Category Archives: Life in the US

early education & play, Life in the US, outdoor play, parenting, Seattle, snow

Playing Outdoors in Winter

January 17, 2017 rightfromthestart 3 Comments

Rolling a snowball Children always look forward to snow days but when it is cold but there isn’t any snow or only a smattering it isn’t always as enticing.

My children love playing with ice – so we often leave water in their water table or allow rain water to collect in containers. They are always keen to go outside on icy day to investigate how solid the ice is and I often find strange deposits of ice in my freezer.

On New Years Eve, it snowed. In the morning there was a smattering of snow left on the ground and the girls headed out to make tiny snow men. They took carrots from the fridge and borrowed our dogs Santa hat.

In the haze of a tired New Years Day afternoon, my youngest asked if we could go for a walk. We headed along the trail. She started to make a snowball, it was quite big and heavy .

We continued along the trail and found a stick. The snowball was the perfect place to store it.

The stick was perfect for knocking snow from the branches of trees that were just out of reach.

We started to roll the snowball.

“Maybe we could roll it back to the house and use it to make a snowman” my daughter suggested.

It seemed a good idea at the time but rolling an ice impacted snowball uphill and sometimes through patches without snow was the best new year’s exercise I’ve had in a long time.

We had a base for a very dirty snowman.

We added a middle.

and a head.

The finished result.

Proof that you don’t need a lot of snow to have fun.

It has stayed cold all week, so the snow hasn’t melted and even the little snowmen are still there. Last winter we visited the storm pond when it was icy. the children tried to break the ice with sticks but it wasn’t thick enough to stand on.

This week for the first time it has been frozen enough to stand on and even get the sledges out. Every day after school, the girls would meet their friends at the pond. Convinced that it was solid, I allowed my daughter to use her ice-skates on the pond. This was a first for all of us and very exciting.

My youngest found a flat round piece of ice that looked like a puck – if the weather stays cold it would be fun to find sticks and play ice hockey or grab a broom and a big piece of ice for curling. Much better than when we tried a Winter Olympics without any snow!

Christmas, days out, expat, holidays, Life in the US, outdoor play, Seattle, snow

Leavenworth in Winter

November 18, 2016 rightfromthestart 1 Comment

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Last year was our first trip to Leavenworth during the Winter. We have visited a number of times in the summer and had heard great things about the Christmas lights, so decided to take a trip. The Christmas lighting festival takes place during the first three weeks of December. There are plenty of activities at the festival and the girls loved seeing Santa and Mrs Christmas.

santa 2015

It gets very busy, so parking can be difficult. If you prefer to go when it is quieter,the lights remain lit until February. We took another trip with guests after Christmas, which personally I preferred as it wasn’t so crowded.

Leavenworth is the perfect place to find snow. Take your sledges with you and go down the hill in the town centre. It is pretty bumpy so your sledge may not survive evidenced by the pile of broken plastic sledges at the bottom of the hill at the end of the evening. Surprisingly, the sledges we brought over from the UK survived, but the ones we bought here cracked. sledging in leavenworth

On our first visit we weren’t quite prepared for how cold it would be. We took our dog , who shivered the whole time and since we arrived in the evening for the lights, we really needed an extra layer of clothing. On our next visit we came fully prepared with our ski gear and left the dog at home.

Ski hill was the perfect place for my eldest to try out her snow board for the first time. Our guest skied on the larger slope and the younger ones tried out tubing.

The view was spectacular too. When we had all had too much cold, we had hot drinks at the lodge on the hill and warmed ourselves by the fire.

I think if I were to go again, I would book early for an overnight stay. A day trip is fine in the Summer but I think a warm fire, hot drink and comfortable bed nearby would top off the day perfectly.

children, early education & play, education, expat, families, Life in the US, pre schoolers, Random Thoughts & Life Stories, reflection, Reggio Emilia, teaching

What is my Responsibility as an Early Educator in the Wake of the US Election?

