The sprout and the bean

A visitor interrupts schoolwork

In the middle of an unusually productive morning Jack alerted us all to an unexpected visitor. A rather large dragonfly had made its way to the back door step and we soon realised he had damaged wings and was unable to fly.

We spent some time just watching the creature and then slowly the boys became more confident and curious and he was gently held. The dragonfly would vibrate with movement to keep itself steady which the boys all felt and giggled at. It was such a great size for observation, we were able to have a good look at the compound eye, body sections and the six legs.

I bought the dragonfly inside so the kids could draw and observe him, instead of keeping him. It was lovely to see the boys discussing and observing all the insects parts. Afterwards we went to set him free, throwing him skywards as he took off, soared majestically and the dive bombed.

The boys sprung into action, there was talk of protecting the poor dragonfly and after some counsel a plan to make the dragonfly a home was decided. A hole was dug, cups of water ferried in and out of the house. The garden was explored for leaves that would make a good substitution for Lilly pads (nasturtiums were the winner), I mopped up spills and pulled weeds quietly. As the boys observed and learnt from our visitor I observed and learnt from my boys, often following the child's lead can take a parent on some pretty awesome adventures.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Ode to carers

All across this country, in fact across this entire globe, there are hundreds of thousands of people who have taken on the role of carer. They have taken on the care and responsibility of another person's well-being, no small task. I am amazed and in awe of these people and wish to take a moment to acknowledge them.

It is not a role anyone would choose but every day thousands of Australians roll up their sleeves and get on with it. Parents, usually mothers, caring for children born with disabilities of some variety. Partners caring for the love of their lives, altered forever due to an acquired brain injury. People like myself and my sister caring for our Father, many years before we thought we would have to. People who have found themselves in a role, not of their choosing and often not a result of their actions, but there nonetheless.

A fever in pregnancy, a car accident, any accident really and suddenly everything can be thrown onto a different path. Every day families are dealt shitty hands and they just get on with it. They take time off of work, adjust their lives, give up socialising and just carry on. Holiday brochures are put out with the recycling and spare rooms are converted. I have seen just a glimpse of the enormity that some of you deal with daily.

There is not an overwhelming amount of support for some, happy families find themselves single parents and 'comfortable' people find themselves scraping by. Certainties and plans get thrown out the window and the true strength of a person's character starts to be exposed.

So often we are unaware of the sheer weight of what we can carry, the burdens we can muster, until we have to. The ability to just keep going, not just by ourselves but carrying our loved ones, too. I see carers as a stark reminder of this strength and of how deeply our love for each other can run.

I take my hat off to you all, those who spend countless hours referred to dozens of different specialists, those who massage and manipulate sore or damaged bodies, those who carry on for years because no one else can, those who make the best out of the very worst. Those of you who fall to pieces between 10pm and 6am and then get up and dust yourselves off so the breakfast can be ready at 7.

Those of you who step into a terrible situation but hold a scared hand and say 'I am here'.

As I stepped into my role as carer, alongside my sister, I've been touched to the core by the kindness of others. Those who look you straight in the eye and you can see that they too would stand by you when the going gets tough. Revealing the layers that you don't realise exist in those closest to you. Learning each other in our new and changing roles. Watching broken-hearted as a familiar and comforting presence is changed and morphed. Learning to balance, tightrope like, between gentleness and strength. Finding the odd moment to savour but trying not to be overwhelmed by what it means.

It can be very surreal dealing daily with the heavy stakes of being a carer, some decisions really do come down to life or death. What can become 'normal' and conversational can be quite confronting, but this aspect is not the most startling. What can be most shocking about being immersed in the role of care-giver is that almost everyone around you is carrying on with their normal lives.

Several years ago my husband was injured and ended up in intensive care, I rushed to his side hoping for a miracle. After some hours at his bedside I went outside for fresh air and I was gobsmacked, absolutely blown away, to see a parade of happy couples, one half heavily pregnant, making their way to an antenatal class. Whilst I was enduring what felt like the emotional equivalent of a tsunami, these people were carrying on. Bills were being paid, babies being born and people were planning their retirements. Can you believe it, the audacity! I actually had to steady myself against the wall due to my shock.

I'm sure it must seem very odd if you're fortunate enough to find this unrelateable. I'm even more sure that there are people nodding in agreement.

Hold your heads high carers of Australia, you're doing the impossible, the important and the remarkable. Bless your cotton socks.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Maths with fruit

Sometimes with this homeschooling caper I wonder if I'm doing enough. There seems to be a lot of playing going in and there is not a lot of sit down, structures lessons going on. Lately I've been doing a bit of sneaky assessment, to see what has sunk in and where we're at.

