Camp Invention/キャンプの発明

Camp Invention is my favorite summer camp and besides VBS the only one that my children usually go to. Why do I like this summer camp- well it is eight hours a day of science- eventhe snacks are somehow based on what they are learning. I am not by nature a science person. I do enjoy biology and that end of science- but really feel no need to invent something new or do experiments everyday. Well this is the first year that Samuel has been able to go. The last two years he has watched Walt and his friends head off and then waited by the backdoor for him to come home and share what he had got to do that day. This year both of the boys went to camp and were fortunate to have two of their friends join them which always makes it a little easier. They had a great time and came home with all kinds of stories about the day and their inventions. About the third day of camp Samuel came home with a string tied in a circle and a variety of string tricks he could do. I must say I was quite impressed that he could do them- he said a new friend from Japan had taught him- funny he has been missing his friend Sho and makes a new friend a camp that reminds him of Sho (cute). Well the next Samuel comes home with even more tricks that look like they took quite sometime to learn- so I asked him if he had been working on those during lunch and recess. He states "no, i work on them all the time during my classes". At this I had to laugh because it is crazy expensive to send the kids to camp, he was been waiting two years to go and now has spent most of the time learning string tricks, isn't that how things go with kids. I am learning to love the things that I cannot plan. Learning to let them explore the world and trying to enjoy watching something new excite them even if i have invested time or in this case money in something totally different. I realized today there is so much more learned from a soft voice and a concerned person then someone determined to teach regardless of where your interest may be- i need to remember this next year for homeschooling! I will post pictures of the cool sting tricks tomorrow when I have recovered from another long day in the sun and at the pool with five kids. Ben and Ella are loving the pool now that it is much warmer.