Homework

I volunteered to go into J's class every two weeks to help with spelling. I have been in once and I really enjoyed it. It's just me sitting at a table with each child, reading their "sight word" list and having them print it without looking. It sounds boring to most, but I live for that kind of thing. Really. J was doing "homework assignments" by the time he was three, and I would stay up some nights to brainstorm different ways to get him learning.

Before you think I was having him print out the same letter again and again on triple-lined paper, or copying lines, stop. I wasn't doing anything boring. And I know that because whenever J got bored, I would change what I was doing. I want learning to be fun for my children, and if that means I hunt everywhere for a detailed history of transit systems in Ontario, I will. By that, I mean city buses. J has always had a fascination with bus transportation, and although he's not so enamored with the idea now, he spent years trying to learn everything he could about it. In Ottawa, he knew over 200 buses by number and route by the time he was 2. He also knew every stop on the regular routes, and it only took him going on a new route once for him to learn that.

So do I care about buses? Nope, not at all. Do I know a LOT about them? Yes I do. They bore me to tears, but as a mother I am supposed to sigh inwardly and go over it again and again because my child loves it. I'm not sure if J will have a career involving buses or city transportation someday, but the chances aren't high. That's a pretty random job. I'm glad he learned all about them though, because he was interested and eager to find out. That was my way of teaching him that learning is fun and we can always know more about what we are curious about.

It's not only buses that we focused on. There has also been outer space, vehicles of all types, how to build roads and railroad tracks, career types, etc. The list goes on. E is only 2 and he's got his own list that's just as random: bugs, dogs, socks, trains, leaves and types of water toys. I don't concentrate much on learning the alphabet or counting by rote, but by encouraging them to be interested in what's natural, I've found that both of my boys have a great aptitude for this other, standard stuff. J knew all his letters by 18 months, while E knows almost all of the letters and can almost count to 20. When learning is fun, they want to keep doing it.

Speaking of which, I'm currently writing this while listening to E scream, "seven, eight, nine, TEN!!!!" from his crib, as he decided to start another nap strike today. Yesterday I had to wake him up after 2 1/2 hours and he argued with me because he wanted to stay in bed. Today, he's been there for nearly as long singing and playing and telling me to go to timeout because he's ALL DONE! Go figure.