A puppy called Lily

This month has been beautiful so far. Imbolc was snowy which the folklore says means a good year ahead. Springy went out to play in the snow which was a bit wet, rather than the useful type of snow that you can make snowballs out of but still...snow is snow and it was fun.

Springy started a dance class - ballet and modern - which she loves. She's there for 1 and a half hours which I would have thought would have worn her out but it hasn't quite yet. The first time she went, we stayed to check she was all right and she was beaming away with her smiles. I got all tearful. She's now been to her second class and the dance teacher wants to move her to the next class. I'm so glad I waited until she was 7 for starting ballet because I think it's a much better age to start with formalised movement.

We have a lovely CD that we're listening to at the moment. It's called Fairy Moon: Songs of the Ring and is by Maria Sangiolo. Springy's favourite song is Meanie Mary.

http://www.mariasangiolo.com/

We got ourselves a puppy who was born 20th November 2008. She's a Shih Tzu and we have called her Lily. She's adorable - a lot of work but we've been learning how to care for a puppy and so far seem to be doing the right things. Today we introduced her to our chickens and yesterday she met the guineapigs.

She gets fed 4x per day at the moment because she's still ver little. We feed her at about 7.30am (sometimes 8am), midday, 4pm and 7.30pm (or quarter to 8). We're making sure she gets exercise. She cannot go out in full yet because she has only had one of her vaccinations (which I'm still unsure about but Parvo virus is a risk factor and nasty so I guess it's necessary to vaccinate) but we've been running with her on a leash in the garden and she mostly follows. We've found that knowing where we are going to helps.

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).

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.

Our favourite stories for September

I'm telling two regular stories to Springy for September:

The first is from the Little Acorn Learning's September curriculum and is the story about 'The Little House with No Door, No Windows and a Star Inside'. It features apples and Springy likes enacting the little apple poem at the end of it too. We've done this before from other resources but it always seems to engage little ones.

The second is The Garden of Seasons from the Oak Meadow Kindergarten. It's a lovely story and lends itself to be enacted out with playcloths for snow (white), sunshine (yellow) and green and pink or lavender for a flower. It's ideal because we're into autumn but are still getting quite hot sun and this story covers the seasonal changes and those inbetween. Springy is now joining in with moving the playcloths to the story.

"Thirty days hath September, April, June and November
All the rest have thirty-one
Except February which has twenty eight days clear
But twenty nine in each Leap Year!"

We have a magnetic calendar board (I think it's a brand called Melisa and Doug?) which Springy loves to keep an eye on and change throughout the year. She got it for Christmas last year from my parents and it's an ideal way of playing to learn about months and seasons.