Little things...

Little things that have happened today...

• I was chopping up vegetables ready for making a tomato sauce and the children were helping. James was washing up :-) and Hannah was with me in the vegetable section! She asked to taste the vegetables, which I said was fine. Raw broccoli was a "no" but both Hannah and James loved the celery - in fact Hannah loved it! I am not sure if it was just because she was there and was hungry but I will have to try this with her with hummus - I had not idea she liked raw celery!
• While this was happening Hannah needed a wee so we disappeared and when we came back James had stuck the broccoli on its end so it looked like a tree and out two carrot sticks either side. I asked him what it was and he said a broccoli canceller (cancel, cancelled etc is his new word). He told me it was a broccoli that could cancel anything and take it away!
• We then made scrambled egg and Hannah wanted to whisk the egg (James had a go to) - as she was saying this she said, "Just like gloop, gloop, gloop - that's what Katie says (thank you I can cook!)
• James on the way started talking about injections - I think he is very anxious about them. As he was chatting it reminded me of a cute way he says hospital which I just wanted to remember for the days when he no longer says it this way. The way - "hobidal" :-)
• Hannah was looking at her alphabet mat today and when she say an H she spontaneously used her finger and said down and down and across - as if drawing a capital H in the air!
• We went to Fell Foot Park and the children saw a log - Hannah said - "has the frog fallen of?" and James said, "What on earth could make holes like that in wood?" I explained that it was insects and he said "Can they do that to us?" I said, "No, you are not a log of wood". He seemed reassured!
• When we got back James was really sad that we had not picked the hyacinth to put in a vase because it had now died. He then looked at the daffodils and grabbed - only the head came off. Amazingly I did not cross and used it as a teaching moment. I asked him how long a vase is and he showed me and saw that his would be too short. I showed him exactly where to pull and he then did it. Hannah then grabbed one! Her's one was no a middle size compared to the one James had grabbed and the long one he had carefully pulled out. So I out them all down and asked Hannah to show me the smallest (she showed me the middle) and which was the longest (she was able). The daffodils are now in one tiny vase type thing!

The Rocket

Daddy here, jumping in to do a post...

A long weekend off at home (each morning the comment was "Daddy's not going to work, AGAIN!" or words to that effect) has allowed me some extra time with the children, and this resulted in the long overdue task of James and I building a rocket using some cardboard I reclaimed from work.

After some initial frustration / boredom on James's part as I did some difficult cutting, we got to the point where he could join in, and from then on had great fun. He enjoyed having the responsibility of drawing the door, naming all the different parts and deciding what interior fixtures and fittings he would need!

We discussed whether it would need external fuel tanks - I suggested having two, he decided it would need three, because it would need to go REALLY FAST!

I'm quite pleased with the end result - although it does kind of resemble a cathedral!

James wrote Top Bit!

Favourite moments:
1 - The need for 3 fuel tanks (see above)
2 - James suggesting that we could use the empty pizza boxes we had collected as actual pizzas for the astronauts to eat (is this a reflection of the fact that he's normally not allowed pizza??)
3 - James doing his pre-flight checks (steering wheel - check, pizzas - check, telephone - check, door - check)

4 - The amazing shape James came up with for the hatch - I didn't modify it at all!
5 - The way the whole thing sparked his imagination

Not sure what James is doing with his nose!
Lets see how long it keeps he and Hannah interested this week as the rain comes down outside!

Eiffel Tower

Today James and Daddy were discussing Gummers How and the Eifell Tower (see post on Gummers How) and little Hannah piped in and said that is the one from Madeline! This is my little absorber!!!

How to Teach Reading

I have been thinking for a while - how do you actually teach reading? The above image is taken from Jolly Phonics who suggest that you learn the above phonics combined with sight words and then you are done! Is it really that simple and what happens when your child struggles?

I would love this Teach you child to read in 100 Easy Lessons but for now I will write down what I have learnt so far and add to it as my own knowledge expands! According to Piney Woods who has based her thoughts on Charlotte Mason it is best not to start reading lessons until the child has a good and thorough knowledge of the letters. This would tie in with Jolly Phonics phonics learning. They should also do a series of word building before formal reading lessons start. I am going to go through each step that Piney Woods has outlined to help me understand what it Charlotte Mason means.

