A Valentine's Day project Jonathan found in one of the Valentine's Day books we checked out from the library. You just dip them in beaten (frothy) egg white and then dust with sugar and let dry on paper towels. They're edible, but we aren't eating ours, since we don't know where our rose has been or what chemicals are pulsing through its delicate little veins.
Jonathan said they look like "snow-dusted butterfly wings." I love the way he sees the world.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Boastful Star
Jonathan has been reading Tales of the Shimmering Sky: Ten Global Folktales with Activities by Susan Milord and picked this one out from the story The Boastful Star. It was pretty demanding of his fine motor skills, and his patience, so I finished it, at his request, and we hung it in the dining room window. I'm getting ideas for next year's solstice ornaments.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Space-Time Fabric
Jonathan did this in his "free time" today (we usually do formal science on Tuesdays and Thursdays). He asked to take a break from his history reading and sat at the kitchen table working on these.
The first is his rendition of Einstein's model of gravity. Here, J depicts the moon caught in a ripple of the space-time continuum caused by the presence of the earth.
The second is a drawing of Ptolemy's geo-centric model of the universe.
Pre-Copernican Universe
The first is his rendition of Einstein's model of gravity. Here, J depicts the moon caught in a ripple of the space-time continuum caused by the presence of the earth.
The second is a drawing of Ptolemy's geo-centric model of the universe.
Pre-Copernican Universe
Benjamen's Writing
Benjamen has finally shown an interest in writing. This is what he does in his free time, these days.
Friday, January 13, 2006
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Such a Nice Day
We're having such a nice day, today. B* and I did our "math meeting" this morning and made a nice pictograph of the indoor and outdoor winter activities that he likes. He wanted to hang it on the wall when we were done, so we did.
J* is only doing math on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, a decision he made after I told him how far ahead we were. He was getting angsty about math again, so I reminded him that it was his decision whether we continued or stopped. Whenever I let him know that he doesn't have to do math, that it was a decision he made and that I supported by buying supplies, and that he can quit anytime he wants to, he completely freaks out at the thought of not doing anymore lessons. I told him that we were way ahead and if he wanted to do less math, then we could figure that out. We counted the days until his evaluation in June, figured out how many more lessons were left in his book, and did some math to figure out the minimum number of lessons per week he could do and still complete the book by June. He dropped the bad attitude immediately and has been excited about his math meetings again. I think he had forgotten that he's the one in charge of his studies, and that these decisions are his to make. Once I put it back in his hands, he felt much better about it.
The boys played outside for a few hours at two different times during the day, and when they came in we all had some hot tea together. I love those little quiet breaks in the day.
We've finished earth science and have started astronomy, so we spent the day gathering together supplies for our "stargazing kit", a bag full of mittens, warm hats, scarves, a flashlight wrapped in red cellophane (so that when we need it, our eyes won't have such a hard time re-adjusting from the too-bright light), a thermos full of sleepy-time tea and honey, a bag of homemade trail mix (honey-nut cheerios, life cereal, peanuts, sunflower seeds, dried cherries, dates, butterscotch morsels and chocolate chips) which the boys assembled using ingredients each of them chose, our glow-in-the-dark book of star charts, and binoculars. We also took down the rocks and minerals poster from last year and put up a star chart poster in its place. On a home decor note, the star chart is much more appealing than the rocks.
J* worked for a while on his cursive handwriting, read some history and science books from the library, did a few pages in his spelling book, and then we did a grammar lesson together. When we changed his math schedule, we also evaluated all of his other studies and he decided what he wanted to continue (everything) and what he wanted to quit (nothing) and what he wanted to add (a course on the new Bionicles). It wasn't all that different from any other day, but the shift in his attitude has made all the difference. He had been balking when I would ask for a narration, for example, but after we evaluated all of his studies and he re-made his commitments to the different subjects, he asked me to do a narration on the first section of his astronomy book "because the astronomy section of [his] science folder is so empty." And after he watched a video from the library about the sun, he wanted to do another page for his notebook on five things he learned from the video.
