Progress 2007
I certainly learnt a lot over the last year… I started with good intentions, but in the early part of the year, they rarely moved beyond that. But that was what last year (and this year as well!) was all about. Learning what sort of structures and plans I needed to make things work.
So, what did work?
The blog as a planning/recording tool.
It does make for not necessarily such interesting reading for ‘the world at large’, but I found it a manageable discipline, and very helpful. I found I could generally manage the weekly ‘Progress’ notes (dated on the Saturday, but written at some point over the weekend)—I think there are about half a dozen in the first half of the year that I later filled in very briefly much after the fact, so that there was some sort of record. I found the weekly ‘Plans’ much better to do at the start of each Block, and just post-date them. It made for a lengthy session over one weekend a block, but that meant for the remainder I could work on other preparations.
I like that I can select the ‘This Week’ category, and see what we’ve done for the year. It’s helpful as a reminder now that we’re heading into 2008, and I think it will also be handy when I come to begin with Bilby, in terms of planning our reading.
Mat Time
Although this fell to bits in the Christmas Block (along with pretty much all my non-Advent plans), it was working really well for quite a time. As long as I made the move early enough, and we kept it brief (no more than 20 minutes) and focussed (with plenty of singing… and actually checked that the stories are not too long!) we got quite a bit done. He was even choosing to do some of our letter work in this time, where as I had mostly planned it for the songs/poems/readings. I would have liked to have included picture study and composer study, but logistically, I didn’t get that sorted this year. A separate box/basket with all the books we’re currently using would help me be a bit more organised (they’re on the one shelf, but Puggle ends up carrying them one at a time because they slip if he tries to carry more… he could manage a basket much more easily).
TV School
This was brilliant! Having the words readily accessible made nursing work more easily, and was part of the ‘inspiration’ for Mat Time. We certainly recited the poems much more regularly because they were highly visible—rather than just being in a book. It also helped keep Paddington in the loop of what we were doing, and was a great ‘conversation starter’ (I can see that being helpful down the track with grandparents). I didn’t ever get to printing out copies of our picture for study, but I think that would be a good addition (would help me add that in to Mat Time).
Sewing Cabinet
I haven’t talked about this at all, because I only started using it in this last Block, when I was too busy to blog:-) My sewing cabinet (with machine, overlocker, and space) is in our dining room. Normally it’s a bit of a ‘hot spot’, but when I had all these Christmas crafting activities on the go, I cleared it off and put them out on there. For the most part, it’s out of Bilby’s reach (very important!), within Puggle’s reach, and allows for things to be spread out. It’s also really close to the dining table, where Puggle tends to work now because Bilby can’t reach (unlike his ‘desk’ a table in the corner of the lounge room). If need be, I can plug things in there (like the laminator, for the tree decorations), and Puggle can use it there. I intend to make more consistent use of it in 2008, for craft stuff, but also for some of the other materials we’ll be using.
Alphabet stuff
Not quite as I’d planned (really, not at all!) But by the end of the year he recognises all the letters (I suspect he would have, even if I hadn’t done anything specific), can find most of them on a keyboard (aside from ‘P’… he often has trouble with that!), and can trace the shapes.
Blocks
The organisation of the year worked (for me, at any rate). Four weeks is enough time to sustain focus on something. Break week was a good opportunity to catch up a bit, although I’d like to make more of an effort to go out and do other stuff in that week. Three Blocks before changing direction also worked well, although wasn’t as obvious as it might have been.
Singing
The folksongs generally went well. Putting them on the front of the TV cabinet was a real help, but obviously worked best when I had a real grasp of the tune:-) We tended to be more successful at learning the more pacy songs (although, he is now singing bits of ‘Auld Lang Syne’ after I put it up on New Year’s Eve).
My Planner
I had started the year by putting all my plans in a document, and printing it out. It’s 13 pages, most of them double-sided (2 pages each for a yearly overview, and each of 10 Blocks—the only reason they’re not all double-sided is so that I can look at both parts of each block in a single layout). Putting it all together ahead of time was good. I generally was quite relaxed about adapting it as the year went on (although, I did try not to too much this year, as it was our first year). I didn’t refer to the printed out copy nearly as often as the electronic one… but I think I will still print it out next year.
And what didn’t?
Cooking
I started quite well, but only in bits. I didn’t really manage to get consistent with this. I’m not overly concerned, Puggle did do quite a bit of cooking, usually in chunks of a couple of days at a time. My main reason for including it was so that I’d be sure to do stuff with him, I wasn’t sure how distracted with Bilby I’d be:-) But she sleeps well, so Puggle and I had time together. As far as the cooking goes, I think it would be more use to simply break down the skills he should master in the next year, and make sure he has a chance to practise them in day-to-day cooking. Much more measuring is definitely a focus for 2008, and cutting—what a shame! He might just have to make lots more Rocky Road 
Listening to Music
I was much less consisent with this than in 2006:-( I think I need to develop a better approach to organising my playlists. And to work out how to include it in Mat Time (well, not in Mat Time necessarily, but hang it on that peg).
Artist Study
Again, I was more consistent in 2006. I’m fairly sure that having copies of the pictures on the TV cabinet in addition to the screensaver (which did work, just not as well as previously) will be a big help.
Planned Art
I had tied these in to the letters we were doing… somewhat arbitrarily. We didn’t get to most of them. Partly because I didn’t always remember to look at what the activity needed in advance, and partly because they seemed too random. I am still planning art for next year, but my approach will be a bit different… we’ll see how that goes:-)
Christmas Block
This worked from the perspective of getting ready for Christmas, but I had anticipated continuing some ’schooling’ (I had planned for a fairly minimal programme… I wasn’t expecting much). As it turned out, that didn’t happen. Mostly that was probably me getting distracted with all the other things I was concerned about doing, and failing to make a point of doing the reading/singing I had planned. We’ll try this again another year before I decide it needs to change.
Narration
I think I was just expecting a bit much a bit soon—and wasn’t properly prepared to develop the skill. We’ll go with much shorter texts, and that should help a lot.
Nature Walk
I failed to make this a regular activity. The couple of times we went it was great, but I need to be more particular about including it.
My Planner
I didn’t refer to the printed out copy of the planner nearly as often as the electronic one… but I think I will still print it out next year.
The worked list is longer than the didn’t work list, so I’m happy:-)
by A. A. Milne
by Andrew Lang
