Last month, my little learner joined our homeschooling provider's yearly portfolio gala where kids get to showcase their favorite work and also to take a look around and appreciate other kids' works as well. We had a great time watching and seeing all the kids' works of arts. I was amazed at the crochet projects of the gradeschoolers. There were even some robotics that were showcased by the young ones. I do hope that one day, my daughter and I will get to that level too.
My daughter was especially amazed at the bead crafts. The kid stationed next to her table were selling bead bracelets. It was a good thing she brought her wallet with her, she bought a couple of bead bracelets and a bead necklace.
On our way home from the gala, she wanted to buy the beads so she could get started with her project. She wanted me to go immediately to our online shopping app to purchase the materials. As I was trying to cut down on our online shopping, I decided to hold off for a few days before I went ahead and purchase her materials. She couldn't wait until she got the parcels containing the beads.
The parcels arrived one by one and she just went and worked on each set that as they come. It's so cool to watch her work on the designs for the bracelets and necklace. This craftwork turned into a math lesson. I took the opportunity to teach her patterns and sequence in her designs.
Of course she never really noticed that we were doing Maths in her bead bracelets designs. She just thought that I was assisting her in determining which piece should come next. Learning to identify and create patterns is one of the most fun things to do. I enjoyed doing it on paper when I was young. I was a geek during my gradeschool and highschool years so Math has always been fun for me.
My daughter on the other hand says Math is also her favorite but she gets bored when we only do it on paper. She likes the application and the more practical approach. When an idea is new to her, she would sit with me and read a book about it. But once she already has the gist of it, she wants to spring into action and have it practiced and applied. Hence the pretend sari sari store and now, the beads accessories.
She's even trying to venture into making hair clips and headbands. I am just glad that even though we absorb ideas differently, we still get to find a middle ground where we both enjoy and still learn. Her exploring other options with the new lessons she learned is showing how much she understood and how much she loved what she discovered.
Right now, I am just letting her create more and more beads crafts. She also actually offered some of them for sale to her cousins. Seeing the joy in her eyes when she closed those sales, it's priceless. Well, she earned something, but to me, you can't put a price on that.
Learning and lessons can come from anywhere. Our entire world is our classroom. Which is why once school is done, it does not mean that the learning should end. Everytime we end our study time, I always remind her that the learning never stops there. She has her senses, her brain, her entire being ready to catch and absorb ideas. The learning does not stop in the school room. It is just a starting point. The real learning happens in life. In the world. That is why one of the most basic and easiest tool that a homeschool parent can use in educating their child is the atmosphere of environment. The child's curiosity doing its work towards educating the child.
