Since we've moved to a new area of the country we've decided to take our summer vacation to explore our surroundings. We had part 1 of summer vacation 2006 this week.
We started off with a free concert in a local park. Being small-town hicks, to us the words "free concert" mean "oh, maybe 100 people show up if the weather's nice." Of course, this concert advertised fireworks, so we suspected a few more folks would show up...but, wow, we weren't prepared for Life in the Big City. Hundreds and hundreds of people, swarms of people, all on blankets and lawnchairs, most of them eating birthday cake and ice cream (it was a celebration of the area's birthday, complete with free cake, which we didn't eat ... plus, we took our own ice cream substitute, in this case fruit juice sweetened Soy Delicious). Gobs of kids running around, dancing to music. Before the fireworks the kids were all told to go find their parents (how? Did they all have GPS?). Then we all settled down to an amazingly nice fireworks display. Again, we are used to the more, umm, small town sensibilities in regards to fireworks. This was on par with some 4th of July celebrations we've seen.
Next day was Zoo Day. I was on animal overload after about an hour, but the kids wanted to see EVERYTHING. We didn't, thankfully. We left after about 3 hours. We also stopped by to see the turtle sculptures at Turtle Park (okay, what really happened is that we parked in Turtle Park and walked across the bridge to the zoo, since the zoo is free but parking is $9, and we are CHEAP. And, yes, we carried along a cooler with food to the zoo, but no ice cream this time).
We got home from the zoo, made the delightful discovery that one of the balls had fallen out of the trees in the backyard (you know those really big play balls you can get? that are about 5 foot circumference? We had 3 of them stuck about 30 feet up in the trees in our backyard, along with a soccer ball we threw up to try to knock the big balls down. I tried to get a picture, but on-ground photos can't really do justice to the way we're transforming our yard into an Easter Egg Hunt for Young Giants).
After a brief rest, it was time to repack the snacks, re-apply sunscreen, and head to the pool. We love the local pool. It isn't very crowded and it's mostly flat water.
Evening was time to fire up the grill. Then tumble into our own beds with our own cats to keep us company ... possibly the best part of vacationing at home.
09 June 2006
08 June 2006
Tuesday Teatime
For treats I mixed up a box of Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free Brownie Mix . I'll admit, I wasn't paying close attention when I mixed them -- I put in too much water. I tried to compensate by dumping some potato starch. Maybe that's why they ended up so very tasteless. Really, though, I think it's more a function of the mix. I don't think I'll be buying this item again.
We also had some Trader Joe's French Market Limeade. Very fizzy, not too sweet. It was a hit.
And the poetry? Oh, yes, the poetry. We got out Valerie Worth's All the Small Poems and Fourteen More and enjoyed poems from the first part of the book (small poems). We also had a very loooooong discussion about why the book is entitled All the Small Poems; the sort of discussion that you think will never, ever end; the sort of discussion that leaves you questioning whether you really want to hang out with a 6 year old on a daily basis let alone try to read any poetry whatsoever beyond, say, Mother Goose (and you're not really sure about that, because there are probably some philosophical problems and linguistic issues lurking in Mother Goose you've never really thought about, but believe me, the 6 year old is lying in bed at night wondering about it because, really, when you're 6 what else is competing for your attention?).
We also had some Trader Joe's French Market Limeade. Very fizzy, not too sweet. It was a hit.
And the poetry? Oh, yes, the poetry. We got out Valerie Worth's All the Small Poems and Fourteen More and enjoyed poems from the first part of the book (small poems). We also had a very loooooong discussion about why the book is entitled All the Small Poems; the sort of discussion that you think will never, ever end; the sort of discussion that leaves you questioning whether you really want to hang out with a 6 year old on a daily basis let alone try to read any poetry whatsoever beyond, say, Mother Goose (and you're not really sure about that, because there are probably some philosophical problems and linguistic issues lurking in Mother Goose you've never really thought about, but believe me, the 6 year old is lying in bed at night wondering about it because, really, when you're 6 what else is competing for your attention?).
06 June 2006
RightStart Geometry
The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have a 10yo and a 6yo who have average math ability.The 10yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.
On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson 24 Square Centimeters. First you eyeball a couple of rectangles and guess which has the greater area. Then, it’s simply a matter of dividing up rectangles into square centimeters, then finding the area of the rectangles. KidV1 doesn’t bother using the centimeter cubes as a manipulative. The lesson is over very quickly.
Lesson 25 Square Inches. Same as yesterday, but with inches rather than centimeters. I am fascinated by how at ease she is with the drawing equipment. She is chatting away about an unrelated subject while drawing her precise squares -- quickly ticking off the inches, then confidently zooming the pencil along the triangle to make the lines.
Lesson 26 Area of a rectangle. The lesson starts off with a discussion of the word “formula”, and shows the formula for the area of a rectangle A=w x h. Then the algebraic version is given (putting the w and h side by side with no intervening x), with a bit of explanation of various other ways this may be written.
The problems are fairly straight forward. The first asks for the area of a figure -- it looks like a rectangle with a square taken out of a corner, making a 6 sided figure. The book shows a couple of ways to find the answer. A couple of problems crop up while working on the worksheet. First, the problems require remembering the multiplication table for 9, yet KidV1 seems to have forgotten this somewhere along the line. Oops. Also, she is unsure about whether she is supposed to subtract the small rectangle inside the big rectangle ... I reply that it wouldn’t be a “rectangle” if you took out the other bit, so they must mean the entire big rectangle without subtracting anything ... she points out that in the book some of the 6 sided figures are called “rectangles” even though they aren’t ... hmmm, you know, she’s right, and "isn't that annoying?" I look at the answer sheet to figure it out -- it’s the big rectangle with nothing taken out.
After she finishes the sheet she reviews her 9s multiplication.
Lesson 27 Comparing Areas of Rectangles. The sheet in the book has a picture that looks like the Gateway Arch at the bottom -- the sidebar mentions that “the shape of this graph is called a parabola.”. It also mentions the word “calculus”, as in “this type of problem is easily solved with a branch of mathematics called calculus.” There is much balking at these scary images and words. I decide to stay available for questions. The first question is along the lines of, “In the book this says this math is really for middle school students, so should I be doing it?” We discuss. I think the bottom line is that she chose to do this math this summer; I’m okay with her deciding not to complete it right now. So far everything has been well within the capabilities of an average 10yo, particularly one who has used RightStart before.
Okay, with much trepidation she moves on with the lesson, which is calculating the area of rectangles with a constant perimeter. It’s given as a story-problem -- you have x amount of gold edging to put around a rectangular frame; you want to maximize the area within the frame. What dimensions should you use for the perimeter? (The problem in the book is written more clearly for students, but that’s the gist.) I point out that the arch/parabola is made on the graph by drawing points on the graph and simply connecting the dots. She starts filling in her own graph; I gently correct her when she starts labelling the x axis incorrectly (“I think it will work better if you put the numbers at the base of the line, see? LIke they did in the book. It’ll be easier for you to draw the final figure that way.”)
She survives. I don’t know if she feels a sense of triumph. Maybe it’s more a sense of surprise at how easy it was once she got started.
RightStart B is on hiatus. We’re going to do some Waldorf-based math, then take a math-break for summer.
On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson 24 Square Centimeters. First you eyeball a couple of rectangles and guess which has the greater area. Then, it’s simply a matter of dividing up rectangles into square centimeters, then finding the area of the rectangles. KidV1 doesn’t bother using the centimeter cubes as a manipulative. The lesson is over very quickly.
Lesson 25 Square Inches. Same as yesterday, but with inches rather than centimeters. I am fascinated by how at ease she is with the drawing equipment. She is chatting away about an unrelated subject while drawing her precise squares -- quickly ticking off the inches, then confidently zooming the pencil along the triangle to make the lines.
Lesson 26 Area of a rectangle. The lesson starts off with a discussion of the word “formula”, and shows the formula for the area of a rectangle A=w x h. Then the algebraic version is given (putting the w and h side by side with no intervening x), with a bit of explanation of various other ways this may be written.
The problems are fairly straight forward. The first asks for the area of a figure -- it looks like a rectangle with a square taken out of a corner, making a 6 sided figure. The book shows a couple of ways to find the answer. A couple of problems crop up while working on the worksheet. First, the problems require remembering the multiplication table for 9, yet KidV1 seems to have forgotten this somewhere along the line. Oops. Also, she is unsure about whether she is supposed to subtract the small rectangle inside the big rectangle ... I reply that it wouldn’t be a “rectangle” if you took out the other bit, so they must mean the entire big rectangle without subtracting anything ... she points out that in the book some of the 6 sided figures are called “rectangles” even though they aren’t ... hmmm, you know, she’s right, and "isn't that annoying?" I look at the answer sheet to figure it out -- it’s the big rectangle with nothing taken out.
After she finishes the sheet she reviews her 9s multiplication.
Lesson 27 Comparing Areas of Rectangles. The sheet in the book has a picture that looks like the Gateway Arch at the bottom -- the sidebar mentions that “the shape of this graph is called a parabola.”. It also mentions the word “calculus”, as in “this type of problem is easily solved with a branch of mathematics called calculus.” There is much balking at these scary images and words. I decide to stay available for questions. The first question is along the lines of, “In the book this says this math is really for middle school students, so should I be doing it?” We discuss. I think the bottom line is that she chose to do this math this summer; I’m okay with her deciding not to complete it right now. So far everything has been well within the capabilities of an average 10yo, particularly one who has used RightStart before.
Okay, with much trepidation she moves on with the lesson, which is calculating the area of rectangles with a constant perimeter. It’s given as a story-problem -- you have x amount of gold edging to put around a rectangular frame; you want to maximize the area within the frame. What dimensions should you use for the perimeter? (The problem in the book is written more clearly for students, but that’s the gist.) I point out that the arch/parabola is made on the graph by drawing points on the graph and simply connecting the dots. She starts filling in her own graph; I gently correct her when she starts labelling the x axis incorrectly (“I think it will work better if you put the numbers at the base of the line, see? LIke they did in the book. It’ll be easier for you to draw the final figure that way.”)
She survives. I don’t know if she feels a sense of triumph. Maybe it’s more a sense of surprise at how easy it was once she got started.
RightStart B is on hiatus. We’re going to do some Waldorf-based math, then take a math-break for summer.
02 June 2006
I was going to do a knitting update, but lucky for you something more interesting came along
This is the knitting. It's a sock in Caesar's Check pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks . It's a fun pattern, but doing it with black yarn on size 1 needles means I need a magnifying glass and major lighting sources to work on it, since I keep loosing track of which stitch I'm on in the pattern. This is how much I've gotten done in 2 weeks:
My plan was to have this for a birthday gift in late August. Yeah. Right. Plus, I just noticed a dropped stitch back at the end of the ribbing/beginning of pattern. Plus, I sort of lost track of what row I'm on now. So my "knitting update" was mostly going to be freeform whining.
Then, when we got home from the vet (taking the cat for shots), I found a package on the doorstep. While the cat tried to climb my leg (since treats after a vet visit are An Entitlement), I ripped it open (unlike Poppins , who was heavily into anticipation and delayed gratification, the cat and I want our treats NOW!). And I discovered:
Secret Pal stuff! Ooooooooh!
Here we find a hand embroidered bag made by my Secret Pal, who apparently picked KidV2's favorite shade of blue for the fabric (or so I was informed by KidV2 as she was admiring it and maybe sort of hinting that I should give it to her -- fat chance, as I love bags, and this one is just the right size for knitting projects). And some Bernat yarn that Secret Pal has over-dyed in various purples ... she included the pattern for the Sophie bag from Magknits as a suggestion for what to do with the yarn. I'll likely do the bag -- I love felting, even though it never comes out quite like I expected, and, BONUS, that means another bag for me!
She also tucked in some recipes, both healthy and decadent. Some chocolate ... the Ritter bars are available locally, although I'd never tried one before ... it was just right for eating during the Scripp's Spelling Bee and maybe for breakfast this morning ... and the Smarties? Are these available in the US? When I think of Smarties I think of the little rolls like this. I love the US Smarties, and am waiting to try these Nestle Smarties until our crack team of candy tasting experts can devote their full attention to the matter.
KidV2 was delighted to see the Kool Aid. She seems to think that it was included as a drink. Really, it's to dye the yarn I got from KnitPicks a few months ago (Secret Pal is prescient, as I hadn't mentioned I had dye-able yarn just waiting for the right color to come along). And the tea? I had bought a box of that very same tea a couple of weeks ago, and it has been declared the official iced tea of Summer 2006. Really, folks, it's Celestial Seasonings Black Cherry Berry and y'all gotta try it; brew some up, add sweetener and lemon and put it over ice. It tastes like some sort of fruit punch. Again, Secret Pal was demonstrating her super mind reading powers with this -- how did she know about the tea?
The CD is entitled Gail Grooves. That title amuses me to no end. And puzzles KidV2, who asked what the heck it means (have you noticed how heavily involved in this process KidV2 has been? She's fascinated by this whole Secret Pal thing). And finally, hand lotion, since my hand lotion is never where I need it, so if I amass several dozen bottles all over the house I might have a chance of finding one when I want it. If we had smell-o-vision you could all delight in the fragrance.
Overall, this just goes to show that The Denim Jumper Secret Pals was one of the truly brilliant ideas of our times.
My plan was to have this for a birthday gift in late August. Yeah. Right. Plus, I just noticed a dropped stitch back at the end of the ribbing/beginning of pattern. Plus, I sort of lost track of what row I'm on now. So my "knitting update" was mostly going to be freeform whining.
Then, when we got home from the vet (taking the cat for shots), I found a package on the doorstep. While the cat tried to climb my leg (since treats after a vet visit are An Entitlement), I ripped it open (unlike Poppins , who was heavily into anticipation and delayed gratification, the cat and I want our treats NOW!). And I discovered:
Secret Pal stuff! Ooooooooh!
Here we find a hand embroidered bag made by my Secret Pal, who apparently picked KidV2's favorite shade of blue for the fabric (or so I was informed by KidV2 as she was admiring it and maybe sort of hinting that I should give it to her -- fat chance, as I love bags, and this one is just the right size for knitting projects). And some Bernat yarn that Secret Pal has over-dyed in various purples ... she included the pattern for the Sophie bag from Magknits as a suggestion for what to do with the yarn. I'll likely do the bag -- I love felting, even though it never comes out quite like I expected, and, BONUS, that means another bag for me!
She also tucked in some recipes, both healthy and decadent. Some chocolate ... the Ritter bars are available locally, although I'd never tried one before ... it was just right for eating during the Scripp's Spelling Bee and maybe for breakfast this morning ... and the Smarties? Are these available in the US? When I think of Smarties I think of the little rolls like this. I love the US Smarties, and am waiting to try these Nestle Smarties until our crack team of candy tasting experts can devote their full attention to the matter.
KidV2 was delighted to see the Kool Aid. She seems to think that it was included as a drink. Really, it's to dye the yarn I got from KnitPicks a few months ago (Secret Pal is prescient, as I hadn't mentioned I had dye-able yarn just waiting for the right color to come along). And the tea? I had bought a box of that very same tea a couple of weeks ago, and it has been declared the official iced tea of Summer 2006. Really, folks, it's Celestial Seasonings Black Cherry Berry and y'all gotta try it; brew some up, add sweetener and lemon and put it over ice. It tastes like some sort of fruit punch. Again, Secret Pal was demonstrating her super mind reading powers with this -- how did she know about the tea?
The CD is entitled Gail Grooves. That title amuses me to no end. And puzzles KidV2, who asked what the heck it means (have you noticed how heavily involved in this process KidV2 has been? She's fascinated by this whole Secret Pal thing). And finally, hand lotion, since my hand lotion is never where I need it, so if I amass several dozen bottles all over the house I might have a chance of finding one when I want it. If we had smell-o-vision you could all delight in the fragrance.
Overall, this just goes to show that The Denim Jumper Secret Pals was one of the truly brilliant ideas of our times.
01 June 2006
School's out for the summer
The local schools are out, so we decided that we are, too.
Actually, we're still reading a lot. KidV1 is continuing math. Both kids want to do a study of weather.
Mr.V has questioned this. He thinks we need to continue spelling (possibly because we went to see Akeelah and the Bee this past weekend; you come out of the movie ready to go spell some words, y'know?). He asked, "Have you really completed all the material for fifth grade?" I just stared at him awhile, and finally commented, "Darmok at Tanagra" . He got the hint.**
But still, he persisted. He asked if we'd done a test (we did the Iowa Test of Basic Skills each year in Ohio to turn into the school system). KidV1 zinged back that we would be doing The Test in the fall because it's cheaper then. This state doesn't require test scores to be sent in by a certain date, so why not take advantage of that?
**By the way, that's one of my favorite Star Trek TNG episodes. And, if you're into Latin Centered Classical ed these days, don't you love how at the end Riker comes into see Picard and glances at the book Picard is reading, and says something like "Greek?" And Picard explains that he's reading the Homeric hymns because he feels he should review our culture's myths and stories. If your kids start balking at reading Homer in Greek, you can point to that episode.
Actually, we're still reading a lot. KidV1 is continuing math. Both kids want to do a study of weather.
