Family update

[nanila]

• Humuhumu can ride a bicycle! Before lockdown we struggled with getting her to even attempt it, and she would spend most of her time shouting at Daddy either to help, or stop helping. Lockdown rules meant she had a long break from it. When we finally did manage to extract her bicycle from the shed post-house renovation, she hopped on it and rode down the road with a jaw-dropping level of nonchalance.
  
  
• Keiki can also ride a bicycle without stabilisers, with only minimal assistance from Daddy. He’s not far off being able to do it on his own, but probably isn’t quite ready to cycle to school just yet.
  
  
• Last weekend they had their first swimming lessons in months. We were quite worried about how this would go. Humuhumu didn’t swim without a float in one hand, but two things were very encouraging: she can now time her breathing with her arm strokes in front crawl, and she stayed entirely off the wall and in a middle lane. Once Keiki started paying attention to his teacher (always his main issue), he also did very well, doing star floats, kicking with a float and simultaneously blowing bubbles without being prompted.
  
  
• Side note: The swim teachers can no longer be in the water with the Stage 1 children, which must be extraordinarily challenging. There were five children in Keiki’s class, and there was a stark difference between the three children who had been doing lessons for months before lockdown (including him) and the two who had joined only a few weeks prior. The former children were able to follow the instructions given verbally and with partial visual demonstration by the teacher from the poolside. The latter were almost completely lost, even when watching the other children do as instructed. It’ll be interesting to see how things develop in the coming weeks. I don’t think this is a sustainable way to teach children who are total beginners.
  
  
• Granddad has been doing almost-daily morning lessons with the children. He sings with them, reads them a story, plays maths games, and drills Humuhumu on her times tables. He started this in person while we were staying in Norfolk during the house renovation (once "bubbles" were allowed) and has kept it up since. It has been tremendously helpful. Go Granddad.
  
  
• Finally, we have been watching The Mandalorian as a family. Keiki, who has become completely obsessed by Lego and building spaceships and tanks and weaponry, was told about Star Wars by an older cousin, and demanded to be allowed to watch it. We duly procured a copy of The Mandalorian, having been told that it was (a) family friendly and (b) good, which cannot be said of all the Star Wars oeuvre. We’ve got through four episodes. It’s not a passive viewing experience by any means. We’re peppered with questions continuously and there are cuddles needed during the scary bits. Still, everyone is enjoying it immensely. With popcorn.
  
  

Comments

[corvidology]

I can't begin to imagine how to teach a child to swim without being in the water with them.

I lost interest in Star Wars after the 'new' films started but I must admit to really enjoying The Mandalorian.

[nanila]

So much of their class relied on the teacher positioning their bodies in the water correctly. The teacher tried to explain about six different ways to a child that he needed to straighten his legs when he kicked, and he just couldn't grasp what she meant. It would have been so simple if she'd been in the water and able to hold his knees.

I loved Rogue One and the first of the "new" trilogy but kind of lost interest after that. The Mandalorian isn't Rogue One (and we couldn't watch it with the children if it was) but it is compelling viewing. I do love that the Mandalorians can imbue their body language with such nuance, with their faces completely obscured. It's somehow very resonant in these mask-wearing times.

[corvidology]

Body language in acting is always underrated.

James Purefoy was originally hired to play V in V for Vendetta but he couldn't handle acting in the mask all the time so they parted company and hired Hugo Weaving instead. Weaving did a marvellous job of conveying so much of V's emotions with body language, even more difficult when the mask has a permanent expression.

At least we still have our eyes exposed which makes it easier to tell if someone is really smiling or faking it.

[omnipotent]

I don’t think this is a sustainable way to teach children who are total beginners.

It's not. Moving on land is very different from moving in water.

Are the lessons held at an indoor or an outdoor pool? I imagine an outdoor pool is probably safer for pandemic purposes. I've thought about trying to find an outdoor pool here to practice at, but idiots + being lax = Florida is a hotspot state.

there are cuddles needed during the scary bits

Awww ♥

[nanila]

It's an indoor pool. Back in the Before Times, they would have divided up the pool into quadrants and have had simultaneous classes going in three of the four. But now they're staggered so it's one class at a time, even though they only hold it in a quarter of the pool.

It must be super annoying not to be able to find a safe place to swim in a state which is famed for having zillions of places to swim. I'm sorry. :(

[thekumquat]

Glad you've had some good swimming lessons. Here, none of the teachers get into the pool, even for beginners, which partly explains why we gave up (the one who thought throwing water unexpectedly over children's heads was a good idea was the other reason).

I managed to teach R myself - half a year of class lessons in Y3 doesn't seem to have taught her anything new), but A has mostly learnt many ways of getting out of a pool or lesson. Aty least he knows he can't swim and it's harder than it looks, and could probably tread water for a minute or swim a width if really necessary.

[silveradept]

Congratulations on the children and their skills, and also, a certain amount of sympathy for the fact that they are learning more and faster ways of locomotion and therefore Getting Older.

[nanila]

Thank you! Yes, it's both exciting and scary to see them progressing.

[cmcmck]

Glad you're getting them to swim early.

On an island that's so important and what with you living next to the cut an' all!

[nanila]

Yep, being next to the canal was very motivational in terms of getting them to swimming lessons as soon as they were allowed!

[sfred]

Hurray for cycling and swimming and Granddad!

[nanila]

Yes indeed! Hopefully the weather will improve this weekend so we can do more cycling.

[pbristow]

Loving all the good news; Sympathies to the swimming teachers (and the poor befuddled kids!).

Maybe they need to teach the new keeds separate from the one's who started "In the Before Times", so the teachers can concentrate on figuring out how to communicate with them, and the kids don't get embarassed/disheartened by seeing the other group 'being better at it'...? =:oo

[nanila]

Yes, it'll be interesting to see what happens over the next few weeks in the lessons. I suspect some children will get moved up or down a stage pretty quickly.

[ironed_orchid]

That's great regarding bicycles. Nibling had a lot of resistance to riding alone, but now is riding nearly every day.

The Mandalorian is probably a really good place to start with Star Wars, but that means that there can be a lot of downhill from there. The original trilogy are probably okay, just with with usual caveats about 80s sexism.

[nanila]

Yes, I think we'll probably go to Eps 4-6, then 7-9, and then like quite a lot of other people, pretend that 1-3 don't exist at all. I'm really looking forward to watching "Rogue One" with them when they're a little older.

[ironed_orchid]

I actually got around to watching The Last Skywalker last night. I was pretty happy with how it resolved stuff.