Another fun day! and quite educational

HE
rather a productive day, with SB doing another 4 pages exeter maths 1a. I think she really has got to grips with the bigger and smaller thing. In the end I drew them [bigly - and yes, that word is in far from the madding crowd, so *must* exist!] in green and purple, so that the equals bit more noticeable. We also played around with the concept with manipulatives, people etc etc, having to swap places as I was the big end and she the small so that quite fun. this was liberally interspersed with pogoing up and down the room or skipping using a tape measure. SB is just such an energetic child. [so thats the PE box too!]

we had classic fm in the background, and SB did some dancing to it, and we discussed some of the pieces. She recognised some of the music as well – obviously not by name! digression alert!! That reminds me, at my parents to calm SB and my nephew down after hyper play, in which they accidently pulled down my parents curtains [big sigh!] they watched the fantasia video, and were much taken by the conductor being called mr stokovsky [or something phonetically similar], and whilst driving to Jax’s classic fm said a piece of music had been arranged by mr stokovsky, so SB piped up about it being the same one as fantasia. I was impressed.

We had fun sculpting crazy creatures out of playdough and the ELC bits [thanks again NIC]. And then made sushi with the dough, which BB and I had to pretend to eat. At this point I wasn’t sure whether we were playing the all time favourite of Mummies and Daddies, or its close runner up of Cafe. [art and drama!]

An eclectic lunch of samosa, bob the builder spaghetti shapes, pickled onions and apple [obviously her lunch!] and a calm time looking at new things on the cbeebies website. [IT]

We did some JP in the afternoon, and she’s showing interest in sounding out words in other books, though I have to do the squishing together until the word fairly obvious still. [hmm, didn't think i would get to write all this without NAKing]. got the dressing up things out and liberally scattered all over house. I was bob the builder, BB was Windy [sic] and she was………………………a princess fairy! Are all girls like this? I’m sure I wasn’t. The afternoon whizzed past, with SB making me giggle cos she really is a love [even though it sounds like I'm a bit whingy at the top of this post]

Friday is afternoon-snack-treat-Friday, and I was unable to find the popcorn, but found some sweets she got at the armouries museum last week, so she had those. We then cooked tea root veg curry together. I do try and cook tea with SB as often as poss. she enjoys it, we discuss what we are eating etc, and she whizzes up the veg she’s npt so keen on to go in the sauce [today mushroom, aubergine and red pepper] and cuts the easier veg [french beans]. Yummy!

Chris came home then [agency rang and asked him if he wanted to go back to loony tunes school today, so a lot of hysterical laughter and a no. so got to go to one a bit further up the madhouse evolutionary tree.] I took the opportunity to check other blogs and mails. SB watched a bit of cbeebies and chilled out with Dad.

After tea and bath [which both SB and BB love - cue mad splashing from both] SB wanted some pages from the usborne childrens encyclopaedia read – evolution of man, asia, breathing and polluting the planet. And for the bedtime book, she chose the dk i wonder why one on egyptians – history, geography and science!

I’m still trying to decided what I do with blogging, why I blog etc. I think it is partly diary, partly so that when I meet people IRL etc, there is more instant recognition as it were. [mind you at melrose I was told I wasn't much like my blogs, but my blogs are wordier since then]. Anyway, today I am going to do a feelings sumary!

I love my girls, we had a great fun day. SB is such a joyful child [when we are in the 90% gorgeousness!] and a pleasure to be with. BB also a really easy baby, making this transition from only child to a share as easy as it can be. I have background panics about jobs/money/moving/medicals etc, but feel proud they didn’t distract me from enjoying the here and now. [Doesn't that feel a bit American?] Now where is that red wine??

oh, and a waffle postscript. I highlighted the areas of learning really to show how a day we would have spent just like that is educational without me trying [well, apart from printing the exeter maths I guess]. I do want to regularly do maths and reading, writing too when she is happier to hold the pen, but the rest of it is just putting options on the table, and if she picks them, we do them, and if she doesn’t we don’t. This is not autonomous learning [having been reading Gills posts], but neither is it totally parent directed. I happy with it. She is after all, only 4, so my aim is at this stage to enable her to have tools to learn with, and to show her that there are lots of interesting things out there in the world, whilst keeping our feet rooted in our present. I’m glad no-one has asked me for an ed phil yet!