* let rabbits out for a wander around the dining room, since it’s too cold for them outside today
* the plan for today has changed – Nannie isn’t coming in for swimming, so I will take B and K out to the farm after 3pm and she will stay the night
* 10:30-11:30 preschool storytime at the Belconnen Library. Beth sat at the tables and read a couple of books to herself while Katy listened to one story, then I followed Katy around the library for a bit. Beth ended up borrowing some books and a couple of DVDs
* went to the markets so I could buy sulfate-free shampoo, red lentils and peanut butter. Beth looked after Katy for me so I could choose shampoo, so I gave her enough change that she and K could both have a go on the rocking deer ride
* made herself lunch – tried peanut butter on wholegrain toast (she ended up licking the peanut butter off because she didn’t like the bread, but at least she liked the PB *g*)
* after lunch, I spent nearly an hour getting Katy to go to sleep without mamas – she nursed til she was getting sleepy, then I took her off the breast and she SCREAMED for about half an hour, then fell asleep like I’d turned off a switch or something…
* Beth drew a picture using stencils, then wrote a passage about relationships which had some fairly sophisticated ideas as well as some pretty darn good attempts at spelling! She was dissatisfied with what she’d written becase it didn’t express what she wanted it to, so we talked about the authorial practice of re-reading and editing, and that what she had written was a first draft
* reading aloud: The Diary of Watkin Stench
* visual memory: had no trouble with “skylark” and “embark”. When we looked at the word “remark” she put in a line between the syllables without prompting
* played word families bingo, with me encouraging her to sound out the syllables and look for the word, rather than always just telling her how to spell them. I made up funny little sentences to illustrate the sounds, one of which (me avoiding – in a very obvious way – saying the word “shit”) inspired her to write a note, “You are a shit”, addressed to “A Shit, Shit St”. Not exactly accepted educational practice but at least it got her writing! *g* We wrote a few notes back and forth and much hilarity ensued. Beth demonstrated another tactic for improving her spelling: looking up the word. She copied “unlawful” and “dangerous” from the Feeding Bears sign, and “good” from OFTFRFBF. We made so much noise we woke up the baby, but anyway…
* drove out to the farm, where Katy played with Beth’s farmyard set in her room, then both girls went out and bounced on the trampoline and played on the swingset. We walked down to feed the donkeys, and then back up to feed the chickens. Katy tried to go paddling in the pond, and generally had a lovely time.