Mr.V has questioned this. He thinks we need to continue spelling (possibly because we went to see Akeelah and the Bee this past weekend; you come out of the movie ready to go spell some words, y'know?). He asked, "Have you really completed all the material for fifth grade?" I just stared at him awhile, and finally commented, "Darmok at Tanagra" . He got the hint.**
But still, he persisted. He asked if we'd done a test (we did the Iowa Test of Basic Skills each year in Ohio to turn into the school system). KidV1 zinged back that we would be doing The Test in the fall because it's cheaper then. This state doesn't require test scores to be sent in by a certain date, so why not take advantage of that?
**By the way, that's one of my favorite Star Trek TNG episodes. And, if you're into Latin Centered Classical ed these days, don't you love how at the end Riker comes into see Picard and glances at the book Picard is reading, and says something like "Greek?" And Picard explains that he's reading the Homeric hymns because he feels he should review our culture's myths and stories. If your kids start balking at reading Homer in Greek, you can point to that episode.
31 May 2006
Tuesday Teatime
This week it was all about the treats. KidV1 wanted to make Purple Burping Cows from Rachael Ray's Cooking Rocks, so asked if we could please have Tuesday Teatime. So we did. By the way, Purple Burping Cows are "floats" -- like a root beer float, but using grape soda instead of root beer. We used Ben & Jerry's organic vanilla ice cream and Knudsen Fruit Juice Spritzers, mostly because that's what we had. KidV2 tried it and announced that she'd rather eat the ice cream and then have a grape soda some other time -- the whole was less than the sum of its parts.
Anyway, planned poems were: Sunflowers by Heather Thomas, Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St. Vincent Millay, And What is so Rare as a Day in June by James Russell Lowell, and Sumer is Icumen In. We read/listened to the Sumer poem both in Middle English and in modern translation by Kenneth Koch.
Whenever I think of the poem And What is so Rare as a Day in June I think of the old Pogo comic strip where Churchy and Howland Owl discuss this line. And my connection to the Sumer is Icumen In poem is via a class in Middle English linguistics I took back in college (I was a horticulture major, and undoubtably the only one every to take that particular class). So, maybe my kids now associate these poems with Purple Burping Cows, but I have some pretty funky associations myself.
Anyway, planned poems were: Sunflowers by Heather Thomas, Afternoon on a Hill by Edna St. Vincent Millay, And What is so Rare as a Day in June by James Russell Lowell, and Sumer is Icumen In. We read/listened to the Sumer poem both in Middle English and in modern translation by Kenneth Koch.
Whenever I think of the poem And What is so Rare as a Day in June I think of the old Pogo comic strip where Churchy and Howland Owl discuss this line. And my connection to the Sumer is Icumen In poem is via a class in Middle English linguistics I took back in college (I was a horticulture major, and undoubtably the only one every to take that particular class). So, maybe my kids now associate these poems with Purple Burping Cows, but I have some pretty funky associations myself.
30 May 2006
RightStart Geometry
The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have a 10yo and a 6yo who have average math ability.The 10yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.
On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson 20, Measuring with Sixteenths. At a glance, this seems to combine lesson 12, which featured total meltdown and tears, with lesson 19, voted most-hated lesson so far. The instructions are to bisect, bisect, bisect, bisect, using the 30-60 triangle. And yet, she is singing while she does it. What gives? “Oh, it just seems easier.” “Do you think that’s because you’ve done this sort of thing so many times that you’ve had lots of practice?” “No. You don’t have to be so precise with this to get the right answer.”
Lesson 21, A Fraction of Geometry Figures. This involves crosshatching fractions of various figures. KidV1 is excited to do it, expecting it to be fun. She notes that she has trouble getting her crosshatching perfectly even since she isn’t used to drawing along the edge of the 30-60 (I note that she is engaging in the forbidden-in-our-house practice of pushing the pencil along the edge of the drafting tool rather than dragging it along; I don’t mention, though, that she’s been using the 30-60 in every lesson, so when the heck does she think she’s going to get comfie with it, hmmm?). She stumbles when she gets to a later problem on the worksheet -- she is supposed to crosshatch 1/4 of a rectangle that has been divided into 6 parts. She isn’t able to see how to find the precise point to bisect a line, complaining that her triangle doesn’t give her the appropriate angle. Huh? I show her that she simple needs to bisect the base of the rectangle (like she’s done about a billion times in the past few lessons -- again, I don’t utter this aloud). I think she’s irritated with herself for not catching onto this, and having to ask me.
Lesson 22, Making the Whole. I am only vaguely aware that Geometry has taken place. I’m upstairs peeling down wallpaper, dreaming of my own high school geometry class, how much I enjoyed doing proofs. (It occurs to me, though, that mostly I enjoyed being in a class with Ted Higman, and mostly I excelled at geometry to impress him. Too bad my crush wasn’t large enough to entice me into taking Latin with him instead of sticking with Spanish. Now he’s a professor of Electrical Engineering and I’m a housewife peeling wallpaper while humming “Debajo del boton”. Sort of a cautionary tale about taking contemporary languages rather than classical, isn’t it? After all, I could be peeling wallpaper while reciting Latin nursery rhymes. Woohoo.) I sneak a peek at her finished worksheet -- it has various partial figures, such as part of a parallelogram, and she was supposed to construct the entire figure from the part. I notice that she’s written “best” across the top. Cryptic. “Best lesson”? “I’m the best student”? “It’s best to do this when Mommy’s busy somewhere else”?
Lesson 23, Ratios and Nested Squares. We are bustling this morning, having discovered that we need to make a trip to Toys’r’us for a birthday gift. As I do our morning readaloud (Eight Cousins), KidV1 gets out her math materials. Homeschool multi-tasking! I happen to glance up and see the worksheet. Wow, those nested squares look cool -- each is at a 45 degree angle to the previous. “Hey, can I do this lesson? It looks fun.” No. I take KidV2 into the other room to work on phonics as KidV1 begins the math lesson. We finish phonics, I walk into the kitchen to put the phonics book away. KidV1 is sitting at the table, scraping her leg with a pair of scissors. “Look, it turns my skin white!” “Uh-huh. How’s math going?” “Oh, it’s ratios. I think ratios are so confusing.” “Well, how about the drawing part, do you understand that?” “Yeah.” Heavy sigh, and she finishes the drawing she has been working on (nesting squares) and cuts it out. Meanwhile, I glance through the lesson and ask, “Did you understand this ratio here at the beginning?” Eyeroll, and, “well, of course, because they told it to me right there.” Okay, so she understands the example, but has a fear of doing them herself. “Well, I think maybe you’ve just convinced yourself you don’t understand them, so, presto, you don’t understand them.” (Two days later we go to see Akeelah and the Bee, and I recognize the same attitude in that scene where Akeelah’s mom says she dropped out of college because she convinced herself she couldn’t do it.; I wonder if KidV1 recognizes it, too.) KidV1 continues the lesson with an air of martyrdom while I go off to other household business. I check on her a bit later. “How did it go?” “Okay, I guess.” “Did you get the correct answers?” “Yes. I wrote them down differently, but the book said that was okay.”
Overall, this course seems to zing us from math agony to math ecstacy on a lesson-by-lesson basis.
And, in this afternoon’s mail, a big envelope arrives from Activities for Learning. It’s the rest of the pages for Geometry! When I tell KidV1, she is very excited, just like we had recieved a surprise present.
RightStart B is on hiatus. We’re going to do some Waldorf-based math, then take a math-break for summer.
On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson 20, Measuring with Sixteenths. At a glance, this seems to combine lesson 12, which featured total meltdown and tears, with lesson 19, voted most-hated lesson so far. The instructions are to bisect, bisect, bisect, bisect, using the 30-60 triangle. And yet, she is singing while she does it. What gives? “Oh, it just seems easier.” “Do you think that’s because you’ve done this sort of thing so many times that you’ve had lots of practice?” “No. You don’t have to be so precise with this to get the right answer.”
Lesson 21, A Fraction of Geometry Figures. This involves crosshatching fractions of various figures. KidV1 is excited to do it, expecting it to be fun. She notes that she has trouble getting her crosshatching perfectly even since she isn’t used to drawing along the edge of the 30-60 (I note that she is engaging in the forbidden-in-our-house practice of pushing the pencil along the edge of the drafting tool rather than dragging it along; I don’t mention, though, that she’s been using the 30-60 in every lesson, so when the heck does she think she’s going to get comfie with it, hmmm?). She stumbles when she gets to a later problem on the worksheet -- she is supposed to crosshatch 1/4 of a rectangle that has been divided into 6 parts. She isn’t able to see how to find the precise point to bisect a line, complaining that her triangle doesn’t give her the appropriate angle. Huh? I show her that she simple needs to bisect the base of the rectangle (like she’s done about a billion times in the past few lessons -- again, I don’t utter this aloud). I think she’s irritated with herself for not catching onto this, and having to ask me.
Lesson 22, Making the Whole. I am only vaguely aware that Geometry has taken place. I’m upstairs peeling down wallpaper, dreaming of my own high school geometry class, how much I enjoyed doing proofs. (It occurs to me, though, that mostly I enjoyed being in a class with Ted Higman, and mostly I excelled at geometry to impress him. Too bad my crush wasn’t large enough to entice me into taking Latin with him instead of sticking with Spanish. Now he’s a professor of Electrical Engineering and I’m a housewife peeling wallpaper while humming “Debajo del boton”. Sort of a cautionary tale about taking contemporary languages rather than classical, isn’t it? After all, I could be peeling wallpaper while reciting Latin nursery rhymes. Woohoo.) I sneak a peek at her finished worksheet -- it has various partial figures, such as part of a parallelogram, and she was supposed to construct the entire figure from the part. I notice that she’s written “best” across the top. Cryptic. “Best lesson”? “I’m the best student”? “It’s best to do this when Mommy’s busy somewhere else”?
Lesson 23, Ratios and Nested Squares. We are bustling this morning, having discovered that we need to make a trip to Toys’r’us for a birthday gift. As I do our morning readaloud (Eight Cousins), KidV1 gets out her math materials. Homeschool multi-tasking! I happen to glance up and see the worksheet. Wow, those nested squares look cool -- each is at a 45 degree angle to the previous. “Hey, can I do this lesson? It looks fun.” No. I take KidV2 into the other room to work on phonics as KidV1 begins the math lesson. We finish phonics, I walk into the kitchen to put the phonics book away. KidV1 is sitting at the table, scraping her leg with a pair of scissors. “Look, it turns my skin white!” “Uh-huh. How’s math going?” “Oh, it’s ratios. I think ratios are so confusing.” “Well, how about the drawing part, do you understand that?” “Yeah.” Heavy sigh, and she finishes the drawing she has been working on (nesting squares) and cuts it out. Meanwhile, I glance through the lesson and ask, “Did you understand this ratio here at the beginning?” Eyeroll, and, “well, of course, because they told it to me right there.” Okay, so she understands the example, but has a fear of doing them herself. “Well, I think maybe you’ve just convinced yourself you don’t understand them, so, presto, you don’t understand them.” (Two days later we go to see Akeelah and the Bee, and I recognize the same attitude in that scene where Akeelah’s mom says she dropped out of college because she convinced herself she couldn’t do it.; I wonder if KidV1 recognizes it, too.) KidV1 continues the lesson with an air of martyrdom while I go off to other household business. I check on her a bit later. “How did it go?” “Okay, I guess.” “Did you get the correct answers?” “Yes. I wrote them down differently, but the book said that was okay.”
Overall, this course seems to zing us from math agony to math ecstacy on a lesson-by-lesson basis.
And, in this afternoon’s mail, a big envelope arrives from Activities for Learning. It’s the rest of the pages for Geometry! When I tell KidV1, she is very excited, just like we had recieved a surprise present.
RightStart B is on hiatus. We’re going to do some Waldorf-based math, then take a math-break for summer.
26 May 2006
All wound up about ...
Knitting -- thinking about presents. It's all about cold-weather gear here. Yes, it's 90 degrees out, and I'm suddenly inspired to dive into some KidSilk Haze or Malabrigo. I'm agonizing over colors. I suspect the colors one picks when it's so hot and sunny are different than what one would choose in fall or winter. So if I get some yarn I'll need to knit it up quickly before I change my mind.
Homeschool -- reading Mungo's book on The Latin Centered Curriculum . Dithering about Latin programs, which are starting to stack up around the house. Not that we're using many of them, but we're stockpiling. Sort of like stockpiling for natural disasters or Y2K. You know, like, "what if we suddenly have 27 more kids, each with a different learning style, how will we teach them all Latin?" Are you prepared for that contingency?
Wallpaper removal -- I think I need to start a new blog about removing wallpaper. It will feature poetry, like An Ode to Dif. It will analyze the former residents of this home (which were they -- stupid, lazy, or under the mesmerizing influence of Christopher Lowell? I can offer compelling evidence for each theory, including the state of the lawn, the way the painting had been done -- egads, folks, remove the outlet covers before you paint! -- and the total and tragic fascination with peel-and-stick flooring). It will offer reviews of various removal theories, most of which don't really work.
Mostly, though, I'm working myself up about all of the above so I don't have to ponder the really BIG questions, like "what is that puddle of water under the refrigerator" and "why is the cat suddenly terrified of the yew outside the back door" (the latter strikes me as something out of a scifi/horror movie -- if we suddenly disappear, assume we have been shipped off to some slave-planet by some terrifying little creatures that our cat tried to warn us about).
Homeschool -- reading Mungo's book on The Latin Centered Curriculum . Dithering about Latin programs, which are starting to stack up around the house. Not that we're using many of them, but we're stockpiling. Sort of like stockpiling for natural disasters or Y2K. You know, like, "what if we suddenly have 27 more kids, each with a different learning style, how will we teach them all Latin?" Are you prepared for that contingency?
Wallpaper removal -- I think I need to start a new blog about removing wallpaper. It will feature poetry, like An Ode to Dif. It will analyze the former residents of this home (which were they -- stupid, lazy, or under the mesmerizing influence of Christopher Lowell? I can offer compelling evidence for each theory, including the state of the lawn, the way the painting had been done -- egads, folks, remove the outlet covers before you paint! -- and the total and tragic fascination with peel-and-stick flooring). It will offer reviews of various removal theories, most of which don't really work.
Mostly, though, I'm working myself up about all of the above so I don't have to ponder the really BIG questions, like "what is that puddle of water under the refrigerator" and "why is the cat suddenly terrified of the yew outside the back door" (the latter strikes me as something out of a scifi/horror movie -- if we suddenly disappear, assume we have been shipped off to some slave-planet by some terrifying little creatures that our cat tried to warn us about).
25 May 2006
Cool things I've seen on the web
Knitting:
If you're on the MDC webring you've probably seen Green Mountain Mama's Swiffer cozy. The rest of you need to check it out. It's amazing. I sort of want to go buy a Swiffer just so I can make one. Maybe if we get around to installing wooden floors I'll do that.
Also, did the rest of you know about Drops Design ? All those free patterns? Am I the only one who didn't know about this? My Secret Pal sent the link. And, yes, Weaver, it includes crochet patterns.
Homeschool:
Lynx has a Plan... a plan that runs all the way through high school. I'm in awe. I have only a vague idea of how we're going to get through the day, let alone the week or month, and here she is, pencilling in the next several years.
If you're on the MDC webring you've probably seen Green Mountain Mama's Swiffer cozy. The rest of you need to check it out. It's amazing. I sort of want to go buy a Swiffer just so I can make one. Maybe if we get around to installing wooden floors I'll do that.
Also, did the rest of you know about Drops Design ? All those free patterns? Am I the only one who didn't know about this? My Secret Pal sent the link. And, yes, Weaver, it includes crochet patterns.
Homeschool:
Lynx has a Plan... a plan that runs all the way through high school. I'm in awe. I have only a vague idea of how we're going to get through the day, let alone the week or month, and here she is, pencilling in the next several years.
24 May 2006
Tuesday Teatime
You want to know how cool my Secret Pal is? Early Tuesday morning she sent an email to me with a poem about a doll, because she knew we were thinking about a doll-themed Tuesday Teatime . (Secret Pals are going on over at The Denim Jumper, which is a fantastic secular homeschooling board).
After much struggle, I also found Secrets from the Dollhouse at the local public library (they do their best to hide all of the poetry books, but occasionally one slips onto the shelves).
We had our teatime outdoors on a blanket. Four dolls attended, each bringing along their own doll. Plus my kids put on a bunch of makeup, thinking this made them look more doll-like. We had Sir Strawberry juice from Trader Joe's, Joe-Joe cookies, and Piroulines which, when broken off, fit nicely in the dolls' hands.
Secrets from the Dollhouse is free-verse, which was a change of pace for us. The kids seemed to like it, though. KidV2 asked me to read the entire thing over again once I was done.
After much struggle, I also found Secrets from the Dollhouse at the local public library (they do their best to hide all of the poetry books, but occasionally one slips onto the shelves).
We had our teatime outdoors on a blanket. Four dolls attended, each bringing along their own doll. Plus my kids put on a bunch of makeup, thinking this made them look more doll-like. We had Sir Strawberry juice from Trader Joe's, Joe-Joe cookies, and Piroulines which, when broken off, fit nicely in the dolls' hands.
Secrets from the Dollhouse is free-verse, which was a change of pace for us. The kids seemed to like it, though. KidV2 asked me to read the entire thing over again once I was done.
23 May 2006
RightStart Geometry, RightStart B
The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have a 10yo and a 6yo who have average math ability.The 10yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.