November 10, 2016 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

Yesterday, in the wake of the US election, I was filled with questions. These were not questions about my role as a parent or about my future as a resident of the US but about my role and responsibility as an educator.

My core educational philosophy is to encourage children’s critical thinking and creative expression. Children should be valued for who they are and children, teachers and parents should work collaboratively, in an environment of respect and dialogue. I draw inspiration in my thinking from Loris Malaguzzi, the founder of the preschools of Reggio Emilia. He worked with the community, to create new schools in the aftermath of World War II that would bring hope for a new generation. He created an environment that encouraged critical thinking and creative expression, and a culture of working together with respect for one another. Malaguzzi achieved his goal with a community of like-minded individuals.

Yesterday, a key question for me was; if I only work with liberally minded families is there really anything to change and am I really making a difference? If I want to encourage a different way of thinking, shouldn’t I be helping children who have not been encouraged to think in this way?

I struggled with the juxtaposition between encouraging critical thinking and respecting family beliefs and cultures. I believe that it is our duty to create an environment of tolerance and open-mindedness, and to promote a culture of children who think for themselves and whose opinions and emotions are valued. However, I also believe that we should work alongside families, respect their beliefs and work together for the good of the child.

The Making of a Harry Potter Fan’s Holiday – Warner Bros. Studio Tour

September 23, 2016 rightfromthestart 2 Comments

My twelve-year-old placed the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio tour firmly at the top of her list of places to visit when we were in the UK. Following our visit to the Dr. Who Experience her younger sisters were more cautious. Friends who had visited previously, assured them that it was amazing and not a bit frightening but I’m not sure they were totally convinced. Of course, their friends were right, it wasn’t a bit scary. You are taken on a journey to see how the film was created and seeing the special effects behind the film alleviated all their fears, especially seeing how tiny the dementors are in real life.

Warner Bros Studio Tour is located North of London so we stayed nearby at North Hill Farm. As a family of five it can be difficult to find hotels and B&B’s that allow us to share one room. The family room at North Hill Farm slept five and was perfect for all of us.

Excitement mounted as we drove into the car park and saw the signs and statues outside. All visitors require advance booking with timed slots and this allows for a wonderful experience where you never feel overwhelmed by crowds and everything is easy to see without queues.

I have to admit to feeling a little emotional watching the introductory film and completely awestruck when the doors opened onto the great hall. Groups are led by a guide into these first two sections, while the rest of the tour is self guided.

As a Harry Potter geek, my daughter listened to the audio tour. I knew she would appreciate facts and figures but without it most exhibits have a guide or video screen telling you more about it. My seven-year-old was enraptured by the talk at the wig stand and delighted in telling me stories about Malfoy’ wig.

There are plenty of exhibits young children can interact with from making magic to wand workshops and riding on a broom. The guides were so good at encouraging the kids as seen in this video clip.

Next stop Platform 9 3/4. Inside the Hogwarts Express, the carriages move through the movies in sequence , decorated with appropriate props.

This takes you to the outside lot where you can sample butterbeer or butterbeer ice cream. The detail in Privet Drive is wonderful, each certificate on the wall depicting Dudley’s pointless achievements.

Sampling butterbeer

Jump inside and take a shot

Lily and James Potter’s house.

Privet Drive

The Knight Bus

The final lot features special effects, illustrated by a series of clever videos and the art of Harry Potter. The tour ends with a surprise that truly takes your breath away, so I’m not going to offer any hints to spoil it.

There is so much to see at the Warner Bros. Studio tour. I would plan to stay at least three hours and allow extra time for shopping. There is a lot of exclusive merchandise and entry to the shop is not permitted without a ticket for the tour. We found some cool stuff although sadly I ruined my husband’s Slytherin Quidditch top with bleach after he had worn it once. Looks like I have the perfect excuse to return some time. If you visit the café, the kids lunches come in this really cool knight bus box.

There was never a complaint from any of the kids that they had seen enough, the whole experience was utterly engaging and we wouldn’t hesitate to return. If you are looking for a full, well organised and good value experience I would put this top of your list. When I asked the girls what their favourite part of our trip was, the unanimous response was Harry Potter! In case you need further confirmation, just look at these faces.

