Science Club - Fire

Testing how hot the flame is from the side

Every other week my children and I drive for an hour to a friend's farm for science club. All the children are homeschooled and there is one group for the older children (6+) and one for the younger ones (3+). Today the younger children's faces were alight, their mouths round little oh's of awe. The older children were deep in concentration and full of questions. All of this while they experimented with fire.
 
As young children ourselves we all heard the words playing with fire is dangerous. Particularly if you grew up in the UK you'll remember the adverts and safety sessions surrounding Bonfire Night and the use of fireworks and sparklers. Sometimes this can make us justifiably nervous about allowing our children near flames, matches, candles and fires. And yet, fire is part of our DNA, it's part of our humanity, the beginning of our civilisation. Would we stand where we do now if our prehistoric ancestors hadn't learnt to keep the flame alive and eventually how to start one themselves? According to many historians, the discovery of fire was what permitted humans to become fully sentient beings because it freed them from the immediate threat of wild animals and the constant worry of keeping warm enough. Some scientists even believe the discovery of fire is what made us human. In any case it undeniably fascinates children. 

In our home our children have lit candles with us as well as learning about fire laying. Both are daily tasks over the winter. We've also discussed and continue to discuss fire safety, what to do in the event of a fire and the Stop, Drop, Roll technique if you catch fire yourself (Check out this website for kid friendly info). But that's been the extent of our explorations and they were clearly hungry for more. 

They are curious about fire and how it works and when children are curious about something, it's my experience that they will inevitably find a way to explore this curiousity with or without our help. In the case of fire, I definitely prefer it to be with. It seems to me that in this instance there is a great argument for fulfilling our children's need to explore and understand together rather than trying to protect them by forbidding something until we decide they are 'big enough'. That's why I was delighted when we got to science club today and discovered they were going to explore the properties of fire. Here was an opportunity for them to get some answers in a safe environment.

Relighting a match without touching the flame

During the workshop, they were able to experiment in ways we wouldn't feel comfortable at home. Their teacher is trained in health and safety and has a lot of experience doing this kind of thing with kids. He had everything necessary to put out the flames if needed as well as the right kind of attitude. They were able to experiment lighting a candle, setting a baton on fire with the flame, what happens when you put a candle in water and cover it, as well as how the hot air above a flame creates movement. And that was just the younger kids. They all came away with some important fire safety rules, the beginnings of an understanding about how fire works and the knowledge that wood can set on fire when it gets very hot even without touching a flame.

And it turns...

and turns...

Although fire building for example is common in some schools in Germany and some of the forest camp movements I doubt it's made its way onto the national curriculum in many countries. And yet. Fire is what got us where we are today and I can't help feeling that understanding how it works and how to manage it safely will never cease to be an important skill for our species. I am really grateful that our science club provided us with a safe space to learn more and see this element and the rules that dictate it's behavior in action.


** This seems obvious but please be careful if you decide to try any of these kind of experiments yourself. One of the reasons I was so glad to do this kind of thing in a workshop setting is that it meant we were at least 6 adults to keep an eye on any safety issues.

I'm very excited to share today that my poem Thirty Seven Degrees will be published tomorrow, the 29th of January, on the excellent Ink, Sweat and Tears site. Ink, Sweat and Tears is an online poetry and prose webzine edited by the talented writer Helen Ivory. I am delighted that this poem, first work shopped at the wonderful Ty Newydd writing centre in Wales found its first home here.

Thirty Seven Degrees is a poem about birth. It began life in response to a workshop prompt on memory. First came the space, our bedroom and then slowly the details emerged. The poem evolved from those humble beginnings as most writing does. In honour of it's real beginning at the home birth of my youngest daughter, Lotta, I'm sharing some pictures today of that special time.

Just born

So beautiful

Sleeping in the sling

Big sister's turn to carry

Bathtime with Papa

A loving big brother

Poetry with Kids

Poetry books on the breakfast table

Yes, another stack of books. This time poetry books for younger readers. One thing that's partly true with homeschooling is that you tend to share your own interests with your children, as all parents do. As a poet myself, I have always enjoyed sharing poetry with my children. Poetry and verse are also popular in Waldorf styled early years education which was a strong influence on us when we were starting out as homeschoolers. 

