This morning started with a mini-fight. I wanted Badger to continue progress on his Filipino workbook (Ang Diyos at Ako) but he just refused to do it. This is a familiar scene. I say something, he wants something else. I cite "obedience" and he breaks down and cries. At this point, I think I'm a failure as a teacher and I think about the coming start of the school year with dread.
But all was not lost. After taking a deep (deep, deep, deep) breath, I ask him, "Okay, so what do you want to do?" Still sniffling, he says, "I want to draw a battleship." Here we go again. I know he loves battleships. It's just that...I was running out of ways to incorporate battleships into our lessons. But that's not Badger's problem...it's actually mine as his parent and teacher.
Planning Around a Dreadnought
So, I wrapped my head around what we wanted to tackle for the day: tiyak na pangngalan or proper nouns. Since we were going to deal with battleships this morning...I would need to switch to English grammar and tackle proper nouns, instead. "What kind of battleship do you want to draw today? A regular battleship or a dreadnought?" He chose dreadnought. So I did some quick research.
Apparently, dreadnoughts were the dominant type of battleship during the early twentieth century and they figured in World War 1. They had two distinct features: "big gun" armament or an unprecedented use of heavy-calibre guns and steam turbine propulsion. The first Dreadnought (or HMS Dreadnought of the Royal Navy of Great Britain) in 1906 could be referred to as a proper noun but soon after, the term dreadnought could be used as a common noun because it was used in reference to a type of battleship with the same features, thereafter.
I had fun explaining the parts of the ship to Badger and Badger, in turn, had fun drawing the dreadnought and naming the dominant parts that made this kind of ship a dreadnought. There's also a mistake in the drawing. Instead of a steam engine... we should have called it a steam turbine. Oh well. We can still make another drawing later on. After explaining to him that dreadnought is a common noun and that he had to name the ship with a proper noun...he very patriotically drew a Philippine flag on top of the dreadnought and promptly named it HSS Tajonera. HMS actually stands for His/Her Majesty's Ship while USS stands for United States Ship. Technically, we should have called it BRP (Barka ng Republika ng Pilipinas...ex. BRP Gregorio del Pilar) but ended up with His Supremo's Ship instead (HSS). Hilarious. I have to tell him about the naming conventions of ships later today. I also don't know why he chose the number 91. I'll have to ask him about it.
A Little Bit of Everything
Instead of a frustrating lesson that could have ended in total chaos and tears...we ended up with a fun exploration of dreadnoughts, a little bit of history, a little bit of science, a little bit of nouns and a little bit of drawing (I used what I learned from my Design lessons in the course I'm taking from the University of Pennsylvania via Coursera.org and had Badger do the sketch outline in pencil, then finish it off with a marker...he naturally centered the drawing, something that's also taught in my Design course. Plus points, Badger!).
One of the reasons why I love homeschooling is the lessons I learn as a teacher, a mom and a human being. Instead of pushing my way and bulldozing my son into the lesson I want him to learn...I learn to be creative and spark curiosity in a subject that interests him without necessarily throwing out my goals for the day. So, hooray for dreadnoughts and design and propulsion and proper nouns! They all come together when it concerns a little boy named Badger. At the end of the lesson, he gave me a bonus demonstration of "drag" (in the aerodynamic sense) by dropping a ball of paper and a sheet of paper. "Which one will fall first, Mama?" he asks. "The ball!" I say...and then we talk briefly about the concept of drag before I go off to work. Amazing!
An Update
We just watched Star Trek: Into Darkness and there is a dreadnought ship there called the USS Vengeance. Details here. I can't wait to discuss it with Badger!
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