...because then we would be able to go to the fabulous technorama more often. Its 300km away, so possibly doable in a very long day but not ideal.
So on Thursday evening directly after yoga we set off in the van. We got almost to Zurich before stopping for the night at a service stop. Unfortunately, for me in particular, we were extremely close to the motorway and Pip woke up very frequently so I wasn't as refreshed as I could've been.
After breakfast of croissants and coffee or hot chocolate (depending on your age) we drove on to the Technorama. Every exhibit is hands on which means that you really can spend the entire day exploring the 3 floors (and the slightly out of place lame model train display in the basement) and still not do everything. They also a few demonstrations of which we participated in two.
The first was to do with forces and Dr John and Chris Evans went in a spinning seating area where they rolled balls to one another and tried to walk in a straight line amongst other things. I was quite glad I was on Pip minding duty as spinning things really aren't my thing. I get dizzy on a playground roundabout!
The second demonstration was about gases, involving balloons, helium, carbon dioxide, oxygen and lots of bangs. It was in German but they handed out brief explanations in English so I was able to let Dr John know what was going on.
We had lunch in the cafeteria there, and left just before it closed. As I say, I wish it was closer so we could go more often. We then drove towards Zurich and stayed the night in another service station. The next day we stopped off on our way to Zurich zoo as I was buying some fabric remnants from someone. I got 2 large bags of fabric from her, and she very kindly gave me a craft book too. Its in German, but has lots of pictures! I find it so difficult to find reasonably priced fabric here in small prices. I only make small things, bibs, blankets etc so don't need metres.
Anyway, we made our way to the zoo. It was raining so we started in the rainforest exhibit. We saw lots of wonderful birds flying around our heads and occasionally there would be terrifying shrieks from the monkeys up in the roof. Its a great set up in there as they do a little tour around it and take you on little paths and across rope bridges that
you wouldn't otherwise be able to do. On our tour we were joined by a French speaking family so the guide was speaking to us in English with Chris Evans translating a few words she didn't know from German and then I was translating it into French. A great linguistic
workout for me!
After lunch looking into the rainforest we ventured outside. Not so much fun due to the weather but we saw everything we wanted to, including spending a lot of time with the gorillas. That evening we drove along the motorway a bit further, stopping at another service station before continuing home the next day. A lovely weekend and leaving on Thursday evening meant that we were home by lunchtime on Sunday and it was completely relaxed with no rushing about. And we got to spend another weekend in the camper which is always a bonus. Roll on the time when we go away for another couple of months like we did 3 years ago.
Friday, November 05, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
The 10 Book Challenge
A couple of days ago we went to the English bookshop to get another Jack and Annie (Magic Tree House) book.
He saw a Star Wars Encyclopedia there that he desperately wanted, but didn't have enough money (he gets a certain amount a week) to buy it.
So I agreed that he could earn it. And so, the 10 Book Challenge.
Chris Evans and I have chosen (with the agreement of Dr John) 10 books that he has to read to either of us. Once he has done that, we will buy him the Stars Wars book. We are roughly aiming for the challenge to be complete by Christmas (about 10 weeks away!) but not with loads of pressure.
The 10 books are:
The Runaway Pancake
The Wish Fish
The Little Red Hen
The Scaredy Cat
A nice mix of books I think. Some easy, some not so. Reading is something that Dr John doesn't have too many issues with, but I think this will add a bit of spice to things.
He saw a Star Wars Encyclopedia there that he desperately wanted, but didn't have enough money (he gets a certain amount a week) to buy it.
So I agreed that he could earn it. And so, the 10 Book Challenge.
Chris Evans and I have chosen (with the agreement of Dr John) 10 books that he has to read to either of us. Once he has done that, we will buy him the Stars Wars book. We are roughly aiming for the challenge to be complete by Christmas (about 10 weeks away!) but not with loads of pressure.
The 10 books are:
The Runaway Pancake
The Wish Fish
The Little Red Hen
The Scaredy Cat
A nice mix of books I think. Some easy, some not so. Reading is something that Dr John doesn't have too many issues with, but I think this will add a bit of spice to things.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
A Clean Break
The start of a new school year brings with it new decisions. What after school clubs should be done?
Enfantine which took place before drama was okay, but didn't really offer anything that I couldn't. Drama for in my opinion the worse when the old teacher left and it turned into more of a movement class. We stopped football when I got too pregnant as it was too much to get to on a bus, train and walk in 45 minutes. And Dr John was still enjoying yoga and atelier.
The biggest issue for me wrt his classes was that except for atelier, they were all in English. So we had to have a balance between what Dr John wanted to do and what we thought would benefit him the most. Drama had always been a favourite so I found a theatre class in French. Atelier stayed (I'm not looking forward to his last day there) and instead of football he agreed to try rugby (its in French and a 15 minute bus ride from our house). Yoga stayed too although there was a discussion about a local football class near our house instead of yoga but the lure of playing with his friends in the soft play afterwards was just too great.
So quite a big shift towards French speaking classes but he really needs a bit of a kick to practice his oral skills. So far it appears to be going great. His atelier has commented that he is getting more involved with the other children which is also helped by there being no other Anglophones in the class. We have changed French teachers as his previous one was no longer coming to our house after the birth of her baby and it was just too far for us to travel to her on public transport. His new teacher is lovely. She is a retired primary school teacher and takes such a relaxed approach to his lessons. She refuses to speak English to him but they can often be heard giggling away. A definite result!
The theatre class he enjoys although the language is a slight issue but the teacher and another child translates in times of great need. You can see the downside of not being fluent in French in rugby as he is always a bit behind as he has to watch what the others are doing. He enjoys it though, particularly the full on tackling (at 6?! heart in mouth stuff!) and he took part in his first tournament a couple of weeks ago. Its just a shame that he will miss several weeks after he fractured his hand in training! I wasn't there as we are sharing pick ups with a neighbour whose son also goes but apparently the coach had said several times not to sit down between the exercises which Dr John kept doing, and right at the end of the session he did it again and coach tripped over him, standing on his hand!
Of course being the crappy mother that I am I didn't take him to the hospital that day but 4 days later after he had played a match in his first tournament. To be fair it wasn't that painful or swollen but he is now the proud owner of a cast. Amusingly we had to get his cast replaced as he broke the first one! I don't think the plaster guy at the hospital was too amused.
Still I can forgive a slightly abrupt manner as both times we were in and out of the hospital (xrays, plaster and everything) in less than 90 minutes.
He has the plaster on for 3 weeks, and then he can get back into the swing of things again. He hasn't been too upset at the things he hasn't been able to do, but he will definitely be pleased to be able to climb in the park, do proper cooking, and lay in the bath for ages as he loves to do!
Enfantine which took place before drama was okay, but didn't really offer anything that I couldn't. Drama for in my opinion the worse when the old teacher left and it turned into more of a movement class. We stopped football when I got too pregnant as it was too much to get to on a bus, train and walk in 45 minutes. And Dr John was still enjoying yoga and atelier.
The biggest issue for me wrt his classes was that except for atelier, they were all in English. So we had to have a balance between what Dr John wanted to do and what we thought would benefit him the most. Drama had always been a favourite so I found a theatre class in French. Atelier stayed (I'm not looking forward to his last day there) and instead of football he agreed to try rugby (its in French and a 15 minute bus ride from our house). Yoga stayed too although there was a discussion about a local football class near our house instead of yoga but the lure of playing with his friends in the soft play afterwards was just too great.
