Muffin Tin Breakfast

This is the first time I have done a Muffin Tin for breakfast, Ebi-kun asked for a muffin Tin Dinner when A-kun stayed over, for an easy life I just wanted to make one meal for dinner so instead I surprised them with breakfast.

Top From L-R Yoghurt with a few sprinkles, toast, golden kiwi

Bottom L-R More kiwi, boiled egg in the shape of a car, cheerios

and it was washed down with a glass of milk

The weather is awfully muggy at the moment, hot and humid most days, today is a bit better because it is cooler but it is raining, I really can't be doing with it, makes me sleepy and grumpy to boot. It is next to impossible to do the laundry and everything goes mouldy, blah, grumble, grumble..... made a new header to cheer me up, hope you like it :o)

A Sleepover...

At the weekend Ebi-kuns friend A-kun came for a sleep over. A-kun's dad is the football coach so when the boys had finished at football hubby bought them both back, they were filthy (as expected) so we sent them straight to the bath, they spent ages in the bathroom scrubbing each other clean and giggling. When  they got out we left them to do what they wanted so they played lots of games, Operation was a big hit, I think it was the first time A-kun had played.

 For dinner I decided to go with the football theme and made a South African meal, so we had Bobotie and Yellow Rice, both were a big hit although I skipped the curry powder since I don't like curry and the rice was very easy because I just threw everything into the rice cooker. I also made Telephone Pudding which was nice but everyone agreed that it was too sweet.

 After dinner and once it had gone dark the boys played outside with some light sticks, it didn't last long because it started to rain. We put the inflatable camp mattress in Ebi-kuns room and they both slept in there and were both sparked out by 9pm.

 At 5.20am I could here the pitter patter of feet, they were trying to be quiet, I could here them playing Uno downstairs and then heard them come back up, they were amusing themselves so I left them to it. When I got up at 7am, I went to see what they were up to and opened the door to this....

 It certainly made me smile, for some reason the name Mozambique was cracking them up. After breakfast they started cutting and gluing, they spent about an hour and a half doing this, it was great to see them working side by side. There was one argument when they were playing the football game but they sorted it out themselves, it was amusing listening to them though.

 Once they cleaned up I made some paint (cornstarch, food colour and water) and they went out and painted the road, I am sure our neighbours must love us :o). A-kuns parents arrived around lunch time and we had a BBQ the boys played and we kicked back and relaxed a bit. Turned out to be a lovely weekend.

Question Time...

I have had a few emails recently, some asking the same questions so I thought I would post the answers here since it maybe of use to others. Please bear in mind that I am no super-mom and Ebi-kun is just a regular kid and I bet he can out tantrum a lot of kids out there lol. What works for our family may not work for another and please don't compare your child with Ebi-kun, each child develops at a different rate and just because Ebi-kun could do XYZ by the time he was 3 doesn't mean that another child should be able to do the same, instead do as Maria Montessori said and follow the child.....


When your son was home all day, did you have a particular Montessori time?
We had a rough schedule but it was flexible so if I needed to go to town or we had a play date I would switch things around. Generally, three times a week we would do a 2.5-3 hour work cycle, usually in the morning and that would include snack time.We haven't had much in the way of PL on the shelf for a while but he does plenty of that around the house, it is his job to fold and put away his laundry and to fold and put away the napkins, he helps with the cleaning, puts away the dishes and often lays the table without me asking.
Now he is at yochien we just do a bit here and there, he has Wednesday afternoon off so he will often choose to work for a couple of hours then or he will decide to do crafts and painting instead.


Did you limit other activities?
Well, we watch very little TV, Ebi-kun used to have the TV on in the morning for about an hour whilst I had chance to sort out my orders and catch up with emails but really that is the only restricted thing we have in the house. Since he started yochien he hardly ever watches and rarely asks to (although he has been asking to watch the footie since the world cup started!) We do have a wii but he plays on it maybe twice a week and only does his 30 minutes each time. I quite like it when it is a rainy day, it means he can burn off some off some of that energy without driving me insane.


Were Montessori works available all the time?
Yes, he can go and work with anything except work that I haven't presented to him yet. Everything is open to use at anytime including his art shelf, he knows now, not to ask to paint if I am busy with something else, cooking for example but apart from that he can take out what he wants whenever he likes.


