Chirstmas Angel update

Ok, so I've been a bit lax posting about Daisy lately. She's been up to a few antics.

Fishing in the bath.

Playing on the space hopper

Tucked up in mummy's bed with a book.

And some without photos, diving headfirst into the cereal box, standing in Mischief's shoes with an invite to go to Birmingham Christmas Markets with mummy and daddy, tucked up in bed with dolly, buried in the teddy basket. Some days she's had coins, some days hair clips, most days just the verse. Each day Mischief's been eager to go find her.

Salt Dough Angel Garland

One day last week Daisy, our Christmas Angel, suggested we made salt dough angels to decorate the fireplace. I finally have a pic. 

We used this recipe:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 cup water

Cinnamon

Mixed it altogether until smooth, rolled and cut. We zapped a few at a time in the microwave for 2 minute bursts in high until hard. We turned them over several times to prevent puffing up. 

Once cool we decorated with paint, glitter, glitter glue etc. When the paint was dry I used a  Pebeo metallic paint pen to add the letters for MERRY CHRISTMAS. I threaded onto rustic string and Mischief's daddy hung it on the fireplace for me. 

I'm really pleased with the effect and Mischief's nanny wants one too. 

8th December Christmas Angel

Today Daisy was just sitting around talking with the birds...a couple of chickens for Mischief's farm.

7th December Christmas Angel

Seems like our angel likes Lego...

The Lego town has been built over the last week by various members of the family.

6th December Christmas Angel

Relaxing in mischief's microwave today with some hair clips. 

5th December Christmas Angel

Daisy has found all the Christmas books and was discovered this morning reading them to Taz. 

4th December Christmas Angel

Mischief wore her Christmas PJs last night. 

Daisy found Mischief's stocking and hung it up last night. She was found clutching a little scroll saying

Dear Mischief

Let's make salt dough angels to decorate the fireplace.

Love from Daisy

So we did, no pics yet but we used this recipe

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1/2 water

Good shake of cinnamon

We bleated them in the microwave for several 2 minute bursts and voila. This afternoon we painted them and as by some fluke we had the exact number to spell Merry Christmas with a spare for start, end and middle when the paint and glitter was dry I added e letters in metallic paint. Once dry, I'll thread onto gold ribbon and hang. Pic to follow.

Christmas Angel Day Three

This morning Daisy was snuggled in a little box in our reading area on the landing with some very festive Christmas PJ's for mischief! I think she was very taken with them.

Day Two with Daisy the Christmas Angel

This morning Daisy was to be found presiding over the nativity scene she'd assembled. She had the second verse and a hair clip for Mischief. 

She's also donned a halo.

Meet Daisy, our Christmas Angel

So the morning of the first of December our Christmas Angel was to be found on the chair in Mischief's room with her poem and clutching the first verse of our advent story (I got the verse printables from Abby at Just a Girl and Her Blog here). Mischief was thrilled to meet our angel and chose the name Daisy.

A the month goes on she will acquire more features and her outfit will slowly be completed. By Christmas we will have the whole story held together in a binding ring. We're so excited!

Here is her poem

I am a Christmas Angel sent by God from Heaven

I'm here to share the story and the blessings that can beckon

The very first Christmas God sent an Angel to Mary

What he asked her to do sounded quite scary

But God wanted to give the world his only son

Having him in your life can really be quite fun

Each day I'll have more of the nativity to share

And maybe some fun ways to show that we care

Christmas is a time of giving and receiving love

And peace and happiness and all good things from God above

But not everyone is as fortunate as me or you

So let's find some wonderful things that we can do

To bring some Christmas cheer and blessing

That means much more than window dressing

Each morning find me hiding somewhere in the house

You'll have to look quite hard as I'm quiet as a mouse

No Elf on the Shelf for us

I have a confession, I'm not ashamed to admit it but I know I'm risking the wrath of mummies everywhere. So here goes, I seriously dislike Elf on the Shelf. There it is.

Ok, so I've never actually read the book but I know it originates from an American book and this elf comes to visit for December and he is Santa's spy reporting on whether the little boy or girl is being naughty or nice. The elf then gets up to mischief each night so the child hunts him down in the morning to see what's he's been up to. Some mums really go to town and have really elaborate set ups each morning. 

I'm not sure what I dislike the most, the fact that he spies on you, the fact children are being bribed into 'good' behaviour, the fact that he's naughty overnight (tell me how is a child expected to be good if the elf isn't), or just the fact that he's vaguely creepy. 

I know you'll tell me it's all just a bit of harmless fun and the kids love finding him each morning and seeing what he's been up to but I just find the whole concept wrong. 

