Sharing Skills

I don't excel at many things but I can do a pretty good job at most of them. The age old 'Jane' of all trades, master of none! 

A wise woman once mocked me saying "Of course you have lost interest in it, you have figured out how to do it, so it is no longer a challenge!" I think this really hit the nail on the head. 

I love learning how to do new things. Racking up the skills, feeling that if I needed to I could make most things for myself, without the need of the shops.

I also love sharing these skills, learning from others, teaching others. I have a strong belief in crafts and cooking skills being passed on from one person to another. Usually through shared experiences and communal moments. 


Learning to cook something new while sharing wine or having a bench full of little bottoms, all eager to nut out how to crack that egg without getting shell, or crank the pasta machine and see the spaghetti come out.

Sitting in the sun or around a fire with a pot of good tea and teaching someone how to crochet or read guitar tabs. Sitting side by side and mosaic-ing with someone, continually learning from each others techniques. 

The world is full of teachers and those eager to be taught.

Orlando has asked me to teach him how to knit. I have been waiting for his interest and with me doing quite a lot of knitting of late, I was not surprised at the request.

I have a delicious memory of my Grandmother teaching me to knit. She had a little poem that has stayed with me through many 'non-knitting' decades ready to be recalled as soon as I picked the needles up again. It went:

"In the rabbit hole,

round the tree, 

out the rabbit hole,

and off!"

So Orlando selected his wool, we choose some bigger needles to begin with and set to work. 

He took a movie of my instructions to remind him later if her needed (talk about techno-native generation) He settled himself in the crook of my arm and off we went. Hand in hand to begin and then just that little poem being repeated over and over.

He caught on really fast, seems interested, has come back 4 times in 2 days. I am loving that he is at an age where he can start to comprehend these more complex tasks and his fine motor control is developed enough to achieve what he needs.

Another skill shared in the beauty of a communal experience. One that hopefully Orlando will teach someone else one day.

Pocket Money

Boy, can I tell my kids aren't babies any more when I start being asked about pocket money!

Orlando (nearly 7) said the other day "If I help you with this dish washer, maybe you could give me some pocket money and I could buy this Lego Boat I want from the shops..."

I had a stirring of some very conflicting thoughts and emotions...

I asked him... "How does pocket money work?"

O - "Well I help you with jobs around the house and then you give me some money to buy things that I want to buy."

Me - "Oh that sounds nice... so can I have pocket money for the jobs that I do around the house?"

O - "But you already have money, I only have the money I get from my teeth" (there are a lot falling out at the moment)

This got me thinking... my kids rarely ask for things from the shop. They don't nag, so when they see something really special, I ask them to tell me about why it is so important to them and then I would usually buy it for them. But Orlando hadn't asked me to buy it. He wanted to buy it, with his own money.

This isn't something I wanted to overlook, to me it is an indication that he is wanting to take responsibility for some things, to feel a bit more grown up. 

A few years ago we had agreed to swap money for jobs - he chose 4 jobs that he would do each day and got an agreed amount of money at the end of the week. He would choose things like putting everyone's bed side lamps on at dusk and setting the table etc. It never felt right. I thought he should be doing these things anyway and I felt like I was bribing him with money.

It got me thinking about how we could make this work in an authentic and meaningful way. I like the idea of both the kids being able to have some say in what we buy. To want something enough to save up for it. To get some supported experience in how to use money. 

I went back to my tried and true thought ... "How does it work in the adult world?"

Well I get an allowance from the family budget, as does Nath. The kids don't get one, it is sort of combined with mine, as I usually spend all of mine on them anyway.

We get this allowance whether or not we got our 'jobs' done at home. If the house is messy and the washing un-done, I still get my allowance. I feel conscious of not pulling my weight but I still get it.

This made me think... I am a responsible and considerate member of a family. We work together as a unit. As a respected member of this family, I get an allowance. I also respect the other members of my family enough to participate in the running of the household. 

This could work just as well with the kids. They are also respected members of our family, and thus deserve to have an allowance each week, that they can make decisions about. 

They also need, as respectful and considerate members of this family, to contribute to the running of the house hold. If they don't then we deal with that... as a separate issue, not linked to the money at all. 

This feels SO much better to me, and seems, thus far, to be working. I'll let you know in a year when we've given it a good run!!

Treasure Bags

On a rainy day not long ago....

Orlando suggested he wanted to do some hand-sewing. Hand sewing has become a little popular in our household recently so I said "SURE why not!". We sorted through fabrics, found one that was firm enough. Not too floppy, but easy enough to get a wool needle through. Felt or a wool blend works really well, and set to work.