Here is two activities we've recently done to assess Flynn and Jacks math skills.

1. Fractions with strawberries.

The idea behind this was actually to see if Flynn could transfer the theory of a fraction into a practice application, it wasn't all about the chocolate you know. I simply melted a bowl full of chocolate and we used a large pun net of strawbs and got dipping. This was no exact science but I asked Flynn to dip half a strawberry or one third in chocolate. He had to stop and think when I said things like 'two thirds' and he told me off for tricking when I said 'two quarters'.

2. Geometry with grapes

This was a great activity for my nearly 4 and 6 year olds, I was expecting there to be more eating and less focus on building. For Jack (preschool) I asked him to make basic shapes and after a while introduced trickier ideas such as quadrilaterals. I had Flynn (1st grade maths) making three dimensional shapes such as the cube and pyramid. We also talked about and attempted the pentagon, hexagon, octagon,nonagon and decagon. I had to use google on my phone for this one. I hadn't planned on discussing these shapes but its where the activity lead.

 

All in all we're right on track, I keep tabs on what the schools are doing to ensure Flynn is on par but I don't use that as my yard stick. He's ahead in some areas and behind a little in one or two areas but he is very good at applying his knowledge which is what we're aiming for. He's our yardstick really.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Japan, an intro into geography

Recently one little book worm has been interested in geography. I got Flynn his own library card and bag a few weeks ago and during our most recent library trip he returned with three atlases! I asked him if there was a particular country he wanted to study and he seemed bewildered with the choice, the next day I asked again and this time I limited the choice a bit. Which country in Asia would he like to study? Japan!

It's a great country to study, especially for a child of 5-6. There is such an obvious difference in cultures for the young mind to explore. Japan has such rich cultural traditions. I don't know the Japanese culture to any great depth but I started with what I did know. I made a page of pictures to show Flynn, just using google images. Mt Fuji, a Japanese tea ceremony, the kimono, sushi & sashimi, Japanese architecture, the blossom trees, sumo wrestlers and a Japanese artwork known as 'the great wave". I've always liked this artwork but know little to nothing about it.

I showed Flynn the pictures, we milled over them for some time. Some he knew, some he didn't but by the end we had a list of questions as long as my arm. I was honest about what I didn't know and expressed an interest in knowing, adding my Q's to the list. This has been a week full of finding the A's, I'd like to thank google, YouTube and my local library for providing the materials for a stellar week.

On Monday we mada a little book and looked at pictures. I made a mental note of avenues to explore. We started painting out watercolour kimono's and put them away to dry.

On Tuesday I traced a map of Asia and Flynn coloured it in and labeled Japan and Tokyo. We watched a clip on Sumo wrestling, the boys mimicked the wrestlers making sure they stuck to the rules of Sumo (no eye gouging, hair pulling etc). I had a chuckle at all the stomping and leg slapping.

On Wednesday Flynn had a bit of one-on-one so we made a pot of green tea and then got online to see how the Japanese did it. Flynn said it tasted yuck and thought it was a lot of fluffing around for a cuppa. Uh well, cultural appreciation is a developing trait I hope.

On Thursday we made sushi and learnt the difference between sushi and sushimi. We decorated our kimono's with glitter and other bits, I tend to think of it as 'craft crap' but the kids love the sparkly stuff.

On Friday Flynn sorted out the Japanese numbers and matched them with the English translation. Just to challenge him I wrote out basic sums in Japanese and got him to write the answer...in Japanese. He also spent some time, while the little ones slept, working on some origami. It seems to be an activity he really enjoys. This may be something we continue.

there is no way we have reached the end of this topic. The interest level is still high so I will try to continue for as long as it lasts. Incorporating Maths and art has been easy and whenever I'm short on ideas I just hop on Pinterest. We have kimono wearing peg dolls to bring to life, miso soup to try, more origami to fold and a song or two to learn.

Sayonara.

The veggie patch as a classroom

Now that I've got a few months homeschooling under my belt I'm beginning to spot potential teaching moments in just about everything. Last week we took fractions into the kitchen, using the different cup measurements to look at the parts of a whole. We talked about measuring liquids and solids, units of measurement and put Maths into practice...by making a slice. I really love this type of double-headed learning, Maths on the outside and independence and self care throughout.

Now that spring is upon us the race is on to get the veggie garden sorted for the next rotation of crops. If well thought out we could be well covered for veggies until late autumn. There is just one thing in the way, a large patch of weeds that is roughly the size of the veggie path. I have begun wading through the waist high weeds to see what has survived the frost winter. There are bunches of kale, celery going gang busters and pockets of garlic that looks remarkably like grass. To keep myself motivated I will get some seedling going. Ah, lesson time.

