Freya 26.10.11

We had a really lovely talkative day with Freya today. We went for a short walk and then
indoors to the warmth. Freya and Ahliah enjoyed playing in the cardboard box
cubbby.

At morning tea and lunch Freya spoke a lot about her life, including her bunny and guinea
pig, the horses she has ridden on, Roxy the horse, bush walking, the flowers growing in her garden and the red strawberries. Often on a Wednesday Freya speaks more – as the older children are not here to do all the talking.

It is lovely to listen to Freya as she talks about the things she is interested in
and the big moments in her life.

During inside play Freya didn't seem to slip into a game as usual. I read a couple of stories
with her and then took out a bucket of warm lavendar water and started cleaning
to toys. Freya immediately said she would clean too, Ahliah also joined in.
Freya started on the dolls house ans as she cleaned a game emerged; The dolls
had a very dirty house and they needed somewhere nice to live, as Freya cleaned
she carefully set each room up.

At outside play, Freya was keen to uncover the sandpit to see the turtles (last week we
built some turtles in the sand). Freya's memory is getting better and better –she is able to absorb a lot in her environment; things that Ahliah does, conversations between myself and the other children are often reflected in
things Freya says. Freya loves stories and remembers repetitive and rhythmical
parts really well.

 
Our midday activity was painting. Freya chose red and yellow to paint with. The
colours merged together and created a glowing orange. Freya painted a spring
garden with lots of sunshine – in the end it covered the entire page.

 In the afternoon Freya taught Ahliah how to play the chasing game. She giggled and
laughed as Ahliah ran after her – then Freya turned around to get Ahliah! The
round garden makes for a perfect chasing circuit.

27.10.11

Freya, Ahliah and I enjoyed a morning rain walk. We saw that the rose bush was hanging to the
ground, the branches so laden with roses! We visited the horses and said a quick hello to the garden before coming inside to the warmth.

When all the children had arrived, with rain coats we went to the rose bush to collect a big basket of roses. Inside we sorted the petals and filled a large pot to make rose petal jam. In the afternoon the children each received a glowing red jar of rose petal jam.

Freya was great with the older children today, she dressed as a princess and soon became
a fairy alongside Jasmine. They joined with Denzil and played uninterrupted through till lunch. Freya was speaking more with the other children today and even offering assistance with a puzzle. Over the past weeks I have seen her
follow in games and imitate, today when the older children negotiated games
Freya would elect to take on certain roles, which was great to see.

 At outside play time, the children let out lots of energy, as they enjoy running, chasing
and wrestling. One of the children introduced a game where one person is captured
and tide up, only to escape again – it's like a version of 'cops and robbers' or 'police'. Freya and Jasmine took turns at being tide up. Sometimes children like to play a bit of a scary game, it is another emotion to be explored within
the safety of a game. I was close by to monitor and made it clear that anyone could say 'stop' at any time.

They were all very good at practising their strength, whilst listening and being careful of the 'captured' person.

Freya was very excited to show everyone the red strawberry growing – we have been
patiently waiting till it is ready to eat....I think tomorrow will be the day.

 28.10.11

 This morning I introduced a new morning circle – we still have a strong spring theme, but I
have added some verses about insects and a German verse about two birds in a nest.

These new verses will cover many of our weekly themes and stories heading up to the Christmas break.

During the morning tea break the children played inside. The cardboard box is still holding together, it was transformed into a nest, the girls transformed themselves into princesses and the game picked up from where it left yesterday.
Soon a chair cubby was added, where Jasmine and Freya set up house inside.

I had planned to do drawing for our midday activity but instead we made some birds – I
thought this might bring some more cohesiveness to the children's games.

They each chose a colour and together we practice tying a knot and twisting the wool. The children were all very excited about their new creations and flew off to play immediately.... Unfortunately I had to call them all back for lunch.   After lunch we played outside. Denzil and Jasmine played quietly in the garden with their
birds while Freya built really strong and straight sand castles in the sandpit, she has been practising a lot.

Freya then joined me with the guinea pig, she sat very calm and held the guinea so gently.

Freya has bonded with him most out of all the children, she enjoyed letting him run in the boat and tickled him as
he skipped and played.

 Freya occasionally would fly her bird over to the older children and watch for a while before returning to my side. We talked about the guinea and the garden and then Freya spoke about Grandma Hen, who I took over to mum's house a few weeks ago, as she was getting too old. No one asked after her and eventually she passed away.

Denzil happened to ask last week during play time, Freya must have picked up on the conversation; as she reconfirmed with me today, that Grandma Hen is up in the sky flying with Mummy's horse.

 This emphasised to me the amount Freya is absorbing and understanding in her environment.