A Sea Change into Something Rich and Strange

We've moved... house and blog!

2009-11-29T18:49:00.002Z

After nearly two years, we've finally moved into our new house.

And I (with Wordpress envy!) have a new blog!

Come and see :)

Praying with your children

2009-11-01T13:22:00.002Z

From Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling Series, Vol. 2: Parents and Children, p55

"Nothing could be more suitable and more beautiful than these morning and evening approaches to God, the little children brought to Him by their mothers. And most of us can 'think back' to the hallowing influence of these early prayers. But might not more be done? How many times a day does a mother lift up her heart to God as she goes in and out amongst her children, and they never know! 'Today I talked to them' (a boy and girl of four and five) 'about Rebekah at the well. They were very much interested, especially about Eliezer praying in his heart and the answer coming at once. They said, "How did he pray?" I said, "I often pray in my heart when you know nothing about it. Sometimes you begin to show a naughty spirit, and I pray for you in my heart, and almost directly I find the good spirit comes, and your faces show my prayer is answered." O. stroked my hand and said, "Dear mother, I shall think of that!" Boy looked thoughtful, but didn't speak; but when they were in bed I knelt down to pray for them before leaving them, and when I got up, Boy said, "Mother, God filled my heart with goodness while you prayed for us; and, mother, I will try to-morrow."'

Communing out loud before the Children––Is it possible that the mother could, when alone with her children, occasionally hold this communing out loud, so that the children might grow up in the sense of the presence of God? It would probably be difficult for many mothers to break down the barrier of spiritual reserve in the presence of even their own children. But, could it be done, would it not lead to glad and natural living in the recognised presence of God?"

Granny Weatherwax's parenting wisdom

2009-10-30T15:24:00.003Z

[Granny] was never quite certain about children, thinking of them - when she thought about them at all - as coming somewhere between animals and people. She understood babies. You put milk in one end and kept the other end as clean as possible. Adults were even easier, because they did the feeding and cleaning themselves. But in between was a world of experience that she had never really enquired about. As far as she was aware, you just tried to stop them catching anything fatal and hoped that it would all turn out all right.

Of all the parenting books that I have read (and they're definitely mounting up!), the advice that has stuck in my mind, and that I most turn to when everything seems a bit much (with tiny babies at least), is Granny's musings in Equal Rights (the third Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett) - You put milk in one end and keep the other end as clean as possible.

Just a little bit of moan

2009-08-25T12:33:00.003+01:00

I'm sorry, but I was in tears of frustration earlier, so I think it might do me good to blurt it all out on here. Everything is so insignificant and petty on its own, but taken all together... blurgh.

The baby's due in about 5 weeks. So far, to pretty much everyone who has asked, I've been able to say that the pregnancy has been fine. And it has been, aside from the usual nausea in the first few weeks, and the not-so-usual (for me, anyway) IBS symptoms, sinusitis (I think due to Isobel's continued night feedings until 15 months, and just being really worn out), recurring painful cysts under my arms (once I had stopped feeding her), the baby being in a breech position (not too serious yet) and now the latest - SPD.

Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction - basically the hormone which helps your bones relax in preparation for pregnancy/labour has softened the ligaments in my pelvis too much and caused them to move out of joint. For the last few weeks there has been excruciating pain in the groin area if I try and turn over in bed at night, and now I'm noticing it when I'm up an about, sitting/standing, walking and especially carrying Isobel up stairs. I googled it for the first time this morning, and came up with SPD. I have a midwife appt. Thursday week, so hopefully might get some advice / referred to a physio then.

I'm very grateful that there hasn't been anything serious, or anything the matter with the baby, I just had a bit of a wobble when I was on the phone to Andy this morning explaining my latest pregnancy 'niggle'. But all better now! Chin up, etc. etc. :)

Oh. My. Quiet play disaster.

2009-08-06T13:56:00.003+01:00

For the last couple of weeks Jude has been having quiet play up in his bedroom while Isobel sleeps and I have a lie down. It has been working brilliantly... I'll just have to remember next time not to leave him with black marker pens...

Impressive huh?

Cross Stitch

2009-07-24T19:46:00.003+01:00

My first cross stitch projects. I started these pretty much because a friend of mine jokingly suggested that you can't be a homeschooling mum if you don't do cross stitch. You can't say that kind of thing to me, it just eats away until I succumb! Anyway, I'm very glad she did, because it's just the best thing to do to ease my guilt about the amount of TV I watch.

This is a picture for my god-daughter.

This is for my son.

I had them both framed at extortionate cost, just because after I'd finished them they sat around for months, and I thought because they were my first projects it would be really good just to get them done. Next time I think I'll try more of a DIY approach.

Meme

2009-07-23T18:56:00.002+01:00

Meme from Michelle at Whimsy way… please feel free to play too - tagged!

Accent: none really – should be East London but sounds a bit posher than that. I can’t say “ive” though, it’s always “iff” (i.e. attractiff, positiff) which annoys DH (Andy) no end!

Breakfast or no breakfast: Jonathan Creek put the notion into my head that if I don’t eat 2 weetabix a day my digestive (digestiff) system will be shot. I have since had this for breakfast religiously, and it seems to bear out, although that’s probably psychosomatic!

Chore I don’t care for: ironing – I never do it.

Dog or Cat: Tortoise.

Essential Electronics: Computer. I can even do without a mobile – I only have about 6contacts stored as I lose my phone about once a year.

Favorite Cologne: at the moment I have SJP. Very rarely wear any.

Gold or Silver: I hardly ever wear jewelry, but my engagement and wedding rings are white gold.

Handbag I carry most often: lovely one from Cath Kidston – even more special because I mentioned to Andy that I liked it, and he remembered for my birthday months later.

Insomnia: quite a bit as pregnant at the moment, so can’t get comfy.

Job Title: Housewife and mother (ducks)

Kids: 2 plus one on the way

Living Arrangements: with my parents (argh!). Sold our flat and trying to buy a ramshackle 4 bed house that needs loads doing to it, so will be here until Christmas probably L

Most Admirable Trait: organization I guess. You’d have to ask someone else, I’m horribly aware that I’m a pretty dreadful person!

Naughtiest Childhood Behaviour: another goody-two-shoes here, but once stole a sheet of (probably) “Jesus loves you” stickers from a Christian bookshop when I was in primary school. My parents found it and dragged me back to the shop kicking and screaming to apologise. Have never broken any laws since (ha).

Overnight hospital stays: after giving birth. Only overnight with Isobel, but 4 horrible nights with Jude, did not get one wink of sleep.

Phobias: if Andy is later home than he said he would be it’s about 5 minutes before I’m imagining him dead in a ditch somewhere.

Quote: I like this one from Dickens’ David Copperfield – “Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.”

Reason to smile: Andy and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary this month.

Siblings: one brother, two years younger, who has just moved out of home (and doing well, against all the odds!).

Time I wake up: 7:30ish. I would give anything for it to be earlier, even 7am, but I just can’t do it.

Unusual Talent or Skill: I asked Andy. “Not driving… umm… you’re quite good at historical exams. Umm… you’re fairly fertile. You can eat quite a lot of jelly babies at once.” Thanks hon.

Vegetable I Refuse to Eat: Mushrooms.

Worst Habit: Andy again: “spending too much time blogging. Saying ‘iff’ instead of ‘ive’ [told you!]. Saying “Et” instead of “ate”. You never get out of bed or go to bed. You buy too many books.”

Yummy Stuff: thai food, morning noon and night. Cheese (not boring cheddar).

Zoo Animal I Like Most: watching Jude watch the animals.

Isobel's adventure at A&E

2009-07-23T17:52:00.002+01:00

Poor baby. We had just spent the morning at the park and were walking back to the car. I'd taken her hand because we'd reached the pavement, which she was not very happy about. Isobel kind of turned and pulled away from me, and fell over. I pulled her up by her arm to stop her landing on the pavement, and felt her arm kind of "pop". I thought that something wasn't right, but didn't know whether she was crying out of cross-ness or because her arm hurt. However, Isobel didn't calm down in the car which was unusual, and then when we got home she wasn't able to use her left arm to reach for things (i.e. I offered her a biscuit which she was only able to reach with her left hand, and she couldn't take it) and cried if I touched it.

I left Jude with Mum to have lunch and took Isobel down to A&E. We were seen almost straight away (a miracle!) by a brilliant doctor (from Mauritius, first language French) who made me say exactly what had happened, how, when etc., and then said that it sounded like a classic case of 'pulled elbow'. Apparently babies' elbows are two separate bones, while ours are fused. Isobel's bone had slipped out of joint, and the doctor said all he had to do was twist it back in (ugh!). So poor Isobel sat on my lap and screamed her head off while the doctor pulled her arm about. She was absolutely beside herself, but then, amazingly, a few minutes later was totally back to normal, pointing at things, grabbing toys etc. etc. The doctor said it was very simple, and we were lucky we had him or else would have had to hang round for a few hours waiting for it to be x-rayed! He also gave Isobel a very cute teddy bear which she has yet to put down.

Notes from a magazine

2009-07-15T10:04:00.004+01:00

Just had a magazine cull - Easy Living. I don't buy them very often, but then keep them for ages for an article or two that I want to follow up on. If I bung the info on here, I can get rid of more clutter!

Try out a Mooncup - could save a fortune on tampons (plus help the environment, etc etc - if there happens to be a time in the near future when I'm not pregnant or breastfeeding!). Also I remember on Still Raising the Next Generation reading a post about washable sanitary towels - Claire, where was that post?

Lots of recipes - easy to file, I love the recipe box from Phoenix Trading.

Andy is desperate to get a coffee machine, but just read an article about how to replicate the kind of cup you would get in a coffee bar, you would need to spend about £6000. Ha! They recommend doing it the old fashioned way, with a grinder, nice water, and either a filter, stovetop or cafetiere. Also the websites coffeegeek, Toomuchcoffee and one I found - Coffee Break. Will investigate further - Christmas pressie perhaps?

A funky shopping website - the Shop Floor Project. Not cheap, but very cool with an interesting blog.

Two go to the Cotswolds

2009-07-12T13:17:00.006+01:00

Well, we got away for a wonderful 2 nights and nearly 3 days. Will record highlights (and terrible photos!) here.

First we stopped off for lunch with my uncle and aunt who have recently moved to Cirencester. It was lovely to see them, and also I was very excited because my uncle has a wormery, which I am covetous of. He gave me the Wiggly Wigglers catalogue, which looks brilliant. Is it weird to ask for worms for Christmas?

On the drive down we also spotted up close this huge bird fly out of the trees. It was light brown and striped, with a very distinctive fanned tail. Andy thought it might be a Goshawk, which would be very impressive if so, as they're not that common.

The place we stayed in was the Ragged Cot in Minchinhampton. It was nice, not cheap, but no complaints. The staff were lovely, the food was good and the cheese board that we had after dinner on Thursday was amazing (and with a sip of port as well!).

Friday we went to Bourton on the Water, the Roman Museum in Cirencester (Corinium), which was interesting, but the highlight of the day was finding the Twelve Bells Pub in Lewis Lane, Cirencester. We got a newspaper and I treated myself to Grazia (I love reading celeb mags but never buy them) and settled in for the evening. The food was delicious and cheap, and the pub had lots of small, quirky rooms so it was easy to find a quiet spot.