So quite a big shift towards French speaking classes but he really needs a bit of a kick to practice his oral skills. So far it appears to be going great. His atelier has commented that he is getting more involved with the other children which is also helped by there being no other Anglophones in the class. We have changed French teachers as his previous one was no longer coming to our house after the birth of her baby and it was just too far for us to travel to her on public transport. His new teacher is lovely. She is a retired primary school teacher and takes such a relaxed approach to his lessons. She refuses to speak English to him but they can often be heard giggling away. A definite result!
The theatre class he enjoys although the language is a slight issue but the teacher and another child translates in times of great need. You can see the downside of not being fluent in French in rugby as he is always a bit behind as he has to watch what the others are doing. He enjoys it though, particularly the full on tackling (at 6?! heart in mouth stuff!) and he took part in his first tournament a couple of weeks ago. Its just a shame that he will miss several weeks after he fractured his hand in training! I wasn't there as we are sharing pick ups with a neighbour whose son also goes but apparently the coach had said several times not to sit down between the exercises which Dr John kept doing, and right at the end of the session he did it again and coach tripped over him, standing on his hand!
Of course being the crappy mother that I am I didn't take him to the hospital that day but 4 days later after he had played a match in his first tournament. To be fair it wasn't that painful or swollen but he is now the proud owner of a cast. Amusingly we had to get his cast replaced as he broke the first one! I don't think the plaster guy at the hospital was too amused.
Still I can forgive a slightly abrupt manner as both times we were in and out of the hospital (xrays, plaster and everything) in less than 90 minutes.
He has the plaster on for 3 weeks, and then he can get back into the swing of things again. He hasn't been too upset at the things he hasn't been able to do, but he will definitely be pleased to be able to climb in the park, do proper cooking, and lay in the bath for ages as he loves to do!
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Villars to Le Diableret
One weekend we took the camper van to Le Diableret for Chris Evans and Dr Johns' mammoth walk.
They took the bus to Villars and then walked back.
I'm going to leave Chris Evans to blog it, but I will say now that I am extremely proud of both of them.
They took the bus to Villars and then walked back.
I'm going to leave Chris Evans to blog it, but I will say now that I am extremely proud of both of them.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Holiday, part 2
We didn't stay with MIL this time, partly as the warden in her sheltered housing wasn't too happy at having the camper van parked in the car park overnight and partly because MIL lives in a very small 2 bed bungalow and we are now one extra. So we were booked into a campsite called Thornton's Holt a few kms away. We also got Chris Evans put onto MIL's car insurance so we could borrow her car for the week. She is going through a tough time at the moment which means that she isn't comfortable using the car, so there was no problem with us using it. Even though there is a good bus service into the city from the campsite, this was one instance where I was glad that we had a car.
On Saturday we took a trip to a working inner city windmill and science centre. It was free entry so I had no problem with buying a couple of bags of flour and a book about the original miller and scientist and mathematician, George Green. The science centre was very small but well thought out, and the sort of place I could see us returning to regularly if we lived in the area each time we'd learnt the theory behind each principle demonstrated.
No idea what happened on Sunday, but on Monday we had planned it so that Chris Evans had a bottle of expressed milk and was going to take Dr John and Pip to the caves under the city whilst I went shopping for clothes but the cave tour was at 12 and Chris Evans thought it might prove a little tricky if Pip woke up in the middle of it, so they tried the castle but that is closed on Mondays so they came and met me for lunch. At that point I'd only been to the market for some material and haberdashery and I also got a first piano book for Dr John and grade 1 and 2 pieces for me so I can see what level I'm at.
I was grateful for their company in the afternoon as Dr John is a great clothes shopper, always picking great things for me, and Chris Evans isn't bad either. They are both better than me at finding clothes anyway! I hate clothes shopping. So I came away pretty happy with a few sale pieces from Monsoon. We then headed over to SIL and BIL's for a bbq. BIL is Star Wars mad and is keen to indoctrinate Dr John with the ways of the force. I'm not too sure how happy I am about that, but there doesn't seem much stopping it.
On Tuesday, Chris Evans and Dr John seemed to properly develop their colds, so it looked like we were going to be unable to take advantage of the heated swimming pool on the campsite. We have tried formal swimming lessons before when Dr John was much smaller which were a disaster and we decided that maybe he would suit learning with us informally, but we have been so rubbish at going that maybe it is time to rethink that strategy although that would be another after school activity to try and fit in. Anyway, on Tuesday we headed back into the city to attempt the caves again. Underground is one of my least favourite places to be, so Pip and I went underwear shopping in M&S whilst the boys finally did the tour. Dr John seemed to enjoy it and I got told various snippets about it although I think I will see if Chris Evans will blog it for any more detail than that! That night Pip had caught the cold too so she just wanted to comfort feed all night so I didn't get much sleep.
The next morning I was able to get an hour or so's extra sleep whilst the others went to the playground and in the afternoon while Dr John stayed with MIL, we took Pip to visit grandma (Chris Evans' grandma) who is staying in a respite care home while MIL sorts herself out. Then back to the camper van via Morrisons to pick up a roast chicken and salad and a couple of other things to take back to Switzerland like spaghetti hoops and monster munch (good healthy stuff!) which we take back as a treat.
Thursday saw us saying goodbye to MIL and making our way down to Dover. We had booked passage on a ferry on Friday morning but when we arrived at the port at 5.45pm we thought we'd see if we could get on a ferry then and stay in Calais overnight rather than Dover. We had to pay a bit extra as it was outside the 2 hour of our booking but figured that it was worth it as we could eat on the boat and wouldn't have to get up so early the next day (not really an issue for me, but always a bonus for Chris Evans!). So, after my last fish and chips for a while we arrived in Calais. By this point I was developing a sore throat and losing my voice so was glad that we quickly made our way to a camper van park by the beach and within a couple of kms of the docks and settled down for the night. We awoke to a ticket on the windscreen for 7 Euros for the priviledge of staying the night, so paid that and went on our way.
On Saturday we took a trip to a working inner city windmill and science centre. It was free entry so I had no problem with buying a couple of bags of flour and a book about the original miller and scientist and mathematician, George Green. The science centre was very small but well thought out, and the sort of place I could see us returning to regularly if we lived in the area each time we'd learnt the theory behind each principle demonstrated.
No idea what happened on Sunday, but on Monday we had planned it so that Chris Evans had a bottle of expressed milk and was going to take Dr John and Pip to the caves under the city whilst I went shopping for clothes but the cave tour was at 12 and Chris Evans thought it might prove a little tricky if Pip woke up in the middle of it, so they tried the castle but that is closed on Mondays so they came and met me for lunch. At that point I'd only been to the market for some material and haberdashery and I also got a first piano book for Dr John and grade 1 and 2 pieces for me so I can see what level I'm at.
I was grateful for their company in the afternoon as Dr John is a great clothes shopper, always picking great things for me, and Chris Evans isn't bad either. They are both better than me at finding clothes anyway! I hate clothes shopping. So I came away pretty happy with a few sale pieces from Monsoon. We then headed over to SIL and BIL's for a bbq. BIL is Star Wars mad and is keen to indoctrinate Dr John with the ways of the force. I'm not too sure how happy I am about that, but there doesn't seem much stopping it.
On Tuesday, Chris Evans and Dr John seemed to properly develop their colds, so it looked like we were going to be unable to take advantage of the heated swimming pool on the campsite. We have tried formal swimming lessons before when Dr John was much smaller which were a disaster and we decided that maybe he would suit learning with us informally, but we have been so rubbish at going that maybe it is time to rethink that strategy although that would be another after school activity to try and fit in. Anyway, on Tuesday we headed back into the city to attempt the caves again. Underground is one of my least favourite places to be, so Pip and I went underwear shopping in M&S whilst the boys finally did the tour. Dr John seemed to enjoy it and I got told various snippets about it although I think I will see if Chris Evans will blog it for any more detail than that! That night Pip had caught the cold too so she just wanted to comfort feed all night so I didn't get much sleep.
