We are so enjoying the book, The Wright Brothers and Their Sister, in Bigger Hearts right now. We were reading about their childhood and how they spent evenings as a family - the brothers working on woodworking and the whole family reading about current events and discussing things. My ds just turned 9 and really wanted a Wii for his bday last week. My dh and I have decided not to get a gaming system for several reasons. We did not want him to have that temptation in front of him all the time so that he would not use his time wisely and we would always have to be saying "no" to him if he wanted to play it all the time, etc. We have seen too many friends whose sons struggle with wanting to play video games all the time. (Please realize that this is a very personal decision that we have made and does not mean that we think it can't be done in the right way - there is nothing wrong in video game systems by themselves - it is just the temptation we knew it would be for our ds). We explained to this to him again and he was disappointed, but accepting.
Back to the Wright Bros. - after reading that chapter, I asked the kids if they thought the airplane would have been invented then if the Wrights had had an X-Box. My son said, "No way!" Later that day, he came to me and said, "Mom, I've decided that whenever I'm tempted to play computer this week, instead I'm going to go and learn something! Or do something to help you!"
He is so inspired by that book. He has been playing with his Lego airplanes all week and, since I'm a pilot (in my past life
), we have been discussing the theory of flight and his many numerous questions about how airplanes work, etc. He truly is "learning something" rather than wasting his time. Oh, he also drew a sketch of the way HE would invent a lathe just like the Wright Bros. - I love it!
Thank you, once again, Carrie, for your oh-so-thoughtful selection of materials that really challenge and inspire the kids. It is such a relief to me that you have done all that work and all I have to do is trust you - which I do very much!
