Hodgeheg

Some of you will know that our eldest daughter has short term memory issues, it's taken a while but we now know that her auditory memory is very poor fortunately her visual memory is about average and her long term memory is good.
Much of what we have done to help her was without knowing the problem, just knowing her and how her brain worked. Knowing the specific issue has helped us understand more and given us tools to support some of our decisions regarding her learning.
It also explained her difficulty in reading, it's not the words that pose the problem but holding on to what she has read in order to piece the story together. Understanding stories has always been challenging but picture books gave visual clues and were short enough to read several times allowing her to put the story together. However as she has grown up and her class mates have moved on to chapter books with few if any illustrations she has struggled. She no longer wants to read little kids books! But has little comprehension of the chapter books.
She loves reading and it is heartbreaking. At the moment she still gains pleasure from completing a book, but I wonder how long this will be the case.
So when we were told at the beginning of the Easter holidays that the class would be reading the Hodgeheg this term I decided to experiment with it, could we make it visual and interactive? Could we make it fun, and could we hold her interest enough to get through the book a number of times a hence access her long term memory?
To start with we read it to her, and we made a bookmark giving the names of the main characters.

She then read the book and we made felt puppets of the characters and she labelled them with stickers, she was beginning to remember the key character Max.

So as she read through the book again we created a story mat, a section at a time, but crucially Rebecca created it, she came up with the design and cut out many of the pieces - I got the job of sewing it together!

Once the basic areas were made, we then went through the book to find what we needed to add, essentially this is comprehension but creative comprehension, she would keep looking because we needed to know what to make next, there was a point and a purpose.
Letting Rebecca design it and do the cutting, engaged her brilliantly with the story even if I had to sit on my hands occaisionally! The tactile and visual nature of the mat helped her remember the flow of the story, it was no longer random words.
But doing this for every book just isn't practical and so the search continues!

Life from the back of the pack: Rebecca is nine

Craft parties are the party of the moment it seems well if your 9 and go to Barton Primary anyway!

I decided to have 6 craft options running simultaneously and kept my eyes open for bargains!
The result was : Felt bags, painted coasters, Decopatch bird houses, loom bands, Hama beads, and butterfly tags.
The bags were reduced Easter stock from Tesco. The original design was tricky so some savvy ones left out the side panels and sewed a simple bag!

Decopatch is always fun, in my head they were using one colour for the walls and another for the roof, the reality is that they used a complete mix on all of it and bizarrely it worked!

The coasters were another Easter bargain, this time from hobby craft. Some had more success with the stencils than others, but they enjoyed painting them anyway.

Loom bands were definatly the favoured activity but all the girls took home a selection of crafts, and having a garden available meant that they could have a run around when they hah had enough crafting!!

Rebecca's cake followed the craft theme, I purchased a silicone mould for the buttons but wasn't happy with the result so opted to make my own.

She had a butterfly theme running through the decorations and tableware so these were incorporated in her cup cakes.

It was a fun afternoon !

The plans are now underway for next years parties! No joke Sophie is planning a loomy party! And Annie a frozen party - even discussing costumes with her friends! I guess with 6 months to go she will have it all sorted by February!!

Just for fun : Becca's beads

Those of you following my blog know Rebecca's story, and how I keep my eyes open for ideas that can help her to bypass her memory issues. So when Annie demonstrated counting in tens on a big set of coloured beads at her sharing assembly - a skill I hadn't known she possessed! I was inspired - could I scale this down and use it for other tables, the visual and tactile nature of the idea along with the repitition might just work.

So having found some cord and smallish beads I decided to make her the first one, then let her do the rest. In order to prevent arguments later and because there is just something about threading beads! I also made a 3s set for Sophie and a 2s set for Annie.

The strings were in my handbag when I was called in to school to take Annie to the hospital with a cut head, I remembered them when we were sitting in the waiting room and so gave Annie her set to play with thinking they would keep her entertained for a few minutes - in fact she played with them for ages and held on to them whilst having her head glued back together!

The observant among you will notice a random set of 20 beads - this was Rebecca's 1s !

The older girls loved theirs and set about making more sets - both of them which means I need more cord and more beads so I guess it's back to hobbycraft!

