Ri got interested in Beowulf from a short story version we had borrowed from the library a few weeks ago, so this week he borrowed the full poem. The book we borrowed has the original Old English on one page with the corresponding translation on the facing page. That has spurred an interest for both of us in learning more about the progression of the English language through history; and we're planning to read more about that as well as about Scandinavian history, particularly during the time period Beowulf was written (between the 7th and 10th centuries).
Maya has been thinking about words a lot lately, too -- the modern English kind. She doesn't read on her own yet, but she spends a lot of time lately looking at words, sometimes asking what something spells but more often just quietly looking by herself. We were looking at some paint chips, and she was asking me the names of the colors on them, and one was called "madras." She said, "Oh, I thought it said 'drama'." I have no idea where she learned which letters make up the word "drama," but I thought it was cool that she saw it in "madras." It reminded me of how she has spelled her own name over the last few years -- sometimes it was "ayam," sometimes "yama," occasionally some other variation. A couple of times I mentioned about writing left to right, but she said she didn't care, so that was that. At some point, she started consistently spelling "Maya." At some point, she will crack more of the code and madras will be madras and drama will be drama. I'm glad she gets to enjoy the process in her own time and in her own way.
Pictures from this past week:
Riley making mosaics---------------Maya drawing
Maya and Seth making things with magic nuudles (cornstarch foamy things)
Maya building with Lego's----- A crane that Seth, Riley, and I are building
Maya building with Lego's----- A crane that Seth, Riley, and I are building
Maya playing with air flow at the vent
Seth playing with magnet shapes
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