"School"

I picked up a few educational materials at the teacher supply store before we left to come out here (some Map of the U.S. placemats, a deck of Presidents flashcards, and a kindergarten Social Studies workbook).  I thought it would be fun to use my extra time with the boys to teach them a few new concepts.     

We started off strong!  The boys got a big kick out of Circle Time with Mommy as the leader and they especially loved the activities at the table where they could color, cut, and glue worksheets about the sites or monuments we had seen that week.   

Eventually their enthusiasm wore off.  Their true colors came out and they became little rascals during our "school times"- goofing off, doing all kinds of potty talk, and just generally not-so-interested in my well planned Circle Time.  Can you believe that?!  

All I know is...my boys are a HANDFUL.  And when one gets going down a path of naughtiness, he has no problem taking the other two down with him.  So, we slowly phased out our school lessons.

The boys will, however, each be taking home a booklet of all of the work they did, which will make for a great memento of our trip.  They really did do some terrific work and I am proud of each one of them and all that they've learned this summer!  It's absolutely amazing to me how each one of my kids has such unique strengths.  Through our "school" lessons, each one had an opportunity to shine in one area or another.

Nicolas, for example, has a fantastic visual memory and had no problem looking at the faces of the Presidents on the flashcards and remembering who they were.  We were pretty amazed at this talent of his so we caught it on tape.  I hope you enjoy hearing about James Monroe's "red eye" and Andrew Jackson's other name.  (: