mamaUK

Change

Things are shifting here. Change is afoot.

The letter has arrived saying Little L has been offered her school place at her sister's school ready for  September.

Since recently turning four, Little L seems to have, quite suddenly, grown up. It's caught me unawares, knocked the breath out of me. The tantrums have disappeared. New qualities seems to be blossoming. She's  my sensible little girl when she's out scooting, checking each driveway for cars reversing out as she scoots past, ahead of me. Leaving me behind. Oh, how hard that is for a mama to accept and come to terms with. Over the coming months, there will be a few tears shed, of that I am sure.

There is a new awareness shining from her, she seems stronger, both physically and emotionally. In the school playground while we wait for Miss K to come out of school to walk her home, Little L rarely left my side. Now, she is running off, racing and twirling with a new found confidence which I think has even taken her by surprise. She will ask, 'Mama, can I go?' with a slight look of wonder on her face. Other mothers have commented, noticing my girl who is known for being as quiet as a mouse, blossom as she stretches her arms out far, exploring her new world, finding new freedoms and boundaries and where they both begin and end. She stood on tippy toe outside Miss K's classroom yesterday, peering in, catching a glimpse of her future. She's standing on the bridge between home and school. I feel like calling her back, I'm not ready for her to go yet, but it's almost time. I must let her go. These last few months will crumble into weeks and then days and I will find myself hugging her and waving to her as she steps into the classroom. Please know Little L, that my goodbye will hold so much love and a wish for courage to carry you through your days. I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines. I'll always be here for you, just a bit further away.

Structured activity and meaningful work for the school age child.

During the holidays, sometimes it's hard finding the right daily rhythm for an older child, especially when they're used to the structure of a school day and they watch minimal TV in the home. I've come to learn that Miss K definitely missed the structured time that school brings. As well as plenty of time for free, independent play, I found she really needed some 'structured' time too. We found ourselves calling this 'table time' for Miss K. She likes to be set up with worksheet at the level she is working at in school and for me to sit down so we can read it together and figure out what she needs to do to complete it. She liked me to 'mark' her work afterwards and go through it with her. Or she would like me to set up a pre-planned making activity for her to do.
 
Little L would happily play around her while her older sister got on with her 'work'. They were both content. I actually think the separation helped them play joyfully together later on in the day when they came back together again after that period of separation.
 
It reminded me that before a holiday I should take a look at the ages and stages of both my children to see how the time out from school can suit both their needs so I can plan our time together. I need to prepare some activities ahead of time. At age four, I know Little L needs plenty of opportunity for free play, whereas Miss K likes a combination of free, independent play, structured activities and plenty of time for reading as she is a real bookworm. Not forgetting, of course, plenty of outdoor time. Structuring activity for children is a hard balancing act though, as I don't want to structure so much that she becomes reliant on adults for figuring out how she spends her time. I found that suggesting an activity for her first thing in the morning and one later on in the afternoon was a good balance for us. It was a great way to spend time with her independently of her sister, which really seemed to fill her 'love cup'. She might do a creative activity at the table in the morning and then figure out either a Maths or English based work sheet late afternoon when there was some need for quiet.

 

Nichole flagged up this beautiful article about meaningful work for toddlers.I think the older child enjoys being involved in jobs to nurture the home too. Miss K loves to do purposeful work, especially during holidays when time is plentiful. When we were digging the garden together ready for planting vegetables, she said how much she loved to 'work'. She was using a full sized fork to dig over the soil, I could see she felt like she was being really helpful in completing a real life task. Meaningful work is so empowering for children. When she helped me with laundry, she would throw so much energy into the task, she would get excited to collect the right colours and get them into the washing machine, wanting to know which buttons to press to switch it on. During the Spring break from school I've learnt she wants to be busy, involved and part of the home making to help nurture our family life.

Visiting Downton Abbey

Easter at Highclere Castle, the stunning location for the period television drama Downton Abbey! 
Easter egg hunts and Easter bonnet parades, so much Easter goodness!

Creating a nature play kit.

 



When I'm out in nature with the children I like to look for natural play opportunities in our surroundings. How might the children be playful in the natural space they find themselves, even if it's only for an hour? I try to think how a child might like to play.

Visiting Wales a few days ago, we came upon a pure, clean bubbling stream which was an obvious water play opportunity. Its silty bank offered up sand play. Mix the two together and there was mud play! I like to keep a simple nature play kit close at hand to help the children really enjoy being outdoors and associate nature with an opportunity ripe for natural play. In our basic nature play kit we have:
Short handled fishing net
Easy for a child to hold.
Flexible bucket
Perfect for folding up into a pocket. They're great to use on nature walks to collect just about anything. For a younger child they're good for 'filling' and 'dumping' play outdoors. We like Scrunch Buckets.
Spade
Great for digging sand, soil, stones or mud.
Wide necked jam jar
Useful for filling up from the stream or sea and then looking to see what might be in the water. Or filling with water and making a simple posy of flowers with daisies or dandelions.
Little plastic boat
Tied with a long piece of string so it doesn't float off downstream.
Fold up kite
For those days when you find yourselves on the beach or on top of a hill and the wind is blowing.
Small watering can
Children love to fill and empty watering cans!
Complete change of clothing
With a change of clothes for each child there's no need to restrict how muddy or wet they get when they're playing.
Baby wipes
To clean muddy, sandy hands.
Towel
To dry off with. Or sit on.
Plastic shoes or welly boots
 To keep feet safe when wading in water.

I love to see Miss K and Little L being playful in nature!

Free play by the sea

Cei Bach Beach, West Wales

The children found a stream trickling from the cliff, meandering down the sand to the sea. The stream had braided, cutting away a large section of sand. They loved to jump over the water onto their own sand island and pick up handfuls of sand to build castles with their hands.

Really, sometimes the simplest play is the best play of all.