What We've Been Up To

Lots to say, but no time to say it.  So I'll just upload some pics of what we've been up to.

Making her own dinosaur book

Typing on the computer using Word (bit hard to see, but she has copied the word "Compsognathus" - a type of dinosaur).  This was all her own idea.

Making dinosaur scenes out of construction paper and dinosaur foam stickers (great activity thought up on the fly by mother desperately trying to get dinner ready for hungry child!)

Part of birthday haul (yes - now we are three!)

Sleeping (rare, so photographic evidence was required)

Doing some experiments with motors and colours (parts came from a kit we bought at Scitech, which will be explored in more detail once we have moved)

Playing at the park

Writing our first word (oviraptor - a type of dinosaur.  Surprise, surprise!)

Helping Daddy wash the deck and patio

It's so much fun being 3!

Hatching A Dinosaur Egg

It appears penguins have taken...well...a bit of a backseat, since our visit to the Dinosaur puppet show the other day (which incidentally was amazingly good!).

Part of this is due to the painstakingly drawn-out excitement of hatching our very own dinosaur egg.

Please enjoy the following pictorial examination of the process:

Emerging the egg in water

(Note that the instructions then said to wait 12-24 hours for it to fully hatch.  With a 2 year old constantly hanging over it, asking "Is it hatching yet???")

The first crack appears (approximately 28 hours later)

It was at this point that the egg received the first of what can only be termed "invasive birth intervention" by the aforementioned 2 year old impatient dinosaur obstetrician:

Shortly thereafter:

One baby Muttaburrasaurus, a uniquely Australian dinosaur - although since Australia was nowhere near where it is today at the time when this lovely little vegetarian roamed the earth, perhaps our claim to him is a bit on the idealistic side.  Either way, he is a bit cute, and I'm happy he's ours.

Here was Muttaburrasaurus today, playing in some snow with his other dinosaur friends Stegosaurus, Velociraptor (don't ask), Spinosaurus and Baby Triceratops:

Note also at this point that the instructions required baby Muttaburra to stay submerged in his water bath for SEVEN DAYS to reach his full size. 

Niamh enjoyed the process so much - and the puppet show - that her daddy is taking her back tomorrow to see it all over again.  She has already announced her intentions to return with a blue egg this time...oh, and a green one...and the other egg the colour of which she has forgotten...

I love her new interest in dinosaurs.  And what a lovely unschooling week we've had, learning all about them!

If you'd like to learn more about Muttaburrasaurus, you can find out all about it HERE .

Long Time, No See

Phew.  It's been a while since I've updated here, hasn't it?  I'd love to be able to report that so much has happened.  But really, life has just chugged along its fairly familiar path, as it so often is apt to do while leaving us feeling busy, swamped and plain worn out - despite the fact that, upon reflection, we really have nothing to show for ourselves...

 I hope you like the title of this blog.  It came to me as one of those unnoticed idioms which you dismiss as a superficial attempt at humour, but only afterwards realise your brain was actually trying to send you a message.  But we'll get back to that in a minute...

We have been doing a lot of soul-searching lately, on a lot of subjects.  Top of the list is currently the kind of life we want for our beautiful daughter. You see, for a long time, I didn't see.  Well, I thought I saw.  Don't we all?  The part of me that likes to be right (which is, let's face it, the most ME part of me), was pretty convinced that what I was looking at was the whole picture.  You know, kind of like looking through a window from a short distance away...you might see open fields and clear skies and think, "I see the world out there," but really, you're only seeing a small piece of an infinitely larger reality - a chunk, a 'glimpse' as those in real estate like to put it (and we all know what that means when we read it, right!).  What you're really seeing, frankly, is a hell of a lot of wall and glass and, if you're lucky, a splash of colour which, in time, you may come to call "the whole world," because you've forgotten that any more of it exists than what you can see.  (Seeing is believing, anyone?)

