(inspiration from http://iblog4boys.blogspot.com/2012/04/do-you-strew.html)
added a little note
and an envelope of ideas he can do on his own
and direct him to go pick something to do.
Ideas include:
- practice juggling
- practice chinese yoyo
- unload the dishwasher
- find a path from France to Turkey through 9 countries
- roller blade around the house
- write a letter
- make your bed
- lay in your bed for 6 minutes and try to think of nothing at all
- take the dogs out to play in the yard.
some are fun, some are less fun, but once he picks he has to try it. It buys me some much needed time.
Right now it's a novelty and he'll ask for something from the envelope instead of play a game with me. I don't know if it will always work so well, but I hope it will always come in handy. Maybe in the future he'll remember a fun idea idea and use it without needing the envelope or maybe it will be a looming threat of a dread that might come from the board that will encourage him to find his own path. Either way I see it as a tool with great possibilities.
Also inspired from (http://iblog4boys.blogspot.com/2012/04/do-you-strew.html) was making use of potty time
We've been learning capitols of states randomly in the car as we spy license plates of out-of-towers, which has been wonderful for east coast knowledge, which we see quite often, but has let a large portion of the country go unnoticed. Now at bath time G asks me to ask him states. I intentionally don't notice when he looks at the nearby map for the answer, and praise him for his memory. He giggles at his secret arsenal of information behind me, but is confident he will be winning future games in the car against his much older brother.
