The Rebel Princess

Posted on March 27, 2025 by ofamily

After I mentioned that the kids and I had watched The Sword and the Brocade and we watched it as a way to gain a better understanding of what Chinese life would have been like during the Ming Dynasty, I received quite a few comments and questions.

For us watching a series like the Sword and the Brocade while we were studying China’s history is just like us watching 1917 when we studied World War One or watching Dunkirk when we studied World War Two. Allowing the kids to watch these programs just gives them a better sense of those times, what life during that time would have been like and why a class of people may have wanted change. When the kids can put faces (even an actors face) and places to people and events it really does help them connect with what they are learning about (and as the one guiding them through their learning it really helps me to understand the topic and be able to give them better background).

So keeping with that thought and following on from some of the question about other series that we would recommend I wanted to mention a few that I think are really good.

Staying with our Chinese history, The Rebel Princess which you can also watch on Amazon Prime is another excellent series. We are about two-thirds of the way through and all of us are loving it. It is more complex that the Sword and the Brocade in terms of plots and family connections and is a lot longer but we are loving the story line, the development of the characters (and I have to say the actors are doing an amazing job with their characters) and the settings for the different scenes are stunning. It ranges from being inside the palace, to private residences to battles fields and all are just exquisitely portrayed with a lot of detail and care.

The main character (Awu) is the niece of the Emperor and has grown up with a very close relationship to her uncle. The story starts with her disappointment at not being able to chose her marriage partner and being married off to a General who she has never meet. But as the story develops she comes to realize that the General is a good person and the story follows not only the development in their relationship but also the power struggle between the 3 Princes and Awu’s own father.

I like the fact that although they do discuss concubines and the palace harem it is not a main topic (I am not keen on the series where there is a lot of concubine fighting). Awu (the main female lead) and her husband are in an arranged marriage but it turns out to be a good marriage and they end up with a healthy relationship (a big plus for me, I am not a fan of letting my kids watch series where there are arranged marriages that are toxic). Also the fight scenes are good, none of the crazy fighting while suspended in midair stuff that you sometimes find in cdramas.

The age rating for The Rebel Princess is 16+ but really I have come to realize that most of the age ratings on the Chinese shows are a lot stricter than what I am used to. There are no explicit adult scenes and although there are some battle scenes it is nothing hectic. Honestly I am watching it with my very sensitive 16 year old and my 14 year old and it is totally fine (I think a 12+ age rating would be what we would expect for it).

I have started to watched a few of the cdramas set in the Warlord times but I have found those tend to be filled with toxic relationships and lots of abuse towards the female characters, so I tend to stop watching them without finishing them. At the moment there are none in the Warlord times that I feel I could recommend. If you are looking for a modern day Chinese drama which shows some of the cultural differences I would recommend Forever and Ever (also on Amazon Prime). It is a lovely story, great characters and the actors are brilliant.

I did search for Japanese series to link in with a Japanese topic and so far I have only found two which I think are really noteworthy. The first is Shogun, which is NOT a family show. It is a series on Disney+ and I must admit it is one of the best series that I have watched in the past 12 months but it really does deserve the 18+ age restriction (there is NO way my kids will watch the whole series), there are lots of very explicit scenes and the violence is very in your face. I did feel that it was a great Historical fiction drama for that period and I thought the entire production was excellent (the sets and costumes were truly first class), they really went all out but I want to stress the age restriction on this one is VERY valid. Although I did not show the series to my kids I did show them some specific scenes from the series just to give them a visual reference of certain things.

The only Japanese show which I have found so far (I am still searching for more) that I was happy for the kids to watch was My Happy Marriage (also called – As long as we both shall live), it was on Amazon Prime but has been removed and now I can only find it on YouTube. This does give you a feel about Japan, their culture and way of life but it does have a fantasy/ supernatural element in it. There are people with super-powers and strange creatures (my kids are not fussed by that). The female lead grows up in a cruel family and there is one scene where she is almost drown. The main lead does rescue her in time but I wanted to mention it as some younger kids may find it a bit intense. Overall it is a lovely story and the actors did a good job. I enjoyed the historical references and we did not mind the fantasy parts. It is teen-friendly and although there are some violent scenes there was nothing that I felt was too much for my kids (mine are 14-years and 16-years old).

