I've been learning more and more about nutrition (I'm mad about herbalism). This was an interesting article that I came across:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28nutritionism.t.html?_r=3&pagewanted=1&ei=5088&en=7c85a&oref=slogin
Saturday, 12 January 2008
New Year Sleep
Our bedtime rhythm has gone very awry over the winter holidays.
After a meltdown last night at 11pm (I was the one in meltdown - floods of tears), we have decided (after a midnight discussion) that 9pm is lights off time for Springy, otherwise both she and I are exhausted the next day and it's been building up.
The plan is:
8-8-30pm - in pyjamas, tiny amount of supper and toothbrush.
8.30pm - bedtime story (which is Milly-Molly-Mandy at the moment)
and then until 9pm Springy can play or read.
9pm is lights out (the landing light may stay on but that is it, if I need to go downstairs - or we get "I'm scared") with a kiss and tucking in.
I'm not even going to think about moving lights out to 8pm yet, because just getting to anything less than 10pm at the moment would be miraculous.
After a meltdown last night at 11pm (I was the one in meltdown - floods of tears), we have decided (after a midnight discussion) that 9pm is lights off time for Springy, otherwise both she and I are exhausted the next day and it's been building up.
The plan is:
8-8-30pm - in pyjamas, tiny amount of supper and toothbrush.
8.30pm - bedtime story (which is Milly-Molly-Mandy at the moment)
and then until 9pm Springy can play or read.
9pm is lights out (the landing light may stay on but that is it, if I need to go downstairs - or we get "I'm scared") with a kiss and tucking in.
I'm not even going to think about moving lights out to 8pm yet, because just getting to anything less than 10pm at the moment would be miraculous.
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
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
Baby guineapigs and brine shrimp
One of our friends called us round on Monday to see her new arrivals. They are baby guineapigs and Springy was very excited to meet them. She was allowed to hold them and they were the size of her hands.
Springy had a present of a 'Sea Monkey' tank with eggs and we got them ready to hatch in the water on Tuesday. We now have a little tank full of these little shrimp. Springy wants to name them all but there appear to be about 50 of them. They've already doubled in size from when they hatched so I think we may have to move them to the old Triops tank to give them adequate room.
Our own guineapigs have just had a clean and I found a rat hole chewed into the outside of the shed - not happy! I love pet rats and am quite happy for wild rats to exist but dislike them coming too near my property (and I know they can't help it). I know the local ratcatcher has been working on getting rid of them already so fingers crossed it's very quick before they do more damage. I've checked for signs that they are getting food from the piggies but they don't seem to be (especially since I secure hopper their food).
Springy had a present of a 'Sea Monkey' tank with eggs and we got them ready to hatch in the water on Tuesday. We now have a little tank full of these little shrimp. Springy wants to name them all but there appear to be about 50 of them. They've already doubled in size from when they hatched so I think we may have to move them to the old Triops tank to give them adequate room.
Our own guineapigs have just had a clean and I found a rat hole chewed into the outside of the shed - not happy! I love pet rats and am quite happy for wild rats to exist but dislike them coming too near my property (and I know they can't help it). I know the local ratcatcher has been working on getting rid of them already so fingers crossed it's very quick before they do more damage. I've checked for signs that they are getting food from the piggies but they don't seem to be (especially since I secure hopper their food).
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
Milly Molly Mandy stories
We're still having our Milly Molly Mandy stories at bedtime. Springy loves them and so do I. They're very gentle stories about a little girl and not a great deal happens in them - no big adventures, just simple tales about life with her family and in her small village.
Today we added even more hay than usual to the guineapig home because it is supposed to be snowing tonight. It feels very cold outside and Springy noticed the clouds look "apricot coloured". We did our shopping today and are having a home-made pork casserole with a cider marinade and there's a cooking apple in with the meat too.
This month's cheese of the world was Gouda from Holland but Springy thought it was too chewy. She wasn't keen on the Norwegian Jarlsberg either but she still loves rollmop herrings.
Springy's N is still in hospital but is relaxed and feels safe there. She's eating well too. The medical team think it is her heart causing the problems.
I'm going to make some ginger cordial tomorrow - fresh ginger chopped up with water, bring to the boil and simmer and added to honey (to sweeten and for soothing properties and lemon juice. I also use a garlic crush to squeeze the ginger out after it's boiled as that adds a bit of extra "oomph!" to the taste (although if you overdo it you feel like your mouth is on fire).
