What a morning!

Today was a rather stressful morning. I'm not coping well with stress at the moment due to all the financial pressures that are going on. I had a plan this morning to do some of the Letts Magical Maths and Funny Spelling books that Springy really likes. So we went out to let the hens and guineapigs out because the weather was so nice but...the combination lock on the shed wouldn't open. Aaarghhh!

The combination lock, I figured would be better than one with a key because we'd probably lose the key. However, I didn't realise last night when I was locking it that the code had been tweaked whilst it was off. I went through 000 to 999 on the combination - took several hours. None of them worked. Phoned a locksmith - "Sometimes that happens with the combination locks - if one of the barrels was slightly off the actual number then it can be really difficult to make it work. Again...aaarrrghhhh! So I can hear the chickens and guineapigs - they make buck buck and squeaky whine noises because they think they are going to be let out to have a run and/or get some interesting food. I felt so useless. I then decided to dismantle the metal parts on the shed door - screwdrivers out. That didn't work either because of the metal piece that was blocking the opening side of the door. Aarrghhh!

C had to run off to fetch his cousin from the train station. She's really nice so that was a good part of today. When he got back he managed to remove the entire metal lock piece with the combination padlock still attached to it. So now we have a shed door which we can open but we can't lock. Aaarrrhghhhh!

Anyway, the hens and piggies both had a lovely time out on the lawn. Springy and I then managed to do some of the Funny Phonics and Spelling book. I really think phonics should be used only in cases of remediation or to back up those already reading. To me reading needs to come from the child, when they are ready and not be dictated by Government. Yes, provide opportunities but reading comes out of play, eye tracking, phonemic awareness and so on and best of all the child should enjoy it.