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‘Motherhood’ Category

  1. Speech Pathologist update

    July 18, 2011 by Michelle

    It's been a while since I've posted and this is largely because things have been crazy busy around here. But I thought I would post an update on our speech pathology visits.

    We have finished up our 5 week stint and it was with mixed emotions when it ended last week.  Overall, I am glad that we did the program but I"m not sure how much of a difference it made. Boo was already doing much better before she started the program and the speech pathologist said that because Boo had made such a dramatic change (thanks to the osteopath!), the number of sessions could be cut back.

    We did a number of exercises over the course of 5 weeks (and I had homework each week :) ). Some of these exercises were good and some were a little too basic for Boo. To summarise:

    1. Week 1: OWL which stands for 'observe', 'watch' and 'listen'. Basically, to take your child's lead and not interrupt if they are engrossed in an activity (sounds similar to what Montessori recommends!)

    2. Week 2: reading different books and getting Boo to complete sentences, pointing out things on that page and reading different types of books (e.g. pop up books, picture books, story books etc)

    3. Week 3: Nursey rhymes – singing lots of songs, getting Boo to sing along and doing the action to words

    4. Week 4: Choice: Giving Boo two choices with everything and getting her to tell me which one she would like (rather than "yes", "no" responses).

    5. Week 5: Arts and craft with some "OWL" thrown in for good measure.

    I found that Week 4 presented the best developmental exercises for Boo. Giving her a choice and getting her to say what she wanted is a great idea. It took a lot of practice and we still occassionally get the "uh" sound when we give her a choice rather than the choice itself, but I think it is a great exercise

    Week 1 and week 5 exercises are akin to what Montessori suggests and the activities I did with Boo for these weeks were Montesori activities but it was interesting to see Montessori inspired thinking infused in child development programs.

    So now we are on our own – there will be a follow up in 6 months, but I go into the next 6 months with a world of confidence and a lighter heart :)

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  2. How to get your child to eat their vegetables

    July 4, 2011 by Michelle

    I have to say that I struggle with getting Boo to eat her vegetables every day. Certain vegetables are fine, for example, peas, corn, baked beans (always a great fall back!), potatoes, celery (hidden in pasta), and mushrooms. Other vegetables like green leafy vegetables, capsicum (which I am not a huge fan of myself!) and carrots are a constant battle. And there is a third category, being broccoli, cauliflower and tomatoes where Boo will either eat a LOT or none at all.

    I liked this article by Mother Huddle which discusses how to get your kids to eat their veges. It's not self serving and very true to the topic. In particular, I too also go by the mantra of always dishing it up and getting them to have 1 bite of it. With Boo, because she is still quite young (only just over two), a "bite" sometimes means being quick enough to get the vegetable to her lips so she gets some taste of it.

    I do admit that sometimes there are days where she doesn't see any green vegetables, but I always make sure there is some type of vegetable in her meal. I prefer the green variety, but I'll take what I can get! I don't believe in blending and hiding vegetables too much. I like to think that Boo can recognise vegetables in their original form and that is what she is going to have to get used to. It's up to me as a parent to continually serve it up to her, even if she doesn't eat it in the hope that one day she will try it and enjoy it!

    Each to their own at the end of the day, but the above is just my view/how I tackle the constant battle.

    How do you deal with this?

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  3. Moving on and up!

    July 1, 2011 by Michelle

    Little Boo is growing up so quickly! Not sure if I have mentioned it before, but she is in a Reggio Emilia childcare centre.  She has been there since she was 10 months old and absolutely loves it!

    It is a fantastic centre and so lovingly thoughtout and designed. Once a garden centre, it has been completely revamped into a gorgeous centre. 

    The Reggio Emilia method is similar to Montessori but more arts based. There is a great summary about this philosophy here.  Broadly, it is child directed and their works documented and displayed.  The focal point of the center is the studio – a central place that all the kids can go and explore the arts and crafts.

    Boo's centre is not a traditional commercial centre which is why I love it so much. It is full of the most gorgeous art pieces, painted in a calming green colour and has a wonderful outdoor area which the children can go in and out as they wish. The environment is soothing and beautiful and makes me just want to spend the whole day there with her!

    But the reason for this post is that Boo is moving up from the baby toddlers room to the proper toddlers room on Monday next week.  This is a well overdue move which had to be delayed by about a month and a half due to that toddlers room being full.  We'll hopefully meet the new teacher some time next week to understand the difference between the toddlers room and the room she was in before (which is a transition between the babies and toddler rooms).

    I can't believe how quick she is growing up :) wonderful, but also a bit sad :)

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  4. Montessori books

    June 28, 2011 by Michelle

    The first step in looking at/considering the Montessori philosophy was to do some reading. But rather than buy a heap of Montessori books, I went to our local library and borrowed / reserved all the Montessori books I could get my hands on! These are the ones I took out:

    • Montessori a Modern Approach by Paula Polk Lillard
    • Montessori from the start by Paula Polk Lillard and Lynn Lillard Jessen
    • Teaching Montessori in the home by Elizabeth Hainstock
    • Basic Montessori by David Gettman

    My thoughts on the above?

    Both books by Paual Polk Lillard provde a good overview of Montessori – as someone that has no understanding at all, these were a good introduction to the philosophy, logic and research.  I found "Montessori from the start" a little easier to read but both were just as good.  As Boo is just over 2 years old, "Montessori from the start" was a useful read.

    The last 2 books go through the Montessori activities but in slightly different styles – Teaching Montessori goes through them in ages, whilst Basic Montessori goes through the activities in stages.  Basic Montessori has very detailed instructions for each activity with a good explanation of why these activities are necessary. Teaching Montessori is more of a summarised version and a little easier to follow.

    But if you can get the books from your library, then I recommend that you get all of them out as they all are useful in their own way. Plus its free, so if you like a particular book, you can then go off and buy it!

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  5. What I don’t love about the Wiggles

    June 23, 2011 by Michelle

    Hoop-Dee-Doo! It's a Wiggly Party (CD) ~ The Wiggles (Artist) Cover Art

    When I was pregnant I swore that my daughter would not be overly exposed/become accustomed to all the standard kids labels/characters – for example, Dora the explorer, the Wiggles, Hi-5. But I have to say that some of these have their merits. And Boo LOVES the Wiggles – I'm not a massive fan of them, but their music is cool and anything that gets Boo up and dancing around is great by me.

    Anyway, back to what I don't love about the Wiggles. We borrowed a Wiggles music CD (I try to limit Boo's TV viewing as much as possible) from the library and Boo was naturally very excited. But two days ago she was sitting next to me and removed the CD cover with the library barcode and I have been searching for it ever since! High and low, through rubbish bins, books, under the couch, under the bed, in the ktichen, in her room and in places where, seriously, there was no chance of her ditching the cover there but I was very desperate.

    So I have about 2 weeks to find this cover and if I can't, then I'm dreading upfront up to the library and explaining the whole situation. Maybe the good news is that I get to have a Wiggles CD on the cheap (I presume I will need to pay for it). But in the meantime… back to the hunt!

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