Book of Trolls

We just read d'Aulaire's The Book of Trolls in a big reading aloud time. ~Springy found it rather gruesome but nevertheless enjoyed it, especially the bit where the trolls look in the mirror with their children. Springy's now watching It's Me or the Dog (as she is going to be a canine behaviourist) and I'm about to start my Deutsch homework.

German bears

Studied loads of German today and also did quite a bit of German with Springy with her teddies doing the talking. ;) C and Springy also had a walk around the harbour with Lily; Lily met some other dogs (we don't think she fully understands she's a dog) and got to play with one on the green. Poor Lily keeps trying to make friends with the swans too ("Wow - big hens. Hello!") but all they do is hiss at her and try and peck her.

St Nikolaus poem

1. Advent, Advent, ein Lichtlein brennt,
Bald kommt die frohe, selige Zeit.
Weihnacht, Weihnacht ist nicht mehr weit.

2.
Der Schnee, der Schnee kommt von der Höh',
Draußen im Wald der Tannenbaum
Träumt schon seinen Weihnachtstraum.

3.
Und huckepack mit seinem Sack
Geht nun bald von Haus zu Haus
Der gute alte Nikolaus.

Napoleon

I've been dealing with the Local Authority for several months now, not a on a personal level but on a philosophical principle basis.  They have been able to access funding which could benefit older home education but until recently have sought to avoid accessing it.  Anyway, I approached the political hierarchy instead and they agreed.  It's been a rather interesting foray into the world of Government (yet again).

Dealing with the Government is weird. It's not based on common sense at all and it's extremely irritating. You can have all the law of the land laid out in front of you against someone  but the civil service will not back you up, even though they can tell you the information you have is correct on a factual basis.  The LA seems to have made it a criteria that if you want funding for your child in effect to leave home education and go to college, then you will need to have been registered with them for at least a year and under their scrutiny.  So now we're fighting this little piece of ultra vires caveat. I can understand that the LA need advanced notice in order to upfront the funding but there is a huge difference between a notification of interest and registration.  The rules they sent back also imply that they will want to scrutinise you and your child's education and abilities before they will fund.  Again, this is something they have no right to do - yes, I agree that both a college and a family should meet and interview, present a portfolio, discuss the involvement and responsibilities of the learner for the course.  None of this, however, should be down to the LA.

I do keep reports and notes etc but I'd rather share them with friends and family. I would also hate it if we had to do what teachers do as it would kill the spontaneity of home ed. Today for instance we discussed decomposition and mortuary gases on our walk because there is a myxomatosis outbreak in the area, with lots of dead bunnies lying about (sadly). We also talked about post-war farming and large scale agriculture (it came off the back of the discussion of the virus) and then discussed how raptors had been affected and why red kites numbers had fallen years back due to poisoning. Springy also made a pineapple, almond milk and fresh picked raspberries from the garden smoothie with her dad. I love that not having to plan every last detail towards some kind of tickbox approach. That said we are partially structured too but it would be soul destroying to work from 9 to 3 with a term plan etc.

 A few nights ago I read Animal Farm by George Orwell.  I highly recommend this book as a reminder as to why it is good to remind oneself to note one's own memories and trust in your own ability to work with democracy. It's been a few years since I last read it; the first time was when I encountered is as one of my set texts on my degree.

 This week has also seen us work on our German.  I'm starting a Certificate in German in a few weeks - I can't wait because I'm hoping at the end of it I will a) be able to teach Springy really well (and during the course too) and b) that I will be able to read German Waldorf websites and craft magazines/books.

We also have done a little bit on apostrophes and how they show an omission.  The one we really struggled with was I had - I'd because it's one we realised that we never say.  We say I'd for I would  and we often shorten she is to she's and do not to don't and many of the others but not I had.  I also got out the Yoga Pretzels cards - great fun.  Springy did the Turtle, the Fish and a few other yoga moves.

Gelb is alles was ich hab!

Gelb, gelb, gelb sind alle meine Kleider, Gelb, gelb, gelb ist alles, was ich hab. Darum lieb ich alles, was so gelb ist, Weil mein Schatz ein Obsthändler ist...

We made this up this morning based on a traditional German/Austrian children's song which has grün (green) as the colour rather than gelb (yellow). :)

German resources

I've also found some excellent German resources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/lj/

and


http://www.goethe.de/lhr/mat/ffl/elm/dwn/de3680772.htm

Fable poem - the Lion and the Mouse

From the same site I found this poem:

 Der Löwe und die Maus

Der Löwe fing die kleine Maus:
„Ach, lieber Löwe lass’ mich aus!
Bist du in Not, so helf’ ich dir.“
„Du kleines Mäuschen mir?
Der Löwe hilft sich selbst allein.
Spring kleine Maus, magst frei nun sein.“
Doch bald darauf der Löwe fällt
In Netze, die der Jäger stellt.
Wie er sich reckt und streckt und beißt,
das starke Netz er nicht zerreißt.
Er brüllt so laut er brüllen kann,
da kommt die kleine Maus heran.
Mit scharfem Zahne unverzagt
Das kleine Mäuschen nagt und nagt,
und Masch’ für Masch’ das Netz zerfällt,
bis es den Löwen nicht mehr hält.
Der große Löw’ ist wieder frei!
Verachte keins so klein es sei.

