Unfortunately for any of my children who would have liked to do something exciting today like visit a lake or have a picnic, Hubby and I both worked today.
Michaela expressed boredom several times and I felt her pain. Though I offered many exciting activities to her such as reading, drawing, painting, resting (oh my stars the expression that elicited), she did not hear anything that sounded like something she wanted to do.
The fact that everyone in the neighborhood except us seemed to be gone only made things worse.
Finally an idea struck her. Could she work with mosaics?
Why, yes, she could.
Since I have jars and jars of tesserae already cut up and ready to be used, and plenty of mortar and grout, she was instantly set up to do a project with little help from me. I did put a mask on and mixed the mortar myself because I did not want her breathing that fine powder, but after that she began to decorate a stepping stone all by herself. I told her to call me if she needed me and left her alone to enjoy the creative process. (Okay, I did peek out the office window to see if I could get a glimpse now and then.)
Oreo hung around meowing and drinking out of the watering can that her head will fit into.
Here’s a picture of her halfway-done point! I’ll be sure to show you the finished product. Tomorrow she can grout. Maybe she’ll enjoy this enough to work on all of my plain stepping stones and get them to looking fancy!
It’s been a long time since I’ve worked on my mosaics and this really got me into the mood to finish a birdbath that I want to make.
As well, the whole act of Michaela coming to me and saying, “Cant I do this?” made me focus again on providing plenty of home-based activities for her in areas where she loves to express herself or in things she’s passionate about.
My online friend Heather just had a great article published about helping children grow their passions at home. I read the article this afternoon and it tied in seamlessly with where my thoughts were for Michaela and exactly what, and how much, to get us involved in outside of our home this year.
You can read Heather’s article here: Growing Your Children’s Passions In Your Homeschool.
Lynn
for you to leave a comment, but you can also e-mail me at lynn AT thehealthyhomeschool.com
Well Lynn, we didn’t go anywhere either. Brad worked and I sat at my neighbor’s garage sale. Tommie was complaing of bordeom, too.
Well until……
He decided to dig through our neighbors big burn pile and he found tons of good plywood, boards, etc., to build stuff out of!
I think you should chalk Michaela’s day up to “creative independent art!”… and it would certainly qualify for art credit for homeschool!
It’s raining today in Michigan,
ivy/mich
Lynn, What a grand time… you always have the best ideas. I pray you all are doing well!
Patricia
Dear Lynn,
How nice that Michaela finally found something to do that would become a lasting memory! We have tons of broken crockery waiting to be used as mosaics~Someday!
Love,
Marqueta
Michele, the burn pile sounds like a fascinating place to find things! I’m sure I would’ve loved it.
Patricia, I was just at your blog today. Talk about creative. Lovely! Just lovely!
Marqueta, I was so glad she found something useful to do instead of wallowing in her boredom. I was quite proud of her.
And I could’ve guessed you’d enjoy mosaics too. We’ve got so much in common.
Lynn
How wonderful to have all those supplies at the ready to make something beautiful.
Blessings
Diane