Rose lapbook 2: progress and perfectionism
May 31st, 2008 by Alicia
Anna and I are taking a break from her lapbook. She is having an ice cream bar outside and I’m having caffeine upstairs! 
Daddy took the other kids to the lake to give us some one-on-one time.
The lapbook is turning into a really neat project. We’ve talked lots about everything from history (like how the Peace rose was smuggled out of Europe during WWII and more about WWII) to how to cross rose types to make a new breed to the petals generally being in multiples of 5.
Enchantedlearning.com has some neat flower parts with labels to explain how the seeds are formed and such. I’ve already lost the link but it was very helpful when we were talking about how the pollen gets on the ovules to develop seeds and so on.
Annalee is so good for making me a better mother. Victoria and I are perfectionists and we double check and plan and take our time. Anna dives in, scissors flying, colors running, willy nilly.
I have caught myself criticizing her several times today and I reined myself in. She did things like colored over some information I printed out, with pens so dark that you can longer read some words, or cut everything into tiny pieces so it’s hard to figure out what goes where and the ends of some sentences are lost. She’s the type to write something in permanent marker and never think to ask if it’s spelled right, and then scribble over it.
I told her that I need to work on not being so picky and she needs to work on taking her time and checking things before she does things that can’t be undone. She very nearly glued one picture on upside down but she checked it at last minute and caught herself, so she’s getting the idea.
I have to keep in mind that this is her project, though. If she is happy with it and learns, then it’s a success– even if the pictures are upside down. It doesn’t have to win awards or be suitable for framing! She always loves her finished work and is quite proud.
I can be a silly woman if I don’t stop and think sometimes. 
Victoria and I can learn a lot from her willy nilly ways.