We enjoy finding shows which give us a glimpse of different cultures and ways of life that are very different from ours. And for us learning about different cultures and different Histories (in other words not just the History of the country that we live in) is all part of our home education.

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Edexcel IGCSE Physics Revision Cards

Posted on March 21, 2025 by ofamily

We are in the middle of revising for my daughter’s Edexcel IGCSE Physics exams (in May and June) and one of the gems that we are using for our revision are these Edexcel International GCSE Physics Revision Question and Answer Cards.

We used the Biology version of these cards with my daughter before her Biology exam and we found them incredibly useful so since they worked before I thought why not and I bought her the Physics set.

They are what you expect from CGP – well made and good value for money. They contain lots of good question with the answers on the back. Perfect for revision and the kind of revision resource that your kids can use over and over again (honestly we tend to go through the cards a few times and that is where the well made comes in, I am planning on using the cards with 2 kids and they will last without getting torn and will still be in a decent condition).

There are 94 question cards. But bear in mind each question card contains somewhere between 4 to 7 questions – so you really are getting a LOT of questions.

The questions are split into – Quick questions (great starters) followed by some more detailed questions. And they mark which questions are ONLY included in Paper 2 (something which is incredibly useful as Paper 2 is a month after Paper 1 so you can use the cards to to do targeted revision for Paper 1 content.)

Oh and the Physics card set also comes with a very handy formula card – they have put all the formulas that you need to know onto one card (I was actually busy doing this for my daughter when we bought the set of cards).

This is a VERY useful set of question and answer cards. I bought them for my daughter to use and I will be using them with my son as well. I think they are well worth the money. And honestly for us they are one of the best revision resources we have come across.

For those who are wanting an Amazon link here is one – Edexcel International GCSE Physics Question and Answer cards.

Admin – I do include Affiliate links. If you follow an affiliate link and go on to purchase that product, I will be paid a very small commission, however your cost will remain the same. I only include affiliate links for products that we use and recommend.

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The Sword and the Brocade

Posted on March 6, 2025 by ofamily

Whenever we have studied different periods in history I have always tried to find ways for the kids to learn more about the everyday life and customs of that time period. I think it helps to make the history come alive and it helps them to understand why events happened (e.g. if a class of people are being treated unfairly then they are probably going to resist and may even revolt). When we learnt about the Anglo-Saxons we read a number of excellent historical fiction books (Shield Maiden, The First King of England and Winter of Wolves spring to mind) and we visited the Sutton Hoo site. So when we chose our IGCSE History topics I tried to do the same thing, I looked for books and documentaries but when it came to our China topic I found that a bit more challenging. I found a few books but after I started reading them I knew they would be too upsetting for my daughter, I managed to find some documentaries but I still felt like we were missing out on understanding why China changed from their dynasties to the warlords and then communist China. We (my daughter and myself) wanted to get a better understanding of every day Chinese life and customs under the dynasties and under the warlords but we struggled to find interesting material. And then I stumbled upon Chinese TV series.

There is a whole world of TV series that depicted their lifestyles and customs. I searched and started watching a few but ended them because I found the abuse towards women too much (and I knew my daughter would not enjoy it), and then as luck would have it I stumbled upon a series called The Sword and the Brocade (you can watch it with English subtitles on Amazon Prime and on YouTube). It felt like it was suitable for my daughter so we watched it and both my daughter and I were quickly enthralled in this new world.

Quick idea of what it is about – A young girl (Shiyiniang) who is a concubines daughter, ends up marrying a lord and has to now navigate the world of being a wife while dealing with his concubines and his mother who is bias towards one of his concubines. She endures everything because she wants to find out the truth behind her mother’s death and her sister’s poisoning. The husband is not in love with her at first but he does trust and protect her and he does slowly fall in love with her.