On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson15 Drawing Rhombuses. Introduces the concept of a rhombus. Easy lesson, apparently, as I am treated to eye rolling when I ask how it went.
Lesson 16 Drawing Squares. This looks amazingly like what KidV2 did in RightStart B the other day. I like the comment in the sidebar “A common error in drawing squares is to guess at the length of a side. That’s a no-no.” I like the slightly breezy tone. KidV1 finds it easy and fun.
Lesson 17 Classifying Quadrilaterals. This lesson takes longer than previous lessons. At one point when I walk through I’m asked, “what’s a perpendicular?” KidV2 show up, and the discussion turns to quadrilaterals (how the Geek Family spends its time -- discussing quadrilaterals around the kitchen table). The lesson involves 2 worksheets, Venn diagrams, reading charts. KidV1 declares, “ This lesson is the most fun of any lesson so far.” Her face is bright and shining.
Lesson 18 The Fraction Chart. This involves making a pencil rendering of the fraction puzzle you can buy from RightStart. The lesson takes about an hour. Towards the end KidV1 comments, “My tenths are going to be slightly off, and at this point I don’t really care.” The idea is to bisect lines using the 30 60, and see the relationship between the fractions. It is TEDIOUS work, and KidV1 comments that sometimes it takes several tries to get the lines correct (I assume a wrong line early in the chart will lead to a mess later in the chart). Her chart looks good when I glance at it. She hated this lesson, though.
Lesson 19 Patterns in Fractions. “This is a short lesson, so you might have time to get started on the next one.” Hah. As if that’s going to happen. The lesson involves drawing fractions on a line, using a fraction chart for guidance. This same sort of thing has been in previous RightStart levels. I notice that she has the answer page out as she’s working. When I ask, she explains that she didn’t understand the directions until she looked at the answer. I think she’s seen me do that sort of thing before (looking at the answer to figure out how to get from here to there). After a glance at the answer sheet she could work the problems on her own.
She announces that she does NOT want to stop math for the summer. Although we are not officially schooling in June and July she would like to continue doing RightStart Geometry. How’s that for a testimonial?
RightStart B:
Leson 26 More Hundreds & Building Rectangles. We review hundreds by looking at the number cards. KidV2 hesitates, starting to say, “I don’t remember how to say it in Chinese....” “You just say ‘hundred’ for these, remember?” I say, touching the 00s as I say the word hundred. Once we have that cleared up, we sail through the lesson. She is supposed to partition one of the hundreds in her math notebook. I happen to try it myself, and discover that you have to turn the page sideways to fit in all of the digits. I find this annoying -- what if I hadn’t tried it myself first? She would’ve ended up with a mess. Couldn’t the book mention this in passing?
At the end of the lesson we are supposed to work with rectangles again. This time we number them 1-5, and try arranging them to make new rectangles. As we work I yell out, “Hey, look! The numbers add up!” Whee -- once again Mommy is so excited about the math program she wants to take over. A couple of minutes later I notice the book says, “If the child notices, discuss the pattern of the numbers.” Whoops. “Oh, honey, I was supposed to let you notice that yourself. Sorry.” “That’s okay, Mommy, I wouldn’t have noticed it anyway,” she replies confidently. It occurs to me that I shouldn’t be upset about the book not telling me to rotate the math notebook for the partitioning, since there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have read THAT little tidbit either.
Lesson 27 Rectangles from Tiles and Commutative Law. Usually I look forward to these lessons about the same way one looks forward to 30 minutes on the treadmill -- you know you’ll feel good once it’s over, but you hate to get started. For some reason, though, this lesson appeals to me. We begin by making squares using 6 tiles of 2 colors. I think we’re supposed to be discovering multiplicaton, but at our house we become absorbed in making interesting patterns out of the red and green tiles.
Next, I am supposed to draw 2 part whole circles on the blackboard so we can discover commutative law. I draw the circles, draw a line in the “whole” circle to put the answer in, realize the lines look like mouths, draw eyes, draw tentacles, say, “Hey, don’t these look like those monsters at the end of Chicken Little?” Silliness ensues. I count the green tiles in Spanish, the red tiles in French; the tiles talk to each other in their respective accents. KidV2 already knew commutative law, so this is playtime.
I tell her there are 2 worksheets but she only has to do 1 (the other is in case a child needs more chance to discover commutative law). She opts to do both.
Lesson 28 Thousands & Patterning. Struggle. The ephemeral concept of thousands. I build 1000 from 10 abacus tiles. We discuss what it would be like if we had more abacus tiles; I wish I had some abacus cubes to use. I wish I were in a Montessori classroom with unlimited golden bead material. Hours later I realize that we did have 2 dozen abacus cubes left from KidV1’s journey through RightStart ... from RightStart Transitions, I guess. I wonder why we don’t use them in Level B. Hmmm. It’s hard for KidV2 to visualize what it would be like to have more tiles or maybe some cubes. She needs something concrete.
Once we have thousands nailed down (somewhat), the story problems we discuss are easy. And the patterns? These are a fun break.
Lesson 29. Tens and Ones & Right Triangles. My head is stuffed up. We are supposed to use the abacus to combine tens and ones, while also using the place value cards. KidV2 understands how to do this. We could whip through this lesson easily, but she wants the abacus beads to “talk” to each other as they’re moving along the wires. I am bleary eyed, and don’t want to play.
We move on to right triangles. She is confused -- those 2 words sound a bit like “rectangle”, and she has trouble differentiating. We draw a dozen different triangles on the chalkboard, discussing what makes a triangle a “right triangle”.
We discuss taking a break from RightStart. Next week we will do Waldorf-based math. After that we will take a summer break.
On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson15 Drawing Rhombuses. Introduces the concept of a rhombus. Easy lesson, apparently, as I am treated to eye rolling when I ask how it went.
Lesson 16 Drawing Squares. This looks amazingly like what KidV2 did in RightStart B the other day. I like the comment in the sidebar “A common error in drawing squares is to guess at the length of a side. That’s a no-no.” I like the slightly breezy tone. KidV1 finds it easy and fun.
Lesson 17 Classifying Quadrilaterals. This lesson takes longer than previous lessons. At one point when I walk through I’m asked, “what’s a perpendicular?” KidV2 show up, and the discussion turns to quadrilaterals (how the Geek Family spends its time -- discussing quadrilaterals around the kitchen table). The lesson involves 2 worksheets, Venn diagrams, reading charts. KidV1 declares, “ This lesson is the most fun of any lesson so far.” Her face is bright and shining.
Lesson 18 The Fraction Chart. This involves making a pencil rendering of the fraction puzzle you can buy from RightStart. The lesson takes about an hour. Towards the end KidV1 comments, “My tenths are going to be slightly off, and at this point I don’t really care.” The idea is to bisect lines using the 30 60, and see the relationship between the fractions. It is TEDIOUS work, and KidV1 comments that sometimes it takes several tries to get the lines correct (I assume a wrong line early in the chart will lead to a mess later in the chart). Her chart looks good when I glance at it. She hated this lesson, though.
Lesson 19 Patterns in Fractions. “This is a short lesson, so you might have time to get started on the next one.” Hah. As if that’s going to happen. The lesson involves drawing fractions on a line, using a fraction chart for guidance. This same sort of thing has been in previous RightStart levels. I notice that she has the answer page out as she’s working. When I ask, she explains that she didn’t understand the directions until she looked at the answer. I think she’s seen me do that sort of thing before (looking at the answer to figure out how to get from here to there). After a glance at the answer sheet she could work the problems on her own.
She announces that she does NOT want to stop math for the summer. Although we are not officially schooling in June and July she would like to continue doing RightStart Geometry. How’s that for a testimonial?
RightStart B:
Leson 26 More Hundreds & Building Rectangles. We review hundreds by looking at the number cards. KidV2 hesitates, starting to say, “I don’t remember how to say it in Chinese....” “You just say ‘hundred’ for these, remember?” I say, touching the 00s as I say the word hundred. Once we have that cleared up, we sail through the lesson. She is supposed to partition one of the hundreds in her math notebook. I happen to try it myself, and discover that you have to turn the page sideways to fit in all of the digits. I find this annoying -- what if I hadn’t tried it myself first? She would’ve ended up with a mess. Couldn’t the book mention this in passing?
At the end of the lesson we are supposed to work with rectangles again. This time we number them 1-5, and try arranging them to make new rectangles. As we work I yell out, “Hey, look! The numbers add up!” Whee -- once again Mommy is so excited about the math program she wants to take over. A couple of minutes later I notice the book says, “If the child notices, discuss the pattern of the numbers.” Whoops. “Oh, honey, I was supposed to let you notice that yourself. Sorry.” “That’s okay, Mommy, I wouldn’t have noticed it anyway,” she replies confidently. It occurs to me that I shouldn’t be upset about the book not telling me to rotate the math notebook for the partitioning, since there’s a good chance I wouldn’t have read THAT little tidbit either.
Lesson 27 Rectangles from Tiles and Commutative Law. Usually I look forward to these lessons about the same way one looks forward to 30 minutes on the treadmill -- you know you’ll feel good once it’s over, but you hate to get started. For some reason, though, this lesson appeals to me. We begin by making squares using 6 tiles of 2 colors. I think we’re supposed to be discovering multiplicaton, but at our house we become absorbed in making interesting patterns out of the red and green tiles.
Next, I am supposed to draw 2 part whole circles on the blackboard so we can discover commutative law. I draw the circles, draw a line in the “whole” circle to put the answer in, realize the lines look like mouths, draw eyes, draw tentacles, say, “Hey, don’t these look like those monsters at the end of Chicken Little?” Silliness ensues. I count the green tiles in Spanish, the red tiles in French; the tiles talk to each other in their respective accents. KidV2 already knew commutative law, so this is playtime.
I tell her there are 2 worksheets but she only has to do 1 (the other is in case a child needs more chance to discover commutative law). She opts to do both.
Lesson 28 Thousands & Patterning. Struggle. The ephemeral concept of thousands. I build 1000 from 10 abacus tiles. We discuss what it would be like if we had more abacus tiles; I wish I had some abacus cubes to use. I wish I were in a Montessori classroom with unlimited golden bead material. Hours later I realize that we did have 2 dozen abacus cubes left from KidV1’s journey through RightStart ... from RightStart Transitions, I guess. I wonder why we don’t use them in Level B. Hmmm. It’s hard for KidV2 to visualize what it would be like to have more tiles or maybe some cubes. She needs something concrete.
Once we have thousands nailed down (somewhat), the story problems we discuss are easy. And the patterns? These are a fun break.
Lesson 29. Tens and Ones & Right Triangles. My head is stuffed up. We are supposed to use the abacus to combine tens and ones, while also using the place value cards. KidV2 understands how to do this. We could whip through this lesson easily, but she wants the abacus beads to “talk” to each other as they’re moving along the wires. I am bleary eyed, and don’t want to play.
We move on to right triangles. She is confused -- those 2 words sound a bit like “rectangle”, and she has trouble differentiating. We draw a dozen different triangles on the chalkboard, discussing what makes a triangle a “right triangle”.
We discuss taking a break from RightStart. Next week we will do Waldorf-based math. After that we will take a summer break.
22 May 2006
Knitting Update
Green Gable in Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece color Tea Rose, knit on size 6 circs. My guage was larger than that in the pattern, so although I knit the size 34 directions it came out closer to a size 36. I added over an inch in the length from neckline to underarm, and about another half inch or so to the length of the body (I was in a car with no ruler or chance to try on, so just guessed when to finish it off). I used slightly less than 2 skeins of the yarn; the pattern called for 3 skeins for the size 34.
Sorry for the flaky picture. Our camera battery charger is currently in Indiana, so this was a quicky early this morning after Mr.V left for work.
Speaking of Mr.V, his immediate reaction when he saw it yesterday when I got dressed for church was, "Wow! That's cute! When did you get that sweater?" Uhhhh, I was sitting in the car knitting it last weekend, remember? He was impressed at how well the shoulders fit (not that you can see it in the picture). Raglan sleeves tend to make my narrow shoulders look like the top of a pyramid, but these don't. Perhaps it's the strong horizontal of the lace inset. He kept commenting on the cuteness and good fit all day (since I wore it all day).
And KidV1 declared that I looked like something out of one of those catalogues I order clothing from ... "you know, like Hanna Anderson." I'm not quite sure what to make of that comment, except I do tend to order clothing instead of going to shops, and maybe this sweater has more of a manufactured look (as opposed to homemade). That may be because there are no seams to mess up -- you can't wonk up the finishing because there's not much to finish. I didn't do my super-cool bind off for K1P1 rib, but it still looks okay.
19 May 2006
Tuesday Teatime
Preparation:
Wandering through Trader Joe's on Monday, I grabbed Joe-Joe's Chocolate Sandwich Creme Cookies (a known favorite of KidV2) and a box of Pirouline (unknown, but looked like something the kids would like, and one of the least expensive choices).
On Tuesday I admitted to KidV1 that I didn't have a sense of direction for Teatime -- no theme, no sense of what to pull together. She suggested dolls or Hawaii. Hawaii? Huh? I began to wonder if she had been abducted by aliens who messed with her brain, but then remembered that a recent issue of Moo Cow Fan Club had been about Hawaii. But a Hawaiian theme seems to need pineapple as a food choice, so I decided against it.
Okay, dolls ... try googling poems about dolls or doll poetry. You'll end up with a bunch of drivel written by kids about their Barbies, or else wildly pornographic themes. I managed to find one book in our library catalog. Our library takes special pains, though, to make it impossible to find poetry books on the shelves. I never did find the blasted thing, so I grabbed a volume of Jack Prelutsky (It's Raining Pigs and Noodles) and left the library in a huff.
Experience:
The cookies went over really well. So did the poetry. I read random poems, including some of the shape poems. I read until the cookies were gone, and I was sick of reading poetry aloud.
Epilogue:
I told KidV1 that if she wanted to read more of the poems herself, she may. She grabbed the book and carried it into the family room. She spent the next hour reading more poems aloud to KidV2.
Wandering through Trader Joe's on Monday, I grabbed Joe-Joe's Chocolate Sandwich Creme Cookies (a known favorite of KidV2) and a box of Pirouline (unknown, but looked like something the kids would like, and one of the least expensive choices).
On Tuesday I admitted to KidV1 that I didn't have a sense of direction for Teatime -- no theme, no sense of what to pull together. She suggested dolls or Hawaii. Hawaii? Huh? I began to wonder if she had been abducted by aliens who messed with her brain, but then remembered that a recent issue of Moo Cow Fan Club had been about Hawaii. But a Hawaiian theme seems to need pineapple as a food choice, so I decided against it.
Okay, dolls ... try googling poems about dolls or doll poetry. You'll end up with a bunch of drivel written by kids about their Barbies, or else wildly pornographic themes. I managed to find one book in our library catalog. Our library takes special pains, though, to make it impossible to find poetry books on the shelves. I never did find the blasted thing, so I grabbed a volume of Jack Prelutsky (It's Raining Pigs and Noodles) and left the library in a huff.
Experience:
The cookies went over really well. So did the poetry. I read random poems, including some of the shape poems. I read until the cookies were gone, and I was sick of reading poetry aloud.
Epilogue:
I told KidV1 that if she wanted to read more of the poems herself, she may. She grabbed the book and carried it into the family room. She spent the next hour reading more poems aloud to KidV2.
17 May 2006
Knitting Update
Green Gable is almost done. I have ends to weave in, then blocking. When I try it on I look like a lumpy sausage; I'm hoping that blocking will take care of this, since it isn't really the effect I was aiming for. If it blocking helps I will post pictures. If not, I will stuff it in the back of a drawer.
I took sock yarn on our weekend trip. I took needles. About 20 minutes into the trip I realized that the needles I took were the wrong size for the sock yarn I had brought along. So, for the next 4.5 hours I knit on Green Gable ... row after row of stockinette on circular needles. I fell asleep at one point.
We were visiting relatives, and I didn't do any knitting once we arrived at our destination. After all, I was pretty sure I wouldbe tempted to ram my knitting needles repeatedly in my ears to puncture my eardrums and possibly lobotomize myself if I had to listen to the inane political opinons want to pay attention to the erudite political disourse and witty repartee.
The only knitting related incident was going to the The Farm at Prophetstown, where we saw the sheep being sheared (we also milked cows, ate cookies fresh from the farmhouse oven, saw baby pigs, watched a blacksmith, and petted barn cats -- it's a hoppin' place). KidV2 really wanted to get the fleece, clean, card and spin it. I asked the barn workers what they would do with the fleece ... they said they didn't know. A couple of years ago some of the volunteers prepared and spun the fleece, but they hadn't heard what the plan was this year. I took a handful of the fleece with me as we left. When we had been in the fresh air a while I waved it under KidV2's nose, and explained that that's why we didn't try to get the entire fleece, stuff it in a bag, and tote it 5 hours in the car back home with us. Really, though, we're primed to get a fleece now. A reasonably CLEAN fleece. If you have any thoughts on where to get one, let us know. We also need carders.
When we got home there was a package of Bee Stripe sock yarn awaiting me. Good thing I hadn't started any new socks at the beginning of the trip, since this is for a present, and has rocketed to top priority.
