Secret plans and clever tricks

Both Ferdy and Gil love a prankster.

We've just finished reading the Wicked Tricks of Till Owleyglass by Michael Rosen. I was quite surprised about how much both boys enjoyed it, despite it being set in 14th century Germany. But practical joker Till is their hero, just as much as contemporary mischief makers, Dennis the Menace and Horrid Henry and particularly for Gil, creator of secret plans and clever tricks, the Enormous Crocodile.

Ferdy also loved how he recognised some of the themes and tricks Till plays from other fairy tales he knows, like Hans Christian Anderson's Emperor's New Clothes, or in the story How Hlakanyana Outwitted the Monster in his collection of African Folktales.

So when we heard about Banksy's new picture appearing in a hospital this week, both boys were fascinated and immediately wanted to learn more about the elusive prankster of the artworld.

They loved that no one knows who he really is, and that he does his paintings at night ('is he nocturnal?'), and they especially enjoyed the story of the secret shredder inside the painting sold for 1m at auction.

Of course this meant that our afternoon consisted of reporters from various newspapers (played by yours truly), haplessly trying and failing to find the culprits behind the mysterious chalk drawings appearing on the walls and pathway around our garden. Who knew that one of the Banksy Brothers (apparently, Banksy is actually two brothers) wore monster slippers?

The Enormous Crocodile was one of our books this week

Asking questions

We had a better week at home this week.

It all began with a birdwatching walk; we didn't actually see any birds so Gil renamed it a 'birdlistenin' walk'.

Other activities included: planting radishes; managing to play some online maths games (our internet connection has been atrocious but seems to have improved); learning about dynamics in music (ff was popular); creating a new 'find the country / continent' game with our globe; measuring the length of things (Ferdy was delighted to find that his foot was exactly the same size as his Mr Gum book - 18cm); lots of reading (surprise, surprise) and teaching cousin Magnus about dragons.

Ferdy also pointed out to me that if his written work was based around the Beano, his daydreams about the Beano would no longer be a distraction when he was writing...

I wasn't really sure what this would entail but he decided that, for his writing - we are trying but not always succeeding to do some writing every weekday - he would ask me some questions about the Beano.

Much to our surprise, Ferdy and I realised that we were able to read his questions! Because he wanted me to answer them, he'd made an effort to make them legible. Could this be the start of him realising that there may be a benefit to writing clearly?

On  Tuesday, he requested questions from me about the Beano. I'd forgotten how enjoyable a read the Beano is.

On Wednesday he created some questions for me about How to Train Your Dragon. I like these books

On Thursday he composed some questions for me about Mr Gum. To Ferdy's delight, I only got 4/6 right.

On Friday Mum needed a day off from answering questions.

Ferdy Draws (Day)Dreams

There has been a lot about dreams in the media this week, especially vivid, some say, because our waking lives have become more dull, others because we have additional time to be reflective, or perhaps due to changes in routines and sleep patterns.

We have also been doing a lot of sleeping and dreaming in our household. Both boys are sleeping really well. Ferdy now sleeps better than ever; he has always struggled with getting to sleep and has tended not to sleep until quite late, sometimes even after us, but he currently falls asleep at around 8:30-9pm and we don't hear from him until about 7am. And Ferdy and Gil are recounting elaborate dreams involving Captain America, Dennis and Gnasher, the Hulk becoming a baby (‽) and Gil and Ferdy fighting villains in Mummy and Daddy's bedroom (Gil's best person in it was Gil).

Coincidentally, our new reading book (the one I read to the boys every lunchtime, not the one that Ferdy is reading to me aloud daily which this week is Horrid Henry's Stinkbomb, or the 16 books I have to read to them each morning), is Marianne Dreams.

I used to love this story, about a little girl who is spends her spring and summer in bed recovering from an unknown serious illness and draws pictures with a magic pencil, which come to life in her dreams. Her plight currently seems strangely familiar:

'Marianne wondered what she would be like at the end of such a long time as an invalid. She didn't see why staying in bed should alter her character very much, but yet she didn't feel exactly the same as she had even so short a time before. Somehow the feeling really ill had made a gap between the person she had been then, and the person she felt herself to be now, just as the six weeks which were to come (...) seemed to separate her from the person she would have been if none of this had happened.' (Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr)

Ferdy's dreaming has spread into his everyday life, even more so than normal.. Especially when we try to do maths together:

Me: 'Ferdy did you listen to what I just said about subtracting 50p from 77p?' Silence. Me: 'Ferdy, did you hear what I just said?' Silence. Me: 'Ferdy, are you listening?' Ferdy: 'Dennis!' Me: 'Sorry?' Ferdy: 'oh I was just thinking about Dennis and Gnasher chasing Softy Walter'...