Do you have toys like blocks, play kitchen, dress up, dollhouse (understandably less likely with a boy), trucks, etc?
Yes, of course, he has some core toys such as a wooden train set, building blocks, Lego, a box full of cars, a dressing up box, cooking food and kitchen equipment and a wooden marble run. He will usually ask to bring one of them downstairs - our house is open plan so the whole of downstairs is one room and basically a family area so he like to play down there.
From when he was little I would only put out 3 toys at a time, this helps build focus and although at the time I thought it was a bit mean, now I really think it was a good idea. All his toys have their own box and he can get out all of them at once but he knows that everything has to go back where it belongs.


Are they off-limits at any time?
Nope, if he knows how to use it he can get on and do it.


Do you think your separate Montessori room is necessary for focus, or could you have success with shelves in the main living area?
I have moved work to the living space in the past and noticed that Ebi-kun suddenly found an interest in the various work again. In the living area we have his desk and chair, his art shelf is in the corner of the kitchen area and he has a book shelf next to his desk. The wooden blocks and football game are kept under the TV and he has a draw with board/card games. All his other toys and books are kept in his bedroom but he can bring anything down if he wants to play downstairs, we do have a rule that he can get what he likes out but it all has to be put away by bedtime. Sometimes he will decide to bring work downstairs, I found that using a work apron helped get into the right mind-set, so he would put on his apron and then he would know it was Montessori work time. Because we don't do the 3 hours blocks of time anymore we haven't been doing that recently.


Do you have any hints for getting a child to choose work?
I would say, 'follow the child' if the child isn't interested then there is no point in forcing her/him. I have put equipment out and Ebi-kun has shown no interest, sometimes he will think it is boring until I have done the presentation with him, sometimes I do the presentation and he will just put it back on the shelf straight after but then get it out a few weeks later. I pay close attention to what Ebi-kundino counting activities etc. Put out books on the subjects that he is showing an interest in, that sort of stuff.


My child isn't interested in any of the work on the shelf, what should I do?
Well, I am no expert but my suggestion would be to give shelf work a break for a couple of weeks, go and do some art, work in the garden, do PL but in the house (not off the shelf) get her/him doing sensory work in the kitchen 'accidently' tip out the toothpicks and ask the child to help put them away, put peppercorns in the pepper grinder, help peg out the laundry (make a small laundry line at child height) kids generally love helping out around the house. While this is going on, when the child is in bed go and mix up the shelves a bit, add some new work, make sure there is not too much choice. Imagine when you go to a cafe and there is a list of 30 cakes to choose from, it takes forever to decide which one and then when you do, you spend the rest of the time wondering if you should have picked something else. What would happen if there were just three cakes on the menu? If the amount of work is limited on the shelf it makes deciding and sticking to the decision so much easier.
I don't know if it would work for your child, but that is what I would do.


I really want to do it but I am getting overwhelmed and lost with the amount of info and blogs.
I totally understand, sometimes it is really difficult to find time to wade through it all, especially if you have a lot of other things on you plate. Some people recommend using a type of curriculum so you know what to put out and what to prepare next, all very good and well if your child fits that curriculum but not all of them do. When Ebi-kun is working on his materials I focus totally on Montessori, no phone, computer or any other distraction. I take notes of what he is interested in, how he is doing with a particular piece if work, whether he will be ready to move onto the next stage yet and things he is completely ignoring, that kind of thing. While it is fresh in my mind I write down what I need to prepare for next or get my albums out to see what I need to be doing. Then I try not to loose the piece of paper so that I can get it all organised. I also do a lot of cutting out of cards when he is working, often he will show an interest in what I am doing and want to try something before I even have it finished.
I often get distracted when I see things on blogs, learning to use google reader properly is a godsend. Now I star and tag anything I like the look of so I can go back and find it when the time arises. I have several posts on space that I have tagged so that when Ebi-kun shows an interest in that, I can pull up those blogs and decide what to do. When it comes to making materials, I am sure I am like most people out there, constantly juggling seven things at once, I try now to decide one thing that I am going to prepare and will do it over the course of a few days and I don't start anything else until that one if finished - well that is what I try to do, doesn't always work like that.


I do have a hard time deciding when to take something off the shelf and when to introduce something new, much of it is guesswork and luck, my basic rule is to keep a couple of mindless easy pieces of work (for him to do when he needs a mental break), something new and challenging, something with a focus of interest - at the moment we have several frog themed pieces and Africa plus the core materials and extensions for them. We have limited space so I just can't put everything out.


Well, I hope that helps......