The next morning I was able to get an hour or so's extra sleep whilst the others went to the playground and in the afternoon while Dr John stayed with MIL, we took Pip to visit grandma (Chris Evans' grandma) who is staying in a respite care home while MIL sorts herself out. Then back to the camper van via Morrisons to pick up a roast chicken and salad and a couple of other things to take back to Switzerland like spaghetti hoops and monster munch (good healthy stuff!) which we take back as a treat.
Thursday saw us saying goodbye to MIL and making our way down to Dover. We had booked passage on a ferry on Friday morning but when we arrived at the port at 5.45pm we thought we'd see if we could get on a ferry then and stay in Calais overnight rather than Dover. We had to pay a bit extra as it was outside the 2 hour of our booking but figured that it was worth it as we could eat on the boat and wouldn't have to get up so early the next day (not really an issue for me, but always a bonus for Chris Evans!). So, after my last fish and chips for a while we arrived in Calais. By this point I was developing a sore throat and losing my voice so was glad that we quickly made our way to a camper van park by the beach and within a couple of kms of the docks and settled down for the night. We awoke to a ticket on the windscreen for 7 Euros for the priviledge of staying the night, so paid that and went on our way.
6 & 60
The next day we walked into town and grabbed lunch in a local cafe. Dr John had his first taste of a 'proper' sausage roll and wasn't too impressed, although did like the softness of the bread in his sandwich. Its the little things. We then went to Sainsbury's for things for Dr John's birthday bbq and got lost in it and apparently thats not even a big one! You can tell we've been in Switzerland a long time!
By the early evening, excitement had reached fever pitch. After all, its not every day you turn 6. Dr John shares a birthday with my mum too and it was going to be her 60th, so extra reason to get excited.
The big day dawned. With a not too early start celebrations commenced. There was the general chaos of present opening during which Dr John received some lego, a James Bond dvd and secret spy stuff to satisfy his current career choices (lego mini figure creator, dvd producer and secret spy, all in one day - he's going to be a busy lad!) amongst other gifts. Then everyone helped prepare for the party, only stopping for the early arrival of my sister and family and more presents (more lego). Just about all my maternal aunts and uncles came which was nice to see them all together. Dr John remembered a couple of them but to be fair he's only seen them a couple of times when he was very young.
I would say that the party was a success. Dr John had great fun playing with his cousin Suzanna*, who is 4 and also home educated, and there was a lot of chatting and eating and cooing over the baby. The cakes, which I'd had to ice due to the original baker going on holiday, were extremely yummy and I think everyone went home happy. My sister and her family stayed the night which was good fun, although I don't think we should've stayed up until 1am playing Lego Harry Potter on the Wii!
The next day we pottered about playing and chatting and then we all went to a local pub for dinner which was lovely until an incident spoilt things and we went back to my parents rather abruptly. A shame as it seemed to take the shine off our visit. But thats families I guess.
The next day, Thursday, Chris Evans and I went with Pip to the city to do some shopping (I was really overwhelmed by the size of everything and the number of people) whilst Dr John stayed with my parents and watched dvds and ran them ragged. Thursday evening was spent packing the van in preparation for our trip up to the midlands to visit MIL.
By the early evening, excitement had reached fever pitch. After all, its not every day you turn 6. Dr John shares a birthday with my mum too and it was going to be her 60th, so extra reason to get excited.
The big day dawned. With a not too early start celebrations commenced. There was the general chaos of present opening during which Dr John received some lego, a James Bond dvd and secret spy stuff to satisfy his current career choices (lego mini figure creator, dvd producer and secret spy, all in one day - he's going to be a busy lad!) amongst other gifts. Then everyone helped prepare for the party, only stopping for the early arrival of my sister and family and more presents (more lego). Just about all my maternal aunts and uncles came which was nice to see them all together. Dr John remembered a couple of them but to be fair he's only seen them a couple of times when he was very young.
I would say that the party was a success. Dr John had great fun playing with his cousin Suzanna*, who is 4 and also home educated, and there was a lot of chatting and eating and cooing over the baby. The cakes, which I'd had to ice due to the original baker going on holiday, were extremely yummy and I think everyone went home happy. My sister and her family stayed the night which was good fun, although I don't think we should've stayed up until 1am playing Lego Harry Potter on the Wii!
The next day we pottered about playing and chatting and then we all went to a local pub for dinner which was lovely until an incident spoilt things and we went back to my parents rather abruptly. A shame as it seemed to take the shine off our visit. But thats families I guess.
The next day, Thursday, Chris Evans and I went with Pip to the city to do some shopping (I was really overwhelmed by the size of everything and the number of people) whilst Dr John stayed with my parents and watched dvds and ran them ragged. Thursday evening was spent packing the van in preparation for our trip up to the midlands to visit MIL.
On the Way to the UK
On the way to 2 weeks in the UK we stopped at Le Musée de la Grande Guerre in Peronne. Did the pond walk which was so well signposted we (wrongly) assumed it was worth doing, but was literally walking round a large pond, not even with a path, and there was so much dog poo about.
Then we went into the museum as soon as it opened as we didn't have much time to look around and get to the ferry before it left. The recommended time to look around the museum was 2 hours and to be honest I'm not really sure where they got that figure from. We only took 30 minutes and even taking into account that Dr John flits about a bit, on my own it wouldn't have taken 4 times as long.
We had a disaster in the gift shop. Dr John picked up a cup to show it to me and dropped it. I offered to pay but it was okay as it was covered on insurance. I was almost upset by it as it was part of a set of two and I quite fancied the other half but didn't think Chris Evans would've been too happy about it!
They had exhibits of the different costumes and equipment which was really interesting as everything was explained in good detail and was laid out on the floor (albeit recessed and alarmed!) so that even littlies could see everything. It was really well arranged and Dr John was interested in a lot of it, especially the guns. I think he's really reaching an age where he can appreciate exhibits more. I still have to speed read the descriptions and summarise as he won't stay still long enough for me to read anything out but at least he will listen to some of it!
We arrived at the ferry 2 hours early and were allowed on an earlier crossing. Funnily enough my mum and dad were crossing the channel with P&O too (they had gone on a weekend coach trip to Paris) but if we had gone at the same time as them we wouldn't have made it to their house the same evening. As it was their ferry was changed to 30 minutes earlier and we arrived at their house just over an hour before them. Luckily they don't live any further away as Pip had just about reached her travelling limit. At least Dr John was able to see his grandparents that evening as I think he would've been very upset if not.
Then we went into the museum as soon as it opened as we didn't have much time to look around and get to the ferry before it left. The recommended time to look around the museum was 2 hours and to be honest I'm not really sure where they got that figure from. We only took 30 minutes and even taking into account that Dr John flits about a bit, on my own it wouldn't have taken 4 times as long.
We had a disaster in the gift shop. Dr John picked up a cup to show it to me and dropped it. I offered to pay but it was okay as it was covered on insurance. I was almost upset by it as it was part of a set of two and I quite fancied the other half but didn't think Chris Evans would've been too happy about it!