Intro to botany:

Materials needed, assorted seeds and pictures of plants to match. We used pictures cut from the seed catalogue from diggers. Magnifying glass and bowls. Depending on the child's age and experiences it may be best to start with just a few, recognizable seeds. Peas, beans and capsicum seeds

I filled a couple of bowls with the different seeds, I had four different varieties and matching pictures. I've also adopted a Montessori technique with some things that allows kids to check and correct their own work. On the back of each picture and underneath each bowl I drew a coordinating symbol. When Flynn thought he was finished he just checked under the bowls to see.

I also gave him plenty of time to touch and examine each seed. It's very tempting to move form one activity to another when the task is done but Maria Montessori was quite clear about the importance of allowing a child to work at their own pace. I've found that I'm more patient if I make myself a cuppa in an insulated cup before a lesson. When someone wants to spend ten minutes looking at everything with a magnifying glass I jut kick back with a tea and leave them to it.

Later in the day we did some planting, I laid some old rio on the veggie bed to give Flynn a guide for spacing and left him too it. He lost interest about 75% of the way through but I encouraged him to see it through. He was quite pleased with himself at the end and I think this will reoccur as he sees the plants grow and bloom.

Later that week we painted veggie signs for the patch for art, Jack helping too. Flynn is plotting a graph to record he growth of some seedlings we put in for Maths. The good thing about this weeks plan is that I can repeat it again in a few weeks. I didn't have much formally planned before we started except the desire to introduce Flynn to graphs and get the veggies in.

Balloons, the cheap entertainer

Every now and again I accidentally stumble across something that seems to universally appeal to kids. There is the puddle, mud pile, cardboard box and bubble wrap of course but who knew balloons would be such a winner.

Yesterday was my 30th and Flynn was bothered, to say the least, that there was no cake or balloons. My trip away had been my present, I was very adamant about this as hubby has a tendency to be a little extravagant when it comes to me.

Anyway, for the frugal price of $3.50 I could get 20 latex sprees of awesomeness and adventure. So far I've calculated the entertainment cost, factoring in popping rates, the loss of interest rate and half-life of latex. I figure it's around 10c per hour.

 

I know it looks like they've all gone to sleep but there were plenty of active moments, they just photographed as blurry. So next time you feel stuck for entertainment or the weather is rubbish, take a deep breath and breathe.

 

Roger, the birds and the bees

Science this week took an unexpected turn, we have a rather 'active' rooster amongst our girls (Chris and I call him Roger accordingly), and it has not escaped the attention of a certain 5 1/2 year old. He has noticed the strange behavior and he knows something is up. I was certain this topic would not be on the table for a few more years but I just couldn't fob him off with a half-baked answer. So how to present this rather delicate topic at such a young age?

Firstly I decided to drop the awkwardness I, as an adult, was feeling. It's chicken we were talking about. Flynn had observed something and a bullshit explanation would probably make matters worse.

He has watched me go through two pregnancies and questions have been asked. How will the baby come out? How did it get in there? It's natural child curiosity so I decided to tackle it in the same manner that I do every question.

I drew a tiny dot on Flynn's hand and explained that all babies start out tinier than that dot. I explained that it takes 9 months or 40 ish weeks for a baby to grow to the right size. I showed him some cards I had laminated that showed a baby and it's surrounding as it grows. We talked about why the different components, such as the uterus, umbilical cord, placenta and amniotic fluid are important. I let him take it in and ask questions. Later we talked about the animals that give birth to babies and how chicken babies come from eggs.

 

We talked about when Flynn was a baby and his brothers too, I laminated a picture of each of them and another of my big belly. I put there baby books out on display for them to flip through. Flynn has pieced together a few different conversations and has pieced together an age appropriate understanding of baby making that is generally accurate enough without getting too technical.

 

Flynn has a great mind for science and he finished the lesson by drawing a baby all snug in the tummy. I think learning about sex from the chickens is much more gentle than being introduced to it via MTV. It's been a learning curve for me and I must say I feel keen to get on with geography next week.

Montessori Monday

I feel so foolish. It has taken me this long to discover Montessori. Sure I had heard of it but never delved any deeper than to appreciate that there is a focus of developing independence and self-care in little ones. I've always been big on getting my boys to try and do things for themselves, clean up after playing and always help around the house.

Just this weekend I have delved head long into researching Maria Montessori, Montessori schools and how people incorporate it into homeschooling. There is a plethora of information out there and dozens of generous teachers and homeschoolers who share ideas and experiences. So far this year I have been taking a Steiner approach to educating my boys. It felt natural for me and I have enjoyed the artistic aspects and the storytelling. It suits me...but my eldest is another story. He likes the odd fairy tale but adores non-fiction and has a huge appetite for the science section. He likes to draw and colour a bit but nothing holds his attention like a problem solving activity.