Yochien Observation Day

Friday we went to Ebi-kuns yochien for observation. We were a bit late because we couldn't find anywhere to park so we missed the exercises. When we got there the kids were doing some gluing and sticking. I walked into the class one of the girls shouted at the top 'Ebi-kun no mama' and started waving like crazy, hmmm.
They were asked to pick 3 colours to work with, it was interesting to see the different combinations the children picked. We left the kids sticking and went to another classroom where we had to make a load of paper flowers and discuss various things that the parents get roped into, next week end is the summer matsuri, I assume that is what the paper flowers were for.

When we had finished flower making the kids were getting ready for lunch, half the class went with sensei to collect the food, plates, trays and drinks the others were waiting outside the classroom, I got called over by another girl who wanted to shake my hand and of course once she had all the others wanted a go! I did feel like I should have received a posy of flowers and several curtsies by the end of the row! 

The kids had already put their bento box, chopsticks, cups and napkins of the table then waited to collect their tray with the food.

 Once everyone was served they sang a little song before tucking in.

I was curious to see what would happen with the pickie eaters, Ebi-kun is far from picky and will try anything (this is the kids who used to ask daily for garlic powered on his hand to dip his finger in and suck!) They had beans meat and veg and melon and the children take rice or bread from home and they drink mugi-cha (barley tea). All the kids polished off everything, I know at some yochiens they stamp the kids hands if they finish everything but non of that goes on at this one and since they all ate it I don't really know what happens to those who pull their face.

 Then the kids took their plates and cups and washed and dried them. Trays were replaced and bento boxes etc put away. Then they brush their teeth and do a toilet run. All very organised and independent.

After lunch we left, so we round the corner to a cafe then got back home in time for the bus to bring Ebi-kun home.

Africa II - books

He are a few books that we have been reading recently, in keeping with the Africa theme.
Africa is not a country Each page is dedicated to a different country in Africa and describes a typical day for the children who live there. It shows a the great range of diversity and touches on areas such as religion, diet, school and the kind of home people live in. As you work through the book it is as if you are working through the day as it starts with early morning chores and rituals for the kids at the beginning of the book and ends up with the evening meals and bedtime habits. It is a great book to use as a starting point for a country you want to study. When Ebi-kun got the village scene out, he looked through the book to find a picture like it and we decided it could be a village in Sudan.

Mama Panya's Pancakes, this is a cute story about a boy and him mother (who doesn't have much money) and their trip to the market, on the way the  boy keeps inviting everyone they bump into back to their place in the evening to have pancakes but poor mother is panicking because she hasn't enough money to buy food to feed them all. Turns out that everyone brings something along and they end up having a feast and a great party.

We all went on Safari, this is a counting book set in Tanzania, Ebi-kun enjoys this book because he gets to count in Swahili as well and English (he usually throws Japanese in too for good measure), we have read this book a thousand times, I am pretty sure I could read it to you right now, no need for the actually book, it's all here, in my head, and I think it will good when we get round to doing animals of Africa.

And last but certainly not least, Ebi-kuns new favourite book Goal, this a perfect tie-in with the world cup. Set in South Africa it is about a boy in the townships who has won a federation football for his good reading at school. The trouble is, there are bullies about who would love to get their hands on it. Him and his friends play on the street, they encounter the bullies....  It is a lovely story, inspiring and uplifting and well written, the parts where the boys are actually playing are written like a football commentator is writing it. Of course, Ebi-kun loves it and it also opened the opportunity to talk about bullies and life in a township.

Do you have any favourite books about Africa? If so, please share.
We are off for yochien observation day today, hubby took the day off today I suspect that is was as much to get away with getting up at 3am to watch the Japan game as it is to watch his son at yochien, he is currently crashed out on the sofa, snoring.... not for long.....

Africa I

With the world cup being on and you know how much my boy loves his footie, I thought it would be the perfect time to introduce Africa. Here are a few things we have done so far...

I cut out pieces of coloured card so that when they are layered they make the flag of South Africa, he got

out his flag book to compare the flags.

 working on the Africa puzzle map

 Now, a while ago I organised a couple of continent swaps and we got some great goodies back, (thanks you) this is one of the activities, there is an African village scene and then cut out of different people doing different jobs, it turned out to be a great conversation starter. He would ask me what the people were doing and why, one conversation went like this:
E-K: what is she doing?
Me: pounding grain to make flour
E-K: what about this woman?
Me: what do you think?
E-K: maybe making bread.
Me: yes, looks like it
E-K and him?
Me: putting the bread in the oven
E-K: why don't they use a bread machine like ours, it is much easier.
Me: good question, do you know how the bread machine works?
E-K: yes, you press the buttons
Me: so what makes it get hot to bake the bread
E-K: the buttons (looking at me as if I am daft)
Me: do you know what kind of energy the bread machine uses?
E-K: (big sigh, blimey my mom is slow) you put the flour and other things inside the machine and then press the BUTTONS and the BUTTONS make it hot and cook the bread and then it beeps when it is ready.
The conversation went on for quite a while and we talked about electricity and water supplies, all rather amusing.

