“What I’d like to know is how old does a person have to bebefore they get to do all the fun stuff?” – R L LaFevers, Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos
“One of you grab the iPad and look up stele. Check out the images.”
“Can we read another chapter? Please?”
“You’ve gotta get on your list if you wanna have time to hang with your BFF. Same for you, Will, if you want to make a tee time.”
“Can drawing a stele be on my list today?”
“After worksheets are done, you can draw.”
“Mom, I still have that Starbucks Gift Card. Can we go by there today? I’ve been thinking that buying a bag of beans is smarter than three lattes. It’d last longer that way.”
“Good thinkin’.”
“Can that be my math for today?”
“Nice try.”
“Can we discuss reading?”
“This is a good time. Get Will to come out to the living room. I want him to listen, too.
Will, we are reading in Jen’s history section today. Now I don’t expect you guys to memorize dates or names. It isn’t necessary to memorize that The War of 1812 happened in …”
“1812?”
“Right. Good one.”
“Or that the Union side of the Civil War was led by …”
“Grant, right? He was the younger one who drank and cussed. Right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And Lee was the proper one who was in charge of the Confederates. Right?’
“Yes, my point is that you don’t have to have names and dates memorized, but you need to have a general understanding of the cause of these wars and what brought them to an end. You can use iPhones and iPads to look up dates and names.”
“When can I get a phone?”
“Can we focus here?”
“Can we pick a science experiment today? I wanna do the one that’s on the internet about the empty soda bottle and the deodorant.”
“What’s that about?”
“It turns the plastic soda bottle into a torch.”
“Did you Google what happens when you turn the bottle into a torch?”
“No.”
“Do that now.” (I Googled while he Googled and decided there was no way in hell we were going to risk losing eyebrows or worse.”
“Mom, I found some stuff that says that deodorant/soda bottle thing is pretty dangerous. I think I better find a different experiment.”
“Good idea.”
“Mom, I drew some steles. Can I scan ’em and turn ’em into a collage in Picasa?”
“Do you need my help for that? I have to discuss math with Will, and this isn’t a good time for me.”
“No, I remember how to scan, and Picasa is easy.”
“How are you guys doing on journal entries? Jen, what are you thankful for this week? Will? Please tell me you are thankful for something besides skiing and golf.”
“Can I crochet with that new yarn we got?”
“Is your reading done?”
“Yes, and I finished my worksheets.”
“What are you going to make?”
“A scarf for Nina. She needs more bling in her life.”
“Mom, I was looking at the forecast. It looks good for tomorrow. Can you get tomorrow’s list done tonight so I can work on stuff in bed? That way I could set an earlier tee time.”
“I like your time management. Jen, if that works for you, we could cut out the lining for your duster and maybe get to sewing it tomorrow.”
“Yeah! That works for me. I’ll get tomorrow’s reading done tonight.”
“Go ahead and make a tee time, Will.”
“Cool! I’ll set a time for 1:30 for tomorrow. If it’s 3:45 right now, that’s 21 hours and 45 minutes from now.”
“Seriously? You did that fast.”
“Does that count as tomorrow’s math?”
“Nice try.”
Looks to me like you’re already doing the fun stuff ;O)
Pat,
We most certainly are doing the fun stuff. Thanks for noticing.
If they have fun learning, they’ll want to learn all their lives.