Starting My Final Term

[smallhobbit]

We've been back for a few weeks, but I haven't yet posted for various reasons.  Our first week back was the parents' evening for pack holiday, so Peacock and I took the Brownies on a litter pick, since we are only going for the day, rather than staying over.  That went reasonably well, until we came to play games once we were back at our meeting place.  Then there were a lot of arguments over it not being fair, and how they couldn't be out, etc, with the games disintegrating, which wasn't fun.

I was away the following week, but I gather it didn't go well and it seemed like their behaviour had reverted to what we'd been combatting before.  All of which serves to prove it's time for me to finish.  Last week they continued with pack holiday preparation, learning how to lay a table etc (done as a game), but it was still a struggle.

I was leading this week, and wasn't sure how it would go.  We were learning some basic ballet steps - which I remember (more or less) from when I was their age.  To my surprise they were prepared to pay attention and join in.  Some go to ballet classes anyway, and were happy to show what to do, others, who had no idea, really concentrated and we managed to learn the five basic positions.  Then I taught them some moves from the Matthew Bourne version of Swan Lake, so being swans, and after that they got to portray their own choice of animals.  Interestingly, two groups decided to demonstrate the pyramid of life, with the stronger animals killing/eating the weaker ones.  We finished by playing games, which worked better than the previous week.

Comments

[cuddyclothes]

So, are you going to finish for real? When?

[smallhobbit]

Yes, I finish in the middle of July, which will be the end of our year.

[stonepicnicking_okapi]

Interestingly, two groups decided to demonstrate the pyramid of life, with the stronger animals killing/eating the weaker ones.

Very Darwinian, your Brownies! Nice to get an update :)

[smallhobbit]

Definitely. And every group portrayed aggressors, even the one which showed a flamingo successfully protecting a chicken from an eagle.

[rusty_armour]

I'm sorry that there's still been some issues with the Brownies' behaviour, though it sounds like things went really well in the last meeting with the ballet steps exercise. I wonder if it's activities involving competition that brings out their worst behaviour. With an activity involving ballet steps and the pyramid of life, they're working together. In any case, I hope there will be some improvement in the girls' behaviour. It would be nice if you could see that before you leave.

[smallhobbit]

It may be competition which brings out the worst, but I also think enough of them were keen on doing ballet that the ones who mess around didn't have an audience, which helped.

[sister_raphael]

The ballet portion sounds like it was quite successful, so that's great! That must have been a bit of a relief for you.

[smallhobbit]

Yes, I was very pleased how well it worked - and relieved :)