As so many adults do (and have been trained since childhood to do), I mistook the view for the destination.  I wanted so much to believe in that view, too, because hell, it was the ONLY view, after all.  When you're faced with so much wall, a window is a lovely thing.  A refreshing possibility...the potential for a greater existence.

For a long time, I have loved the window.  Justifiably so.  It is easy to lose oneself in a beautiful view.  Windows offer potential, too.  The view itself can prompt much discussion, thought and planning.  It can take you in directions you hadn't previously planned.  Nothing better than a glimpse of what lies just over there to interest you enough to want to start a journey...to get you up out of your chair and really study the view.

The great thing about windows (I'm going to run with this theme today...I like it a lot!) is that they offer more than just a pretty prospect.  They let in light.  You can open them up and breathe clean, sweet air...air that fills you up and cleanses your mind and smells of things you never dreamed existed.  And if you only dare poke your head outside...wow!  What a world!  What a universe!  And all that is required to explore it is to pluck up the courage to unlock that big, imposing door and take your first tentative steps forward.

And in that spirit, and with all the hopes, fears and excitement of explorers in a brilliant new land, so we have taken our first tentative steps into the world Radical Unschooling.  Already, it feels so right that I wonder why I was ever content with just the window.

Long time, no see.

But the view is SO worth the wait!

Process, Not Perfection

One of the things I really love about most natural learning methods, and in particular the Montessori method, is the focus on process, rather than perfection.  Too often we expect kids to just "get it" first try - to master a task to perfection without really coming to understand the whole of it...and that, at least to my way of thinking, is the opposite of how learning should work.  A lot of it stems from impatience - on our part, and on theirs.  This is a world driven by instant results, and children pick up on that very early in their development, like the little social sponges they are.

Natural learning methods, like Montessori, Unschooling and Waldorf are like a peaceful breath of sweet, mountain air.  The child sees the world stretching out before their feet and can explore it at their leisure.  They can touch it, taste it, smell it...manipulate it into something that makes sense to them.  No one is telling them to be perfect, to get it right, to be the best...to finish it now.  They are truly liberated, and in so being may move forward purposefully and with curiosity that is self-driven and self-rewarding.  They want to learn.  They want to understand...not because someone is forcing them to pass a test at the end of it, but because learning has become such an intrinsic part of their living that it is impossible to separate from their being.  How can you argue with that?

Children don't always want us to butt in.  They don't always want their mistakes highlighted.  Do you?  I know I don't!  Children don't always want our help.  This has been one of the toughest things for me to handle, because I am...basically...a control freak.  I admit it, freely.  I like things to work.  I like them to be right.  I feel...anxious when I see things going wrong. When I see Niamh not getting things right.  Oh no!  She can't count to thirty?  How will she ever cope with life?!!!  Ahem.  Well, you know what I mean, anyway...

And so it was with utter joy that I watched my beautiful daughter exploring the new activity I made her (inspired by THIS post at Tot School).

Pretty self-explanatory as to how it is meant to work:

I started her off with just 3 to explore, mainly due to space limitations on the table - she couldn't physically reach more than three!

Going pretty well:

And then...the final result...

Yep.  Okay, so it's not 100% wrong.  She did get all the pieces of the pear.  But you know what?  It doesn't matter one bit to me that it's not "right".  The activity wasn't about getting it right, first try.  It was about exploring.  It was about learning that she can twist the pieces different ways.  It was about learning order and disorder.  It was about learning that sometimes, you just get things wrong...and you know what?  That's great!  Because recognising that something isn't right...is exactly right!

Later, she tried a little 25 piece octopus jigsw puzzle.

And how did she go?

Ta-dah!  She was SO pleased with herself, and yelled, "Look, Mama!  I did it!  I did it!  They all fit!"

And that, my friends, is process.  To her, she didn't see the finished picture of the octopus as the goal.  The goal was getting the little pieces to fit together.  And they did.  Exactly the way she wanted them to.

She had so much fun with that puzzle.  She went back to it probably 10 times during the day to play with it.  And each time, she was eager to learn more, and came away happy with her achievements.

