Art Study

I've been wanting to introduce art to E. I know I want to introduce lots of things to E and he is only 2 years old :) but really it has just been fun to introduce new concepts, ideas to him because he is almost always interested in them. 

So here we go. Art Study. I still don't know how to introduce it but as usual I turn to books. It's definitely the easiest way to get started. 

I first got the Usborne book Questions and Answers about Art, which I think is a good starting point because it has the questions and answers about what is art? I know for sure that was one of the question E asked me when I talked about making art. What is art? So this book kind of answer it for us. It also shows us different concepts of art, different artists, different mediums. A good book to get started on Art I guess. 

While waiting for more art related books to come, I borrowed from the library Matisse's Garden. I really like the book and I also think E likes it too. We've been making our own cutout art pieces inspired by Matisse. I would tell E that we're doing art like Matisse, we'll grab some coloured paper and our scissors and we'll cut out shapes and E would say out what he is cutting and it's cute. His imagination is at work here and it's fun to see. So this Matisse book has really been helpful. We'll probably add it to our collection soon. 

We just got in these Usborne Famous Paintings cards. These are really nice. 30 different artists and paintings and there's some information on the artwork at the back, both about the artwork and the artist. As E gets older, it will probably get more use too. 

Mini Masters. When I saw these boxed set, I knew immediately that I need to get it. There's Matisse, Degas, Van Gogh and Monet for this set. It's a nice way to introduce these artist's artworks. With minimal words and rhymes. We can discuss the artworks or just read through it like every other book. 

I'm slowly introducing the artists. Not all at once. We just did Van Gogh and Matisse since E is already familiar with it and I'm glad that he showed interest so we'll move forward with art study! 

Will definitely need to get more art-related books! 

Till next time-m 

Homeschooling(kind of)

In the spirit of keeping things fun for E at home, I've been trying to kind of have a weekly/monthly theme to focus on. It's been very loose. We don't really do them every day, sometimes we do one or two days of the activity then the rest of the week, we'll have free play or just whatever E wants to do. For reading though, we'll continue with whatever theme I had planned. Mostly these days, E just wants to read so I make sure to have books ready for those themes. The library definitely comes in handy too. I think I've said it before but it has been fun looking up and borrowing books from the library. 

I wish I had known about the calendar from Raising Little Shoots : Exploring Nature with Children earlier. They have a weekly theme that you can just follow along and it's free and they also have a great community where you can get ideas on what activities to do and also book ideas. It's been great even though we just started a few weeks back. I have been following loosely some other themes from here and there but I am really trying to stick to one to lessen the stress of having too many choices. 

For week 7 June to 13 June is Honeybee. 

So far we have read a lot about honeybees. We've also been to the library to borrow more books about bees. We've done some bee related activities. I got some digital bee unit to explore with E. Etsy is a great source of printable study units. I got this Bee study unit with different activities, math or language.

We borrowed this Matisse's Garden book which have been in my mental list for a while as I am gathering resources to introduce art to E. Like an art study. It's an interesting book. E got into the book rather quickly I think mainly because of the scissor work :) and I saw matisse's artwork with bees and I thought it's a good idea so we did an activity. I told E, we're making art like Matisse by cutting out papers and making them into shapes and he was definitely into because he has been into doing scissor work for a while.

It has been fun learning about bees with E. I am looking forward to learning more with E in the coming weeks, months.

Till next time, m

Slow down

Sharing some books that are reminding me to slow down. For the past few months, without realising it, we’ve been constantly been doing stuff. Every day I try to have something planned for E and with this recent heightened alert, it made me realise that we need to kind of slow down. without classes to go to, we don’t have much choice except for just taking walks outside which is really nice I must say.

I’ve been meaning to get the Slow Down book for a while. The moments in the book are really nice. When we go for our walk we’ll remember the moments we’ve read about and we’ll talk about it or we’ll look for a moment we had while outside and read about it when we get it. Noticing these moments during our walks has been great, there is more we can talk about. We’ll slow down and take a moment to notice things. Most of the time it’s a great opportunity for us to talk more about things, or for E to ask more questions.

I’ve also been seeing recommended books for Spring so I got these other three books. We’ve been talking, reading about seasons, nature, life cycles a lot more lately so these books are a great addition to what we’ve been into.

Even though we don’t get to experience seasons here, it is still nice to introduce seasons to E. Books are definitely helping in opening up our small world, especially with the virus. It has also been really nice to see how much E likes reading, to be read, to listen to us read to him, or just to look at the books by himself. Sometimes I can even hear him “reading” by himself. It’s also cute when he attempts to read. It's amazing how he will remember the story, the words and he will try to read out loud. His mind is so absorbent, it just absorbs everything and it’s amazing. I really hope that his interest in books will continue and it will grow and it will stay with him as he grows.

And every time we read, I feel like we are slowing down. Slowing down and noticing moments in our lives. I just wish I have more time to read my books though :)

till next time, M

Trying out Forest School


So what have we been up to lately? Besides trying to navigate being two. Well we've been going to our usual gym class. and we're also trying out Forest School. 

