Sight Word Jenga

I'm a bit conflicted when it comes to sight words.  Personally I feel like it's much more valuable to learn words in context.  For instance, 'there' and 'their' are both sight words but if you simply memorise their pronunciation, stripped of context in a sentence you're surely doomed to become someone who makes embarrassing social media gaffes in later life!

There seems to be an emphasis on memorising the 100 golden/red/purple etc words before you die finish prep as though this is somehow the key to unlocking reading fluency (well at least if you listen to the marketing touted when trying to sell sight word products!!).

I challenge you to write anything of interest with the 100 words, which, if I remember correctly, is made up mostly of pronouns and only a handful of adjectives like big, little, old and new.  You are left with sterile sentences like 'I went before you' and 'That was big'.  To be fair the '100 words' were never intended to be used in isolation (though it is a fun challenge - prize for anyone who can write a whole paragraph!!),  and I guess in a broader literacy program, learning the sight words isn't going to kill anyone (unless perhaps they encounter grammar rage in adulthood when they misuse to, two and too).

So occasionally I dip into the sight word list with Minty… mostly so it won't seem like some new and competitively alluring benchmark of her progress when she starts 'real' school next year.  I have this cynical suspicion the sight words were invented to sell flash cards to hyper-competitive parents… "Little Ava is so advanced she's already up to her chartreuse words!"  "You must be so proud.  Jude, of course, is gifted so he passed chartreuse months ago and is already up to his puce words!".  

This week I bought a 'tumble tower' set so we could play sight words jenga.  Because even if learning sight words is a waste of time, I'm sure we can all agree that being a bad arse jenga player is an essential lifelong skill!!

In case you were wondering - we play so that as you remove a block you have to read the word and use it correctly in a sentence before you move to the next turn.  I've written a set of easier words in black on one side of each block and a harder set of words in green on the opposite side so she won't grow out of them too quickly.  I also plan to add some maths problems to the other sides of the blocks.

In which our gallery trip is 'not fun'...

I love taking the kids to art galleries so I was really excited to share with them one of my favourite art spaces, the Heidi Museum of Modern Art.  But I'm going to keep it real for you tonight and admit that our trip was a bit of a shemozzle.  

We went to see an exhibition of Fiona Hall's work entitled 'Big Game Hunting'… 'a macabre yet wondrous wunderkammer of trophy-style sculptures of endangered species from the United Nations 'Red List', rendered in military camouflage and embellished with the detritus of contemporary culture'.  Awesome but very enticingly tactile and at child height… eek I'm sorry Fiona but Minty may or may not have walked over your skin rug masterpiece in her dirty shoes… a barrier might have been helpful (just saying).  I spent the entire time reigning Turi back with an iron grip and sharply whispering 'too close' and 'remember NO touching'.  

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it is entirely possible to have an extremely positive experience taking small kids to Heidi.  I had just become complacent after having a series of wonderful trips to other art exhibitions, so I broke my cardinal rules for successful gallery visits with kids (more on this tomorrow).  We drove for over two hours without stopping to get there and the only food I had packed was six apples… rookie mistakes!

We did enjoy exploring the gorgeous kitchen garden and the sculpture garden.  We even attempted to eat a delicious(ly expensive) cupcake at the cafe, sadly cut short by an epic Turi meltdown because he thought I might (god forbid) make him share the said cupcake.

Minty (much to my devastation) declared the visit 'not fun'.  I think we'll have to try Heidi again but next time I'll be more prepared!

 Watching yarn bombing in action.

  At random intervals Turi will spontaneously raise his arms in the air to demonstrate how big he is getting!

In which we visit the city for a taste of the country...

My mum and I took the kids to the Collingwood Children's farm on Friday.  It was possibly a slightly cooky idea to drive all the way to Collingwood to see a farm when there is a farm over our back fence!  Even crazier to take them during school holidays when it was ridiculously crowded.  Nevertheless we had a good time… despite Turi having his eyes gouged at by another child while he waited in the queue to cuddle a guinea pig!  It's such a gorgeous place.  Highlights were definitely the pigs and geese… but by far my favourite part was watching the heavily made up, upper-class mothers tottering about the mud in their high heels, distractedly clutching their designer hand bags and phones whilst their offspring prodded at the animals with sticks.  A particularly flattering portrait of modern motherhood.

Afterwards we strolled across to the Abbotsford Convent for a macaroon.  A lovely way to end the afternoon.

In which I question the wisdom of giving chocolate on a Christian holiday when gluttony is considered a sin...

Am I the only one who has trouble exercising self restraint at easter?  I feel like an alcoholic who has been gifted 10 bottles of vodka under the largely farcical notion that they hold some deeper religious significance.  If anyone needs me in the next few days I will be hiding in the walk in pantry consuming roughly my own body weight in cadbury mini eggs.

I used a Jamie Oliver recipe for my buns this year.  Nigella has consistently let me down the past few years (I suspect maybe she should stick to her talents of giving the camera alluring looks and decorating her kitchen with fairy lights rather than actually writing recipes).  I used half wholemeal flour and nuttlex instead of butter since it was good Friday and I couldn't go to the shops to buy ingredients.  They still tasted excellent.

Minty made easter cards and then got too tired to write on them.

I made some origami easter bunnies (instructions here).  Honestly these are quite time consuming and probably not worth the effort.  I planned to make more but couldn't be bothered.  Like mother like daughter.

Watercolour body paint...

 

I wish I could claim credit for this idea but I would be lying.  Minty had a friend over and while they were left to their own devices they decided to strip off and paint their bodies.  They used water-colour paint (just a regular dry palette not the liquid stuff).  They looked awesome and it was sooo much easier to wash off than face paint.  This is a perfect rainy day play activity.  It kept them quiet and happy for ages.

In which we gorge ourselves Catholic style...

 

Happy Shrove Tuesday everyone!  It is one of my favourite days of the year.  Although I'm not a practising Catholic anymore I still cling to the traditions as a way of marking out my days.  Shrove Tuesday is like one last hoorah, using up all the eggs and butter before the 40 days of lent.  I talked today with Minty about what lent means for us, a time of reflection, eating simply (honestly I am never voluntarily going to fast!!!) and working on bettering ourselves.  She decided she would work on not calling people 'idiots' anymore… instead she has resolved to call us all 'fools'.  As for me, Minty suggested I should work on not shouting so much.  I think that's probably a worthy goal!  We enjoyed our pancakes this morning, with freshly picked blackberries and a sprinkle of sugar.

Today's photos come from a little project we worked on this week.  We have been reading 'Silly Billy' by Anthony Browne.  It's a sweet story about a little boy who can't sleep because he worries too much.  His grandma suggests that he makes some worry dolls so that he can tell them his worries and get some sleep.  Minty was really taken with the idea of making her own worry dolls.  I did a bit of googling and there were plenty of complicated tutorials that I really didn't think the kids could manage.  Luckily I ended up stumbling across some mini wooden dolly pegs at the $2 shop, along with a cheap packet of cotton embroidery floss.  I gave these to the kids along with some fabric scraps and a black marker and let them get creative.  Both the kids really loved this activity and I think the dolls they made are very sweet.

 

The dolls (left to right): Violet, Teddy, Una, Bobby and Patrice.