Freya 05.10.11

Frey arrived happy and calm. Freya often brings gifts – whether it's an extra packet of
raisin for Ahliah,  a flower or a treasure form the garden – this is a lovely way for Freya to bridge the gap
between home and care. It is also a very generous gesture. Today Freya brought
a specific colour nail polish for each of us to paint our nails with.

 It is lovely for Freya to have this quiet Wednesday together. She is able to play so
imaginatively. Today Freya went straight to the play kitchen after morning tea
and announced she would cook something. Soon her baby came out and needed
dressing and then was taken for a morning stroll.

Ahliah has been teething, I used the last of Ahliah's teething relief medicine and gave the bottle and dropper
to the girls to play with.  Freya nursed
her baby back to health with medicine, Cream, porridge and a big sleep. It is
amazing how well Freya knows remedies for good health – she has had great
people to imitate around her.

The game slowly drifted to the wooden animals and then into the dolls house; Freya and
Ahliah play side by side most of the time. They give each other ideas but don't
communicate their ideas to each other. Freya is slowly beginning to communicate
her ideas in games to the other older children and experiencing both leadership
and following role plays.

 For our midday activity we set up our guinea pig enclosure with soft straw, water and
food. A young male guinea pig named Flicker has moved in. He is a little
nervous, but Freya spoke very kindly to him and fed him lots of tasty grass.
Caring for an animal is a great way for children to learn compassion,
responsibility, love and respect for living things.

06.10.11 
 
 Freya arrived happy and well. She found a place for her drink bottle and went out to
play. As the other children arrived we looked around the garden to see what
changes we could find; the apple tree is blossoming, we spotted one tiny shoot
in our vegetable punnets and the corn is slowly getting taller along the fence.
We greeted our new little pet guinea pig Flicker, who is slowly settling into
his new home. The children were all very gentle and picked lots of nice treats
from the garden.

Our midday activity was painting. Today I wanted the children to paint the blue ocean waves
and yellow sunshine. We also painted a red piece of paper to make a boat –
These we will finish next week. Freya painted her whole page in the ocean blue
waves and painted a bright red boat.

 The children played together much more today, we read some stories on the couch, then the
cars came out and it was quickly agreed on how to share them, it's great to see
how the older children are able to incorporate the younger children into their
games and take turns.

Outside it was raining a little and the children ended up in the cubby-house. Five
children in one small cubby would seem like chaos – but they all worked really
well together. Darcy was door man and set up a password for entry, Jasmine went
shopping for ingredients and Freya and Denzil organised a picnic. Ahliah seemed
busy cooking. Cups of tea were shared and the game lasted until Denzil and
Darcy were picked up.

 Freya and Jasmine then built little flower gardens using the soil we dug over for our new
vegetable garden. The flowers were planted in the rich soil and carefully
watered in. We have been planting and caring for our garden so much and it is
wonderful to see the children use and practice this new knowledge in their
games.

07.10.11

We spent the morning befriending our little Flicker guinea pig – he is still a little shy –
Freya loves to hold him and picks lots of sweet grass.

   Our baking story included a walk in the garden – misty mist had left tiny due drops
hanging form every shoot, leaf and petal, as Sunny Sun shone his light down to mother
earth the garden was transformed into a rainbow jewel garden. Freya and Jasmine
were on the edge of their seats as the listened. Alas Mirrianna (Our main
character) had to come inside for baking....

 Later at playtime I found Freya and Jasmine in the playroom with the coloured clothes.
They were building rainbow gardens, Freya built a little fairy out of feathers.

 
I introduced some other small simple knot dolls, who were quickly transformed
into fairies. The girls played side by side but were mainly engaged in their
own parts of the play garden. Freya sang as she played and flew her small
fairies in her beautiful rainbow garden.

We felted some crowns – this was lots of work. First we carefully laid the coloured wool,
then added warm soapy water and gently pressed the wool. Gradually we began to
rub the wool and soon we had to use all our strength to rub the wool and make
it into strong felt. Freya was very determined and worked diligently alongside
Jasmine. Freya seemed pleased with her crown and wore it for the rest of the
day.

 
At times Freya's communication is great with me and the friends around her. Other
times she seems to close up. Jasmine was repetitively inviting Freya to play
and offering her special toys, but Freya kept running away or turning her back
to Jasmine. I gently explained that Freya could say 'No thank you.' and Jasmine
could play her own game until Freya wanted to play with her again.

 Freya is a great leader and has lots of wonderful ideas. I feel when she 'closes up' it is
because there is something she doesn't like or doesn't want to do – Freya is
learning how to communicate 'No' in a positive way.