Tot-school | Week 6 | Letter FOctober 29, 2016
This week’s tot-school…
…was over in a flash!
This week I’m going to start by admitting my recording chart was rather neglected so the write-up is in large parts a guess based on vague memory and photo evidence. The activities were really varied this week and we deliberately shed away from repeating some of last weeks activities. Fish and frogs were a wonderful theme to work with and we found ourselves revisiting activities throughout the week a lot.
Six weeks in and we’ve noticed a few big changes in the way Adam responds. Firstly he’s much more interested in his wipe clean books and his pen control is obviously improving. His favourite activity is to scribble over a named object or area (eg, feet, eyes etc). His concentration time is still good though he now realises that if requested it, there will be other activities coming so if he’s had enough he states clearly! His placement skills are great and there is real concentration to make sure even the smallest button is central to the circle. These is a visible reduction in time taken modelling an activity to him too. He’s now counting, though he often misses 3,4 and 5 on his way to 10, and his shapes, and colours are improving rapidly.
This weeks read more questions:
Fishing and buttons came out top this week. We played fishing for ages, catching big, medium and large fish, then even huge letter fish too! We grabbed the buttons as an after thought and soon needed to find out our extension do a dot pages because he adored them – after a week absence they were the favourite requested activity.
The paint dabbers definitely didn’t interest him this week, while paint had topped white board markers so far the balance firmly swung round and 3 or 4 dabs was the most one sheet saw before he rejected it.
Tot-school is optional, sometimes I try and entice him to the table and he refuses, so I quit and try again later. Other times we move activities to the floor, sometimes we do totschool before bath in the evening, other times we pull out yesterdays activities in the morning before nap. Occasionally we skip altogether, like last week on Tuesday, totschool is just structured play, and play should never be a chore!
Appreciate updateOctober 25, 2016
So back in January I chose a word for the year, and that was Appreciate.
It was a word that would change my perspective.
It was a world that would push my comfort.
and it was a word that would expose that which was ugly.
Mid way through I learnt it’s the art of treasuring, the point of recognition, the mild mannered admiration… in it’s truest form it’s a gentle prompt to show love.
But right now it feels more of a harsh command, a heavy burden, a bright light showing only grime.
That push to appreciate erodes pessimism, negativity and judgement with a sandblaster.
Three big traps that I know so intimately.
I fell backwards to find this. I joined a group about raising kids in a more liberal christian way, a group whose definition of Christianity was broader and more encompassing than many I’ve found. There I found pain and sorrow, hearts broken from years of misguided indoctrination and a yearning to find a way of parenting authentically in light of their faith. It’s a beautiful group. But I also saw bucket loads of negativity, bitterness and quick judgement. I saw echos of my self righteous teen self and cringed as people tore strips off statements whose heart was not so far from their own. And as I went to unsubscribe the appreciate word hit. For in the midst of my own perspective I was just as unappreciative of that meandering faith journey as those I criticised. In the midst of their muddle and maddening words they too were struggling to place their faith in a context they had not seen it in before. Indeed this new expression of faith was a whole new culture to some, just as odd as leaving home for a new land. The signs were clear as I stared the familiar bitter walls of the trap I too had come to lay in.
To appreciate is tough. It’s a beautiful word of hope, a delightful word of gratitude, a reminder to count our luxuries, not just our scars, and a challenge to lay aside the bitterness for an exposed heart willing to be changed.
Tot-school | Week 5 | Letter EOctober 23, 2016
This week’s tot-school…
…was a short burst of creativity!
This week we did 4 days of totschool. Mummy and Daddy spent Tuesday shopping for Birthday presents so weren’t about and the week ended with a special party on Saturday night in a soft play place – it was great fun. Adam received lots of gifts from friends and family and though none were totschool specific I’m sure a few will creep into our learning time.
Meanwhile, we looked at the letter ‘E’ and let our creativity shine. This week we abandoned a lot of the pieces we’d started out using and replaced them with more tactile items. It felt very creative this week and I felt like we’ve found a place between the structure and exposure where we are all have fun. With a busy week we didn’t always hit schedule and some days were much shorter sessions because they didn’t take place until evening.
This weeks read more questions:
This is the most asked question I get… and I always answer with a plain ‘no’. Totschool, for us, is about expanding Adam’s English vocabulary not as a way to teach him new words in his second language. We are very much concentrating on getting him to speak English first because once he leaves the house he’ll be in a Serbian world so we are not worried about him picking up that later.
It would be foolish to give the impression that this is all free, everything comes at a cost, but we’ve kept it really rather low. I’ve decided if I find a great whole alphabet pack I’ll consider supporting the people who make it, especially if they give some away free, even so I’ve splurged less than £20 so far. We have bought odd bits like a white board eraser and extra rice and laminating pouches, and the printer ink will probably need a top up soon too.
This often gets asked too, and for us at the moment nursery isn’t essential. I also believe that nursery isn’t necessary for kids that this age. We have 2 parents working from home, we have space to play and a good number of toys. Having worked in nurseries in the UK I’m probably more picky about who I leave my child with and the policies here are much more relaxed than UK nurseries. Nurseries here tend to have quite a long day of around 7 hours, there is no half way point, no playgroup for 3 hours or similar, and I don’t like the idea of Adam spending 35 hours a week apart from us.