So I've opted out. I want to focus more on the true meaning of Christmas. I want to take out the commercialism and gimmie gimmie gimmie culture. I want Mischief to take the opportunity to share blessings with others and enjoy the love of Christmas. 

With that in mind I've come up with my own take on the elf, our very own Christmas Angel. She arrived on the 1st December with a poem explaining why she was here, a very from scripture and a coin for Mischief's money box. 

Each day she'll hide somewhere new and have the next verse of the nativity so in the end we'll have the whole story to read. Some days she'll have a little gift for Mischief and some days a suggested activity, such as baking cookies for the neighbours or just a fun activity for all the family to enjoy. 

I bought an artists wooden mannequin for our angel, I thought this was perfect as she could then be posed. I asked Mischief what her Angel would look like if she had one (red hair, green dress) and set to work. She's a work in progress and I actually like that her outfit will develop as the month goes on. 

I'm really quite excited by it as I love Christmas and the anticipation and really hope that Mischief loves her too. 

School holidays

When Mischief's Daddy has time off work that's it, family time is here. How do people who have children at school ever get to have time together. 

If you have four weeks holiday that's eight weeks between you. School holidays average 12 weeks. So tell me, how do families spend time together. 

If you take holiday together that's even longer you have to find childcare for. When does the child get to spend time with mummy and daddy? When do mummy and daddy get to see their kids?

It's not for us. 

Cold and wet...

Sitting watching the little ones dragging their feet on the way to school. It's raining and cold, they're hauling book bags and PE kits and pulling on their mums hands, wishing they were at home warm in bed or anywhere other than here. 

Now it's home time. It's still raining. Coats still wet from this morning. Carrying artwork and letters home. 

Another reason we're happy to be home schooling. Don't get me wrong, we love being or in any weather. Mischief loves thing better than running round the garden barefoot in the rain with her umbrella. But why should we drag ourselves out day after day with no chance of drying out? If we're going to walk the dog in the rain and get muddy and cold then we're coming home to hot chocolate in front of the fire. 

I feel for the little ones who haven't had enough sleep because they have to be at school so early and weigh their little bodies down with so much stuff. If your child loves it and you have no option to be at home in sorry, but I'm glad we won't have to conform in that way. 

Another reason...

Overheard conversation

'That's the fourth time I've had to tell you today, please STOP.'

And as an aside to her friend 'it's ever since he started school, all the time'

In reply 'well it'll only get worse, you know it will only get worse as he gets older'

Why? Why does it need to get worse? Does sending your child to school release you from the responsibility of disciplining your child?

Just another reason we chose to homeschool. We can limit negative influences and instil a loving and respectful attitude through the way we live without harsh disciplinary tactics. I will never believe that you have to put up with bad behaviour 'just because'.

What about curiosity?

My friend has been looking at schools for her little girl. Of all the things that were a worry about the school; testing in the first week of school to see the academic level of the FOUR year olds, curriculum guidelines, homework, target outcomes set the same for all the children because 'boys are often behind girls in their emotional development so we start them all focussing on emotional awareness regardless of their identified weaknesses' the most worrying for me was 'we have a no hands up policy in this school'. 

Pardon?

'We discourage question asking.'

Pardon?

So essentially they have a traffic light card system. If the child understands the material they put a green card on the table, if they're not too sure the orange one and if they really don't get it then the red one. The teacher then targets questions at the children who were unsure. 

There is no opportunity to or encouragement made for the children to ask questions and explore the subject for themselves. 

This horrifies me. Children are inquisitive and curious and want to know the why's and how's of things. If they can't ask questions this wonderful nature is quashed. So later how will they have the thirst for knowledge to further their education. If its suppressed and drummed out of them now how will they ever want to know more. 

It's such a Draconian system and such a travesty to the free thinking spirit of children. 

Wobbles

A couple of weeks ago I had a bit of a wobble about our decision to homeschool. We went Daddy's school reunion for starters. This is a beautiful school in a massive Victorian house set in 250 acres of woodland and grounds. The kids were lovely and there is a great Christian ethos. The secondary schools the kids go onto all say how you can tell where they come from as they are so considerate and caring of others and willing to lead. So should we be trying to find a school like this near us?

Then I was watching some of Mischief's little friends. One was colouring beautifully within the lines, another was writing her name. Have we made the right decision, would she be learning more, more quickly at preschool...

Then it happened. Mischief told granny how fossils were made. And all about magnets and polarity. 

Wobble over. 

So what if she can't colour on the line yet, who enjoys restrictions and conformity? She's enjoying expression and colour. 

