Patriotic

Another one of those moments when it hits me that if there were ever a kid made for homeschooling, it's Jonathan.  He creates projects and learning opportunities out of no where.  His drive to learn and create is unstoppable.  Both Jonathan and Abby walked in the door from our weekend away last night just bursting with visions of crafts and activities they needed to start RIGHT THEN.

Jonathan's been very enthusiastically patriotic lately.  Being entirely into space exploration right now, he's fascinated by the space race and regularly finds opportunity to reference America's superiority to Russia.  So yesterday while the adults chatted at my college reunion, he drew an American flag -- well, more or less an American flag.  I didn't point out the alternative orientation of the stripes, and he dismissed it as just fine when it was mentioned later ;)  As soon as we arrived home he asked for white paper to punch out 50 stars.  But instead of placing them on the flag in rows like the current American flag, he asked for photos of the first American flag, and all the flags in between as each state was added.  He walked the little stars through the sequence of many (thankfully not all) of the flags up to the current one before finalizing the project with 50 spots of Elmer's glue.  Yet again, I was impressed by his ambition, though my own attention span and patience were a bit stretched by the process of rearranging 50 itty bitty stars over and over!  In embracing the opportunity to learn more American History, we read America the Beautiful for our morning poem today and I'm getting him some library books on Betsy Ross and the flag.  Meanwhile, I'm glad all those little bitty stars are glued down to stay.  Oh, and, this evening he announced with much excitement, "I just remembered that I like things that are really big.  And Russia is really big.  So, I DO like Russia!"  Oh good.

Truly, teaching Jonathan is in all honesty a privilege and a delight.  Granted, I'm his mother, but I think any teacher would be blessed to enjoy his creativity and desire to learn.  I am once again, so very grateful to have the opportunity to be home with him, Abby, and Joshua.