Am I Inspiring My Children?

 

I had a painful wake up call during one of my son's assignments last week.  In his spelling book he was to write two sentences about what he liked the most about school.   My glorious child wrote:

"I like lunch.  I like piano lessons."


Ouch.  

Now, I am glad he enjoys lunch.  What he means when he says "piano lessons" is that he enjoys being able to play the Wii while I teach piano lessons.

My heart sank.  Is this really how inspiring school has been for him lately?   Is this the fruit of my labor?  


I know a certain amount of his answer is typical, right?  I guess, however, I was hoping for him to tell me how much he enjoys learning about birds this year, or how he really loves learning about place value to the nearest ten thousand. Maybe I wanted him to say he just loved those spelling lists or copywork?  


Just typing that makes it sound crazy, doesn't it?

This teacher evaluation was a WAKE UP CALL.  I need to step it up a notch.  Yes, he does very well with math, writing, spelling, history, science, etc..., but clearly nothing is inspiring him.

Well, I can think of one thing that has been inspiring him, but I have effectively squelched it at every opportunity.

Yes, Legos are my son's passion (and baseball, but that season hasn't started yet!).   I  let him build while we read aloud and do try to incorporate some Lego time into each day, but I cannot tell you how much I fuss at him about bringing Legos to the table during math, or playing Legos while he should be reading or getting dressed.    

I had a heart-to-heart with myself (am I the only one that does this?)  and reminded myself that I homeschool to FAN A FLAME OF CURIOSITY, not just to fill my children with "required" knowledge.  Sometimes I forget this important fact! 

My children are both growing and changing, and it's time I adjust the way I teach, too.   I really had it down when they were little, but now it's time to let THEM DICTATE MORE OF THEIR EDUCATION. They are growing into children that have their own interests and opinions.  They are growing into the people God created them to be.


It is time to let their interests lead their learning.  

After this little evaluation, I decided  I should investigate Lego education opportunities in our area.   

Lo and behold, just a few days earlier I had received an email about new Lego programming classes for home schoolers at the Museum of Design Atlanta.

We went to an open house for the program and it seems PERFECT!    This is something that will combine my son's love of Legos, computers, math, creativity and design.   

It is a QUALITY science and engineering program he will attend for three hours each session(right now we just signed up for two times to see how it goes).  He will be learning to build a model and then make that model move and make sounds.  

Watching some of the little ones today who were demonstrating what they had learned was fascinating.  I was so excited, and GMan was just dumbfounded with all of the Legos in one room!

   

My husband snapped the above shot of GMan... he was content, busy, and so so happy.  Why in the world would I  not incorporate this love  into our homeschool?  


Now.... dare I ask my daughter what her favorite thing is about school?  I think I had better - before it's too late!

Do I live by Einstein's words or just think they're just a cool little quote to have around?

I'm curious...

Do you let your children's interest drive their education, or are you sometimes like me and "stick to the curriculum plan"? 

Are you a Lego mom, too?  Do you have any resources or advice for me?  I'm on the hunt!  

The Beginning of an Obsession

Photo credit

We're SERIOUSLY into Legos in our house these days.   Oh, we've had Legos for years, but my daughter never seemed to like them all that much.  My son, on the other hand, loves them!    He likes to make everything "from scratch" (as he puts it).    The Legos are taking over his bedroom, they are under the cushions of the sofa.  Somehow Legos creation even wind up on my dresser -- because "mom, you really like them!".

I read this post a while ago - 10 Good Things About Legos - little did I know how Legos would be overtaking our life in such a short time!

I'm on a mission now to find lots of fun things to do with Legos!  Rather than go through all of them with you, why don't you visit my Pinterest page.  I've made a board called "Lego Activities".  Check it out!   

Another activity I found that we WILL be doing very soon is a Lego Lapbook from Walking by  The Way.   Scroll down her page of lapbooks until you find the Lego one (in the second grade category).  It is so well done and incorporates history, math, geography - you name it, she's covered it!   

We're lucky enough to have a Lego outlet store about an hour from our house.   As a Fun Friday activity we visited the store.   My children had never been there - needless to say there were a bit overwhelmed.    What's better than a Lego sarcophagus?!?! 

I had heard (via the Lego website) about Lego mini builds.  They are held the first Tuesday of each month at Lego stores.  Each month there is a different project children can build (with the assistance of employees at the store).   When I mentioned we lived far away and had missed the August mini build the cashier told me they still had some projects in the back left over.   She got a wonderful young man from the back; they set up a table and called all of the children in the store for a mini build!    It was a great exercise in listening and direction following.  

  My daughter excelled at building - it was great to see her getting involved with her brother.   When we got home they rushed to his room to build Legos.   

My great find of the day was this Lego calendar, which you need to rebuild each month!  I thought the price was right at $14.99 (considering it retails for $30 on Amazon!) 

Do you have some Lego activities to share with me?    Or, maybe a favorite website?    I'd love to know, because I'm a Lego newbie!!

Lego Party!

My friend Melissa, at The Joys of Home Educating, has a Lego link up each week. I have to admit, my children aren't huge Lego players. We have a few sets, and they play if I haul them out and get them interested. I mentioned the Lego linky today and Miss B said, "We should do that!". So, when we got home from our field trip this morning she sat down on the deck to build. GMan is building as I type, but he wasn't really on board with his sister's idea, so perhaps he'll come up with something on his own. The dynamic duo wasn't quite hitting it off today, imagine that! :-0

While we were at it we researched Lego creations on the internet. For fun, check out the Top 10 Strange Lego Creations! Very cool!

Thanks Melissa, for encouraging children to play with their Legos!!

Miss B. with her house (I think these are pieces from a Lego beach house set):

The barbeque area:

The flower garden:

We've been listening to Charlotte's Web in the car for the past week. Here are some E.B. White inspired Lego creations by GMan. On the left is Templeton and on the right is Charlotte (notice the eight legs). I love the way a child's mind works.

Hop over to Melissa's site and see more Lego creations!