My daughter R. made her own french toast this morning. This was a huge step, because I've never let her use the stove before. She's nine, so it's about time, and I supervised closely (and made sure there were no appliance wires nearby, since she was with me when we lit the breadmaker wire on fire- side note, it is still working). First, she buttered the cold pan and put it on the stove, where she carefully turned on the burner. She whisked the eggs together with milk, dipped the bread with a fork, and gently placed the slice into the sizzling butter. When the edges began to brown, she used the spatula to flip the bread, and was pleased to see it was nicely browned on the other side.
She declared her final product "delicious" and was quite proud of herself.
Her sister, meanwhile, was working on an art assignment that she absolutely loved. She had to recreate her bedroom using a cardboard box (thanks to delivery, we have those in abundance right now), and drawings and small sculptures or found objects. She spent a lot of time sketching out her room on paper, then placed it in the box so that it created a realistic backdrop and floor. She then decided that it would be fun to create a three dimensional rendering of her bed, using a photo we had. The catch? Because she wanted 3D, she needed another angle of the bed, so we re-created the original photo as best we could, took another picture, and then, with the wonder of tape, put it together.
But there was a problem- you could see into the empty space behind the bed facade. Enter mommy magic- I suggested to E. that maybe we take some of her dollhouse furniture, and use it to make the bed into a true "bed" (her original plan was to stack the two mini beds from her dollhouse, but she didn't like that it didn't look exactly like her bed from the side). She acquiesced, and we made a holder out of index cards, so that the bed would line up with the top of the facade, and the end result was quite impressive, as you can see from the photos. She added in some more furniture, and represented her stuffed animals with a few of the dozens of hatchimals that we own (side note: I did not buy her all of these- for her birthday, a friend of hers handed over a bag of about 50 of these vacuum cloggers- she was ecstatic).
Watching my daughters embrace these two learning experiences, I couldn't help but think how different each child is. We try to give them all the same basic education- the building blocks of math and reading that are necessary to survive- but then the stuff that comes after, that delves into personal interest, is where kids truly thrive. Looking at how much E. loved the bedroom project, I couldn't help but think how many times this child has rearranged her bed (it turns from a loft with a futon couch into a bunk bed) and bedroom (moving furniture, creating specialized "nooks" for a diner, a nail salon, a library, a pet store, a campsite, and more).Projects like this one may seem, academically, to be less important than the math assignment she's behind on, or the Spanish which we've skipped altogether (she's just started reading fluently in English this year, and I can't help her with Spanish, so we're putting it on the back burner), but for her, this is something she's good at and can get excited about. And down the line (many MANY years down the line), it could be the seeds that sprout into a career she's really good at. She may eventually want to be an interior designer, or real estate agent who works double as a stager, or something else creative minded.
My older daughter, who last year wrote "I want to be an astrobiologist" (go look it up, I'll wait. I had to look it up, and so did her second grade teacher), loves space, but she also loves cooking and baking, performing, singing, and playing the piano. She also happens to be brilliant with retaining knowledge about all things science related, and reads more books than anyone I've ever met in third grade (her reading level is equal to someone many years older). I have no clue what profession she will end up in, but I'm hopeful that with some of this homeschooling, we can allow her to pursue what she's interested in, and take some of the "extra" time she has to explore.
I'm grateful their teachers, who are currently giving them the opportunity to explore a little more freely than they likely would at school. I'm happy that we have the ability to supplement what the girls are doing and what they want to do through craft supplies, books, and my knowledge of the internet and its resources. It's exciting to see their interests develop, and watch the "aha" moments of clarity and pride as they create new ideas and tangible manifestations. Who knows what they may make tomorrow?
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