So what if she can't write her name. She's got years to learn and can form some letters just fine. 

She enjoys what she enjoys and especially enjoys learning. 

They all do it though...

I'm just listening to a disturbing conversation while waiting for Mischief's gym lesson. The other mums are talking about nursery and preschool and having bad school reports because their children have been pushing and biting. 

They are comparing stories of when their children have bitten others and how it seems to be a way of establishing pecking order and refusing to be dominated because they're bigger or smaller than all the other children. 

The conclusion was 'well it's not nice but they all do it though. They have to figure out their place and make sure they're not walked over.'

It's not a phase I've come across. Mischief see other children regularly and she has been pushed and hit but she has  never done so herself. 

Just one more reason I'm happier she's not at preschool where violence is ok. 

Aren't you worried about socialisation

Why is it when you tell people you're home schooling their first question is 'aren't you worried about socialisation?'.

Actually, no I'm not. I would be if my daughter was in school though. Now don't get me wrong. There are plenty of great school out there and plenty of great kids. But not all of them are. At only 3.5yrs I've seen some of Mischief's friends develop behaviour I wouldn't be happy for my child to exhibit. In my personal view the socialisation learnt at school is at best forced, at worse unpleasant and sometimes downright disturbing. 

Tell me, how is it natural to put 30+ kids in a room and expect them to get on. What do they learn? Polite interactions? Or, he who shouts loudest/pushes hardest/ behaves worst gets the attention/toy/choice of activity?

By giving my child the opportunity to mix with different age groups, from baby to octogenarian, she learns the skills of polite conversation, negotiation, the joy of sharing and cooperation. 

She can choose who to spend her time with rather than being forced. And let me tell you who she chooses in group situations, not the ones shouting pushing and hitting, but the adults and young ones who are enjoying each other's company. 

Don't get me wrong. Even in the home school community she will find people she doesn't get on with but she has the choice of who she mixes with and the space to learn how to deal with situations that make her uncomfortable. 

This week she has had a conversation with Granby about how fossils are made, telling Granny all about it, she's played make believe with her friends, taken turns at gymnastics free play, met her friends at swimming class, charmed the lady in the coffee shop, talked nineteen to the dozen to Nanny and Grandpa, charmed the checkout lady at the supermarket, met new boys at a rocket workshop, met her friends at gymnastics class, met new people at a fossil hunting picnic, played with her friends at Sunday school, took daddy shopping on the bus, made new friends with children at an adventure playground and that's just the things I remember. 

So am I worried about her socialisation? Nope! Not in the slightest. 

Easter Garden

We were celebrating Passover at the Salvation Army this evening so we decided to make an Easter Garden to take. It was surprisingly easy and didn't take every long. It didn't even cost us anything as we used what we had lying around. 

First Mischief and Daddy put a layer of soil into a plant pot tray then covered a terracotta plant pot and moulded to look like a hill. I raked up some miss from our lawn and used that to cover all of it. I also cut some twigs and tied with twine to make crosses which were pushed into the soil. Finally we decorated with some pebbles for a path, some grass and fern frond for trees, strips of cloth for the folded grave clothes and a stone for the tomb entrance. 

The tomb is closed for now but the stone will be rolled away to reveal the empty tomb and folded clothes on Easter morning. 

Mischief enjoyed making it and think she got some of the points. We read our books on The Last Supper and The Easter Story after. She's so excited about Easter and Passover this is definitely a tradition I'd like to do each year. 

Goals for the next year

As last year was all about exploring home schooling and showing Mischief's daddy that a. I had the discipline to do it and b. It worked for our family and Mischief was learning, this year I want to instill some more stucture.

I've been very guilty of fitting 'schooling' round our daily routine and social activites. Now this hasn't been a problem as Mischief is still so young but as she gets older and her friends increase their time at preschool and start thinking about school I'd like our efforts at home to be more intentional. I fell there is no rush to start in with hours of 'work' a day and don't see this as template for our learning anyway. I just don't want to get to age 5 and suddenly insist on something more formal and it be a shock to her and she resists against it as something she feels forced into doing. I really want learning to be fun and something she wants to do and I feel that but introducing this early it will be just a normal part of what our life is, like walking the dog.

So with those vague thoughts in mind here are some goals for the year ahead. I'm not calling them goals for 2015 as by some hiccup in the space time continuum we seem to already be a quarter of the way through the year.

Be more intentional about discipling Mischief

Instigate morning devotional for Mischief/family

Meet some homeschooling families

Join some homeschooling activity groups

Achieve some sort of routine to our homeschool week so it's more intentional than adhoc