Blogging at 4 again!

Scary! (As Ammi would say!)
Well, i mused today, as i cleaned the kitchen and reorganised it so all the sarnie making stuff was in one place, effectively using up a “clutter hotspot” more effectively, that the last 10 days or so i have almost adopted a “structured HE approach”- which effectively shows how pointless labels are, because you don’t get much less structured really. I mean, okay i have used more conventional materials and i have sat people down at stuff, but at no set time, with no pressure to do more than finish the single thing they are sat at and certainly nothing has taken more than a hour of the day, 90 minutes at most. The rest is free. I’ve been trying to remember the figure quoted as actual “effective working time” in primary schools, once you take out lunches, breaks, classroom changes, waiting for teachers and “turns” and so on, i think its less than 2 hours if i remember rightly. Well 90 minutes of decent concentration, in easy bursts with no pressure to do all this no matter what, seems to be working okay. And i must admit, i’m quite enjoying the whole CM aspect, even if its only for a change.

So. Day started again with voluntary wordsearches and Leap Pad music – Moo particularly spent ages on music and was really enjoying “The Magic Flute.” I wanted them to have a slow start as they were up very late last night so they had another burst of Fantasia and were riveted to it again. Bless. They adore the Rhapsody in Blue one, which is line drawings of New York in the 30’s and ties in very nicely with a book “The Gardener” that we have.

Then a serious amount of garden play went on while i tidied (argh! although its been better this week i have to admit!) Fran wanted “something to do” so i gave her a 2x and 10x match up sheet and she did them both all on her own – she used Alisons cards with some of the 2x but it has to have been an emotional crutch as she still had to match those up before she could use the answer, so it didn’t actually give her any more info than the sheet. So thats good. She also worked out 11×10 and 12×10 on her own. Then i gave her a sequence sheet, and she did that too, including finally getting 7’s the right way round! I do find it bizarre that it seems to be easier to get them wrong than right!!! Once Moo was out, and after we had entertained Max, she read Book 10 again and started Book 11 – that bit is definitely getting easier now.

After that i thought she had really done enough “stuff” so i got out our Usborne Bible and read her the Creation Story; its a nicely illustrated book, in bright simple cartoons so i got out the watercolour pads and some oil pastels and we both drew pictures that the story made us think of. I’ve included mine as i tried to really sit and do this with her so we could inspire each other – it was fun. I’m no artist though so i hope you can tell the difference!!

which are, a giraffe and elephant, a palm tree and a bird of paradise
and mine

which are a palm tree and the sea! Ahem.

Then Fran narrated her version of the story back to me and i typed it up for her – its a bit random but its basically there!!!

Creation Story (typed by mummy)
How the World was Made.

The world was made by God. On the first day he made the sun and the moon. On the second day he made light and night and then he made creatures that fly and jump in the water. On the fourth day he made animals that live on the land. On the fifth day he made the trees and the flowers. On the sixth day he made a man and a woman and their names were Adam and Eve. On the seventh day he rested and he said “the seventh day you rest.”

The End.

I’ve put it here because i want to be able to print this out at the end of the year again but i have set up a little blog for her to copy this sort of stuff into – no comments though because its probably not at all appropriate!

All that was so lovely that we ended up with the last two Chapters of The Snow Queen – i only just managed not to cry! lol!

Last night Fran impressed me by making it to the second level of RR Maths 6-8 and doing some vertical addition with tens and units – not bad really.

Finish up with some photos.

The Tornado!