Books like Elsa Beskow's Around the Year are wonderful if you're looking to bring a seasonal, rhythm to your life. There is a poem for each month as well as the classics The Hours and The Days of the Week and the illustrations reproduce Beskow's magical world of elves and fairies, summer and winter characters as well as some beautifully simple domestic scenes.
 
Another beautiful collection of rhymes for catching the seasons is Shirley Hughes' Out and About through the Year. In Hughes simple, evocative style, the poems not only have a childlike voice but they really capture the life of small children and their carers. The experiences these poems talk of were really easy for my children to relate to. Another of her books, The Nursery Collection* is also a great favourite of ours and we often gift it to small children we know. Again I absolutely love how close Hughes gets to what life with small kids is really like and when reading her books and poems, not only do the children recognise themselves, I also recognise the life we're living together and feel reassured. 

The great Shirley Hughes

As well as poems which tell the story of their daily life, my children also enjoy the classic rhymes of Mother Goose. Richard Scarry's version is illustrated in his style and has been a firm favourite here ever since it was first gifted to my oldest daughter. 

An absolute classic

A bit of silliness is also very popular and writers such as Michael Rosen and Quentin Blake have been happy to provide it. Bananas in my Ears is a favoured collection as well as Mr Magnolia. Hearing our children shout 'I can't hear you, I've got bananas in my ears' over breakfast has led to a lot of hilarity, and the recording I have of my husband and son reading Mr Magnolia together is very precious, who would have thought there were so many words that rhymed with boot! Reading this kind of rhyme has also led to a lot of great language play among the children with whole meals passing in rhyming play often with words like poo and trump but it's all good stuff if it gets them playing with words in my opinion. 

Great fun!

Of course as someone whose passionate about poetry I didn't stop there. We were lucky to be gifted a beautiful treasury of poetry by a very dear friend when our daughter was young. With it's liberal use of gold and beautiful illustrations it has been much thumbed and is so popular that I couldn't put my hands on it when I sat down to write this post so no photo and I'm afraid no reference as I can't remember the details off the top of my head. Another beautiful anthology that I would highly recommend is the Barefoot Book of Classic Poems. It's a beautiful book and I'm so glad we bought it. We went secondhand as new it was quite expensive at the time. It's a beautifully illustrated collection and feels like one of those really special books we all remember from childhood.

The richly illustrated Barefoot Books Collection

One of my favourites Blake's The Tiger

Since then we continue to add to our poetry collection as and when we see things we like. Emily Dickinson, Gillian Clarke, the list is growing. There is so much great poetry out there to share with children and in doing so I really believe we are sharing something with our children that has the potential to nourish them their whole lives. As Carol Ann Duffy says in her introduction to the Barefoot Collection, "the best of poetry is memorable". It "offers us moments in language which preserve or celebrate, explore or elegise, transform or enhance our human joys and sadnesses". And it stays with us long after we read it, returning to us like an echo or a touchstone throughout our lives.

Beautiful illustrations and rich language make for a gripping read

If you have any poetry books you've really enjoyed with your children please leave details in the comments, I'd love to get some new recommendations.


* This books as well as Out and About is not always easy to find though you can usually get your hands on a second hand copy either through amazon or Abe books. Alternatively ten books were published which together reproduce the sections of this book, you can also find them if you search for Shirley Huges The Nursery Collection. Or why not try the library.
 

Five things - Stacks of Books

Our house is full of books.

There are piles of them everywhere; on bookcases and coffee tables, beside our beds and under them, on our desks and on the floor. We love books and I love having a home surrounded by them. They offer us a world of infinite possibility. We can immerse ourselves in worlds full of wizards (Harry Potter of course and Earthsea), the life and times of Shakespeare (1599) or that of a Roman Gladiator (Horrible Histories, You wouldn't want to be a Roman Gladiator).

We can laugh ourselves silly at the strange things we all might wish for and later regret (Five Children and It) or the antics of animals (James Herriot - makes for a brilliant audiobook). We can be brought to tears over Welsh Sheep (Gillian Clarke's collected works) or feel like jetting to New York and walking her streets (Frank O'Hara's) or be reduced to giggles reading about a strange case of hysteria (Carol Ann Duffy's). A good book is a marvellous thing that takes us on a journey and fills us with delight.
 

Back to the stacks, there are now so many of them that we have big plans for new book housing this year. Once we've finished decorating... hum let's hope we manage to get through that quicker than last the time, at least before more of these wonderful friends find there way here.