Step One

The first step is word making. As I understand it - this is a very practical "game". In Charlotte Mason she suggests to start of with the syllable 'at'. Get these letters and put them on the floor and tell the child it is a word with use when we say "at home", "at the park" or "at school". It is now time to add an extra letter e.g. put b to make bat, s to make sat and c to make cat. I am presuming as you add the letter the child says that makes cat. My question is do you say "look, when I add c it makes cat" or do you somehow let the child work it out?

My other question is - do you teach 'at' as one word or as two letters combined together? I suppose if it is considered a syllable it is one sound. I could be wrong but I think in school they teach the children to sound the word cat as c-a-t. Learning this way would certainly be less laborious for the child! I now just need a list of all the syllables and three letter words! Eventually after a while the child can then read a list of words (I presume without heavily phonetically spelling them out) with ease. The idea is that eventually the child can do the lesson himself e.g. give the syllable 'en' and he then has to think of all the words or try out all the words he can with that one syllable.

I think I understand - it is now time to consider how this can be done in practice!

Extra:

This is a link I have found that I do not want to lose but not sure quite where to put so for now it will be here. It's on learning sight words when things do not come easily.

http://www.diannecraft.org/video_sightwords.htm

Encouragement

The other day at dinner we had a question time which was fun and insightful! We all had to say what each other were good at. I thought I would record the answers as they were SO sweet!

Hannah - this is what we said about Hannah:

• Dancing (Daddy)
• Being a Princess (James)
• Being outside (Mummy)

James - this is what we said about James:

• Eating cake (Hannah said this!)
• Lego making (Mummy)
• Riding his bike (Daddy)

Mummy - this is what we said about Mummy :-)

• Learning (Daddy)
• Reading her Bible (James)
• Running (Hannah)
• Putting James and Hannah to bed (James)

Daddy - this is what we said about Daddy

• Taking us out (James) like to Gran and Grandad (James)
• Fixing things (Mummy)
• Taking us on the prom with our bikes (Hannah)

UK Blogs

I love reading blogs to be inspired and encouraged but am aware that many of these blogs are American (nothing wrong with that as I love America!) however I very much wanted to see what other mothers are doing in the UK as that is where I live! I happened to find a couple and didn't want to lose the links before I could read them properly so have put them here as a resource!

http://weshallobtaindeliveringgrace.blogspot.co.uk/

http://pyjamaschool.wordpress.com/

http://smoothandeasydays.wordpress.com/blog-roll/

http://theberrybush.blogspot.co.uk/

http://bugsbeetlesandbarefootdays.blogspot.co.uk/  - she lives in Lancashire!

http://ifnotschool.blogspot.co.uk/

Peter Rabbit is 110 years old

James and Peter Rabbit having a special moment

Peter Rabbit and the Storyteller

I have started to read James a Peter Rabbit story before he goes to be which he is really enjoying. We happened to be in town today and the local bookshop Waterstones was having a special day celebrating Peter Rabbit's Birthday. A professional storyteller read Peter Rabbit and then there was a chance to say Hello to Peter Rabbit. Both James and Hannah loved this. After a while Peter Rabbit had to leave. Hannah said Peter Rabbit had to go because he had a tummy ache from eating too many carrots and radishes! James said he had to go back to his mother in the burrow! It was a lovely surprise and a lovely memory.

A really special cuddle - I think she is in love!

Hannah cuddling Peter Rabbit

James not so sure about what Peter Rabbit is going to do next!

What a lovely moment to have while we are reading the stories of Beatrix Potter!

Questions.....

Last year I found a list of questions to ask children which seemed so fun. I did it with James (aged 3) and recored it on my other blog (which I have yet to transfer!). I repeated it again this week and thought I would record the answers.

