Fifitr - they are getting a provisional timetable, so I will probably talk about it with bear. We have already agreed to discuss some English stuff. He is not sure what they want, although he seems to be okay with the texts (poor lad has the Tempest, which I had at A level and loathed). Tomorrow we are going to throw some ideas about and I can see whether to tentatively broach talking to the teacher. I'll be around for him, and see what I can do to help. He's pretty good at telling me what he's doing. I just struggle to keep up.
As you may know, I have Tesco Clubcard Plus, which costs £7.99 per month (£95.88 per year). This means that I get 10% off two shops per month plus 10% off certain Tesco own brand stuff, like their fancier homewares and their clothing but not electricals. According to the email, not only had I saved £104 on the big shops but I also had a coupon for a £3 bunch of flowers. I don't think that includes their Clubcard prices (which I think is a lot of marketing but worth taking advantage of if you are going to buy the stuff anyway) and the extra 10% on various bits. I think that I would have saved more if it hadn't been for all the lockdown stuff. I picked up these flowers, shown in front of the dratted boiler (which is currently behaving)
I think I need to get a little more strategic about the Clubcard. I need to be careful not to buy something I wouldn't get anyway. I also have the Lidl thingy which I haven't taken advantage of and around £15 in Morrisons vouchers on their More card. I need to make sure that these things work for me. I'll share any discoveries.
Hugs and good health to all.
The Tempest is a pretty hard play to be tackling at Bear's age - up to A level they used to choose the more straightforward ones like Macbeth, Midsummer Night's Dream or one of the early comedies which have a lot of plot but not so much depth. I loved it but I studied it when I was older and had a broader appreciation of Shakespeare's work, which I do think helped. Also I was doing it alongside 2 plays I really didn't like much so it shone by comparison. If he has trouble warming to it perhaps you could start by watching Forbidden Planet together and discussing how it is like and differs from the play? Or would Bear think the film hopelessly old-fashioned?
ReplyDeleteSearch for The Tempest on YouTube. There are several summaries, animated versions, BBC Teach videos and discussion of key points. I don't know how good they are but it may help him to understand the overview.
ReplyDeleteThanks for giving several shoutouts for my novel. It was a strange publication day. Two of my writing group dropped by to deliver a bottle of bubbly which was so kind of them! We've not seen each other in the flesh since last February. I'd not seen The Tempest until two years ago. We went to a cinema viewing of a live Stratford performance which was so much cheaper and more comfortable! It was stunning. I'd thoroughly recommend it for Bear because of all the special effects and they really exposed how badly treated Caliban was by everyone else on the Island. It should be available to download somewhere. I was surprised how much of the play was already familiar to me - lots of speeches that turn up in other guises. Hope Bear finds a Shakespeare play he can fall in love with.
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