Capitalizing on Interest

On Friday Aliza was introduced to the food pyramid. (I have since been informed that this is an old version of the food pyramid, but I'm sure the concept is still valid.) She found this to be wildly interesting and immediately wanted to make her own pyramid. I drew the pyramid, she wrote the categories and we copied the foods her teacher put in each category. Aliza wasn't finished. She checked the refrigerator and pantry to see what we missed. She still wasn't finished. She went up to her room, gathered her food from her kitchen, put it in a bag, brought it downstairs, and one by one we made sure each food item was on our pyramid. Finally, we posted her pyramid in the dining room where everyone could see it.

What I didn't realize was that Aliza expected us to eat only the food included on her pyramid. "Grilled cheese" wasn't on her list and at that moment she couldn't understand how foods could be separated into different groups. I accommodated her and made hotdogs, macaroni and cheese and corn for lunch. For supper we had pizza and we divided that in to groups. The next morning when she wanted candy before lunch, I told her we were not eating anything from the sweet group before lunch. She said oh. ok. and that was the end of that! Woohoo!

 

 This was a learning experience for me. As you can imagine this project drug out for a long time! I am result driven. When I was in school, I was not a learner. I was an outstanding student. I did my work well--to make a certain grade (an A to be specific). I could memorize well and I was willing to play the game to get the result I wanted or the result I perceived someone else expected. 

What Aliza did on Friday was learning. She worked with that food pyramid. We didn't do Math or Bible on Friday. That bugged me. My instinct was to have her "make up" that work this weekend. I decided against it. We had a school day on Friday and it was a good school day. There is no need for Aliza to feel "punished" for doing the extra work that she didn't even realize she made for herself.

I have a feeling that my children are going to teach me to be a learner while they go about satisfying their natural curiosity.