Springy is getting excited because not only will she be in Beaver Scouts this year, but also she will become a Brownie.
We're still looking for a dance class but at least Springy can go swimming still. We wanted to join a Tai Chi class but then it got cancelled.
Today we did some bean bag games, played the recorder a little, had a story (from Enki) and I have the January Earthschooling curriculum which I'm working through in terms of finding what we need. We did a little bit of maths with the glass beads from Noble Knights and Springy has been asked to learn her 2 times table not just from memory but from reading it too (I've done a little print off with it on and a few poems and stuck it on her door).
Our hens got cleaned out today (it's very easy having a lino floor underneath their sawdust) and had a little bit of time out in the garden (then it started to rain again which they dislike).
Friday, 16 January 2009
Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Vanilla Chocolate shortbread
We're having this for our dessert tonight, served with organic ice cream (not homemade although we have made it before). I've gone all American because I'm working out things with cups rather than ounces.
Vanilla Chocolate Shortbread
2 and a 1/2 cups of plain flour (actually a bit less but remove some, about 1 heaped tablespoon, of the plain flour and replace with cornflour to give your shortbread a softer texture)
1 cup caster sugar
2 sticks butter (about a cupful)
2 tbsp cocoa powder (I use Green and Black's)
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1. Sieve flour into bowl, add sugar and then butter.
2. Rub ingredients together - mixture will go crumbly (a bit like for apple crumble topping) and then rub it until it forms a very soft crumbly doughlike consistency (make sure it doesn't go sticky though - it should be 'short')
3. Divide mixture in half
4. To one half, add the cocoa and mix in well
5. To the other half, add the vanilla essence (I just pour it from the bottle in a quick flick) and mix that in
6. Take your baking tin and grease well with butter (I use 2 tins - round Victoria sponge ones)
7. Pat down half the mix and then add the other half on top (or if using 2 tins then do different tops and bottoms - so one is chocolate on the bottom, vanilla on top or vanilla on the bottom with chocolate pressed on top)
8. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes - with the first bake mark out segments with a knife or slice.
9. Put them back in the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
Serve with ice cream...(you may want to serve them warm).
Tip: if you use unsalted butter then you may wish to add a pinch of salt to the mix - it gives them a better flavour.
Vanilla Chocolate Shortbread
2 and a 1/2 cups of plain flour (actually a bit less but remove some, about 1 heaped tablespoon, of the plain flour and replace with cornflour to give your shortbread a softer texture)
1 cup caster sugar
2 sticks butter (about a cupful)
2 tbsp cocoa powder (I use Green and Black's)
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1. Sieve flour into bowl, add sugar and then butter.
2. Rub ingredients together - mixture will go crumbly (a bit like for apple crumble topping) and then rub it until it forms a very soft crumbly doughlike consistency (make sure it doesn't go sticky though - it should be 'short')
3. Divide mixture in half
4. To one half, add the cocoa and mix in well
5. To the other half, add the vanilla essence (I just pour it from the bottle in a quick flick) and mix that in
6. Take your baking tin and grease well with butter (I use 2 tins - round Victoria sponge ones)
7. Pat down half the mix and then add the other half on top (or if using 2 tins then do different tops and bottoms - so one is chocolate on the bottom, vanilla on top or vanilla on the bottom with chocolate pressed on top)
8. Bake in the oven for about 10 minutes - with the first bake mark out segments with a knife or slice.
9. Put them back in the oven and bake for a further 15 minutes. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
Serve with ice cream...(you may want to serve them warm).
Tip: if you use unsalted butter then you may wish to add a pinch of salt to the mix - it gives them a better flavour.
Friday, 19 December 2008
Next year - 2009
It's not very long until 2009. Springy will be starting Brownies next year which she is looking forward to, along with continuing with her Beavers and swimming. I have been trying to find dance classes but to no avail.