The Brum Museum at Bourton on the Water.

Cirencester

Andy as a Roman Soldier.

The WH Smiths in Cirencester!

Saturday we checked out and wandered round Cirencester again - we found a great furniture shop called The Wendy House, somewhere we'll definitely check out again when we have a house! We then headed off to Burford for lunch, and fortunately enough the Cotswolds Food and Drink festival was being held there! So we looked round all the stalls, made a good free lunch from tasting lots of food, and bought local honey, lots of beer, cheese, and ice cream. Lovely. We also spent a while in a church hall having a free art lesson which was fantastic.

Parking in a ditch in Burford. When we left we took half the field with us in our car doors!

Burford.

I think this is a female mallard, but some of them had really unusual markings - white collars and white speckled chests.

So, yeah! All good :)

DVD recommendations

2009-07-08T13:22:00.003+01:00

We don't have a TV (at least not one connected to the outside world), the reason being that when I sit down to watch telly, I am capable of being there for hours. And hours. I felt bad about it, but it kind of came to a head when Jude was first born and, waking from a nap in his cot, I would think, 'hang on, I'll come and get you as soon as Neighbours is finished'. Ugh. And so my amazing husband (who admittedly probably wouldn't be so amenable if my parents, a couple of roads away, didn't have Virgin and Vplus!) very graciously let me cancel our TV licence in 2006. And I think we would both say that we don't miss it in the slightest, except that we now buy and borrow a LOT of DVDs. I'm more than capable of sitting down and watching hours in one go, but at least there is slightly more semblance of control.

Anyway, at the moment I am just LOVING watching The West Wing and The American Office. They're warm, funny, clever, interesting and engaging; I can watch them with any family member without worrying about the content, and as I now sit and do needle work I don't feel like I'm wasting my time and my life by watching them.

I have to say that I don't rate Season One of the "American" Office at all - one from that season was the first episode I watched, and it didn't compare with the original at all. However, fortunately a couple of friends convinced us to give the later seasons a try, and in doing its own thing the programme really takes off, and in many ways (don't shoot me!) I think it's slightly superior to the original (all the characters are more likable for one thing, they are much more expanded on and I just generally have a better time watching it than squirming at Ricky Gervais!).

Isobel's first tooth - finally!

2009-07-02T12:43:00.004+01:00

Oh my goodness, this was a long time coming! You can just about see Isobel's bottom left tooth just coming through - at 15 months! That was a couple of weeks ago actually, she has 4 now which have arrived pretty quickly.

I thought Jude was late getting his first at 9 months. I should be pleased really because up until a couple of weeks ago I was still breastfeeding her. Also, it hasn't stopped her eating pretty much everything (apart from maybe raw carrot), I guess because her teeth are just covered with a layer of skin and they're still very hard. But - it's impossible not to worry!

Sleep Training Isobel

2009-06-20T15:13:00.003+01:00

I love her. I really do. But I realised recently, after having a cold / sinusitis / headaches etc for about a month, that being 6 months pregnant and breastfeeding a 15 month old back to sleep serveral times during the night was doing my body no favours.

Isobel had never slept through the night since she was born. There were a few times when we considered trying to do something about it, but a really nasty bout of chicken pox and moving in with my parents meant there was never a good time to start. (Jude had been sleeping through himself since 5 months old, so we had no experience with a baby who wasn't an angel sleeper!). Then Andy, bless him, decided that we needed a weekend away just the two of us before our third child is born in September, and went and booked a B&B in the Cotswolds. That, coupled with me feeling so rough, meant the time had come!

I really did like nursing Isobel and feel pleased that we got to 15 months, but she didn't seem interested in it too much during the day any more - first thing and last thing it was just a few seconds each side, and then she was done. But at night she would wake at least 2 or 3 times and it would feel like ages, and then sometimes she would be unsettled again afterwards. So two Mondays ago (8th June) I decided that when she woke up I would offer her a drink and a cuddle, but not breastfeed her. I didn't want to leave her to cry (that wasn't really an option anyway, as we were staying with my parents and there were 5 other adults in the house).

What happened: First night (Monday) - I fed her what turned out to be her last breastfeed before she went to bed. Isobel woke up at around 11pm-ish and took 2 and a half hours to settle back to sleep. Most of the time she wasn't crying, as long as I held her (which I did). I sang to her, and slept on the floor by her cot, so when she started stirring I could calm her straight away. Then I was up for another hour in the early hours of the morning, doing the same thing.

Second night - same as above, but only for one session of an hour. Third night she woke up three times, but only took 5 minutes to settle back to sleep again with cuddles and stroking. I think I have had around 4 nights of uninterrupted sleep since we started this (which have been amazing), but if she does wake up it's normally only a couple of minutes to settle her, and both Andy and I have been doing it. If she's more upset it's probably something like teething.

She never once accepted a drink or anything when she did wake and she didn't really root either - all she seemed to want was for me to be there. I was providing this through breastfeeding but Isobel seems just as content for me to hold, stroke or talk to her and accepts the substitute happily. It was awful the first night, and if it hadn't got better I probably couldn't have gone through with it, but she slept so much better so quickly (and without leaving her to cry!) that I'm so pleased we did it. Cotswolds here we come!

(Until no. 3 arrives of course!)

Star Trek the Movie 2009

2009-06-20T11:10:00.009+01:00

On Wednesday I had a bizarre "pregnancy craving" - I was just desperate to go to the cinema! It was like that was the only possible thing I could consider doing that evening. It was 7:30pm, the kids were in bed and I really wanted to see Star Trek. Fortunately it was Orange Wednesday, Andy didn't take that much convincing (he thought it would be "rubbish", but it's not often I insist we leave the house so he was quite pleased really), so off we went.

It was brilliant. I loved every second of it. And even Andy, who apparently has never seen Star Trek in his life and considers it the realm of geeks, nerds and klingon speakers really enjoyed himself. But I realised that the experience I had was one you wouldn't be able to pay for.

I'd grown up watching the original Star Trek(not so much the later spin offs), and it was so much fun seeing characters that you'd known in your childhood reinvented and brought to life again. Eddie Izzard has a Star Trek sketch in Unrepeatablewhere he says that the characters had become bigger than the actors that played them. So it didn't matter one jot that it wasn't Shatner or Nimoy, and was fantastic when you realised... "oh, oh there's Sulu! and CHEKOV... and SCOTTIE!" I'm really not sure that it would be the same with another childhood programme, such as The A-Team. I can imagine it would not be the same ("well, that's not BA... that's not Face!"), but Star Trek just seemed to really work.

Highly recommended - even if you haven't seen the original series, but definitely if you have!

Image used courtesy of Diane Krauss at Wikimedia Commons.

Housework and Early Learning

2009-06-04T22:04:00.002+01:00

Please check out my latest posts on notatschool.today.com:

Leave learning until later! Teaching reading, writing and spelling

and

Organize your home with 5 of the best from Flylady

See you there!

Organizing and Art Appreciation with Preschoolers

2009-06-02T16:32:00.003+01:00

In the name of trying to be vaguely organised I'm moving some of my 'homeschooling' posts from this blog to Not at School. So apologies if you've visit there and read something that seems very familiar!

Today's post - Art Appreciation with Preschoolers and Up

Charlotte Mason Habit Quotes

2009-06-01T15:14:00.001+01:00

Charlotte Mason Habit Quotes here

Habit training with young children and babies

2009-06-01T12:56:00.002+01:00

Read about what I'm doing (trying to do!) with Jude and Isobel HERE

Counting, Continents and the game of Risk

2009-05-30T13:40:00.001+01:00

Jude (age 3) and I had a good time this morning playing Risk! - HERE

Our new house! (Fingers crossed)

2009-05-29T15:56:00.005+01:00

I'm fed up with me going on about this blasted move, so I know everyone else around me must be too! But, for those interested (hi Sarah!) here are some photos of our potential new house.

This will be the kitchen

Reception room 1

Reception room 2

Kids' bedroom (ho ho)

Main bedroom

Box room

Bedroom 2

Bathroom

Garden

Obviously needs a slight bit of work doing to it (!) but can't wait to get stuck in :)

Organize your homeschool (and your life!)

2009-05-29T12:03:00.001+01:00

Organize your homeschool - and your life - HERE!

Customize your blog

2009-05-29T12:02:00.001+01:00

Customize your blog - HERE

Project Pocket Money

2009-05-28T11:20:00.002+01:00

We're about to take on (hopefully) a big mortgage. A BIG one, almost double what we have at the moment. I think it will be ok, and it will certainly be amazing to get the house that we are after, but I'm a teensy bit worried. And this has spurred me on to go back to finding ways that I can make a bit of extra pocket money (or book money, as it probably will be!) to help us out a little bit when we do move.

Since Jude was born I have done a few things - set up my own small business adverting / community magazine, worked one day a week as a secretary, joined Phoenix Trading, joined various survey sites. All these I will try and write more about, but I also wanted to blog about Today.com.

I just found out about this site yesterday - apparently you can blog about anything, and you get paid a tiny amount if people visit your site, but if they like your blog then you can become a VIP blogger on $1 per post. Not much, but definitely 'pocket money'!

Here's my blog on there: http://notatschool.today.com

I have been meaning to blog more as there's loads of things I want to share, but I've definitely been lacking motivation, especially with the move, and being pregnant, and a big bout of illness recently (chicken pox then sinusitis). So this might be a bit of a boost.

I will still keep this as my main blog, I think, as today.com is quite restrictive, but the plan is to post short, pithy, helpful, relevant (ha - I wish!) posts on there each day, which I will then link to from this site. If it's not too much bother, and if you fancy moosying over to have a look, I would very much appreciate it!

BTW, if you want to sign up for a completely free blog on today.com, here's my affiliate link: http://www.today.com/ctr.cgi?idx_mem=18744&mode=vip

May these madcap schemes come to something! :)

Freecycle: The Rug

2009-05-03T13:44:00.001+01:00

I've been a member of Freecycle for ages, but took myself off the list a little while ago as I just couldn't deal with the number of emails I got. Also, although it was a good and glowing means of getting rid of stuff (for instance an old breadmaker that wasn't non-stick any more, a fridge freezer combo where the freezer was too small for us, etc) the stuff I actually managed to bag for myself often turned out to be less than useful - a broken sewing machine that I never got fixed, a bag of computer books that I thought would sell on eBay but never got round to, a computer desk that Andy hated!

Anyway, I thought with the move I would sign myself up again, just to be prepared for when the time came when we actually had the house. I actually thought of the nifty trick of not just signing up for the Freecycle group for my borough, but for the surrounding ones as well, which are only a few minutes drive away by car. So I'm actually now a member of 4 groups.

Of course I wasn't going to succumbe to actually "bidding" for any of the items yet, oh no. Ha! Unfortunately this lovely rug came up and I couldn't resist. Jane, who was offering it, had linked to the Ikea site and it's always good when you can see a pic of what you're getting. £146 new as well! I thought it would be good as we will eventually want to replace all the carpets in the Greenish house and this would be a good stop-gap. Lucky I got it!