I took sock yarn on our weekend trip. I took needles. About 20 minutes into the trip I realized that the needles I took were the wrong size for the sock yarn I had brought along. So, for the next 4.5 hours I knit on Green Gable ... row after row of stockinette on circular needles. I fell asleep at one point.
We were visiting relatives, and I didn't do any knitting once we arrived at our destination. After all, I was pretty sure I would
The only knitting related incident was going to the The Farm at Prophetstown, where we saw the sheep being sheared (we also milked cows, ate cookies fresh from the farmhouse oven, saw baby pigs, watched a blacksmith, and petted barn cats -- it's a hoppin' place). KidV2 really wanted to get the fleece, clean, card and spin it. I asked the barn workers what they would do with the fleece ... they said they didn't know. A couple of years ago some of the volunteers prepared and spun the fleece, but they hadn't heard what the plan was this year. I took a handful of the fleece with me as we left. When we had been in the fresh air a while I waved it under KidV2's nose, and explained that that's why we didn't try to get the entire fleece, stuff it in a bag, and tote it 5 hours in the car back home with us. Really, though, we're primed to get a fleece now. A reasonably CLEAN fleece. If you have any thoughts on where to get one, let us know. We also need carders.
When we got home there was a package of Bee Stripe sock yarn awaiting me. Good thing I hadn't started any new socks at the beginning of the trip, since this is for a present, and has rocketed to top priority.
16 May 2006
RightStart Geometry, RightStart B
The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B. I have a 10yo and a 6yo who have average math ability.The 10yo has done Miquon, Singapore, RightStart Transitions, Level D and Level E; RightStart has saved her from a life a math phobia.
On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson 12, Measuring perimeter in inches, featuring bonus student meltdown. KidV1 had commented that this was going to be just like the earlier lesson on measuring perimeter in centimeters, but using inches. She had sailed through that lesson easily, so I didn’t bother to look this over. Mistake.
On the work sheet the student makes a ruler. They measure out inch squares (using the inch tiles that they’ve been using since RightStart A, although really KidV1 used a ruler since she felt that was more accurate. By the way, she likes to tell me if she veers from strict adherence from the directions. She knows it’s okay to not follow directions precisely because in the 10 years she’s been around Mr.V and me she’s noticed that we tend to use directions as more of “suggestions”.)
Next, the student is to use the 30-60 triangle to find a point above the line, then draw down from that point to give a half inch mark ... this is to be done along the entire ruler, so that the ruler ends up being marked in inches and half inches (the ruler is then cut out, and used to measure the parallelograms on the worksheet).
But, whoops, it isn’t working out as easily as the centimeters. The method she used in that lesson isn’t working. She’s frustrated, and calls me in. But, whoops, I have no clue what’s going on, and need to mess around a bit to figure out what is going on. This upsets KidV1 more, and she tries to shoo me away. I figure out that she can make a point within the inch square and draw a line up to the half inch mark.
Later, when things have cooled down, it occurs to me that what she was doing was marking the apex of an isosceles triangle , then dropping straight down (or up) from there to bisect the base. Ah. Of course, the directions didn’t include this tidbit since it would be an overwhelming amount of info. I talk to her about it. She didn’t understand at all that she was supposed to be putting the 30-60 in the corners of the squares. That wasn’t clear to her from the directions or the pictures. I don’t know how she managed to do the centimeter lesson at all. Key learning: it’s okay to not follow directions precisely as long as you know what things you MUST do as directed.
Lesson 13 Drawing parralelograms in inches. Just like lesson 11, but in inches. Very easy. Draw 3 parallelograms with perimeters of of 8 inches. No problems.
Lesson 14, Drawing rectangles. This lesson looks almost exactly like the one I just did in Level B with KidV2. When I look over her worksheet (drawing rectangles with a certain perimeter) later I comment, “I don’t think that’s the way they wanted to you to do it.” “Yeah, but this is the way I wanted to do it.” “Okay, but do you understand how to do it correctly?” We discuss. She does understand, but had been making a stand for creativity.
RightStart B:
Lesson 23, Introducing tens. This is the lesson where we make 10 bags of 10 tiles each. I’m a little nervous about this, since KidV1 needs to use the tiles for her math to day. That turns out not to be a problem, though.
KidV2 thinks it’s fun to make the bags of tiles. We use blue and yellow to coordinate with the abacus (except we’ve apparently lost some of the yellow tiles over the past few years ... oh well, we fill in with red). KidV2 easily “gets” how to count the tens as 1-ten, 2-ten, etc. She’s heard KidV1 do this in the past. Also, KidV1’s and Mr.V’s interest in China help -- we call it the Chinese way to count (and, yes, KidV2 could probably do this exercise in Mandarin, but I wouldn’t know if she were doing it correctly since my Mandarin is limited to “the plane”).
We switch smoothly over to using the abacus. KidV2 asks if we are ever going to use the rest of the bags, considering we only actually used about 4 for the lesson. Ummm, I don’t know, but we’ll keep them around just in case.
She’s obviously having fun with this lesson. When I show 7-ten on the abacus and ask her how she knows, she says, “welll, the beads change color here, then I go 2 more and I know that I’m at 7, and that’s what I’m going to be on my next birthday -- 7 -- and then Daddy will have to start keeping track of how much allowance he owes me ....” etc. etc. This tells me she’s totally at ease with the concept.
The place-value cards are also easy. Again, she’s seen them around, as I sometimes take them out to help illustrate discussions we’re having about numbers. Really, she’s been thinking about tens and place values for months now; it has popped up many times in conversation. This lesson seems well-timed for her.
Lesson 24 Partitioning and adding tens. The warm ups include questions like 4 plus 2 and 6 plus 2. KidV2 is enchanted to discover that adding 2 to an even number gives you the next even number. We go through series several times with the abacus (2 plus 2, 4 plus 2, 6 plus 2, 8 plus 2) while she contemplates the wonders of math.
Next, I draw quadrilaterals on a chalkboard (I have a “thing” for chalkboards -- a whiteboard or some scrap paper would work just as well). Then I draw some shapes that aren’t quadrilaterals. KidV2 is intrigued by this new concept, and we spend quite a while counting sides and discussing what is and isn’t a quadrilateral. Okay, it was maybe 5 minutes, but it seemed long to me.
Then we partition 10-ten. This doesn’t make sense to her, so I back up and demonstrate how we had partitioned 10 ones a few weeks ago. She seems to catch on, so we go ahead to add tens, using the chalkboard and the abacus. She wants to continue making up problems, writing them on the board and performing them on the abacus for quite awhile. Eventually I lure her to the next step -- the worksheet. “Mommy, look! 5 plus 2 equals 7 and 5-ten plus 2-ten equals 7-ten! See how they match?!” As she chatters I realize that whe’s sometimes counting up as one would do on their fingers instead of using the abacus imagery. Is this a problem? I assume not -- surely if she uses the abacus imagery most of the time she’s “got it”.
Finally, she is supposed to write the partitioning of 10-ten in her math journal. This seems like a LOT of writing for a 6 year old, but I recall that she really enjoyed writing the 10 partitioning a few days ago. I ask her if she wants to try this, and she’s quite excited to try. I go do something else while she finishes up -- I’ve had enough math for today, although she seems ready to go for Montessori’s 3 hour work period. She bounces around chattering about her discoveries of patterns whilst partitioning 10-ten.
Lesson 25, Introducing Hundreds and Rectangle Desgin. We have hit the speed bump in the road to understanding place value. Those abacus tiles -- we discuss and disuss that each is worth 100 beads. We count the beads. We compare them to the abacus. Then, I hold up 2 of them and say, “so, how many beads does this represent?” “102” Sigh. As I reflect on this lesson, I think I should’ve used Montessori’s 3-part lesson to nail down the concept. We make it through, but I wonder how well she’s internalized it.
Then we do the rectangle patterns. I tell her “there is something special about 1 of them,” jsut as directed in the book. She replies, “Well, this one is special because it’s the biggest, and this one is special because it’s the smallest ... really, they’re all special in their own way.” Okay, I find that really funny, and decide we’ve done enough for the day. I quickly point out that a square is a kind of rectangle, and announce math is done.
It’s a short math week because we’re going out of town.
On Tuesdays I upload an update of what we did in math for the week.
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson 12, Measuring perimeter in inches, featuring bonus student meltdown. KidV1 had commented that this was going to be just like the earlier lesson on measuring perimeter in centimeters, but using inches. She had sailed through that lesson easily, so I didn’t bother to look this over. Mistake.
On the work sheet the student makes a ruler. They measure out inch squares (using the inch tiles that they’ve been using since RightStart A, although really KidV1 used a ruler since she felt that was more accurate. By the way, she likes to tell me if she veers from strict adherence from the directions. She knows it’s okay to not follow directions precisely because in the 10 years she’s been around Mr.V and me she’s noticed that we tend to use directions as more of “suggestions”.)
Next, the student is to use the 30-60 triangle to find a point above the line, then draw down from that point to give a half inch mark ... this is to be done along the entire ruler, so that the ruler ends up being marked in inches and half inches (the ruler is then cut out, and used to measure the parallelograms on the worksheet).
But, whoops, it isn’t working out as easily as the centimeters. The method she used in that lesson isn’t working. She’s frustrated, and calls me in. But, whoops, I have no clue what’s going on, and need to mess around a bit to figure out what is going on. This upsets KidV1 more, and she tries to shoo me away. I figure out that she can make a point within the inch square and draw a line up to the half inch mark.
Later, when things have cooled down, it occurs to me that what she was doing was marking the apex of an isosceles triangle , then dropping straight down (or up) from there to bisect the base. Ah. Of course, the directions didn’t include this tidbit since it would be an overwhelming amount of info. I talk to her about it. She didn’t understand at all that she was supposed to be putting the 30-60 in the corners of the squares. That wasn’t clear to her from the directions or the pictures. I don’t know how she managed to do the centimeter lesson at all. Key learning: it’s okay to not follow directions precisely as long as you know what things you MUST do as directed.
Lesson 13 Drawing parralelograms in inches. Just like lesson 11, but in inches. Very easy. Draw 3 parallelograms with perimeters of of 8 inches. No problems.
Lesson 14, Drawing rectangles. This lesson looks almost exactly like the one I just did in Level B with KidV2. When I look over her worksheet (drawing rectangles with a certain perimeter) later I comment, “I don’t think that’s the way they wanted to you to do it.” “Yeah, but this is the way I wanted to do it.” “Okay, but do you understand how to do it correctly?” We discuss. She does understand, but had been making a stand for creativity.
RightStart B:
Lesson 23, Introducing tens. This is the lesson where we make 10 bags of 10 tiles each. I’m a little nervous about this, since KidV1 needs to use the tiles for her math to day. That turns out not to be a problem, though.
KidV2 thinks it’s fun to make the bags of tiles. We use blue and yellow to coordinate with the abacus (except we’ve apparently lost some of the yellow tiles over the past few years ... oh well, we fill in with red). KidV2 easily “gets” how to count the tens as 1-ten, 2-ten, etc. She’s heard KidV1 do this in the past. Also, KidV1’s and Mr.V’s interest in China help -- we call it the Chinese way to count (and, yes, KidV2 could probably do this exercise in Mandarin, but I wouldn’t know if she were doing it correctly since my Mandarin is limited to “the plane”).
We switch smoothly over to using the abacus. KidV2 asks if we are ever going to use the rest of the bags, considering we only actually used about 4 for the lesson. Ummm, I don’t know, but we’ll keep them around just in case.
She’s obviously having fun with this lesson. When I show 7-ten on the abacus and ask her how she knows, she says, “welll, the beads change color here, then I go 2 more and I know that I’m at 7, and that’s what I’m going to be on my next birthday -- 7 -- and then Daddy will have to start keeping track of how much allowance he owes me ....” etc. etc. This tells me she’s totally at ease with the concept.
The place-value cards are also easy. Again, she’s seen them around, as I sometimes take them out to help illustrate discussions we’re having about numbers. Really, she’s been thinking about tens and place values for months now; it has popped up many times in conversation. This lesson seems well-timed for her.
Lesson 24 Partitioning and adding tens. The warm ups include questions like 4 plus 2 and 6 plus 2. KidV2 is enchanted to discover that adding 2 to an even number gives you the next even number. We go through series several times with the abacus (2 plus 2, 4 plus 2, 6 plus 2, 8 plus 2) while she contemplates the wonders of math.
Next, I draw quadrilaterals on a chalkboard (I have a “thing” for chalkboards -- a whiteboard or some scrap paper would work just as well). Then I draw some shapes that aren’t quadrilaterals. KidV2 is intrigued by this new concept, and we spend quite a while counting sides and discussing what is and isn’t a quadrilateral. Okay, it was maybe 5 minutes, but it seemed long to me.
Then we partition 10-ten. This doesn’t make sense to her, so I back up and demonstrate how we had partitioned 10 ones a few weeks ago. She seems to catch on, so we go ahead to add tens, using the chalkboard and the abacus. She wants to continue making up problems, writing them on the board and performing them on the abacus for quite awhile. Eventually I lure her to the next step -- the worksheet. “Mommy, look! 5 plus 2 equals 7 and 5-ten plus 2-ten equals 7-ten! See how they match?!” As she chatters I realize that whe’s sometimes counting up as one would do on their fingers instead of using the abacus imagery. Is this a problem? I assume not -- surely if she uses the abacus imagery most of the time she’s “got it”.
Finally, she is supposed to write the partitioning of 10-ten in her math journal. This seems like a LOT of writing for a 6 year old, but I recall that she really enjoyed writing the 10 partitioning a few days ago. I ask her if she wants to try this, and she’s quite excited to try. I go do something else while she finishes up -- I’ve had enough math for today, although she seems ready to go for Montessori’s 3 hour work period. She bounces around chattering about her discoveries of patterns whilst partitioning 10-ten.
Lesson 25, Introducing Hundreds and Rectangle Desgin. We have hit the speed bump in the road to understanding place value. Those abacus tiles -- we discuss and disuss that each is worth 100 beads. We count the beads. We compare them to the abacus. Then, I hold up 2 of them and say, “so, how many beads does this represent?” “102” Sigh. As I reflect on this lesson, I think I should’ve used Montessori’s 3-part lesson to nail down the concept. We make it through, but I wonder how well she’s internalized it.
Then we do the rectangle patterns. I tell her “there is something special about 1 of them,” jsut as directed in the book. She replies, “Well, this one is special because it’s the biggest, and this one is special because it’s the smallest ... really, they’re all special in their own way.” Okay, I find that really funny, and decide we’ve done enough for the day. I quickly point out that a square is a kind of rectangle, and announce math is done.
It’s a short math week because we’re going out of town.
11 May 2006
Knitting Update
Green Gable is moving along nicely. I've tried it on after finishing the first skein -- fits great! -- done the wee bit of shaping in the body, and am ready to knit several inches of mindless stockinette.
Problem: We're about to do a road trip, and I'd rather save mindless knitting for times when I'm unable to pay attention (like, for instance, while reading a good book).
Solution: Find something else to knit on the trip.
Possibilities:
Knit something for Secret Pal over at The Denim Jumper . Problem with that: I just got my secret pal yesterday and have no stashed yarn that matches her color preferences. And I'm sure not going to miss an excuse to buy more yarn by declaring something in stash as "good enough". Nope, my Secret Pal deserves the very best. So, no Secret Pal knitting on this trip.
Knit socks. I certainly have plenty of stashed yarn for that. Problem: I would have to find needles. Somewhere in this house there are 2 Addi circs, and who knows what's going on with the double points. Plus, even if I found the needles, planning to do socks would mean actually ... well ... actually knitting socks. Which, really, I'm not all that keen on. I know everyone else keeps socks going on the side, but, really, I think they're a pain. Mostly because I keep losing the needles.
Knit something else with all the yarn I just got from Webs. Problem: would have to swatch. Would also have to decide on a pattern. Would essentially need more sense of direction than I currently have.
Ah well. Maybe I'll manage to finish Green Gable on this trip after all.
Problem: We're about to do a road trip, and I'd rather save mindless knitting for times when I'm unable to pay attention (like, for instance, while reading a good book).
Solution: Find something else to knit on the trip.
Possibilities:
Knit something for Secret Pal over at The Denim Jumper . Problem with that: I just got my secret pal yesterday and have no stashed yarn that matches her color preferences. And I'm sure not going to miss an excuse to buy more yarn by declaring something in stash as "good enough". Nope, my Secret Pal deserves the very best. So, no Secret Pal knitting on this trip.
Knit socks. I certainly have plenty of stashed yarn for that. Problem: I would have to find needles. Somewhere in this house there are 2 Addi circs, and who knows what's going on with the double points. Plus, even if I found the needles, planning to do socks would mean actually ... well ... actually knitting socks. Which, really, I'm not all that keen on. I know everyone else keeps socks going on the side, but, really, I think they're a pain. Mostly because I keep losing the needles.
Knit something else with all the yarn I just got from Webs. Problem: would have to swatch. Would also have to decide on a pattern. Would essentially need more sense of direction than I currently have.
Ah well. Maybe I'll manage to finish Green Gable on this trip after all.
10 May 2006
Tuesday Teatime
Back by popular demand, it's Tuesday Teatime. The kids were sick a couple of weeks ago, then we had construction going on here last Tuesday. KidV1 pointed out that it was time to get back to doing Tuesday Teatime.
