August Break

I was trying to convince myself to make the rest of August our break from school.

"Quit pushing," I told myself.

This was good advice.

"Just do breakfast, Morning Cards, chores, lunch, dinner, taking care of Sandy, and free time," I told myself.

Some days that would be good advice.

Today, this happened:

I remembered to read a story from a children's Bible stories book while the kids ate breakfast. Xander wanted me to read more.

I made a picture of Thomas Jefferson Education, shown as a planet core with levels going outward. I labeled each phase and put its main lessons around the circle showing the appropriate level. On the back, I drew seven large old-fashioned key images and wrote the seven keys of learning in them. Xander asked what I was doing, so I told him I was drawing a model of Thomas Jefferson Education. Nick began talking about George Washington. From his watching of Carmen Sandiego, he knew that both Thomas Jefferson and George Washington are on Mount Rushmore. Xander added that Roosevelt and Lincoln were, too. I looked in our new Encyclopedia of the Presidents and Their Times so I could tell them Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States.

Though I felt I should know this off the top of my head, it was a good opportunity to show Xander that I was looking up information in an encyclopedia. This conversation prompted Nick to go get the Make Your Own President book we own.

Nick wanted me to help and watch while he "made his own president" from our Make Your Own President mix-up-pictures book. He had George Washington's eyes up front and wanted me to help him find George Washington's nose. The way to tell which president is on each strip is to read the quote and name on the back side of the strip. I helped him find the name that started with a G and showed him that it said George Washington. We worked with the book for a while longer and identified a few presidents.

Nick asked me where those robots were that we got from a Robots board game at a garage sale. I told him they were really flimsy and were all broken and thrown away. He got very upset. I got out the basket of figures I keep in our school-time cabinet and started playing with them. Eventually, he got interested and began playing with them too.

Xander came out of his room and told me he was getting bored with playing. I asked if he thought he was ready to play with the toys in the baskets that were up higher in our school-time cabinet. He said yes. These are all math toys and manipulatives from the RightStart math program. He began to make shapes on the geoboard and tell time on the telling-time clock.

Nick got interested in what he was doing and played with the abacus. Then he made some times on the telling-time clock and asked me what they were.

Now the kids are making shapes together on the geoboard.

It was not a day to ignore school time, apparently.