It turns out Flynn and his Father are very similar learners and it was Chris who directed me to Montessori recently. It has been more work to get my head around the philosophy behind Montessori but as I read it begins to ring true for me. As I delve deeper in I keep feeling a resounding "of course" going through my mind. Not only does this philosophy suit our family, it's a perfect match for our boys and it turns out that a lot of what we already do could be labeled as Montessori.

Here are some of the activities we're starting with, ideal for ages 3-6. There is a mix of fine motor activities, writing, sorting and pattern making. I've just used things I had in the pantry and some lids as trays. I didn't buy a thing.

Earlier this morning I gave Will, who is almost two, a pair of tongs and some items from the laundry (clean) basket. He spent a solid 20 minutes concentrating. I also gave Flynn the socks to sort. He found all the pairs and then sorted the left overs into three piles, dark, light and coloured! Oh yes Maria Montessori, you have another avid fan.

As I delve a bit deeper into my reading I will be doing Montessori Mondays with info and activity ideas. Watch this space.

Looking at the Arctic

We are a few weeks into the home schooling now and things are starting to run smoothly, things feel a bit more naturals and both Flynn and I are moving into the new routine (I use the word lightly). As we are coming to the end of winter I thought we would have a look at the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

Being somewhat ignorant of these areas myself I did a bit of Internet snooping and library foraging before introducing the new topics. I have discovered, and I suspect most teachers know, that you don't need to be a bottomless pit of knowledge to teach well, you just have to be a few steps ahead of your student. Hence why I spend some evenings learning the recorder, reading books (kids books!) on geography and science and why google is my new best friend.

I have learnt also that science is not just one subject, it can be cooking, art, gardening and Maths as well. I have also discovered that the same activity can be tweaked slightly to include the younger ones. Huzzah!

This week we read Oliver Jeffer's book, lost and found. It's a sweet book and the illustrations are lovely. There was one page in particular that Jack liked so we used this for art inspiration. While Flynn was busy painting in the arctic animals, using books as a guide, Jack was painting a background of blue skies and icy waters.

When the boys work was finished we cut the animal pictures out and made a display. Both the boys were quite please with their work and any visitors were given a mini tour. This unit was a little shorter than I had originally planned as Flynn remembers many details about his Grandparents trip to Antarctica last year. He informed me that penguins only live near the South pole and we learnt that polar bears live near the North pole. So if you ever see a picture of a polar bear and penguin together, it was taken at a zoo.

We discussed how blubber works to keep the animals warm in such frosty conditions, we made a baked Alaska (sponge cake, ice cream on top covered in meringue and baked. Egg whites insulate ice cream so it doesn't melt) then we did a day trip to the snow.

All of this was done over two weeks and by the time we headed to the snow we had already moved on to another science topic. Initially I thought teaching lessons informally like this would be difficult, that information would not be presented to the student or that there might not be an accurate way of gauging academic progress. A few weeks in and my mind is at ease, like most kids his age Flynn is just super interested in learning. As for monitoring his progress, in a one on one setting it's easy to see that moment when a child understands. When I can sit back and watch as Flynn does a sum or activity unassisted then I tick it off my little list of goals for the week. Some weeks stuff gets ticked of quickly but often something will get left for another week.

Most days I think I'm learning just as much as Flynn!

 

Window stars

There are a few things I have come across while visiting Steiner schools that I have really coveted for my home. The simple wooden play things, beautiful dyed silks, handmade dolls and amazing artworks on the blackboards. None more than the eye catching window stars, they look so delicate, vibrant and down-right complicated. I can't imagine anyone could look at the sun streaming through the riot of colour and feel miserable.

This week we attempted to make some and I was delighted to discover that they were so easy that even I could master it easily. I knew this would be an activity that Flynn would get into, he just loves problem solving, Maths and puzzles. A little origami is right up his alley. I could provide details and pictures for how-to but decided just to send you here. It's the same instructions we followed and it doesn't leave any room for error. Flynn has made three this week and even given one to friend for his 30th.

I showed Flynn how to make one section of the star and then left him to it. He needed a little help with the gluing but was very focused on doing it without assistance. Apparently I hover and Flynn has been less than delicate in asking me not to.

If you would like to give it a go I can recommend two excellent sources for the paper, it's a thin wax coated variety sold as kite paper. Winter wood toys and dragonfly toys are two of my favourite websites that sell excellent art and craft materials with a Waldorf/Steiner slant.

Happy crafting!