Focusing on shape in our carpet sessions with the children is fun. We do feely bags, look for shapes around us, draw them in the air, on the ground, walk them. Last week we were learning the name of a cylinder and a cuboid-with reference to what they can do-as in a cylinder can roll-so we rolled it around our circle to each other as we said it. This week we are doing a sphere-or 'sophia' as most of us say it! I am finding spheres all over the place,
Silly things on the news this week-our prime minister plans to start measuring our happiness, and the improvement in it over time. What an impossible task. It will give the government even more of an excuse to tell us how to live our lives, as they so love to do. At the same time there are announcements from the education minister that many more schools than already thought are failing, that lots of teacher's lessons are dull and uninteresting and that they will train ex-soldiers as teachers for free, as they will be able to instill good discipline in the classroom. Of course, why didn't I think of it, my job is almost exactly the same as that of a soldier. There have been big student protests this week over the massive debts they will now incur, with the tuition fees they will now have to pay. It has been quite reminiscent of the 80s, when I enjoyed a number of demonstrations and witnessed very similar scenes to yesterday. So, they will train soldiers for free to be teachers, but charge students £9000 a year for the chance of further education, yet they want us to be more happy.
The most snow has fallen the earliest in the year in 17 years, or something like that-not here yet but I can feel it coming! It is freezing. We went to forest school today, and after only about 10 minutes I gave the children the choice of staying out or going back in. Half went and half stayed so we had a very relaxed and bountiful hot chocolate and snack time. I have never seen Khy look so happy as when he was helping himself to his third hot chocolate from the giant flask!
Happy Thanksgiving to you if you celebrate it! I hope it has been fun.