Disclaimer: No payment or complimentary tickets were received for writing this post.

books, days out, imagination, musical theatre, review, Uncategorized

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the Musical

September 13, 2016 rightfromthestart 2 Comments

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I took a blogging break this summer to concentrate on travelling with my family and now I am back, I have lots to share from my busy summer. Today is Roald Dahl day and would have been Roald Dahl’s 100th birthday, so I thought it would be fitting to share my thoughts on the West End musical production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

This was our first visit to London with the children. We only travel home every few years, so we wanted to show them the sights and experience a West End show. To be honest, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory wasn’t our first choice of show and we arrived with a little uncertainty. We couldn’t have chosen anything more memorable or spectacular. From curtain up it was visually mesmerising. Costume and set design were out of this world and totally lived up to the company’s aim to astound the audience.

Roald Dahl’s original story was preserved throughout but was cleverly tweaked with modern touches. The children were characterised perfectly and wonderfully portrayed by the cast. My kids spent time discussing who they would like to play; ballet dancing Veruca Salt, video game obsessed Mike Teavee or Violet Beauregarde the acrobatic child star. The parents were also brought to life in quirky and interesting ways.

Directed by Sam Mendes, this is the first stage adaptation in 50 years and completely surpassed my expectations. We all came out of the theatre feeling a little emotional. We had clearly witnessed something unique and special.

If you get a chance to see it before it closes at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 2017, I highly recommend it. Don’t despair if not, a UK tour is coming soon and for US audiences, the Broadway production will open in 2017.

Disclaimer: This is a personal recommendation, no monetary compensation or complimentary tickets were received for writing this post.

days out, early education & play, forest schools, learning environnments, Life in the US, outdoor play, play, pre schoolers, risk taking, Seattle, Uncategorized, wildlife, woods

Big Rock Park

June 3, 2016 rightfromthestart 3 Comments

We consider ourselves very lucky to live in an area where there are lots of great parks. Last week saw the grand opening of Big Rock Park, so we took a trip to see what it was like.

I liked that it didn’t have the same old playground equipment. The slide was built into a hill, with a natural climb up to it and the zip wire was low enough for young children to climb on independently. There were also a number of climbing posts made from tree stumps and plentiful building blocks crafted from branches.

They have really tried hard to maintain this as a nature park. The fences are all crafted from rough cut wood and they are still cultivating the meadow around the slide complete with little peep holes. In collaboration with STEM High School, Big Rock Park will design an environmental education programme and promote renewable technology.

Beyond the playground you can head down to the nature trails. On the way admire the giant nest built by local families last year.

At Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands centre, in England, the playground (wellyboot land) had giant bouncy eggs. This nest is crying out for some of those.

slimbridge eggs

As you head into the trails you have a number of paths available, all well signposted. The trails aren’t very long, so perfect for little legs to explore.

Leading towards the trail is another little guest.

Where would Big Rock Park be without a big rock?

This was easily the main attraction. The trails circle around the rock and lead back to this wonderful natural climbing area.

We loved the new park and will be heading back soon with the older children, who were sad that they missed it.

days out, early education & play, education, EYFS, forest schools, outdoor play, pre schoolers, science, wildlife, woods

We’re Going on a Bug Hunt

May 20, 2016 rightfromthestart 5 Comments

Some children hate bugs, they think they are disgusting or scary. That’s why I love our annual preschool bug hunt in the woods. The children look for bugs, find out about them, collect them in bug jars and bring them back to observe in a terrarium for a few weeks.

In our front garden we have a wildflower border. As we pass it each day we look out for bees, ladybirds and butterflies. When we found aphids on the lupins, we hoped they would attract ladybirds.

“Why can’t we spray them?” my daughter asked. She had been learning about aphids at school.

“If we spray them”, I explained, it will disrupt the ecosystem, “the ladybirds won’t come and ladybirds are good food for birds. If we kill off all the bugs we will have fewer birds and small mammals in the garden.”