What is your name? James Roy
How old are you? 5
When is your Birthday? After Christmas (need to teach James this one!)
Who is your Mum? Emma Roy :-)
What does your Mum do during the day? Makes me breakfast and cooks :-)
Who is your Dad? Duncan
What does Daddy do during the day? He goes to work and goes on the computer
What is your favourite colour? Red
What is your favourite song? Funny Music - Bach Classical CD
What do you want to do when you grow up? Be a spaceman
Where do you want to live when you grow up? In a house that is a big as Gran's in America :-)
What is your favourite food? Ice cream - Chocolate (both he cannot eat :-( )
What is your least favourite food? Mushrooms and Courgettes
What is your favourite animal? Lion
What do Mummy and Daddy do when you go to bed? Do jobs - work
Who does our family love the most? James!!!
Where do you like to eat? Picnic
What is your favourite ice cream? Chocolate
What is your favourite book? Sharks
What is your favourite toy? Lego
How do you like to spend your time? Making lego things, go to the ice cream shop, aquarium and got o the park
What is your favourite thing that happened last year? Leraning to write with the salt box

I think Charlotte Mason would appreciate this means fo understanding the child as a person! It was so insightful and has made me think about books, activities, sharing what Mummy and Daddy do in detail. So often I do not ask what James think. I would like to so this more often.

Here are some links for next time...
http://life.familyeducation.com/communication/family-time/36021.html
http://www.minds-in-bloom.com/2010/01/20-question-to-ask-kids.html
http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780380805259

How to choose a Book

In reference to may last post I read more of the recommendations for choosing books on Ambleside online. I am still learning but this is what I understand so far:

• Text should be literary to prepare for the classics later on
• Books should cultivate a delight for beautiful names
• Books should be selected with the goal to decreasing dependance on pictures and relying more on the imagination to envision pictures in the mind from the text
• Illustrations should have a"have a refining, elevating effect upon our coarser nature" and bring us into the world of beauty
• The pictures should develop a affinity for and an attraction to the beautiful, the lovely, the pure, the refining, because "education is concerned to teach him what pictures to delight in."
• Stories should have the noble, beautiful, inspiring kind of living ideas that CM espoused including "the great human relationships, relationships of love and service, of authority and obedience, of reverence and pity and neighbourly kindness; relationships to kin and friend and neighbour, to 'cause' and country and kind, to the past and the present."

Taken from http://www.amblesideonline.org/00.shtml

This is certainly food for thought....... I think the idea is to nurture the ability of the child to create illustrations in his own mind based upon what he hears. For example James laughed today at the phrase "eyes as big as lollipops" - I wonder what he saw in his mind? I think having picture books around has given James a real interest in books - now it is time to stretch him a little and allow his mind some space to imagine...

Book List

I wanted to make a record of what we are reading with James simply so I can remember what we have covered - I would like to read the books recommended by Ambleside Online plus some of the Sonlight Books. At the moment we are not doing FIAR but I hope to cover a few books in the summer as a row. Interestingly as I consider doing this I referenced to the the Year 0 Page on the Ambleside Online Web Page and found this quote:

"Away with books, and 'reading to'--for the first five or six years of life. The endless succession of story-books, scenes, shifting like a panorama before the child's vision, is a mental and moral dissipation; he gets nothing to grow upon, or is allowed no leisure to digest what he gets." (CM's OHS, V5, p.216)

I think what Charlotte is saying here is that it is important to read a little every day and allow the child to play with what he has absorbed in the book. I like the idea of a book basket with the same books for a month, well read and enjoyed before being changed for fresh new books. This hopefully will reduce the mental and moral dissipation that she warns of. When James and Hannah have reading time with me we do tend to read only a few books at a time - mainly because of their natural attention span. I hope that my book choice is wise and edifying for my children - gradually I am considering each book for it's worth and weaning out twaddle - this is easier said then done as I am not quite sure yet what is twaddle!

• Beatrix Potter:
• The Tale of Peter Rabbit
• The Tale of Benjamin Bunny
• The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies
• The Tale of Miss Tiggy Winkle
• The Tale of Mr Jeremy Fisher
• Two Bad Mice
• The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck
• The Tale of Miss Tittle Mouse
• The Little House
• The Story about Ping
• The Little Engine that Could
• Blueberries for Sal
• One Morning in Maine
• Make Way for Ducklings
• Ferdinand
• OxCart Man
• Stone Soup
• Miss Rumphius
• The Story of Little Babaji
• Brer Rabbit
• Poems and Prayers for the Very Young
• Mother Goose
• The Child's Garden of Verses - on second Time
• A Child's Book of Poems

The learning continues...

