what a fab title! today was latinetc, and we should have been on time, but a section of the road we were travelling down was being lifted up, and it was only when we got to the front of a several mile tailback that we found this out. harrumph.
As usuall SB enjoyed the latin – and apparently did know more than one word! and loved the music and bells, and was trying to tell me all about the hand signals – is that the doh a dear stuff? thanks gina for link!] the littlies started with a fimo workshop from Merry, where they made snowmen. BB was most happy, and impressive snowmen turned out by all. we then did science. we have put chicken bones in jars of vinegar and sealed, and in 2 weeks will see what has happened. we discussed the properties of bone, what it might be made out of, and then made wild guesses about what might happen to it in the vinegar. A little segue, and i got out some of our fossils – a lot of belemnites, some gryphea and some ammonites. much impressed by ancientness – though obviously the many stones in the garden they have touched are ancient also!! [could side track into ramble on relativeness of ancientness]. we looked at pictures of what it is imagined they looked like, different ways fossils are made and then we got to work making our own fossils out of air drying clay, real or imagined! when i did the bigger group, pretty much along the same lines, but with more detail J had fossil designers block. I suggested instead he could contemplate what might be fossilised today for the future. so he as done a dalek! rofl!! I had in my head that i would get loads of ammonites, trilobites and a few extras, but i should have known that this group has their imagination always on!!
an interesting aside, is that we always have some free questions and answerings in science, and the biguns surprised me by asking about madeleine mccann, and the evidence her parents killed her. I am of the opinion that they didn’t, and that there is no evidence to say otherwise. we talked about how it focuses minds of parents to keep children safe, and not leaving them completely unsupervised, however ‘free’ it might seem. they then moved onto shannon, it is always an honour to hear a group of children discuss these things with you as an equal. i do wonder whether some of them knowing about the current consultation has perhaps kickstarted some thinking.
some fab playing, some french games for the littlies – bb now doesn’t have a problem with staying glued to me, which is nice! BB found a newt in the garden, which she thought was a toy [like her stretchy lizards!] but C then took charge, and all the children got to hold and have a look before it was released into mud world. BB was quite liberally covered in mudworld…
SB was getting a bit worn though, as she wasn’t at her best [though this has meant lots of bonus cuddles for me, always nice!] but she had a bad night on mon, so i slept with her last night, and she did wake and stir most of the night [so not so good for me! but it did settle her more quickly]. SO for once she asked to go home, and so we did. Some of the group were moving on to a museums thing, and we had considered going, but SB was too fragile really for crowds and tramping about.
Merry and co came back with us, as she had a late pass!! and a bit more fimo-ing was done by the children – another fab snowman by BB. She really has quite an eye for detail, and is keen to get things right. playing around and about. but merry’s girls had loved the music at melrose, and were keen to repeat, so a quick sort out of merrily we row, and off we went! a full house of players. J is obviously another keen glockenspiel player, BB had SB’s violin, she recordered, and Merry, ahh, she brought a viola. it was fab. we will hopefully keep this going, and perhaps this will enthuse and encourage.
BB went to bed without too much wailing [ok, i fib slightly] chris read The Beagle with Charles Darwin (Inside)
She might have brought it but she couldn’t actually remember how to play it. But next time… i will have practised!
We thought your fossils were fab! The Beagle book C and I have found hard going. Not finished it yet, keep thinking it’ll pick up a pace . . .
Still, she did enjoy seeing the Darwin stuff at the museum later so has taken it in even if it hasn’t been as exciting a read as she had hoped.