Imagination

Imagination is more important than knowledge. --Albert Einstein

Do you remember your first imaginary friend or believing in fairies? Have you ever seen children open all their Christmas presents only to be more interested in the boxes they came in? I love how children find ways to use objects that never occurred to me.

Children are resourceful and they will find something to do with the most uninteresting objects.The other day, I was watching my daughter role play with her Star Wars action figures. She had taken a straw that had three loops in it (in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head) and was using it as the spacecraft. She fit two action figures through Mickey's ears and R2D2 fit perfectly in the third loop. She imagined an original story for her characters but incorporated what she knew about "the force," levitating and storm troopers from watching the movies and reading a Star Wars guide book.

I find this time she spent creating to be time well-spent. I believe this play will help her with her writing, problem-solving and reading comprehension (she needs to understand story structure in order to make up her own stories).

Don't underestimate the value of your child's imaginative play.

Recording Homework in Planners

Well, the planners have been handed out, the children helped come up with a list of activities to do at home and we're starting to address the curriculum. Now what? Rather than tell the children what to do at home and have them record assignments, the planners are used as a place for children to record all the wonderful things they do outside of school. They should record the books they read each night, as well as the genre, but what they do from that list is their choice. This is what my daughter's planner looked like last week:

Monday
Book: Teacher Trouble
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Tae Kwon Do
Cared for cat and fish

Tuesday
Book: Stars
Genre: Nonfiction
Practiced Violin
Cared for cat and fish

Played Rat-a-Tat Cat (math)

Wednesday
Book: Stargirl
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Practiced Violin
Tae Kwon Do
Cared fro cat and fish
Set the table

Thursday
Book: Reptile Room
Genre: Fantasy
Practiced Violin
Cared for cat and fish
Set the table
Wrote a note to mom

The planner will serve as a permanent record of all the learning that is going on outside of school. I hope this helps.