The whole excercise of sorting the beads into groups and working out how many groups of each colour was good in its own right, and the million dollar question - have they worked? I will get back to you on that one, most of their play at present has been teaching Annie her 2s , 2, 4, 6, 8, 9 !!

 

Let the children play!

I don't know when it happened and I'm not sure why, but sometime between my leaving school and my children starting someone stole their child hood, someone decided that 7years at high school, 3years at university and a lifetime at work wasn't enough, they needed to start much earlier than 11, all those wasted years playing games, riding bikes and climbing trees.
We blame society, we say it's just not safe but I'm beginning to see that actually it's down to me, I'm the one who decides what they do, how they spend their time, it's me making my 9 year old sit in her room doing frankly a pointless piece of homework

Instead of playing footy in the garden with daddy!

And suddenly I realise I am buying into the lie, in 10 years time she will be grown, I won't get these moments back and will this piece of homework have made any difference, no!
So I say let the children play!

So here's the challenge - how do we as parents turn the tide and stand up for our childrens right to be children?

I found love in a hopeless place

Sometimes something touches your heart quite unexpectedly and brings a memory spinning sharply into focus.
As I sat in a dedication service today I didn't expect to be transported back almost nine years to a moment of heartache, of fear and yet one of love, of finding love in a hopeless place. But as a poem was read out entitled Little Wishes by Cassara Nance there I was back at the side of an incubator... Perhaps I should start at the beginning.... All was well, after several years of trying and various investigations, we fell pregnant after the first course of treatment, at last the baby I longed for was to be a reality and not just a dream. The pregnancy went well, and just a week late labour finally started, the contractions were constant a minute and a half in between right from the start. Then 7 hours later things began to go badly wrong, I developed severe pre-eclampsia, my blood pressure rocketed and the baby was struggling, the baby was distressed but as
no theatre was available we had to wait.
Rebecca Grace was finally born by c-section at 4am and all was not well, She had inhaled the meconium and she was fighting for her life, at 10 minutes her apgar score was 1 - her heart was beating but things were not looking good, seriously ill I could not even touch my baby and Keith feared he was going to lose us both.
The doctors started making phone calls, and so did we, people started praying. Several hours later we were told she was to be flown to Newcastle the nearest bed for a lung bypass, but the consultants then decided she would not survive the flight and instead called staff off leave and made a bed with spare parts in Great Ormand Street Hosptial. And so just 12 hours after her birth she was transferred, I didn't get to say goodbye I was too unwell to go to her, she was to unwell to come to me. But she didn't go alone, she was in God's hands, we tried to pray but wept instead, but others stood in the gap, all over the country and around the world people prayed - they prayed the prayers we couldn't speak. They pleaded, they cried, they begged and they shouted and God who is big enough to take their anger and see their broken hearts responded, He intervened and Rebecca started to stabilise, she began to rally, to fight.It was two more days before I was allowed to join her, to sit by her incubator. Swollen, black and blue and under complete sedation I could only stroke her hand and talk to her. It was touch and go, her prospects weren't great, but as I sat by her I was overwhelmed by love, and I knew if someone were to offer me a trade, another healthy baby for this one struggling to hold on to life my answer would be a resounding no! I knew that Rebecca might have difficulties should she come through this, but I knew that there was nothing that we couldn't handle, and I began to pray, to find the words, to have hope.Many people describe faith as a crutch, as a comfort, but as much as faith can be a comfort it is also about trust, about obedience. On the day Rebecca should have finally woken up my faith was tested. She didn't wake up, there was a small chance that her liver had failed to remove all of the sedative and that a test to determine this would be done but not till later in the day. I sat alone in the park weeping and knew I had a choice, it wasn't a time to bargain with God, it was time to choose, would I follow Him whatever happened, if God was to take her would I walk away? In the midst of the tears, the heartbreak came a certainty, whatever the outcome I had given my life to God, I wouldn't take it back. And there in the park, in the midst of hopelessness I knew God's love surround me and peace came. I walked back to the ward, the Dr did her test - the drugs were still present. The next day Rebecca woke up and began a long journey back to health.God intervened and saved Rebecca. Today is her ninth birthday, she has difficulties but you know I'll take a dodgy memory and rejoice in how far we have come.