This one was fairly low key. I whipped up some treats ... we had some phyllo dough cups around from one of KidV1's cooking projects. I baked them in the toaster oven, then filled them with mixed berries (thawed from a frozen bag) a squirt of spritzy whipped cream, and a blackberry on top of each. I put French Berry Lemonade from Trader Joe's in champagne flutes (by happy coincidence it's a sparkling lemonade). I put Pooh napkins on the plates, grabbed a copy of Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne, and we were ready to go.
I read random selections from the book. We have had this as a book-on-tape for years -- it came as a set with Winnie the Pooh and House on Pooh Corner. We rarely listened to it, though. We discussed why ... I think it was tough to listen to an entire cassette of the poems straight through. Reading just a few seemed to go over just fine. It helped that some were old favorites, like Pinkle Purr, which we had read during our Cat Themed Teatime a few weeks ago.
Also, KidV2 was thrilled that I read The End, as it celebrates age 6. She swelled with pride as I read, "But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever." We discussed that I should've read that poem on their sixth birthdays. Alas, up until this year I've been a poetry dud. I wonder what other poems I missing out on, things that should be part of our lives. Maybe future teatimes will reveal them.
This one was fairly low key. I whipped up some treats ... we had some phyllo dough cups around from one of KidV1's cooking projects. I baked them in the toaster oven, then filled them with mixed berries (thawed from a frozen bag) a squirt of spritzy whipped cream, and a blackberry on top of each. I put French Berry Lemonade from Trader Joe's in champagne flutes (by happy coincidence it's a sparkling lemonade). I put Pooh napkins on the plates, grabbed a copy of Now We Are Six by A. A. Milne, and we were ready to go.
I read random selections from the book. We have had this as a book-on-tape for years -- it came as a set with Winnie the Pooh and House on Pooh Corner. We rarely listened to it, though. We discussed why ... I think it was tough to listen to an entire cassette of the poems straight through. Reading just a few seemed to go over just fine. It helped that some were old favorites, like Pinkle Purr, which we had read during our Cat Themed Teatime a few weeks ago.
Also, KidV2 was thrilled that I read The End, as it celebrates age 6. She swelled with pride as I read, "But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever." We discussed that I should've read that poem on their sixth birthdays. Alas, up until this year I've been a poetry dud. I wonder what other poems I missing out on, things that should be part of our lives. Maybe future teatimes will reveal them.
09 May 2006
RightStart Geometry, RightStart B
The continuing saga of our adventures using RightStart Geometry and RightStart B
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson 9, dividing equilateral traingles into twelfths. Well, this looks like a fun lesson! You make little designs of your choosing inside the triangles, then can color them in. And, there’s a bit of a challenge issued: “What other numbers could you divid it into? Two kindergarten girls divided the equilateral triangle into 256 equal parts. After hearing about the girls, a teacher learning drawing board geometry divided his triangle into 432 equal parts.”
I remember the teacher making comments like this back when I was in school, and how I immediately wanted to try for my own personal best. I wish I had time to do this lesson myself ....
But, deep in my heart I know that this is the death-knell for interest in our house. My kids have some deep instinct, some psychic connection to my brain, that warns them, “Alert! Alert! Mom thinks you will like this, therefore you should avoid this activity at all costs.”
And, sure enough, KidV1 does a perfunctory job on the lesson. She copies one of the designs given in the book because “I just couldn’t think of anything of my own.” Gah!
The next day we are having a couple of windows installed in our house. Workers are banging, pounding, demonstrating a wide range of power tools. We do little school while they are here. After they leave I announce that Latin and math will be done. KidV1 says she’d like to do some sort of worksheet ... something like a timed test, but harder and without a stopwatch. Something that involves division. Hmmm. For some reason the Iowa Test of Basic Skills comes to mind -- in past years we have done this in May. Perhaps this has been imprinted on her psyche, and she feels a deep need to do this sort of math this time of year. I print out a division worksheet from the Internet (consulting with her to make sure it’s the correct amount of “hard”) and also copy off a multivide sheet from RightStart E.
Lesson 10, measuring perimeter in centimeters, pops up the next day. I always dislike teaching lessons like this, for some reason. They always seem so tedious. I don’t mind the work itself, mind you, but sitting around discussing it with someone is on my To Be Avoided list. KidV1 zips through it calmly. Afterwards I ask her whether she had remebered what “perimeter” meant. She says, yeah, she always remembers area because she hates figuring it, and therefore perimeter is “the other one”.
Later in the day we go shopping, and KidV1 asks if she could please get a 3-ring binder to put her math papers in. The text is in a 3-ring binder, so all of the worksheets are already hole punched. She’d rather keep the completed sheets in a separate place. She has also completed some 3-dimensional objects in earlier lessons, as well as other things that don’t nicely fit in a binder (sometimes you cut up the worksheets). These are currently in a large ziploc. I suppose we are doomed to keep them for years and years as a momento of this year in math. They will eventually join the mummified chicken in the basement, although they will be discreetly placed in a Rubbermaid tub at some point so packers-and-movers don’t have quite so much to gossip about (that chicken ... the packers never mentioned the chicken ... when they went through all of the math manipulatives, though, they did ask if I were a teacher).
Lesson 11, drawing parallelograms in centimeters. Mr. V is home unexpectedly. KidV1 has to do her math while sitting at the table with Daddy while he eats a bowl of cereal. Words cannot convey the horror of this situation. Will Daddy continuously look over her shoulder, pestering her? I can see the panic on her face. But, Mr. V is suffering from a raging ear infection, and is only home because he’s not yet at the doctor’s office. His interest in parallelograms is zippo. I’m not even sure he noticed that math is occurring right next to him.
Somehow I end up checking over her work with her (usually I just let her look at the key herself; this lesson had some ephemeral answers, though, so she snagged me to look them over). I notice that all of her parallelograms have the same angle -- she has used the same side of her 30-60 triangle for each and every one. Oh well, the answer sheet shows possible answers, including a square. Hopefully this registers in her mind. She doesn’t get the question about three names for these figures (polygons, quadrilaterals, parallelograms). We discuss this briefly.
RightStart B:
Lesson 20, writing addition equations. Actually, we’ve done this type of thing in our Waldorf-inspired math lessons a couple of months ago. This is repeat information, but a new context. Plus, we have the bonus of a worksheet. While doing the Waldorf math KidV2 had complained that she wanted to be able to do worksheets sometimes. Hurray for RightStart worksheets!
Lesson 21, writing more equations and introducing the concept of parallel. This lesson begins the Math Journal, with is kept on grid paper (the grids at this level are HUGE and easy for KidV2 to write in). The advantage of the grid is that the numbers always line up neatly. In this lesson she is writing line after line of 10=9+1, 10=8+2, 10=7+3 ... she is fascinated by the patterns formed on the paper by these equations. All the 10s line up! All the equal signs, all the plus signs -- they all line up! And look at these numbers -- this column is getting smaller and smaller, this column is getting bigger and bigger! She hypothesizes that one column will have more odds and the other will have more evens (we’re working a lot with odds and evens during the warm-ups). When she finishes the entire chart we count odds and evens and discover they’re the same in both columns.
Next we turn the abacus sideways to add by 2s. These equations are written as 2+2=4, 4+2=6 ... the equal sign goes at the other end of the equation. The logic behind this is explained in the book -- the child sees that equations can go either way. The instructions say, “Ask if she sees a difference between this equation and those she wrote in her math journal.” I expect KidV2 to say something like, “the equal sign is at the other end,” because that’s what I would say if I were her. No, I’m underestimating her. She explains that the first equations took a whole number (10) and showed what it was made up of, while the second type of equation shows how you build up a number from smaller numbers. I stare at her, wondering if she has a future in writing math books, since she has paraphrased Joan Cotter’s explanation.
Finally, I introduce the concept of “parallel” by giving examples. I show pencils that are held in parallel positions, and contrast with pencils held in non-parallel positions. She is absolutely fascinated, and wants to discuss the topic in detail. Lots and lots of detail.
Lesson 22, adding on the abacus and introducing the concept of perpendicular. Well, perpendicular is just as exciting as parallel. It’s like suddenly decoding the Rosetta Stone -- a new world has opened up. Antoher geometry geek is born. After this, it’s sort of hard to move on with the rest of the lesson, but we do. It’s pretty simple for her -- she’s encountered stuff like this (writing equations) before. I write them wrong and she corrects them. We do equations for numbers less than 10. When we do 3 plus 4 equals 7 I comment that it’s probably pretty easy for her because of her knitting -- she had knit a scarf 7 stitches wide and kept careful track of the number of stitches as they moved from needle to needle. The lesson ends with a worksheet . “So, it’s like you get a worksheet or a game at the end of every lesson.” The tone of her voice tells me that she considers worksheets and games the prizes for a job well done.
RightStart Geometry:
Lesson 9, dividing equilateral traingles into twelfths. Well, this looks like a fun lesson! You make little designs of your choosing inside the triangles, then can color them in. And, there’s a bit of a challenge issued: “What other numbers could you divid it into? Two kindergarten girls divided the equilateral triangle into 256 equal parts. After hearing about the girls, a teacher learning drawing board geometry divided his triangle into 432 equal parts.”
I remember the teacher making comments like this back when I was in school, and how I immediately wanted to try for my own personal best. I wish I had time to do this lesson myself ....
But, deep in my heart I know that this is the death-knell for interest in our house. My kids have some deep instinct, some psychic connection to my brain, that warns them, “Alert! Alert! Mom thinks you will like this, therefore you should avoid this activity at all costs.”
And, sure enough, KidV1 does a perfunctory job on the lesson. She copies one of the designs given in the book because “I just couldn’t think of anything of my own.” Gah!
The next day we are having a couple of windows installed in our house. Workers are banging, pounding, demonstrating a wide range of power tools. We do little school while they are here. After they leave I announce that Latin and math will be done. KidV1 says she’d like to do some sort of worksheet ... something like a timed test, but harder and without a stopwatch. Something that involves division. Hmmm. For some reason the Iowa Test of Basic Skills comes to mind -- in past years we have done this in May. Perhaps this has been imprinted on her psyche, and she feels a deep need to do this sort of math this time of year. I print out a division worksheet from the Internet (consulting with her to make sure it’s the correct amount of “hard”) and also copy off a multivide sheet from RightStart E.
Lesson 10, measuring perimeter in centimeters, pops up the next day. I always dislike teaching lessons like this, for some reason. They always seem so tedious. I don’t mind the work itself, mind you, but sitting around discussing it with someone is on my To Be Avoided list. KidV1 zips through it calmly. Afterwards I ask her whether she had remebered what “perimeter” meant. She says, yeah, she always remembers area because she hates figuring it, and therefore perimeter is “the other one”.
Later in the day we go shopping, and KidV1 asks if she could please get a 3-ring binder to put her math papers in. The text is in a 3-ring binder, so all of the worksheets are already hole punched. She’d rather keep the completed sheets in a separate place. She has also completed some 3-dimensional objects in earlier lessons, as well as other things that don’t nicely fit in a binder (sometimes you cut up the worksheets). These are currently in a large ziploc. I suppose we are doomed to keep them for years and years as a momento of this year in math. They will eventually join the mummified chicken in the basement, although they will be discreetly placed in a Rubbermaid tub at some point so packers-and-movers don’t have quite so much to gossip about (that chicken ... the packers never mentioned the chicken ... when they went through all of the math manipulatives, though, they did ask if I were a teacher).
Lesson 11, drawing parallelograms in centimeters. Mr. V is home unexpectedly. KidV1 has to do her math while sitting at the table with Daddy while he eats a bowl of cereal. Words cannot convey the horror of this situation. Will Daddy continuously look over her shoulder, pestering her? I can see the panic on her face. But, Mr. V is suffering from a raging ear infection, and is only home because he’s not yet at the doctor’s office. His interest in parallelograms is zippo. I’m not even sure he noticed that math is occurring right next to him.
Somehow I end up checking over her work with her (usually I just let her look at the key herself; this lesson had some ephemeral answers, though, so she snagged me to look them over). I notice that all of her parallelograms have the same angle -- she has used the same side of her 30-60 triangle for each and every one. Oh well, the answer sheet shows possible answers, including a square. Hopefully this registers in her mind. She doesn’t get the question about three names for these figures (polygons, quadrilaterals, parallelograms). We discuss this briefly.
RightStart B:
Lesson 20, writing addition equations. Actually, we’ve done this type of thing in our Waldorf-inspired math lessons a couple of months ago. This is repeat information, but a new context. Plus, we have the bonus of a worksheet. While doing the Waldorf math KidV2 had complained that she wanted to be able to do worksheets sometimes. Hurray for RightStart worksheets!
Lesson 21, writing more equations and introducing the concept of parallel. This lesson begins the Math Journal, with is kept on grid paper (the grids at this level are HUGE and easy for KidV2 to write in). The advantage of the grid is that the numbers always line up neatly. In this lesson she is writing line after line of 10=9+1, 10=8+2, 10=7+3 ... she is fascinated by the patterns formed on the paper by these equations. All the 10s line up! All the equal signs, all the plus signs -- they all line up! And look at these numbers -- this column is getting smaller and smaller, this column is getting bigger and bigger! She hypothesizes that one column will have more odds and the other will have more evens (we’re working a lot with odds and evens during the warm-ups). When she finishes the entire chart we count odds and evens and discover they’re the same in both columns.
Next we turn the abacus sideways to add by 2s. These equations are written as 2+2=4, 4+2=6 ... the equal sign goes at the other end of the equation. The logic behind this is explained in the book -- the child sees that equations can go either way. The instructions say, “Ask if she sees a difference between this equation and those she wrote in her math journal.” I expect KidV2 to say something like, “the equal sign is at the other end,” because that’s what I would say if I were her. No, I’m underestimating her. She explains that the first equations took a whole number (10) and showed what it was made up of, while the second type of equation shows how you build up a number from smaller numbers. I stare at her, wondering if she has a future in writing math books, since she has paraphrased Joan Cotter’s explanation.
Finally, I introduce the concept of “parallel” by giving examples. I show pencils that are held in parallel positions, and contrast with pencils held in non-parallel positions. She is absolutely fascinated, and wants to discuss the topic in detail. Lots and lots of detail.
Lesson 22, adding on the abacus and introducing the concept of perpendicular. Well, perpendicular is just as exciting as parallel. It’s like suddenly decoding the Rosetta Stone -- a new world has opened up. Antoher geometry geek is born. After this, it’s sort of hard to move on with the rest of the lesson, but we do. It’s pretty simple for her -- she’s encountered stuff like this (writing equations) before. I write them wrong and she corrects them. We do equations for numbers less than 10. When we do 3 plus 4 equals 7 I comment that it’s probably pretty easy for her because of her knitting -- she had knit a scarf 7 stitches wide and kept careful track of the number of stitches as they moved from needle to needle. The lesson ends with a worksheet . “So, it’s like you get a worksheet or a game at the end of every lesson.” The tone of her voice tells me that she considers worksheets and games the prizes for a job well done.
08 May 2006
"You don't write because you want to say something; you write because you've got something to say."
Quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald. Sort of the antithesis of what goes into most blogs, eh?
The knitting continues to be knit. Someone showed up at our house yesterday with a store-bought sweater that looked quite a bit like Green Gable. Whoops. Just when you think you're making a stand for personal creativity you realize your creative statements are copies of everyone else's statements.
The homeschooling continues to happen. We don't do much "school" on the weekends. In lieu of actual lessons we built a climbing wall, and I stripped more wallpaper in the bedroom.
None of which needs to be said, of course.
The knitting continues to be knit. Someone showed up at our house yesterday with a store-bought sweater that looked quite a bit like Green Gable. Whoops. Just when you think you're making a stand for personal creativity you realize your creative statements are copies of everyone else's statements.
The homeschooling continues to happen. We don't do much "school" on the weekends. In lieu of actual lessons we built a climbing wall, and I stripped more wallpaper in the bedroom.
None of which needs to be said, of course.
05 May 2006
Bits and Pieces
KNITTING
Work continues on Green Gable. I put the sleeve stitches on waste yarn, knit down a couple of rows into the body, put the body stitches on waste yarn, tried it on ... the armhole is too tight. I stared at my underarms, trying to figure out how much more I need to knit. Then, take body stitches back off waste yarn, tink back to sleeves, take sleeve stitches off waste yarn, knit 5 more rows (it looked as though 4 would do, put that last row was insurance), put sleeve stitches on waste yarn, knit 2 rows of body, put body stitches on waste yarn, try on ... the armhole is still too tight, but not so much as before. Do I have an abnormally large span between my shoulder and armpit? (Probably the rounds of weightlifting between fittings didn't help, but, please, I don't intend to let the muscles go flacid just so this top can fit.) Is my geometry wrong, and I'm knitting extra rows in the wrong place? And, just how much time am I going to spend staring at my armpit in a mirror this week?
So, I took out the waste yarn for the body stitches, tinked back to the sleeves, took out that waste yarn, knit a few more rows, and ... said to heck with it. It is what it is. I will stretch it with blocking if need be. I will shrink it with sewing if I've now made it too big.
And now I'm back to the blissfully mindless stockinette stitch in the round. I'd be able to read a book, it's so mindless ... except I'm also back to the Brown-Sheep-Cotton-Fleece-tangles-up-like-you-wouldn't-believe business.