Now I know exactly what to do whenever he starts to feel anxious about any of his studies. I knew that already, but it's one of those things that I forget in the day-to-day shuffle. His anxiety kind of creeps up on us, and I often don't realize that we're struggling until it's too late. And I hate that, because the thing I want him to know, more than anything else, is that learning is all about having fun. I guess we both need these little reminders.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Coat of Arms
One of the many coats of arms that J made. He made this one specifically for me. He had me pick out the shield shape, sub-ordinary, and charge from a book on heraldry. Can you tell we're studying knights, at the moment?
Gluckshaus
A Gluckshaus board J made.
Gluckshaus means "house of fortune," and if you want to win this German game, all you need is luck.
Today's game of roulette came from it, though it reminds us more of a hopscotch board.
In German social clubs, it was against the rules to go barefoot, roll in the mud, steal food, or throw knives and dishes.
Rules:
Each player starts with 10 beans. You roll the dice and put a bean on the square with the number you rolled, or if there's already a bean there, you take the bean. Unless you roll 7 "Wedding! Bring a Gift!", then you always leave a bean and never take. If you roll a 2, you're a Lucky Pig and get all of the beans on the board except the wedding beans. If you roll a 12, you get all of the beans, including the wedding beans. There are no 1 or 4 squares so if you roll those, you lose a turn. When someone runs out of beans, they're out of the game.
Gluckshaus means "house of fortune," and if you want to win this German game, all you need is luck.
Today's game of roulette came from it, though it reminds us more of a hopscotch board.
In German social clubs, it was against the rules to go barefoot, roll in the mud, steal food, or throw knives and dishes.
Rules:
Each player starts with 10 beans. You roll the dice and put a bean on the square with the number you rolled, or if there's already a bean there, you take the bean. Unless you roll 7 "Wedding! Bring a Gift!", then you always leave a bean and never take. If you roll a 2, you're a Lucky Pig and get all of the beans on the board except the wedding beans. If you roll a 12, you get all of the beans, including the wedding beans. There are no 1 or 4 squares so if you roll those, you lose a turn. When someone runs out of beans, they're out of the game.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
December's Pleasure Reading List
Why Do Leaves Change Color? By Betsy Maestro
Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky
The Sugaring-Off Party by Jonathan London
Riley and Rose in the Picture by Susanna Gretz
Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus by Peter Sis
How Leaves Change by Sylvia A. Johnson
Sebastian, A Book about Bach by Jeanette Winter
Beethoven Lives Upstairs by Barbara Nichol
Ininatig’s Gift of Sugar: Traditional Native Sugarmaking by Laura Waterman Wittstock
The Solstice Evergreen: The History, Folklore and Origins of the Christmas Tree by Sheryl Ann Karas
Sugaring by Jessie Haas
Sugar on Snow by
Poetry for Young People: Walt Whitman by Jonathan Levin
Poetry for Young People: William Carlos Williams by Christopher MacGowan
Christmas Morning by Cheryl Ryan
Ed Emberley’s Fingerprint Drawing Book by Ed Emberley
1-2-3 Draw Horses: A Step-by-Step Guide by Freddie Levin
Xtreme Art: Draw Manga! By Christopher Hart
Santa Claus, The World’s Number One Toy Expert by Marla Frazee
The Winter Solstice by Ellen Jackson
The Shortest Day: Celebrating the Winter Solstice by Wendy Pfeffer
The
A Firefly in a Fir Tree: A Carol for Mice by Hilary Knight
The Old Man Mad About Drawing, A Tale of Hokusai by
Three French Hens by Margie Palatini
The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
The Wee Christmas Cabin of Carn-na-ween by Ruth SawyerNoel by Tony JohnstonPoetry for Young People: Alfred Lord Tennyson edited by John Maynard
Getting to Know the World’s Greatest Composers: Johann Sebastian Bach by Mike Venezia