They had exhibits of the different costumes and equipment which was really interesting as everything was explained in good detail and was laid out on the floor (albeit recessed and alarmed!) so that even littlies could see everything. It was really well arranged and Dr John was interested in a lot of it, especially the guns. I think he's really reaching an age where he can appreciate exhibits more. I still have to speed read the descriptions and summarise as he won't stay still long enough for me to read anything out but at least he will listen to some of it!
We arrived at the ferry 2 hours early and were allowed on an earlier crossing. Funnily enough my mum and dad were crossing the channel with P&O too (they had gone on a weekend coach trip to Paris) but if we had gone at the same time as them we wouldn't have made it to their house the same evening. As it was their ferry was changed to 30 minutes earlier and we arrived at their house just over an hour before them. Luckily they don't live any further away as Pip had just about reached her travelling limit. At least Dr John was able to see his grandparents that evening as I think he would've been very upset if not.
Friday, August 27, 2010
The Inbetweener
There was a week between the last Edukids session and our trip to the UK and it was a fairly relaxed week. I managed to get to the hairdresser after many months and Dr John and Chris Evans did some more training for a big hike they are planning by walking from Caux to Rochers de Naye and back again. Dr John had friends round to play on two separate occasions, one of which he managed to behave spectacularly badly and even though his friend wasn't perfect either, I was suitably embarrassed particularly as his friend's mum had cooked us a yummy Filipino dish called Adobo.
He also did some writing off his own back which helps reaffirm our decision that this year at least we will try and be as hands off as possible and allow his learning to be self directed. We also however had a two day stand off over the state of his room which eventually got tidied enough so that you don't break any bones trying to get to the bed, wardrobe or the window. Sigh. One step forward, etc.
He also did some writing off his own back which helps reaffirm our decision that this year at least we will try and be as hands off as possible and allow his learning to be self directed. We also however had a two day stand off over the state of his room which eventually got tidied enough so that you don't break any bones trying to get to the bed, wardrobe or the window. Sigh. One step forward, etc.
Be Still These Voices in my Head
I don't really know how it came about but Dr John told me one day that he has voices in his head. He can certainly be a very angry little boy but also has an extreme imagination, loves stories and films and loves creating characters. Not a bus journey goes by without him asking 'who are you from made up world' or 'which bad guy are you in super hero land?'.
But voices in his head? Should I be concerned? Apparently they are voices that go very fast and he doesn't know really what they are saying but they only stop when he is angry or asleep. Hmm. Chris Evans says that he used to hear voices when he was a child but he thinks it was to do with his bilingualism, but by instinct I just don't think this is the case with Dr John. I just feel that maybe this and his tendency for a short fuse may be linked. I'm going to look into calming techniques for children, but anyone got any suggestions?
But voices in his head? Should I be concerned? Apparently they are voices that go very fast and he doesn't know really what they are saying but they only stop when he is angry or asleep. Hmm. Chris Evans says that he used to hear voices when he was a child but he thinks it was to do with his bilingualism, but by instinct I just don't think this is the case with Dr John. I just feel that maybe this and his tendency for a short fuse may be linked. I'm going to look into calming techniques for children, but anyone got any suggestions?
Thursday, August 26, 2010
A Working Break
Since getting Helga our camping van 18 months ago we have spent a couple of weeks at a campsite in the city where Chris Evans works. This means that he can be 'home' at 5pm rather than his usual 7pm and we get a week lounging around with a new city's attractions to explore.
One downside to this week was that it was so hot (33 degree hot) that we didn't want to go anywhere particularly with a small baby so we hung around the van trying to find some shade. We had some of Chris Evans' work colleagues for a bbq which was made tricky as someone forgot to pack the grill part of it. I also struggled a bit as small talk appears to have deserted me and they kept lapsing into German which I have a basic understanding of, but not really enough to hold a conversation.
The kids and I managed to go for a couple of small walks in the mornings and Chris Evans got home by about 430 to 5pm on most days so all in all it was a fun week, marred only by Dr John's inability to go to bed without a wailing and screaming fit most nights. Very wearing.
Chris Evans was also brave enough to go for a swim in the glacial waters of the river Aare which is fairly fast flowing and I would've loved to have also done, but I guess it will be several years before I can do so unless we could find someone to look after the children as I don't think I would be brave enough to do it on my own!
One downside to this week was that it was so hot (33 degree hot) that we didn't want to go anywhere particularly with a small baby so we hung around the van trying to find some shade. We had some of Chris Evans' work colleagues for a bbq which was made tricky as someone forgot to pack the grill part of it. I also struggled a bit as small talk appears to have deserted me and they kept lapsing into German which I have a basic understanding of, but not really enough to hold a conversation.
The kids and I managed to go for a couple of small walks in the mornings and Chris Evans got home by about 430 to 5pm on most days so all in all it was a fun week, marred only by Dr John's inability to go to bed without a wailing and screaming fit most nights. Very wearing.
Chris Evans was also brave enough to go for a swim in the glacial waters of the river Aare which is fairly fast flowing and I would've loved to have also done, but I guess it will be several years before I can do so unless we could find someone to look after the children as I don't think I would be brave enough to do it on my own!
Apologies
Apologies for the bombardment of posts that will be coming in the next couple of days.
Its what happens when you are up in the middle of the night with a phone that you can write posts on, but can't post on the internet, due to being on holiday in the UK (and therefore it would cost a fortune if I tried to do so).
Its what happens when you are up in the middle of the night with a phone that you can write posts on, but can't post on the internet, due to being on holiday in the UK (and therefore it would cost a fortune if I tried to do so).
Monday, August 23, 2010
Workshops, Classes, Camps
Summer is a busy time for us. It is a time when we join in with the school children on their holidays.
Anyway, we'd looked at all the possibilities and chosen 3 weeks. I feel a little bad that we didn't really involve Dr John in the decision making process but a lot of the time he would be quite happy to stay at home with his lego which we feel is something that can be done at any time and we need to make the most of our opportunities.
So the first week was mornings at the same place he has his drama class, Edukids. They were 'doing' Le Petit Prince. I'm not sure exactly that they went through the whole story but I have a copy in French so (note to self) it would probably be a good idea to follow up on that. They talked about future careers and Dr John wants to be a lego designer so we had a look on the lego website (one of his favourites) and found the lego creator application. Its a little tricky for him at the moment particularly in the 3d visualization but the promise of ordering one of his creations will be a spur I think.
The second week was the one he was most reluctant about. I'm always surprised when my outgoing little boy seems a little shy or sacred of doing something and I must remember to treat his feelings with the respect they deserve. Anyway, the second week was 9 to 530 at the place that he has been to his atelier for the past 4 years (hence my surprise at his reluctance to go). I explained though that he could ask them to phone me if he wanted to come home for whatever reason. I think his main issue was that it was such a long day and that he would be having lunch there.
Lunch. That they supplied lunch was a surprise. That it was a cooked lunch was an even bigger surprise. Very few schools in Switzerland have a canteen or anywhere to have lunch (children come home every day at lunchtime making it very difficult for the primary caregiver to work) . But this place, which I think is such a wonderful set up, provided them with things like lasagna. They even got Dr John to eat a piece of salad every day!
The theme for the week was 'Say it with Flowers' and to be honest I was a little unsure as to how much Dr John would actually get out of it as it was all in French. But as usual he surprised me. On Tuesday morning as we were on our way there he told me about boy seeds and girl seeds. It took me a while to realise that he was talking about what they had done the day before and that none of it was in English! Now, if he would just start speaking it...
They spent each day playing lots but also doing some craft and having what I guess you could call an 'educational' session. This is where he learnt about the boy and girl seeds - (in relation to flowers I hasten to add!) - but also tasted flowers, drank flower sirops and smelt flower perfumes.
