I overheard the children telling each other fairy stories this morning - I think there is something going on at school as part of World Book Day (or something similar).
Anyway, they were taking it in turns to tell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and, I have to be honest they told it very well, Lea did all the voices and TJ was doing the sound effects - he is particularly good at slurping porridge....
After they had finished I came in and said I had been listening and (in true parent style) said, 'So what do you think happened after Goldilocks ran away? Why do you think the bears didn't chase her and eat her up?" Knowing my two I thought this would provoke a great reaction with them sharing the gory details of their imagined bear feast... Of course, I should have known that with children, and especially my two, what ever way in which you imagine they will behave, they do the exact opposite.
'The bears will just call the police." said TJ.
I was a little shocked, 'The police?," I asked, 'Whatever for?'
TJ went on, "Well, she was a robber who burgled the bear's house... and she broke a chair!"
Lea joined in, "And she ate baby bear's porridge and probably left her spit in Mummy and Daddy bear's bowls." (This is currently a huge misdemeanour amongst the children - the sharing of spit.)
TJ then added (and I know this is my fault), "She also wore her shoes in the house and probably walked dog poo from the forest on the carpet" - as you can guess this is based on reality...
Lea then completed the line of thought by adding, "You know what? I don't think she took her shoes off before she got into bed - otherwise how could she run away so fast - she would have had to put her shoes on. She wouldn't run very far in bare feet."
This made me go back to my Roald Dahl collection - there is a similar argument against Goldilocks there - but I have not read it to the boys yet, I'm going to find out if they have studied it in school... but either way - the fact they remembered it and worked out the argument against Goldilocks is pretty amazing when you consider they both have learning difficulties. If they have never come across that version then I am truly impressed - sometimes I do think that children who find 'normal academic' learning tough find other ways in which to use their imagination and get their ideas out. School told me that Lea now has a 'scribe' - a teaching assistant to help her write her ideas down, otherwise she simply writes in squiggles that only she can read and that isn't particularly easy to mark - but her ideas are amazing, say the school, which I think is testament to the time we have spent trying to find things that fire her imagination. I don't want to make out that we are amazing parents, I'm sure most people do the same with their kids, but we have only had them two years now and the progress they have made is awe inspiring - they have made that progress, we have just supported it. And its so nice to have positive things to write. Adoption can be a hard slog, particularly when dealing with such huge issues but every now and again there is a glimmer of sunshine and you know you are on the right track.
Its often in the little things that we see the progress... thank you Goldilocks... I hope you get off with a warning!
Anyway, they were taking it in turns to tell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and, I have to be honest they told it very well, Lea did all the voices and TJ was doing the sound effects - he is particularly good at slurping porridge....
After they had finished I came in and said I had been listening and (in true parent style) said, 'So what do you think happened after Goldilocks ran away? Why do you think the bears didn't chase her and eat her up?" Knowing my two I thought this would provoke a great reaction with them sharing the gory details of their imagined bear feast... Of course, I should have known that with children, and especially my two, what ever way in which you imagine they will behave, they do the exact opposite.
'The bears will just call the police." said TJ.
I was a little shocked, 'The police?," I asked, 'Whatever for?'
TJ went on, "Well, she was a robber who burgled the bear's house... and she broke a chair!"
Lea joined in, "And she ate baby bear's porridge and probably left her spit in Mummy and Daddy bear's bowls." (This is currently a huge misdemeanour amongst the children - the sharing of spit.)
TJ then added (and I know this is my fault), "She also wore her shoes in the house and probably walked dog poo from the forest on the carpet" - as you can guess this is based on reality...
Lea then completed the line of thought by adding, "You know what? I don't think she took her shoes off before she got into bed - otherwise how could she run away so fast - she would have had to put her shoes on. She wouldn't run very far in bare feet."
This made me go back to my Roald Dahl collection - there is a similar argument against Goldilocks there - but I have not read it to the boys yet, I'm going to find out if they have studied it in school... but either way - the fact they remembered it and worked out the argument against Goldilocks is pretty amazing when you consider they both have learning difficulties. If they have never come across that version then I am truly impressed - sometimes I do think that children who find 'normal academic' learning tough find other ways in which to use their imagination and get their ideas out. School told me that Lea now has a 'scribe' - a teaching assistant to help her write her ideas down, otherwise she simply writes in squiggles that only she can read and that isn't particularly easy to mark - but her ideas are amazing, say the school, which I think is testament to the time we have spent trying to find things that fire her imagination. I don't want to make out that we are amazing parents, I'm sure most people do the same with their kids, but we have only had them two years now and the progress they have made is awe inspiring - they have made that progress, we have just supported it. And its so nice to have positive things to write. Adoption can be a hard slog, particularly when dealing with such huge issues but every now and again there is a glimmer of sunshine and you know you are on the right track.
Its often in the little things that we see the progress... thank you Goldilocks... I hope you get off with a warning!
very funny... you should write this down as Goldilocks 2!
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