giotto and halley
Luke continues to be interested in all things geographical and astronomical. Needless to say, this pleases me very much, all the more since I didn’t push him that direction; he just became interested in it of his own accord. Last night, since he slept at naptime and could thus stay up a little later, we took a trip to the local Michaels in search of some styrofoam spheres with which to make a solar system.
Now, it’s not like he needs a solar system. In his room, the kid has two solar system posters, two solar system pictures illustrated by his aunt, a little plaque with his name and a couple of planets on it, a solar system made up of detached planets and a solar system mobile we made last week. But he didn’t have anything three-dimensional, an omission even he noticed when we were making the mobile out of paper last week. He made a “spherical cage” of sorts with both his hands and asked, “Daddy, can you make them like this?” So we had a discussion about the difference between circles and spheres, and yesterday it was off to Michaels.
We found a pre-painted solar system sphere kit that even came with the wires needed to attach the planets to the sun. Good thing too, since the styrofoam spheres in the floral section ended up being considerably more expensive than I had anticipated. So we purchased the kit, returned home and assembled it. The colors were a little off–Venus isn’t really bluish green and Mercury isn’t orange, among other things–but they got the essentials right and he was pleased. I hung it from the ceiling and now the boy has a whopping eight solar systems of various types in his room.
I think what makes me the most happy is that he gets excited about the same things that got me excited as a boy. I don’t mean he has the same interests–though we do share many–I mean that when we went to Michaels he got excited about the paint supplies and the dinosaur assembly kits and bottle rockets and the little wooden bulldozers and sailing ships. There’s absolutely nothing commercial in his life. He knows the basics: Mickey, Minnie, Bugs Bunny, Winnie the Pooh, etc, but beyond that, nothing. And it leaves room for the more typical boy fascinations to emerge. I’m really enjoying this, not just for his sake but because we really do have a lot of fun together these days. The wooden airplane we assembled and painted Sunday night and the solar system we got yesterday are evidence that his mind can handle more complex projects. From here, it’s only on to bigger and better things…
I don’t know if you noticed I’ve been reading you lately, but here I am! :) I think this is really great. I can only hope that my own children, someday, will develop similar affinities – that they, too, will gravitate more towards using their minds rather than singing along to Sesame Street 24/7.
Welcome! I’ll add you back.
As far as kids using their minds, I think if you lead the way, they will follow. It really is true. If Luke saw me get excited about, say, horseradish sauce he’d be excited (or at least intrigued) about it as well. As the post explains, that isn’t to say our interests are identical, but I’ve noticed that kids tend to use their parents as a “springboard” in many areas, whether it be in developing their own interests or in learning other things like language or dexterity.
I like the “springboard” metaphor.