I may have mentioned before that it's not easy to be Ferdy's teacher.

When left to his own devices however, Ferdy comes up with some great ideas sometimes even putting pen to paper without realising it's really hard work... Dreams and drawing featured again in a lovely book we read this week called Harold and the Purple Crayon,, wherein a little boy draws (again with a magic crayon) and stars in his own dream story. Ferdy decided then that he and Gil would draw their own.

It looked a little like a cartoon strip too, influenced I'm sure by the incessant Beano lessons he has been having. His favourite part was the blank page where he and Gil got lost in the mist.

We don't know what the world will be like after this, or what kind of people we will have become. But we will still have Dennis and Gnasher to daydream about, so we'll probably be ok.

Money makes the world go round

It feels a little like the world has stopped going round at the moment.

We are all still at home only going out for exercise, to shop for necessities or for medical emergencies, or to work if we can't stay at home. All non essential shops and public spaces, libraries, indoor and outdoor leisure facilities, hotels, hostels, campsites etc etc are still closed.

There is, however, one shop that has opened its doors during the pandemic: Ferdy and Gil's Food Shop.

Gil's favourite books at the moment are the Alfie and Annie Rose books, hence this new enterprise was inspired by Alfie's garden grocery store.

The Chief Shopkeeper (Ferdy) was sent on a few training courses to learn about money before the shop could open: he had to learn what each coin and note were, plus how to add them together and how to give change.

tl-bl clockwise: Alfie and Annie Rose's shop; writing prices using coins;
writing down and adding up what Mum has ordered; learning about money and prices.

After he had gained his certificate in shopkeeping, the shop opened.

I have visited the shop myself a few times and have been impressed by the amount of food in stock, not to mention the very reasonable prices; sometimes I even left the shop with more money than I'd had when I went in!

The Assistant Shopkeeper also found a singular way to maintain social distancing.

Later that week, when counting up his profits, the Chief Shopkeeper worked out that he could afford: a trip to the Asterix theme park (£37.50); a toy green lantern (£7.35); a toy skunk (£7.50); a Magnum ice cream (£2), a toy frog (£3.39) and a trip to the cinema to see Trolls (£15.99).

Both shopkeepers have confessed that they are pretty happy with the lockdown measures as it means that they get to play lots of lego and go to bed late, but they would welcome an easing of restrictions on public gatherings, and to travel abroad so that they could visit the cinema, and take a trip to France to meet Asterix.

Two Plus Two Is Five

We have been feeling sad this week. Sad about many things, like about our friends who are in flats and can't go out, and our relatives who are all alone, like about the poor elephants in Thailand who are reliant on tourism for their food and are being neglected in camps devoid of visitors, and about the lonely pygmy goats in London Zoo who have been waiting at the gates for the public to appear and scratch and stroke them.

We are also feeling sad about Michael Rosen, whom we love and who is currently in hospital with suspected coronavirus, but we haven't heard anything for a few days so we don't know how he is.

We saw Michael Rosen in London at Christmas, doing his Christmas storytelling.

©The Old Vic, London

And we also saw him in Hay on Wye in 2018 where Ferdy actually fell off his chair he was laughing so much. We have been reading lots of his poems and watching lots of his poetry and story videos this week.

So as a tribute to our all time favourite author, and in true Michael Rosen style, here is a list of the Things That Michael Rosen Has Taught Us (This Week)

1. That parents and teachers are not always the best teachers.

Teaching Gil to write 'Little Red Riding Hood'

2. That the best activities are often motivated by the desire to do them.

Ferdy researching and writing about sea creatures

3. That it is more fun to learn if you learn alongside someone who doesn't know it either and to share the excitement of discovery.

Ferdy setting me my 15x tables lessons

4. That reading The Beano is as important as reading as chapter books (a note to Mum).

5. That playing and playing and playing is great.

It seems to me that Michael Rosen has helped to give Ferdy the freedom to be irreverent and curious, to not always accept that the way things are already done, is the best way to do things; that two and two is five if you use your imagination. And my discovery of Michael Rosen has enabled me to accept how Ferdy is and isn't, to be in awe and impressed by him, rather than try too hard to mould him into being anything other than Ferdy.

So, Michael Rosen, please get well soon!!!!

