Book Fair
I had a great opportunity today to share a school "moment" with my kids.Okay, actually, I had a friend tell me there were still spots needed to be filled for volunteering at the Book Fair. And, said friend was pretty persuasive. And, she should have been. I cower from volunteer opportunities outside of the classroom, and I always used Thomas as my excuse. As you know, he is in school now, and my excuse is long gone. So, I sucked up my courage and went and helped kids from ages 5 to 11 pick out and purchase books in the school library.
It was fun, and entertaining. While half of the students who stopped by had little to no effective skills with money, the other half were challenged by the adults helping. Grace and myself along with librarian and library helper made vast efforts to get the kids to add and estimate and round on their own.I was surprised at how many older students struggled with real-world math. Now, I have no illusions that my child is a super genius, but I think making her earn her own money and pay for things herself has "paid off." Kids are clearly being kept from the learning experiences of real-world interactions. So, if you have the kids help with grocery shopping, or have them by their own items with birthday or Christmas money--keep it up--in a day of bank cards and credit cards, kids have no idea the literal value of the dollar.
Ahhhh, Book Fair! Do most of the kids up there want to buy the "junk" instead of books? (i.e. posters, erasers, pencils, and just junk!) That's the bulk of purchases at our school. I wish they would ONLY have books, but I know it's their marketing strategy.
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