Today we added even more hay than usual to the guineapig home because it is supposed to be snowing tonight. It feels very cold outside and Springy noticed the clouds look "apricot coloured". We did our shopping today and are having a home-made pork casserole with a cider marinade and there's a cooking apple in with the meat too.
This month's cheese of the world was Gouda from Holland but Springy thought it was too chewy. She wasn't keen on the Norwegian Jarlsberg either but she still loves rollmop herrings.
Springy's N is still in hospital but is relaxed and feels safe there. She's eating well too. The medical team think it is her heart causing the problems.
I'm going to make some ginger cordial tomorrow - fresh ginger chopped up with water, bring to the boil and simmer and added to honey (to sweeten and for soothing properties and lemon juice. I also use a garlic crush to squeeze the ginger out after it's boiled as that adds a bit of extra "oomph!" to the taste (although if you overdo it you feel like your mouth is on fire).
Learning To Read
This is something that I feel I have to blog about.
Although interested in what are classed as "holistic" methods which often delay academics (hooray since they are given much too early), I believe that home education gives a different perspective than a school model of learning to read.
Springy can read at the age of 6. I was curious as to where she was and slipped in a reading game (to grown ups they are the Schonell and Burt reading tests). Her reading age is 8 years 4 months now and she enjoys reading. She still enjoys being told stories but when she can't sleep at night, she either wants to play in her room or read a book.
When she was younger (and still) we read and told stories, did puppet plays, sang lots of rhymes, recited poems and went on nature walks. The latter are great - whether it's just being out in the garden or going for a walk down a lane to see the hedges you can learn so much. Nature walks need to be child-paced. They love to stop, bend down, splash in puddles, pick up stones, watch beetles cross in front of them, see a spider on its web, follow the swifts as they dip or laugh at a pied wagtail in a carpark. All this is helpful for a small child in terms of they are in their body, they are breathing, they are moving and their eyes are tracking, their noses are inhaling and their fingers are touching leaves, ladybirds, cobwebs and muddy puddles. If they go all year round they see the seasons change (depending on where you live), they get rained on, the sun shines, the wind blows and plays with the leaves and so on.
If you tell The Enormous Turnip over and over, your child remembers it. They feel what it is like to pull and pull and finally, Pop!, out comes the turnip. If you tell them the Gingerbread Man they know "run, run as fast as you can" - the poetry of the language comes alive through assonance and alliteration but they just feel it as a giggle or joy.
She started about 18 months ago with wanting to play I Spy and although in Waldorf circles it probably is too much of a head thing, my attitude is that she is enjoying it. She has learnt loads of nursery rhymes (as I did) and no doubt she will pass them on to her children. They are full of phonemes and they sound nice too (well apart from some of the violent ones but we left a lot of those out).
In the past year or so our wet-on-wet painting has resulted in Springy announcing that she can see shapes. She sees shapes in her curtains - things that are not are appearing to her. Some of these shapes are now letters but she is dualist - they are things such as fairies as well as letter shapes. If she only saw the letters then I would be concerned but she's between worlds still and her imagination is very beautiful.
She started to ask what words said. Goats' Milk she could read on the carton over a year ago now. It was guesswork but I could not lie to her - "Yes, that says Goats Milk". And more words started to trickle in and now there is a flood and if she doesn't know and it seems to be relevant and she's not too busy bouncing then she will ask. She wanted to write her name so I showed her and now she writes little letters with "I Love you mummy" on and draws little pictures alongside. I have a draw full of her cards and pictures.
With reference to her reading, if this was a child who at 5.5 and 6 years was only wanting to sit with a book then I would be concerned. However, Springy is a bouncy thing who spends the day moving about, will cartwheel and leap onto cushions and although I'm a "holistic school" education failure because I have an early reader and writer I don't care. By home education standards I'm the only board that counts and I know we still have a long way to go but 0-6 years has been great so far. :)
Although interested in what are classed as "holistic" methods which often delay academics (hooray since they are given much too early), I believe that home education gives a different perspective than a school model of learning to read.
