September 25: Time Line

Koen's homework assignment was to create a timeline of his life.  Even though it's not one of our planned days, I decided to write about this experience.  As Koen and I sat down to work on his timeline, it quickly became apparent that his idea of what his timeline should look like and my idea of what his timeline should look like were very, very different.  There were 10 spots to fill in with boxes for a picture to accompany the event.

The first thing we needed to figure out is what goes on a timeline.  At first, Koen couldn't remember what Mrs. VanSledright had said about it and I didn't find any written instructions, so we just went with what we thought was right. 

When I asked Koen what he thought should go on his timeline he came up with playing with Isaac, playing with Tysen, and playing with Evan.  I stopped him at this point and said that it was great that he enjoyed playing with his brother and cousins, but a timeline usually focuses on specific events.  After defining events as special things that happen at special times, he revised his suggestion to when he got Thomas and some his other trains.  I realized that to a five-year-old like Koen, getting a Thomas train IS a major event!  At this point, Koen remembered that Mrs. VanSledright said things on their time line should be super-duper important!  So I tried to redirect him again and suggest we start with the day he was born which was a super-duper important day, but I got, "Mom, that's BORING!" (emphasis his).  I suggested we look through some pictures to come up with good ideas for his timeline. 

So in the end, we compromised.  We did start his timeline with the day he was born, and also included the days he became a big brother to Ty and then to Brielle.  We added the Christmas he got his train table and the Christmas he received Thomas the Tank Engine...his first of his now extensive collection.  My suggestions of including the start of Kindergarten and losing his first tooth, major events in my mind, were met with his, "That's BORING!" response.  We went with the following:

1. May 15, 2005: The day Koen William Davies was born (6 weeks early!)
2. Christmas 2005:  Flying on an airplane to visit Aunt Jane and Uncle Mark in Arizona.
3. Christmas 2006:  Getting a train table.
4. October 18, 2007:  Becoming a big brother to Tysen
5. Christmas 2008:  Getting Thomas the Tank Engine for Christmas.
6. August 2009:   Going to a hotel with Grandpa and Grandma Davies and the rest of the Davies family (repeated in July 2010)
7. September 2009:  Starting preschool at St. Mark's Lutheran School
8. February 21, 2010:  Becoming a big brother to Brielle.
9. July 2010:  Spending time with Grandpa and Grandma Smits and cousins/family from Chicago and Arizona

(Isn't it sad that I can only remember nine of them???  I guess I need to start some memory exercises.)

So in addition to the Thomas highlights, he was able to include his initial ideas of spending time with his cousins and family which made him happy and he included a few major events like being born and becoming a big brother.

The other thing I wasn't clear on is whether we were supposed to find photos of these events or if he was supposed to draw them in the space provided.  He was so excited about the assignment, he drew all 10 pictures by himself, and he did a great job!  Apparently, everyone else used real photos on their time lines (not sure if that's true or an exaggeration) but I told him it was great he did all the pictures himself and that I was really proud of him.  And that's the truth!

I can see it's going to be tricky to let Koen, and eventually the other kids, go with their own ideas for assignments for school when I think I know more of what the teacher wants.  I definitely don't want to squelch their creative ideas, but learning how to guide them is going to be my homework for the year...and probably continuing on through many more years.