(The rug and Jude at my parent's house.)

PS - I moved this post over from another blog (trying to tidy up the 10 or so blogs I have going on at the moment!) and Claire from Still Raising the Next Generation left this really helpful comment that I didn't want to forget.

"Great to hear you are making progress on the move front.

I love Freecycle. There have been times when I have had big dissapointments but I've also had some great stuff.

Have you thought about checking out Letts or Timebanks? Just thought you may be able to get help with the jobs that may need doing when you move. I do all sorts through our local scheme from making cloth san pro, helping with folks hens, baking cakes etc. Next weekend some folks are coming to help me dig over a border that I really don't like doing and also to help with a bit of cleaning as some areas seem to be getting a bit neglected at the moment."

The Greenish House

2009-05-03T11:14:00.003+01:00

Just on the miniscule offchance that anyone has noticed I'm posting at the rate of about 1 a month at the mo (shameful!) I thought I would let you know where I've been.

As we've found a buyer for our flat, and a house to move to, and the move is looking more and more likely (please God!) I thought I would start another blog just about that - The Greenish House. It's a huge (for us!) lovely old Victorian house (I think), hardly been touched in 90 years, so loads of potential - will post photos on the other blog.

I know that A Sea Change is loads about our life as well as just HE-ing, but I thought this is such a specific project and I'm obsessing over it so much that it warrented its own space for me to babble on.

On the HE front, what with the pregnancy and the move and staying at my parents, we've just been toodling along - some days I don't even read to Jude :( (although fortunately his Grandma does). I really need to get on top of this - even if we are doing the laid back, autonomous thing for the moment, I want it to be on purpose, not just because I'm too tired / can't be bothered to do anything else!

I really want to get back into reading Charlotte Mason's writings as well. There are some great online groups I've probably mentioned before - Ambleside Year 0 and the CM Series list, but I just haven't been able to keep up with them. I think I will try on my own for a bit, just 15 minutes or so a day.

I want chickens

2009-05-02T13:49:00.000+01:00

Along with the alloment, this is something I have always wanted to do. The garden of the Greenish house I think should be big enough (it's roughly 64 m2) as long as we can fit in Andy's huge trampoline as well (yet to be purchased).

And, of course, although nothing is certain yet I have been researching obsessively. There seem to be a couple of obstacles:

1) whether I am actually allowed to keep chickens in the house. Sometimes the deeds say that certain animals are forbidden. I don't think we're giong to know that until we actually own the place, and as it's not exactly a deal-breaker, I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed.

2) the expense of the flippin' coop! I've heard of the eglu, from Omlet UK, but nearly £400, for goodness sakes? (Apparently the website is a good source of info in general though.) Even eBay is not the bargins galore fest I'd been hoping - most of them seem to be over £100 there too. Obviously everyone's into chicken keeping these days. There does seem to be one promising auction for around £30, with a couple of days to go, but that would require 140 mile round trip to pick it up. I will NOT but it without a house, without knowing whether I can actually keep them, I won't! (I might.)

Alternatively I could make my own. There's plans for an Ark in the Self Sufficient-ish Bible, and I also saw a copy of The New Complete Book of Self Sufficiency by John Seymour in the Library the other day, which I imagine will also have something in it. My Grandad was a carpenter and we have loads of tools stashed away in the shed. Maybe it's in the blood!

Allotments: To Have or Not to Have, or can I even get one?

2009-04-30T13:52:00.001+01:00

I have ALWAYS wanted an allotment. Don't ask me why, I kill potted plants as soon as look at them, but an allotment has always appealed to me. It's probably due to watching one too many episodes of The Good Life when I was younger (Mum actually now has the DVD box set!).

I doubt I could really take one on at the moment, what with a toddler, a baby, one on the way, and trying to sell and move house, but I figured there would be a waiting list anyway so might as well get my name down just in case.

Our council (Waltham Forest, East London) has quite a good allotment page so I sent an email to the guy listed there stating my interest. That was a few days ago and I haven't heard back (probably expecting a bit too much!). However recently (Feb '09), under a Freedom of Information Request, the council released this information. There are nearly 300 people waiting for an allotment, and apparently the waiting lists are closed! Eek.

I'm not going to pursue this at the moment, but it's certainly something I'm going to bear in mind for the future. If I'm desperate I could always look at neighbouring boroughs.

Having a third baby

2009-04-16T16:14:00.003+01:00

I've just spent 15 minutes (thank you flylady!) sorting out all the clothes that don't fit me anymore (yes, already) and digging out my maternity clothes. Actually I'm quite looking forward to wearing them - I'm starting to amass a good collection, and they're all in much better condition than my normal clothes!

This poor baby has not been on my radar at all. I even missed a midwife appointment today just because I completely forgot about it - I was trying to sort out what Jude would be doing because of the weather. I'm pleased as punch to be pregnant again, there's no question of that, but it's going to be quite different. Jude was 2 1/2 when Isobel was born, and Isobel will only be 19 months when this one comes along. I kind of think I already have a baby!

I'm also slightly terrified, just at the thought of having three. How do people cope? But thousands if not millions of mums somehow manage, and I'm memorising Phippians 4:13 at the moment - "I can do all things through him who strengthens me".

On the up side, there's always people's wonderful comments to cheer me up. So far:
"Oooh, you're big aren't you?"
"This one wasn't planned, was it? Oh well, never mind."
"But you haven't got your house yet!" (Gosh, yes, hadn't thought of that - better not have the baby then!)

Hopefully I'll continue to see the funny side!

Ice Lolly Recipes

2009-04-16T15:47:00.002+01:00

Was jonesing for an ice-lolly, typed Ice Lolly Recipes into Google and this was the first page that came up.

Not fussed about the low calorie weight loss aspect, but have made the first one with bananas, strawberries and yoghurt, and the unfrozen mixture is delicious. The banana and chocolate one looks yummy too.

Unfortunately not the best quick-fix jonesing solution, but they should be good tomorrow!

Just makes me think, again, these things are SO easy to do yourself! It's partly living with mum, who buys a huge amount of processed food (lollies, cakes, chocolate bars - normally I'm not complaining!), and partly laziness - must pull my homemaking, healthy-eating socks up!

1001 reasons for being a flakey blogger...

2009-04-16T11:16:00.004+01:00

First this!

I'm about 16 weeks and am coming out of the feeling completely rubbish stage. I probably would have been better earlier if it hadn't been for reason no. 2 - a huge bout of chicken pox. Jude sailed through it, pretty much, but poor poor Isobel - absolutely covered from head to toe. She also got a secondary infection on her tummy requiring dressings and antibiotics, and no sleep for nights on end as her preferred sleeping position is on her front.

Fortunately, in some ways, reason no. 3 was actually a blessing - we've moved to my parents in a big push to get our flat sold. Everything is in boxes and we're living out of two rooms, but they're such an amazing help with the children, Mum especially, and it just feels so good to be out of the flat.

Things are slowly getting back to normal now (whatever normal is!), so hopefully I'll be able to keep a better record of things on here.

Ridiculously chuffed and excited...

2009-03-25T09:50:00.004Z

I've been given my first blog award! Thanks Michelle :)

The Wonderful Blog Award

“This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day.”

Hmm, well not every day, am posting about twice a month at the mo! But lovely all the same.

I now have to pass this award on to 15 others, except I don't follow 15 other blogs! Here are the ones I really like and read as regularly as I can...

Still raising the next generation

Higher up and further in

Large Family Logistics

Understanding Charlotte

Handbook of Nature Study

Dare to Know

Thank you lovely ladies for such great blogs!

PS - I also like Whimsy Way and Raising Little Shoots, but they already have this award :)

Milestones

2009-03-06T21:06:00.003Z

I haven't been on here very much as I've been horribly ill recently, and taking advantage of Andy being off for a week to spend lots of time in bed! It's been an 'I really can't cope with all this' type of thing, lying in bed not being able to remember what it feels like not to feel rotten, thinking how can I possibly be responsible for looking after anyone else? Ugh. Thankfully, miraculous recovery this morning, (i.e. I got up and got dressed!) so here I am again :)

Anyway, I really must get these down before I forget, as I have with so many of my children's' 'firsts' so far...

Last Thursday (26th Feb) - Jude read his first word! He was going to the toilet, looked over at the shampoo bottle on the bath and asked me, 'Does that say Tescos?' (it did). Obviously it's more recognition of a pattern or logo (Tesco has the little line under each letter that must help), but I'm still counting it :)

Saturday 21st Feb (or there abouts) - Isobel said her first recognisable word. Mum's dog comes into the room and Isobel says "Lay-La!" (dog's name). She hasn't said it since but I remember Jude did this - said his first word and then didn't say anything else again for weeks!

Same day - Jude went through the night without needing to go to the toilet. We had been 'lifting' him ever since he stopped wearing nappies at night (can't remember when that was) - getting him up around 10:30pm to sit on the potty. He hadn't done anything for a few nights so we stopped, and it's been mostly successful since. Yey!

My first tag...

2009-03-01T20:27:00.004Z

... how exciting! Thanks Claire for tagging me - it's the 6th folder, 6th picture one.

Unfortunately I can't play properly as I'm not on my home computer, but here's the 6th pic from my folder on the comp at my parent's house...

This is Jude at his grandparents' house trying on his outfit for his Aunt's wedding - he was a page boy. The wedding was Easter 2006 so he would have been a few weeks less than 17 months.

OK, so I'm going to tag Simon and Sarah, and John and Stacie, see if they want to play!

Very pleased with myself, but rather mucky...

2009-02-18T10:52:00.004Z

Yesterday, for the first time ever, I jointed a chicken!

I was inspired by the horrendous prices for two free range chicken breasts in the supermarket (over £6!), where as buying a whole free range chicken was just over £4. Bizarre. I bought the whole chicken and thought maybe I would just roast it whole, but when I got home I found a page with fairly comprehensive diagrams showing how to joint it in The Cook's Handbook, given to me by MiL when we got married.

With much cutting through skin and chopping through bones and general gruesomeness, around 15 minutes later I had 8 passable chicken pieces. I used the breasts in some 'Spanish rice', put the carcass in a bag to freeze (when I have a few I will make some stock), and I will also freeze the drumsticks, thighs and wings for next week's chicken meal.

I can't believe I never did this before! I told Andy and his comment was 'When we have a bigger garden you can do that to our own chickens!'. How exciting. Although I can't quite see myself wringing necks, but small steps...

More outdoors! Wanstead Park

2009-01-21T23:01:00.007Z

It was beautiful outside today - comfortable without hats and gloves, a first for months! It may be because I'm more aware of it, but the birdsong was just everywhere, really loud and glorious. I heard the Great Tit again (one of the most prolific). The only other song I recognised was that of the Wood Pigeon (I just got a photo of its back!).

It has the most beautiful soft coo - hear it HERE.

And this was my best photo of the day!

The male swan (Jude correctly identified it from the bigger 'nose') came right up out of the water because he thought we had some bread. And then, a ginger cat came out of the bushes that looked about ready to leap on it! The swan hissed and the cat ran away, but soon came back creeping really low to the ground like it was stalking its prey. In the end Jude 'roared' at the cat and it backed off again, and we decided to move on to encourage the swan to go back into the water. (Pleased Jude didn't witness fur and feathers flying!)

