Learning at Home

The boys seem quite happy and Rowan is intrigued by numbers, especially dividing and multiplying. He’s also beginning to work out how to spell whilst Brodie is keen on letters and draws them almost all day. He particularly likes B, Z, O and W for some reason.

This winter they have been mesmerised and obsessed with the Galapagos islands (we have a BBC documentary DVD about them) and they build planes out of all the cushions on the sofa in order to make journeys over there to see the giant tortoises and albatrosses. Indeed we regularly have to visit their art gallery that displays all the pictures they have done of all the wildlife that live there.

They also have a fascination with castles at the moment so we’re busy saving toilet rolls and cardboard and making big long castle walls with turrets, portcullis, moats etc. Ben made them some shields and swords out of polystyrene and they are outside busy ‘tracking the enemy’ most days. Actually, Rowan says that Brodie is too young for a sword so he only gets a pilum (very Asterix influenced). Oh they make you laugh.

Brodie seems to have left the terrible 2’s behind him – thank goodness – and is now just as affable as his older brother. He made me laugh today as he was wanting a drink of water but didn’t want to walk the 4 metres from the sofa to the kitchen table where there’s always water. So he pipes up “Oh PLEASE, I’m a child in pain” – what’s that all about???????

Ben is still very happy being a free spirit and seems to quite enjoy his hour or so in the morning of being in charge of wood for the fire – either collecting it from our charpentier, or logging it with the chain saw, or building a nice pile next to the fire. His French is coming on well considering that he knew only Bonjour and merci when we moved here. He was confident enough today to go off to the garage and explain that he thought that the suspension on the Bongo needed looking at. He’s like a cat on hot bricks every time I get a twinge and he keeps the Bongo in a permanent state of readiness – such is life when you’ve had one premature baby experience I guess. It’s quite touching really.