Thoughts on the year

With us the legal compulsory age for school (which means education)here in England is the term after the child's 5th birthday and in ourcase that was January 2007. So this January was the start of our 2nd official year of education. However, January is winter and althoughI believe that learning is 24/7 I always find our energies start topick up with spring.Spring springs us forward, Summer for us is a hive of learning,Autumn is harvest (we go fruit picking late August/early September),whereas winter has more rest and hibernation (it can be very stormy). In the spring and summer the world outdoors opens up more with gardening and so on. It's lovely to hear the dawn chorus in themorning (it's already started) and see snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils. In the autumn we planted lots of tulip bulbs so we should be seeing these soon as well. I find that the seasons change our focus of learning (seasons here tend to be spring which is wet but some sun, summer which is wet but more sun, autumn which isusually quite sunny but wet and winter which is just wet and cold!). ;) I love December but January and February feel neverending(duvet months - want to go outside to get some daylight but it can be so horrid with the weather that it puts me off) so the January legal start doesn't really fit in with our own cycles and September wouldn't work either. This is because we have birthdays, ballet visits, theatre visits and St Nicholas/Yule/Christmas in December which are all learning opportunities but too soon after a "start date".

Therefore, I feel that when we start on academics (I'm having so much trouble with the term grades at the moment - it just doesn't sit right with our philosophy towards education and life) it will be just after Easter and really in very small doses with lots of play and lots of nature walks and so on, as we do anyway. Summer is great because we draw out spirals and shapes in the sand which is amazing because you can make them so big - we've been walking forms this way for a few years now, just by playing (except last summer which was...wet, really wet with floods).

Books we enjoy reading
I loved the Faraway Tree books and still love them. The Wishing Chair ones are also excellent by Enid Blyton. Springy also loves Milly Molly Mandy byJoyce Lankester Brisley - nothing really happens in the stories but this is why she loves them (as do I) and they are so gentle and the little girl gets back home safe and sound without anything major happening. We also like Teddy Robinson stories too.