On the up

I think it is fair to say I have found the past couple of days difficult. The enthusiasm (mine and the girls) just hasn't been there but I think we turned a corner today. Hopefully we are back on track now.

We started with a new word board. Hermione struggled a little and I had one of those, 'oh no, will my child ever learn to read' panics, but it passed by lunch time and I'm feeling a bit more confident in this respect again now. I have to say, literacy is my big home ed stress.

Madeline went down well today. It is odd how some books grab their attention first time of reading but interest wanes over the course of the week, whereas others, such as Madeline, seem to grow on them. Strange that, not figured out why yet.

We had a recap about symmetry. Hermione is still really taken with colouring symmetrical patterns on gridded paper - and drawing in the line of symmetry of course!

I used the pages with the illustrations of the twelve girls sitting in lines to revise ordinal numbers. Last time we looked at these I thought they were weak but all seemed in order today. Coincidentally we later went on http://www.educationcity.com/start/ (which I am still trying for free having had my ten day free trial extended) and played a maths game about ordinal numbers. I'm not wildly impressed with Education City. I have tried two different levels now and I feel that the jump between one level and the next is too great. We fall between levels and very little seems suited to the stage we are at right now. I will bookmark the site and check it out again further down the line but I doubt we would use it much right now so won't be joining.

Madeline has appendix troubles. We talked about our bodies and did a few activities.

We played a memory game with five laminated cards I had made which each showed things which we need for good health (sleep, good food, fresh air, exercise and water). We placed them all on the table and they took turns taking one away and working out which was missing.

We read a passage about sleep from The Human Body by Kingfisher which talked about the need for sleep, rest repair, growth, sleepwalking etc.

On to food - we need a certain balance of food for good health. Soo had previously stuck a blank pyramid on the playroom wall and printed off photographs of lots of different foods. We talked about the pyramid and then added all the photographs to our blank one on the wall. Both Lily and Hermione grasped the concept quickly.

Quick chat about the need to maintain a certain level of hygiene in order to keep our bodies healthy. Decided to focus in on teeth as I think brushing is often neglected. We decided to do an 'eggsperiment' to try to prove a point. We have placed a hard boiled egg (representing a tooth) in a glass of vinegar (representing food and drink) and if my information is correct within a couple of days the egg shell will have gone all awful, soft and partially dissolved. I hope it does work and I hope it works quickly as it stinks. I'd like to get rid of it as soon as possible.

For lunch we had sandwiches in pain rustique (the Co-op's best). The girls were impressed. We also had crudites which I think they found slightly less impressive but ate all the same. I like it when we manage to adapt our lunches to fit in in some way with our story of the week - even if it is as simple as buying different bread. I think the girls really like it too.

Rainbows started again this afternoon after the Easter break. Hermione seemed to have enjoyed it and reported back that they had played games, heard a story and dug holes in the church yard for rabbits to live in...mmmm????

Decided to chase Badgers up. I have emailed twice for the information and not received it so finally hunted out the telephone number. There is a group close to us with places and both Lily and Hermione start this coming Monday. Let's hope it goes down as well as Rainbows does.

Now thinking we will only get to spend one day on the Vikings before Hermione heads off to the Jorvik Centre. Not sure how best to do this. I read a couple of books on the Vikings in bed last night. Not particularly pleasant bed time reading. She is quite a delicate and easily scared child. Must tread carefully with this one or we may find that she won't go to the Jorvick Centre after all.

Our onions have shoots on. Just remembered I have forgotten to water the beans and squash seeds and now it is dark. The joys of gardening!