Class Three links

English phonemes:

http://www.btinternet.com/~ted.power/phon00.htm

Weights:

http://gwydir.demon.co.uk/jo/units/oldunits/weight.htm

Class Three:
http://www.waldorflibrary.org/Clearing%20House/Spring%201977a.pdf

Class Three Steiner blocks and lessons

We've done the Old Testament stories in relation to The Creation, the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden (which Springy thought was unfair), the tale of Noah and his Ark (and again Springy thought this was unfair against the animals who got left to drown), Joseph and His Coat and the story of Moses in the bulrushes.  We went to see the Tutankhamun exhibit at the Musuem of Museums in December which tied in to Egypt and Moses.

We're reading Farmer Boy as our read aloud (although 9-year change Springy doesn't like it).

Springy can manage knitting basic knit stitches but I need to find her a teacher because I'm not getting it through in the right way to her.  I also have a spinning contact (the same as the knitting tutor) who I hope can give her a lesson in spinning wool.  She's done weaving before and also is a member of the Embroidery Guild so has done some interesting projects through that.  I'd also like to get her going with crochet but again I'm limited in my own skills with it.

Our building was a willow dome.  We still need to find a yurt to look at.  We studied about igloos earlier in the autumn.

I still need to do more on weights and measures.

In relation to farming, we have some seed potatoes.  Money is tight as usual but I'm hoping to get a raised planter to have some carrots and leeks or salad crops this year.  I bought Springy a child-sized garden fork so she can dig up the back bed herself and turn it into her own vegetable patch (or flowers or herbs).  I hope to get a little garden rake and hoe as well for her (I noticed her enthusiasm when she played with some real but child-sized tools the other week).

February 2011

The history of weights and measures is complicated but really fascinating. We've not done much on measures other than walking around the house seeing how many thumbs etc it would take to measure the table and so on. Then we demonstrated h...ow having different people's fingers, thumbs, elbows and so on would be not much use in terms of consistency so we got out rules and tape measures to work with inches and centimetres. We've weighed each other and covered it in baking. However, I'm reading up on the history of weights pounds, ounces and so on and trying to decide whether to try and approach this again later on in the year (after I've understood it myself but I now know where the d came from in old money, at least I think I do).

The crowsfoot is starting to appear and there are some wild primroses. There were 2 skylarks singing away over their territories. I'm soaked because i had to wash Lily (and remind me never to feed her sweetcorn again!) and Violet the Pekin bantam (very froo froo feathers so she gets really dirty - like a feather duster).

22nd February - Springy and I had a great time at the Willow workshop. The morning was spent harvesting willow withies (well I mainly watched whilst Springy had a go). We then helped the group to plant some willow withies in the ground. Then it was lunch. We then helped build a willow dome and she had a great time doing some gardening (mainly digging soil) in the greenhouse (an industrial one).

 18th February - we had a lovely ML this morning. We sang our morning verse and then did a poem on Spring and a movement verse on horses. Springy then worked on nouns. After that I went to my yoga class and that wiped me out so I had an afternoon nap.

Yummy cinnamon rolls

http://rosehipsandspiderwebs.blogspot.com/2011/02/by-popular-demand.html

I hope to make these soon.

We've washed one bag of wool so far and have dried and carded a small portion of it already.  However, we could do with some dry weather days so that I can dry the rest.

Springy tried one day at school the week before last.  I'd lost a lot of my confidence.  We've had constant barrages of 'school is better' and all the rest of the socialising dogma that comes with that.  With the 9-year change on top from Springy (who is more melancholic and sulky than sanguine at the moment) I felt quite exhausted because there is so little support (apart from, thank goodness, by beautiful homeschooling friends who gave some much needed esteem boosting discussions).

We have been looking at some non-verbal reasoning tests withSpringy. We've done them on a conversational learning basis. It's quite interesting to note how Form Drawing would help a child note the kind of patterns involved.

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

Lambing

This morning we went to see the newborn lambs at a local organic farm.  They had several hundred sheep in the flock.  The ewes had loads of lambs and all were adorable.  We saw some that were 5 minutes old with the umbilical and placenta still on show.  Fresh hay was being given to the ewes and there were lots of lambs skipping about with their dangly tales.  I got several large bags of lambs' wool to use for needlefelting and dyeing.  It's of no use for spinning because it's a second shearing (too short).  However, I was so happy because I got it for free.

