Granted, this is yet another thing that has his teachers in fits. But we’ve been using it as a period of instruction—much like we did with the space and robots phase (not that he is over that, but this if far more novel at the moment). We ENCOURAGE his immersion in all things Pirate.
In addition to letting him see movies like Pirates of the Caribbean and run around with a sponge sword and a pirate hat, we see opportunity for learning.
Discussions on seafaring. It’s tools. How they are used. The vocabulary. Real pirates in the modern age. All are fascinating to Sasha and something Grandpa knows a great deal about and can explain and (even better) SHOW him.
An Uncle has taught him about swords. How to hold it right. How to stand. The names for different kinds.
It’s not typical preschool education, but why not? He’s fascinated and we can incorporate numbers and letters, shapes and colors into it too. But there is plenty of physics, earth science, and other stuff to be learned through his periods of fascination.
And the name calling and threats are all part of the play acting and something kids just do around 3 or 4. And if he calls me “Scurvy” well, that’s just an opportunity to let him know what scurvy is and why we need to eat our vegetables. Right?
If he threatens to “cut me off the calendar?” Well, that’s just kind of funny.
2 comments:
Dude, I want a pirate phase! That sounds like a fun one!
I love that you incorporate learning into these phases! Our pirate play pretty much consists of pretending to look out of paper towel roll telescopes and saying "arrrh," which is also fun.
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