Orlando picked a wool he wanted to sew with and we chatted about what he wanted sew. He suggested a little bag for treasures. Being the treasure hunter that he is, I thought this was a brilliant idea. He wanted it to be for a bush walk and he could collect bush treasures (a man after my own heart).

We cut out a rectangle, folded it over - leaving a little to cut into an interesting shaped flap. We tie on the wool and Orlando set to work with his running stitch. A button and a button sowed later and he was rather chuffed. A handle is yet to come.

Instead of stopping there he decided "Matilda and I explore in the forest together, so I think she will need one too. Matilda I am going to make one for you to."  What a generous soul he is. He picked some fabric and wool for her and set to work. 

This inspired Matilda to come and sew. Instead of over complicating things, I gave her a square of fabric, attached the wool and allowed her to stitch throughout the fabric where ever and how ever she pleased. She loved this and felt rather important sitting up there stitching with Orlando. I think it also looks rather good, the contrasting wool and fabric. What ever she created was going to be beautiful.

So they may be rustic, but the kids love them, and most importantly they made them all by themselves. This sense of connection and ownership makes using the treasure bag so much more special. The bag is a treasure in itself. A treasure to hold all future treasures. 

Sewing, like beading, is a fantastic opportunity for children to develop their fine motor control and attention to detail. Bring at an age where writing and communicating your ideas through drawings is of great importance  I am always happy to provide opportunities for Orlando to strengthen his fingers and dexterity. Also to be able to work carefully and take pride in this care. Every stitch was examined to see if he felt it was good enough. This is bound to create great pride and a wonderful feeling of self fulfillment.

  

Spring Planting....

We love our Vegetable Garden. Different years have greatly different results depending on the climate and our energy levels.Some years we are rather competent and attentive and this is rewarded with a close to self-sufficient veggie patch. Other years we are less attentive and have very little to show for it.

We plant much later than most, mainly because we find that seedlings planted into warm soil hit the ground growing... rather than needing to survive the cold before they grow. Also in Canberra we can have very late frosts so it is always a gamble as to when they are over. We have come to plan around Melbourne Cup Day being a safe time to plant.

Our garden is a whole family affair. I find that the more the kids are involved the more they are likely to eat the vegetables that are presented on their plate. 

I am hopeful and slightly optimistic that this is a year of growth for us all, and that the garden will be rewarded with attentiveness, which in return will reward us with delicious organic vegetables.

With our veggie patch re-fertilised and doubled in size, we set out to the nursery to select this years crop. Ideally I would LOVE to be growing all of our veg from seeds, but this requires me to be even more attentive, and I have not yet got to that place :) We often save our seeds but are not yet dedicated enough to do this productively. The kids love picking the tomato varieties for the year and love all the different names they have. They also join in the discussions about vegetable selections... should we try yellow zucchini this year or stick with the tried and true black jacks? What type of onions are on the menu? Do we want real spinach or just silver beet  What colour carrots do we enjoy? This year we selected: kent pumpkins, beans, snow peas, more strawberries, Lebanese cucumbers, black jack zucchinis, spinach, rainbow chard, 4 types of cherry tomatoes, 4 types of big tomatoes  HEAPS of Basil, lettuce sweet potato (trial) and a mixed bag of carrots. We also choose nasturtiums as our edible flower to welcome bees into our garden.

This year the kids did all the planting and I acted only as a foreman. I delighted in hearing Orlando teach Matilda how to care for and plant the seedlings. His instructions were "Squeeze the tub... but not too much... support the stem in your fingers... turn it upside down... and then take the pot off.... now the fun bit.... tickle the roots and make the plant happy.... if you laugh too it works better.... now put the happy plant in the hole... make sure it is up straight and not falling over.... and cover it with the dirt like a blanket... remember you don't like a blanket over your head and neither does the plant, so just around its bottom and legs, which is the roots.... push it down tight so it is cosy and give it a kiss with water, but not too much .... then we wait before we can eat it..."

Don't think I could have put it better myself....

Now to do the waiting part... remember to kiss it with water regularly and see how we go....

How is your garden growing this season? Hopeful?

The Secret Art of Reading

Being a Kindergarten teacher for many years, I have been asked so often about how children learn to read. I think it really depends on the individual child BUT, at the moment Orlando is very keen to read everything that he sees. It has got me thinking and reflecting and I wanted to share a few of these thoughts.


 
This is by no means a "how to teach your child to read.." passage, just some reflections and ideas I thought I would share.

Just before leaving on our holiday, I was reading a very old and very outdated book on children's literacy. It was "On learning to read: the child's fascination with meaning" by Bruno Bettelheim. Now this chap had a lot of twisted ideas and blamed mothers for everything BUT he had a few points that got me thinking...

