What Makes A Homeschooling Hit?

I've long pondered the way a school activity can capture a child's mind -- or leave him staring out the window wishing school were done for the day.

Both my little guys have been on a train kick lately, so I tried to build yesterday's activity around a train Samuel could color, cut, and put together 3-D (with my help). He could not have been more bored. I could barely convince him to color it, much less cut it out. Come to think of it, reading was much more of a "chore" for him yesterday too.

Today, while we were reading, I came up with the idea of making a town by using black paper with either lines down the middle (for roads) or stripes on the outside for railroad tracks. Blocks became buildings. The long strips helped to distinguish rectangles from the square blocks, a math concept that Samuel has seen recently.

Well, the town is a huge hit with both the guys. I probably won't get much else done with them today!