Not To School

Springy went to school today.  She tried it, she stayed for the whole day, left the building and isn't wanting to go back.  All I can say is hooray.  I had a great day - cleaned out some cupboards, did a Flylady hotspot thing, did some studying and got some work done.  I've not had a day off for ages so it was nice.  I got a holiday.  I took time, had space in my head, sat down with a cup of tea in the quiet, took my supplements, made a few calls, ate lunch, took Lily for a walk and so on - in fact most of the things I do on a regular day but normally there is a 9-year old bouncing about (with the occasional sullen face on for the oh so melancholic 9-year change).

I think a lot of people think I'm mad for home educating.  I homebirthed.  I was mad for doing that.  There were dangers apparently and I was putting the baby at risk.  My ante-natal classes were booked in by the hospital after my due date!  That was the first oddity that made me wonder whether the hospital knew what they were doing and I remember the phonecall to ask whether some mistake hadn't been made.  Surely several weeks after my due date means that I won't be needing the classes.  Oh, so that's just how it is.  Thank goodness our independent birth counsellor, who kindly did a pay it forward scheme when we were too broke to pay for the classes at the time.  We had some amazing classes with her learning about gravity, about active birthing etc.  That's what we wanted and we didn't trust the hospital to do anything that we wanted so we had 2 amazing midwives who came to our home, who along with the aforementioned IBC were the three wise women who attended Springy's birth along with her daddy and I (well our IBC left for dinner but she sat with me all the while until my contractions got to the stage where she said "Go and call your midwives.").

 Nappies - questioned = diaper free or infant elimination communication.  Formula - questioned = breastfeeding.  There are other things that I do that I hate doing or have been manipulated into because I know they're all trickery - smoke and mirrors but I just do/did them regardless even though I ought to know better and change.

Anyway, we get to home education.  Many people assume that home education means your child stays at home all day and doesn't have a clue as to how to mix with other children or people.  It's a common misconception.  Springy walked into that school on Monday and knew loads of children in so many different classes, across the ages.  When she was 4 it would have destroyed her, when she was 5 she wouldn't have been ready but at 9 years she went in with sniffles from a cold  but confidence.  She went for a full day today, from 8.50 am to 3.15 pm.  It was all right but she doesn't want to go back.   It wasn't that the school was bad or that the children were mean etc - it was all okay - they were very pleasant to her (mainly because she knows through various activities children in about 5/6 schools in the area) - but she had expectations of school (because of all the PR that she has been given by the anti-home-education brigade -  that school is great and much better than home education) that 'school' couldn't live up to. I reckon if the teacher had come in with homemade cookies, playing rock guitar, with a soft voice like Miss Honey in Mathilda and they had all gone off site to a lambing event and breaktime had been the whole afternoon of free play then they would have roped her in and I'd have willingly gone along with it. But that didn't happen...

 She's  been told not to complain to me anymore that I'm boring (because of all the build up she has had that school is exciting and wonderful and full of amazing feats of edutainment) because the work they gave her today in maths was the 1x and 5x tables (which may have been not to frighten her but they could have actually talked to her and found out that way that she is capable of going beyond that now). Not only that but it wasn't teaching but just involved sticking her in front of a computer and not her choice (I'm not against boredom because it leads to creativity but this was boredom without a chance for that). Her favourite bit was break time.  Even the toilets were not as nice as home (which I found very surprising - I keep my toilets clean but I have to remain ever watchful!).

And so I live in hope that I will not hear about Springy needing to go to school again.  She is 9 years old.  She tried it.  I've now been told a day isn't long enough.  It was long enough - they had a day to make a good impression and they failed.  It didn't wow her, it didn't move her or inspire her.  It didn't change her life or her perspective.  There wasn't a moment that made her feel the Universe.  I know there are good schools out there with brilliant teachers but home education for us works just as school works for others.  We've had moments of wonder and surprise.  It's our life and we love it and if I ever get down again, lose my confidence and let things get to me can you please all kick me in the rear end. :)
xxx