Felting and dancing

Springy and I have had a lovely week or so since last posting. We went to a Christmas Fair and Springy went on a pony ride, made a lovely peg doll and a felted necklace. It was a bit commercial (typical school fundraising stuff and some of the prices seemed ridiculous since to me this time of year is about making it special for children) but okay and Springy didn't notice (because she wasn't paying for it!).

We have no more swimming lessons until next year which is a shame because Springy had just got the hang of it (swimming under and on top of the water). However, we had our first French lesson for ages (with the tutor) and Springy really enjoyed that. She was beaming all yesterday with her smile and we had a lovely time today as well. This morning we brought the guineapigs lots of vegetable cuttings which they love and then we did some dancing. We did a waltz (1,2,3). This afternoon (following a good game of tag in the garden) we did some wet felting using cookie cutters. We're making some homemade presents for family members. We stuff the felt in the cutter in a bowl of soapy water (I use baby shampoo) and then poke it to agitate it. We've made some really pretty shapes today, including a snowflake. Springy loves the feel of the warm, soapy water and after her interest wanes from the poking the felt part, her attention turns to the bubbles in the water.

Numbers

Springy has wanted to get her numbers the right way around for a few weeks. She's been successfully drawing the number 8 and also lazy 8s for a bit but is still reversing 7s and 9s. It's not something that I would have worked on with her until next year but because the motivation and interest has come from her I found a worksheet thing over at Montessori for Everyone. She filled it all in yesterday morning and can now manage her numbers the right way round and she's really pleased about it.

Our little maths fairies are looking very sweet. Dorothy Harrer has a lot to answer for in terms of I seem to recall that she was the original source of Maths Gnomes. I think they really are a good way of dealing with the four processes though and I have them ready for next year.

We have:

Penny Plus (mother) - moss green - she has to go around picking everything up
Minnie Minus (baby) - pale blue - she's very little and drops things
Maria Multiply (little girl) - yellow with a golden multiplication symbol - is like Springy and likes to somersault all over the place gathering up as much as she can
Daddy Divide (father) - red and has a beard - sorts out all the sharing in the family

Springy does understand the basics of the four processes already and maths is something that I believe can be brought in much earlier without it having to become an 'academic' subject or working in the brain too much. So many nursery rhymes contain mathematical elements e.g. 'One, two, three, four, five
Once I caught a fish alive
Six, seven, eight, nine, ten,
Then I let it go alone...'

or
'One, two buckle my shoe,
Three, four, knock at the door,
Five, six, pick up sticks
Seven, eight, lay them straight,
Nine, ten a big fat hen
Eleven, twelve, dig and delve
Thirteen, fourteen maids a courtin'
Fifteen, sixteen maids in the kitchen
Seventeen, eighteen, maids in waiting
Nineteen, twenty, my plate's empty'

Steiner Waldorf - overview

An article by an experienced Waldorf teacher:

http://www.gracemillennium.com/winter01/waldorf.htm

French resources - Graindor

We ordered some more Graindor issues and they arrived yesterday (can't wait to make the moving pictures from them). I think Imaginedition has the most beautiful stuff and their service is excellent. Je suis tres content :)

http://www.imaginedition.net/

We also received the CD Au Fil des Saisons which is just wonderful. The quality of the music is more than I imagined - it has a complete soundtrack of proper folk instrumentation (troubadour period) and birds singing etc. The songs go through the seasons and our favourite is Track 11 which is about un escargot et une pomme (Springy breaks down in laughter when she hears this).

I just spoke to our French tutor - we missed a lesson but it was due to a misunderstanding because I had to cancel a few sessions due to Springy's cold and then we had someone stay (my wonderful B-I-L) and this week we were not well either. I hadn't rearranged another session but our tutor thought there would be one. Anyway, all sorted. We have to go fortnightly from now on because I just cannot afford weekly ones at this time of year (the money was my birthday present money) and I am hoping that she will find some extra children so that the cost will come down a bit (£10 for half an hour - ouch).

Bad colds and reading and writing

We're all suffering from a bad cold at the moment. I can barely speak (pharyngitis) so have only managed to tell 2 stories today (very short ones) from books.