I continue to read to James from the Garden of Verse before bed and I love the sweet language of these poems. Despite being English I am still unsure of some of the words! It is good for me to have my own vocabulary stretched. Today the Poem was Foreign Children. It described children from other countries and told about things they do like eating ostrich eggs. One of the nationalities was Sioux - I had never heard of this but they are the native North American Indians who ranged from Lake Michigan to the Rocky Mountains. It is pronounced "soo". It was a term first used in 1640 by Jean Nicolet, a Frenchman and means little snakes.

The Crow are a Siouan people who lived in the Montana and Wyoming area of the USA.They were called the handsome people by the French. They were known for their fine physical appearance and beautiful clothing. They were a horse riding, buffalo hunting people.

In the Marching Song there is a phrase that says "here's enough of fame and pillage". I also did not know what pillage meant. It seems to mean the act of stealing or plundering a place in war. This Robert Louis Stevenson liked his war and Indians!

Older Resources

I am always finding different useful web pages and I am finding this a great place to record the links so i do not lose even if I do not need then now. This page is going to be for James (i.e. an older child)

http://www.discoverymagazine.com/index.html
Science and Scripture Articles and Activities
http://www.rodandstaffbooks.com/list/Storybooks_Preschool-Age_7/
Older Character Books
http://dailythoughtsonmytots.blogspot.co.uk/
For FIAR and other ideas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixMvFdeo-F0
Books of the Bible
http://biblestudyguide.com/images/beginner-student-pages/bsp-sample.pdf
Idea for Family Bible Time

Nut Cracking

This is a picture of the Internet - it has so much less than ours, maybe I should simplify ours!

Today I came downstairs and met James in the living room looking guilty and opening his mouth. It was full of something so I asked him what it was. He pointed to the nature basket. I was about to freak when I decided to be more measured with my response (by the grace of God!). I asked him to tell me what he had eaten. It was a nut of some sort from the nature basket. I gave a him a mini lecture on the fact that it could be poisonous and then decided that we better find out what it was! It looked OK but I thought I had better check.

While I was doing this on the computer I asked James what he had been doing eating out of the nature basket and he said he was using a nut cracker to open nuts. He showed me what he had used and it a very large pine cone that we have! He had been taking each nut and smashing it on the carpet and getting the nuts out! I have to be honest I did think - is this an outdoor survivalist in the making? Thankfully when we looked on the computer it turned out to be pecans! This shows how urban I am - I am not even aware of what a pecan shell looks like. I think this all comes from the fact that around Christmas James realised there was walnuts in some of the nuts in the basket which he though was so cool - food available any time.

So poisonous disaster averted. I did give James some guidelines about nut cracking - check the nut with Mummy (not that I know a lot of nuts I do know a pecan and a walnut shell now), to use a chopping board (to protect my carpet) and to clean up after himself - all the shells! I do think we should find out about forest school - I think he would love it! I also love the fact that he knows he can eat as nature intended. I think he will always know where a pecan comes from!

Reading Basket April

In Hannah's Book Basket this week:

• Katy and the Big Snow (FB)
• Bringing Down the Moon
• Runaway Bunny (FB)
• Little Bear (FB)
• We're going On a Bear Hunt (FB)
• Easter Story - Bible Friends Bible Story
• Baby Animals (The Metropolitan museum of Art) - little ones at play in 20 works of art
• The Artist who Painted a Blue Horse Eric Carle (Library)

In James' Book Basket this week:

• How do Apples Grow - Let's Read and Find Out Science
• How do you lift a Lion? Robert E Wells (Sonlight)
• The Three Trees Angela Hunt (Easter)
• The Usbourne Book of Fairy Tales
• The Usbourne Poems for Little Children
• The Growing Story Ruth Krauss
• The Polar Bear Son An Inuit Tale Lydia Dabcovich

The plan is to replace the books when each one had been read - I will cross them off as we do them

A Crowd of Bouys

Today James had a glass of squash with lots of bubbles in it - he looked in it and said it looks like a crowd of buoys! He has learnt the word bouys from our walks at Fell Foot Park on Lake Windermere!

