I had planned that this would be 'Science Week', with various experiments based around Materials - putting empty yoghurt pots into boiling water to see what happens, for instance, or talking about the properties of metal compared to clay - but I'm afraid sickness has struck and I'm not able to speak very much, my throat having swollen horribly with some nasty cold bug. And since experiments tend to require a fair amount of talking, Science Week has been postponed until I'm better.
Instead, some literacy worksheets on CVC words and Days of the Week have been trotted out, much to the boys' boredom, alongside some rather more inspired activities ...
Treasure Island
For instance, I found an audio cassette of TREASURE ISLAND, an abridged version for kids, and after listening to a few short chapters, accompanied by child-friendly pictures from the Ladybird book, pictured above, the boys drew their own Treasure Islands complete with spooky names and X to mark the spot! Later, when my head hurts less, I'll scan those pictures in for you to see.Stone Age Food
We've also been talking about the Stone Age recently, having enjoyed the Ray Mears 'Wild Foods' series of programmes on BBC2 about how our hunter-gatherer ancestors somehow managed to scavenge for food and cook it without access to all the metal, clay - and plastic! - food preparation and cooking equipment we take so much for granted. The boys have been particularly fascinated by this, sitting in fixed silence for most of the programmes, then discussing their favourite bits afterwards.
The moment when Ray Mears shot a wild deer was a huge shock to them - and to me, actually! - but they quickly accepted that such things would have been part of daily life in the Stone Age ... and indeed that the chicken and beef they eat also comes from slaughtered animals. Living next door to fields of sheep and cows probably helps them to see the whole thing in more pragmatic terms, perhaps, than town children. Though it can be hard, watching those cute spring lambs leaping about outside in the weak sunshine and knowing that most of them will end up in a freezer before summer comes.
At the library, I found a few of those amusing children's Horrible Histories films - 'Rotten Romans', 'Vicious Vikings' etc - and brought them home on loan. Amongst the best ones is the 'Savage Stone Age', only about 23 minutes long but certainly entertaining and just right in terms of tone/content for such young children.
Not just saving my poor throat that morning, the Savage Stone Age DVD also provided a nice follow-up activity and discussion point for our following of the Ray Mears series, letting us talk about what a 'thousand' means and how long ago 9000 years is. We looked at rudimentary timelines to help us evaluate how long ago the Stone Age was, and watched some BBC Schools programmes on the subject - aimed at slightly older children but still useful when watched with close support - for more information about historical timelines.
We also talked about food in the wild, and much was made of potentially poisonous substances like berries and mushrooms. When Indi was just one year old, she toddled out into the garden and ate a mushroom from one of those sudden overnight mushroom rings that spring up when you're not looking, so we talked about that occasion and how it led to us hurriedly researching what sort of mushroom she had eaten and whether a trip to Casualty was required! Of course, it was not a poisonous mushroom on that occasion, but it was still a useful anecdote that allowed us to talk about being careful when in the garden or out on walks in the countryside ... especially after watching Ray Mears frying up vast forest mushrooms and squeezing wild berries to make a pretty disgusting-looking 'jelly' cake.
From Timelines to the Washing Line
Dad is off work at the moment and, since I've been languishing on the sofa for much of the day this week, has been put to work on various domestic duties. This has caused some jealousy, I think, since it's usually the boys' job to help me out while Dad's at work. At one point we even caught D. standing on a chair under the washing line, trying to take down the washing himself before it rained!
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