The Road Less Traveled

• Nov. 10, 2007 - Balloons, Greek and potatoes

Balloon season is here! Our living room heating vent is located on the floor. When the heat comes on, my little ones love to put balloons over the vent and watch them dance. Each child likes to jump as high as he can to try and catch these multi-colored objects of amusement. Why is it that kids are often most content with inexpensive objects? I'm not complaining, by the way (far from it!). I'm just astounded that when given the latest-and-greatest toys, my kids are entertained for a short time, if at all. When given a noisy pot and plastic spatula drum set, balloons, etc., they show more interest. My two year old prefers the box that a toy comes in, to the toy itself. His six year old brother will gladly leave a video game for a chance to learn a new art project. He thinks that it is more fun to play "space rangers" with his little brother than to play alone with a state-of-the-art, just-released-ten-minutes-ago toy! My bank account is quite happy with this arrangement.

OK, on to school topics. My oldest and I will be playing a new game soon. He was getting bored with mommy's way of teaching the Greek alphabet (I'm so dejected!), so I decided to make Greek letter squares for Scrabble. For now, we will be spelling out only English words, using equivalent (or the closest thing to it) letters. I made an extra set for the toddler so that he can "play", too. I love that about homeschooling! My two year old can be included in his older brother's activities and learn alongside him.

This afternoon we began a potato head experiment. I hollowed out the top of a potato and the kids decorated its face. We will be planting grass in it for hair when the face components are dry. I got the idea from Plants for Kids, a web site dedicated to children's plant study. If you are curious about it, the site is located at http://herbarium.desu.edu/project_1/index.html

Here is a picture of Spudman (yes, that is what my six year old chose to name it):