Once a week, Annika has been going into a Cycle 2 classroom to do activities with the older kids (ages 6-9). As part of that, she also gets to borrow books from the Cycle 2 library, which is terribly exciting for her. I was curious to see what she would bring home last week, but quite flummoxed by the result. An Aussie Nibbles book - Susie the Lifesaver - which is on the shelf in her own classroom, and an acknowledged favourite. Why would she choose something so simple?
On thinking about it, I am starting to understand. The flipside to excitement tends to be stress - good stress, perhaps, but still stressful. In the unfamiliar environment, Annika must have been quite relieved to find something familiar. Susie the Lifesaver threw her a lifeline. It's a good reminder to me not to push, to let Annika do what she needs to do, when she needs to. At school, I often see her choosing activities that are well below her capabilities, but as her wise teachers have reminded me, it's not all about the intellect. It's about comfort and familiarity and being able to relax in the learning environment.
And we are still having marvelous moments with books as well. Immersed in the latest Magic Ballerina, Annika actually stopped reading long enough to asked me a question! "What does 'discordant' mean, Mum?" Unfortunately, the bookmumster knows very little about music and had to stumble along with something about the sounds not going together, not sounding good ... and fell back on the trusty "Ask Sue!"
Sue, the assistant in Annika's current Cycle 1 classroom, is an authority on all things music, and the concept of what was discordant was discussed at length, with the bells to assist, in class. Annika now has a better understanding of it than I do.