I also saw the most beautiful robin in full voice on a branch just a couple of feet above my head. The song didn't sound so distinctive though, will have to learn that one. And I also spotted three small grey and black birds that I will have to look up.

One thing I noticed - I was getting so frustrated with my photos not being brilliant that I was missing out on appreciating how amazing it all was. It reminded me of where Charlotte Mason talks about 'sight seeing' and 'picture painting', basically working to get in your mind a true and detailed picture of what you can see. She writes:

It would be difficult to overrate this habit of seeing and storing as a means
of after-solace and refreshment. The busiest of us have holidays when we slip
our necks out of the yoke and come face to face with Nature, to be healed and blessed by
"The breathing balm, The silence and the calm Of mute, insensate things."
This immediate refreshment is open to everybody according to his measure; but it is a mistake to suppose that everybody is able to carry away a refreshing image of that which gives him delight. Only a few can say with Wordsworth, of scenes they have visited
"Though absent long, These forms of beauty have not been to me As is a landscape to a blind mans eye; But oft, in lonely rooms, and mid the din Of towns and cities, I have owed to them, In hours of weariness, sensations sweet, Felt in the blood, and felt along the heart; And passing even into my purer mind, With tranquil restoration.
And yet this is no high poetic gift which the rest of us must be content to admire, but a common reward for taking pains in the act of seeing which parents may do a great deal to confer upon their children." (Vol.1 p50)

Self - take note!

Winter Walks

2009-01-20T16:00:00.007Z

Somehow we've got into the routine of going out for a 'family walk' (me, Andy, Jude and Isobel) on Sundays after church. Here are some photos of our latest venture:

This area is called 'Connaught Water', about half an hours drive from where we live.

Isobel enjoying her walk!

The ducks we saw that day included: Canada Geese, Seagulls, Moorhens, Swans. I only got (not very good!) photos of these: A Coot

Mallards: a Duck and a Drake

I think this one is a Tufted duck.

I also found these photos as well. A little while ago as we were just getting into this walking routine, Andy didn't want us to get out of the habit of doing it (bless him) so we went out one Sunday when it was absolutely pouring down. It was not a huge success, Isobel cried all the way round, but we got out there!

But we did get another not very good photo of these fungi - "Hairy Stereum", ID'd on this site.

Great Tit birdsong

2009-01-19T19:47:00.005Z

Out for a walk the other day, I heard this really distinctive birdsong. It was high up in the trees so I couldn't see it, but it stuck in my head so well that I was able to go home and look it up. It was a Great Tit!

Hear it HERE.

Now I'm hearing different birdsongs all the time. I think I'm hooked! I will try and keep a record of them here.

(NB - recording used under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License)

My problems with Charlotte...

2009-01-12T23:51:00.005Z

I'm feeling a bit down today, and I just don't seem to be able to make it fit. I love her method and philosophy, I love reading her volumes, but it just seems so far from me at the moment.

1. I'm not an outdoors person. We live in the city with a garden about 3 feet long and horrible neighbours!

In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a
mothers first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it spent for the
most part out in the fresh air. And this, not for the gain in bodily health
alone––body and soul, heart and mind, are nourished with food convenient for
them when the children are let alone, let to live without friction and without
stimulus amongst happy influences which incline them to be good. (Vol.1
p43)

Let me repeat, that I venture to suggest, not what is practicable in any
household, but what seems to me absolutely best for the children; and that, in the faith that mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them. A journey of twenty minutes by rail or omnibus, and a luncheon basket, will make a day in the country possible to most town dwellers; and if one day, why not many, even every suitable day? (Vol.1 p44)

I know that my moanings are no excuse, but on days like today it is hard to get past the pressure of the wonders that are demanded of me!

But then, I remember this amazing day we had last week, at the forest where the lake was frozen and covered in snow, and there were a couple of inches covering the ground. Jude has his new bike and was scooting everywhere, and we talked loads about footprints and tracks - there were dogs' paws, and lots of different size birds' feet. It was such a beautiful morning, and one of my first 'aaah, that's why people homeschool!' moments.

Of course I could make this work, or at least give it a good bash - I just need to be prepared with outdoor gear, food and drink, a plastic mat to sit on... plus I bought the most gorgeous picnic bag last year with just such an aim in mind, and Andy will be cross if I don't get good use out of it!

OK, I've cheered myself up a bit so will leave off my other mutterings for now - and go to bed!

Preface to Vol. 1

2009-01-11T23:00:00.002Z

Original text here

(Questions from the AOY0 Group)

1. Do you believe in a pervasive " natural law" of education, such as Ms.Mason suggests exists? Does Charlotte Mason ( or "CM" hereafter) consider her educational philosophy the "law" (see question 1), or just one attempt at getting as close to the "law" as possible? How does this affect our personal evaluation and implementation of her ideas?

I believe that there are absolute truths relating to God in the Universe, but also that, as long as we are as faithful to him as we can be in raising and educating our children, then God will honour and bless our efforts. I think that it is important to try to discover God's ideal for education, but that this ideal is so hugely encompassing (where CM talks about 'the law is liberal... offering no limitation or hindrance...') that really we can only work towards what is right for our families, which can look like the polar opposite of what is equally 'right' for someone else.

I certainly think that CM was offering an 'attempt' at getting close to this law, and I find her humility and tentativeness reassuring, giving lots of room to manoeuvre and adapt her methods and ideas to suit individual families. Obviously it doesn't matter whether you do follow her ideas or not, but the thought that CM wouldn't condemn you for not properly following her definition of education to the letter, is a nice one. And rather different to many modern 'gurus' offering advice - like the thousands of 'my way is the only way' baby and child rearing manuals out there!
2. The idea central to CM's philosophy of education is that "the child is a person with all the possibilities and powers included in personality." What implications does this statement have for you as a parent and teacher of your child?

Of her 18 principles the ones which strikes me the most at the moment are 3 and 4:

3. The principles of authority on the one hand and obedience on the other, are natural, necessary and fundamental; but
4. These principles are limited by the respect due to the personality of children, which must not be encroached upon, whether by fear or love, suggestion or influence, or undue play upon any one natural desire.

My children are young (DS 3, DD 10mos), and so I'm still working out my position as mother and my relationship with my children, and how authority and obedience work in a society where these terms are anathema. To discipline with love and respect (and later to teach with due humility and awareness of each child) - this is key for me at the moment.

3. CM says that the philosophy "Education is the Science of Relations" determines the curriculum. Take a fresh look at this statement (even if you've studied CM for quite some time!). In today's society, which "relationships" do you see that would be important for a child to form?

When I first heard this phrase, I thought it meant that a child will discover how everything connects together, i.e. historical events with the way society works today; or maths in everyday tasks such as cooking and shopping etc. And I think that is part of it. But Jen's use of the word 'relationships' made me look at it a bit differently - what is the aim of education? Personally, I think to have fulfilling and successful relationships in 4 areas: 1) with God; 2) with ourselves; 3) with our families; 4) with wider society. And education should be working towards all of these, i.e: 1) a good knowledge of the Bible, 2) fulfilling interests and hobbies for ourselves, 3) the ability to relate to and provide for our families (whether by gaining a profession or learning home management), 4) a knowledge of history, geography, politics and other cultures so we can meaningfully interact with people that we meet every day.

Clare

Jude's first bike!

2009-01-02T10:22:00.004Z

We got Jude a Steady Eddie bike for Christmas and would throughly recommend it. Not cheap but definitely worth the money (imho) - Jude hasn't been off it since he got it - in the house or outside!

Rough Week

2008-12-21T10:45:00.007Z

Ugh, we have all been ill-ill. I need to thank God that this is so unusual, but literally Wednesday and Thursday I was barely able to stand (fever, dizziness, cough, aches and pains etc), and of course Isobel and Jude were poorly as well. Mum helped out as much as she could but practically everyone is under the weather, and Andy has been busy at work wrapping things up before the Christmas Holidays.

It's now Sunday and we're all pretty much on the mend, but it's made me take a good look at lots of things that I take completely for granted, like just being able to function at all! We're not doing any sort of formal HEing yet, and won't be for a while, but it made me think that that entire week would have been a complete write off.

And not only that, of course, but parenting in general! I'd been working really hard with Jude in the days previous to this: being consistent, following through, ensuring that everything I asked him to do was completed satisfactorily and with a good attitude, practicing / play-acting what should have happened if he does do something wrong. And that has all completely gone out the window as well.

But, this is of course where God's grace comes in. God is Jehovah Jireh - "God will provide".

Jehovah Jireh, My Provider
His Grace is sufficient for me!
My God shall supply all my needs
According to His riches in glory
He will give His angels charge over me
Jehovah Jireh cares for me.

(Lyrics from higherpraise.com)

So, despite my completely inadequate parenting this week, I have to trust that all the good that we are trying to achieve with our children has not gone out the window, because, as long as I do my best to align myself with what God wants, and pray pray pray!, it is not actually me who is achieving anything, but Him.

And I think this is also where I have to disagree with L. Elizabeth Krueger in Raising Godly Tomatoes. While I think this is an excellent work on parenting and would definitely recommend it, I do not think she is right in her apparent opinion of her method as the be-all and end-all of raising Godly children. For instance, from chapter 7 on "Tomato Staking":

"[If you neglect a Tomato Staking Lifestyle] you will experience only partial success with your children. They may grow up being outwardly obedient, and perhaps even godly in their own hearts, but your children may not be fully equipped to reproduce godliness in their own offspring."

Excuse me - who is it who is 'reproducing godliness'? If we are faithful, and do our best, then God will be faithful to us and bless the fruits of our labours. But it is always God who changes the hearts of our children, not us - and that is a reassuring thought.

Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. (Deut 7:9)

Evening Routine

2008-12-12T14:50:00.004Z

Here's our Evening Routine (modified from the AOYear0 List - click on the picture to make it bigger):

Love these!

2008-12-11T15:09:00.001Z

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/kid-made-doorbells?autonomy_kw=bells%20egg%20cartons&rsc=header_1

What to do with them in Church...

2008-12-08T20:38:00.003Z

Allow young children to play with "quiet" toys in Church. If they are acting up, take them out (we have a room where the sound is piped in) but keep them sitting on your lap with no other activity.

Let the children assemble their own "Church Quiet Bag" (books, colouring, stickers, lacing cards)

Practice "lap training" or sitting quietly during the week. Start with small chunks of time and build up.

Illustrate the sermon for your child to use during the service.

Teach children parts of the service at home (i.e. the Lord's Prayer).

(Ideas from the AOYear0 list)

Responses to the question "Why?"

2008-12-08T20:32:00.001Z

"That's a good question! You were really paying attention to come up with such a great question. Now, let's see if you can watch some more and come up with any of the answer!"

"Good question! Why don't you think about the answer to that one while you are obeying Mommy!?"

