Hi everyone. I guess Monday being a Holiday is why this week seems to have gone by so quickly! Plus, being homebound most of the time, the days do just meld together in a flurry of same old, same old things going on. Mostly being the ringmaster in the circus of the doggie-do-si-do where all 4 of mine connive to NEVER want to go in and out en masse, but usually 5-10 minutes after the last one ... so I am constantly trundling my trusty walker back and forth to the door to let them in and out. I am very thankful for our huge fenced front yard, so that they are able to run and hang out safely. Now that I cannot walk very well myself, trying to walk even one on a leash, let alone 4, would be a massive problem.
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Tuesday, I made headway on the question of my 2 year old great-grandmother, Matilda Burton, being enrolled in school, at a time when education had to be paid for, and was not even compulsory in England for 5-11 year olds. It seems that it was more like "childminding" at that age but there were activities for the children such as singing and playing games. I was quite surprised, as in the 1970s, when my children were young, I was heavily involved in pre-school playgroups, in England, and a somewhat radical supporter of nursery school education which was still not mainstream back then. Amazing to find that there had been pre-school activity back in Victorian England, actually within the school's framework. There were even some very forward thinkers who believed that children could be receptive to more formal learning at an earlier age. WOW! And when I was teaching my 3-4 year old son to read, 90 years later, it was STILL out of the ordinary. I just find that kind of a mix of awesome and sad, that in 90 years we were still contemplating whether kids should be formally taught anything before the age of 5.
My beliefs have always centered around the individual child, in milestones (I had 3 who all "did" things at different ages, and sometimes at extremes of the "normal" curves). I still have the playgroup mentality, as well, that learning should be "fun". Teaching toddlers and preschoolers basics of reading, numbers and sums, songs and other activities, should always be fun.
I love that the school is still open today - as a school - 136 years after my great-grandmother was born.
I babysat for many years and did home day care, and many of "my" children learned to read and write before school, understood number values, colours, shapes etc and all because the way they learned it was part of play and fun experiences.
That was always my premise, that learning was fun!
It seems that the Victorian 2-3 year olds time spent in school was also that way, although it became sterner as they progressed through the system.
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I guess old dogs are like old people, things start to happen. We have one of our oldest (12 years old, 13 in November) who could now sleep all day, another the same age who has hip issues like me and now takes longer standing and lying down, a 10 year old who is getting stiffer, and the youngest, although also 10, who though still spry is gradually turning grey on her black face. Seems also, that their immune systems aren't as great as when they were younger, as I am getting patchy spots on their backs from hair loss and I've treated for mange, lice etc and nothings clearing it. We are having to use steroids on 2 of them, same as we have to do with one of our 13 year old cats, but I don't like doing that :( Plus it gets expensive! Hoping when the Summer disappears, so will some of whatever is aggravating them :(
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PLUS ... get ready for tomorrow ...
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Don't miss out on the amazing "For the Love" makeup palette.
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That's all folks !!!!
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