Halloween

Sakura and Rei worked so hard making these beautiful Halloween puppets. Well done girls xx

Izumi paints

All 4 one and one for all!

For a while the world was at peace while the 4 Kabei kids played together. X

Sorting Beans

This was a fun activity that all the children enjoyed.  I love the pictures of cai holding the tweezers. x

Izumi 18 mth. Halloween

These are Pumpkin seeds with drawn on ghosty faces (thanks to chasing cheerios for the idea ). Izumi has loved spooning them from dish to dish and I will put on a video tmr. To interest the other children I gave them the challenge of finding some winking ghosts and other different facial expressions. The 6 and 8 year old loved it. So 1 activity to interest 3 children. Whoo hoo

Izumi age 1 to 18mth

These are all activities we have been using for the last few months. Izzy is about one and half now. Some are instant hits, some never and some she takes her time getting to know. I do not change all the shelves, I just keep an eye on how she moves among the shelves and change activities if she has used a lot and moved on.
I am trying to build up her eye hand co ordination, pincer grip and wrist flexibility also to engage her in interesting and meaningful activities to encourage concentration and order.

Sorting marbles out in metal, wood, plastic and clay pots; Touch and Hearing senses.

Pouring with freshly picked acorns from the park.

Wooden beads in a plastic ice cube tray..very sensorial.

Threading with chunky beads.

Again making the most of our park visits, sorting chestnuts.

Pairing with plastic animls.

Sorting lids and placing each into the next largest.

Shape sorting

Izumi's shelves

I am trying to give her a bit of everything.

Izumi working hard...

Rei...New School

Rei has just started her first official school...Year 2

Rei spent a year with me in Treehouse Montessori in Japan and worked well, but unfortunately the Erthquake came a few weeks before she was supposed to start Japanese school ...

Rei was very shy starting school but only took a few weeks to settle...she is loving everything from pack lunches to spelling tests....

They are learning songs at the moment and Rei has a great ear for music so she is blooming... "Bassez down"  a traditional carribean song is a clear favourite at the moment. 

Sakura..New School

Sakura is now in year 4 and is settling well.  I am very proud of her because the move from japan was huge for her, losing her best friend and everything important to her. 

She has made a lot of new friends but not a best friend ..Yet...She does like to have that 1 special friend.  She spend quite a few days in tears as being the new kid is not something exciting for Sakura, but she did so well and has now settled okay.

They are reading the wonderful book "The miraculous journey of Edward Tulane" by Kate DiCamillo and she is loving it,  I bought her a copy for her to keep in school so she can keep up at her own pace . 

Also they are working with a poem book called "Hot like fire" by Valerie Bloom...such a great book

At home Sakura is building up her spelling and time tables....
She enjoys working with the Montessori multiplication and Division boards we have...

Cai....New School

Cai is now in year 6.....He is so far behind the rest of the students but he is so smart and so interested in life I have no worries.  He has just started his first English book by choice.....Jason and the Golden Fleece....He is gettting so much support in school.

He is working on the Second World War and the school just went into London to watch The War Horse written by Michael Morpurgo which they are also reading in school.  Also I took Cai and his friend to watch the play  Friend or Foe also written by the same Author.

They are also working on The Highway Man by Alfred Noyes...very exciting for me to watch Cai reading this amazing book and the illustrations by Charles Keeping are beautiful.  This is a very powerful book that is set in a world that Cai knows nothing about but he is enjoying it so much, even writing a love poem to Bess.

Izumi.... 1 1/2 year old... Mini Knobbed Cylinders

New Beginnings 2011..........

Hi Blog,  Okay its been a while.....Wow what a year 2011 was...we sadly got caught up in the Earthquake in Japan this Year, an absolutly life changing experience for me.   We are back in the UK and have spent the last 6 months starting over......

The Earthquake was on a Friday and Rei and Izumi were at home with me and Cai and Sakura were on their way home from school alone (In Japan after the age of 6 they go and return from school alone or with other children).......We were all safe and spent Izumi's first Birthday at home in a very wobbly house with a small cup cake and 1 candle....By the Tuesday my nerves were shot with all the large aftershocks so we went to the South of Japan for a week.  We spent a few days in out friends hotel in Osaka and the were graciously looked after in a Temple in Shiga...Many thanks to all.  
Being away from the aftershocks gave me chance to clear my head and we made the decision to go to the UK the next week, so back to Tokyo where within a week we managed to empty our house but unfortunately could not bring most of our possessions due to storage and money...nevermind we were all alive...So April saw us back in the UK.

We have managed to find a flat in London and the children are back in the Amazing School they attended 4 years ago....

I attended and passed my Apparatus Course this summer with MCI London and met the most brilliant people (Teachers and Students)

So as of today 17 October 2011

Cai       year 6
Sakura year 4
Rei      year 2
Izumi  Mamas Montessori
Me   I am preparing for my written exam in December and starting Teacher Practice hopefully in January .......................

So I hope to be able to blog a little more......