(From the AOYear0 List)

Recommended Books: Parent / Child Interaction

2008-12-07T17:46:00.003Z

Books recommended on the AO Year 0 List: (for further investigation)

Field Trips with Jim Arnosky.... great guide to doing nature studies with bug hunting, animal tracking, shore walking, bird watching, etc.
Earthways: Simple Environmental Activities for Young Children by Carol Petrash (this covers multiple ages but lots and lots for young children to do with parents)
Sandbox Scientist: Real Science Activities for Little Kids by Michael Ross
Trails, Tails, and Tidepools in Pails: Over 100 Nature Activities for Families with Babies and Young Children by the Docents of Nursery Nature Walks
Young At Art by Susan Striker (teaching 1-6 yo self-espression, problem solving skills, and an appreciation for art) (I have this one)
Mudworks: Creative Clay, Dough, and Modeling Experiences by MaryAnn Kohl
Baby Games: The Joyful Guide to Child's Play from Birth to Three Years by Elaine Martin
Playing Smart: A Parent's Guide to Enriching, Offbeat Learning Activities for ages 4-14 by Susan Perry
Storytelling with Children by Nancy Mellon
The Little Hands Nature Book by Nancy Fusco Castaldo
Math Play: 80 ways to count and learn by Diane McGowan and Mark Schrooten
The Children's Year by Stephanie Cooper, Christine Fynes-Clinton and Marye Rowling
Mudpies to Magnets: A Preschool Science Curriculum by Robert Williams, Robert Rockwell, and Elizabeth Sherwood
Before Five in a Row: A treasury of creative ideas to inspire learning readiness ages two thru four by Jane Claire Lambert

Ideas for Advent

2008-12-07T17:36:00.002Z

1. Cut out old Christmas Cards and let the children choose one each day to stick on a large piece of paper (which then goes on the wall).

2. http://deweystreehouse.blogspot.com/2008/11/different-kind-of-advent-calendar-2008.html

3. The Advent Book by Jack & Kathy Stockman.

4. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/lklivingston/258782/

5. http://fylliska.blogspot.com/2008/11/advent.html

This year we are keeping it really simple. I've made an Advent Candle creation with 5 candles and some decorations. Each evening in place of our Bible story we are lighting a candle (1 for week 1, 2 for week 2 etc.) and reading a short passage from a list of "Jesse Tree" suggestions. In the mornings we are also opening advent calendars which have Christmas Story pictures behind them (Mary, angel, donkey etc.).

That was the week...

2008-11-23T23:40:00.004Z

This week I did a disgusting amount of cross stitching. I've finished the flower fairy for my god-daughter and am now doing a pirate ship for Jude.

I've also started to think about what we'll do now the weather's getting worse and we can't be outside so much. On Friday we visited Walthamstow Toy Library which was excellent - Jude did painting and clay modelling and there were stories, songs, parachute games and an exploding volcano, not to mention all the toys. When we were leaving he asked if we were coming here again - high praise!

Yesterday, Isobel went from crawling to a sitting position for the first time - well done her! ;)

That's about it I think - I must try and get a photo of the castle that Jude made with Grandad Geoff in their garden ("You're an em-em-y mummy, I'm a good army"), and scan in the first picture Jude's done that resembles an actual object (a vehicle with squiggly wheels on the bottom!). A good week, although I'm shattered - getting to bed at 1 last night and 12 tonight won't help!

Vague aims for some point in the future: Include in Jude's Going To Bed Routine setting his clothes out for the next day. Re-do my schedule from MOTH's. Go to bed!

IV:I:II:II My Lord Intellect

2008-11-18T17:47:00.003Z

1. What is the function of 'intellect' ?
To be the 'Foreign Secretary' - to conduct affairs and establish relations with many foreign kingdoms. He obtains the freedom of rich provinces and mighty states. To know things outside of ourselves. The 'freedom' that education brings, that you get when you know how to learn anything, and have the discipline to see it through.

2. Show that science is an immense and joyous realm.
Immense because it covers the whole universe; joyous because there are always new things to discover, and all these relate to the whole.

3. How is imagination serviceable in science?

4. Compare history with the shows of a kinetoscope.
The longer you look at any one person the clearer he stands out, until he is more real than the people you live with.

5. How does history enable us to live in a large world?
It gives us details of others' lives that we can connect with and relate to - we are part of one humanity.

6. How are we making history?

"We, too, live in a great age and a great country, in which there is plenty of room for heroes; and if these should be heroes in a quiet way, whom the world never hears of, that does not make much real difference."

7. Show that imagination is necessary to the realising of history.
We need to think of things for ourselves, rather than rely on the writings and descriptions of others.

8. What intellectual power is especially employed in mathematics?
Reason.

9. Why are mathematics delightful?
The going is hard in this mountainous country. But you can't get lost and the ground is very firm. Mathematicians are "braced by effort and satisfied with truth."

10. Why is philosophy a necessary study?
It is the exploration of Mansoul itself. It is not a sure path, but every foothold gained is exhilarating.

11. What are some of the advantages of a knowledge of literature?
One will know the best of all ages and countries and meet delightful and interesting people.

12. What powers of the mind go to the study of literature?
Intellect, Imagination and the Beauty Sense.

13. Give three tests by which literature may be discerned.
1) You can see the pictures painted with your eyes shut.
2) The people live and act in your thoughts.
3) Feeling the power, the force and beauty of the words - "so fit that no other can be put in their places, so few that none can be left out, so fresh and musical that they are a delight".

14. What are some of the uses of the aesthetic sense?
Recognises beauty and music in words. Beauty is impossible to describe.

15. How may we distinguish between art and simulated art?
Art is produced when our souls are so filled with Beauty that they overflow. Simulated art is when we try to paint things as they are in real life, rather than find and express the subtle beauty within each object.

16. How may the intellectual life be promoted?
Know and think, imagine and perceive a range of things - great thoughts and interests. Study is supposed to unlock doors into regions of intellectual joy and interest.

17. In what ways may it be extinguished?
Think only of small things, insignificant matters, little hobbies. Be distracted by poor words and stimulated art.

IV:I:II:I The House of the Mind: Ourselves

2008-11-17T16:26:00.002Z

1. Show that our way of speaking of 'ourselves' is like saying 'the sun rises.'
When we speak of "ourselves", and our heart, mind, body and soul, we do so because these terms are familiar to everyone, and all know what is meant by them, even though the reality is a lot less clear cut, and more complicated.

2. Upon what does self-reverence depend?
"Self Reverence" is an appreciation of ourselves as marvellous creatures of God's creation, along with all of human kind. "Self Reverence includes reverence and pity for the meanest and most debased, because each of these is also a great Mansoul, though it may be a Mansoul neglected, ruined and decayed."

3. Show that self-knowledge must go before self-reverence.
Self Knowledge comes before self-reverence because we need to learn that what is true of us is true of everybody else (and vice versa) - the wonderful powers and immense possibilities of Mansoul.

4. And that we must know ourselves before we can control ourselves.
We also need to know ourselves before we can control ourselves - our strengths, weaknesses and temptations. Then we can be prepared and on our guard to use the power of Self Control when temptation strikes.

IV:I:I:V The Pages of the Body: The 5 Senses

2008-11-14T19:10:00.002Z

1. What two errors are possible to each of the senses?
The senses can be either a) lazy, not doing their work, or b) tyrants, wanting to rule and subjugate.

2. What are the uses and what the danger of the sense of taste?
Taste is useful, as food which is bad for us (i.e. mouldy) will taste bad. Taste as a danger: when we become fussy. Best not to say anything about likes and dislikes, and, when faced with food we do dislike, relish the opportunity to "keep Taste in his proper place", as servant not master.

3. Show that we fail to get full use and full pleasure out of the sense of smell.
Smell: useful, as there are many lovely aromas in the wold, and also bad smells that we need to be aware of, i.e. again bad food, drains, musty rooms. But smell can become lazy, and we can fail to notice things that we need to.

4. What practice in catching odours would you give children?
Children should practice 'catching odours', and be able to tel different trees, flowers, food and material, etc.

5. What manner of knowledge do we obtain by touch?
Touch: tells us whether things are hot or cold, smooth or rough, whether something is too sharp and will cut us, or burn us.

6. Show by the 'touch of the blind,' a 'kind touch,' etc., that the sense of touch may be cultivated.
Touch can be cultivated to great heights of sensitivity / tenderness through necessity (i.e. if you are blind), or love (between a mother and a child).

7. What practice would you recommend?
Touch can be cultivated through practice, as with smell.

8. Why is it good to have little things to put up with?
So we can get into the habit of not minding them.

9. Show that sight brings half our joy.
From seeing friends, landscapes and reading books, sight is a minister that enables us to rejoice.

10. How may we learn to see more?
But our eyes can be lazy and inattentive. We need to train ourselves to take good notice of everything.

11. What joy and what knowledge should we get from a sense of hearing?
We can perceive the sounds of nature. This too can be idle. Practice every day, with your eyes closed. Above all, we can hear music.

12. How may a good ear for music be acquired?
To acquire a good ear for music: 1) always find out the composer of the piece you are listening to. 2) Learn your notes, so you can tell with your eyes shut which note or chord is being played. This will also require much practice!

Quack Quack

2008-11-10T12:04:00.005Z

We've had a great couple of days spotting some new ducks. Yesterday at Knighton Wood in Buckhurst Hill we saw loads of Mandarin Ducks - male and female.

Today Jude and I went for a walk in the rain at Hollow Ponds (whoo hoo - I actually got us out!) and were rewarded by spotting a tufted duck and what might have been a baby Great Crested Grebe, although I couldn't be sure, as it looked like the beak might be a bit longer.

Habit 1: Cleanliness, washing your hands

2008-10-26T22:56:00.003Z

I will do this, I will! I've been meaning to start this for ages, as CM's main aims for pre-school kids were a) time spent outdoors, and b) habit formation.

Washing hands before meals and after using the potty is something I really want to train Jude in - pretty obvious really, but it often gets missed. Before meals because (eek! confession) I don't normally do this (before preparing food, yes, but sitting down to the table, no). With the potty because we're still training, often Jude doesn't have much to do with the process at all (I do all the cleaning and wiping up, and yes, I wash my hands then! ;). But it is still necessary to get him into the habit of doing this, even so.

Here are CM's thoughts on the matter:

"Young children may be taught to take care of their fingernails, and to cleanse the corners of eyes and ears. As for sitting down to table with unwashed hands and unbrushed hair, that, of course, no decent child is allowed to do." (Vol. 1 p127)

[blush] So, concentrate on one habit at a time, for one month. Here goes!

Gosh, it's been a while...

2008-10-26T22:42:00.004Z

... and this is the reason why. I've just discovered cross-stitch! Opps.

I bought my first kit last Thursday, as a Christmas present for my god-daughter. The crease is from where I've had the frame round it. It's such a fantastic thing to do while chillaxing watching rubbish tv (normally so guilt-inducing!).

Jude's first camping trip with Daddy

2008-10-06T21:47:00.005+01:00

That's one way of getting out of setting up the tent!

That's cheating!

Still got to be stylish on a camping trip, y'know!

Before I forget...

2008-10-05T19:39:00.003+01:00

Isobel crawled on Thursday! (2nd October.) She was trying to get to some shredded paper, lol. She got her knee up and did a big belly flop forward. Isboel is 6 months and 3 weeks.

