Wizard of Oz

We have had this DVD for  couple of years now. The first time, the twister in the movie scared her and she would watch it no further. This time she chuckled through. Movies have such a great impact. After the movie she has made herself the nails of a wizard with tape. She has scrounged around her room looking for things with which she could build wizard land. I'm quite impressed with the range of things she has picked up. The drumsticks stand up as towers and the powder box with a translucent lid is a crystal ball...

She has now made a poster for a movie called "The Wicked Wizard of the Eagles". Then she thought and changed the word wicked to wonderful. We have a water man, an eagle man, a snowman and a stickman. There is even a purple brick road. Drawing those bricks symmetrically was not very easy. She has now started drawing scenes. She spent three pages drawing a bridge. She is going to make the movie when she grows up!

We watched the movie again. The globe has become her crystal ball and she puts on clips on the fingers like the witch's nails...she loves to be the bad witch...We even play the bad and her people and look into the globe to see what is happening. 

Jigsaw Puzzle

Lakshmi could never do jigsaws. The other night we were visiting a friend. Her four-and-a-half year old could do a 60 piece puzzle. Was it something to do with concentration? It suddenly struck me that she always likes big things. Things into which she herself can get into and experience.

The other I suddenly bumped into a extra large jigsaw puzzle of a world map which had 33 pieces. On an impulse I bought it. I tried it with her one afternoon. She could do it although she had difficulty starting. And then she danced on it, slept on it and imagined herself travelling all over it. It turned out that my guess was right. 

What a range of drawings...contd

It has now exploded...

All through summer she drew dinosaurs.

Then came submarines and different kinds of machines.

After that it was Ganesh, Shiva and Parvati.

Now it is Krishna. She also tries to perfect it now.

Skating...

Suddenly a couple of weekends ago she started skating perfectly. The joy of having learnt it on her own was so evident on her face. She just couldn't stop and continued to skate for over two hours.

She wanted us to give her exercises. Skate between lines, in a circle, in a zigzag and it went on...

She started trying on the skates when she was three. It was a third birthday gift from friends. She would occasionally wear it and I would hold and get her to walk.

The first step was for her to walk steadily on her own without me holding. She then would put it on once every few weeks and now she was skating so beautifully. Once she has figured out that she can, there is no stopping her...

We went with Rhea to skate in the school. We tried skating in the duck pond. We tried skating in the basket ball court. But they were both talking. On the way back though. I found that she was now so comfortable with her skates.  She climbed everything she possibly could, skated on all surfaces and wherever possible she took the more circuitous route. She does not know what she can do and what she can't. That is getting her to explore more. It is perhaps a good way for her to learn anything new. Do it by herself and feel a sense of achievement at every small step, get very comfortable and then perhaps seek a teacher to get very good.

Learning Maths

I brought back a pile of foreign coins from Bangalore. Lakshmi now keeps her treasure in a treasure box.

We pull them out sort them, count them, make patterns with them, stack them and so on.

Once while counting she found 12 of one kind of coin. So she wanted to 12 of each kind of coins. We had seven or eight types in which they were 12.

Suddenly she wanted to add 12 to 12.

And then another 12 to that and count all over again...

till we finished all the 12s...

she had stumbled into the 12 times tables that we had painfully crammed...

Then she asked her dad ...and to her surprise he could answer each time she added another 12...

So she decided to do the whole thing with ten and ask him again...

Our coin pile is larger now. We took out all the coins left over from Vish's travels and have sorted them out and kept. When we play all three of set up a game corner and the other two has to come and play. I set up a sequence where there was difference of three between each number. Then a sequence which went 2,4...and? The answer could be eight or 6. We wanted her to know that the answer could be anything. We are not looking for a single answer.

She put out a game where one had to make different kinds of patterns with six coins. We were all making all possible combinations. Vish and I were making patterns and she was making things. She put four coins in one row and two in the center in the row below twice. We told her they were the same. She flipped the two coins to the row above the four. "There" she said "One is a park bench and the other a ship". So we were starting to talk that language too. I made a pattern and called it an escalator!

Malavika Sarukkai

We are going to see her dance today. I played several youtube pieces for her last night. Lakshmi was so restless. It is probably a bad idea to take her along with a lot of friends.

Malavika herself was divine. She was so articulate and brought the dance alive. When she danced to "Thumak Chalat Ramachandra", Lakshmi, Rishika and Esha began to dance. They had a great time. But it probably was not a very good experience to the serious watchers behind.

Her last dance was Mareecha's conflict. If Mareecha did not listen to Ravana and go to trick Ram, he would be killed. If he did go to trick Ram he would be killed. And so he chooses to get killed by Ram. Malavika explained the nuances in dance so well. "Each character breathes differently" she said. She also explained the major actions of all the characters and that brought it alive. I had to tell Lakshmi at each point what was happening. The story seems to have made a great impact on her because she came back home and a few days later drew Ram with a bow and arrow trying to shoot Mareecha the Deer. The picture also had Seetha waiting at the entrance of her hut. The Hut was decorated with a Kolam and peacock was sitting on it.

Drawing maps...

Can you draw a map of Great Britain? she asked when we were having dinner yesterday. We googled and found that an easy map of Britain is not available. When I showed her a map it seemed so complicated that she decided that she wanted to draw a map of Africa instead.

So we googled and drew Africa and Madagascar. Then she wanted to draw the biggest river of Africa. She took a blue pen and drew rivers wherever she liked. Than she wanted to draw a beach and asked Vish. "So where could the beach be?"

All around here he pointed out that the Ocean surrounded all around the bottom of Africa.

Then she came up with a game herself.

Tell me three things that are in America that are not in India.

So we played that game while we had dinner. We have no clue where all this urge has come from. But she has begun her own Geography lessons.

Back after 40 days...

I had to spend 40 days at home taking care of mom. Amazingly a number of parents took care of her. We involved her everyday in what was happening to paati. She was extremely concerned about what was happening to to her.

She would even ask what does paati have for breakfast. What does she have for dinner? Then she exclaims " Horlicks and Oats...! we have those at home already. I can share with her."

"When you get back here you sleep with paati. Don't leave her alone" she said one day. That was so touching!