Springy has had a fairly nice time nevertheless. Her silicon swimming hat arrived yesterday, along with a pair of pink goggles (to match the hat) and she has been practising with both of them in the bath tub. She's not happy about her appearance because she looks "different" with the hat on - it squashes and distorts her face and she doesn't know who she is when she looks in the mirror. Her other lovely comment was from the weekend when we sat and watched Return of the Jedi together and she came out with "I know why they have breaks... it's so the people can change their costumes between scenes". This girl shows she has been to the theatre a few times ;)

Anyway, I found two really useful articles at the Waldorf Library:

http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Journal_Articles/Learnreadwriteward.pdf - by William Ward

and the other is on
Teaching our children to write, read and spell by Susan R JOhnson MD. It also mentions bedtime issues and links proprioreceptive stuff i.e. the child is not aware of where their limbs are to having difficulty in getting to sleep. I'm going to think on this for Springy but I'm not sure whether that's really the issue. I know she thinks too much at night but she's very much in her body, more than I was at her age (and I was a good sleeper) but maybe I do need to giver her limbs a gentle massage before sleep and see if this can help. In terms of active days most days she has been out and about and we do other movement type activities. I know on some days we have walked miles, done balancing, climbed and so on and she still can't sleep with ease. I think this may just be the nature of Springy (this was the baby who until 8 months old would have to be woken up to feed and was a very easy and contented little baby.. then teeth and sleep patterns changed).

Another story for autumn

I've been telling the story of Mischief Mouse from the Enki Kindergarten Nature Stories. Springy really liked it and figured out that the orange thing the little mouse was sleeping in was a pumpkin (we don't tend to use the jack lantern term here).

Today I slept in for the first time in ages. We've all got a cold and I was left in bed whilst Springy and her daddy went out for an adventure. I fell asleep this afternoon as well, on the landing and Springy found a blanket to cover me over. One minute I was talking with Springy and the next ... out for the count. It's gone really cold outside and I noticed frost on the ground this morning so no doubt it will be the same tomorrow.

Books for this time of year (mid autumn)

We love Pumpkin Soup and have read that story over and over.

Tonight's bedtime tale was The Gruffalo's Child and then Springy insisted that she read a story to me and she read The Gruffalo.

Yesterday, we had a lovely day - she went to a 4th birthday party for her twin friends and then we went to a Bonfire Night display with fireworks and ... a bonfire (despite many places trying to ban them based on carbon footprint stuff - so fireworks are okay but bonfires aren't...!). There were too many sweets at the party but Springy brought them back here (under my watchful eye - loaded with hyperactive e numbers) and then I sent them off to the Sugar Plum Fairy (which is an idea that came up on the Waldorf lists for dealing with too many Trick or Treat sweets from Halloween).

House schedule

I'm looking at the areas I need to address which affect the way I home educate. I often have a problem with my home being messy (not dirty but untidy).

I'm looking at my schedule:

Daily:
Kitchen - washing up (after every meal or so) and wiping surfaces
Vacuuming - downstairs only
Recycling - taking recycling to bin (it blocks the surface in the kitchen - move recycling bin nearer to address this)

Every other day:
Toilet - upstairs
Bathroom - sink and toilet
Laundry washing

Once a week:
Wash bathroom and kitchen floors with disinfectant (although I know I do this more often)
Wash bedding (difficult to dry it in winter)
Vacuum upstairs (vacuum cleaner is not user friendly)

Fortnightly:
Mow the lawn

Monthly:
Window cleaning - inside and outside

My main blockages are a) my kitchen sink area (which I do try and do so it's clean overnight) b) my kitchen work surfaces (messy husband who leaves lids of jars and forgets to use plates) and c) my daughter's table which is meant to be for her use in terms of painting and so on but often ends up covered with other stuff. They often delay us from doing things and they block all the time. My husband just made laugh - "If you told me you love me more often I would help more!" - :)

And the other place that blocks is the spare bedroom which is our office which has a pile of laundry. Our wardrobe space is severely limited and it makes it difficult to put things away. We live without a real double bedroom - the rooms are all singles and we've managed to squeeze a double into what is our room but it means there is no other furniture in it.

Times Tables

Here is a really useful tool/project/piece of art that can be used to show the times tables to a child (or a grown up):

http://robinsunne.com/robinsunnes_multiplication_clock

I've been interested in learning about Sanskrit which is a good foundation for language studies as well as learning all the richness of the culture - poetry etc.

A story of Gopal:

http://scsmath.org/trove2/btfl_gopal/b_gopal_p00b.html

Something I never have understood is the blatant sexism when it comes to sports in our schools. Boys do football (soccer) and cricket, whereas girls tend to play netball (snooze) and hockey (ouch). Swimming always used to be a nightmare for me - the humiliation of communal changing rooms (especially during and after puberty), dirty floors and so on used to put me off and I never did enjoy school swimming lessons. I remember always being damp for the rest of the day because we'd usually have no hairdryer etc. There is a soccer club for children but as yet we've not done it but I think Springy would like to have a go so next year I'm hoping to be able to take her a few times and see if she likes it. It would be great for co-ordination and the fact that the club is a weekend one, without the sexism of school will, I hope, make a difference.