OTHER STUFF
Yesterday we went to the Fabulous Fox to see the musical Hairspray. We (kids, Aunt L and I) went to the matinee, having been given tickets for the show. We were sitting under the balcony, so we weren't able to see the full guady decor from our seats (I can't seem to cut and paste the asp I want -- if you follow the link, click on "auditorium" to appreciate just how gaudy it is).
Fun musical. Maybe not my first choice for young kids, but, hey, when free tickets pop up like that we make the best of it.
Work continues on Green Gable. I put the sleeve stitches on waste yarn, knit down a couple of rows into the body, put the body stitches on waste yarn, tried it on ... the armhole is too tight. I stared at my underarms, trying to figure out how much more I need to knit. Then, take body stitches back off waste yarn, tink back to sleeves, take sleeve stitches off waste yarn, knit 5 more rows (it looked as though 4 would do, put that last row was insurance), put sleeve stitches on waste yarn, knit 2 rows of body, put body stitches on waste yarn, try on ... the armhole is still too tight, but not so much as before. Do I have an abnormally large span between my shoulder and armpit? (Probably the rounds of weightlifting between fittings didn't help, but, please, I don't intend to let the muscles go flacid just so this top can fit.) Is my geometry wrong, and I'm knitting extra rows in the wrong place? And, just how much time am I going to spend staring at my armpit in a mirror this week?
So, I took out the waste yarn for the body stitches, tinked back to the sleeves, took out that waste yarn, knit a few more rows, and ... said to heck with it. It is what it is. I will stretch it with blocking if need be. I will shrink it with sewing if I've now made it too big.
And now I'm back to the blissfully mindless stockinette stitch in the round. I'd be able to read a book, it's so mindless ... except I'm also back to the Brown-Sheep-Cotton-Fleece-tangles-up-like-you-wouldn't-believe business.
OTHER STUFF
Yesterday we went to the Fabulous Fox to see the musical Hairspray. We (kids, Aunt L and I) went to the matinee, having been given tickets for the show. We were sitting under the balcony, so we weren't able to see the full guady decor from our seats (I can't seem to cut and paste the asp I want -- if you follow the link, click on "auditorium" to appreciate just how gaudy it is).
Fun musical. Maybe not my first choice for young kids, but, hey, when free tickets pop up like that we make the best of it.
02 May 2006
RightStart Geometry, RightStart B
I asked KidV1 what she thought of RightStart Geometry so far. She says she still likes it. “Are you okay with doing it by yourself now?” “Yeah, because now I know that it’s really easy.”
In the past week she’s only done 2 lessons -- 7 and 8. Both deal with triangles. In lesson 7 she divided a triangle into 9 parts. In lesson 8 she drew, then cut out triangles. One set became Solomon’s Seal. When I first saw the lesson I thought she was going to be drawing Solomon’s Seal, which would be both tougher and (in my mind) cooler. I was prepared to totally butt in, because I wanted to draw Solomon’s Seal ... I started fantasizing about seguing into a Form Drawing lesson in which we would produce free-hand versions of Solomon’s Seal. It’s probably just as well it turned out to not involve drawing, since I had other stuff to do during KidV1’s math time (and, isn’t it the coolest, to know math is happening even though you’re in a totally different part of the house? I mean, really, the only time I saw her while she was working on math Monday was when she ran in to ask KidV2 and I if we wanted to see something really gross ... she had a string of snot stretching from her nose way out to a tissue ... one of those moments that I’m so glad I have girly girls instead of rough and tumble boys since boys concept of what’s remarkably gross is soooo far out there I don’t even want to hear about it).
The reason she only did 2 lessons this week is that she was horribly sick with a cold. She’s still not totally well. Usually we do some CalcuLadders, mostly as a way to convince her that speed can be a virtue. She’s quite a fan of lingering over any given project in the hopes of attaining some inner vision of perfection. You wouldn’t believe how many weeks she worked on Mary Had a Little Lamb on the soprano recorder before she was finally convinced it was okay to move on to other things. Anyway, we’re still skipping the CalcuLadders for now.
While KidV1 was cutting out triangles and performing ad hoc snot experiments, KidV2 and I worked on RightStart Level B lesson 19. Let’s see, we’re still working on days of the week, months of the year, what do you need to make 10 if you have 8, etc. Those were warm ups. Then we worked on the evens and odds. One of the first questions was about the Counting Stairs on the abacus -- does the student remember them? Ummm, well, the student saw those about 1 or 2 years ago while we were messing around with RightStart A, and we skipped the first few lessons of B, so I know that I sure don’t remember much about the Counting Stairs. KidV2 remembered them, though. She was suitable impressed with the entire concept of the Even Stairs, the Odd Stairs, the patterns she discovered the beads making. She found the work with the abacus wires vertical very amusing for some reason (really, I think much of the appeal is that Mommy is focussed totally on her during math time).
Then the time she lives for -- card games. The materials list claimed we needed several sets of Bead Cards, but the game directions all said “use one set of Bead Cards”. I’m glad I read ahead and didn’t bother making more Bead Cards. The games were all memory games -- turning over cards, looking for matches. They were all about Odds and Evens, and quickly recognizing bead patterns. There were 3 games which we played 2 times each. I think I got off easy (only playing 6 total rounds) because I kept winning.
In the past week she’s only done 2 lessons -- 7 and 8. Both deal with triangles. In lesson 7 she divided a triangle into 9 parts. In lesson 8 she drew, then cut out triangles. One set became Solomon’s Seal. When I first saw the lesson I thought she was going to be drawing Solomon’s Seal, which would be both tougher and (in my mind) cooler. I was prepared to totally butt in, because I wanted to draw Solomon’s Seal ... I started fantasizing about seguing into a Form Drawing lesson in which we would produce free-hand versions of Solomon’s Seal. It’s probably just as well it turned out to not involve drawing, since I had other stuff to do during KidV1’s math time (and, isn’t it the coolest, to know math is happening even though you’re in a totally different part of the house? I mean, really, the only time I saw her while she was working on math Monday was when she ran in to ask KidV2 and I if we wanted to see something really gross ... she had a string of snot stretching from her nose way out to a tissue ... one of those moments that I’m so glad I have girly girls instead of rough and tumble boys since boys concept of what’s remarkably gross is soooo far out there I don’t even want to hear about it).
The reason she only did 2 lessons this week is that she was horribly sick with a cold. She’s still not totally well. Usually we do some CalcuLadders, mostly as a way to convince her that speed can be a virtue. She’s quite a fan of lingering over any given project in the hopes of attaining some inner vision of perfection. You wouldn’t believe how many weeks she worked on Mary Had a Little Lamb on the soprano recorder before she was finally convinced it was okay to move on to other things. Anyway, we’re still skipping the CalcuLadders for now.
While KidV1 was cutting out triangles and performing ad hoc snot experiments, KidV2 and I worked on RightStart Level B lesson 19. Let’s see, we’re still working on days of the week, months of the year, what do you need to make 10 if you have 8, etc. Those were warm ups. Then we worked on the evens and odds. One of the first questions was about the Counting Stairs on the abacus -- does the student remember them? Ummm, well, the student saw those about 1 or 2 years ago while we were messing around with RightStart A, and we skipped the first few lessons of B, so I know that I sure don’t remember much about the Counting Stairs. KidV2 remembered them, though. She was suitable impressed with the entire concept of the Even Stairs, the Odd Stairs, the patterns she discovered the beads making. She found the work with the abacus wires vertical very amusing for some reason (really, I think much of the appeal is that Mommy is focussed totally on her during math time).
Then the time she lives for -- card games. The materials list claimed we needed several sets of Bead Cards, but the game directions all said “use one set of Bead Cards”. I’m glad I read ahead and didn’t bother making more Bead Cards. The games were all memory games -- turning over cards, looking for matches. They were all about Odds and Evens, and quickly recognizing bead patterns. There were 3 games which we played 2 times each. I think I got off easy (only playing 6 total rounds) because I kept winning.
01 May 2006
Random stuff about knitting
Weaver asked in the comments what I was using the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece for. I'm knitting Green Gable , shown here as a wad of pinkish yarn:
I'm at the point that I should drop off the sleeves and just knit the body (it's knit from the neck down), but I tried it on, and it would cut off the circulation in my arms to do that right now, so I'm going to knit 4 more rows then try it on again. The business of putting the live stitches on waste yarn so I can try it on is incredibly tedious. Other than that it's been an enjoyable knit, mostly because it's miles and miles of mindless knit stitch on size 6 circs -- easy to read a book or surf the net.
For example, the other night I knit while clicking all the way through the MDC webring ... yes, even making it through the places that I usually get hung up and bail out. There's a site (I forget whose) that doesn't read well in Safari, so all I see is her background. And there are other sites that flip me to the wrong place in the ring. Usually I'm totally confused what to do since I never can remember the names of the blogs I've read (I tend to think of the "faces" of the blogs rather than the name -- like, there's The Blog Where She Did Those My Little Pony Blankets, The Blog Where She Planted Strawberries In A Pot, The Blog Where She Put Up Those Shelves From Target I Wonder If I Should've Gotten A Set When They Were On Sale Last Week). But, I made it through, and discovered that, yes, everyone else is much cooler than I and doing more interesting projects than I am. And most of them have better hair (not that there are tons of hair pictures on the blogs, but I believe you can sense these things by the tone of people's writing, a certain je nais se qua, if you will).
However, I wasn't too terribly put out by this discovery, due to a random act of consumerism in which I got an Ace Hardware pump sprayer which I'm using to spray water on my bedroom walls and, yes, scrape down more wallpaper. Nothing like ripping wads of wallpaper off the walls to perk me up.
Tomorrow at this time Dennis-the-window-guy will be here ripping a large hole in the wall behind me to install a window. Blogging and knitting and even homeschooling might be in short supply for the next few days, depending on how this project goes.
I'm at the point that I should drop off the sleeves and just knit the body (it's knit from the neck down), but I tried it on, and it would cut off the circulation in my arms to do that right now, so I'm going to knit 4 more rows then try it on again. The business of putting the live stitches on waste yarn so I can try it on is incredibly tedious. Other than that it's been an enjoyable knit, mostly because it's miles and miles of mindless knit stitch on size 6 circs -- easy to read a book or surf the net.
For example, the other night I knit while clicking all the way through the MDC webring ... yes, even making it through the places that I usually get hung up and bail out. There's a site (I forget whose) that doesn't read well in Safari, so all I see is her background. And there are other sites that flip me to the wrong place in the ring. Usually I'm totally confused what to do since I never can remember the names of the blogs I've read (I tend to think of the "faces" of the blogs rather than the name -- like, there's The Blog Where She Did Those My Little Pony Blankets, The Blog Where She Planted Strawberries In A Pot, The Blog Where She Put Up Those Shelves From Target I Wonder If I Should've Gotten A Set When They Were On Sale Last Week). But, I made it through, and discovered that, yes, everyone else is much cooler than I and doing more interesting projects than I am. And most of them have better hair (not that there are tons of hair pictures on the blogs, but I believe you can sense these things by the tone of people's writing, a certain je nais se qua, if you will).
However, I wasn't too terribly put out by this discovery, due to a random act of consumerism in which I got an Ace Hardware pump sprayer which I'm using to spray water on my bedroom walls and, yes, scrape down more wallpaper. Nothing like ripping wads of wallpaper off the walls to perk me up.
Tomorrow at this time Dennis-the-window-guy will be here ripping a large hole in the wall behind me to install a window. Blogging and knitting and even homeschooling might be in short supply for the next few days, depending on how this project goes.
29 April 2006
Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece
Okay, it's wonderfully soft. It's a little bit splitty, especially if you rip and reknit it several times.
But here's the Big Comment: I've spent at least as much time untangling the skein as I have actually knitting.
I'm starting to get sort of whacked out about it.
But here's the Big Comment: I've spent at least as much time untangling the skein as I have actually knitting.
I'm starting to get sort of whacked out about it.
28 April 2006
"Aren't you glad you're sick today?"
KidV2 isn't quite as sick as KidV1. But she's loving the general air of illness about the house. She's allowed to grouse about how awful she feels and how much she's suffering! (Okay, she's always allowed to do that, but we pay less attention to her most days.) She has a good reason to stay in her pajamas most of the day! Mommy fixes endless cups of Apple-Kudzu (warm apple juice mixed with kudzu and cinnamon, recipe from Naturally Healthy Babies and Children by Aviva Romm, which is my A#1 sourcebook and cannot-live-without-it survival guide).
Best of all, we're playing endless rounds of Princess . It's a cooperative game which relies on your imagination. Some knowledge of how fairy tales typically work helps, too. Let me tell you, we've got more imagination and fairy-tale knowledge around here than we usually know what to do with. So when it comes to rescuing a princess from a castle before nightfall, we're on the job, fording rivers, passing dogs and guards, opening doors, etc. etc. We laughed and laughed at some of the ideas we were coming up with to overcome the obstacles in our way.
It was after a particularly fun round that KidV2 burst out with the question in the title: "Aren't you glad you're sick today?" KidV1 looked at her in horror. No, KidV1 has had a fever, has been up all night coughing, and accidentally whacked her hand so hard she couldn't even write with it. No, KidV1 really and truly wasn't glad she was sick.
I've taken Hornblower's recommendation of prophylactic knitting to heart. I've been knitting away on Green Gable. All symptoms cleared up almost immediately. And I decided I had a better idea than the pattern about how to do the lace insert. As the knitting progresses, though, I'm starting to wonder if my idea was all that good. I've not got quite enough rows to make trying it on worthwhile, but if I went ahead and ripped it back now I'd have less ripping and reknitting to contend with. Hmmmm....
Best of all, we're playing endless rounds of Princess . It's a cooperative game which relies on your imagination. Some knowledge of how fairy tales typically work helps, too. Let me tell you, we've got more imagination and fairy-tale knowledge around here than we usually know what to do with. So when it comes to rescuing a princess from a castle before nightfall, we're on the job, fording rivers, passing dogs and guards, opening doors, etc. etc. We laughed and laughed at some of the ideas we were coming up with to overcome the obstacles in our way.
It was after a particularly fun round that KidV2 burst out with the question in the title: "Aren't you glad you're sick today?" KidV1 looked at her in horror. No, KidV1 has had a fever, has been up all night coughing, and accidentally whacked her hand so hard she couldn't even write with it. No, KidV1 really and truly wasn't glad she was sick.
I've taken Hornblower's recommendation of prophylactic knitting to heart. I've been knitting away on Green Gable. All symptoms cleared up almost immediately. And I decided I had a better idea than the pattern about how to do the lace insert. As the knitting progresses, though, I'm starting to wonder if my idea was all that good. I've not got quite enough rows to make trying it on worthwhile, but if I went ahead and ripped it back now I'd have less ripping and reknitting to contend with. Hmmmm....
27 April 2006
Transformation
So, I was busy yesterday morning caring for sick kids and doing a bunch of cleaning ... my method of dealing with most illnesses is to prescribe rest and plenty of liquids, then scrub every surface in the house. I was stripping beds, washing sheets, wiping shelves, vacuuming, when the doorbell rang.
It was the UPS man, dropping off a box from WEBS full of this:
And I was instantly transformed into Virtuous Mom, who ignores the box full of yarn on the dining room table, not even bothering to open it. Virtuous Mom went on cleaning, distributing liquids, taking temperatures, and, yes, even offering to play Sorry.
When I did open it, I discovered Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in color Tea Rose for the Green Gable I plan to knit. The Regia is obviously for socks, although I forgot I ordered it (and also forgot that I don't actually like knitting socks -- I like handknit socks, I like having knit them, but I don't like the knitting itself). And the Tahki Cotton Classic and the Debbie Bliss Cathay? Who knows what I was thinking .... I mean, obviously I had visions of summer tops dancing in my head, but other than that I'm really not sure.
Late in the afternoon KidV2 wrapped her arms around me and said that she feels better knowing that I'm home with her. So sweet. And so much the final reason to not go see Yarn Harlot last night. I stayed home and swatched instead. Virtuous Mom is like that.
Right now I'm hoping that Virtuous Mom isn't transforming into I-seem-to-have-caught-what-the-kids-have Mom. We shall see.
It was the UPS man, dropping off a box from WEBS full of this:
And I was instantly transformed into Virtuous Mom, who ignores the box full of yarn on the dining room table, not even bothering to open it. Virtuous Mom went on cleaning, distributing liquids, taking temperatures, and, yes, even offering to play Sorry.
When I did open it, I discovered Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in color Tea Rose for the Green Gable I plan to knit. The Regia is obviously for socks, although I forgot I ordered it (and also forgot that I don't actually like knitting socks -- I like handknit socks, I like having knit them, but I don't like the knitting itself). And the Tahki Cotton Classic and the Debbie Bliss Cathay? Who knows what I was thinking .... I mean, obviously I had visions of summer tops dancing in my head, but other than that I'm really not sure.
Late in the afternoon KidV2 wrapped her arms around me and said that she feels better knowing that I'm home with her. So sweet. And so much the final reason to not go see Yarn Harlot last night. I stayed home and swatched instead. Virtuous Mom is like that.
Right now I'm hoping that Virtuous Mom isn't transforming into I-seem-to-have-caught-what-the-kids-have Mom. We shall see.