Uncle Nigel and Hannah were talking about the colours they were wearing. Hannah said she was wearing pink :-) and Uncle Nigel said "I am not wearing pink but I suppose my skin is pink" to which Hannah responded - but your skin is cream coloured! You can't get anything past Hannah!

Stick Pencils and Conkers Week 14

Today before Uncle Nigel left we went to the local park. Hannah had a delightful time being pushed by Uncle Nigel for 20 minutes! In the meanwhile James and I had an explore and looked at the lambs. James found a stick and then started to pretend it was an axe and said he was an axe chopper. He then took that stick home and realised it made marks on the ground. I said the stick is like a pencil and that maybe we should get daddy to use a knife to sharpen it. He then started to write letters on the floor (including a J that was backwards) and as he was writing said the "world in a big piece of paper and this is my pencil!"

While we were at the park James wanted to try and climb a tree. The first branch was quite high so I found a big stone and helped him up - he loved this and was so excited to think that as he got bigger the tree would be easier to climb. As we were doing this I noticed something on the floor - I showed James and he was really interested - they were old cases of something and were spiky. James said they were like a cactus. I thought they had something to do with chestnuts but was not sure. James got to me carry loads in my pocket to take home for the nature basket. I said that may hurt my hand and he said that I "should not squeeze my hand in my pocket too hard!"

When we got home we looked on the computer and saw that they were conker shells from a horse chestnut tree. I am so illiterate with nature BUT I am learning! I explained to James the game you can play with conkers and he was so excited. He asked if he could pick some up - he knows that you can only pick wild things up and not from people's gardens. I said yes and he was so pleased. I noticed a rhyme when I was searching for information - "Oddly oddly onker, my first conker" - you are meant to say that when you see your first conker - the children loved this and kept saying it! We are going to keep looking at the tree - I have had a good look already while James was playing and noticed the leaves look like hanging bananas and that the buds are very sticky!

We now have to wait until the Autumn to be able to play the conker game - something to look forward too. I also read that the best conkers are kept for a year in a dry place to make them really hard. We could have some really good conker games then....

Books I would like

I keep seeing lovely books that would be great (they are from Year 0 Ambleside Online) and that are in line with Charlotte Mason's Living Books so I thought I would record them somewhere so that when we have some pennies I know what to purchase:

• The Little Engine That Could by Watty Piper (We have this on Audio - Old Style)
• The Little House by Virginia Burton
• Ox Cart Man by Barbara Cooney
• Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
• Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney
• Brer Rabbits Books
• Poems and Prayers for the Very Young Eloise Wilkin
• Aesops Fables by Milo Winter
• A Child's Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa
• The Oxford Book of Children's Verse by Peter Opie
• Prayer for a Child illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones
• Single poem Books illustrated by Dianne O'Quinn Burke e.g Wee Willie Winkie
• The Church Mice by Graham Oakley
• Hiawatha by Longfellow illustrated by Susan Jeffers
• Paul Revere's Ride by Longfellow illustrated by Ted Rand
• The Elephant's Child by Rudyard Kipling
• Roxaboxen by Barbara Cooney
• Wynken, Blynken and Nod by Susan Jeffers

Gummer's How Nature Walk Week 13

This weekend my brother came to stay (Uncle Nigel) and we had wonderful time. We went on a walk to up Gummers How and had the most amazing view at the top. James loved this walk and did some great scrambling and climbing up the stones (it is quite steep). He also loved the stream and had a wonderful time exploring. At the end there was a fallen tree trunk and James spontaneously started taking bark off and hunting for bugs. He then went climbing up and managed to get right to the top - of course Hannah had to climb up too! It was a great walk and I loved the children's delight at being outside.

Exploring the stream on the way up

Lake Windermere from the Top of Gummers How

A Family Photo with Uncle Nigel

Are there any bugs under here?

I think there maybe something here

I found one!

My brother Nigel took this video which shows just how beautiful this place is! It is quite noisy because it was SO windy at the top!

Gummers How is one of the outlying fell Wainwright Walks - we are hoping to do them all as a family.  According to his book it is 390 feet of ascent and is 1 mile there and back.  This is how it is described; "it is a fell walk in miniature, a little beauty, with heather, a few rocks to scramble on,a classic view and a rustic Ordnance column - juts like the real thing; and all so easy to access from a motor road and attainable almost without effort."