He has also been using the 3 part flag cards, kids always seem to love maps, I know I did when I was a kid, maybe it the bright colours and simple designs that draws them to flags.

Did you know?

I was featured on Ohdeedoh (the children's branch of Apartment Therapy) today,

pop over and take a look :o) and also on new-to-me Craft Crave. Whoo-hoo.

And if you have clicked over from Ohdeedoh or CraftCrave -

welcome, stay a while and take a look around.

Just typical...

After we sorted out the room a couple of weeks ago I moved the red rods to the back of the puzzle maps due to Ebi-kuns lack of interest in them, and of course, what does he ask to use.... yep, the red rods!

He started with grading them and the made the maze

Then he started doing some of the extensions, it took him a while to figure this one out.

Then he made the zig-zag.

and then he got out the knobless cylinders, this was a major piece of work, and several times he knocked them over, it certainly was a lesson in patience.

and he was very happy when he managed to get the last piece on without it all falling down

Rainbow MTD

Not nearly as fancy as last weeks bonanza

a rainbow theme this week

RED

bacon and mini tomatoes

ORANGE

cheddar cheese and carrots

YELLOW

corn

GREEN

asparagus and okra (ladies fingers)

BLUE

crunch chocolate (OK I came up blank for that one !)

INDIGO

grilled aubergine

VIOLET

yoghurt with blueberries

and it all disappeared, he did ask if he could eat it out of order 

because he wanted to eat the chocolate last.

Want to see what everyone else made, click over here.

Looking for super cute picks? They are over here.

A good question....

Last time we took a trip on the train we saw a poster, I should have taken a picture but I forgot. Anyway, Ebi-kun asked me what the poster was for so I said that it was to tell salarymen not to touch girls bums. It was an anti-groping campaign poster)
Ebi-kun looked at me and with complete disgust said 'but why would you want to'?
I couldn't help but crack up, later in the day he asked my mom, Papie and daddy-ebi why anyone would want to touch a girls bum, he is still disgusted and can't understand why we all think it is so funny.

I look forward to having this conversation in another 10 years or so :o)

SALE - space cadets kits now half price!

Yes, you read that correctly, I am re-organising stock so to clear a bit of space I am offering the space cadet kits at half price, whilst stock lasts. They are easy to make, just sew round the edge, turn and stuff. Perfect for little boys, everyone needs something to cuddle, right?

Have a read about what my tester Mee a Bee had to say about it (she sells gorgeous kids bags too)

So, all you have to do, is decide on the colour! Available for SALE at my Etsy store now!

Studying Africa?

With the world cup fever on at the moment it is the perfect opportunity to introduce the continent of Africa. I have been busy making 3 part flag cards and flags for the continent puzzle maps, if you want to make some too, I have done the hard work for you, they are available here.

gifts from yochien...

It seems like every week Ebi-kun comes home with something he has made at yochien, I never know what I will find in his bag next.

This is his wood sculpture after they went to work in the wood work room, from what I gather the aim was to bang nails into chunks of wood. 

 and this was for boys day, it's a koi fish flag

 and this....is a clock, apparently, the yochien asks that the children take in boxes, tubs etc. which is great becuase it empties out recycling box but then it comes back 3 fold and all taped together :o)

 The other thing that has been coming home are little letters 

that are passed between his friends, so cute!

I also discovered that he planted rice a couple of weeks ago and he often brings a cucumber or other vegetable from the garden, he doesn't tell me things when he comes home, it often comes out a couple of weeks later.

Mozzarella round two...

We often have pizza at the weekend, it is easy to throw together and during the week we don't get to eat dinner together as a family, pizza is a good relaxed meal. I make two and try a different topping on each. So, yesterday I tried to make mozzarella again and it worked! probably because I got the quantities right this time, it was super easy and will be making it again, if you are interested in starting cheese making, I recommend the Urban Cheese Craft kits.

so here is totally home made pizza, with the roasted tomato base from the Montessori school, fresh mozzarella and mini tomatoes from the farmers market. Oh, sooo good. 