Here is the translation:

The Lion and the Mouse

The lion caught the little mouse:
"Oh, dear lion Let me go!
If ever you are in need I will help you in return. "
"You little mouse help me?
The lion helps itself alone. Ha.
Off you go little mouse - be free now. "
But soon after, the lion was caught
In nets, which the hunters had set.
He stretches and stretches and bites,
but the strong net he does not tear.
He bellows and roars loud as he can,
and the little mouse passes nearby.
With undaunted sharp teeth
The little mice nibbling and gnawing,
breaks and tears the net,
Until the lion breaks out.
Lion is the great free beast again!
Helped by one so small.

Language Ideas

This worked so well today. I have a BBC German CD and phrasebook out from the library. Springy and I played restaurants and then shops. I was the customer and I had to order from the menu (Speisekarte) and didn't talk English to her. She was amazing in terms of comprehension because I barely spoke in English to her (used German, pointing, hand gestures etc) but I guess because of the similarities between English and German and the language roots it makes it easier to work out.

We did shops with her play food (some Haba ones from ninnynoodlenoo and things like pinecones, conkers and so forth). I asked for a lemon, an apple, a pear (ein Birne), strawberry and so on and she had to work it out and bring me the right thing. If she got it wrong I just said "Nein" and shook my head. It worked really well and I'm going to be doing this much more. Immersion through play :)

This is also an excellent link and resource for Comptines (nursery rhymes) in French:

http://comptine.free.fr/

Commands in foreign languages

This was something discussed on the Enki conference which is to use commands in a foreign language which the child responds to physically to help immerse them in a foreign language at times. We do this anyway (although French and German are our 2 languages of choice) and it does work and keeps those pathways open.

STOP

1. French - arrêt
2. German - Anschlag
3. Spanish - parada

OPEN YOUR BOOK (I looked the Spanish up on Babelfish)

1. French - ouvre votre livre
2. German - öffnen Sie Ihr Buch* (I use the formal 'you' with her so that she will sound more respectful to German speakers)
3. Spanish - abra su libro

GOOD MORNING

1. French - bon jour
2. German - guten Morgen
3. Spanish - buenos dias

This is something I forgot - the other week we were out and Springy heard some non-English speakers and was able to discern that they were speaking French. It felt wonderful to know that her ears are tuned into French as well as English. I really want to be able to take her to France for a week but we will have to see (money is very tight at the moment).

The countries that I dream of seeing with my husband and Springy are France, Austria, Finland and Norway. I'm too cowardly to have all the vaccinations for places like India.

Auf Deutsch bitte

I need to put something together for Springy to learn German.

Basics that I will cover are (without having a clue on how to find Germanic symbols on the keyboard so excuse the lack of umlauts etc):

Greetings - e.g. Guten Tag
Goodbye - Tchuss or Auf Wiedersehen
How are you? Wie geht's dir?
I am well - gut, danke
I am unwell - mir ist krank
Please - bitte
Thank you - Danke Schon
May I...? Darf ich den Tisch verlassen (May I leave the table?)
Counting from 1 - 12
Colours: Rot, Grun, Gelb, Blau, Schwarz, Weiss
Careful (warning): Achtung
A car - ein Auto
Guineapigs - Meerschweinchen

German rhymes

Hör, ach, auf zu weinen, Listen, stop to cry,
die Sonn’ wird wieder scheinen, the sun will shine again,
die Glocken werden klingen, the bells will chime again
die Vöglein werden singen, the birds will sing again,
der Kuckuck wird schrei’n, the cuckoo will call
' s wird wieder schön sein.- and all will be well again
Sanft über die schmerzende Stelle streichen

Denkt euch nur, der Frosch ist krank! Think about the frog is ill
Liegt nur auf der Gartenbank, he only lies on the garden bench
quakt nicht mehr, wer weiß wie lang, he doen't croak any more, who knows how long
ach, wie fehlt mir sein Gesang! how I miss his song
Denkt euch nur, der Frosch ist krank! think about it the frog is ill-
Use your hand as the poorly frog

Denkt euch nur, der Frosch war krank! think about the frog was ill
Lag nur auf der Gartenbank, he was lying on the garden bench
quakte nicht, wer weiß wie lang, didn't croak who knows how longa
ch, wie fehlte sein Gesang! oh I missed his song
Gesund ist er nun, Gott-sei-dank! now he is healthy, thank goodness
Qaaak! Quaaak! croak, croak, -
Bei "gesund..."
die Hand langsam wegnehmen und zum Schluss quakend "davonhüpfen" lassen. Take the hand slowly away when the frog returns to good health and make it jump like a croaking frog away

German (Deutsch) resources

I believe that other languages are so important and small person (hmm need a nickname for here) loves hearing them. We have quite a few of the German Pixi books to read - Rapunzel, The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids. We also have a few CDs in Deutsch.

This is very useful for songs and rhymes:

http://german.about.com/library/blmusik_kinder.htm

For French we have our French tutor (sadly she has another job so won't be available after this week) who we have seen for about 18 months. I also have French language books and an ELC Fun with French CD (songs and rhymes).

Spanish is something I would like to introduce and we also have the name of a Latin teacher somewhere but this will be more formal in the way it is taught so we intend to wait for a year or so on that.

The good thing with home education is that you can learn alongside your child. The problem is many of the foreign language resources are mostly aimed at adults and they seem to be written by soap opera dramatists. They have the most awful plots running through them. I got one out of the library on German (a BBC one) and it seems to be about an Eastern European man trying to stay in Germany and earn a living and take up residency there. It really put me off because I want something that is not dramatic but is more joyous to learn from. Oh well...