Category Archives: Our journey

Family History

History, Learning, Our journey

We have been exploring our family history.

An important part of discovering your family history is asking questions.
I have created some profile sheets to be used to pull together some basic facts about family members.
These can form the basis of a family history file – with a form for each known member of the family. Find out the answers by asking the person, or if they aren’t available or are deceased, then ask other family members to help fill out the forms.

Familyhistoryform_Page_1Familyhistoryform_Page_3

Familyhistoryform_Page_2

Part 1:
Includes basic information about a person,and their relationships.

Part 2:
Comes in two versions. One is a simply a sheet to start writing interesting stories about the person. The second version is for deceased family members, and includes space for religion and details of their death.

I created two versions so parents can use the simpler one if their children are concerned about family members dying.

Land art

Making things, Our journey, , ,

We went down to the woods today and made … art!

One of the most satisfying outdoor activities we have enjoyed has been Land Art. Creating art and sculptures from natural materials you find in a particular place, such as leaves, fir cones, twigs, pebbles, rocks, sand and shells. Many only last a short time.

For my youngest it seems to be an instinctive process – to take materials from the natural world around her and create beautiful things and arrangements with them. One of the joys of land art is that it can be used to get out and celebrate nature even in the depths of winter. The seasons all add their own materials and backdrops. Autumn with its beautiful colours and a cornucopia of leaves is a particular favourite.

We have also run and taken part in formal land art sessions.

I like to have a camera to capture the results. Other than that all you need is yourselves!

  1. Find a place to explore. It could be a piece of pavement outside your house, the garden, the park, the beach or the woods.
  2. Take a good look around. What can you see? Explore the colours, shapes and textures.
  3. Start collecting – What can you find? It could be anything from stones, to leaves, to grass.
  4. Create some art. Young children especially often excel at taking found objects and arranging them in a way that is meaningful to them. Every piece of land art will be different.

You can make animals, patterns, circles, spirals, even life-size outlines of you and your friends. Or write words.

Examples include Andy Goldworthy who uses materials he finds with no tools! Richard Shilling has a website on Land Art for Kids, with lots of examples and advice on how to run a land art session

Land Art Worksheet

The warm heart of my family

Babycare, Babywearing, Breastfeeding, Cosleeping, Our journey, Parenting, , , , , ,

Reading the latest The Parental Intelligence Newsletter I came upon this article that struck a cord with me – Why African Babies Don’t Cry
by J. Claire K. Niala.

It reminded me of some of the childhood influences on my parenting that I treasure the most. As a child I lived in various countries – most notably for a couple of years in Malawi. It was a time in my life that I loved completely – warm sun, heavy rain, good friends and family all in the warm heart of Africa. It influenced my view of the world and in recent years has heavily influenced my parenting choices.

We had a cook – whose large family was very important to me. Their two year old daughter in particular was the only child before I had my own that I have ever felt maternal about. Whilst we were their her mother had another baby daughter. And between them both they taught me some of the most important lessons for my own parenting.

First – there is nothing strange about co-sleeping – although given a family of 11 people, and two bedrooms you really have no choice. But that normal, happy children co-sleep and it can be a completely normal part of the human condition.

Secondly that toddlers don’t have to throw tantrums. The only times I ever saw my friend cry was if she was hurt or at wash time – now that she hated!

Thirdly babies don’t have to cry, and the most normal place in the world for a baby is attached to its mother, in a chitenge or what ever other baby carrier comes to hand. The little one is also the only baby I can remember seeing breastfeeding up close.

These special memories stayed with me for years – ready to help make breastfeeding, cosleeping, babywearing and multi-age communities of children seem like the obvious choices for my own children.