So why did I think this series was okay when I rejected the others? Yes there are concubines and there is some scheming and plotting that happens, but the fact that the husband is actually fundamentally a good person means he always protects his young wife and once he marries her he does not let the concubines (who is mother made him marry) get away with their tricks. So although their are concubines in this series (we are not fans of series with concubines in) it is actually tamer than a lot of the other ones. And there are no explicit scenes. In fact you get to watch a very sweet love story slowly develop between the couple. I also want to add the fight scenes are not over the top, we did try a few series where the fight scenes were so strange that they put us off the series (like flying through the air and walking on top of trees).

What do I think we gained by watching a series like this? My daughter gained an appreciation for how different the old Chinese customs were. We had never studied the Chinese Dynasties before and we did nor know about their customs and way of life so by watching a TV series like this we actually learnt a lot about a different culture. The series itself prompted lots of discussions: we spoke a lot about the concubine set up, we spoke about the class differences and how it was almost impossible to change the position you were born into, how boys were favored over girls, how the old Madam had almost absolute power and within her family could really do anything that she wanted (she could have someone beaten and tortured and because it was a family member that was considered fine). We spoke about the way their food and eating habits were completely different to ours, the clothing and hairstyles, their home layout and set up with different courtyards and the furniture (which was stunning), even the scenes where the Emperor is featured and you see the officials discussing matters with him. You really do get a good glimpse into this life, which for us was totally new and different.

How did it relate to our history? Obviously it is not something that was essential to our History topic, in fact this was about a time period before, but it was about understanding what life was like and why changes may have been needed and wanted by so many people. For us it was about broadening our understanding about a culture and time that we really did not know anything about. And it was an excellent series, the script was good, the actors were world-class and the settings were all stunning.

We really enjoyed the series and I do think it helped us to understand some background to one of our History topics.

Oh and if you like this idea we have started another series (also on Amazon Prime) called The Rebel Princess, we have not finished it but so far it is another good one.

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Oaka Digital KS3 content

Posted on February 27, 2025 by ofamily

I recently wrote a post about using Oaka Digital for KS3 Chemistry and afterwards I received a few questions about the content of the other KS3 subjects included in the Oaka Digital platform. So here are my thoughts on their overall KS3 section (please bear in mind this is for their digital platform and I am NOT talking about the topic packs and games in this post and also please remember I am just a USER of this platform if you have more detailed questions please contact them directly).

If you get a subscription for their KS3 content it includes access to six KS3 subjects. Which are

The amount of content under each of these subjects does vary however the format of the content is mostly in the same format – you get a topic book which you can read online, a workbook which you can print so the kids can complete it, wordsearches, 3D models (not every subject has 3D models) and quizzes.

Whether the subscription is going to be worth it for you really depends on how much content you are going to use. If we used my son as an example, then we would have used 5 of out the 6 subjects (he did not do French) and based on how much content that would have been it would definitely have been value for money for us. But that decision really is down too how many subjects you are doing and how much you are going to log on and use their content. I also want to add for those of you you are unsure they do provide a 14 day free trial, so if you are wondering, why not sign up for the trial and test it out yourself.

But quickly for the KS3 subjects that I mentioned here is a breakdown

Biology (they have 10 topics)

  • Breathing & Respiration
  • Cells Part 1
  • Cells Part 2
  • Environment and Feeding relationships
  • Fit and Healthy
  • Food and digestion
  • Movement: Skeleton and Muscles
  • Plants and Photosynthesis
  • Puberty, Reproduction & Birth
  • Variation & Classification

Chemistry (they have 5 topics)

  • Acids, Alkalis and Indicators
  • Heating and Cooling
  • Materials and their Properties
  • Reactions of Metals
  • Simple Chemical Reactions

Physics (they have 8 topics)

  • Electrical Circuits
  • Energy
  • Forces
  • Gravity & Space
  • Light
  • The Solar System
  • Useful Energy
  • Vibrations, Waves & Sound

So, if we pause now and just think about the three Science subjects. If your kiddo is doing combined science at this stage then that is already a lot of content and I would at this stage say it is already good value for money.