They don’t like every bug – they are a little afraid of spiders, think mosquitoes are a nuisance and my youngest is a little unsure about worms but they don’t see that as a reason to kill them. We know the worms in our compost bin turn our scraps into compost for the garden , spiders can be left alone if they live outside and they are good because they eat flies and even mosquitoes provide food for bats and birds. This is a useful resource for explaining to children why bugs are good.

There are two kinds of bug we don’t collect on the bug hunt.

Termites because they will eat our preschool. The children know that termites are important for breaking down old wood from fallen trees but they need to stay in the woods.

2. Slugs because they will eat all the produce we have planted. There is plenty of food for them in the woods.

There were other bugs to collect.

Lots of worms and millipedes.

Spiders

and evidence of caterpillars munching leaves.

We looked up

and down.

We saw evidence of how the bugs break down an old tree log so that it can go back into the soil.

It gets smaller every year, we used to be able to fit inside.

Sometimes it is useful to add a focus to a walk and those tiny bugs can easily be forgotten, so next time you walk with your kids, turn over some logs and stones and see what you can find.

early education & play, forest schools, learning environnments, Life in the US, outdoor play, Seattle, Uncategorized, wildlife, woods

Spring Babies

May 4, 2016 rightfromthestart 2 Comments

carson

On our walk to school every day, my daughter loves to stop and look at leaves and flowers, to take a short cut through the woods or to save worms stranded on the path. Often there isn’t enough time to stop and share her observations and wonders. It is important therefore, that I make time to walk with her when we aren’t constrained by time.

Last week, when I was out running, we spotted ducklings on the local pond. I decided to take a walk and see what other babies we could find.

Our first observation was a deep, vibrating sound, a little like a honking goose. The sound followed us but we couldn’t see anything. We thought perhaps it was a type of frog or maybe a bug.

We sat on the bank and watched the ducks come in and out of the water.

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As we carried on around the pond, we came across a family of geese.

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We watched them until they swam away. Passing a smaller pond,we decided to rest there a while, watching the birds and dragonflies. We noticed ladybirds on the lupins. Looking closer, we could see the leaves and stems were covered in aphids. On the centre of one leaf was a pair of ladybirds, who proceeded to fight, just like in the ‘Bad Tempered Ladybird’ by Eric Carle.

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As we sat watching the ladybirds, the geese came swooping across the sky and landed in the pond with a splash.

The spring baby theme has continued. We found a salamander with its eggs in a friends back garden, a newt in the drain and a tiny frog in our worm composter.

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The birds are building a nest in our bird box and we expect to hear the babies soon.

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We noticed that the frog spawn has gone from the storm water pond and if you look closely you can see tiny tadpoles swimming.

To top it all off, the horse at preschool finally gave birth to a foal.

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However simple, the wildlife we see around us every day, is a constant source of wonder. I hope my children will always see the world this way.

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This photograph depicts what all childhood should be; full of the magic and excitement of the unexplored. It reminds me of the magical tales of Enid Blyton that inspired me to pretend to run away to the woods, when I was a child. My friends and I would sometimes pack a picnic or a bag of sweets and sit deep in the trees, listening to the streams and waiting for magic to happen.

From Nature and her overflowing soul

I had received so much that all my thoughts

Were steeped in feeling.

William Wordsworth

childhood, days out, early education & play, learning environnments, outdoor play, parenting, parents, play, risk taking, water play

You’re My Kind of Mum Friend Because…..

Image March 23, 2016 rightfromthestart 20 Comments

A few weeks ago I went for a walk to the park with my daughter. She likes to climb to the top of the climbing frame and play pirates. The game involves roaming the edges of the park for interesting treasures and on this day, she discovered big rocks. She proceeded to pick them up and roll them down the bank, watching them crash at the bottom. The only other child at the park was a little younger than my daughter and after observing her for a while, she found her own rock. She used all of her efforts to lift the rock and proudly show it to her mum. At which point, she was greeted with a look of horror and her mum quickly took the rock away and ushered her to ‘more suitable’ pursuits.