Jude and I were playing a game during his bathtime today. He was wrapping up a bath toy in his flannel, and I had to guess what it was. I couldn't, so I said 'give me a clue'. He said 'fffffffff'. It was a fish!

IV:I:I:IV THE ESQUIRES OF THE BODY: CHASTITY

2008-10-02T21:11:00.004+01:00

1. How would you teach a child to rule his appetites?

"We must eat, drink, sleep, at regular times, and then not allow ourselves to think of taking our ease... We should always have something worth while to think about, that we may not let our minds dwell upon unworthy matters."

2. How would you use the tree of knowledge of good and evil to give the idea of chastity?

There are "tempters who will do their best to make you know about things you ought not to know about, to talk about and read about and do things you ought not to talk about, or read about, or do. I daresay they will tell you these things are quite right, that you would not have such parts of your body and such feelings about them unless you were meant to think and do these things." We need to trust God, and his timing and order of things, and that he knows what is best for us.

3. How would you explain, "Blessed are the pure in heart"?

The pure in heart will be aware of God, so even when temptation strikes, their first thought will be 'Thou, God, seest me'. The pure in heart see God, their focus is on God, and so unclean things do not get a foothold.

4. What heroic motive for purity would you give children?

This is the way you glorify God in your bodies. "Fight the good fight." The added benefits are: keeping your purity as a gift to your husband, and children.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." - 1 Cor 6:19-20

5. Where does slavery to an appetite begin?

In our thoughts, when we dwell on wrong and unclean thoughts.

6. How would you rule the thoughts?

"We just have to think of something else when an evil thought comes, something really interesting and nice, with a prayer in our hearts to God to help us to do so."

IV:I:I:III THE ESQUIRES OF THE BODY: RESTLESSNESS AND REST

2008-10-02T21:10:00.001+01:00

1. What is the use of restlessness?
Restlessness is that which compels us to things that are hard to do, and tiring. "The business of Restlessness is to strengthen and harden the muscles which Hunger feeds", in order that the body might be ready to perform any service that the Prime Minister might require.

2. Wherein lies the danger?
Restlessness can cause us to attempt things that are too hard, and test our bodies too much. Or, it can cause us not to settle to any one thing, which is a danger because "it is only by going on doing one thing steadily that we learn to do it well". When life gets too busy, too stressful, that we flit from one thing to another, no time to think, overextending ourselves.

3. Show that rest and work should alternate.
Work tires, and we rest so that we might recuperate and be ready for more work.
"It seems that to balance restlessness and rest we need to be able to train ourselves to apply that power of attention then recognize fatigue and take a break as needed either by sleep or changing activity." (Tanya on the Year 0 List.)

4. When does rest become sloth?
When he begins to petition the Prime Minister for "a little more sleep". He dawdles, doesn't want to go out or do anything, drops lessons and never does anything for anyone because he can't be bothered. As your muscles weaken through lack of use everything becomes 'too much like hard work'.

"A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest- and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man." - Proverbs 6:10-11

IV:I:I:II The Esquires of the Body: Thirst

2008-10-02T21:09:00.001+01:00

1. Why are we thirsty? What drink does thirst require?
We get thirsty because we are mostly made up of water (between 55-78% depending on body size) and we need to make up the water that we lose though various ways throughout the day (going to the toilet, sweating, breathing). The only drink thirst requires is clear, cold water.

2. What are some effects of drunkenness?
Everything he owns goes to buy drink. "The man's time, health, and strength are spent in drink––he becomes homeless and friendless, sick and outcast, for the sake of drink."

3. What is the principle on which persons abstain?
In order to set a good example - so not for one's own benefit, but for others.

"Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak... Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall." - 1 Cor 8:9, 13

IV:I:I:I The House of the Body: The Esquires of the Body: Hunger

2008-10-02T20:31:00.003+01:00

THE ESQUIRES OF THE BODY: HUNGER
1. What is the work of the appetites?
"Their work is very necessary for the well-being of the State. They build up the Body, and they see to it that there shall be new Mansouls to take the place of the old when these shall pass away".

2. When does an appetite become a danger?

These are not important people but have it in their power to make all go right or all go wrong in Mansoul. There is great rivalry among them and "every member tries to make the Prime Minister believe that the happiness of Mansoul depends upon him. If any one of these gets things altogether into his hands, all is in disorder. "

3. How does hunger behave?
Hunger is vital as without a good meal, neither work nor play go well. But he is easily put off: if you dwell too much on what you are eating, and think you dislike it, "Hunger is disgusted and goes". But sit down, do not think of what you are eating but of something more interesting, and you will find your plate emptied.

4. Distinguish between hunger and gluttony.
Hunger is not fond of dainties - "he likes things plain and nice". If you eat too many sweets or rich food, hunger changes into Gluttony. Hunger is a servant - if he is in control, you do not think about food until dinner time, and clear your plate with a good appetite. Gluttony, however, causes you to think about nothing but food morning, noon and night. Hunger meets a physical need; Gluttony is a desire for pleasure.

Gluttony can introduce two enemies to Mansoul: Self-Gratification (pleasing yourself, instantly!) and Self-Expression (letting everyone know how much you hate your food, because your feelings are all that count).

5. How is greediness to be avoided?
"Never think of your meals till they come, and, while you are eating, talk and think of something more amusing than your food." Do not comment on the food at all, while your children are eating meals. Do not build up excitement about what is for dinner. React to an empty plate in the same way as a clean plate. Serve dessert WITH the rest of the meal. Healthy eating needs to be taught, but it doesn't have to be taught at mealtimes. For instance, talk about it on a nature walk, when you see an animal eating.
"Gluttony lets you alone when you cease to think of him and his good things."
Ask: Am I really hungry? Will I be satisfied with something healthy rather than sweet or rich? Do I refuse to eat leftovers?
Also, Gluttony is not necessarily only about unhealthy food - any kind of obsessing over food (i.e. diets) can lead to the negative consequences mentioned here.

"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." - Matthew 6:31-33

IV:I:III The Govenment of Mansoul (Vol.4, Book 1, ch.3)

2008-10-02T16:47:00.006+01:00

THE GOVERNMENT OF MANSOUL

1. Why is being born like coming into a great estate?
Because "so much in the way of goodness, greatness, heroism, wisdom, and knowledge, is possible to us all". The possibilities within each person are apparently endless, but many people do not recognise this and so live poor, second-rate lives.

2. What do we mean by the government of Mansoul ?
"There is a part of ourselves whose business it is to manage and make the best of the rest of ourselves, and that part of ourselves we shall call the Government."

3. Name some of the officers of state.
Esquires of the Body (Appetites)
Lords of the Exchequer (Desires)
Lords of the Treasury (Affections)
Foreign Secretary (Intellect)
My Lord Chief Explorer (Imagination)
My Lord President of the Arts (the Aesthetic Sense)
Lord Attorney-General (Reason)
Lord Chief Justice (Conscience)
Prime Minister (Will)
"and above all these is the King; for you remember that Mansoul is a Kingdom".

4. Name the Chambers in which these 'sit.'
"The House of Body, the House of Mind, the House of Heart, and the House of Soul."

5. Are these parts of a person?
They are not different parts but different powers that we all must exercise in order to fulfil our full potential.

IV:I:II The Perils of Mansoul

2008-10-02T16:09:00.003+01:00

1. Who is to blame for these perils?
The Government - i.e. Ourselves.

2. What effect has sloth upon Mansoul?
"And so the people, whatever be their business in Mansoul, sit or lounge about with dull eyes, folded arms, and hanging heads."

3. What are the causes of fire?
a) An 'incendiary' from a foreign country, bent on destroying what is best in Mansoul. This means attacks from outside of ourselves, i.e. from our great enemy, Satan.
b) A man could set fire to things by accident. This could be when we get involved in bad situations, out of ignorance, without meaning to.
c) Within Mansoul itself - when inflammable gases break to the surface. This is when we ourselves defiantly chose to do what it wrong.

4. How may plague, flood, and famine be brought about?
Plague occurs when dwellings are not kept clean. This could be referring to porn/unhealthy thoughts, as well as physical dirt. With little ones this may be subtle, such as how girls in cartoons are dressed.

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." - Phil 4:8

Floods occur when springs and rivers overflow. When we are overcome with emotion? This is not necessarily a bad thing, as 'much that is rotten and unclean is swept away', and the lands are fertile afterwards. Another explanation is when outside tragedies hit us (bereavement, illness etc.) which God can use to work a great change in our lives for the better.

"I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me." - Psalm 69:2

Famine: crops may fail even when they have been diligently tilled and sown. Referring to dry times in one's life, when God may feel far away. During this time we can rely upon others, physically, mentally and spiritually.

5. What are the consequences of discord?
Civil War: servants will not obey masters and masters disregard servants. All work is neglected and people are envious and discontented.

"For what I do is not the good I want to do; no,the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing... but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members." - Rom 7:19, 23

6. How does darkness arise in Mansoul?
"Chilling, soaking mists, dense and black" arise from the country.

7. Can it be prevented?
Yes, these mists are under the control of the government, especially the Prime Minister.

8. On what condition do things go well in Mansoul?
On the condition that the government attends to its duties.

"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." - Isaiah 43:2

John Holt, How Children Learn

2008-09-19T16:21:00.003+01:00

This book did give me some encouragement. The main message of the book is 'trust your children' - they are natural learners, and you are not going to have to force education down their throats. In fact, the less you do the better.

A few things have stuck in my memory. Holt had a lot to say about our being (with all good intentions, probably) 'false' in the way we treat our children. For instance, most people would probably feel that a running commentary is beneficial to our babies and toddlers, such as: 'Right, now we're going to put on our shoes. This is your left shoe. It goes on your foot' etc etc. Holt, however, would say that if this style of talking is not natural to you, the parent, then it is forced and false and will not help, and even potentially hinder, a baby or toddler picking up speech.

I liked Holt's description of teachers who feel that they are essential to a child's learning, and thus take on too much, in the way of preparation and instruction. This is both an encouragement (not to overburden myself with work) and a warning - to see myself as a facilitator rather than the all-encompassing instigator of anything that my children might pick up. In a similar vein, Holt also suggests that children be left alone to examine things, and given as much time as possible to get to grips with a task or challenge before receiving any instruction on it. He writes this with regard to maths and science experiments, but I think the principle could be widely applied.

I will take on board many of Holt's points from this book, especially with regards to toddlers and pre-schoolers. The reason I haven't given this book 5 stars, although I enjoyed it and it found it easy to read, is because my gut instinct veers towards a more structured form of learning in general and for older children. It is good to read about the educational extreme of 'unschooling', but I do not think that is the path that we will take.

Testimony

2008-09-16T22:37:00.001+01:00

I had to give my testimony this evening - here is basically what I said.

*You go to Christ Church. Have you always been a Christian?

I've been raised as a Christian and have believed in Jesus since I can remember, so I've always thought I had a pretty boring 'testimony'. I know 'big conversion' stories are very striking, but they often involve the person having a pretty rubbish time before they became a Christian (i.e. drink / drugs / prison etc and generally feeling pretty lost and alone). Whereas I know that I need to thank God for keeping many of these things from me.

*Your parents are Christian, you go to Church, you married a Christian. Does that make it easy being a Christian?

