Taking it easy
Feeling very pregnant today. Went to bed too late and didn’t sleep long enough. Have a horrible niggle over the top of my right hip which is wearingly familiar from other pregnancies and feel all bleurgh. Consequently the children had an “extended IT session” this morning and are now watching Brother Bear. Oh well. That’s educational even if Little Bill isn’t!
Just been out to a very sweet singing session at Moo’s nursery. She was enjoying it and so did the other two. I must admit that i was late by a minute or two and i did feel rather saddened in a way that my child was one of several requiring a teachers lap for support even though lots of kids had no parents there at all. I don’t mind when its my lap she needs but sometimes it just brings it home to me a bit that she can be very fragile to see her on a lap alongside the various very hyper or very disabled children who also need support. Hmmm. On the other hand, i see her at things like camp and i know that she can be quite happy and taking part, i guess if it takes extra years of having mummy/daddy in the background to give her confidence, then that’s what i signed up for.
Fran has done some wordsearches, mathsy type stuff today but much less than the rest of the week, or perhaps just in less time, i’m not sure. Max was home at lunch and he was just open mouthed at her really – he hasn’t ever seen her sitting down and just grasping something like an addition square before without any explanatory help. Not that it was a difficult one but i think it just surprised him to see her working at something so independantly. It surprises me too :~)
Apart from that we looked at a picture of Henry by Holbein and i got her to try to remember details from it without looking – this was one of my real favourite lessons at PNEU. She did pretty well at it for a first go. I remember doing an exam in my 6-7 year and being able to write a paragraph or so on a Constable (or something) picture and then letting my friend copy it word for word over my arm. I think we were most surprised that the teacher spotted we had done it and moved us apart the next day!!!!!! I remember that no fuss was made but we both knew we had been caught out.
I also read her an Apache Creation story – it was quite funny really, like but not like the one in the Bible. Anyway, we enjoyed it. I’ve got a few more (Chinese, Hindu, Hawaii) but ran out of time before nursery – they are in a word file if anyone wants them anytime.
Enjoyed the Sensory Integration talk last night, although it was infinitely depressing to be in a room full of parents completely stressed by Reception approaching really. Sigh. The talk was good – they did a thing with a staff member standing in opposite shoes, on a wobble board with half the room shouting one thing and half another while she tried to recite the 9 times table. She couldn’t – this was a description of how a child feels when their senses are out of balance – made plenty of sense to me. What makes less sense is that they can tell me all about kids who can’t stand noise, tight clothes, needing a wee, neon lights etc or who need to swing to get their brain working, or spin, or jump or swim or go on fairground rides over and over (hmmm.. who do i know like this!) and then tell me that Moo would be better off in school. I find it the most remarkable bit of doublethink really.
They had quite an interesting graph that showed the senses at the bottom of a pyramid and academic learning at the top – it was basically saying that nothing at the top or inbetween can function unless a child feels balanced, comfortable, safe, worked out etc – and then how little sense it makes to give a child struggling with writing endless more writing practise without addressing any other issues to do with the whole body that might be hindering things. Like i say, to an HEer who just “knows” when not to bother, when to turf everyone out into the garden (incidentally this is where mine are now and only i am left with Brother Bear!) and so on, it all made perfect sense. What made me clap my hands to my face was the parent who then related the story of how last week when it was raining, her 7 year olds class took 15 minutes to get ready for PE. To punish them for being hyper and noisy and not focused, she made them sit in silence in the middle of the gym for 15 minutes, before getting changed back for lessons. What kind of madness is that exactly???? I’d have given them the workout of their life!!!!! It makes me angry that teachers have that kind of narrow minded control freakery going on – what a bloody power trip. Why do people think that punishing children for being children will make them into adults? Personally i think its more likely to make angry children, but perhaps its me that’s mad.
Anyway, that’s the rant over. We are off for a run about at the cricket pitch in a bit. I’ve used everything up i had planned for this week now so i shall have to hope Fran is burned out tomorrow.(lol!) – on Friday we are off to see my brother and sister for the day.
Moo is doing well with reading now – big change today was her actually holding the books herself, pointing at the individual words and then moving on to Book 5 herself and picking out words she knew – and its getting a bit harder to read the pictures now so i am quite confident that its actually happening for her. Fran is not that far ahead but i think if she can master a few more of the Bob books we can start on those Flying Boot ones for a change.
Gosh – just reread this and i sound really flat. Better get a cuppa.
