Bedtime Stories

After running through a lot of stories on Anjaneya (this is the name Vanathy prefers) and Muruga, I was trying to find some other stories to tell the kids during bed time. So now we are going through the explorers of the world.

So far, we've covered Columbus, Cook, Amerigo vespucci, Vasco da Gama and Ernest Shackleton. And we finished the Lewis and Clark expedition yesterday. It is turning out to be a very good exercise so far and the kids are liking it so far. We also did some discussions based on the maps and the globe to see the routes they've taken and Sibi is absolutely fascinated by the stories.

Apart from what I've read, I am using the extensive Wikipedia entries on each of these voyages to tell the stories and also ask questions everyday to make sure they really understand. Of course, for Vanathy, only the adventure part registers while Sibi is making the connection with history as well.

So yesterday, J asked Sibi to tell her the story on Lewis and Clark expedition. It was an amazing story which Sibi came up with. He remembered most of the story but embellished it with his thoughts wherever he forgot something. I tried correcting him but then let him run through it as he wished. Now we've agreed to watch the PBS program on 'Lewis and Clark expedition' on the weekend (I've the DVD).

While he was telling the story, I was thinking of the future when Sibi standing on a cliff and watching the mighty Missippi flowing, will remember his father telling the story of the expedition long ago as a bedtime story. It was mushy but worth it.

The kids ask interesting questions while the story goes on. A sample.
Sibi - Appa, how come Columbus is lost? don't they have maps?
Me - Yesda, they dont have complete maps back in the fifteenth century and they were still exploring.
Vanathy - Appa, he could've asked Dora, she has a map.

Some of the discussion yesterday was about Jefferson and I was thinking of coming up with a condensed version of '1776' for the kids and J asked about the 'Civil war'. I am not so sure as Sibi may not be able to comprehend the actual issue of why the war was fought. So that have to wait.

Oftentimes I think I have taken Vanathy's growing up as more matter-of-fact than Sibi's. I think that goes for all second child's. Vanathy is hyperactive when compared to Sibi and has been since she started walking. I am thinking of the number of times we have to take her to the ER in the Apollo children's hospital and it is absolutely nerve-racking bringing her up. She is also more authoritative but loves her brother very much and demands things that she has to have. Now she has drawn up a big list for her birthday and we are trying to figure how to handle that.