He had such a great time that he wanted to know if he could go the next week, and when I explained that he'd have to wait until the autumn holidays he asked me to sign him up straight away! I would say thats a result! And all subsidized by the city council so approximately half the cost of the Edukids sessions which itself is cheaper than other places he's been to before. His favourite bit of the week? The face painting and chasing the girls...
After a break of a week in which we went away which I will blog separately he was back at Edukids for four days. The subject this week was 'The Magic of Science' which seemed to revolve around the senses. I say 'seemed' because I didn't really find out much about it partly I think because the previous session he had been to at the Vallée had been such a success. I had to giggle one day though as I was told that he and another boy had had an argument about colouring. This little boy was adamant that you MUST colour in within the lines and Dr John insisted that it didn't matter. A stand off ensued, which was only resolved by the teacher getting them to agree, albeit reluctantly, that they both had valid points and it was perfectly acceptable to colour in whichever way they chose. That's my boy!
All in all, he had a good time. We're learning all the time what type of things he likes, and I've learnt that I shouldn't be scared that he will struggle with anything in French.
Anyway, we'd looked at all the possibilities and chosen 3 weeks. I feel a little bad that we didn't really involve Dr John in the decision making process but a lot of the time he would be quite happy to stay at home with his lego which we feel is something that can be done at any time and we need to make the most of our opportunities.
So the first week was mornings at the same place he has his drama class, Edukids. They were 'doing' Le Petit Prince. I'm not sure exactly that they went through the whole story but I have a copy in French so (note to self) it would probably be a good idea to follow up on that. They talked about future careers and Dr John wants to be a lego designer so we had a look on the lego website (one of his favourites) and found the lego creator application. Its a little tricky for him at the moment particularly in the 3d visualization but the promise of ordering one of his creations will be a spur I think.
The second week was the one he was most reluctant about. I'm always surprised when my outgoing little boy seems a little shy or sacred of doing something and I must remember to treat his feelings with the respect they deserve. Anyway, the second week was 9 to 530 at the place that he has been to his atelier for the past 4 years (hence my surprise at his reluctance to go). I explained though that he could ask them to phone me if he wanted to come home for whatever reason. I think his main issue was that it was such a long day and that he would be having lunch there.
Lunch. That they supplied lunch was a surprise. That it was a cooked lunch was an even bigger surprise. Very few schools in Switzerland have a canteen or anywhere to have lunch (children come home every day at lunchtime making it very difficult for the primary caregiver to work) . But this place, which I think is such a wonderful set up, provided them with things like lasagna. They even got Dr John to eat a piece of salad every day!
The theme for the week was 'Say it with Flowers' and to be honest I was a little unsure as to how much Dr John would actually get out of it as it was all in French. But as usual he surprised me. On Tuesday morning as we were on our way there he told me about boy seeds and girl seeds. It took me a while to realise that he was talking about what they had done the day before and that none of it was in English! Now, if he would just start speaking it...
They spent each day playing lots but also doing some craft and having what I guess you could call an 'educational' session. This is where he learnt about the boy and girl seeds - (in relation to flowers I hasten to add!) - but also tasted flowers, drank flower sirops and smelt flower perfumes.
He had such a great time that he wanted to know if he could go the next week, and when I explained that he'd have to wait until the autumn holidays he asked me to sign him up straight away! I would say thats a result! And all subsidized by the city council so approximately half the cost of the Edukids sessions which itself is cheaper than other places he's been to before. His favourite bit of the week? The face painting and chasing the girls...
After a break of a week in which we went away which I will blog separately he was back at Edukids for four days. The subject this week was 'The Magic of Science' which seemed to revolve around the senses. I say 'seemed' because I didn't really find out much about it partly I think because the previous session he had been to at the Vallée had been such a success. I had to giggle one day though as I was told that he and another boy had had an argument about colouring. This little boy was adamant that you MUST colour in within the lines and Dr John insisted that it didn't matter. A stand off ensued, which was only resolved by the teacher getting them to agree, albeit reluctantly, that they both had valid points and it was perfectly acceptable to colour in whichever way they chose. That's my boy!
All in all, he had a good time. We're learning all the time what type of things he likes, and I've learnt that I shouldn't be scared that he will struggle with anything in French.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
And in other news....
In May, 3 became 4.
Yes that's right, I gave birth to our daughter, Pip, (not her real name, her in utero one, but it seems to have stuck a bit) on the 22nd May.
Dr John is delighted. He really wanted a sister, and had the great honour of choosing her middle name.
We're all settling in nicely. A few issues with Dr John and me but I think they are slowly being ironed out.
I'm a little disappointed that none of our families have come to visit, but meh, you can't have everything!
Yes that's right, I gave birth to our daughter, Pip, (not her real name, her in utero one, but it seems to have stuck a bit) on the 22nd May.
Dr John is delighted. He really wanted a sister, and had the great honour of choosing her middle name.
We're all settling in nicely. A few issues with Dr John and me but I think they are slowly being ironed out.
I'm a little disappointed that none of our families have come to visit, but meh, you can't have everything!
Monday, October 05, 2009
A Plea
I know my blogging has been dismal, but I come with a request.
Thanks to the brochure inside a board game advertising Memoir 44, Dr John has been asking me about WWII (and WWI). So far the questions have been along the lines of "How many people were killed" (thanks Wikipedia!), but I'm aware that if the questions move on much more than that I will be completely unable to answer as my 20th century history is non-existant, due to absolutely detesting history at school (thank you Mrs Benns).
So, does anyone have any good recommendation for (primarily, but not exclusively) books on the world wars that would be suitable for a 5 year old? Fiction or non-fiction would suffice.
Thank you.
And I promise, normal blogging will be resumed shortly.
Thanks to the brochure inside a board game advertising Memoir 44, Dr John has been asking me about WWII (and WWI). So far the questions have been along the lines of "How many people were killed" (thanks Wikipedia!), but I'm aware that if the questions move on much more than that I will be completely unable to answer as my 20th century history is non-existant, due to absolutely detesting history at school (thank you Mrs Benns).
So, does anyone have any good recommendation for (primarily, but not exclusively) books on the world wars that would be suitable for a 5 year old? Fiction or non-fiction would suffice.
Thank you.
And I promise, normal blogging will be resumed shortly.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Interplanetary Travel
Please can someone advise me on how to retrieve Dr John from the planet he is on?
I don't mean this in a flippant way, I am very serious as he is driving me insane.
He doesn't just seem to daydream, he just seems unable to focus on things. Not just educational ones either. Today he sauntered into the kitchen wanting a drink, so got the carton of juice from the fridge and wandered off with it. When I called him back to pour it into a glass, he almost seemed unaware that he had it in his hands!
He has been saying every now and then that he is bored, but I just need to suggest something and he is okay again.
Any thoughts? Is this something that is characteristic of 5 year old boys? Do I have to grin and bear it (I'm trying very hard not to get cross, but it is annoying me somewhat!)?
I don't mean this in a flippant way, I am very serious as he is driving me insane.
He doesn't just seem to daydream, he just seems unable to focus on things. Not just educational ones either. Today he sauntered into the kitchen wanting a drink, so got the carton of juice from the fridge and wandered off with it. When I called him back to pour it into a glass, he almost seemed unaware that he had it in his hands!
He has been saying every now and then that he is bored, but I just need to suggest something and he is okay again.
Any thoughts? Is this something that is characteristic of 5 year old boys? Do I have to grin and bear it (I'm trying very hard not to get cross, but it is annoying me somewhat!)?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
What do YOU want to do?
