Shapes, colours and counting

These shapes have been out for a while now so I decided it was time for them to be packed away. But I always like to make sure we have all of the pieces. So I asked Ruth if she could sort all the pieces into the different shapes and colours and make sure there are 4 of each. She then decided to even pack the colours on top of each other in the container. Her counting is really good although she sometimes says the colour wrong. If she gets the colour wrong I will just have to ask "what colour is it" and then she will think a bit and get it right. It was also nice to spend time talking about the different shapes.

First extensions

All the twists are out and it was so nice to see the hair (especially on the back) had no knots. I would normally start with the front and realized that it's a much better idea to start at the back as it does seem to be a more sensitive area for her. So while she is fresh and it's early we get the worst done.
She was a star and sat so well. Natu was very impressed.
Once the braid was started Rachel or I held the braid so that it would not pull on her head.

Almost done.

Natu was born in Australia, lived in Ghana for the last 7 years of schooling and then came to New Zealand for university. So she has citizenship in all three countries. Her husband is in Germany for the next 6 months.

Natu put the braids into pony tails so that it was out of her way for lunch. Ruth really loves her long hair. Often extensions are just slightly longer than your own hair, but we let them have a bit extra length so that we can tie them up nicely.

It's fun for her to be able to do different things with it. We were glad we could still get it all into her swimming cap this afternoon (just to keep the chlorine off it).

I have a few gold and silver beads that I will add to some of the braids too.

Our little African Princess.

Showing Dad

Ruth getting her head under to show Dad in the afternoon. Well done Ruth!

Swim Week day 5

Ruth looked so cute in her new costume. Thanks Phillips's for all those clothes.

One of the items that gets marked on their certificate is that they can safely get into the pool on their own.
Ring-a-ring-a-roses today and Ruth got her eyes under. Well done Ruth.
She got her eyes under to for the hoop. Good job.

Look at that. What a clever girl.

Not quite swimming on her own with the board yet. Some of the others have managed today. But she is quite a bit smaller than them and has done really well.

Floating so nicely.

Ruth has benefited so much from this week. I can't wait to see how much she will learn next year.

Swim Week day 4

Today the hoop came into the pool to try and encourage them to go under the water. She actually lifts it over their heads - but at least most of them did blow their bubbles.
Practicing to put those eyes in the water. Well done Ruth.

Blowing bubbles so well. She even got her eyes down a bit later too.

Floating on her back all by herself. She is doing so very well.

Swim Week day 3

Ruth is getting her shoulders in now with Ring-a-ring-a-roses.
Learning to kick holding onto the side but more importantly blowing bubbles.
Learning to float on her back with a board.

Swim Week day 2

They did a lot of the same things as yesterday but today they started using the boards.
And Ruth did a great job of blowing her bubbles.

Swim Week day 1

Swim week started this week and thankfully I had a cap to keep Ruth's hair dry. It's not the water as much as the chlorine that we want to keep off it. But she looked so very cute with the cap on.
Walking across the pool getting used to the water flowing past their legs.

Ring-a-ring-a-roses. "All fall down" today was just to get them to bend their legs and get their shoulders into the water.

Pretending to be an elephant and throwing water over their shoulders. Just getting them a little wet and used to the water.

Blowing balls across the pool. Helping the children to get lower. You can see that it is often more difficult for the older children as they are taller and have to bend their legs more to get down.

Now let's see who can blow bubbles. Well done Ruth.