Her reading is great. She has a dictionary and I will be asking her to make more searches in it during next year to find new words for herself to discover. She's been making her own word searches and loves the ones I have been giving her with various themes. She enjoys word puzzles and I think she will soon be into simple crosswords. She really wants to do joined up writing so I have explained that she needs to do more Form Drawing first and that it will get there if she practices with lines and curves first. We now have a Spelling Word Book which is an exercise book that I place words in that she would like to spell. Springy also has her own poetry book - again it's just an ordinary exercise book but she has been inspired to write her own poems and illustrate them on its pages.
In terms of maths we will continue with the four processes and lots of mental arithmetic for a while yet. We've covered Roman Numerals but I would like to do a recap on them with her and go on a Roman trail in the Spring and visit Roman remains with the numerals on. Our Times Tables need more recitation and drilling.
Her reading is great. She has a dictionary and I will be asking her to make more searches in it during next year to find new words for herself to discover. She's been making her own word searches and loves the ones I have been giving her with various themes. She enjoys word puzzles and I think she will soon be into simple crosswords. She really wants to do joined up writing so I have explained that she needs to do more Form Drawing first and that it will get there if she practices with lines and curves first. We now have a Spelling Word Book which is an exercise book that I place words in that she would like to spell. Springy also has her own poetry book - again it's just an ordinary exercise book but she has been inspired to write her own poems and illustrate them on its pages.
In terms of maths we will continue with the four processes and lots of mental arithmetic for a while yet. We've covered Roman Numerals but I would like to do a recap on them with her and go on a Roman trail in the Spring and visit Roman remains with the numerals on. Our Times Tables need more recitation and drilling.
Baking cakes and pizza
Today we made homemade pizza for lunch (from the Baking Bread With Children book) and then we made a Dundee cake for my husband's birthday.
Springy still has a cough but it's not so bad during the day. I am still full of a bad cold and am going to see a consultant in the New Year because my GP thinks there may be more to my throat problems than just repeatedly catching colds (plus I lose my voice on a regular basis all through the year - it often cuts out).
Yesterday we talked about a dozen and half a dozen. Springy knew what a dozen was but was confused as to what half a dozen meant. I told her to find 12 things and to put them on the floor. She then had to divide them in half. We also did some work on paper with my drawing out a number of dots (even) and Springy having to put a line through them to divide them in half. She can halve a pizza or other things in the kitchen but for some reason she's not getting it when applied to non-edible things. Anyway, we kept working through and she understood and I think it was more of a case of the way I was saying it confused her.
It's pretty hard doing anything much at the moment because I keep coughing and getting very short of breath.
I am so grateful for computer-based technology at the moment. Last night, since I can barely talk let alone do a complete story, Springy and I listened to the next few episodes of the Advent story at Waldorf Radio.
Springy still has a cough but it's not so bad during the day. I am still full of a bad cold and am going to see a consultant in the New Year because my GP thinks there may be more to my throat problems than just repeatedly catching colds (plus I lose my voice on a regular basis all through the year - it often cuts out).
Yesterday we talked about a dozen and half a dozen. Springy knew what a dozen was but was confused as to what half a dozen meant. I told her to find 12 things and to put them on the floor. She then had to divide them in half. We also did some work on paper with my drawing out a number of dots (even) and Springy having to put a line through them to divide them in half. She can halve a pizza or other things in the kitchen but for some reason she's not getting it when applied to non-edible things. Anyway, we kept working through and she understood and I think it was more of a case of the way I was saying it confused her.
It's pretty hard doing anything much at the moment because I keep coughing and getting very short of breath.
I am so grateful for computer-based technology at the moment. Last night, since I can barely talk let alone do a complete story, Springy and I listened to the next few episodes of the Advent story at Waldorf Radio.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Class 3 Waldorf building activity video and Frau Holle
I found this on Youtube (it's still a few years off but I thought the little houses were intriguing):
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk7mWv5RjtU
There is also this puppet performance of Frau Holle from a Steiner kindergarten:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GE5d8BMMff0&feature=channel
The Waldorf Kindergarten at Trier has other videos too:
http://www.waldorfkindergarten-trier.de/videoBilderreihen.php5?nr=10&unr=0&xmlDatei=videoBilder.xml
Since my voice is just about working due to yet another bad cold, I will be utilising the puppenspiel/puppetshow resource over the next day or two. Today, I told the story of Peter and Lotta's Christmas to Springy. We also made a tissue paper 5-pointed star which we stuck on our window with a bit of paper glue - it's very large but pretty when the sun shines on the window.