He was discussing how in the olden days (even old when he was writing it, so were talking WAY BACK) the book that was most commonly read was the Bible. Most people were illiterate and those who did know how to read were seen to know the 'secrets' and wisdom that was contained in the Bible. Those who could read were able to access the mysteries! This was a great motivation for people to learn to read, as they could then be able to access what other were.


When we then think about writing and reading from a child's perspective today... Adults and older peers are able to read. They are able to access the text rich world that we live in, where as younger children rely on the picture to interpret meaning. Many children are eager to learn the secret art of reading so that they too can access the world around them.

The only real way we are going to assist a child to become literate is to give them the passion and motivation to want to become literate. If they don't have the want, there will never be a way... no matter how hard you try.

So, as parents, it is drilled into us (and rightly so) that we must read to our children.  I agree whole heartedly with this... read, read and read! But read INTERESTING books. Beautiful texts that are rich with melody and rhyme. Texts that are inspiring and leave the child's imagination zooming from one place to another.

These books develop a passion for text, a desire to hear and know all the wonderful stories of the world (any one who knows my children, knows that the fastest way to their heart is to sit and read with them... and it is the adults who have had enough LONG before the children have :))

So at 4/5/6 ish most children who have this passion for books and stories are going to want to start accessing the books independently. They are wanting to read the signs around them and to tell others stories. They now have the passion AND the motivation! PERFECT!!! So what do we give them, to assist them to learn to read? READERS....

Anyone read one lately? OMG how stupid do the writers believe children to be? How could anyone go into writing and write such monotonous crap! "I can run. I can jump. I can swing. I can walk." snore!!!

Then kids sit and think..... WHAT! this is what I've been working up to? This is the secrets I've been waiting to access?

It is not motivating to read this rubbish! There are no secrets discovered from reading it! There is nothing for my imagination to explore! I have learnt nothing.

The only motivating fact is that we as adults create such a fuss over the fact that the child is 'reading' that they believe this is a way to receive praise and attention from adults.

I don't even consider these beginner readers as even reading... the adult assists you to read the title, which is then repeated through EVERY page of the book and you can look at the picture and guess what the other word is.... thats not reading, its parroting and guessing!

And then we wonder why many children have no motivation to read at school? With these readers we are not valuing children's capabilities and intelligence.

I completely acknowledge that there are situations where children need specific skills and knowledge taught to them to assist them to connect the gaps in their understanding. These need to be done on an individual or small group basis as 75% of the children will have worked out what sound an 's' makes without a formal lesson about it.

So as a parent, with a 5 year old who is chomping at the bit to read, is full of motivation and passion and wants to soak up the literate world around him... what am I doing to support his budding literacy?

- We are continuing to read AMAZING stories and chapter books full of adventure!

- We are talking about words. When Orlando asks about what that sign says... I say .. "Why don't you read it! Have a try and I'll help you if you need". He has a try, he finds the sounds he knows, I give him the ones he doesn't, "In this word the 'tion' makes a 'shun' sound"

- In this fashion we read signs everywhere, when in context children can read words far harder than we give them credit for. Particularly at the moment with all of our bush walking, Orlando is reading us all the warnings and directions that we need! and LOVING it.

- When reading interesting picture books together, I ask Orlando to read some of the more simple words, we take turns and share.

- Orlando reads books that he 'knows' to Matilda, whether he gets all the word right or not doesn't matter, he is still getting the satisfaction of 'reading'

I completely acknowledge at this point that I have an intelligent young chap who is keen to learn everything the world has to offer. Many children are not always so keen. Having had many a Kindy over the years, I have had to help numerous students who just "didn't get it". In acknowledging all of this, I still maintain that a passion and motivation to want to learn on the child's part is the most important factor in the whole event. We need to be careful to fuel this passion, not extinguish it by feeding them rubbish!

Let's maintain a sense that the written word is full of secrets, mysteries and delicious information that you just have to get your teeth in to!

The Camp of Transitions

Our first stop on our 8 week camping adventure is in the beautiful Mt Buffalo area.

There has been a lot of excitement leading up to our departure. A lot of anticipated fun and adventure. As soon as we hopped in the car the questions started flowing. Can I...... It took a good 2 hours in the car for both the kids to calm down into a nice flow. No we were not going to draw, sticker, watch movies and listen to audio books simultaneously in the first 2 minutes of our journey. We would get a chance to do all of these things, EVENTUALLY.


