Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Wow, we had a productive day today! We are getting ready for a yard sale and I want to get the house organized so things that we don't want anymore can go to the sale. We cleaned the office yesterday which is where we keep lots of schooly things like art supplies, workbooks, notebooks, etc. The unearthing of materials that have long been abandoned was so great! The kids both found things they liked and had wanted to do but grew tired of or frustrated with before.

Kya found the Junie B. Jones folder I pulled together for her using printables from the website. She had so much fun and even dug out some of her books to re-read and found one that she hadn't read yet. The best moment was when she had to find a walkman in the hidden picture and I had to explain that a walkman is an "old fashioned" mp3 player that played cassettes- kind of like mini VCR tapes (my mom still has a VCR otherwise I don't know how I would've explained THAT, lol).

Jace found a math workbook that I picked up a while back. He had enjoyed another version of it so I thought I'd give it a try but when I brought it home he wasn't all that interested- mostly because he's 10 and they didn't have the 5th grade book but I know his capabilities so I just went ahead and picked up the 6th grade edition. He spent enough time in public school that the grade level intimidated him and he didn't want to try. We laid it aside and I figured I try to find the 5th grade book and just save this one for later. But when we found the book yesterday he was willing to give it a try and while it is more challenging to him than he's accustomed to it is also more fun because of the challenge. I love seeing how he works through the problems with no preconceived notions about formulas or how things "should" be done and figures it out for himself. Kya abandoned her workbook as well but now that she how much fun Jace is having with his she wants me to help her find it.

I LOVE that they do these things on their own but I don't want to leave the impression that I love it anymore than Kya telling me earlier this week that she wants to be a ballerina and practicing her steps around the house or Jace making movies. I love it anytime my kids are engaged with learning new things and I especially love watching them figure things out for themselves. A very good day for that. :)

1 comment:

Conman said...

How nice! Thanks for the Junie B. Jones link, can't wait to share with the boys in the morning!