Crafting and churning

So far working on their projects Princess has been focused on 'crafting'.  she has made a nature booklet on the computer, several bracelets with different styles, continued a sewing project, and began a weaving one.  I don't think she has spent one day this week on any 'paper' work.  No math, no writing, and no real academic work.

Not that she hasn't been learning, she has been reading, playing games at the dinner table, and much more hidden learning.  But I think the most important lessons she has been working on this week are of the patience and diligence sort.  Instead of throwing any old beads together she planned out and re-planned a pattern. She had to thread them multiple times to achieve the desired effect.    Her braided bracelet also took several tries so that the end result was worth saving.  The weaving had to be left for another day.  It is much to big of a project to finish in one day.  The sewing as well.  Princess consistently, across all craft areas, needs to learn to keep an even tension.  Her sewing has the signs of too tight stitches as well as too loose, her weaving alternately bumps up from being pulled tight and has loops dragging from being too loose.  Even the braiding has uneven patterns as she alternates from pulling to tight through a perfect weave, on to too loose and back again.

I question if I aught to force her to do multiple projects of the same type so her fingers learn, or if I aught to let her continue to experiment.  I think forcing her would be a bit counterproductive at this age.  Her little fingers and her eyes would tire of doing such close work for long.  And I know she would grow tired of the receptive nature in doing a dozen of the same type.

Dude on the other hand has been churning out projects left and right.  While he obviously prefers programing, he has also done quite a few different writing projects and daily grams.  One or two days he has churned out half a dozen or more before lunch!

Little Man is perfectly willing to work on any and all projects.  Any time I remind him to do one, he is right on it.  Anytime I do not remind him he is off reading or playing or building with something.  Which at his age is just fine.