26 April 2006
Bits and Pieces
HOMESCHOOL:
No Tuesday Teatime yesterday. KidV1 had a bad cold, and asked if we could postpone it. I had planned a baseball theme since she was supposed to go to the baseball game last night with Mr.V ... obviously, that got postponed also (Mr.V went ahead, though, and gave his seal of approval to the new stadium).
Of course, this threw a wrench in KidV2's plans. She had visions of An Evening With Mommy, starring a banana split and the 2 of us watching Bambi. But, since KidV1 was home and not too sick to vehemently object to watching Bambi, that fell to pieces. We did play Sorry (Disney edition, no less). That should count for something.
Most of homeschool got postponed yesterday. KidV1 did some math, then curled up in a chair with a book and a cat. KidV2 did some phonics, math (she's in RightStart Level B), put her weather leaf on her weather tree, then spent the afternoon driving her sister nuts by sitting on the couch reading aloud to herself.
KNITTING:
I don't have any yarn here that I'm in the mood to knit. So I ordered some. Except it's still not here, so I keep wanting to order more. And I'm pretty sure it's all going to arrive and I won't be able to remember why I ordered any of it. So far it's all for short-sleeve summer tops like Green Gable and Ribby Shell (these orders were placed during the sudden heat wave last week, can you tell?). Of course, then I got a look at CeCe at Bonne Marie's blog, so, of course, I'd like to add that to my list of Things to Knit.
Actual knitting done: 0. I did wind some sock yarn last night while simultaneously watching Star Trek TNG and surfing the Internet for info on geometry, geometry without proofs, Euclid, history of math education in US, math education abroad, etc. It was a dumb episode of Star Trek, and a fruitless Internet search, but at least the sock yarn is ready to be knit now.
CURRENT NUMBER OF KIDS NOW WAITING FOR ME TO GET OFF THE COMPUTER AND TEND TO STUFFY NOSES, SORE THROATS AND GENERAL ICKINESS:
2
No Tuesday Teatime yesterday. KidV1 had a bad cold, and asked if we could postpone it. I had planned a baseball theme since she was supposed to go to the baseball game last night with Mr.V ... obviously, that got postponed also (Mr.V went ahead, though, and gave his seal of approval to the new stadium).
Of course, this threw a wrench in KidV2's plans. She had visions of An Evening With Mommy, starring a banana split and the 2 of us watching Bambi. But, since KidV1 was home and not too sick to vehemently object to watching Bambi, that fell to pieces. We did play Sorry (Disney edition, no less). That should count for something.
Most of homeschool got postponed yesterday. KidV1 did some math, then curled up in a chair with a book and a cat. KidV2 did some phonics, math (she's in RightStart Level B), put her weather leaf on her weather tree, then spent the afternoon driving her sister nuts by sitting on the couch reading aloud to herself.
KNITTING:
I don't have any yarn here that I'm in the mood to knit. So I ordered some. Except it's still not here, so I keep wanting to order more. And I'm pretty sure it's all going to arrive and I won't be able to remember why I ordered any of it. So far it's all for short-sleeve summer tops like Green Gable and Ribby Shell (these orders were placed during the sudden heat wave last week, can you tell?). Of course, then I got a look at CeCe at Bonne Marie's blog, so, of course, I'd like to add that to my list of Things to Knit.
Actual knitting done: 0. I did wind some sock yarn last night while simultaneously watching Star Trek TNG and surfing the Internet for info on geometry, geometry without proofs, Euclid, history of math education in US, math education abroad, etc. It was a dumb episode of Star Trek, and a fruitless Internet search, but at least the sock yarn is ready to be knit now.
CURRENT NUMBER OF KIDS NOW WAITING FOR ME TO GET OFF THE COMPUTER AND TEND TO STUFFY NOSES, SORE THROATS AND GENERAL ICKINESS:
2
25 April 2006
More Math -- RightStart Geometry
KidV1 has started using RightStart Geometry now. When we received it last week I looked through the first few lessons and was surprised to find it was stuff we'd done already. It was so easy! Topics covered were as simple as how to stick a piece of paper on a drawing board, how to draw parallel lines with a T-square, how to divvy up triangles.
I gradually figured out what the author was getting at, though. Oh, she's a clevel one, that Joan Cotter.
When I handed the book to KidV1, I explained to her that she would be doing it on her own -- she would need to read through the book, gather her materials, copy off the worksheet (we copy off the worksheet so that we can make a fresh copy in case of major blunders -- it saves a lot of weeping and wailing that way). And, yes, she could check her own work with the answer key in the back.
Her first comment was, "What, no Mommy?!?" in an anquished voice. One of the great things about RightStart for this child has been that Mommy sits right there discussing math with her every day. Mommy is right there to hold her hand, tell her she can do it, prod her on. My reply? The first lesson is about how to stick the paper on the drawing board -- you'll do fine, honey. You already know how to do this stuff.
Aha. Yes, KidV1 does know how to do that. As a matter of fact, some of the directions were so simplistic that she asked me about them ("why does it say to hold your pencil like this?" "Because maybe another kid is using this book who, unlike you, didn't listen to me lecture 100 times last year about how to hold a pencil while drafting").
She's so confident now as she goes about her math lessons. Of course, I wander through the room several times and peek over her shoulder, offering the sincere comment that I wish I were the one doing the lessons. They look so much fun! Yesterday she was working with triangles, constructing a tetrahedron. In future lessons she'll be making tessellations, designing plaid, playing with the Golden Ratio.
I think perhaps a kid who hadn't used RightStart up to this point could use this book. The parent might need to preview the lessons to be prepared to answer any questions (assuming the parent doesn't feel confident about the subject matter themselves).
I'm going to make periodic updates on how RightStart Geometry is going at our house. It's such a new program, and so many people ask "What do you do after RightStart E?" -- I want to help chart that territory.
I gradually figured out what the author was getting at, though. Oh, she's a clevel one, that Joan Cotter.
When I handed the book to KidV1, I explained to her that she would be doing it on her own -- she would need to read through the book, gather her materials, copy off the worksheet (we copy off the worksheet so that we can make a fresh copy in case of major blunders -- it saves a lot of weeping and wailing that way). And, yes, she could check her own work with the answer key in the back.
Her first comment was, "What, no Mommy?!?" in an anquished voice. One of the great things about RightStart for this child has been that Mommy sits right there discussing math with her every day. Mommy is right there to hold her hand, tell her she can do it, prod her on. My reply? The first lesson is about how to stick the paper on the drawing board -- you'll do fine, honey. You already know how to do this stuff.
Aha. Yes, KidV1 does know how to do that. As a matter of fact, some of the directions were so simplistic that she asked me about them ("why does it say to hold your pencil like this?" "Because maybe another kid is using this book who, unlike you, didn't listen to me lecture 100 times last year about how to hold a pencil while drafting").
She's so confident now as she goes about her math lessons. Of course, I wander through the room several times and peek over her shoulder, offering the sincere comment that I wish I were the one doing the lessons. They look so much fun! Yesterday she was working with triangles, constructing a tetrahedron. In future lessons she'll be making tessellations, designing plaid, playing with the Golden Ratio.
I think perhaps a kid who hadn't used RightStart up to this point could use this book. The parent might need to preview the lessons to be prepared to answer any questions (assuming the parent doesn't feel confident about the subject matter themselves).
I'm going to make periodic updates on how RightStart Geometry is going at our house. It's such a new program, and so many people ask "What do you do after RightStart E?" -- I want to help chart that territory.
24 April 2006
Math
A while back I knit this moebius basket out of Manos, then felted it. If you follow the handle around you see that there isn't really an inside or outside -- the entire basket has one side. It's sort of hard to see in the photo -- much easier to trace your fingers around and realize that the inside becomes the outside. Sometime I'm going to knit another, and needle felt a design along part of the handle and base. I think that this will make the moebius-ness of it more apparent.
I really have a "thing" for this moebius knitting. It endlessly amuses me.
The final lesson of RightStart Level E is making a moebius strip. We never did that lesson, though. It seemed pointless, considering how many moebii we have around the house. However, the RightStart lesson does have you cut the moebius into 2 pieces, and also has you cut on a line 1/3 distance from the edge. The kids will not be cutting into my knitting, so I suppose we need to try that out on paper.
The moebius basket pictured filled with long strands of golden beads. These began life as Christmas tree decorations. Earlier this year they began a new life ... I would lay them out on the carpet in the shape of various numerals. KidV2 was having trouble keeping her numbers headed the correct direction -- she kept flipping them around mirror image. So, we made huge numbers out of sparkly golden beads on the carpet, and we walked, hopped, skipped and jumped along them. We also used the Handwriting Without Tears slate and stories. And, mostly importantly, time passed. These days she usually writes them all facing the proper direction.
I've been thinking a lot about math lately. I'd like to capture my thoughts on paper or screen, to have them all tidily in one place. It's funny how much of our math is intertwined with our knitting and crafts. Some days I think I'd like to split this blog into 2 blogs -- one about homeschooling, one about knitting. But, where would the math go? It's part of both aspects of our lives.
I really have a "thing" for this moebius knitting. It endlessly amuses me.
The final lesson of RightStart Level E is making a moebius strip. We never did that lesson, though. It seemed pointless, considering how many moebii we have around the house. However, the RightStart lesson does have you cut the moebius into 2 pieces, and also has you cut on a line 1/3 distance from the edge. The kids will not be cutting into my knitting, so I suppose we need to try that out on paper.
The moebius basket pictured filled with long strands of golden beads. These began life as Christmas tree decorations. Earlier this year they began a new life ... I would lay them out on the carpet in the shape of various numerals. KidV2 was having trouble keeping her numbers headed the correct direction -- she kept flipping them around mirror image. So, we made huge numbers out of sparkly golden beads on the carpet, and we walked, hopped, skipped and jumped along them. We also used the Handwriting Without Tears slate and stories. And, mostly importantly, time passed. These days she usually writes them all facing the proper direction.
I've been thinking a lot about math lately. I'd like to capture my thoughts on paper or screen, to have them all tidily in one place. It's funny how much of our math is intertwined with our knitting and crafts. Some days I think I'd like to split this blog into 2 blogs -- one about homeschooling, one about knitting. But, where would the math go? It's part of both aspects of our lives.
21 April 2006
Scribble Lace
The shawl is done:
Scribble Lace Shawl, knit from 2 skeins of Rowan Holiday and 1 skein of Rowan Kidsilk haze on size 15 needles. Pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting . Love that book, although I don't read their blog all that often (to answer Miz Booshay's question).
It is sooooo soft, and has just the right amount of warmth for a cool spring evening.
A tip: don't try knitting this while using Rosetta Stone foreign language programs on your computer. It doesn't work. Yes, I know Rosetta Stone gets tedious -- "the boy is in the airplane", "the boy is on the airplane", "the boy is under the airplane" (hours and hours later, the only word I remember in Mandarin is "airplane"). I know that you think you're going to go crazy, starting to ponder whether there is some deep significance in being able to differentiate between "the boy is under the ball" and "the ball is on the boy" (and, really, why is the boy lying around with a ball on top of him anyway? just what is going on here?).
But, you have to keep clicking the mouse, which interrupts the knitting ... the stitches slide off the needle ... you discover that Scribble Lace is nearly impossible to pick up dropped stitches on ... the Kidsilk Haze gets tangled up, with is practically a death-sentence, since this stuff desires nothing more than to permanently bond with itself. Then, to top it all off, a large cat decides to jump in your lap while you're wrestling with the knitting and the computer.
As I was finishing up I was eagerly looking forward to knitting another project from Mason-Dixon Knitting. They're so fun! Should it be a washcloth? A rug? A chair cushion?
I haven't cast anything on yet, though. Yesterday was such a beautiful day here. I took the kids and the iMac out for a little jaunt. Yes, we have one of those relics from 2002 -- looks slick, nearly impossible to transport (thou shalt not lift by the neck, thou shalt only lift from the base; woe shall be unto them that need to take off the bottom, for they shall need some way to stabilize the whole mess). We all went to the mall, where I attempted to call the Apple store from the loading dock area so they could come down and carry the iMac up to the second floor. Alas, my cell phone went out. So we all paraded through Lord and Taylor together (KidV2 pointed out that maybe I could look for a new skirt, since I've been needing one) and on into the mall. There was some mild excitement in the Apple store, since not everyone had seen this model of iMac taken apart before. Then we all came home and ate popsicles, except the iMac didn't get one because it was still being a bit passive-aggressive about allowing me into the email program.
This morning, though, we're all back to being one big happy family. The computer is on, after 2 days of being dead. I can once again look up the weather, use MapQuest, blog, email, attempt Rosetta Stone. I just hope I haven't forgotten everything from earlier in the week with Rosetta Stone ... I can't take another day of that boy and the airplane.
Scribble Lace Shawl, knit from 2 skeins of Rowan Holiday and 1 skein of Rowan Kidsilk haze on size 15 needles. Pattern from Mason-Dixon Knitting . Love that book, although I don't read their blog all that often (to answer Miz Booshay's question).
It is sooooo soft, and has just the right amount of warmth for a cool spring evening.
A tip: don't try knitting this while using Rosetta Stone foreign language programs on your computer. It doesn't work. Yes, I know Rosetta Stone gets tedious -- "the boy is in the airplane", "the boy is on the airplane", "the boy is under the airplane" (hours and hours later, the only word I remember in Mandarin is "airplane"). I know that you think you're going to go crazy, starting to ponder whether there is some deep significance in being able to differentiate between "the boy is under the ball" and "the ball is on the boy" (and, really, why is the boy lying around with a ball on top of him anyway? just what is going on here?).
But, you have to keep clicking the mouse, which interrupts the knitting ... the stitches slide off the needle ... you discover that Scribble Lace is nearly impossible to pick up dropped stitches on ... the Kidsilk Haze gets tangled up, with is practically a death-sentence, since this stuff desires nothing more than to permanently bond with itself. Then, to top it all off, a large cat decides to jump in your lap while you're wrestling with the knitting and the computer.
As I was finishing up I was eagerly looking forward to knitting another project from Mason-Dixon Knitting. They're so fun! Should it be a washcloth? A rug? A chair cushion?
I haven't cast anything on yet, though. Yesterday was such a beautiful day here. I took the kids and the iMac out for a little jaunt. Yes, we have one of those relics from 2002 -- looks slick, nearly impossible to transport (thou shalt not lift by the neck, thou shalt only lift from the base; woe shall be unto them that need to take off the bottom, for they shall need some way to stabilize the whole mess). We all went to the mall, where I attempted to call the Apple store from the loading dock area so they could come down and carry the iMac up to the second floor. Alas, my cell phone went out. So we all paraded through Lord and Taylor together (KidV2 pointed out that maybe I could look for a new skirt, since I've been needing one) and on into the mall. There was some mild excitement in the Apple store, since not everyone had seen this model of iMac taken apart before. Then we all came home and ate popsicles, except the iMac didn't get one because it was still being a bit passive-aggressive about allowing me into the email program.
This morning, though, we're all back to being one big happy family. The computer is on, after 2 days of being dead. I can once again look up the weather, use MapQuest, blog, email, attempt Rosetta Stone. I just hope I haven't forgotten everything from earlier in the week with Rosetta Stone ... I can't take another day of that boy and the airplane.
19 April 2006
Tuesday Teatime
Our poems this week came from An Illustrated Treasury of Read-Aloud Poems for Young People .
We read through the section of poems on Friendship and Love. This contained Love and Friendship by Emily Bronte, A Boy's Song by James Hogg, The Pasture by Robert Frost, Laughing Song by William Blake, and Rondeau by Leigh Hunt.
I also read a few of the Laughing Lyrics: The Mock Turtle's Song by Lewis Carroll, A Trip to Morrow (author unknown), Mr. Nobody (author unknown; KidV1 had recited this at a homeschool art fair a few years back, so it was like visiting an old friend), Three Blind Mice by John W. Ivimey, and The Letters at School by Mary Mapes Dodge.
The book has occasional blurbs about the poets, which are fun to read. This is a great book for sharing with the kids, and I'll be using it again in the future.
Our menu was some Trader Joe organic lemonade along with leftover Arrowhead Mills gluten-free yellow cake made from a box mix, but without the eggs -- I used Ener-G egg replacer instead. I had made the cake for Easter, when it was topped with fruit and Soy Delicious. For the record, it's got an okay flavor but a sort of gritty texture. For Teatime we topped it with some berries.
We read through the section of poems on Friendship and Love. This contained Love and Friendship by Emily Bronte, A Boy's Song by James Hogg, The Pasture by Robert Frost, Laughing Song by William Blake, and Rondeau by Leigh Hunt.
I also read a few of the Laughing Lyrics: The Mock Turtle's Song by Lewis Carroll, A Trip to Morrow (author unknown), Mr. Nobody (author unknown; KidV1 had recited this at a homeschool art fair a few years back, so it was like visiting an old friend), Three Blind Mice by John W. Ivimey, and The Letters at School by Mary Mapes Dodge.
The book has occasional blurbs about the poets, which are fun to read. This is a great book for sharing with the kids, and I'll be using it again in the future.
Our menu was some Trader Joe organic lemonade along with leftover Arrowhead Mills gluten-free yellow cake made from a box mix, but without the eggs -- I used Ener-G egg replacer instead. I had made the cake for Easter, when it was topped with fruit and Soy Delicious. For the record, it's got an okay flavor but a sort of gritty texture. For Teatime we topped it with some berries.
