It has been a challenge working out how to balance all the components of our educational journey. It is important that this alternative arrangement works well for all parties involved but most importantly that it becomes an enriching experience for the children. It needs to add benefit to their education rather than detract and complicate their school experience.
Rainy afternoon adventure to St Pancras Railway Station where we sat sat high above the concourse and watched the people coming and going. We drew portraits and collected rubbings of textures and letters.
My approach has always been to follow the needs, interests and curiosities of my children and to encourage investigation and wonder at the world around them. Since starting school Alfie has taken a grater interest in letters and numbers and has directed a number of activities that investigate a letter.
The first of these was the Anteater project. It was created on the first sick day after a conversation about anteaters in the doctors waiting room. Alfie asked to look up anteaters on the internet so when we came home we did. We came across a colouring page image of an anteater that he asked to print. After colouring the first sheet Alfie decided that it didn't really look like a real anteater and we discussed ways we could make the fur look more like fur. We looked at books by Eric Carle and Jeanie Baker and then Alf created his anteater fur by tearing up some old paintings. After the anteater was finished he asked for a letter A 'because anteater starts with an A like Alfie'. This evolved into turning his artwork into an anteater costume. Alf created a mask and glued ripped scraps of paper to his finger nails to create claws. For the rest of the afternoon my feverish ant eater boy lay curled on the sofa because anteaters spend a lot of their day sleeping.
