The last few weeks have consisted of scattered learning. With birthday parties and road trips combined with Spring Break and Easter, the girls have started wondering, "Is today a school day?". When questioned, I tend to rattle off a list of learning that is planned for the day. It was after this rattling one day when the oldest one informed me of what "school" really meant.
Reading about Venus and making a lava model is not "school". Neither is listening to the audio book of the Secret Garden or any other reading for that matter. Writing journal messages for Mama is just plain fun and so is penning letters to cousins and friends. Math lessons are okay too and if a game is involved, then it's just play.
But don't bring out the work folders. Because if the work folders come out, then that is when "school" happens. I smile at this eight year old's perception and wonder what other learning I could sneak in without it being perceived as "school" . . .
*** I bring home the older girls a journal and a pen each. I jot some words on the first page and then slip them near their pillows. In a quiet moment, they take some time to shape out their own words. Then excitedly, they carry their messages to mama's own pillow. We share words this way, back and forth, writing about nothing really, but in many ways writing about everything. I correct their spelling and punctuation, so that they practice seeing words written well, and then I pen some heart words back to them.
*** Another time, I place three words at the table: "husky", "cave", "terrifying". I ask my dog-loving girl to write a story including these three words. She sits down with pencil in hand, asking for help with spelling. Without the hindrance of figuring out perfect spelling, she is able to pour her story onto the paper in front of her. I sit alongside her and we check for capitalization and punctuation, and reread and make certain that her message is clear. She moves to the computer and taps out her words with one finger. I help her find "Print" and she illustrates full with colour.
*** At my beloved library I find this wordless book twice and bring both copies home. The storyteller chose no words, but my girls will choose many. A piece of paper with lines drawn for 25 spaces is laid out. The task, to simply write one sentence for each illustration. Ask for spelling , if necessary, {for this is not a spelling quiz, yet correct spelling should be practiced}, and when completed, check for punctuation, capitalization, and clarity. {Wow, you're using quotation marks and onomatopoeias!}
*** There are times when I ask the girls to switch roles for awhile. How about you teach me something? My animal-loving daughters, teach me how to care for a boarder collie if ever I should have one. Or perhaps teach me how to make a corn-husk doll since you made several dozen of them near Christmas. Or tell me how you would make the yummiest peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich. Write it out and I'll see if I can learn!
It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer. ~ Gerald Brenan
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