First, hello, my dear Home Edders. It's been forever since I was here. Sorry for the lack of interaction and contribution.
It's just that my little homeschool is not so little anymore in such a case that my "students" are now mostly independently learning and only need minor supervision in their daily activities. Now my main focus is the youngest (8 years old) where the goal is also to let him fly on his own, of course.
Regardless, going to the Children's Library is still our favorite activity. We all look forward to Friday so we could go hi-ho, hi-ho to the Library.
Nerding Around?
Some people think that when we go to the library, we only do nerdy stuff like reading, etc. What they do not understand is this is also the time that my kids get to play and meet kids they have already become friends with.
Hmmm, but yeah, of course reading is still there. Of course, when you find yourself surrounded with different kinds of books and you have different cozy nooks to read in, why won't you, right?
When we come to the library, the first thing we do is find the books that we would borrow. Each child could borrow up to 6 books for three weeks. Meaning if we want to, we could borrow up to 18 books per visit!
Most of the reading happens at home, not at the library.
Can we finish all of the books we borrow? Sometimes not. That is why we also use the first part of our visit at the library to finish reading whatever books we need to return.
The kids each find their own spots to do this. Read at the back of the pick up truck, perhaps? Why not?!
While the kids have their reading time, this Momma also has her own quiet time inside one of the nooks. I also read a few pages (provided I do not fall asleep! haha) "No sleeping, Mommy!" my Little Man once told me.
Most of the time, I am able to complete one Hive post while at the library. It just gives the right vibes for writing. The environment is conducive to that (just find the right spot).
Children's Activities
There are many children's activities here that are facilitated by the library staff. Once the kids hear the bell ring, they spring up to follow the staff and join the activities. Most are free, while there could also be paid activities. Of course, we stick to the free ones! 😜
Here Little Miss joined a short crafts session where she learned some traditional Emirati weaving along with the other girls.
Sometimes, there's VR, or lights arts, origami, and many more. The staff sure know how to keep the kids enganged.
Last time, Little Miss and the Little Man were each given a box of connect toys where they were urged by the staff to choose the design they would like to create. He said he would put them on display at the Makers' Room.
Little Miss chose a complicated dinosaur design while the Little Man made the motorcycle.
Chess
There is also this giant chess board that is my eldest's favorite. He is so into chess these days, almost on chess.com all the time. When we are at the library, he gets to play with kids his age or sometimes even the adults.
Computer Games
After everything, the kids would disappear. I won't be able to find them until it's already time to go home. And where do I find them?
Yes, there is a big area for playstation and PC games in the library too! There, they get to play with other kids.
The security makes sure that they do not overstay on the computers and that kids would all have the chance to play. They used to get the library cards before they allow the kids to play, but I think now they do not any more.
Then it's time to go.
"But Mommy, I've only been playing for 10 minutes!" Sorry, dear. We need to go. (evil laugh)
"Thirty more minutes, please! There's another activity at 5:30," they would say. And so we extend for another 30 minutes.
So it's fair to say that we don't do only nerdy stuff in the library. Actually, Library Day is our sort of play day. A free day in our homeschool where we could do pretty much anything.
The best part? We get to go to our favorite shawarma stand afterwards!
Our Recent Activities on Library Day
| Native Plants in the UAE : Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation |  |
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| Through The Seasons With Eric Carle " A New Exhibit at the Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation |  |
All photos are owned by the author unless stated otherwise.