So the other day we got Bridget a clock for her bedroom so she can see how late it is and try and go to sleep before 3 am or so (wish I was exaggerating!). I was all set to show her how to tell it was time to go to bed when she went and told *me* what the time on the clock was set at. Huh. When did she learn that? Anyway, it's working fine so far. We tried this once before, awhile back, but that didn't work. That was a digital clock that plugged in and we had to put it on the other side of the room. Plus I was worried about the glow from the face messing up her melatonin production so I wasn't thrilled with it (of course this is the girl who sometimes falls asleep reading and sleeps most of the night with a reading light in her face). This one is working much better. It's got a battery and we were able to hang it right next to her bed so it's pretty much in her line of sight. Plus it's red which is her favorite color. And there's just something nice about analog clocks. It's also inspired Bridget to start drawing clock faces set at various times and has sparked a few conversations on clocks and time in general.

Yesterday was fiber arts. I love fiber arts :-D We seem to have a core group of people who regularly show up. I got to hold the baby again yesterday (2 months old) and our kids played nice and I even got a few more rows done on the scarf I'm crocheting. I'm crocheting it horizontally so a few more rows is more than it sounds (I think I only need to go 1 1/2 more rows and it will be wide enough). Bridget keeps bringing her nifty knitter but not touching it and Owen isn't into fiber arts at all. Both kids had a blast as usual.

So this morning Owen brings me the suet cakes we just bought for the bird feeder and comments on how heavy they are. On a whim I got out the food scale Robert uses and let Owen weigh the cakes. It was a three pack of cakes which was too heavy for the scale but next thing I know Owen is on a roll! He kept digging through the pantry finding cans and boxes of things to weigh. We were both surprised to find the tuna can and the tomato paste can were the same weight despite being different shapes (the tomato paste just *looked* lighter). He was surprised to find that two different containers of cashews were different weights (one had been half eaten). He struggled a bit with the terminology (referring to lighter ones as "shorter" and telling me that 2 1/2 is smaller than 1). He's so cute I could eat him up :-D

So, just some stuff I've been noticing a lot lately IRL and online. Why are so many people concerned with how early their kids learn something? I was talking about this with Robert the other day in regards to reading, but it can be applied to lots of things.

Now, I know some people think that you have to work at reading every day for years before it will click so I get that. I don't agree with it, but I get why that person would feel it necessary to work on phonics (or whatever) with their little kid if they honestly believe they'll never learn to read without all the work.

What I'm really talking about is that there seems to be a large number of people who actually think that earlier is better just because it's earlier and I don't understand the reasoning behind that. Like, if you have a 3 year old who reads that's inherently better than having a child who doesn't read til 8. Why? Does anyone really think it matters in the long term? Or is it all about bragging rights? I didn't learn to tell time til 6th grade (11). Does it matter I learned "late"? Does it affect my ability to tell time as an adult? Does it mean I'm stupid? No, no and . . . no. Bridget learned to read at 6 which I think is average for girls. Would she be able to read better if she had learned at 3? I don't see how since she is already capable of reading at an adult level. Yet at 8 years old she doesn't fully know her coins yet. I remember the look of shock a homeschooler gave me when Bridget was 6 and didn't know them. I wonder what she'd think now. But does it matter that she hasn't learned them early? Does it mean she'll never know them? Of course not!

I guess that's part of unschooling. If someone believes in their heart that earlier *is* better and that it's doing children a disservice to let them learn things on their own timetable then no, they're not going to be unschoolers. I don't believe earlier is better but I don't believe later is better either. I think what's *best* is when the child is ready for and interested in the knowledge and that differs from kid to kid. Just some stuff I've been thinking about because for some reason the 'earlier is better' attitude keeps getting in my face a lot lately.