Natty: Our star of the week!

There are some weeks when our children astonish us with new milestones and achievements that all seem to tumble out of them at once. It's as if they've been working on them all for a while and then suddenly, booom, they crack it.

I'm convinced that Natty has had a cognitive burst post tonsil and adenoid surgery. I like to think its all that fabulous oxygen whooshing around her body all night while she sleeps uninterrupted!

Our little 6 year old star has bowled us all over recently with her amazing artwork and handwriting. So here's the bragging rights evidence:

Natty received the Star of the Week Award for writing a 2 page long story. 

It took 3 weeks and lots of support, but it was all her own work.

Then we entered a Christmas card competition. 

I provided the sponge and paint and this is what she created, including drawing the antlers.

And my absolute favourite is her drawing of Willy Wonka as part of the Roahl Dahl topic at school. You can see he's dancing.

Natty's comment was, "I'm very very proud of Natty."

And so you should be darling, so you should be.

Process not Product: Learning to Learn

Yesterday saw the school Harvest Festival Service at the local church. Natty created her box of groceries to donate and we chatted about the older residents of the village who would receive them. 

I think it's so important for all children to learn about helping and giving to others and I'm particularly keen for Natty to understand this message. We do a lot of fundraising for local and national Down's Syndrome charities, mainly for speech therapy provision and to support other parents, but I don't want Natty to think that she is exempt from helping others.

One of the greatest mantras that stays with me from my teaching days is that THE PROCESS, NOT THE PRODUCT is the most important part of any activity. Learning to learn, create, be independent takes precedent over the end product itself.

So, Natty covered the box in tin foil herself after I had cut strips, then carefully arranged things inside which we had chosen from the cupboards together, including her home-grown onions. 

I resisted the temptation to 'help' make it all look 'artistic', according to me. I crossed my fingers that the teachers and recipients would understand what we had done and not think I'd  lazily chucked a handful of things in a box as I ran through the door on Monday morning.

Thankfully they did, and I was so pleased we'd done it this way.

The chore was carried out independently and Natty was left feeling proud of her achievement. This is the approach we are using with homework too now that Natty is getting some each week. If you take a few minutes to think about and set up the activity, then your child can do the rest by themselves.

We have to know when it's best not to interfere as parents, don't we?

Proud Mummy Moment

I will try not to brag but....
(we are really very proud and need to celebrate.)

Natty came rushing home clutching 2 precious sheets of paper yesterday.
On one she had written the entire alphabet, independently, for the very first time:

On the other she had written random numbers up to 15 on the whiteboard as the teacher had asked her to:

Now every child develops at their own pace and has strengths and weaknesses in different areas. Natty just happens to love writing, tracing and copying, so we harnessed this. That said, this process has taken all school year to master, using Jolly Phonics actions to start with, then Ruth Miskin picture flash cards to visualise each letter with a writing action and lots of sensory activities, drawing in the air and on backs too.

Read our Tips for Writing here for more information on seating, pencils and activities to try.