I know that I think and do and say things every day which I would be ashamed of if anyone else knew about them. And it's those things, and not just the big sins, that prevent me from being acceptable to God - keep me far from Him. But I also know that God sent his Son, Jesus, to take the punishment for everything that I've ever done wrong, and it's through Jesus the Son that I can have a life-changing relationship with God the Father.

*Do you think you're doing what God wants with your life?

Well, when I went to university I had a fantastic time, and thought afterwards I would get a good job, have lots of smart clothes, do lots of shopping and go out with my friends all the time in the evening. God kind of had other ideas! What actually happened was that I got married to Andy at the end of my second year. We started going to Christ Church and meeting people there, and I had two incredibly dull and boring jobs after uni that made me think - there must be something more worthwhile that I can do with my life than this! So now I'm a stay-at-home mum with two kids, and it's fantastic!

*So how has being a Christian made a difference to your life and to the choices you've made?

I think that for years on the outside I probably wouldn't have seemed any different to all my very nice, kind, non-Christian friends. But all along, the main difference has been my focus, and my aim which has been (rather than make lots of money, have a good career, or lots of fun) to glorify God. And now the choices and differences are starting to show - from getting married young, because we didn't want to live together first, and being a stay-at-home mum, because I want to do the best I can to bring up my children to love and glorify God too. And now God is showing me all the things the Bible says about being a wife and mum and loving and submitting to your husband (which is a whole other talk entirely!) and it's incredibly exciting, living knowing that God has a specific purpose and design for your life, and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Ambleside Year 0

2008-09-10T14:33:00.002+01:00

As well as time spent outdoors, and habit formation, "the Year 0 years provide an opportunity to begin Ambleside art appreciation, hymn study, folk song, and classical music. Try gently beginning a foreign language. Develop the habit of tea times. Teach them to sew and draw, hammer and paint. Play card games and board games. These are all CM friendly activities for the Year 0 ages." - from the Ambleside Year 0 Yahoo group.

Mmmm... Delicious

2008-09-09T15:56:00.002+01:00

I've just finish uploading all my bookmarked pages onto Delicious.

That's the place that I'm going to store all the different info and recommended books and websites that I come across. Anything really relevant or excellent I'll add to this blog.

Habit Training... beginning with me

2008-09-05T15:08:00.011+01:00

I'm starting to think about habit training for my LOs, one of the Charlotte Mason focuses before formal education begins age 6. And as I think about it, the more I'm aware of what a poor example I am in this area. I seem to be very much stuck at Miss Mason's 'I ought' stage, without progressing onto the 'I will'. So, as I start to train Jude, I will also be working on myself. "Just one habit at a time." And the first, and most important thing I will be training myself in is a daily Bible reading. (I want to make it a daily quiet time, with prayer and study as well, but small steps!). I've stuck a little calendar on the sidebar to record my progress!

This website, 43 Things, aims to help people achieve what they're working towards. It will email you reminders to help keep you on track.

Down wiv School

2008-09-05T14:53:00.002+01:00

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4677730.ece

I:II:V Living Creatures

2008-08-22T09:33:00.003+01:00

Of what 'creatures' may children observe the habits?
"... bee, ant, wasp, spider, hairy caterpillar, dragon-fly, and whatever of larger growth comes in their way." Also, tadpoles, squirrels, beetles, worms, frogs and toads.

How to build an ant farm: "Ants may be brought under home observation in the following way: Get two pieces of glass 1 foot square, three strips of glass 11 1/2 inches long, and one strip 11 inches long, these all 1/4 inch wide. The glass must be carefully cut so as to fit exactly. Place the four strips of glass upon one of the sheets of glass and fix in an exact square, leaving a 1/2 inch opening, with seccotine or any good fixer. Get from an ant-hill about twelve ants (the yellow ants are best, as the red are inclined to be quarrelsome), a few eggs, and one queen. The queen will be quite as large as an ordinary ant, and so can be easily seen. Take some of the earth of the ant-hill. Put the earth with your ants and eggs upon the sheet of glass and fix the other sheet above, leaving only the small hole in one corner, made by the shorter strip, which should be stopped with a bit of cotton-wool. The ants will be restless for perhaps forty-eight hours, but will then begin to settle and arrange the earth. Remove the wool plug once a week, and replace it after putting two or three drops of honey on it. Once in three weeks remove the plug to drop in with a syringe about ten drops of water. This will not be necessary in the winter while the ants are asleep. This 'nest' will last for years."

What points about an insect should children observe?
"Children should be encouraged to watch, patiently and quietly, until they learn something of the habits and history of [the animal they are studying]."

NB - we need to make sure, as adults, that children to not pick up any of our squeemishness regarding particular animals, or they will be put off for life.

How did White of Selborne and Audubon get their bent towards nature?
"...the naturalist's father used to take his boys on daily foraging expeditions, when not a moving or growing thing, not a pebble nor a boulder within miles of Selborne, escaped their eager examination." Audubon's father pointed out to his son birds and flowers, describing them in great detail and interesting his son.

What can town children do in getting a knowledge of 'living creatures'?
They can encourage the sparrows by feeding them, and also investigate the 'hairy caterpillar':
"The moment to seize him is when he is seen shuffling along the ground in a great hurry; he is on the look-out for quiet quarters in which to lie up: put him in a box, then, and cover the box with net, through which you may watch his operations. Food does not matter––he has other things to attend to. By-and-by he spins a sort of white tent or hammock, into which he retires; you may see through it and watch him, perhaps at the very moment when his skin splits asunder, leaving him, for months to come, an egg-shaped mass without any sign of life. At last the living thing within breaks out of this bundle, and there it is, the handsome tiger-moth, fluttering feeble wings against the net."

Show that nature-knowledge is the most important knowledge for young children.
Surround them with Nature while they are young and they will develop a habit that will give them great pleasure over the course of their life. God has created this amazing world and it is "inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things."

What intellectual powers are trained in the child naturalist?
"...the powers of attention, of discrimination, of patient pursuit, growing with his growth..." Also, his temper will be much better when constantly amused; he will not be given over to fits of sulkiness, whinging etc. when there is so much of Nature to occupy him.

HE Spending August 2008

2008-08-21T21:33:00.002+01:00

Art Prints: £9.31
Classical Music: £3.22

Classical Music Study

2008-08-21T21:01:00.003+01:00

Schedule HERE.

Tracks available HERE.

AO Art Study

2008-08-21T19:53:00.004+01:00

At last! Something concrete I can do with my LO :)

Schedule HERE.

Purchase each term's pictures from HERE.

I:II:IV Flowers and Trees

2008-08-21T17:53:00.005+01:00

With what field crops may children become acquainted in your neighbourhood?
Children should know every wild flower that grows in their neighbourhood.

What should a child know about any wild flower of his neighbourhood?
The leaf - shape, size, where it grows from (root or stem)
The way it flowers - a head, a single, a spike etc.
The spot where they found it

NB - Miss Ann Pratt's Wild Flowers is recommended, but out of print (probably obviously!)

Children should make a collection: press and label with the English name, habitat and date of finding. They should also make brush drawings of the flowers and the whole plant if possible.

How should children take up the study of trees? Show how the seasons should be followed in this study.
They should start in winter and observe all year round - first the bark, then the blossom and flowers in spring, the leaves in summer, the names of the trees. [They could do leaf pressings and bark rubbings.]

What does Leigh Hunt say about flowers?
If flowers were new, if they had just come into this world, how awesome and amazing we would find them! [Familiarity breeds contempt.] Flowers aren't new, but children are, and they can approach everything with the appropriate sense of wonder.

What use should be made of calendars and notebooks?
A nature calendar can be used to note the first days of the year in which things appear, for instance the first oak leaf, the first tadpole. The child should keep a nature diary as soon as he can keep it himself, and record anything and everything that he sees on his walks. When he is old enough he should illustrate it with brush drawings.

What of the child who says, 'I can't stop thinking'?
The human mind is always working - we need to set it to work, but with things of Nature, in their own places, and not with signs.

No School Like Home

2008-08-20T22:44:00.002+01:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2008/aug/19/schools.education

I:II:III 'Picture Painting'

2008-08-20T22:01:00.004+01:00

What is meant by 'picture painting'?
Get children to look at a landscape, shut their eyes, and when they are sure they can see it clearly in their mind, say what they see.

Show the value of this exercise. What invaluable habit should this play tend to form?
It trains the child in the habit of recalling and reproducing, fully and in detail, what he sees.

What caution must be borne in mind?
It is quite tiring to do this, so should not be done too often.

What is the mother's part in the play?
At first I will have to help my children notice all the points of the scene. I might also do it myself to train and amuse them.

What is the after-reward for taking pains in the act of seeing?
We have immediate recourse to the solace and refreshment of Nature, if we are able to carry these pictures in our heads at all times.

NB - "The mother must beware how she spoils the simplicity, the*objective*character of the child's enjoyment, by treating his little descriptions as feats of cleverness to be repeated to his father or to visitors; she had better make a vow to suppress herself, 'to say nothing to nobody,' in his presence at any rate, though the child should show himself a born poet."
CM means for the child to take his enjoyment from nature and the things he discovers for himself, rather than any praise he might receive from his mother or father, which changes the object of the exercise. So he won't be thinking (subconsciously), if I tell mum about this she'll think I'm really clever, or, negatively, if I don't tell her in the right way and don't receive praise, then I'm a failure in this area.

I:II:II 'Sight-Seeing'

2008-08-20T21:47:00.003+01:00

Give an example of 'sight-seeing.'
After the kids have had their wild run-around, they will eventually drift back to the mother, who will then send them on a 'sight-seeing' expedition, for instance: 'What can you tell me about the cottage at the foot of the hill?' (Hmm, or other less interesting sights of Leytonstone!)

What five or six educational uses may be made of 'sight-seeing'?
1. Training the powers of observation and 2. expression
3. Increasing their vocabulary and 4. range of ideas
5. Training the child to be truthful

Show the value of discriminating observation.
It will give much greater pleasure recollecting childish memories as an adult, if they can remember their surroundings clearly and accurately - really 'see' them.

I:II:I A Growing Time

2008-08-20T21:19:00.003+01:00

Why is out-of-door life for young children especially important in these days?
The value of fresh air; children should live out of doors; The rule: "Never be within doors when you can rightly be without".

What are the gains of meals out of doors?
Breakfast, lunch, everything but a hot dinner (and why not that?) should be served out of doors on a fine day. These meals are usually lovely occasions, and pleasant meals aid digestion, as well as storing up happy childhood memories. NB - note to self, when I have a big enough garden I shall invest in a picnic table. Hmm, or maybe now?

What might be accomplished by dwellers in towns and suburbs?
It is our duty (as mothers) to ensure that our children have a quiet growing time, a full six years of 'passive receptive' life (?), the majority of their waking hours to be spent in the open air. So, if we live in a city, we need to work out how to do this as best we can.

