Do Not Disturb

Do Not Disturb-

 A couple weeks ago, the boys were playing as usual. Josh was playing with Bug's trains and decided to take some of the battery powered ones apart. He stood at the counter like this for a good two hours, totally focused on what he was doing. Even though I imagine sitting at a table under better light would have been more comfortable, and those two hours stretched past his usual bedtime, I didn't dare disturb him. He was in the zone, figuring out how the trains worked, even taking apart the tiny motors. Times like this are when the best learning happens, the kind that really sticks in their brains. And not only was it an exercise for his mind, it was great for his fine motor skills as well (those screws are tiny!).

In a traditional school setting kids aren't given the opportunity to really dive into something like this, to concentrate, explore, and discover uninterrupted. At best they get 45 minutes before a bell rings and they are being shuffled off to another subject, and being asked to concentrate on that for 45 minutes before it happens again. It's very unnatural and counterproductive to the learning process.