Inspired by a blog post by Jax, I asked Dr John what he wanted to learn about. I phrased it a few ways, and he came up with the following:
What do you want to learn about?
So, of course that has led to one of my favourite pastimes - looking for books!
I'm going to order a couple of books about America in the hope that we can refine the subject a bit more:
We already have a few books on native Americans, Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle (Picture Puffin)
and More Than Moccasins: A Kid's Activity Guide to Traditional North American Indian Life
amongst them.
Ancient Egypt is fairly well covered too, with a fairly good section in Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Ancient Times: 1
Egypt (See Inside)
and Egyptians (Usborne Beginners)
I don't have much on cows or ducks, but have a lot of info on planets, the sun and dinosaurs including a solar system model that needs to be finished.
We plan on going to the bee museum too. I find this a strange one as Dr John is quite vehement in his reluctance to even try honey. I don't think that me explaining that the nectar is turned into honey in the bees stomach and then is regurgitated helped very much!
I did also ask if he wanted to learn to read, to which the reply was "of course!".
At least now, when he wants to do anything on these things I may be able to cover them!
Although it may be a while. At the moment, he is watching The Magic Roundabout for the second time this morning, as this time he is doing the quiz that goes with it. He seems to like quizzes, particularly associated with a film or programme. He discovered the quiz that goes with the Magic School Bus dvds yesterday and enjoyed them. Of course, if I asked him questions about the film, I probably wouldn't get a response!
Yesterday, at Dr John's request, we made some gingerbread men. They were yummy and it was good to see Dr John being a little more interested in food and cooking.
Later we go to the doctors for hopefully a referral to a dermatologist for Dr John's eczema. I get the feeling his paed is more a cure-it doctor rather than a preventative type, so hopefully I won't have to fight too much.
Tomorrow, another home ed get together. Its a shame we'll have to leave early to go to yoga, but its great that people are keen on these meetings. I desparately want them to become regular events. I guess I should think about what we can do in the winter.
What do you want to learn about?
- England - what people do there (?!), especially Gran
- North America - the Native Americans and just America
- Egypt (I suspect he means the Ancient Egyptians than anything else)
- Planets, the sun, cows, ducks and dinosaurs
- Why does snow melt and why doesn't the sun melt?
- Bees making honey
So, of course that has led to one of my favourite pastimes - looking for books!
I'm going to order a couple of books about America in the hope that we can refine the subject a bit more:
We already have a few books on native Americans, Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle (Picture Puffin)
and More Than Moccasins: A Kid's Activity Guide to Traditional North American Indian Life amongst them.Ancient Egypt is fairly well covered too, with a fairly good section in Story of the World: History for the Classical Child: Ancient Times: 1
Egypt (See Inside)
and Egyptians (Usborne Beginners)I don't have much on cows or ducks, but have a lot of info on planets, the sun and dinosaurs including a solar system model that needs to be finished.
We plan on going to the bee museum too. I find this a strange one as Dr John is quite vehement in his reluctance to even try honey. I don't think that me explaining that the nectar is turned into honey in the bees stomach and then is regurgitated helped very much!
I did also ask if he wanted to learn to read, to which the reply was "of course!".
At least now, when he wants to do anything on these things I may be able to cover them!
Although it may be a while. At the moment, he is watching The Magic Roundabout for the second time this morning, as this time he is doing the quiz that goes with it. He seems to like quizzes, particularly associated with a film or programme. He discovered the quiz that goes with the Magic School Bus dvds yesterday and enjoyed them. Of course, if I asked him questions about the film, I probably wouldn't get a response!
Yesterday, at Dr John's request, we made some gingerbread men. They were yummy and it was good to see Dr John being a little more interested in food and cooking.
Later we go to the doctors for hopefully a referral to a dermatologist for Dr John's eczema. I get the feeling his paed is more a cure-it doctor rather than a preventative type, so hopefully I won't have to fight too much.
Tomorrow, another home ed get together. Its a shame we'll have to leave early to go to yoga, but its great that people are keen on these meetings. I desparately want them to become regular events. I guess I should think about what we can do in the winter.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Meeting Up
At the risk of sounding like a broken record (or should that now refer to an mp3, or are they obsolete already?) I need to blog more. I have posts in my head, but they just don't make it onto the screen, and they should do, as I'm on the puter enough!
Anyway, we have been meeting up with other home educators! Yes, its true!
We had found a family that we originally met a couple of years ago when S gave up being an Usborne organiser and I bought her stock from her, but we didn't contact each other for a while. Since we met again earlier this year, we have seen each other roughly once every couple of weeks. It is great to have someone to chew the fat with, who 'gets' our HE choice. She has two sons, Thomas and Curly (not their real names, but I feel that I need to start using more than initials!). Thomas is 5, and Curly is 3.5. The three boys get on great together, and as Carrie (blog name for S!) and I can chat for England, its a great relationship.
Carrie organised a home ed get together at her house, which was extremely brave of her, particularly as Thomas is on the autistic spectrum and doesn't cope too well with lots of people. I can't recall how many came, but I just remember that the kids spent all their time outside and the mums (and one dad!) hogged the kitchen. It was great. I had met several families before at the Not Back to School Picnic last Sept, but met a couple of new faces too.
Conversation revolved quite a lot around the standard introductory questions: "why do you it?", "what regulations do you have to follow?", "do you have permission?" etc. Hopefully the more we meet up, the more we can move away from these and get into the nitty gritty of life!
Inspired by this, I organised a meetup down by the lake. I'm aware that Bildung zu Hause, the Swiss Homeschooling organisation is very Swiss German, so invited several French/Swiss Romande families that I had heard about.
We ended up being at least 9 families, 3 of whom were French speaking. We had to leave at 4.30pm to get the van ready for Chris Evans (my blog name for dh!) to take Dr John (used to be M!) away for the night and they were still going strong.
I feel positive. These people do exist, and they seem keen to get together on a regular basis. I had thrown out the idea of a coop, a bit like latinetc (see elsewhere on the blog ring) a few weeks ago and I had a couple of replies, but I think now that it may have been a bit early. I do tend to run away with myself a bit!
Anyway, we have been meeting up with other home educators! Yes, its true!
We had found a family that we originally met a couple of years ago when S gave up being an Usborne organiser and I bought her stock from her, but we didn't contact each other for a while. Since we met again earlier this year, we have seen each other roughly once every couple of weeks. It is great to have someone to chew the fat with, who 'gets' our HE choice. She has two sons, Thomas and Curly (not their real names, but I feel that I need to start using more than initials!). Thomas is 5, and Curly is 3.5. The three boys get on great together, and as Carrie (blog name for S!) and I can chat for England, its a great relationship.
Carrie organised a home ed get together at her house, which was extremely brave of her, particularly as Thomas is on the autistic spectrum and doesn't cope too well with lots of people. I can't recall how many came, but I just remember that the kids spent all their time outside and the mums (and one dad!) hogged the kitchen. It was great. I had met several families before at the Not Back to School Picnic last Sept, but met a couple of new faces too.
Conversation revolved quite a lot around the standard introductory questions: "why do you it?", "what regulations do you have to follow?", "do you have permission?" etc. Hopefully the more we meet up, the more we can move away from these and get into the nitty gritty of life!
Inspired by this, I organised a meetup down by the lake. I'm aware that Bildung zu Hause, the Swiss Homeschooling organisation is very Swiss German, so invited several French/Swiss Romande families that I had heard about.
We ended up being at least 9 families, 3 of whom were French speaking. We had to leave at 4.30pm to get the van ready for Chris Evans (my blog name for dh!) to take Dr John (used to be M!) away for the night and they were still going strong.