And a little later, another go with the fruit puzzle:

She knows it better than I do.  Process doesn't make perfection - it is the perfection we all are seeking.

And perfection tastes pretty good, too.

Colour Is...

Today, Colour is many things.

Colour is painting with bath paint:

 There is something...hmm, mama-ish? about me that has so far prevented her from actually using these in the bath.  I remain unable to reconcile getting clean with painting in your bath water.  Also, there are no ingredients listed on the paints, and I am not about to coat my child's skin with whatever is in those paints.  Yes, they are made for children...but there is nothing on the labelling which says "non-toxic."  So I shall remain a meanie, and confine her to using them on paper.  Which she loved, anyway.  (Just don't tell her they're meant for the bath...)

Colour is finger painting:

Not a huge hit.  It appears she can tolerate play dough on her hands, but not yet finger paints.  Ah well.  We have taken the first step, anyway...

Colour is stamping with sponges:

Colour is choosing our clothes for the day, all by ourselves:

Colour is sliding on a red slide:

And colour is riding on a red and yellow horse:

Colour is swinging in the cool air beneath a blue sky:

Sometimes, colour is just sitting and watching the world go by:

All in all, a colourful day.

Oh, and I solved our snack station problem.  An old bedside table, with drawers to keep the snacks safely away from the dogs:

She used it several times today to get out her own bowl, knife and snack, which she then took to her table to prepare.  So it works!  And I noticed she already remembers to go and close the drawer.

Sunny Sundays

Welcome back to Colour Month.  No rants today, I promise :)

The brunt of today's colour took place at the park, sans camera, which we forgot to bring along.  But I thought I'd share a few activities Niamh undertook today during those brief moments where she was actually inside.

A little fine motor activity - putting different-sized objects into a container (the buttons are tricky, because she has to twist them the right way for them to fit):

What happens when you let adults loose with play dough:

We did try to share with Niamh, I promise.

A little later, Niamh asked to cut up her own snack.  Brilliant!  A perfect Montessori opportunity.  She had been asking about knives earlier, after sitting on the bench next to the knife block while we dried the dishes.  I showed her the parts of the knives and yes, I let her handle them very carefully.  I think it piqued her interest in knife-handling, because she hasn't really been interested in cutting jobs up until now.  So, following Maria Montessori's "Follow The Child" philosophy, we set her up with a mushroom and a butter knife and away she went.  Here's how a nearly 2 year old uses a knife:

As you can see, she is being closely supervised, but she is managing very well on her own.  She then asked for some crackers and dip.  Here she is, using the knife to make her own snack of mushroom, hommus and crackers:

Using the knife to get dip from her bowl:

I love, love, love the concentration on her face.  She is utterly absorbed in her task.  Don't you just love those wonderful learning moments?  She was so proud at her own independence and her achievements.

Tomorrow, I think I will set her up with her own little "snack station" - something I've avoided until now, mainly due to the dogs being able to get at anything I put at her level.  I think I might have come up with a solution, though, so...we'll see.

In closing for today, I would like to thank you all for reading so far and for joining us on our journey.  I finally figured out how to check my stats, and I am thrilled to bits to see I have visitors from the USA, UK, Turkey, Belgium and even Lithuania!  You are all so welcome.  Thank you for coming!

Colour and Light

You know what?  I'm loving Colour Month.  We managed to pack quite a bit of colour into today, and all of it fun.

First, a little glance backwards at last night's activity - invented by Daddy (okay, well, probably not invented by Daddy, but certainly suggested by Daddy and agreed to by the rest of us).  Balloon rockets!  We have long-since introduced our balloon-obsessed child to the fun of blowing up balloons and letting them go so they fly crazily around the room.  But last night, Daddy came up with the idea of taping the balloon to a piece of straw, which we then threaded through with some string tied between two chairs.  The aim was to force the balloon to rocket along the string as the air came out the opening:

 Our balloon rocket tended to fly around the string in wild circles - which admittedly was just as much fun, or possibly more, than having it go straight.  Perhaps next time, we will make the string shorter - or weight down the underside of the balloon.  Either way, it was a fun pre-bedtime activity!

