Magic and Mayhem

Annalee is my little fairy child. She flits about, writing songs, drawing pictures, singing, dancing, pretending. She loves to do math only because her big sister hates to do math and she can do it better.  :)  Otherwise, she’s pretty much against anything that looks, tastes or smells like school. Luckily, she’s smart as a whip and hasn’t figured out that she’s learning all day anyway.

As much as Annalee hates school, she hates sleep more. She has a full blown phobia about being alone at night so Daryl and I take turns keeping her company at bedtime while she falls asleep. She enjoys that one-on-one time with us and will fight to stay awake with everything her little body has.

Enter the sneaky homeschooling. A few months ago I decided that if I had to sit and sing, read and otherwise lull this child to sleep (which can take a very long time), I could make it productive sometimes too. I started reciting the times tables to her! I spent 3 days straight just on the sixes, all in a row, one after another.

At worst, it bores her sleep faster than a really interesting bedtime story (and yes, she still gets plenty of those). At best, I figure it might painlessly help her learn more of her math facts.

A few nights ago I started reading about the presidents for her bedtime story. Unfortunately, it was way too interesting and we decided to read that one during the day. Still, I think I’m onto something. She tries so hard to pay attention and stay awake! It’s the only time I get her undivided attention all day.

We’ve been spending more and more of her bedtimes reading classical poetry, historical fiction and even character building stories that deal with ethics and morals. She really enjoys this stuff, too, mostly because it’s something she’s doing with just me or just Daddy, but also because it generally is interesting stuff if you slow down and really take it in.

And yes, she’ll always get plenty of lullabies and fairy tales. They just may be followed by the Gettysburgh address.