I feel positive. These people do exist, and they seem keen to get together on a regular basis. I had thrown out the idea of a coop, a bit like latinetc (see elsewhere on the blog ring) a few weeks ago and I had a couple of replies, but I think now that it may have been a bit early. I do tend to run away with myself a bit!
Friday, April 17, 2009
Conversation of the Day
M: Mummy, I'm going to learn about life......
M: Mummy, which came first, the romans or the egyptians?
Me: The egyptians.
M: I don't believe what I'm hearing.
M: Mummy, which came first, the romans or the egyptians?
Me: The egyptians.
M: I don't believe what I'm hearing.
Accountability and Knowledge
So, I'm sitting here, translating the curriculum for years CIN, CYP1 and CYP2 into English, and its strikes me how little parents of schooled kids know about their education. I wonder how many of them have even considered looking at the curriculum, or the education departments website, or know what is expected of their children to progress to the following year. How many parents turn up at parents evening, listen to all the positive words that the teachers has to use and go home again glowing at the report, and happy in the knowledge that the school is doing everything it should be for their child, even if they have no clue what that is.
Maybe I'm doing a disservice to other parents, and everyone is sitting there, as I am, reading or translating this wonderful 100 page document (but I doubt it!).
This may be a thought that is obvious to seasoned home educators, but really didn't occur to me until I was trying to work out what
"By language activities, the competence to communicate already acquired by the child's family environment is developed. This skill is essential to develop the best in authentic communication situations where the child is the receiver, or the issuer."
actually means!
Maybe I'm doing a disservice to other parents, and everyone is sitting there, as I am, reading or translating this wonderful 100 page document (but I doubt it!).
This may be a thought that is obvious to seasoned home educators, but really didn't occur to me until I was trying to work out what
"By language activities, the competence to communicate already acquired by the child's family environment is developed. This skill is essential to develop the best in authentic communication situations where the child is the receiver, or the issuer."
actually means!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Big Update
I keep making notes of what we've been doing over the last 3 weeks, but it never seems to make it into a blog post, so I'm condensing everything into one.
Melrose
We had a fab time. It was great to see people again that we haven't seen since the last Kessingland, and also meet new people. For one thing, it means that I don't feel so much of a stalker going round the blog ring now!
I got moulded to one of the kitchen chairs, M spent the whole time off playing, particularly with S, and A was happy. If I'm honest I was more worried about A than any of us, because his laptop is surgically attached to him, but he was happy playing with the kids, doing some washing up (wonders will never cease!) and playing board games (we now own Carcassone).
Atelier
M has continued going to atelier twice a week. He does really enjoy it. I will be sad when he has to stop going in the summer, although he may be able to join on a Wednesday with the kids from ecole enfantine (first two school years) although we will have to think about that, as lots of other activities happen on a Wednesday (school half day).
I've set him a challenge each time to come home with a new French word. Obviously he always forgets until he sees me at the end, and hurriedly asks the monitrice what the first thing he sees in French is. Although last week she was confused she told me as she didn't know what 'poo' was. Just hope that he didn't see one of them lying around!
French
M and I had a meeting with a language school last week, about getting lessons for him. All seemed to be very positive and exciting - until we got the price. I imagine that there are some private schools that would cost less for 6 months, than it would cost us for M to have a 90 minutes lesson once a week for 6 months!
Still, we have another lead for a teacher who got a friends eldest child up to speed for entering school that I am going to contact.
'Educashun'
Amongst other things:
We checked the life of a load of batteries and sorted them into dead and alive.
We went to the supermarket and used their hand held scanners to do the shopping. I also showed M how to weigh all the fruit and veg (making sure he wasn't leaning on the scales whilst doing so!)
We planted some seeds in troughs for the windowsill (lavender, asters, mixed herbs and mixed salad leaves). The salad leaves led into a discussion about doing things for others, as M doesn't like lettuce so wanted to know why he had to plant some!
We read through the Usborne book See Inside Your Body, as a result of a bony cuddle (me having the bony arms, apparently!).
Health
On the evening we arrived back from the UK, M had just gone to bed when we heard a shout. He had managed to get his plastic kaleidoscope stuck on his finger! In the end we had to cut it off (the kaleidoscope, obviously!), but managed to salvage the 'mirrors' and the end of it, so at some point we'll get round to putting it back together again.
Over the winter M's eczema has got worse again, so we've tried him on lactose free milk and yogurts. A definite improvement. It hasn't solved it (the summer will be the true test) but its a start.
Both M and I have had a cough almost all the time since coming back. Its beginning to annoy me somewhat, although M seems to be unfazed by it.
We've all been to the dentist for a checkup and clean. M's teeth were fine, as were A's, but I've had to have a wisdom tooth out and a filling. Hopefully that will be it for me for a while!
Craft
We made some fimo aliens (pics maybe, when I get them off the camera) from a kit from Merry.
We drew a scene for some animal stickers to go into, finding out that we could smudge the felt tip on the photo paper to give different effects.
We also made a stained glass type picture of a bird, adding feathers for a tail to dramatic effect.
Conquistadors are one of M's fascinations (he wants to be one when he grows up!) so we made a Spanish flag for his ship. (Note to self, Christopher Colombus)
I bought M a small hardback book with blank pages, to take with us on the train etc. He has been drawing in it, and then likes to write the name of what he has drawn. We have also done some writing on the whiteboard, either him asking me how to spell something, or I ask him. I think that he has a good idea in his head how things are written and how to split up words, but cannot translate a written word into speech (ie reading). I find the whole thing fascinating.
TV
M has investigated a few more of the Daily Mail DVDs that MIL sent us a while ago, including Black Arrow and Westward Ho. He was interested to know that the same author, Robert Louis Stevenson, had written a couple of them. Maybe I can follow that up by finding out more about the guy.
Tintin is still watched, over and over again.
We also have French TV on in the mornings. There are several English favourites dubbed into French, and M doesn't sit down so much to watch it, but I'm working on an idea of osmosis!
Books
We went to the English storytime session at the local English bookshop. M was definitely more attentive than the others (schooled, you see ;P ) although I was slightly concerned that when we got home he insisted that we could only speak if we raised our hand.
We bought a couple more Magic Tree House books when we were in England. It hadn't occurred to me that there would be an American and British version, so the two new books have a different cover style to the ones we already own, which seems to offend my sense of completeness! Anyway, I have read Night of the Ninjas to him setting off lots of sneaking around play, and also Lions on the Loose (I know, I realise that they are probably best read in order!).
His English and French magazines arrived and they've made good bedtime stories.
Lots of other book reading going on, and I am slowly suggesting that he spell out one word in the story, although he normally does that once and refuses to read the same word in the rest of the story. I guess reading will be another thing that he comes to in his own way.
Discussions
Obviously plenty of these have happened, but a few have stood out for one reason or another.
We talked about charity, what it means and the idea of doing something without expecting anything in return. I tried not to focus too much on the 'starving children in Africa' side of things, partly because M is very sensitive about anyone being hurt (although this doesn't translate to his playmobil games!) and can start wailing at the most surprising things (Nanny McPhee was an example yesterday) and partly because I would like him to get hold of the global idea of charity. Obviously this concept will take a while!
