Wet weather plans

We were betwixt and between on Monday, were Alannah and I. Was it going to rain, or was it not going to rain. As it turned out, for about 30 minutes it teemed. So we did lots of indoor play. And it was indoor play in the morning. I was ready for this just in case, but BoM led me astray, it did.

We read lots of books: Tough Trucks, Roadworks, My Uncle's Donkey, and Waterhole. A number of times in various settings for each book. We did crayon writing, but I think I need more colours in the crayon case. So I set Alannah up on my computer table here, where I am typing this, wrote her name and she picked up the pencil and wrote away herself. Was it wishful thinking that she understood when I said that was her name? Yeah, probably. But she holds a pencil fairly well for someone who is not 18 months until Sunday.


We did our usual sorting with sticks and UNO cards. I added to this another set of cards produced by Usborne which is shape cards. Well, the cards are all large rectanngles but they have about a dozen shapes (4x) showing shape and word, eg circle, square, triangle, rectangle, oval (which she can recognise and say, for some godforsaken reason), spiral, semi-circle, star, cross ... how many is that? Oh and heart. I have only introduced six to start with. We are not doing anything literate with them, just mixing them all up and then sorting them into three 'bins'.

So, now to the final two shots. I asked Kirsten's permission to post these two. Yes, she is upset, and yes, like a good journalist, I recorded the situation rather than go to her aid. So, what were the circumstances. It will not surprise you to know that it involves a cat. And the least obvious culprint - Sellie!

Sellie is the sweetest, most loving cat that I have. Yet she is also the most scared - she is the quintessential 'scaredy-cat'. She spends the first hour of my play-days with Alannah, hiding under the stairs, and I have to eventually coax her out. Once, she realises that all is okay, all she wants to do is come and nose-touch and rub against a leg. Even. Alannah's. leg. This time, however, we were about to go outside. The rain had stopped. It was after lunch. Things had dried a smidge and we had our hatties and our sunscreen on. But.

Sellie. was. atop. Ma's. toy. box. which. is. beside. the. door.

Alannah felt trapped. Sellie had to be coaxed to come to where I was before Alannah got a grip. A couple of times later in the afternoon, Alannah actually put her hand on Sellie's back. She feels most comfortable with the ginger cat, Sylvie, who is fat and old and lies on the sofa all day. You saw them together last week. I think it is safe to say, that the cat's blow Alannah's mind.

Taking into account attention span

There is a lot of 'brmming' going on in the top image

My working life began as a Primary Teacher, mainly of Year 3 and Year 4, making the children nine and ten years of age. After three years of that (at Lyneham and Cook in the ACT, then Waratah West in Newcastle), I moved down to Melbourne and spent 18 months working in a range of city and suburban schools as a long-term (weeks) relief teacher. All this I relate, to slip in the sorry tale of the hardest day's work I have ever done. I was at Brighton Beach State School and although primarily on Third Class, one day I was asked to take Kindergarten in an emergency. I did not know what hit me! They couldn't concentrate, they couldn't sit still, and they completed every task the moment I finished explaining it. I needed a squillion things prepared, and more backed-up in my head.

And yet, from 1982 to 1986 I was involved with Family Day Care, and a Pre-School all in St Ives!

So, on the days when Alannah is coming, I am up early 'ploughing the field' to use my favourite metaphor when it comes to educating children. I make sure the bedroom is ready for when she needs to sleep or have her nappy changed. Then, I lay out the living room, then the courtyard.


In schools, the most valuable time is the time prior to recess and immediately after recess. The value of each minute reduces from about midday. Certainly, by the afternoon, you need to have programmed 'fun' activities, winding down activities. Hence, number and language is done first when the children are more likely to be fresh. Hence, in my opinon, PhysEd., sport, music, drama, dance, and art are all scheduled for during the afternoon. Of course, the teachers of those subjects would probably have a different attitude.

I need to follow this 'rule' with Alannah: get her inside into the living room first; then, allow her out into the courtyard later. It is difficult though, because she enters via the courtyard, and I have set out the sand, and the water, and the trucks, and the balls. Plus, I am not sure I want this quite that prescriptive at this stage.

Wednesday is a short session: 8am to 1130am only, which is when her nap starts. That aspect is working well. Bang! She was asleep when her head hit the pillow today. I must learn the words of 'Lavender's Blue'. However. I have maybe a dozen nursery rhymes that I 'rock' her to sleep with.

Although today was scheduled to get to 29C, it took its time doing so, and a cool breeze blew early, making it tough that Alannah chose water play first. Well, first after she had a lenthy 'hello' with the cats. She is learning how to pat and the meaning of the word 'gentle' and that you DO NOT pat a cat 'in reverse'. They do not go for it! Then we sorted the coloured sticks from the pack of UNO cards, one into that plastic tub, the other into this plastic tub. In a little while we will graduate into sorting by colour using both cards and sticks. Later on, outside we collected enough 'things' to make a natural tray selection: black stones, white stones, shells, leaves etc. I have various seeds and cones to add to this. We did not touch crayons today, and the reading was cursory (Busy Spider, Waterhole and Roadworks). I want to find a book of poetry (illustrated) for children. Not nursery rhymes, but poetry.

However, dancing was made more complex, and a hoop and bowling were introduced. Margaret had made a suggestion that I introduce some of the costumes of the Morris Dance to go with the Scottish fiddle music that I mentioned the other day. So we put on our hatties, tied a scarf around our necks, put our ribbons on our wrists and trailed a hanky (a la Oscar the Wilde) from our fingers. A pair of whirling dervishes. Alannah warmed to it: meaning she would not have a bar of it to begin with! I need a smaller scarf for her, and preferably in primary colours. I complicate this when appropriate, with bells on our legs and show her a Morris Dance on U-tube.

We did more vehicle spotting again today. She knows a bus now even when her back is to the road!

So, Grandad arrived at the bewitching hour, and Alannah spent ages introducing him to all three cats - a number of times.