Around the World: Kon'nichiwa From Japan!

 Kon'nichiwa from Japan! That's where our most recent Around the World adventure took us. My son loved seeing photos of Japanese school children in a non-fiction book we borrowed from our library all about Japan. This post, however, is about more than just our homeschool travel adventures... If you've been following along here for a while, you've probably read a lot about our learning activities and seen photos of an actively engaged and eager little student. Much of our time is like that, but not all of it! Teaching is a profession that requires one to play a number of roles and when we teach other people's children, we do a great deal of multitasking. Work is brought home and we spend a lot of time thinking, planning and troubleshooting both in and out of the classroom. When the home is your classroom and your student is your child, there are some additional roles we play. We don't stop being Mommy when we teach and our attachments and investments are as enormous as the love we feel for our children. All of the questioning, guilt, concern and pressure we put on ourselves daily as mothers and wives also becomes a part of our inner dialogue now as Teacher--and it doesn't end when the school bell rings! Add to that the fact that we NEVER leave the office--whichever office it is. When home is the classroom, there is teaching and learning to do, laundry and phone calls, dishes and cooking... One of the greatest accomplishments I've come to achieve in homeschooling this year is being able to quiet the unhelpful voice running through my head, and being able to relish the ability to adapt and change our plans as our family needs fluctuate.  Being able to give and receive support in groups of others in my position has been invaluable. Collaboration as a homeschool educator is not quite like it is in a school environment, but there is a great wealth of support and encouragement thanks to online groups and I am also truly blessed to have the greatest support and encouragement from my own family! So in today's post, you'll still see cute photos of my enthusiastic little pupil, but you'll also read about some of the less photogenic moments of our day and the parts that don't get caught on camera. I think that's quite important!
     My son has been VERY busy playing since we did a little remodeling/reorganizing in our play area and I've encouraged him to take his time with play activities rather than force school activities to happen in a particular time frame. We did fewer "formal" preschool activities toward the end of our week last week and more open playtime. I truly value that as one of the greatest benefits of our homeschool model. Life is full of opportunities to work--everyone needs a little more playtime! When he is particularly engrossed in an activity, I might work toward a transition by giving prompts, using a visual timer and singing familiar transition songs if we must move on to another activity or leave the house, etc. However, if we are not on a specific schedule and he is particularly engrossed in another activity, I might just set out materials to invite him to a school activity, let him know that it is available and then gauge his interest level from there. In times I have truly wanted a child (even my own) to engage with a material or activity and he/she is resistant or not interested, I've had greater success by sitting with the activity myself and saying nothing at all than with persistently encouraging the child to participate. So after going through our traditional Morning Circle mostly alone and then weathering the storm of tears that happened when my little student decided he did want to do Morning Circle after all, I held him on my lap and said "it really looks like you want to play with your toys and that's OK! It's so exciting to have our new drawers and your very own art center and there is enough time to do everything. We can spend some time playing and when you feel ready, we can do more school." And he was off to play as I set out some origami on our work table. Sure enough, he came over to the table after a few minutes, still mixing up a pretend cake from his kitchen and ready to try his little hands at folding paper into a few of his favorite animals!

He loved looking through pictures in the origami animals book we borrowed from our library and picking a few of his favorites to try. At his age, his biggest role in folding was assisting with creasing and flipping over the paper when instructed. We happen to have some origami paper at home, but you could use (and even decorate) your own regular paper and cut it to a square in your desired size.

We made dogs, cats and bunnies! He loved "adding two noses" to this dog and playing with all of the animals throughout the afternoon. We even used blocks to build a little doghouse and playground for them.

Smiling at our creations! Origami is a great, mess-free activity that little ones can enjoy with help from a larger set of hands and older children can really get into independently!

We've loved learning about and viewing the flags from different countries as we "travel" around the world. This week, I created a journal activity for my son to "build" his own Japanese flags out of familiar shapes and materials. I provided one sample already done as well as a photo in a book we checked out from the library. I provided the remainder of the materials (3 pre-cut white rectangles, 3 red dot labels and a glue stick) on a tray. The first day I set this out, my son was so excited and dug right in! He did not even wait for instructions and got right to his own version of putting together the Japanese flag. And then I made a Mommy mistake. I intruded. I gave instructions on how to do it properly and he grew very insulted and frustrated. I was in a bit of a rush as well and about to head out to my very part time job and the babysitter was on her way. I suggested we put away the materials and try again another time when we were less frustrated and to be quite honest, I felt horrible about it. I thought about it as I was driving to work and as I was driving home. Why was I so hard on him? I wouldn't be so hard on another student? Why did it matter if he put glue on the sticker or glued it the "wrong way?" I also had provided a brand new activity with several variables and steps and not provided any step-by-step instruction in a way that he could understand at his developmental level. Lucky for me, my toddler has a much more positive attitude than I do with these things (and that's when he becomes my teacher)! I set it out the next day, we sat together and took it step by step and he was quite proud and pleased to try it again! After he completed putting the flags together and gluing them where he wanted to on the journal pages, we counted together the total number of Japanese flags: four in all. No, this was not the "picture perfect" teaching scenario--but what we did learn through the experience is that everyone gets frustrated and that it is OK (and even helpful) to take a break from our intense emotions and return to a situation later when the power of the waves has lessened.

And my other Teacher-Mommy snafu last week? My husband made AMAZING sushi for us for dinner on Thursday night and we scarfed it down before I could take a photo!

Today I wish you all happy parenting, happy teaching and happy learning--these are all part and parcel to an environment of happy playing!