Seems my oldest is now into Dioramas… ugh. He did most of the work himself. I did give him hints… like how to fold the walls and how to use double sided sticky tape. I also held some stuff for him while he cut. It was a weee bit awkward for him with the splint on his right hand… Here is some of the photos of his progress… the maze walls are installed and he is doing the ‘electric shock’:

oh… I forgot to mention… the book is “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH”. It wasn’t until they were half way through the book that another mother asked if I knew what NIMH stood for… being a wonderful, up to speed mother, keeping in touch with my children (this is sarcasm)… I said No. National Institute for Mental Health. Great…. I actually read most of the book after that…. back to the Maze… ready to shock those rats:

Now we have to add the grass that tempted the rats to get shocked:

All that is left is the rat and an opening that is moved up and down…

He did a great job on the rat. Looks more like a mouse… still… I was VERY impressed with my seven year old. Here he is with the finished project:

I’m very proud of my son. He did a great job. I hope the teacher thinks so as well… considering 10% of the grade is neatness. That’s a whole other story… it has taken me a while to warm up to this teacher. They get ‘bad check marks’ if their shirts are untucked, they say yaa instead of yes, they lean on the walls, wave to parents while walking in line, and the list goes on… but my son must learn to adjust to different teaching styles and so must I. She is a good teacher and my son is improving in her class. I think he will definitely be ready for 3rd grade. Phew… I really really hope she understands that is as neat as my son will get for now.

Tags: diorama, Mom, NIMH, son