Learning From Your Environment

There is so much potential for learning on car journeys. This time Sophia's attention was caught by seeing electricity pylons and wind turbines and she was avidly asking questions about these. I briefly introduced them to her and offered to set up some follow up science educational YouTube videos at a later date. Good old 'Dr Binocs' came through and the children have been eagerly learning about fossil fuels, renewable energy and electricity. Sophia has started writing down her thoughts and knowledge on electricity in her new science book. It is a great sidestep from their current topic of light, which is being learnt enthusiastically. They have loved their light experiments, as simple as they were, including going into a dark room and shining a torch, seeing how a pencil seems to change when placed in a glass of water, just with a light shining on it. Observing what materials allow light to pass through and which cast shadows, and performing shadow puppet plays on the wall. 

Sophia at her recent hospital appointment ignored her ipad and was trying to read every sign she came across, asking me to fill in the gaps for her. She's beginning to appreciate and understand how important words are and the fact they are everywhere. It is an aspect of society that until recently, has been not part of her world and now it has made its presence known and is enriching her experiences. She was proud that she could read simple instructions and then knew how to deport herself as a result.

Examples included: 

'Please don't touch the glass' 

'Please do not move the chairs' 

'Sheffield Children's Hospital' 

'Do not sit'

'Please clean your hands' 

It is a shame the instructions carried a slightly negative vibe, but it hammered home to her the ever presence of germs (covid) and how we have to deport ourselves differently in this new world. She was obedient and took note of how all adults obeyed these rules too. She felt grown up, they were not just rules just for children, and she felt included in society's narrative. She was asking why strangers could not sit down next to her or each other, but we could sit together, so I was explaining social distancing. 

Sophia had to have her first dental x-ray and she understood that it was pictures of her teeth and skeleton bones and stood statue still for them. She was invited to view her pictures afterwards and immediately read her xray to the radiographer, pointing out her jaw bone, and her two sets of teeth in her mouth, which were her baby teeth and her big teeth waiting to be pushed through. The radiographer was incredibly impressed by her knowledge and maturity. She was also extremely grown up in her eye test, and loved being treated as an adult. She answered the opticians questions correctly and asked questions back concerning her eyes, asking what was wrong and how exactly her new eye patch will help. 

This time of year especially heralds the invasion of the natural world into our home, and leaves, feathers and stones adorn our kitchen sides and school table. Sophia is busy still with her herb garden, but she was saddened today by the loss of her chive plant, it was too far gone to be rescued, but the other four herbs are absolutely thriving. Kira was upset because she loves eating from the chive plant whenever she's in the garden. So we had the most bizarre burial I have ever witnessed, the girls dug the plant from its big pot and placed it in another part of the garden and said goodbye to it....I think a replacement chive plant is necessary. 

A visit to the park recently has provided us with another stunning collection, including fully formed pinecorns and beautiful russet coloured conkers. Sophia really connects with nature, she shows a deep appreciation, joy and caution for it, and is learning how to respect trees and plants, as well as the wildlife she comes across. It was lovely to see her explore the park and see it through her eyes, and she was chatting about habitats as we roamed over the grass and bridges. She could barely keep still through lunch as she was itching to explore very little detail that wondered into her eyeline. Seeing her laugh as she gently navigated a ladybird over her jumper was lovely to see. It is moments like these when memories are made and the world seems perfect for that moment. 

In her free time Kira has kept herself busy on her own learning journey. She has completed a few different projects recently, including following a Lego instruction booklet to make a helicopter on her own for the first time. She has been busy making bracelets. She has also been working hard on her handwriting practice and drawing, and enjoying making figures out of playdoh, strengthening her hands for writing. She has made a chocolate cake recently from scratch, with me dealing with the oven. She has been reading the book series of Spot the dog to her stuffed animals, as her daily reading sessions. Kira one day was sat watching TV with four dinosaurs lined up on her lap (they were being her pets). She was happy to chat about them to me and I'll be honest I had to fact check most of it and she was correct.The T-Rex was a carnivore, eating other dinosaurs and was fierce. The Spinosaurus was a carnivore who lived in water, eating fish (this is correct apparently, they lived in swamps). The Stegosaurus was a herbivore who ate grass and plants and would have been eaten by the T-Rex. She named the last one as an Argentinosaurus as it shared the same features as one with long neck, small head and a huge body. They are herbivores and would eat from trees. 

Xander has been reviewing his days of the week, months of the year, and his Spanish repertoire on a daily basis lately. He has started to read Peter and Jane 1b to me and is adding spontaneous descriptive elements into the page to make the content more interesting. It is always relevant and plausible. He has been painting a lot, enjoying paint sticks particularly. He's also been finding his own little reading nooks and crannies and disappearing with a book and blanket. You need to follow his voice sometimes to track him down, 'That's not my monkey...'. Oh there you are Xander, under the school room table, or behind the sofa. He is leaving a trail of books behind him where he goes. He's been busy on NumberBlocks apps on his ipad on his hospital trips, and loves tracing his finger with numbers, shapes and letters. This develops muscle memory, and he's getting closer to being able to make a rough rectangle on paper as a result. Ryan's World science learning channel is always a firm favourite, he's been mainly watching about volcanoes and rainbows. 

Thank you readers for joining us in our journey, I would love to hear from you in the comments on any of my posts! Take care and catch you next time.