Where have we been?

Sick!!!  Again!!  I went to a lovely GP who said that 5-6 colds a year for an adult is normal, and I seemed to have all of them over this winter.  10-11 colds is normal for toddlers and small kids!  Kinda makes me feel better to get an average like that, TBH.  I have been feeling we are TOO sick lately, but this does put it in perspective.  With Lolly and I going to more and more group things with other toddlers and young children, and Snail at special school, we get exposed to so many germs, and with our immune systems a little down, aren't fighting things off as well as we might.  So we've all had terrible viruses, this last one was a doozy and still has us coughing and bleary eyed.  Poor Lolly has such gummy eyes of a morning that she asks "Mummy, lights on! Help me!" which is just so heart wrenching, poor lovely girl.  She is MUCH improved today after several days of low fever, terrible coughing, and conjuncitivitis.  I had such a terrible throat that I have been on anti-biotics, for the first time in AGES!  We caved and gave Lolly a dose of Nurofen to give her a break last night, and she had a good sleep all night and seems very much improved this morning.

So, after my sick-y whinging, I have spent most of the last few days on the couch watching toddler TV and surfing the web (at painfully slow speeds as we are shaped til tomorrow, FFS!) reading about Montessori, mostly.  It's been a good opportunity to soak in knowledge, that I don't usually get as we are quite busy, normally.  So I've been doing the (slow loading) rounds of Montessori blogs and websites, getting some book recommendations together, bookmarking blogs I've enjoyed, and gathering some materials for basic practical life and sensorial activities to do with her here at home, to reinforce our NIDO time, which is going to be a focus for us for the rest of the year.

I've noticed a fair few of the Montessori blogs are homeschoolers, and a lot are Catholic, which is just a bit different from my own more than secular perspective.  I have been trying to look past daily catchisms when reading them - lol.  It is also often quite structured during the day, with specific "school" times, and structured stuff throughout.  But, that said, there are some amazingly lovely blogs out there with some simply awesome schoolrooms in them.  Just wow!  Try - What DID we do all day?  And Wildflowers and Marbles school room!  :o  That is one amazing space!  Now, this is not the kind of thing most of us are going to set up.  And it does encourage the idea of "school" as separate from everyday life, and I am much more into the unschooling - all is life learning - idea than that of set times, especially at home.  But these are wonderful spaces, and inspiring to read about what these children are doing there.  Lots of ideas for adapting to our own home.

I love the practical explanations and ideas you can find at MontessoriMom, at the inspiring My Montessori Journey, and here at The Montessori Child at Home.  The links found and organised by What DID we do all day? - linked above - are just amazing, you can spend days here reading and bookmarking and adding to readers :D

I'll add some pictures of work Lolly is enjoying once our Interwebs resets!  Check out the links, there are great ideas for kids there even if you are not Montessori, or if you unschool, or school!  :D  And yes, I know the irony of watching kids TV while researching Montessori :p