Springy can read at the age of 6. I was curious as to where she was and slipped in a reading game (to grown ups they are the Schonell and Burt reading tests). Her reading age is 8 years 4 months now and she enjoys reading. She still enjoys being told stories but when she can't sleep at night, she either wants to play in her room or read a book.
When she was younger (and still) we read and told stories, did puppet plays, sang lots of rhymes, recited poems and went on nature walks. The latter are great - whether it's just being out in the garden or going for a walk down a lane to see the hedges you can learn so much. Nature walks need to be child-paced. They love to stop, bend down, splash in puddles, pick up stones, watch beetles cross in front of them, see a spider on its web, follow the swifts as they dip or laugh at a pied wagtail in a carpark. All this is helpful for a small child in terms of they are in their body, they are breathing, they are moving and their eyes are tracking, their noses are inhaling and their fingers are touching leaves, ladybirds, cobwebs and muddy puddles. If they go all year round they see the seasons change (depending on where you live), they get rained on, the sun shines, the wind blows and plays with the leaves and so on.
If you tell The Enormous Turnip over and over, your child remembers it. They feel what it is like to pull and pull and finally, Pop!, out comes the turnip. If you tell them the Gingerbread Man they know "run, run as fast as you can" - the poetry of the language comes alive through assonance and alliteration but they just feel it as a giggle or joy.
She started about 18 months ago with wanting to play I Spy and although in Waldorf circles it probably is too much of a head thing, my attitude is that she is enjoying it. She has learnt loads of nursery rhymes (as I did) and no doubt she will pass them on to her children. They are full of phonemes and they sound nice too (well apart from some of the violent ones but we left a lot of those out).
In the past year or so our wet-on-wet painting has resulted in Springy announcing that she can see shapes. She sees shapes in her curtains - things that are not are appearing to her. Some of these shapes are now letters but she is dualist - they are things such as fairies as well as letter shapes. If she only saw the letters then I would be concerned but she's between worlds still and her imagination is very beautiful.
She started to ask what words said. Goats' Milk she could read on the carton over a year ago now. It was guesswork but I could not lie to her - "Yes, that says Goats Milk". And more words started to trickle in and now there is a flood and if she doesn't know and it seems to be relevant and she's not too busy bouncing then she will ask. She wanted to write her name so I showed her and now she writes little letters with "I Love you mummy" on and draws little pictures alongside. I have a draw full of her cards and pictures.
With reference to her reading, if this was a child who at 5.5 and 6 years was only wanting to sit with a book then I would be concerned. However, Springy is a bouncy thing who spends the day moving about, will cartwheel and leap onto cushions and although I'm a "holistic school" education failure because I have an early reader and writer I don't care. By home education standards I'm the only board that counts and I know we still have a long way to go but 0-6 years has been great so far. :)
Wednesday, 12 December 2007
6 year old
I now have a 6-year old. It's been an amazing year for my 5-year old and we had a lovely little birthday party. We made paper dolls and had a basket of tissue paper and glue and crayons to design them with. We also did some felting using cookie cutters and played Pass the Parcel (amusing because I was distracted when I was wrapping the layers and forgot to put something in for a few of them!).
Today was a fabulous day. Springy and I went to her N's house because Springy's daddy had a very special visitor. Anyway, Springy did some colouring in and the lovely cat who visits N's house came by too. After that we came back home and then nipped out again to go and feed the ducks and swans. Springy had a lovely letter from a lady with 2 dogs that we met a year ago. She sent her a couple of photos of her dogs and one of her cat as well. She also sent Springy the first Milly-Molly-Mandy book and I read 3 chapters of it today. Springy loves the stories.
We also played Frustration! this afternoon (which is Ludo with a popomatic dice and one of my all time favourite childhood games).
Today was a fabulous day. Springy and I went to her N's house because Springy's daddy had a very special visitor. Anyway, Springy did some colouring in and the lovely cat who visits N's house came by too. After that we came back home and then nipped out again to go and feed the ducks and swans. Springy had a lovely letter from a lady with 2 dogs that we met a year ago. She sent her a couple of photos of her dogs and one of her cat as well. She also sent Springy the first Milly-Molly-Mandy book and I read 3 chapters of it today. Springy loves the stories.
We also played Frustration! this afternoon (which is Ludo with a popomatic dice and one of my all time favourite childhood games).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)