We’re not doing nothing until the next school year, however. Since Namine is home-schooled (more or less), the “next school year” starts whenever we want it to. (Even if it didn’t, we know how easy it is to forget things over the summer.)
We’re still waiting for the second grade materials to come in the mail — and when they do, there’s no way we can miss ’em — but in the meantime, we have a school nook to organize.
Even though she can’t yet start on the second grade course work, Namine is still keeping busy. Learning never stops. We try to make every outing educational, whether it’s to the zoo, museum, or even just a walk to the park and back. She’s got plenty of books to read (both educational and non), and we keep her on her toes with verbal math problems — like our conversation last night, while getting ready for bed.
Me: “What’s five plus five?”
Namine: (Counting on her fingers) “Ten!”
Me: “What’s ten plus five?”
Namine: “I don’t have that many fingers, Dad.” (You can just hear the attitude.)
Me: “Use your head. Figure it out.”
Namine: (Thinks for a moment) “Ten plus five is fifteen!”
Yeah, Namine still mostly relies on her fingers for math, but she’s proven both in school and out that she can do problems in her head. We just have to get her used to it. She has a math keyboard on which to practice her addition and subtraction tables, and she’s been using it more and more. (Sometimes she just plays on it, as a child is wont to do, but she does actually use it for math, too.)
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