Turkey and Bunny are amusing to me.  Today was our first really involved day with our “practice school,” otherwise known as our Olympics unit.  We did have a short lesson on Friday, but it mostly involved them listening and looking at the map and some pictures.  Today we got fancy and had some counting, quizzing, and coloring, too!

Now, none of this was terribly surprising to me, but it was still funny to see how very different the two of them are in their approaches to learning.  For example, I gave them each a box of crayons to color pictures of the Olympic torch.  Bunny dumped her box of crayons everywhere, and, as far as I could tell, mostly just grabbed them at random (except for the pink, which, of course, had to be the first color she used).  She also colored quickly, even though she was trying to stay inside the lines. Turkey, on the other hand, took one crayon out of his box at a time, and put it back before he got the next color.  He picked his colors very deliberately, and colored very slowly and purposefully.

Their approach to something as simple as a coloring assignment showcased their different personalities quite well.  Bunny is very impulsive, rarely thinks things through, and works quickly, sometimes sacrificing the quality of the end result.  Part of this may be because she’s 16 months younger than Turkey, but I really think it’s mostly just who she is.  Turkey, on the other hand, is rather fastidious, very exact and orderly. This is how he has always been–he hates getting dirty, likes to know exactly when things are going to happen, and follows the letter (although not always the spirit!) of the law.

Funny how easy it is to spot differences in children when they’re doing schoolwork!