Making Mistakes

We've had our first Rainbow Loom crisis.  First, there were troubles getting some of the loops off the pegs without popping them off.  Then, even when we thought it was all okay, one of the fancy Starburst bracelets must have been incompletely looped because it came off the loom and fell apart.  Oh, the tears over these looms.

But I know that mistakes and failure lead to learning and so I try to be calm and help them fix it.  We talked about practice and mistakes being part of learning a skill and how doing things at the end of the day or in a rush can lead to mistakes.  Sis, who cried last night over the loom and actually ripped an unfinished bracelet off it in despair, woke up early and started all over.  "I was too sleepy last night," she admitted.  It's not always that easy.

And then there's the math homework.  The worksheet last night confused Bud and then we found a mistake in it.  But he couldn't quite believe the worksheet would have an error and there was some anxiety.  And then there was a math worksheet a week ago--the question asked for factors, which I always think of as numerals, so when Bud became confused by the question (which was confusing, to both Mama and me--and I had college calculus!), I tried to help and we came up with what we thought was the best answer together.  But the teachers corrected the answer with an equation or "multiplication sentence."  And I wrote and she said we were right.

So, as much as I know that mistakes are a great teachable moment, sometimes I want to be right.  Which is not a great lesson.

Math Competition

Guess what the kiddos did yesterday on their first half-day of school?

Their summer math packets!

Sis started hers when she got home, running upstairs to her desk to work on it in quiet.  Bud, of course, had to start his immediately lest she get ahead of him.

At some point, she decided she was done for the day and came down.  But, upon hearing he was one page from being finished, she went back to doing hers!

So now they're both done and summer hasn't even started yet!!  Nothing like sibling rivalry to get a job done.

(Of course, a math-teacher friend pointed out that it was a mistake to let them do the packets, that they needed them as refreshers later this summer.  Blah.)