leading up to co-op on April 15

On Wednesday April 13, after school, Fina spent a good chunk of time outside. We had our lunch at the park and various moms and kids showed up for some play time throughout the day.

I read "Bushy Bride" from The Red Fairy Book as we were waiting for people to meet us.

Her friends K, T and S and their moms came out in the afternoon and the kids played barefoot in the muddy frog pond. They had a great time! Fina stayed out til 8:30 that evening, coming in only for a quick supper.

On Thursday, Fina and I went to dad's school for the moms group. She also spent the afternoon painting a bunch of paintings in the art area there. (She painted alone for over an hour, while I went to some wonderful student presentations.)  She played outside for a few hours in the evening.

Here she is with her painting that they hung up outside of dad's office. It has been quite a hit.

On Friday, we had such a wonderful co-op. This was our 6th meeting.

We learned "O Canada" in French. I have NEVER heard Fina participate in song so loudly ever in her life. Not at co-op, not at home during our school work, not even singing at church. It was wonderful!

The children recited various passages they have memorized. Fina recited Orsino's passage from Twelfth Night, "If music be the food of love, play on." as well as "Corner of the Street" from A.A. Milne's When We Were Very Young.  We had them stand up to recite. Fina said that there was a lot of "elo, elo, elo, elo, elo. What was that word that E taught us last time? Elocution!"  So funny!

EF led us in a wonderful nature study about robins and their eggs and nests.

Fina really enjoyed seeing the real nest!

We looked at this self-portrait by Rembrandt.

Fina said that he was holding a sceptre and looked very "dignified." The children had a lively discussion about the portrait.

Our handicraft was a continuation of stitching from last time. They also worked on making little tiny satchels.

It rained all afternoon. We had our lunch under the picnic shelter and then the kids ran around in the rain while we moms got to have such a wonderful time chatting and getting to know each other better. Some boots came off (Fina voluntarily took hers off in solidarity with little E who had gotten her winter boots stuck in the frog pond and was forced to go barefoot. That is not a stretch for Fina. )
There was a lot of running around and playing. Free play in the rain - at its finest! What a marvellous day!