May 2006
- Natalie is 4 years, 2 months
- Leah is 2 years, 6 months
- Rebecca is 1 year, 4 months
May 18, 2006 -
I wonder what the chances are of Steve letting me abscond with the shed. it would be a perfect playhouse, it's currently
empty and is right at the edge of the yard, backing up to the woods. We could call it "Morning Glory House" and put a trellis
up the side and plant morning glories on it, when the kids are older put a little mailbox out front and we could leave messages
for one another. it is small but high; I wonder if it would be possible to safely put in an upper level nook with a ladder
and a railing, for a little hideaway. And then the only thing below would need to be a playstand and some shelves and cloths, etc.
it would help the kids to have a place to put away their outside playthings and would be a wonderful little house.
* * * * *
N cries, "Thank you for my pail, Mommy, thank you!" "I dig, with scoops!" to herself
Steve approved my idea for the playhouse
but he says not yet, which is fine because
I want to focus on the wall first. maybe invite Betty to be a part of it? Mom too. cousins? each person does a part?
I want a big floppy hat
(this was because the sun is getting in my eyes as I try to observe the children. I'm not too close
to Natalie because I don't want to distract her)
dirt floating up into the wind
"that dirt is from a fireplace" looks like smoke
Art Project!
millet seeds? collage
N is singing
put some dirt in my scoop
put my scoop in some dirt
dig some dirt and put it in my scoop
and these rocks
and plants plants plants
so CONTENT
"I'm putting a plant in my pail, Mommy! I put it in my scoop"
she hardly ever talks to me or looks up, so absorbed. it's just the two of us, her sisters
are already down for naps
she's using one scoop to fill the other with dirt, carefully leveling it and smoothing it down with the edge of the empty
scoop, then carrying the full scoop to the pail
started compost pile today
she thinks the animals will eat the banana peels. come back to that, how it gets broken
down into the soil. again, SOIL, ROCKS
maybe we can call it Living Earth, always changing, bring in the sand, beach, river
Geology certainly runs in my family as an interest
I asked her not to dig up by the house and said, how about this dirt right here? She looks at me and says firmly "That is sand."
then changes her mind and says, "I'm going to dig in sand"
Thinking Question: what is the difference between dirt and sand?
wandering around aimlessly
now she's using the scoops to bang on the sawhorse and make sounds
putting the scoops inside one another, arranged in order of size
(1/4 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/2 cup, 1 cup)
testing the sounds they make on the ridged plastic gutter
(back to business. how long did the aimless time last?)
transferring dirt from the planter to her pail
"My pail is full of dirt. Brining it over here to this plant."
choosing what size scoop to use. suddenly decides the plants are in the way.
"I'm going to pull these plants out," she announces
pulls up a weed, brushes extra dirt back into the pot, as she's seen me do, and tosses the plant aside
removes all plants
then begins to dig
(I start sketching out a plan for the yard)
can the dog house become a chicken coop?
right by the veg garden is a good place, and we're unlikely to let him sleep outside
do we need a permit?
can we keep chickens hidden?
would something come out of the woods and eat them?
veg garden is in sunniest spot, easy walk from front door, also by water spigot
A GOOD PLACE
N singing again - does this when she's focused, content
Dig Dig Dig
and rock, rock, rock (as she sees them go by)
Pour pour pour
dirt into the pail
moving dirt from large planter to small pail
this dirt is different - planting soil - she hasn't remarked on this
does she like it because it's soft and easy to handle or because it's in a container?
she's singing and singing, I can't catch the words, I heard
"it's me"
obviously rejoicing in her task and its usefullness
has her hands in the dirt too, not just the scoops
taking the dirt all out of the planter and onto the lawn
what time did we come out here? I need to pay more attnetion to elaspsed time - determining quality of play
today is obviously rich enough :-) YAY!!
testing to see if she can pile dirt on the reverse side of the scoop
convex, concave
discussion of this?
what is her explanation
the pad and pencil works well for outside play time but I need a tape recorder for circle time
drawing shapes in the dirt with her finger
this may not be Waldorf, but when you look at her so absorbed you immediately think - play is the WORK of the young child
she's completely pulled in to her world
I facilitated by observing her, thinking of how to make her play richer
benefit of documentation + transcription
Waldorf doesn't emphasize this so much - are they missing something?
it's definitely a Waldorf result but it took Reggio to get me there
as soon as I saw her just listlessly flicking dirt
standing, not crouching and absorbed, I said
"alright, Natalie, time to put the scoops away in the pail"
which she did immediately but said, can I wash the scoops and the pail?
I said, sure
and we went around to the front where the hose is
she set all her scoops out on the ground and waited
are we in to a distraction, water play?
No she's washing them very well and setting each aside
in the sun to dry
oh, here we go, distracted on the last scoop, flinging water on the ground
LOVED sand + water play at the beach yesterday, she was the only one who was into it, her sisters were too hot
I wish I knew how much time had transpired
rough guess: 1 hour 10 minutes
** need a watch **
list of things to take outside for observations: pad of paper, pen, camera, watch
there's a lizard. should I remark on it or not disturb the quality of her play?
It's gone
I went off to decide where the tree should be planted and the compost heap should go (by the veg garden)
so of course she's distracted
she's watering the flower beds
time to wrap it up.
began ~ 10:30
ended ~ 11:40
May 17, 2006 -
yesterday, in the back yard for the first time, children were immediately drawn to the space under
the deck and picking up the trash in the yard
today digging with sticks is very popular, L did a lot of running and yelling, N went from digging under the
deck to collecting rocks and making a careful pile over by the dog house
took photos documenting the "before" space
provocation tomorrow - white pail with scoops (these are really nice quality scoops, I recommend them)
Natalie really likes rocks - maybe we should put smooth river stones and other favorite
rocks in with our tile mosaic?
other ways to beautify the environment: one copper chain instead of a gutter (the one right by the under-deck space)
some kind of planting around the heat pump?
Project Idea: Rocks
May 16, 2006 -
while the kids are playing outside in the back yard, I am sitting on a lawn chair watching
this is my journalling time, observations, photographs
would be nice to have a glider
1st space to work on - outside wall and under deck
tile mosaic
can the shed become a playhouse? plant flowers around
mud pit - Educating the Will
first, they naturally begin to clean up
went to go get them a trash bag
have Steve do some outside play time with them too so he can share his ideas
Project Idea: the Sun
(helping Natalie go to bed, being more aware of the rhythm of the day,
how does the sun help the flowers grow, gives us our food, etc)