Of zarigani and tadpoles.....

Yesterday we decided to have a quiet day together instead of rushing around like we have been doing the last few weekends. Now the rainy season is upon us it is time to go on a search for zarigani (which I think are fresh water crayfish in English). So, how does one catch a zarigani? First you need good hunting ground, so we went down to the lotus flower farm, it is the first time we have been, but we were welcomed by the staff and shown where to go to catch the wee beasties. What you need is a piece of string, some dried squid (found with the other beer snacks in the conbini), a net and a box. Tie your squid to the string then throw it in the water, wait until you feel a tug then gentle lift the string out and hopefully the zarigani will be hanging on.

 This is daddy-zani, he was the biggest one that we caught and he wasn't going to let go of that squid without a fight. 

 Then we tried to catch some tadpoles, the boys were rubbish at it

but I managed to catch one and he is a biggie too.

 Once we had caught about 10 zarigani we had a walk around the farm, it is a bit early for the lotus flowers and you need to be there at the crack of dawn to see them when they are open. Maybe we will pop down there again early one morning.

The farm don't really want the tadpoles and zarigani because they eat the plants so they welcome you to take them away, we also found this little chap.

 When we got home we had to decide what to do with them all, it took a lot of squealing and jumping before Ebi-kun managed to pick one up but he was determined.

We put some in a big tank and Ebi-kun decided he wanted to study them and went to get his sketch pad, a rather lovely sketch pad which were received all the way from Luxembourg when I did a swap with Katy. Ebi-kun has decided that this is his nature sketch book. He is funny when he concentrates, he sticks his tongue out of the side of his mouth and we are not allowed to talk because it distracts him!

 Here is the zarigani he drew, all the legs present and correct!

We had 10 zarigani, 2 tadpoles, 1 shellfish and a small fish.

We decided to keep daddy-zari, the tadpoles and fish, 4 smaller zarigani went into Ebi-kuns yochien bug box and he has taken them to yochien today then the ones that were left we took down to the park and released. I was expecting the fish to be belly up this morning since it managed to jump out of the bowl three times before we managed to get the big tank set up.

A tour of the Montessori room

I thought it was about time I did an update on this, plus I have nice new curtains that I want to show off!

Our Montessori room is also the guest room and it is supposed to be my craft room too but not much crafting actually goes on in there, maybe when I manage to get my sewing machine set up that will change. When we designed the house we had sliding doors put in between the guest room and Ebi-kuns bedroom so that it opens up into one big room, I love this set up, it makes it feel bigger and much more airy.  So, this is the view when I am standing in Ebi-kuns room.

I decided to move the shelves around a bit, this corner has the globes, the Montessori continents, land and water and a regular globe and I keep an atlas with them too. On the little shelves are the knob less cylinders and pattern extension cards and the bottom has the number rods.

The next two shelves are actually CD shelves so they are not really deep enough for some of the work. In a classroom I think it is important to keep the various sections of work together, language on one shelf, math on another but lack of space means that we have to just do with what we have but where possible I try and keep the equipment together. I have the bead material to go out but I haven't figured out how to display it all yet. On the top of these two shelves are the metal insets, then from the top left going down, some of the bead chains, decimal tray, addition tray, snake game and top right the stamp game, wooden numbers, trinominal cube, 100 squares, 1000 cubes and the geometric solids and 3 part cards in the box at the bottom. Between the two shelves are the brown/broad stair and the pink tower.

 More metal insets on the top, top left origami paper for the metal insets and a nature basket with magnifying glass to study with, herbs and spices smelling bottles and cards, colour tablets box 3, parts of speech word cards for the farm and they are sat on the grammar symbols box, the box with the checkered lid is the farm (I will do another post on that), words and objects box for making sentences with and the bottom is the movable alphabet. Then the right.. slides for the microscope, model of a heart, model and 3 part cards for the internal organs, tap and make - hammer and coloured shapes of wood that you hammer to a cork board, frog activities, 3 part cards, life cycle, books and a game and bottom shelf is the clock and cards for telling time. To the right is the board for the metal insets and the animal and botany puzzles plus the mats.

 Then under the desk we have the continent puzzle maps, we don't have a rack for them so I just put out the map we are working on at the time, behind the maps is the microscope that my brother gave Ebi-kun and the red rods (he rarely uses the red rods but if he decides he wants them we can get them out easily) then knobbled cylinder blocks. These little draws are great, they have shelves on one side then pockets to put documents of books and more shelf space and draws on the third side plus they are on wheels so I can just turn them round when we have guests. Anyway, the one on the left has the continent folder, inside that are pictures, quizzes, work sheets and various other activities. The next shelf down has info cards, CDs and small objects from Africa and the bottom shelf has the continent cards and picture cards. I will add the flags for Africa one I have printed them out.