'Socialisation'
Aside from the usual playdates and playing at atelier, and being with other kids at football and yoga (am I allowed to say that the yoga teacher thinks he is attentive and responsive and really a great kid? ;) ) we had a sleepover (M and me) and we also went to visit a homeschool family in another canton that we had met about 2 years ago. I expected to stay a couple of hours, but after 8 hours I decided it was probably time to go! S and I chatted about anything and everything, I admired and coveted her vast array of books and resources and M, A and L played with very few hiccups. I think that S enjoyed it, as A is autistic and as a result they find it difficult to go anywhere and meet new people.
We also met up with some friends to go to a time exhibition in the same building as M's atelier, also with a exhibition by Niki de Saint Phalle. Unfortunately, M wasn't feeling very well, and spent most of the time on my lap, but as it is so close, we can go back again.
Other Stuff
M has had a haircut :( We have always left it his choice, but ask him every now and then if he would like one. However, in this case I think that he was influenced by certain members of my family when we visited them. Grrrrr!
There has, as usual, been lots of playmobil playing going on. We really need to have a sort out, although I've been saying that for weeks now, but the amount we have is really ridiculous.
The base ten blocks and pattern blocks have come out and structures made. One day, we might get round to using them for the purpose for which they were made!
Phew! Of course, I've now taken so long to write this that another few days have stacked up, but they will have to come in another post.
Melrose
We had a fab time. It was great to see people again that we haven't seen since the last Kessingland, and also meet new people. For one thing, it means that I don't feel so much of a stalker going round the blog ring now!
I got moulded to one of the kitchen chairs, M spent the whole time off playing, particularly with S, and A was happy. If I'm honest I was more worried about A than any of us, because his laptop is surgically attached to him, but he was happy playing with the kids, doing some washing up (wonders will never cease!) and playing board games (we now own Carcassone).
Atelier
M has continued going to atelier twice a week. He does really enjoy it. I will be sad when he has to stop going in the summer, although he may be able to join on a Wednesday with the kids from ecole enfantine (first two school years) although we will have to think about that, as lots of other activities happen on a Wednesday (school half day).
I've set him a challenge each time to come home with a new French word. Obviously he always forgets until he sees me at the end, and hurriedly asks the monitrice what the first thing he sees in French is. Although last week she was confused she told me as she didn't know what 'poo' was. Just hope that he didn't see one of them lying around!
French
M and I had a meeting with a language school last week, about getting lessons for him. All seemed to be very positive and exciting - until we got the price. I imagine that there are some private schools that would cost less for 6 months, than it would cost us for M to have a 90 minutes lesson once a week for 6 months!
Still, we have another lead for a teacher who got a friends eldest child up to speed for entering school that I am going to contact.
'Educashun'
Amongst other things:
We checked the life of a load of batteries and sorted them into dead and alive.
We went to the supermarket and used their hand held scanners to do the shopping. I also showed M how to weigh all the fruit and veg (making sure he wasn't leaning on the scales whilst doing so!)
We planted some seeds in troughs for the windowsill (lavender, asters, mixed herbs and mixed salad leaves). The salad leaves led into a discussion about doing things for others, as M doesn't like lettuce so wanted to know why he had to plant some!
We read through the Usborne book See Inside Your Body, as a result of a bony cuddle (me having the bony arms, apparently!).
Health
On the evening we arrived back from the UK, M had just gone to bed when we heard a shout. He had managed to get his plastic kaleidoscope stuck on his finger! In the end we had to cut it off (the kaleidoscope, obviously!), but managed to salvage the 'mirrors' and the end of it, so at some point we'll get round to putting it back together again.
Over the winter M's eczema has got worse again, so we've tried him on lactose free milk and yogurts. A definite improvement. It hasn't solved it (the summer will be the true test) but its a start.
Both M and I have had a cough almost all the time since coming back. Its beginning to annoy me somewhat, although M seems to be unfazed by it.
We've all been to the dentist for a checkup and clean. M's teeth were fine, as were A's, but I've had to have a wisdom tooth out and a filling. Hopefully that will be it for me for a while!
Craft
We made some fimo aliens (pics maybe, when I get them off the camera) from a kit from Merry.
We drew a scene for some animal stickers to go into, finding out that we could smudge the felt tip on the photo paper to give different effects.
We also made a stained glass type picture of a bird, adding feathers for a tail to dramatic effect.
Conquistadors are one of M's fascinations (he wants to be one when he grows up!) so we made a Spanish flag for his ship. (Note to self, Christopher Colombus)
I bought M a small hardback book with blank pages, to take with us on the train etc. He has been drawing in it, and then likes to write the name of what he has drawn. We have also done some writing on the whiteboard, either him asking me how to spell something, or I ask him. I think that he has a good idea in his head how things are written and how to split up words, but cannot translate a written word into speech (ie reading). I find the whole thing fascinating.
TV
M has investigated a few more of the Daily Mail DVDs that MIL sent us a while ago, including Black Arrow and Westward Ho. He was interested to know that the same author, Robert Louis Stevenson, had written a couple of them. Maybe I can follow that up by finding out more about the guy.
Tintin is still watched, over and over again.
We also have French TV on in the mornings. There are several English favourites dubbed into French, and M doesn't sit down so much to watch it, but I'm working on an idea of osmosis!
Books
We went to the English storytime session at the local English bookshop. M was definitely more attentive than the others (schooled, you see ;P ) although I was slightly concerned that when we got home he insisted that we could only speak if we raised our hand.
We bought a couple more Magic Tree House books when we were in England. It hadn't occurred to me that there would be an American and British version, so the two new books have a different cover style to the ones we already own, which seems to offend my sense of completeness! Anyway, I have read Night of the Ninjas to him setting off lots of sneaking around play, and also Lions on the Loose (I know, I realise that they are probably best read in order!).
His English and French magazines arrived and they've made good bedtime stories.
Lots of other book reading going on, and I am slowly suggesting that he spell out one word in the story, although he normally does that once and refuses to read the same word in the rest of the story. I guess reading will be another thing that he comes to in his own way.
Discussions
Obviously plenty of these have happened, but a few have stood out for one reason or another.
We talked about charity, what it means and the idea of doing something without expecting anything in return. I tried not to focus too much on the 'starving children in Africa' side of things, partly because M is very sensitive about anyone being hurt (although this doesn't translate to his playmobil games!) and can start wailing at the most surprising things (Nanny McPhee was an example yesterday) and partly because I would like him to get hold of the global idea of charity. Obviously this concept will take a while!
'Socialisation'
Aside from the usual playdates and playing at atelier, and being with other kids at football and yoga (am I allowed to say that the yoga teacher thinks he is attentive and responsive and really a great kid? ;) ) we had a sleepover (M and me) and we also went to visit a homeschool family in another canton that we had met about 2 years ago. I expected to stay a couple of hours, but after 8 hours I decided it was probably time to go! S and I chatted about anything and everything, I admired and coveted her vast array of books and resources and M, A and L played with very few hiccups. I think that S enjoyed it, as A is autistic and as a result they find it difficult to go anywhere and meet new people.
We also met up with some friends to go to a time exhibition in the same building as M's atelier, also with a exhibition by Niki de Saint Phalle. Unfortunately, M wasn't feeling very well, and spent most of the time on my lap, but as it is so close, we can go back again.
Other Stuff
M has had a haircut :( We have always left it his choice, but ask him every now and then if he would like one. However, in this case I think that he was influenced by certain members of my family when we visited them. Grrrrr!
There has, as usual, been lots of playmobil playing going on. We really need to have a sort out, although I've been saying that for weeks now, but the amount we have is really ridiculous.
The base ten blocks and pattern blocks have come out and structures made. One day, we might get round to using them for the purpose for which they were made!
Phew! Of course, I've now taken so long to write this that another few days have stacked up, but they will have to come in another post.
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