odds and ends

Inbetween repairing the greenhouse cover and planting seeds in the  cold frame amidst the reviving lettuce, chard, kale, spinach, and parsley, we’ve found some time to do a few lessons :0)  They came out of the tales we’ve been telling involving Thor, Loki, and other Norse heroes.  Little Man began working on roman numerals, I-X, and he made a picture of Woden, with one eye, and his spear to represent I.  He really likes the Norse Myths, and the tale of Sif losing her golden hair to a Loki prank was one that resonates with him, prankster as he is!  Especially of interest to him has been how if it wasn’t for the prank, well Woden would have no spear, Thor no hammer, and so on and so forth with the other dwarven-made items that Loki comissioned to make amends with his family.  So he made a picture of Thor and Sif, to represent II, but switched to 2.  I wanted to keep going with the theme on through X, taking advantage of the so called ‘window’ of opportunity, but a very large part of me believes in what occurs when I leave it be and it comes out on its own course, from within himself.  I’ve found with Little Man things really ‘stick’ in this way, rather than continuously coaxing him toward lessons once he’s leapt out of the window and gone for his breeze.

When he returned through the still open window, he brought back with himself a desire:  to learn more letters.  We worked on those that he knows and some new ones, and his repertoire has grown . . . .  though not through the entire alphabet yet.  He enjoys playing with words and pointing out the beginning sounds they make, so he can sound out all the alphabet even if he can’t write them. What he knows, he knows well though and can represent them to both our  satisfaction.  He’s been pursuing how to bring the letters he does know together into words, so cat, bat, dad, and track have been emerging on the chalkboard.  Mixed into this, he’s been doing some form drawing too, what we call shark’s fins and loopdee loops.  So far, so good!

As far as fun time projects, we took out some glue, paper, scissors, scraps of wool, and other tidbits and did collages one afternoon.  Little Man had to add some hair to his picture, after all what’s a picture without a little piece of himself stuck fast to it!!  The rest of  these lovely warm days have been spent outside.