But for those of you still not convinced lets see what else they have.

History (they have included 11 topics here – I will add my daughter did all of these as topic packs when she was in KS3 and that is a LOT of History and it is the key English History which is covered at this stage)

  • Becket and Henry II
  • Elizabeth I
  • Henry VIII
  • Battle of Hastings
  • Battle of Waterloo
  • The Black Death
  • The Dissolution of the Monasteries
  • The Gunpowder plot
  • The peasants revolt
  • The Spanish Armada
  • Thomas Wolsey

Geography (they have 7 topics)

  • Coastal Processes and Landforms
  • Plate Tectonics, Volcanoes and Earthquakes
  • Population
  • Rivers, Processes and Flooding
  • Settlement
  • Transport & Industry
  • Weather & Climate

So thinking about it logically, for my family where my kids did all 3 Sciences, History and Geography, if you add them all together that is a LOT of content. But again it all depends on how many subjects you are covering and how much are you going to log on and use the resources.

I will also say I think it depends on the kids. My daughter likes having physical books so the topic packs suited her whereas my son actually likes working off the computer.

But there you go for KS3 there is quite a bit of content on the Oaka Digital platform so if you are interested why not sign up for a trial period and see for yourself.

Admin – this is NOT a paid for post.

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CGP Revision Books for Edexcel IGCSE

Posted on February 20, 2025 by ofamily

I am going to start this post by admitting that when we first started home educating I NEVER liked the CGP books. I was not a big fan of them especially in primary years. But then in the secondary years I started to appreciate them and now that we have been tackling our IGCSE subjects I have started to love them. And I will admit that the CGP Revision Guides are one of my MUST have resources. Really for every subject I always check to see if there is one and then as soon as I find it, I make sure it is in my Amazon basket.

If you have never used one of the CGP Revision Books here is a quick what to expect – They are Proper Revision Books, so don’t expect detailed notes or pages of practice questions. These are summary books. But they are excellent summary books – they explain the key concepts in a very concise and easy to understand manner. Sometimes when we have read something in our main student book and we are feeling a bit unsure we turn to our revision book to see what they say and most of the time they explain whatever was bothering us in a very clear manner. They do use diagrams and pictures, which we love and they often display the information in bullet points or blocks of information. Their format is very easy to read.

I will say that some people think the pages are a bit “busy” or “crowded”. And that was one of the reasons why we were not a fan of the CGP books in the primary years. But now that my kids are older they are not that fussed by the busy pages and have actually gotten used to the format. In fact when my daughter was revising for her Biology mocks and final exams her Biology Revision Notes never left her side, she honestly used it a LOT and never once complained about it.

In my opinion as brilliant as these books are they do not take the place of your student book but rather the two work together hand-in-hand. The student book has more detailed reading and examples which are needed whereas the revision guides really do focus on the key stuff. And although they do include a few pages of questions they are NOT an exercise book – please do not think you can buy this and ignore getting an practice/ exercise book. Practically speaking I would say you need a Student book, a Practice Workbook and then the Revision Book.

I bought all of the CGP Books myself and based on how much we used them and how how I appreciate their explanations they have all been excellent value for money. If I had to do all of this over again I would 100% re-buy these books.

I bought our Revision guides from Amazon so I am going to share the Amazon links for the three that we have.

Edexcel International GCSE Physics Revision Book

Edexcel International GCSE Biology Revision Book

Edexcel International GCSE Maths Revision Book

For anyone who wants to see extra photos of what the books look like before you buy I do have posts here – The Biology Revision Guide and the Physics Revision Guide

Admin – I do include Affiliate links. If you follow an affiliate link and go on to purchase that product, I will be paid a very small commission, however your cost will remain the same. I only include affiliate links for products that we use and recommend.

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