Charlotte Mason Information Sites

A few extra web pages that I think are useful:

http://www.howtodrawanimals.net/how-to-draw-a-bat-
How to draw different animals
http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/
Wonderful site about becoming a nature detective
http://www.rspb.org.uk/
Great to learn bird song and recognise birds
http://www.pineywoodshs.blogspot.co.uk/2007/09/charlotte-mason-reading-lessons.html
Reading Steps
http://www.mainlesson.com/main/displayarticle.php?article=feature
Literature for AO can be read online

Charlotte Mason Blogs

As I have been reading about Charlotte Mason I have come across some beautiful blogs that may become useful in the future. I thought I would record them here for future reference.

http://handbookofnaturestudy.blogspot.co.uk/
How to make an outdoor Nature Journal
http://thehomeschoolmagazine.com/
Not  a blog as such biut has some Charlotte Mason Articles
http://fisheracademy.blogspot.co.uk/
This looks good
http://plantinglittleseeds.com/category/charlotte-mason-preschool/
This is beautiful
http://thielacademy.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/how-we-schedule-our-day.html
Very organised!

Counterpane

James is continuing to enjoy his Garden of Verse. He asked me to read him 3 tonight and then wanted to have more - I did not realise how much he would enjoy poems. I am so glad we have been introducing this to him gently every night. Today we covered a little boy who was sick and who imagined a city on his bed with all his toys, with him as the giant. I asked James what a counterpane was and he did not know. I then realised - did I know? I said a duvet but later had to check - it turned out to be a quilt or bed spread so I was nearly right. This is SO good for stretching MY vocabulary.

Flower Pots

I saw these on the web the other day and they are just too cute - I may have to do these for Hannah's Birthday! They would also be great for the Carrot Seed. I think my lovely friend Becky showed me a picture of these but I cannot remember where so it's great to now have a link. I love how she used real Carnations.

http://www.theimaginationtree.com/2012/03/easy-flower-pot-cupcakes.html#comment-form

Twinkly Diamond

So does Hannah know what a diamond is (as re: last FB post) ? Yes! She made a beautiful one today with her hands and fingers and sang Twinkle Twinkle - why do I put out things that are just not her?

Life is the School

I found this artwork recently and thought it was just for this blog!

I also realised you can get it as a bumper sticker. Mmmmmm.......

Useful Resources

I have been finding a few resources that have been helpful for FB and I wanted somewhere to record them for future use:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFKzriYtEt8  If you Give a Mouse a Cookie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OId535urADE The Three Tenors
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TuvTsQfwOg Spanish 1-10
http://www.wegivebooks.org/books Great books to read online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Djz82FBYiug Jolly Phonics

FB 29 - Day 7 Continued

So today we spent some time doing a few extra bits off Day 7 as yesterday was spent mostly outdoors :-) Saying that today was also spent mostly outdoors! The children today wanted to take their umbrellas to school - I am not sure why but why not? On the way up James discovered he could hang his umbrella on a tree - "Look Mummy it's like a hook!" He did this again and again - he loved it. WE then made up a little story about pretending to live outdoors and hanging our coat on the trees when we finished school James would then sleep in the grit bin and have fire flies provide the light! I said I think James would be great at making furniture out of nature.

When we got home we got the chalks out and played outside. She loved this. It was also her first time to draw hair on a little face (I drew the circle). She also then drew a flower - with a green chalk she kept saying this is the stalk and drew about 3! I think in part she just loved being outside and enjoying the fresh air and being allowed to draw on the floor :-). I did bring the colours out and the stickers with the plan to put stickers on the lines of the diamond - but Hannah was not interested. She did some colouring and her only little thing and then said I've drawn a diamond - it was not quite right but in her mind it was. She knows what a diamond is - so I am not sure why I provided this activity - maybe for review or to reinforce.

We finished our morning with some more scooter practice - there is a big improvement in her confidence and pushing. I think she just loves being on James big boy scooter. Ironically today she spotted two bugs while we were outside and named them both - "fly away bumble bee" and ladybirds (one which was not moving so she proclaimed as dead - I then helped it to move a bit and she said "oh it was sleeping!") It showed me that it is important to point out things gently and not expect her to react in the moment but to watch for that knowledge to make its way out spontaneously.

