Ingenious methods on a Wednesday : big numbers, wrestling, chess, roots of Elvis.
6am
I met up with my friend for coffee and conversation about history, literature, and ideas.
Reading
I read BOB books with a 3- and 6-year old. Even better, a 12-year old helped a 6-year old practice his reading.
Maths
I practiced measuring with the students in our household who are not in 10th or 7th grade. Sadly, this time, it did not involve making cookies.
More maths
I developed an ingenious method of teaching large numbers. This is how it works:
You have them move a massive tub of LEGO pieces to the center of their bedroom.
You dump it upside down.
You tell them to count, and not stop or do anything else until they’re done.
I estimated there were around 497,496 pieces in the pile. If they’re within ten, I’ll accept that as an answer. Anything outside the margin of error, and they start over again.
In the event I forgot to start the clock, then they can just play and build for a while, and learn something along the way.
Boy playing with 497,496 LEGO pieces
While you can.
I am 46. My two younger sons are six and three. There are some things that I used to be able to do, and can’t anymore. There are some things I can still do, but probably won’t be able to for much longer. Not because I will grow weak and feeble - that will never happen - but because they are growing less weak and feeble. So one thing I do as much as possible while I still can is show how good I am at wrestling them simultaneously and pinning both down. I can still do that, and I am very good.
My 12-year old son is a handful. I’ve been telling him for a long time that he won’t be able to defeat me until he’s 16. Secretly, I think it may be sooner than that. But I refuse to acknowledge that to him. Most days, he tries to attack me whenever possible and take me down. But he doesn’t. Not yet. Because his time is someday.
But my time is now.
Water cooler.
There is an institution of learning that our younger boys especially love to go as much as possible. It’s called ‘Their Sister’s Room.’ It is one of the great joys of their lives, to (sometimes) knock, saunter in, and…hang out.
She is generally very patient and kind about this. There are many topics that get addressed, as I listen in on the questions they ask and the topics they pose. Often I hear her try to stop herself from laughing, usually unsuccessfully. At some point she orders them out. This is the comi-tragic part of the experience.
P.E. : Of knights and bishops, kings and queens, knaves and knights.
Our 12-year old has become very good at chess. In fact, he has been teaching all of us. All of us, from 46 down to three. We are a wide variety of talent. It is a humbling experience.
P.E. : Outdoors
We threw the flat round orb back and forth, and sometimes it was caught. There was a great amount of running and diving and intercepting and yelling and mostly-good temperaments. Nobody sprained an ankle, nobody broke a nose, everybody got some vitamin D on a February afternoon.
Art.
I set them up with paint, paper, markers, medium, and enough collage material to furnish a wing of 1st years at the Royal College of Design. Quietly, they painted and glued and it was lovely and occasionally tranquil.
Two others played music. A selection of Olivia Rodrigo and pieces from Greatest Showman. I love it always, their voices and instruments surging and strumming and filling the house.
Telly and Film.
Two Youngers watched an episode of Mr. Rogers. It has been a quiet delight to see them embrace him, by way of PBS Kids’ Daniel Tiger. I miss that man, and the gentle, kind, calm spirit he brought to kids - kids of every age.
We closed out the day, with the Olders, by finishing up Baz Lurhmann’s interpretation of The King - Elvis. I’m enjoying how it’s structured, and quite impressed by Austin Butler’s rendition.
There is something valuable about learning our roots. That includes the roots of rock and roll, and where the roots of those roots were grown from.
