History, Mystery, and the Present

I stumbled upon a great quote: "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift.  That's why we call it the present" (A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh).  Oh, Pooh...you've got to love Pooh!  How ironic that the title of our history curriculum is "The Mystery of History!"  We have delved into our first few history lessons, and I am not sure who is learning more...the girls or me.  Initially, when we were discussing the seven days of creation, the girls got to create their own animal out of playdough.  They realized that this animal-creation business was not as easy as they thought it would be.

Clare made a "Jack and Johnny," was completely in her element of creativity, and, as Clare usually does with all tasks, took her sweet time in the whole creation and molding process.  After all, there is NO rushing creativity...especially when you're Clare:

Brynn made "a dinosaur elephant," was completed with the project in about two minutes, and realized God was much more patient at creating new creatures than she was:

Throughout the course of our studies, Brynn will be putting together a visual timeline.  Here she is working on her review of the seven days of creation, Adam and Eve, and Jubal and Tubal-Cain:

Brynn is a very focused gluer, can you tell?  She was a little frustrated with her mom's reminder that "just a dot, not a lot" of glue can go a LONG way!

After completing this project, getting our three-ring binder set up with the seven continents, and getting our review flashcards made, we were set to move onto the next topic--Noah and the Flood.  This was a fun experience for ALL of the girls because when you incorporate Little People into any activity, imaginations thrive!

Here is Clare lining the ark animals up two-by-two:

The girls worked together to load ALL of the animals into the boat, and this process stirred up some great questions.  How DID Noah do that?  

Then, there was Elle...patiently awaiting Mommy to transition the older girls to the next activity so that she could take over all of the Little People ark animals and play on her own.  This was an EXCELLENT strategy to keep her entertained while we moved on in our homeschool day.

The questions derived from our lessons continue to amaze me.  Let's just put it this way...a three-year-old and five-year-old ask me (a thirty-three-year-old) questions frequently that I don't know the answers to.  In my effort to help the children see me as a learner, too, I admit that I don't know all of the answers.  I respond a lot with, "That's a really good question.  We will need to look that up."  Or, "WOW!  Mommy isn't sure about the answer to that.  I will have to get back to you later about the answer to that question," or "I bet Daddy knows that answer.  Let's ask him together when he gets home tonight!"  It is a fabulous feeling to know that I don't have to be the expert.  I get to be the guide and enjoy that today is, indeed, a gift.  After all, according to Pooh, that's why we call it the present, right?