The other shelf has the self portrait work, below that the golf tee and marble activity - still a favourite and the nuts and bolts matching. I like to keep a couple of easy activities out, I find that after he has done some hard work he will pick something easy to wind down with before picking something more challenging again. The box shelves on the desk are actually book shelves but have a door on them which is perfect for displaying artwork and books of the moment. 

And that is about it! I think the hardest part about Montessori is trying to decide what needs to be out and what can be put away, I put the sandpaper letters and sound pouches away for the first time this week. I also feel that if you are new to Montessori and you see the list of equipment, it is enough to make you want to run to the hills. If you are starting out with a toddler then plenty of practical life and sensory work is what you need and in the mean time you can start putting together some of the other equipment. Now I know someone is bound to ask.... the materials I didn't make I bought at IFIT Montessori mainly because they had the cheapest shipping options, most of the equipment has been OK, some of the paint has chipped on the wooden materials and the paint is flaking on the metal insets, I suppose you get what you pay for!

a little shop update....

I have just put some more picks in the shop, 

I only have 5 packs, so if you want some, go get 'em!

ohhh so good pizza with organic roasted tomato sauce

I made some delicious sauce from the organic tomatoes from the Montessori farm, it was easy too and ohh so delicious. I poured olive oil into a couple of baking pans then roughly chopped the tomatoes into halves or quarters and chucked them in the pan. Add a whole bulb of garlic and a few springs of rosemary and drizzled with more olive oil. Popped it in a hot oven for about 40 mins until the tomatoes was nice and roasted. Then I squeezed the garlic out of the skin and added it to the tomatoes, whizzed the whole lot up in the processor and that was it. Sunday evening I made pizza dough (well through everything in the bread maker and let that do the work), I also made the cheese, it was supposed to be mozzarella BUT I halved the milk because my saucepan isn't very big but the forgot to halve the other ingredients - yes, it was an agghhhh moment. Didn't matter, the cheese was edible, crumbly and tasted like feta.

I used some more of the sauce to make ratatouille and the rest has got into the freezer ;o)

Now I am off to do some sewing on my lovely clean nicely serviced sewing machine....

The Montessori Farm

When I set up The Montessori Goldmine, I stumbled across a new to me blog Montessori Genzaemon, I was surprised and happy to discover that it is in Saitama, so I sent Yasuyo and email and passed the link to a couple of my friends who kids go to a small Montessori school. Yasuyo is planning to open a kindy next April and so at the moment she is doing weekend classes which involve the parent too, which is a great idea because the parents get to learn about Montessori and get to understand about how the equipment is used and why. So, Saturday Ebi-kun and I met up with Megumi and Elena's families and went to have a look round.

This is the organic vegetable garden, the children get to garden, pull up veggies and catch bugs

 Ebi-kun looking for bugs...

 Then we went over to the Montessori house, a couple of minutes walk 

from the farm and the kids all got  some work out.

 It was lovely to see the kids settle and get engrossed in their work 

(when we left the room they started running about!)

 The house has the front room and kitchen set up for the Montessori class and another large tatami room which is used for Jr high and High school students that can come and study in the evening. When I was talking to ebi-kun on the way home, he sounded really surprised about the fact that there was equipment like our in the house, I think, he thought we were the only ones with it!

After we had visited the house we went to the tomato house, which is pretty big.

And we were shown how they grow the tomatoes, each tomato plant grows from the table, one tree per table, the roots are submerged in roots in water, nitrogen, calcuim phosphate-nutrients necessary for the plant, this is known as the Hyponica Method and they harvest about 10,000 tomatoes from one tree per year! Amazing.

We got to try the tomatoes, they were delicious, juicy and sweet 

 So, before we left I bought 2 kilo's to take home. We went for lunch with Megumi's family, it was a really hot day and Ebi-kun was feeling under the weather so we turned down the offer to play and just went back home after lunch. I really enjoyed meeting Yasuyo and seeing round the farm, I would have loved to have set up a place like this. Her plan is to have the kids working outside for a couple of hours each day and then they help prepare their lunch and then in the afternoon they go to the Montessori house to work there, it is a shame that it is quite a trek for us to get there!