James and the 10 Cubed Chain

Dear Kirsten, 
 
I promised James to send you these photos today.  It was quite an accomplishment and Li Lao Shi and I were so proud of him.  Three weeks ago, he took this chain out and burst into tears somewhere around 213, put the material away, and vowed not to do “such a long chain” ever again.  This morning I asked him to do the 8³ chain and he said, “Miss Jennifer, how about you show me the 10³ chain?”  We had a long conversation about how this is a very challenging activity that may even take two days to complete but that was fine and we agreed that he was ready for the challenge.  We started setting up the mats around 9am and he completed it just before dismissal, with only a few distractions; toddlers in the play area can get very messy at times.  It was so amazing to see him beaming about his work.  Li Lao Shi overheard him saying to Aya while putting on his shoes, “Aya you know I worked so hard today.”  And he told me later with such charm, “You know Miss Jennifer it didn’t take me TWO DAYS!”  It was such a great moment for us to see. 
 
Hope you will enjoy,
Miss Jennifer