Lessons (un)Learnt

I have realised this week how much we go out. I have realised this week how much we rely on learning though activities. I have realised this week that shouting helps me but maybe not anyone else. I have also realised this week how we need structure in our day, even if we don't stick to it. In fact, having a timetable, and not sticking to it, has been one of the most successful things in our week.

Because Ferdy is not a sit down at the table and do worksheets kind of child, we have had to be creative in how we learn.

Some things work better than others; our weekly singing lesson with Uncle Al involved quite a lot of hiding from Uncle Al, and telling the time with a chalk clock lasted a total of five minutes. But our daily times tables stomp, which entails marching around the kitchen and singing along to the 2 and 5 times tables seems to be popular, as is Story Time with Granny (she is reading the Story of Tracey Beaker this week), Poetry with Roald Dahl and Michael Rosen and Lunchtime Story with Mum (Evie and the Animals by Matt Haig). And of course, we have listened to a vast amount of audiobooks and read a h*ll of a lot of books. We aren't doing much screen stuff; Ferdy spends a lot of time sitting around reading books so I am loathe to encourage even more sitting around. Although we are enjoying David Walliams' Elevenses and What's in the News? with Newsround, and I am also a big fan of 4pm watch Netflix and leave Mum alone for an hour...

Quite a lot of the really good things we've done, have been introduced by Ferdy or Gil. Like Ferdy's Story PE (this week the story was Chris Riddell's Once Upon a Wild Wood), where we read a book and do the actions.

Both boys have been thoroughly enjoying Evie and the Animals, so Ferdy proposed that we pretend we have pets and make Missing posters (in the book lots of peoples' pets go missing). Ferdy had a gecko Jumbo, Gil a dog Laz, and mine was a hippo called Harry.

And when we read about a painting competition in a Winnie and Wilbur book, the boys decided we should have one too.

Gil has noticed that we have a daily rainbow in our house, which led to us learning a little about refraction of light:

Gil and I are also on track with our letter a day project.

What have we learnt this week? Perhaps that it's ok to not stick to things. Perhaps that just because our world has got smaller, the experiences we have may not be less valid. Perhaps that Ferdy and Gil will probably tick the reading, writing and maths boxes, whether instructed to or not. And, as suggested by Ferdy, perhaps that Mum needs to take a deep breath, draw a bit more, and shout a bit less.

Home Truths

The birds are still singing, the cherry trees are still blossoming and we have spotted the first butterfly in the garden. Gil's cucumber seeds are sprouting and the sun is shining.

We are, however, feeling massively daunted, especially me, as Billy will (hopefully) still be working, at the prospect of five days of home schooling a week, particularly as I have a child who does NOT like worksheets or writing, does NOT like sitting down and most definitely does NOT like Mum teaching him. Our Fridays have often involved going out, something we will no longer be able to do, so somehow we are going to have to utilise the house and garden in a creative and will-he-cotton-on-that-we're-trying-to-learn-something ish way.. On top of this and just to make matters even more difficult, I'm not planning on much screen time either as Ferdy goes slightly mad and grumpy in front of a screen. Plus we don't have a very fast or efficient internet connection.

And I wasn't exactly filled with enthusiasm when we started a diary this week, and Ferdy's answer to one of my suggested questions, 'what did you learn today?', was:

All I can say is EEEEEEEK!!!!!

But we have some ideas: my opera singer brother is going to do a weekly online music lesson; my Mum (who is self isolating on her own in Dorset) will be doing story time with Granny; we will have a what's in the news? lesson; we have lots of books and audiobooks and it's the perfect time for planting seeds. Ferdy has also made some suggestions of his own: story PE (which involves telling a fairy story and doing various stretches and movements related to it eg going small like Thumbelina); a weekly Horrible Histories lesson; poetry with Michael Rosen; RE from all over the world and he wants some of our weekly topics to be deserts, grasslands, Africa, Narnia and magic.

And we managed to get 38 books out of the library this Friday before it closed; I am blessed with a boy who loves books more than he loves anything else (and this includes his parents and food).

Two for me, thirty-eight for the boys

And Gil and I have started a letter and picture a day project:

A is for apple, b is for bog roll. I wonder what c will be for...

So henceforth, this blog will be a summary of our week, its successes and also its failures. I'm not going to pretend we are doing great schooling when we aren't and I'm not expecting miracles. Ferdy is very unlikely to return to school able to write joined up, or be more attentive and he most definitely will not have written his own version of King Lear.

We'll do our best though, as Ferdy would say. And hey, he might dislike homelearning so much, he'll be desperate to get back to school...