This kind of reaction is very familiar. When my children were toddlers, other parents would often ask me if my children were okay when they climbed a ladder and slid down the longest slide, as I observed from a distance. I have never been a parent to shadow my child’s every move and rarely feel the need to step in.

It is always refreshing to find a parent who shares my attitude. On a recent trip to the park with a friend, I was so happy to find someone who not only didn’t bat an eyelid when my eldest started paddling barefooted in the cold wet mud but actively encouraged the others to join in. When the children threw rocks on the ground to see if they would break , she gave them advice on how to do it safely, rather than stopping them because it was too dangerous.

You are my kind of mum friend because you let all these experiences happen.

FullSizeRender [345550] — It’s fun to stand on the roundabout, when we fell, we worked out how we needed to balance to stay on.

WP_20160322_003 1 — When you are 5 you can climb a big rock without any help.

WP_20151130_001 — I can test the ice if I stand on the edge and throw sticks to see if it will break.

WP_20151124_005 — I explore the size of the ripples as I throw stones into the pond. If I get too close I might get wet and the water is cold!

WP_20151113_002 1 — Mud is good – the squishier the better!

WP_20140501_005 — We don’t need a swimming costume to get wet.

WP_20140123_008 (1) — Who can find the biggest branch?

WP_20130619_011 — Don’t tell me it’s cold, I need to feel it!

FullSizeRender [345562] — It’s okay to play – even when you’re almost 12.

FullSizeRender [345556] — If I ride on my coat, I go faster.

FullSizeRender [345552] — It’s okay to remove your shoes and coat when it isn’t quite Spring.

blossom — Take off your shirt and play with a stick.

getting wet — I’m going to have a shower. I’m getting very wet, now the rain is staying on me.

And when you let these things happen, with a little bit of support they will have the courage to jump.

days out, families, Life in the US, outdoor play, Seattle

A Spring Day Out with Kids at Alki Beach

March 5, 2016 rightfromthestart 6 Comments

beach

You might only consider visiting Alki Beach in Summer when the children want to swim and soak up the sun, but there are many things to do when visiting out of season. Alki beach is more than just a beach, it also has great historical significance. Alki Beach is the site of the landing of the first white settlers in Seattle on a cold, stormy day in November of 1851. Chief Seattle and his tribe greeted them and helped them build their cabin to stave off the cold, wet winter.

You may be lucky and end up with a surprisingly warm, Spring day as we did. Some attractions, like speciality bikes, aren’t available until Easter and the ferry to Seattle only runs on weekdays but in some ways this gives children more chance to stop and take in the simple things. Here are some of the things my children enjoyed.

Build a sandcastle

sandcastles

The first thing my kids want to do when they see sand is build a sandcastle. They found shells and feathers to decorate it and we had to judge whose was the best.

2. Climb on Driftwood

Alki Beach has an abundance of driftwood and uprooted trees for little climbers.

3. Let the Air Vents Blow your Clothes and Hair

4. Visit the Miniature Statue of Liberty

liberty alki

The Statue of Liberty, a small replica of the original “Liberty Enlightening the World” in New York City, was a gift from Reginald H. Parsons and the Seattle Council of the Boy Scouts of America in 1952. The statue has become such a symbol of liberty and courage that it became a place to mourn, to reflect, and to leave mementos after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

5. Follow the Avenue of Stars

Avenue of stars Alki

if you continue along the path past the lighthouse you will reach a stretch of path where all the constellations are marked along the path. Great for an evening stroll as in the spring as you won’t have to wait too long for the stars to come out.

6. Search for Signs of Marine Life

seal statue Alki

All along the trail are signs outlining the wildlife you may find. Seal pups are common between June and September but even in March you may see evidence of seals, sea otters or whales in the water. The girls were excited to see seagulls and enjoyed pretending to be seals.

7. Stop for Ice Cream

ice cream at gelarto alki