Easy daffodil garland

Pinterest is awesome but some of the crafts on there go rather beyond the capability of my three year old and I.  We attempted handprint daffodils the other day and got something more like a daffodil coloured massacre in paint.  Maybe we should submit it to the Tate Modern as some kind of abstract masterpiece.  Or maybe not.  Anyhow, I decided of late that it would be nice if we could decorate for Spring/Easter and that some kind of daffodil bunting or garland would be just the ticket.  Joey is really the only one of my boys who is terribly enthusiastic about crafts (TERRIBLY enthusiastic if you know what I mean) so with our joint limitations in mind I decided to design my own based on the resources we had available.  And should any of you internet lovelies be quite as challenged as we are when it comes to the cutting and sticking business, I have uploaded our step by step photos below. Enjoy! 

I drew a vague daffodil shape on yellow felt.

I cut it out.  This could have been done by an older child but Joey's scissor skills aren't quite that 

developed just yet. 

 I drew daffodil leaves on green foam and cut them out too.

 I tore up lots of orange tissue paper which Joey scrunched up and stuck in the centre of the 

daffodil to represent its trumpet 

He also stuck the leaves to the back of each daffodil.

I threaded each one onto green wool, using an embroidery needle.

I hung up our lovely garland and basked in the joys of spring.

Happy Crafting.

Jo x

More Autumn

The view from my back door is telling me that autumn is well and truly here.  What a glorious riot of colour greets me as I work in my kitchen each morning!

 

 

If you read my last post you'll know that I've been trying to loosely implement some Waldorf ideas into our unschooling life.  One of the ways I do this is to seek activities from the brilliant Hawthorn Press series of Waldorf through the year books.  Today I sought inspiration from 'All Year Round' and decided to spend some one to one time with my second son making a Harvest loaf.  It is an activity that should really be done at Michaelmas so we were a little late but we still thoroughly enjoyed it.  The whole recipe is based around an embellished tale of St Michael from the Bible.  It was great fun and provided a much needed meaningful time together.

 

 

The bread turned out really well.

 

It was especially tasty with butter. 

 

Everyone seemed to enjoy it.

 

 

Jo was particularly chilled out whilst eating his.

 

So much so that he fell asleep on a kitchen chair.  Too cute

 

I also tried playing some simple harvest tunes from the book and getting the children to join in but ,alas, it seems that my boys are not for singing.  Oh well I'll sing anyway.

 

You can find out what else we've been doing today at

 

http://learningwithusborne.blogspot.co.uk/

 

Enjoy this beautiful season. x

 

Jo

 

Unschooling Rhythm

I love unschooling.  I love that the children are free to learn what they choose, when they choose to learn it.  And it happens most unexpectedly.  One minute you'll be overseeing a game of Lego and the next you'll be reading a book about threatened species and discussing climate change.  It's fascinating.  I do find, however, that I need a little routine in my life, and that I crave to move with the rhythm of the earth,... with it's days and months and seasons.   I've always loved the Waldorf approach to seasonal and natural living, though for a while had abandoned it because all my boys wanted was Lego and Horrible Histories with a good serving of Minecraft on the side.  Life got a bit chaotic, though, and felt rather aimless and a little housebound.  As a result of this I decided to make changes to our routine.  To add more focus upon the rhythm of days and seasons.  To get out into the outdoors a little more and leave technology behind us for a while.  And so, whilst we are still unschooling, we are doing it alongside, and sometimes within, a loose framework of celebrating the earth's movement through time.  This week that has included lots of time in the outdoors, looking at how the earth is changing in our new season, being thankful to God for the bounteous plenty we have in this part of the world, considering those who have less, and using that bounty in our cooking and artwork.  Here are some pictures from our Autumn journey so far.  I hope you enjoy them.

Lego Duplo Busy Bag - Free Printables

I have recently been investing some time in creating busy bags for my almost three year old.  He is particularly fond of Duplo so I thought I would make him a set of Duplo patterns like the ones featured on this blog  http://allourdays.com/2012/10/legoduplo-building-inspiration-busy-bag-activity-bag.html .  I didn't quite have the pieces needed for the featured patterns so I made my own with the bricks that I had available.  We have LOTS of Duplo so I decided to keep the pieces and patterns together in a bag, separate from the main haul.  If you'd like to download my patterns., you can access the pdfs here: http://www.scribd.com/jo_child_1/documents .  Have fun!!

Duplo at Amazon

The Adventures of a Technology Native

Eli is almost three.  One of his favourite things to do in the whole world is play on http://www.starfall.com/.  If you haven't come across it before it's a US phonics site aimed at preschoolers.  We actually pay a subscription to access the additional features of MoreStarfall, which has maths activities, nursery rhymes and stories.  All of the three youngest children use it so it is very good value for us as homeschoolers.

Eli, despite not being able to talk very well yet, can access Starfall completely by himself.  He turns on the computer and accesses the internet.  When the search box appears he types in ST; from there he chooses starfall from the drop down box.  Voila, he's on to his favourite site.  And because of the content of the site, he is able to count and recognise letters, completely untaught by me.

It is so bizarre to think that I learned to read with Peter and Jane, from a book, with the help of my teachers. Here he is, at not yet three, becoming a self-directed learner.  I know that there are dangers on the internet, and we are always vigilant to supervise him.  BUT, there is also great potential.  I think the key is to suspend fear and allow children supervised access within a safe framework.  You could set up their own home page with shortcuts on to specific sites that you are happy with.  Google and ask on places like http://www.mumsnet.com/ which sites other parents recommend,... and then sit back and watch.  You might even learn a thing or two.

Jo x

Not a good day today. Went to a Christian home ed meeting with the boys and they literally bounced off the walls. Feeling rather ineffective as a parent. Why does life have to be so complicated? And why do other people's children always seem so perfect? One very lovely mum complained to me about the lack of behavioural standards at a secular home ed group. Bet she enjoyed spending time with my guys!!!!!!!!!!! I feel like a terrible Christian; surely if I were half decent my kids would be of the cherub faced, hymn singing, craft enthusing, sitting nicely brigade. Instead, after being chastened for some high up, danger of falling shannanigans, my middlest proudly announced that actually mummy it didn't matter 'cos he is Superman and if he fell he would just fly back up. AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Not just cheeky but worldly too; excommunicate us now!