Metamorphosis

Holding the space for a few more weeks...

Unschool Monday - Sibling connection

 Had M started school this year, this would most likely have been her second week of school. This morning at an activity we witnessed a very very sad little girl. Not a meltingdown or a tantruming little girl, but one who is just very sad at heart. Too sad to play with some of best friends. M has two very dear friends, siblings who are quite close in age and very close emotionally. Today this little girl's brother started school. Today and from now on she will not see him between the hours of 9 and 3 on weekdays.

Today the brother and sister who live here took a nap

and a walk

There's a bed in my loungeroom

and this feels very strange. It's not a temporary, set-up for welcome (or less welcome) visitors. It's a new permanent feature. It's actually a kind of chair/day-bed. Never the less right now it looks a lot like a bed to me and I find it weirdly disturbing.

Second born child

Poor little A. It must be tough being the second born. Still, we all think it endlessly cute that his first response to any mention of food or anything else that sounds like it might be fun is "Me firtht!"

More "school"

Piano, violin, two sorting activities from BFSU and in the mail today came a phonics/writing workbook that M had requested "so I can read little words like you", so she did a page of that too. Currently M is painting the air drying clay that we modeled last week and A is throwing his crayons across the room and attempting to stick glitter on his picture. Should go and help him...

Curriculum

Yes, really. Reading around here and there always searching for something that fits M's latest interest I came across Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. Looked good, so I ordered it. Luckily it didn't take anywhere near as long as Amazon thought it would and I didn't have to wait until the 9th of February. It arrived a few days ago and yes, it actually is good. He quotes Alfie Kohn in the introduction so it has to be good right?
Anyway today we tried out the first activity. We found three big plastic containers and a bunch of stuff from the kitchen as well as a bounce-on ball (in lieu of a balloon). She enjoyed sorting them into "solids", "liquids", "gasses" so much that she then decided to sort all her animal toys into "insects", "mammals", "others" and then asked me to find her something else to sort. I found some puzzle and tangram pieces and she sorted them into "one sided", "three sided" and "four sided".
Much, much, much fun was had.

Dietary Inasanity

Not generally a fan of sudden changes in this area but I'm so frustrated by the awful and stubborn eczema that improved significantly after going gluten free but is none the less still here that I'm attempting a weeks of GAPS. Not the intro, just the full diet. Theoretically no coffee either but I don't think it's fair to subject the littles to the withdrawal. I'll save that for a day when P is around to protect them. Never the less it's after one pm and I haven't had my second coffee yet. Maybe after lunch (pumpkin soup with homemade beef broth). Wish me luck.