We went to see A Christmas Carol this week and Springy also visited Father Christmas with her aunt.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk7mWv5RjtU
There is also this puppet performance of Frau Holle from a Steiner kindergarten:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=GE5d8BMMff0&feature=channel
The Waldorf Kindergarten at Trier has other videos too:
http://www.waldorfkindergarten-trier.de/videoBilderreihen.php5?nr=10&unr=0&xmlDatei=videoBilder.xml
Since my voice is just about working due to yet another bad cold, I will be utilising the puppenspiel/puppetshow resource over the next day or two. Today, I told the story of Peter and Lotta's Christmas to Springy. We also made a tissue paper 5-pointed star which we stuck on our window with a bit of paper glue - it's very large but pretty when the sun shines on the window.
We went to see A Christmas Carol this week and Springy also visited Father Christmas with her aunt.
A good felting link
One of my good online friends passed this link on:
http://www.harrisville.com/images/curricguidelesson3.pdf
http://www.harrisville.com/images/curricguidelesson3.pdf
Sunday, 7 December 2008
Christmas Fairs and St Nicholas
Springy left her clean boots by the fireplace on Friday, 5th December 2008. In the morning St Nicholas had left her a matchbox card Ark and a mandarin orange. We gave her a little hen egg cosy (made from the pattern in the book Feltcraft) from us.
We've been to a few Christmas fairs in recent weeks. The Steiner school fairs are always so lovely, both in atmosphere and the community that surrounds many of the Steiner schools. We heard harps playing, Christmas carols which we joined in with and so on. Springy also met King Winter and received a gift of stone.
We're going to be doing some soap carving. All you need is a plain block of soap e.g. Simple soap in white and some biscuit/cookie cutters. You push the cookie cutter onto the soap and then cut around the shape with a knife. It's a nice thing to do for children 7 and above and it can make some nice gifts.
This morning Jack Frost has been about. Springy went out into the garden with her croc shoes on and thought it was great fun to hear the crackling of the lawn and also to see her breath. I had to call her back in because it was so freezing and she was out there in pyjamas (no sense of temperature or self preservation at this age). We had to take a kettle of hot water out to the bird bath because it was frozen and a poor wood pigeon was trying to peck through the ice.
Springy is really happy today - she kept skipping yesterday and is currently babbling away with some dolls. She chose a little white felt fairy as a special gift yesterday from us. She's only about an inch high (the fairy doll, not Springy) and has a little wire wand with a star on.
We've been to a few Christmas fairs in recent weeks. The Steiner school fairs are always so lovely, both in atmosphere and the community that surrounds many of the Steiner schools. We heard harps playing, Christmas carols which we joined in with and so on. Springy also met King Winter and received a gift of stone.
We're going to be doing some soap carving. All you need is a plain block of soap e.g. Simple soap in white and some biscuit/cookie cutters. You push the cookie cutter onto the soap and then cut around the shape with a knife. It's a nice thing to do for children 7 and above and it can make some nice gifts.
This morning Jack Frost has been about. Springy went out into the garden with her croc shoes on and thought it was great fun to hear the crackling of the lawn and also to see her breath. I had to call her back in because it was so freezing and she was out there in pyjamas (no sense of temperature or self preservation at this age). We had to take a kettle of hot water out to the bird bath because it was frozen and a poor wood pigeon was trying to peck through the ice.
Springy is really happy today - she kept skipping yesterday and is currently babbling away with some dolls. She chose a little white felt fairy as a special gift yesterday from us. She's only about an inch high (the fairy doll, not Springy) and has a little wire wand with a star on.
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