Once we pulled into our first camp it was as late as 4:45pm so we needed to set up and gather wood fast before dark and cold fell. It was all hands on deck and the kids were so excited by it all that they wanted to do everything and be everywhere without any consideration for how it was hindering productivity to be under our feet. Their bodies were moving a a million miles an hour and they just couldn't keep still with all the excitement.

The next morning was the same, Ollie was leaping from one end of the caravan to the other with questions like, what's for breakfast, can we have morning tea, where are we going today, can I play lego, where are my boots, lets go fishing! all in a matter of 5 mins at 8am in the morning.






DEEP BREATHS, KEEP CALM, SMALL SPACE-HIGH ENERGY

How about you go outside and start exploring while we get breakfast started?

No you just want to stay in this small van with all of that energy?

OKAY time to set some new behaviors and routines in place. How is this going to work for us? What do we want to have happening as this is the time to set the expectations.

There is NO television! (Yay!!)

Unless you are sleeping or helping you are outside

Rug up and be warm so that you are successful in your outdoor pursuits

We need to put things away as soon as we are finished with them... A caravan is a very small space if it is packed full of mess

Playing with dials and knobs on our appliances can be very detrimental, if you are playing you should be outside!


NO SHOES in the van, particularly muddy boots!

Clothes will be worn days after day until they are too dirty to wear, then we only replace whats dirty.

Where ever possible, engage kids in all campsite life, wood collecting, fire lighting and maintenance, cooking, cleaning everything.

I need at least 5 mins in the morning, UNDISTURBED to get clean and dressed and make some order. If interrupted I am likely to have a tantrum (already happened twice in as many days :))

We all sat down and had a chat about this and agreed to work together and to be patient as we get used to living in a small space together.


Two days on and the kids are now entertaining them selves, outside most of the time. We are all sleeping well and are starting to slow down a little, not needing to speed around as much. We are getting used to the cold and finding ways to maintain warmth. Our beds a cosy at night which is fantastic. In slowing down everyone, including the kids are less frantic and more present in just being here and experiencing.



We have learnt that setting up our campsite is more than just getting the van up and set. We also need to erect the hammock, get out the bikes, put up the rope swing and make a base for the kids to call home. These camp comforts will give some familiarity throughout our journey and give the kids a safety zone to explore for the time it takes them to suss out a new space and feel comfortable to explore. These camp comforts also give the kids something to focus on while routine times like cooking and cleaning are underway.

We have had a marvelous time at our first camp, but have also learnt a lot in regards to what we will do differently at the next one. We are excited to move on tomorrow to Wilson's Promontory and set up our next home :)

Our Nikon Baby

I adore taking photos. Always have. But it isn't something I had ever really thought much about, other than for family snaps. This changed when I was asked to run a professional development for the teachers at my school on what makes a good photo. How to capture the moment and the engagement of children. How to tell a story with photos.

In my work setting taking photos is a big part of my job. These photos are used to tell stories of the children's investigations, discoveries and development. They are used to share relationships and celebrate the joy of children. Also to empower parents to see the importance and worth of children's play and communication. To see that their investigations have a real purpose. These photos are highly valued by the parents that I work with, and they always enjoy what a celebration of their child they become. Due to privacy issues I can't share these photos with you, so will have to just show you my beautiful children :)

I have always had a point and shoot camera and I snap away happily, every now and then I capture a beautiful shot, but I often feel frustrated that they don't have the richness I know photos can have.

Also in the modern day of smart phones, I rarely bother taking my camera out with me. My phone takes equally as good, if not better shots and it is always with me.

  

We have an adventurous holiday coming up (more details later) so I though this the perfect excuse to buy us a new camera.... One that can challenge my photo taking abilities, use Nathan's photographic study and hopefully give us rich and engaging photos!

So we did some research into entry level Digital SLR cameras and decided that the Nikon D3100 twin lens kit was the camera for us! We shopped around for along time to find this baby on sale. It usually retails for over $900 but we knew we could find it for less. With the current stock take sales it went down to $750 but we wanted more!!! We eventually took the risk and brought it online for $620 - bargain!

Yesterday it finally arrived!!! Boy have I been keeping it busy! The kids are being great models and allowing me to experiment with all the different settings. They are obligingly posing in the bright sun, dark rooms, and in strange positions. They will run super fast to see if I can capture them clearly by changing the shutter speed and jumping high into the air to see how we go capturing movement.

 So far I'm in love with my new baby and hope she supports me through a photographic learning curve. I am open and ready to learn! She has a great tutorial mode that is teaching me about how to get the effects I want. I want to challenge myself to make use of this camera and use her to her potential, not just as a fancy point and shoot... as she's a little big to fit in my pocket  :)