On our way back to the house Hannah asked to go to the stream.In we went and once again we had a lovely time. I so love the noise of the water - it seems to SO calm me. This is the view of the stream looking away from the house.

Our play was all going well until this happened!

So that ended our morning out - it was then a strip down and a warm towel and a cuddle and some lunch :-) Another lovely morning of gentle natural Hannah led learning.

Learning Letter Sounds

I have not as yet intentionally taught Hannah letter sounds but she seems to be picking them up by osmosis. At the dinner table the other day we were playing a game where we think of a letter and a word beginning with that letter and everyone has to guess. This is really easy for James now but it was interesting to hear Hannah join in. These were her unprompted answers:

• k - kite
• oo - cuckoo
• m - mummy
• d - daddy
• j - james

She was also watching Praise Baby and saw the letter B and said "like bib" and then when the C came on she said C for cat. Today when for FB it was Y for yoghurt. So I put a Y magnet out and said can you guess what we are having for pudding and she said yoghurt! I am not sure whether to look at letters in an intentional way or simply let this very natural learning continue.

Musical Tree

When Hannah was looking at a tree the other day - she said "What's this?" I told her it was bark  - she then looked at it and said "like the computer music" - she was thinking of the Classical CD of Bach that we have and we listen to through the computer!

We were driving home somewhere later in the day and looking out of the car she said "Look at that broken up car!" meaning a broken down car. How sweet!

FB 29 - Day 7

Well today did not really happen (at least for FB directly). It was a beautiful day and for some reason I was simply sad and tired (hormones perhaps?). I so wanted to enjoy the warm sunshine on my back but it was just hard. I am sure that most Mums have these days but I felt bad about having no motivation to do FB. In the end after school we walked for a long time doing our same route (:-)) The idea was to take the magnifying glass and look for micro beasts. Hannah was NOT interested. In fact everything I pointed out she glanced at and moved on! This is probably an important thing to learn - education of intimacies is about the child discovering for themselves with their own eyes. I can point out things but I must not expect a response - the child may love it or not be that interested.

The things she did enjoy though were where her heart was. Since reading We're going on a Bear Hunt Hannah loves grass. She points it out and says look grass - long wavy grass, swishy swashy! She also tried to climb her rock (sheer face) and this time she went a little way up and said "it's not slippy, the rain has stopped" - top marks for observations! I showed her some woodlouse and flowers but she wanted to look at her hand :-). It did make me realise that we could do with a better magnifying glass - it does not really make things bigger plus I needed to show her how to use it - she was putting it right to her eye and seeing double! She did find a dandelion and gave it a good look, then sniffed it and gave herself a yellow moustache :-) She carried this nearly all the way home until she sat on it at snack time.

At the waterfall she picked a stick and tried to throw it down the waterfall. She must have tried 6 times. I was itching to help but realised it was a great opportunity to develop perseverance. Even though it never went in she was ok and it showed me that I want her to have the pleasure of the outcome (the stick in the water) without realising that the trying is SUCH an important part of the process. It was great seeing her try and reach it each time as she had to get under the rails and get it. What a great opportunity to develop spatial awareness.

We headed home and it had at that point been an hour and a half that we had been outside. I was tired -I think in part it is my lack of stamina! We had some time inside and it gave me an opportunity to read some of Charlotte Mason's teaching on pre-schools and she recommended 4-6 hours outside! I am not sure if we will ever manage that with the English weather but we then went out again and went and played in the stream. The stream has a bar across for some reason - Hannah said we can't go under it we have to go over it. She then had a wonderful time splashing in the "deep" area and we played houses up and down the steps (upstairs/downstairs) next to the stream. So lots more learning - I just need to get fitter especially when she then wanted to do roller skates AND scooter play!

Little Movers

After school Daddy kindly  gave Mummy a few moments and took the children outside. It was such a blessing to see them both have such fun. James has become incredibly confident on his bike and is now completely independent.. Hannah is learning to use the scooter and becoming more confident every day. Well done my little movers! Well done Daddy for taking them out!