Bricklaying lessons and other diversions

Tuesday Morning occasionally has awesome finds. I remembered seeing a brick laying kit and I wondered if they still had any -- and sure enough they had a kit with 664 stone bricks and mortar. Cool. I wasn't quite sure what we would use it for... but I couldn't resist. This week Ben wanted to build an Egyptian house out of 'real bricks' so the kit got put to good use. I asked if he wanted to design it together or to do it himself; he said, "myself." :-) Let the learning begin.

He, of course, stacked the bricks one atop the other with no overlap. The next morning, once the first two layers were dry, he was very upset that the building had no stability.

So we did an experiment with Legos showing the two ways you can lay bricks. Then we built a mini house next to his original and an "earthquake" shook the foundation. The building with the overlapping bricks was left standing while his original was in ruins. We soaked the bricks in water to release the mortar and we are going to start over. :-)

We are breaking up handwriting practice with other ways to develop fine motor skills and copying skills. I found a great book that teaches you how to draw animals by copying a series of lines and shapes. Here is a really cute doggie Ben drew.


Ben is very wiggly while he works on something that is hard for him. At first I was trying to force him to sit but then I realized that he actually concentrates better while he is wiggling. So I let him write on the floor, or stand up and shuffle his feet, or sit upside down, or fidget with play dough to try to contain the wigglies. Here he is doing some math. On the floor. Under his desk. While wiggling his but and humming.

He got it done in record time.

2 comments:

Tina in CT said...

Everyone has their own method and if it works, why not?

MoscowMom said...

I would have had such a hard time letting him make his own mistakes! You're such a good teacher and mom.