Well so far we've only been to three sessions but it has been such an experience that I just have to write about it :) 

First session, it rained right when we started but I can see that E was already into it which is great. When he is comfortable i am comfortable too. He clearly is enjoying being outside and getting to explore more. I've been wanting to sign E up for forest school ever since E was younger. We noticed that he enjoys being outside, getting to explore things and I want to continue to encourage his curiosity. In a class setting, E is usually asked to participate and sometimes its hard for him and also for me because I'd rather he not do something when he doesn't want to but of course the teacher have to encourage him to try but for forest school, its mostly child led and I like that. I find that E thrives on that. His creativity soars too. And i get to be creative with him too. 

Nature play is something I want E to enjoy. Growing up, I remember enjoying our time outside playing with whatever we could find and I want E to be into it too. Our morning walks are nice but I'm always wishing that E get to experience more. Living in a city is hard because everywhere there's roads, constructions and not much nature paths. So yes, forest school. When I first learned about it, I immediately thought that this is something which E would enjoy and he is enjoying it. We get to immerse ourselves entirely in nature for two hours regardless of weather and it's been so freeing. So we'll be doing that for a bit now. 

-M

Our daily rhythm

I've just finished reading Eloise Rickman's book Extraordinary parenting. I borrowed from the library's e-book version  to read on my phone while being in E's room while he falls asleep. Really good time to get some reading in :) 

When I got to the part when she talks about daily rhythm, it got me thinking of ours. I always think of it as routines but routines sounds more rigid. I am a bit of that I feel but these daily rhythms really help me a lot in getting through day to day. It helps me have quiet time. It helps me get some calm. I get very overwhelmed if I have to spend the whole day(with no breaks) just always ON with E. It's not that I don't enjoy being home with E. It's a privilege. I get to spend time with him while also playing and learning with him. But a break or two is definitely needed to continue on the day without feeling overwhelmed so yes that's why I try to stick to our daily rhythm as much as possible.

Writing down our daily rhythms just to remember :) 

Side note: do you have a fear of forgetting all these little things as the years move on? I have this fear and once every few days, I have a urge to write everything down.  

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Our daily rhythms

Wake up, E gets to play for a bit so as to calmly starts his day(I usually set up some shelf work for him on his table)(also the time we get breakfast ready), diaper change, get dressed, brush teeth

Eat breakfast(these days he likes to read while eating)

Spend some time with O if there's time before O (the upside of wfh) starts work. I clean breakfast up. 

Go out for a walk(for most days) if weather is good, if not we stay home, free play time, read. On Fridays we have gym. 

Home for snack time, relax for a bit, read books, talk about our outside time

Usually if there's some chores to do I'll do it now, cook lunch, E can play on his own or even help(most days, he helps. 

Wind down before lunch if there's time

Lunch

Bedtime story

Then nap(usually he naps maximum 2 hours)

Wake up, we have some more quiet time. E likes to just lay in his bed, even when he wakes up on his own to just relax so I'll relax with him on the side of his bed. 

Play/read for a bit 

Snack time.

Play (activity time -arts and crafts, sensory) or if we have plans, we'll go out. 

Meal prep(E gets to help out if he wants to if not play on his own) 

Dinner

Time with O (after he is done with work) (I get to relax for a bit before the bedtime routine) 

Sometimes they will go out, run some errands or stay home and play or read

Start of bedtime routine - milk time

Shower, brush teeth

Story time by O

Bedtime (still working on not having me to sit in while E falls asleep) 

For weekends, if we don't have plans as a family to go out, O lets me rest more. We call it shifts :)

I can even choose to go out and I usually am back before dinner or bedtime routine starts. If I decide to stay home, we start with the usual, but then from after nap time onwards, I get to rest, doing my own things, usually I nap/play games/watch stuff) for an hour, then O gets a break and then I get a break after dinner again. More breaks which is good.,

Not sure if this is a routine or a rhythm. Timing wise, it doesn't have to be a certain time but this is us most days. It's not to say our days go by smoothly because of these rhythms but its because of these rhythms it's easier to get back to normalcy when things gets hard. It definitely helps. 

As a person, I am a highly sensitive person. I get anxious very easily. I get stressed out very easily. I need a lot of quiet/alone time. I really prefer to not talk if I have the choice. Noises stresses me out. I know I need help but also I don't like burdening people. I know I can rely on people but then I feel like things won't be right unless I do it myself. I just feel that I have to do it myself, even if things go bad, I have myself to blame. 

Having a baby, for me, it's been hard. It started off hard, making me more anxious. So these rhythms really do help. And knowing what comes next is also good. I don't plan activities or play ideas most days but I'll always try to have some sort of activity so that I can get some down time during the day, it doesn't always work out but we keep trying. And knowing that O is there to share the load definitely helps too. Not to say that I don't have days when I feel overwhelmed and feel like I am doing every single thing on my own but ultimately it's mostly me feeling tired and overwhelmed. But yes, we'll keep trying. 

Till next time, M