Sunday 8 May 2011

Lathe Barn.

I'm really loving this place.  So nice to be sat out in the countryside on a farm - which ok, is set up for kids with play areas etc - but it's not theme parkish, like some I've seen.   I love there's load of space for the kids to run, and they have these fantastic ride ons:
Rye can get quite a turn of speed on these things!   
And of course, an ice cream is obligatory - along with nearly dropping it!
Really lovely afternoon.  Went with Izzy and her kids and another HE family joined us there too, so we had lovely natters, the kids played and it was just really nice to continue cementing new friendships with genuinely lovely people.

Speaking of home ed, our daily rhythm has gone a bit to the left at the moment, so from tomorrow I'm going to introduce circle time again.  Both Rye and my minded children love it, and I need to look at some themes for the next month.  It's the Summer Equinox on the 21st June (or 22nd haven't checked yet when it falls this year), so the waldorfy thing would be to have a theme around this - and I'm thinking of maybe introducing A Midsummer Night's Dream as a general theme.  I never understood Shakespeare very well at school and the dissecting of each and every line thoroughly put me off - although I have read some of the plays since..but then they are meant to be watched not read, so maybe I'll plan some simple little finger plays of the general gist of each act and perhaps add into circle time and then Rye comes to Shakespeare from a more natural, as it were, stance.  Oooh, I may even have to get Rye making some "potions".  Many folk names of plants are based on what they look like; snake tongue etc weren't actual snake's tongue but a plant that was thought to look like that.  Could take Rye for a walk and see what plants we can find and give them folk names and then make a potion using those names.  I reckon Rye would enjoy doing that :-) 


Oooh, and while up in Yorkshire, Aunty Jen saw this book and bought it for Rye:
It's rather basic but does introduce young children to the basic theme of the most well known myths. 
And I remember being fascinated by the myths and legends of various cultures as a kid - I hope Rye will be too.

I think the Icarus myth or perhaps the the birth of the sun warrior are obvious myths to incorportate into this month's and June's theme of Midsummer.  Probably go for Icarus, then we can have a go at making some wings ourselves - that would be fun too.


Mmm, feels good to be getting back into "it" again.
Also looking forward to seeing how this themes manifest in Rye's play :-)

2 comments:

Fiona said...

It all sounds so lovely and positive Jacqui - so glad to hear you are getting back into thing again. I admire your focus, as I sometimes find all the things I want to talk about and do with the girls overwhelming and don't know where to begin. I think your approach of a base theme and then activities around it might be something I have to focus on a bit more.

Fiona said...

Sorry - meant to add that potions are a fab activity. My 2 spend literally hours making spells and potions. One of our favorite ingredients is grated chalk to add a bit of colour. I bought them a cheap cheese grater with plastic tray underneath, and a bucket of big pieces of sidewalk chalk and they use them almost every day.