And so as I listened to this poem my arm around my beautiful girl, I wept, because sometimes wishes do come true.
Little Wishes
Little wishes on great big stars.
Daughter, I make a wish for you.
Keep on growing and keep on smiling.
And I'll keep loving all that you do.

Little dreamers wishing big things.
The world is your stage to display.
You can sing and you can dance.
Enjoy all that comes your way.

Little hopes in a great big world.
Nothing can stop your free spirit.
Make some noise, play a beat.
It's beautiful music when I hear it.

Little kisses from my now big girl,
You're growing up so fast it seems.
Pretty soon you'll leave the nest
And fly after all of your dreams.

Little girl I love you,
And I love you even more.
Because I made a wish once,

And you're what I wished for.

Life from the back of the pack : ever make one of these?

One of the National trust properties we visited had a working loom - not totally sure Rebecca was meant to be on it! But it inspired her...

So when we got home we made one!

 

She hadn't quite worked out that we would remove the fabric - she thought it was the roof! But after some persuasion she let me take the finished fabric off!

A little bit wonky but I love it! And it is now a blanket for her toy rabbit. I'm fairly sure she is going to like her birthday present - any guesses?

 

Life from the back of the pack: Grafham Water

Oops I forgot to post this one -

I love sunny winter days, with blue sky, fluffy white sunshine and a touch of warmth that makes me look forward to spring and after what seems like weeks of rain today's sunshine was more than welcome, so we continued with our exploration of the area.

Grafham water is a reservoir about half an hour from us and a great find. We had taken the girls scooters, and although some of the paths were a little rough they had great fun scooting through puddles!

It was a fun afternoon and a beautiful evening!

 

Life from the back of the pack: Bobs a Goldfish and Toms a toad

So the May weekend found us back at Sizewell, a walled garden campsite on the grounds of a conference centre, and for those who might find the name familiar half a mile from a nuclear power station!

The children love being with the other kids, but most of all the freedom that camping gives them! With a play park close by and plenty of space for bike riding they are in their element. There is also a pond full of newts just waiting to be caught! On Sunday cries of snake snake were greeted with yeah right, till they arrived back with one disgruntled grass snake in their nets!

He was safely returned to the pond and we set off for a stroll along the beach for ice - cream! Only to spot an adder! So never seen a snake in the wild in 45 years then 2 in one day!

Most days were leisurely, time for reading, knitting, sewing while the kids get time to be just kids! Especially when the sun shines!

But we did manage to get out a couple of times....

Ok so it was windy and I look like I'm wearing a wig! But boating on the lake at Thorpeness was fun, it was too windy to take them kayaking but they did have a go at rowing!

Picnicking at Warbleswick!

Any guesses what they are up to here?

 

Need a clue?

Crabbing!!

We had often seen people crabbing at Warbleswick so thought it might be fun to take the kids, and bizarrely they loved it - we were bored long before they were! Though you have to wonder why the crabs haven't got wise yet!

We headed off eventually for a stroll on the beach!

And some stone surfing!

On the days we stayed at camp we did get down to the beach, even on a windy, cloudy day the girls loved chasing the waves, filling their wellies with water! And when the sun shone they even managed a quick paddle!

Camp wouldn't be complete without an evening spent round the fire, singing crazy songs ... Tom the toad, funky chicken, star of the evening added to this year by Bob!

Hi I'm Bob I'm a goldfish and a goldfish has a memory of ... Hi I'm Bob I'm a goldfish and a goldfish has a memory of ... Hi I'm Bob you get the gist I'm sure! Thanks for that one Jodie!!

Toasting marshmallows for smores!

This year Martin set a treasure hunt for the kids on the last night and while they were off hunting clues we went and set another bonfire for them, it was such a lovely way to end the week, singing frozen round the fire!

The thing that has struck me looking back on our week is that the kids had an amazing time doing what kids have always done. Riding their bikes, playing in a pond, playing at the park, exploring the woods, crabbing, singing mad songs round a fire! It's just that they don't get to do these things at home much, they are constrained by the society that we live in that makes it unsafe to let them have their freedom. They are the things I did as a child and camps like Sizewell help keep these things alive, and that why we put up with the cold and the rain in a soggy tents because these are memories that they will treasure!