheap train tickets. This can be compared with the estimated fuel costs using Google maps. Generally, travelling around the South East of England with even part of the family, it is cheaper to drive but it is worth checking.

• Coaches tend to be cheaper than trains but aren't a form of transport that I have been brave enough to use for a long distance, with children. As a student, I used these frequently.

Please add your own suggestions for saving on transport costs.

The next post is about saving on food, drink and other items associated with the visit.

Frugal educational trips: entrance fees

Some of the best educational trips are free but sadly, others can be expensive. For the parent looking at trips, entrance fees make up a large part of the expense.

These are a few thoughts on reducing costs. Most of these apply mainly to the UK-apologies to those readers from elsewhere. Please feel free to add your own tips!

• Visit free venues. In the UK, many major museums are free as they are given tax breaks for not charging. They recoup costs in other ways-see later in the series! In London, the British Museum, the Science Museum, the National Gallery and the Victoria and Albert are amongst the free museums. Do note that special exhibitions within these free museums are usually not free.

• Use vouchers. Tesco Clubcard and Nectar points can be a way of going to often expensive venues for less. Both can be used towards English Heritage membership and Clubcard points can go towards National Trust for Scotland visits. Amongst other sites that these schemes can be used for are Royal Horticultural Society membership which allows visits to their sites, Eurostar for European trips, the Eden Project, Warwick Castle, Sealife centres, Imperial War Museum at Duxford, Hampton Court Palace and more. I often have a visit or two waiting for sufficient points and with a largish family, waiting doesn't usually take long.

• Visit before birthdays! Under threes and sometimes under fives go free. We have had several visits just before a child has turned three.

• National Trust and/or English Heritage membership. Both these organisations run multiple historic sites. Both have annual family membership which dramatically reduces the cost of visits. We've found that the first year we have a membership, we use it and the membership pays for itself over and over but after this, there is a tendency not to use the membership to advantage. This may vary for different families. Some years ago, we had one year of National Trust membership followed by a year of English Heritage membership which worked well as they run different sites. There are sometimes offers allowing 15 months membership for the price of 12.

• National Trust free weekend happens once a year, usually in the Spring. The dates for 2014 don't appear to have been announced yet.

• National Trust and English Heritage have schemes for home educators. The National Trust scheme offers reduced cost membership but it can only be used in term time and not at weekends. It wouldn't work for us but may be useful for some families. English Heritage offer a scheme where groups of home educators are allowed free entry. I have been on trips arranged under this scheme and these have worked well.

• 2 for 1 offer with National Rail. This offer allows two people to get into an attraction for the price of one with the appropriate voucher and their train tickets. Many, but not all, of these venues are in London. We have used this offer, though, for a trip to the Historic Dockyard in Portsmouth.

• London Open House happens once a year. This is a weekend when buildings in London, many of them not usually open to the public, are open for free. To be honest, I've never been to one of these events as they seem to happen on a Saturday when we are busy and we don't do Sunday trips but some of the buildings sound fascinating.

• Visit out of season. This doesn't work for many venues but zoos can be less expensive and less crowded in winter.

• It is always worth checking the internet for other vouchers!

Please add your money saving ideas for entrance fees.

Frugal educational trips

There are so many educational trips that it would be interesting and useful to take but outings are often expensive. There are three parts to this expense:

• entrance fees
• travel costs
• food/drink/other items bought on the visit.

This is a short series about trying to keep the costs of educational visits down. This first post is about assessing the value of a visit.

Before getting to the entrance fees, it is worth thinking back a stage and being thoughtful about the purpose of the visit. Our most useful trips have been those that support the children's learning. For example, a visit to Dover Castle was relevant to Middle Son's history studies but we were able to combine this with the Five in a Row book, The Glorious Flight, for the younger two.

This isn't always easy with children of different ages and isn't an area where I have always succeeded. 

This isn't to say that we never go on trips that aren't immediately connected with learning but particularly, when money is tight it is worth working a visit for all it is worth!

Onto actual visits- these are some questions to ask about the visit.

• Is this the best place to visit for this topic?
• Is there somewhere that would be equally good which is cheaper or nearer? This can often be the case with historical visits, here in the UK. 
• Would it be best to visit this venue with an educational group or as a family? Educational visits often have re-enactors and interactive sessions for children and can often be substantially cheaper or free. A group visit may be less useful if it is only for particular age children or only looks at part of a venue.
• When is the best time to visit? Some popular places, such as the Science Museum, can become uncomfortably crowded in school holidays. For home educators, visiting in school terms can be ideal. At the beginning and end of term there won't even be many school parties so maximising time spent in interactive parts of museums.
• Will this visit be helpful for all of my children or just some? Can the visit be altered in some way so that it is beneficial for all? 

How do you plan an educational trip?

Are there other questions that you would ask?

Part 2: Saving on entrance fees.

January inspiration

Happy New Year! I've been meaning to post for the last three days but life has been busy!

First, I was amazed and delighted when Sherry at Semicolon blog produced a personalised recommended reading list for me. Do pop over to her blog for so many reading lists. One of mine was a link to favourite read-alouds.

Debbie's blog, Our cup of Tea, is my go-to resource when working on country studies. She has started posting some more including Egypt, Iraq, Ghana and Israel.

I like to do hands-on maths with my younger children and the tools we use most often are Duplo blocks so I was delighted to see this post, from Frugal Fun for Boys, about using Legos to understand multiplication. This is definitely on our "to do" list.

On a sadder note, Se7en posted a thoughtful post about how to help someone who has lost a baby during pregnancy.

Last, a post which has been helpful for me recently is Amy's tutorial about Creating a fabulous Pinterest-Perfect Image using Picmonkey. I've still got loads to learn and need to go through this again but it is definitely a useful resource.

By the way, do pop over to my Pinterest boards. The Home Science, Five in a Row and Books boards are among my favourites.

For the New Year

2013 has been challenging in several ways, certainly for us and probably for many others too. This John Newton hymn has been an encouragement to me, during the year. It was a joy to hear it announced in church,this week, in the Sunday morning service.

Perhaps not the most up-beat hymn for the New Year but full of true comfort from the Lord Jesus who says to His people, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

Begone unbelief,

My Saviour is near,

And for my relief

Will surely appear:

By prayer let me wrestle

And He will perform,

With Christ in the vessel,

I smile at the storm.

Though dark be my way,

Since He is my guide,

'Tis mine to obey, 

'Tis His to provide;

Though cisterns be broken,

And creatures all fail,

The word He has spoken

Shall surely prevail.

His love in time past

Forbids me to think

He'll leave me at last

In trouble to sink;

Each sweet Ebenezer

I have in review,

Confirms His good pleasure

To help me quite through.

Determined to save,

He watched over my path,

When Satan's blind slave,

I sported with death;

And can He have taught me 

To trust in His name,

And thus far have brought me,

To put me to shame?

Why should I complain 

Of want or distress,

Temptation or pain?

He told me no less:

The heirs of salvation,

I know from His word,

Through much tribulation

Must follow their Lord.

How bitter that cup,

No heart can conceive,

Which He drank right up,

That sinners might live!

His way was much rougher,

And darker than mine;

Did Jesus thus suffer,

And shall I repine?

Since all that I meet

Shall work for my good,

The bitter is sweet,

The medicine is food;

Though painful at present,

Will cease before long,

And then, Oh how pleasant,

The conqueror's song!

If this all seems strange and unknown, do take a look at these video clips.

Wishing all my readers a truly happy New Year.