What five or six points should be remembered in a day in the open?
1. Do not send the children, but take them - they should be left to themselves as much as possible, but there is also much to be done with them and much to be prevented.
2. Children should have (where possible) at least 6 hours outside every 'tolerably fine day' from April to October.
NB - CM also adds in, "Impossible! Says an overwrought mother who sees her way to no more for her children than a daily hour or so on the pavements of the neighbouring London squares. Let me repeat, that I venture to suggest, not what is practicable in any household, but what seems to me absolutely best for the children; and that, in the faith that mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them." - to reassure us!
3. This outside time must be planned or else it will be hard on me and boring for the kids. They must be left to their own devices as much as possible, but it is also time for me to train 'the seeing eye, the hearing ear, and to drop seeds of truth into the open soul of the child'.
4. An hour or two should be spent in vigorous play.
5. A lesson or two should be got in.

What of story-books or tale-telling on such occasions?
There should be no need for these - it is not my business to 'entertain' them when there is the whole of nature to explore and appreciate.

What of 'the baby'?
He is going to be in his element, left to himself to crawl around and explore and discover things all on his own.

I:I:VII The Reign of Law in Education

2008-08-19T22:24:00.003+01:00

How may we meet the danger to religion arising from the blameless lives of some non-religious persons? Account for the superior morality of such nonbelievers. Show that all observance of law brings its reward.
It is possible to work out what laws are, and keep them, without recognising the 'Lawgiver'. And if you do keep those laws, then you will see the blessing that goes along with keeping them, even if you choose not to acknowledge God. On the other hand, if you choose not to follow the laws that are laid down in this area, you will miss out on these blessings, even if you receive the superior blessing as a result of committing your life to God.

CM sees many different areas of the law: spiritual, physical, mental and moral. We need to seek out the best way to live with regard to all four, in order to receive all the blessings God has for us. The spiritual law is obviously the most important (for salvation, ultimate fulfilment and eternal life), but there are many, many good things to be received and enjoyed in this world also, through following God's physical, mental and moral laws.

Her 'mission statement': "My endeavour in this and the following volumes of the series will be to sketch out roughly a method of education which, as resting upon a basis of natural law, may look, without presumption, to inherit the Divine blessing."

I:I:VI Conditions Of Healthy Brain-Activity

2008-08-17T16:43:00.003+01:00

What have you to say of the children's daily walk?
I struggle with this as I've mentioned before - English weather is rightly known to be terrible. Charlotte gives the example of how people on the continent have the habit of an outdoor life, and thus the average Frenchman, etc, is 'more joyous, more simple and more hardy than the average Englishman'. But I think what our weather has got going for it is that it is mild - even our hottest and coldest days are not that extreme, hence her quoting from Charles II that you can be outside for 'more hours in the day and more days in the year' in England than in any other country. I've just got to get our clothes sorted, and not mind that I have to pack suncream and raincoats!

Show that oxygen has its limitations.
Stale air, from indoor areas, is not as beneficial as fresh outside air. I love the aim in her ideal: we need houses for shelter from bad weather, and to sleep in, but other than that we should not make them comfortable but merely see them as 'necessary shelters' when we cannot be outdoors. How far I am from that view! I need to get into the habit of thinking, can what I am occupied in be done outside? Jude is much nearer this state of mind than I am, and it would be good to keep him company.

What principle must regulate ventilation?
At least an inch of window open, night and day, summer and winter. I like the idea of this, but we have a ground floor flat so unfortunately it's not a safe option at the moment. I will try to remember to implement this once we have a house and sleep upstairs (please God!). Also, I don't know whether her reasonings apply as much as they once would have as we don't have open fires in rooms anymore, and so indoor air must be more wholesome than it once was. Although, with central heating and air conditioning I'm sure the principle still holds true to some extent.

When a room is unoccupied, open the windows as wide as possible to let the fresh air in. Children should have the sunniest rooms of the house, and the whole house should be as light and bright as possible.

Give some instructions for clothing children.
It's interesting that Miss Mason is very much in favour of wool as the only material to use, against all others, including cotton and linen. I definitely don't agree with that, certainly limit the use of man-made fabrics, but natural ones should be fine.

Art resources

2008-08-14T21:17:00.003+01:00

Susan Striker's Young at Art
Taro Gomi coloring books

Vol.1 pp.20-29

2008-08-11T22:30:00.006+01:00

I'm not going to go through all the questions in the Appendix, but rather use it as a guide, as some of it is obviously very dated. Not as much as you might think, though. CM was very much ahead of her time in many respects, if it's not too patronising to suggest that "her time" was unworthy of her ideas, necessitating the preposition "ahead".

Show that daily efforts, intellectual, moral, and physical, are necessary for children.
"Silly persons" are, more often than not, not born but made, through lack of intellectual stimulation. Or, 'what you don't use, you lose', as I often repeat to myself when thinking of the academic work I used to do (used to be able to do?). In order to keep their minds fit, healthy and active, children need to use them, every day.

What is the best time for lessons? Why?
After breakfast, as the brain is mentally rested. The afternoon should ideally be spent outside, but if not, that is the time for arts and crafts. Children might seem ready for work in the evening, but that should be avoided as too much stimulation can interfere with sleep.

On what principle should a time-table be arranged?
You should not work at any subject for too long - if a child is becoming ineffective at maths, swap him over to history, which uses different faculties, and he should be refreshed.

Why should there be talk at meals?
Enjoyment of the meal aids digestion, so, families should eat together wherever possible, to make mealtimes "the brightest hours of the day". This is also a good opportunity to instill table manners in children.

Give some rules to secure variety.
The mother should organise dinners on a fortnightly rotation, with no repetition, and plenty of fish. I do try and do this, and actually there's loads of benefits - smaller grocery bills, for one.

Show fully that air is as important as food.
As the blood passes through the lungs to be 'oxygenated', it is very important to give "the children daily airings, and abundant exercise of limb and lung in unvitiated, unimpoverished air". Not sure about that last part - being in London and all! Surely that's better than no air at all.

Outdoors Time-Log

2008-08-11T11:11:00.003+01:00

Ok, so time-log of out doors for yesterday:

We had breakfast in the garden which was lovely, and also led to a project of creating a 'wasp trap'. The sun was shining, trees blowing in the wind, birds tweeting, all good!

Unbelievably, we were ready for Church half an hour early, so all four of us walked down with the buggy. Andy took Jude to the park after Church, and then later, after lunch, Mum and Dad took him to the forest for 2 1/2 hours.

The result? He got to bed about 8pm and didn't wake up until 8:30am - a total miracle, considering most days he's up with the sun at around 5:30-6ish. Maybe there's something in this after all!

The Great Outdoors

2008-08-09T15:52:00.003+01:00

OK, so the plan is to spend more time out of doors. Over to Mum's house at lunchtime, and I thought I would set a good example by taking my reading (CM vol.1) outside. Argh! The wind, the dirt, the constant going indoors for things I need, the rain... ugh. But, God created this, and Miss Mason lived in England, so I have no excuse not to face the same inconstant weather!

But, actually it was a very positive experience. The light rain forced me to think of ways to combat it (i.e. adapt the plastic dividers in my notebook to act as a cover for my reading; put the parasol up to act as an ineffective rainbreaker). Plus I felt quiet refreshed when it eventually defeated us, and poor Jude came in from the sand pit all wet and shivering!

The Plan

2008-08-09T10:01:00.004+01:00

I really want to find out more about Charlottle Mason. I first heard of her in the book The Mitford Girls. But I thought at the time that her philosophy and methdods would require a lot of work to understand and implement. I still think that's true, but now I'm willing to put the effort in, mostly thanks to finding Ambleside Online. So here's the plan...

1. First things first - I really need to get back on track with Quiet Times. I've definitely slipped with that recently, and it's really noticable. So that's my first priority.

2. Start reading CM's vol. 1 which deals with preschoolers. It is online here, but I decided I just couldn't bear not to read it from a book, especially if it's going to be a long term thing, so I bought a copy from Amazon. I've also joined a CM bookreading group which will hopefully help me keep going.

3. From what I've gleaned so far, one of CM's most fundamental ideas for little ones is that they spend as much time as possible out of doors. I'm really not an outdoorsy person (horrible hayfever, sunburn very easily etc) but I want to give it a try. Here's a list of places we could go:

Sidmouth Park

Abbots Park

Any of the other parks in the borough

Hollow Ponds

Wansted Park

Mum and Dad's garden

Brooks Farm

Other parts of Epping Forest
Victoria Park

I will start of by trying to get out at least two or three times a week. I will have to get ideas for packed lunches as well (I also hate eating outside - all those bugs, urgh!).

Early Years Education in Sweden

2008-08-07T15:47:00.004+01:00

Watched a fantastic TV programme about early years education in Sweden on 'Teachers TV', of all channels to be watching! You can watch it HERE.

Basically, Swedish children receive no 'formal' education until they're 6 years old - but then within a few years they're at the top of all the league tables in Europe for reading and writing.

Sounds slightly different to our EYFS!

Wansted Park

2008-08-06T18:23:00.006+01:00

We went for a lovely walk in Wansted Park today. 3 mums and 11 children! It was great having some older boys there as they were much more adventurous in exploring - we went right down to the water's edge and saw tadpoles, minnows, water snails, dragon flies and a funny leach / eel like thing (must look that up). Normally we're confined (by imagination) to chucking bread at the ducks!

I like Charlotte Mason's idea that children should spend as much time as possible in the open air - "For we are an overwrought generation, running to nerves as a cabbage runs to seed; and every hour spent in the open is a clear gain, tending to the increase of brain power and bodily vigour, and to the lengthening of life itself. They who know what it is to have fevered skin and throbbing brain deliciously soothed by the cool touch of the air are inclined to make a new rule of life, Never be within doors when you can rightly be without."

That extract is from http://www.amblesideonline.org/ (which definitely merits further investigation).

PS - looks like the unknown animal was a leech.

Mealtimes

2008-06-29T13:56:00.001+01:00

I haven't posted for a while - my Mum is away in Scotland for my Great-Aunt's funeral and things here are hectic! It's a real struggle trying to get Jude to eat any food - he kicks up a fuss about breakfast, lunch and dinner! One problem is actually getting him to come to the table, but last night we set a kitchen timer to go off in 10 minutes, and then it would be time for dinner. Bubby came quite happily when it rang, so maybe that might work in the future?

My first thought when I struggle with anything like this is that I need to find the answer in a book, some form of 'toddler taming' manual. But actually I think I need more to try and work things out for ourselves, for how our family does things, rather than rely on so-called 'experts'... easier said than done probably, but I think I need to take some responsibility for raising my kids!

So, for instance, this food issue - do I
a) make Jude sit at the table at set times, and clear his plate (but make sure I give him really small portions), or
b) just go with what he wants, set dinner on the table but let him come when he wants, get up and down as he pleases, and eat as little as he likes? And then does he get pudding?

I really want to put a) into practice, but sometimes I do feel like he just isn't hungry. The sitting down at the table though is a matter of disobedience. What I think would be best is if I make sure I eat with him as well, so that he knows when mealtimes are (as opposed to eating by himself which probably isn't as nice fo him) and then he has to sit at the table for the duration. (And use the timer to get him there.) He doesn't have to eat anything, but if he doesn't he won't get any pudding. (I'm not sure what to do about snacks later, as it's quite hard when we go out to groups.)

Blimey this sounds like a big to-do!