Knitted chick

Springy, Uncle C and I went to the cinema. It was the first time ever that Springy has seen a film at the cinema and we saw Wall-E. We really enjoyed it.

Later we went to a fantastic playground.

Chick Knitting Pattern:

Cast on 20 stitches.
Knit 2 rows
Increase to 30 stitches next row
Knit 7 rows
Increase at each end of next and alternate rows until 36 stitches.
Knit 1 row
Cast off 10 stitches at beginning of next 2 rows (so left with 16 stitches).
Knit 8 rows.
Thread wool through remaining stitches.
Sew eyes
Use a felt diamond for beak
Draw up thread to make head and stitch together.
Stuff head with wool
Tie piece of ribbon around neck.

Lions and tigers and capybaras

We've been to the zoo again. We love going there and Springy had a great time, along with grandparents, uncle and Oma.

This week has been very full of animals and Springy has found some great frogs in grandpa's pond. She keeps picking them up and holding them - they're huge but not great at getting away...yet.

The weather has been nice and sunny but it was muggy this morning when we went for a walk. We did some shopping and had smoked salmon on sunflower bread for lunch, with some beansprouts as a salad and also an olive/feta cheese mix. Delicious!

Springy is doing her Air Activities badge at the moment so we spoke to a pilot the other day to find out some more information, along with taking some photographs at an airport.

I've been playing Sryth (www.sryth.com). We're having a very unofficial kind of day when it comes to education but what better way to spend it this morning than walking, talking, frog holding, talking German, and playing (I think today is the autonomous ed - No Learning day or something).

Writing our educational philosophy

Every year, at the end of what would be our "academic year", I write out what we have done in each year. I've never showed it to anyone in the LA, nor would I want to be forced to, but I quite enjoy writing up the summaries of what we've done. I don't do a detailed thing (because I don't see it is the LA's business - since I have legal responsibility) but if asked, at least I have something and have given myself lots of practice. I often laugh when I've seen school brochures at some of the way they write things that makes out that the schools are doing such a great job, especially when I have had insider knowledge on the school and that all is not as it seems. It's such a shame that schools are businesses.

We had a lovely day today. We did a country fair and there were lots of animals on display - goats, pigs, sheep, cows, rabbits, chickens, ducks and dogs. Springy enjoyed it although there was a lot of walking about to do (she was very tired by the end and I ended up picking her up and carrying her for a rest). We got some nice craft bits and bobs from there as well and I can't wait to do some felting and so on. We also got some little knitting needles for her. She's done really well with her knitting and has made a little dolly blanket/rug out of wool. It will be nice to keep her going. There was a bantam chicken that was there who was adorable and Springy held her. We also held a number of rabbits.

Yesterday we went to a school fair and there were some dancers there. Springy managed to copy their moves by watching them - not all - but it was still rather impressive for a 6-year old. Her visual/kinaesthetic learning is good. She spent the afternoon hopping from haybale to haybale, playing with some friends she knows and doing cartwheels and handstands. She's been reading The Magic Treehouse books herself. We read them some weeks back and, although the grammar and research are not great for any of them it's still nice to have her read something that she has chosen and enjoys to read. She also loves the Mr Men books.

We've nearly finished The Little Wooden Horse - we let it slip a bit but we're almost at the end of his journey.

The sky tonight is beautiful. The rainbow of the sky colours has left the black outlines of the trees and buildings across the way to be set off by the reds and oranges - which are a rust colour. There are some cloud layers that earlier were skimming their way across the sky but have now slowed down so their mutability is barely visible.

C and Springy went swimming together last week. Her swimming lessons have ended and won't start up again until the autumn so they went swimming with some friends of ours. Springy swam front crawl and backstroke and managed a lot on her own so she is swimming properly now. I didn't go but she was so pleased when she got back and C gave her free reign in the pool to play rather than be instructed. I must admit I get the feeling that our swimming instructor needed a holiday because she has been a bit short the past few weeks which I will monitor in the autumn. Springy doesn't respond well and she was not using play or verbal instructions that build a visual picture - in basic terms our swim instructor seems to be tired out, short on fuse and is being developmentally inappropriate for children who are 4-6 years old (which she didn't used to be so I'm hoping it is just an end-of-term thing).

Our other group thing also broke up for summer. It's funny but when Springy was 4 and 5 and all her friends were too tired to see her after school then she did get a bit lonely but she now can go most places and find friends who are either home educated children or ones she knows from swimming or other club events she has attended. We're having to sort out a new French tutor - our old one got herself a good job which means she can no longer offer French club. We have a new one who is a parent of one of Springy's friends but I don't know how it will work out because she doesn't have teaching experience (saying that she does teach her own son and she's a native French speaker).

Last night, Springy and I watched the bats outside her window. The moths and other insects were being attracted to the light of her bedroom window and so the bats were coming in really close to the glass - sometimes just a foot away from our heads. They were doing the most daring aerial manouevres (probably normal for a bat though!). Springy loved it.

One of our other friends has de- televisioned her home and I must admit it's so tempting to follow this. However, tonight we had a DVD called Night at the Museum which so far I have said no to Springy watching because I thought it would be much too scary. We watched it all together and it was such a sweet and funny film. I'm glad I waited until Springy was nearer to 7 though.

Needle felting

I did a search on Flickr for nature table stuff and found this adorable little aviary (and apiary) of needle felted creatures. Springy just went "Aww," about them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/27271328@N08/ (The Singing Bird)

I wish I could make things like this.

Sea Monkeys RIP

Our sea monkeys are no more. I've been watching the tank for a few weeks now, expecting to see little hatchlings but it would seem that they have come and gone as many times now, and won't be returning unless we set up a brand new tank.

Springy helped me do some work-related sticking today - great for her hand-eye co-ordination and she is so careful doing them + enjoys helping.

She's been playing with the Rainbow River animals from the Noble Knights set and I also asked her to watch from her bedroom window for birds. We watched a great tit feed, she saw some swifts (and added this bird to her RSPB/Usborne sticker book as having been spotted) and a wood pigeon.

I'm making another knitted piggy at the moment, as another friend has a small baby with a birthday.

Today is so wet; it's been raining and raining, non-stop. It's grey and miserable and...where has the summer gone? It's so offputting because it makes it difficult to go on walks (we had a nice walk in a stream yesterday evening though) and the garden is green but very, very wet (not good for our tomatoes and the currants have given up hanging on).

Noble Knights of Knowledge - Flambert's Game

We played Flambert's game from the Noble Knights of Knowledge maths curriculum today. Springy loved it and didn't want to stop. She picked up that 10 is:

0 + 10
1 + 9
2 + 8
3 + 7
4+ 6
5 + 5
6 + 4
3 + 7
2 + 8
1 + 9
10 + 0
with the counters and we used a little piece of sponge to represent Flambert, the Falcon (as he dives down on the rows of rocks left by the Giant). Our maths gnome Penny Plus was the one doing the counting.

We also did 11 on the Rainbow River (with the otter) and Springy picked up the pattern that it was 1..1, 2..2, 3..3, 4..4 and so onand was able to guess which would be the next few places that the otter landed upon with her pawprints.

crochet patterns

I saw these crochet patterns and thought the little animals were really sweet and very compatible with some of our storytelling:

http://kristieskids.weebly.com/patterns1.html

However, I can't understand the patterns, at least not yet.