Today started with our usual inspection of the vegie patch.  We have broccoli!

 And peas!

 Niamh made short work of some pea stalks and freshly-pulled carrots for breakfast:

Then, she decided to tackle a little Montessori-inspired tonging job I made for her a while ago.  I hadn't really intended for her to also sort the different items out into separate bowls (I just thought it would be more fun to have some different things to practice picking up with the tongs), but she did anyway:

You can see in this picture that she has already separated out the little purple pompoms from the buttons and beads.  Here's another, showing her progress (she had switched to using her fingers at this point, which is fine, too, because the small size of the beads etc require her to practice her pincer grip):

A bit later (though you'll notice still in our PJs, cough, cough), Mama got her act together enough to make some of that most thrilling of childhood play-stuffs - play dough!!  I should have thought of it earlier, but I admit it had fallen off the radar because Niamh is a bit...well, let's just say "thingy" about having dirt on her hands.  (I can't say "neat freak" because I have only to look at her play area to know otherwise.  And also, she is MY child, so neatness is not her in her genes.  But she definitely likes clean hands!)  Anyway, I was reminded this morning of the joys of play dough by another wise mother, so I thought today might as well be the day.  The recipe, by the way, can be found HERE.  It has a really soft consistency once you start working with it, and I will definitely be using it again.  I made half the quantity, and added the colouring at the end, once I had divided the dough into four.  It made for a nice, marbled effect in the dough, until you worked the colours through by squishing it.

So, how did my non-sticky-hands-loving daughter like her play dough?  I'll let these photos speak for themselves.  Making play-dough biscuits:

Squish it up!

Making a rainbow serpent (you can see it in front of her):

Using a child-sized rolling pin to make some pancakes:

All in all, I think we spent nearly 3 hours just playing with play-dough.  How old must I have been the last time I did that, I wonder?  And more importantly, why haven't I done it sooner?!  It was so much fun.  And you know the best part - that lovely, nostalgic play-dough smell!  Boy, did it take me back.  It's amazing how powerful the sense of smell is when it comes to triggering memories.  I so hope Niamh made some happy, happy memories today.

A bit later, it was time to bake.  I had been promising Niamh for a few days that we would make more cupcakes, after she enjoyed helping me with the last batch so much.  So I asked her, "What kind of cupcakes would you like to make?"  Silly Mama.  I thought she'd say, "Chocolate."  Or heck, even, "Plain."  No.  My child says, "Purple cupcakes."

Hmm.  As it turned out, she only wanted the outside to be purple.  The insides had to be yellow.  (Hello vanilla!)  But they had to have sprinkles.  And crunchy balls (aka cashous).  Hello Colour Month!

I didn't have enough hands to take photos of her cracking the eggs, helping me chop up the butter or pour out the sugar.  I definitely didn't have hands free to take photos of her doing the old patented, "one for you, one for me" routine with Fionn the dog and the spoon she was supposed to be using to get the batter into the patty pans.

Here's how they turned out (not purple enough, really - I'm a bit disappointed):

And here's how my kitchen turned out:

In case you are wondering - as one friend put it this afternoon - whether or not I have the patience of a saint...no, I do not.  I'm afraid I drew the line at the icing stage when she refused to stop shoving fistfuls of sprinkles and cashous into her mouth, and then back ONTO the cupcakes, and evicted her from my kitchen.  She didn't care.  She had already consumed enough cashous to fuel a small country, and was away to burn it all off.

Luckily Daddy was home soon after, and the prospect of an early birthday package gave her some focus. We have been desperate for a table for her play area for some time now, so it was a nice surprise when Farmor's present arrived at the door.  Here she is, helping Daddy put it together:

Using an allen key:

And using the table for the first time!:

Thank you, Farmor.

Phew.  What a day.  And as all perfect days should, it ended, not with darkness, but with light: