Chalk: Dinosaurs

This week, we've been trying to get our stalled engines running again with regards to homeschool. The boys have recovered from the flu, and we've started reading and writing again. Junior J wasn't too keen on learning much, so I just asked if he wanted to draw dinosaurs on the blackboard, and of course he said yes. 

I love the way he draws them. They mainly resemble stick-figure versions of dinosaurs, but he manages to incorporate all the key distinguishing features of each species, from plates, spikes, horns to the number of claws they have. 

This dino-mania has taught me something: it really makes it much easier to teach when you let a child learn according to his interests. He flips non-fiction books on dinosaurs, sprouts all sorts of random facts (he knows what a World War is, because that was when the Spinosaurus fossils were destroyed in Berlin), and plays with his dinosaurs every day. He tries to teach his younger brother about them, and Lil J has also learnt the names of all their dinosaur toys. The baby is just content to attack and chew on Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus. 

Amongst all the dinosaurs books that we've read, I've found two to be particularly comprehensive (in terms of being reference books that is): Scholastic Dinosaurs A to Z, as well as Dougal Dixon's Amazing Dinosaurs (affiliate links attached). The former has all the dinosaurs sorted out in alphabetical order, which really helps when you need to read up about a certain dinosaur of interest. I find most books tend to present dinosaurs in random categories, which can get confusing. The latter is available in the library. Both are not available on most online bookstores, so we purchased second-hand copies from Amazon. 

With our engines running slowly now, I'm hoping we'll be able to go full-steam ahead next week. Have a blessed weekend!