18 April 2006
My Calvin/Hobbes score
| A Bit Of Both You are 50% Calvin and 50% Hobbes |
| Calvin & Hobbes, like a scruffy yin and yang, are in perfect balance within you. Like Calvin, you're weird, a bit insecure, and can be a trouble-maker. But like Hobbes, you're down to earth and sensitive. It's a risk to say it here, after just a ten question test, but I'll bet you're smarter than most. Both Calvin and Hobbes are crafty, clever characters, and any one made from equal parts of each is a force to be reckoned with. |
 |
HT to Mungo
17 April 2006
Post-easter Wrap-up
Sheep: Felted as of Friday morning. Never got around to stuffing and sewing up, though. KidV2 wandered in while I was working on them, and never told her sister about it. This is a miracle. I think I'll put them in a box for next year. Surely I can manage to stuff and sew them by next year, right? (Note to A from comments -- it's a Fiber Trends pattern.)
Scribble Lace shawl: Half completed. It was in the mid-80s on Easter, so wraps were not needed.
Community egg hunt -- completed. Dying Easter eggs -- completed. Stations of the Cross -- skipped, although we had some extra kids over during it so parents could go. People over for dinner the night before Easter -- completed. Household Easter egg hunt -- competed. Filled Easter baskets magically appearing -- completed. Number of Easter lilies at church -- 0 (Easter lilies really bug me. So does dying Easter eggs, for that matter. In a perfect world these things would not exist). Easter dinner at L-and-M's house -- completed. Backyard Washer tournament, in which we discovered that KidV1 is a washer-pitchin' prodigy -- completed (in spite of years living in places like Evansville Indiana, I had never seen anyone play Washers before ... who came up with this game? Are we doomed to have this be a new Easter tradition?)
Number of pictures I've tried to upload from iPhoto to Blogger in the past week -- innumerable. The 2 systems were having a bit of a tiff, so my Show Your Shelves entry (a homeschool blog thing) never happened. I was able to upload this photo this morning, though:
I look eerily like my Aunt Carolyn in this. I also look like I'm about to keel over. Which isn't to say that Aunt Carolyn typically looks like she's going to keel over. I guess I look like Aunt Carolyn would if she stayed up late Saturday night entertaining guests, then stayed up even later putting together Easter baskets and plastic eggs, then got up at about 6 a.m. to hide the eggs in her back yard. You know, that look.
Scribble Lace shawl: Half completed. It was in the mid-80s on Easter, so wraps were not needed.
Community egg hunt -- completed. Dying Easter eggs -- completed. Stations of the Cross -- skipped, although we had some extra kids over during it so parents could go. People over for dinner the night before Easter -- completed. Household Easter egg hunt -- competed. Filled Easter baskets magically appearing -- completed. Number of Easter lilies at church -- 0 (Easter lilies really bug me. So does dying Easter eggs, for that matter. In a perfect world these things would not exist). Easter dinner at L-and-M's house -- completed. Backyard Washer tournament, in which we discovered that KidV1 is a washer-pitchin' prodigy -- completed (in spite of years living in places like Evansville Indiana, I had never seen anyone play Washers before ... who came up with this game? Are we doomed to have this be a new Easter tradition?)
Number of pictures I've tried to upload from iPhoto to Blogger in the past week -- innumerable. The 2 systems were having a bit of a tiff, so my Show Your Shelves entry (a homeschool blog thing) never happened. I was able to upload this photo this morning, though:
I look eerily like my Aunt Carolyn in this. I also look like I'm about to keel over. Which isn't to say that Aunt Carolyn typically looks like she's going to keel over. I guess I look like Aunt Carolyn would if she stayed up late Saturday night entertaining guests, then stayed up even later putting together Easter baskets and plastic eggs, then got up at about 6 a.m. to hide the eggs in her back yard. You know, that look.
12 April 2006
Tuesday Teatime
This week we held an Easter Teatime.
Our poetry came from A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme . I selected several Easter poems from the chapter on seasons. writers included Fiona Macleod, Martha G.D. Bianchi, David Kuhrt and J.M. Neale, as well as a couple of poems with no author given.
I baked Hot Cross Buns, using a recipe fairly similar to this one (I say "similar" mostly because I didn't really follow the recipe, not being much in the mood for following directions yesterday ... have you ever had days like that?).
Of course, the kids played Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. This was done sequentially, as they did not care to play together. KidV1 finds this type of music easy; KidV2 struggles with it.
And we discussed why Hot Cross Buns are eaten at Easter.
(By the way, I'm posting late today as I decided to reserve the early morning hours as Prime Sheep Knitting Time. Four hooves done, four to go, then 2 tails, 4 ears, and the felting. Woohoo. On the other hand, I finally figured out that one skein of Rowan Holiday isn't enough for a Scribble Lace shawl. We'll see what happens with that, but as hot as it is I don't really plan on wearing a wrap anytime soon. As a matter of fact, I've been told it's time to blow up the inflatable pool, it's so hot.)
Our poetry came from A Journey Through Time in Verse and Rhyme . I selected several Easter poems from the chapter on seasons. writers included Fiona Macleod, Martha G.D. Bianchi, David Kuhrt and J.M. Neale, as well as a couple of poems with no author given.
I baked Hot Cross Buns, using a recipe fairly similar to this one (I say "similar" mostly because I didn't really follow the recipe, not being much in the mood for following directions yesterday ... have you ever had days like that?).
Of course, the kids played Hot Cross Buns on the recorder. This was done sequentially, as they did not care to play together. KidV1 finds this type of music easy; KidV2 struggles with it.
And we discussed why Hot Cross Buns are eaten at Easter.
(By the way, I'm posting late today as I decided to reserve the early morning hours as Prime Sheep Knitting Time. Four hooves done, four to go, then 2 tails, 4 ears, and the felting. Woohoo. On the other hand, I finally figured out that one skein of Rowan Holiday isn't enough for a Scribble Lace shawl. We'll see what happens with that, but as hot as it is I don't really plan on wearing a wrap anytime soon. As a matter of fact, I've been told it's time to blow up the inflatable pool, it's so hot.)
11 April 2006
White
White sheep with black faces. We are over run with sheep images. In our morning read aloud, Little House in the Highlands , sheep are roaming around everywhere. In real life, Grandma just wrote that the farm at Prophetstown now has twin lambs, one black and one white. And all the local stores seem to be stocking as many sheep as bunnies. Sheep are everywhere in my life right now. I'm thinking about getting a fleece so we can try cleaning and carding and spinning.
White and offwhite scribble lace. I decided at about noon yesterday that I'm no longer quite so enamored of the scribble lace. I have to actually pay attention to knitting it, or else I stick my needle in the wrong place. Heck, if I'd wanted to pay attention to what I was knitting I'd have knitted real lace. Also, the concept was to make a quick wrap for Easter. This isn't as quick as I thought it would be. And the forecast for Easter is 84 degrees, so I probably won't be wearing it anyway.
By the way, the Scribble Lace how-to is out of Mason-Dixon Knitting . This book has restored my interest in knitting books. It's a hoot.
I was going to include KidV2's white scarf in the montage pictured. It's a scarf she made for one of her dolls. Apparently, though, she's hidden it away to be an Easter surprise for the doll. She cast on 7 stitches in ... some white Lion Brand yarn we had around here, using her official personal knitting needles (the ones with the ends painted hot pink so we know they're hers). And knit until she was satisfied, then bound off. She's now decided it's time to figure out how to purl. She's also told the 12 year old next door that she'd be willing to teach her to knit (KidV2 is 6). I think this conversation came up when they went exploring in the woods and KidV2 took her knitting along. Because, you know, that's how it's done -- you drag your knitting around everywhere, you fiddle with it, you make it up as you go along, you learn new things by teaching someone else, you give it away.
Now I'm off to fiddle with sheep hooves. So I can give sheep away.
10 April 2006
Mail Call!
Ta-daa! About 48 hours after ordering from Jimmy Bean's Wool the first part of my order arrived in my mailbox (which, if you knew how tenuous our mail delivery is, you'd be really amazed)
This shipment contained 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces, a ball of Rowan Holiday in white (it probably has some cool Rowanesque name, but I ripped into the ball right away and instantly lost the tag) and Kidsilk Haze in offwhite (ditto on the name).
The Rowan yarn is already being transformed into a Scribble Lace shawl, which is really a fun thing to do, folks. Really. You ought to try it.
The Sonlight catalogue also arrived in the mail. Sigh. Last week I was babbling about how tempted I was to go with Sonlight, since, you know, something about it is soooo alluring ... you look through the catalogue and find yourself thinking, "if only I spent several hundred dollars on this curriculum, life would be better. My kids would be smarter, my bathrooms would be cleaner, I would finish those felted sheep in time for Easter, I'd remember to floss my teeth every night." But, last Monday I got the Memoria Press catalogue, which contains Mungo's new book The Latin Centered Curriculum .
Well, I really really want to read this book. And I really really want to think about this book, and how it applies to how we homeschool. So, I was all pumped up on my new Latin-centered sensibilities, and pretty sure this would shield me from the siren song of Sonlight.
But, alas, Mungo's book isn't actually being shipped yet, so I can't physically hold a copy in my hand with which to beat the Sonlight catalogue into submission. (Total aside: I was initially sort of weirded out that the author on Mungo's book was listed as Andrew Campbell. IS NOT! IT'S "MUNGO"! I've come to terms with the fact that his book is supposed to reach beyond this ephemeral blog-world we occupy, unlike those by other authors who emblazon their blog persona right onto their books.)
So, anyway, when I looked throught the Sonlight catalogue ... oh my ... I started to get a little dizzy. A little swoony. That Core 6 ... what a core. Ancient history. I could get it for KidV1 for next fall, and maybe parts of Core 1 for KidV2 (niggling voice: wasn't I planning on doing a Waldorf-inspired block of Saints and Heroes for KidV2 next fall? ). Heck, why wait? We're not doing any history at the moment, so why not get Core 5 NOW and whip through the history and readers of it during this late spring/summer season. And we could even get out our Rosetta Stone Mandarin Chinese (core 5 is about Eastern hemisphere, for those who haven't yet memorized the catalogue). Then, when we switch to Core 6, we could start really concentrating on Latin. Maybe we could combine Sonlight and Latin Classical Ed, with a side helping of Waldorf. Wheeeee! Sort of blows that entire "multum non multa" (less is more) concept of Latin Classical Ed, but wouldn't it be cool?
It's moments like these I really sympathize with knitters who purchase more yarn than they can possible knit up in their lifetimes. I'm careening down the path of purchasing more homeschool stuff than we can possibly read through in a lifetime. It's exhilirating. You know it's so wrong, but it feels so good. Well, it feels so good until the books actually show up on your doorstep and you realize you need to shoehorn them onto the bookshelves, not to mention that since the moment you pressed the "submit order" button you've totally lost interest in that style of homeschooling and really want to pursue something else.
Whew. I need to cool down by going to read the new Knitty . I expect to find something I'd rather be knitting, but, you know, yarn is cheaper than curriculum.
This shipment contained 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces, a ball of Rowan Holiday in white (it probably has some cool Rowanesque name, but I ripped into the ball right away and instantly lost the tag) and Kidsilk Haze in offwhite (ditto on the name).
The Rowan yarn is already being transformed into a Scribble Lace shawl, which is really a fun thing to do, folks. Really. You ought to try it.
The Sonlight catalogue also arrived in the mail. Sigh. Last week I was babbling about how tempted I was to go with Sonlight, since, you know, something about it is soooo alluring ... you look through the catalogue and find yourself thinking, "if only I spent several hundred dollars on this curriculum, life would be better. My kids would be smarter, my bathrooms would be cleaner, I would finish those felted sheep in time for Easter, I'd remember to floss my teeth every night." But, last Monday I got the Memoria Press catalogue, which contains Mungo's new book The Latin Centered Curriculum .
Well, I really really want to read this book. And I really really want to think about this book, and how it applies to how we homeschool. So, I was all pumped up on my new Latin-centered sensibilities, and pretty sure this would shield me from the siren song of Sonlight.
But, alas, Mungo's book isn't actually being shipped yet, so I can't physically hold a copy in my hand with which to beat the Sonlight catalogue into submission. (Total aside: I was initially sort of weirded out that the author on Mungo's book was listed as Andrew Campbell. IS NOT! IT'S "MUNGO"! I've come to terms with the fact that his book is supposed to reach beyond this ephemeral blog-world we occupy, unlike those by other authors who emblazon their blog persona right onto their books.)
So, anyway, when I looked throught the Sonlight catalogue ... oh my ... I started to get a little dizzy. A little swoony. That Core 6 ... what a core. Ancient history. I could get it for KidV1 for next fall, and maybe parts of Core 1 for KidV2 (niggling voice: wasn't I planning on doing a Waldorf-inspired block of Saints and Heroes for KidV2 next fall? ). Heck, why wait? We're not doing any history at the moment, so why not get Core 5 NOW and whip through the history and readers of it during this late spring/summer season. And we could even get out our Rosetta Stone Mandarin Chinese (core 5 is about Eastern hemisphere, for those who haven't yet memorized the catalogue). Then, when we switch to Core 6, we could start really concentrating on Latin. Maybe we could combine Sonlight and Latin Classical Ed, with a side helping of Waldorf. Wheeeee! Sort of blows that entire "multum non multa" (less is more) concept of Latin Classical Ed, but wouldn't it be cool?
It's moments like these I really sympathize with knitters who purchase more yarn than they can possible knit up in their lifetimes. I'm careening down the path of purchasing more homeschool stuff than we can possibly read through in a lifetime. It's exhilirating. You know it's so wrong, but it feels so good. Well, it feels so good until the books actually show up on your doorstep and you realize you need to shoehorn them onto the bookshelves, not to mention that since the moment you pressed the "submit order" button you've totally lost interest in that style of homeschooling and really want to pursue something else.
Whew. I need to cool down by going to read the new Knitty . I expect to find something I'd rather be knitting, but, you know, yarn is cheaper than curriculum.
07 April 2006
Bits and Pieces
Homeschool bits:
We are currently operating without a math book. I tried to get Singapore 5A from the local homeschool store last week. It was the one and only Singapore math book they did not have. So, we've been using a combination of Zaccaro's Challenge Math , Calculadders, and a bit of Quarter Mile Math. I've decided, though, to order the RightStart Geometry course (I've linked to a review rather than an order page there, because I think the review explains the course better). Apparently it includes within its geometry about 90% of the math topics a middle school student needs. Given KidV1's love a geometry, I think we may have a winner here.
By the way, you wouldn't believe how long it took me to get to the homeschool store. I drove up and down the street I thought it was on ... up and down, up and down. Finally I came home, looked again at Mapquest, looked again at the store's website, and tried again. Several hours and several gallons of gas later I finally found it. And then they didn't have the math book I wanted. Gees. The moral is, I'm not in the mood to discuss the glories of buying locally.
Speaking of which, knitting bits:
I was ordering a boatload of yarn from Jimmy Bean's Wool . By "boatload" I mean, "Wow, I'm so close to free shipping I should go browse through the sale stuff, since my next $4 worth of yarn is virtually free". But, alas, after I placed my order they emailed to notify me they were out of some of the yarn I chose. We sent several emails back and forth -- they described the situation, suggested substitution, then I described what I was making and my time frame. Back and forth we went, and within a very short time we had everything resolved and my package was shipped. All in all, less time than it would've taken me to figure out how to get to a yarn shop here in town (basis last week's "let's go find a little shop on a sidestreet" adventure).
All of my transactions with them have been great. Plus I like the picture of the dog they use when they don't have a picture of the yarn.
Self-improvement bits:
I am actually thinking about doing this (Latin by the Dowling method, aka really-long-tedious-way-to-pound-Latin-into-your-brain). Remember this moment, for some day we will look back upon it and laugh.
We are currently operating without a math book. I tried to get Singapore 5A from the local homeschool store last week. It was the one and only Singapore math book they did not have. So, we've been using a combination of Zaccaro's Challenge Math , Calculadders, and a bit of Quarter Mile Math. I've decided, though, to order the RightStart Geometry course (I've linked to a review rather than an order page there, because I think the review explains the course better). Apparently it includes within its geometry about 90% of the math topics a middle school student needs. Given KidV1's love a geometry, I think we may have a winner here.
By the way, you wouldn't believe how long it took me to get to the homeschool store. I drove up and down the street I thought it was on ... up and down, up and down. Finally I came home, looked again at Mapquest, looked again at the store's website, and tried again. Several hours and several gallons of gas later I finally found it. And then they didn't have the math book I wanted. Gees. The moral is, I'm not in the mood to discuss the glories of buying locally.
Speaking of which, knitting bits:
I was ordering a boatload of yarn from Jimmy Bean's Wool . By "boatload" I mean, "Wow, I'm so close to free shipping I should go browse through the sale stuff, since my next $4 worth of yarn is virtually free". But, alas, after I placed my order they emailed to notify me they were out of some of the yarn I chose. We sent several emails back and forth -- they described the situation, suggested substitution, then I described what I was making and my time frame. Back and forth we went, and within a very short time we had everything resolved and my package was shipped. All in all, less time than it would've taken me to figure out how to get to a yarn shop here in town (basis last week's "let's go find a little shop on a sidestreet" adventure).
All of my transactions with them have been great. Plus I like the picture of the dog they use when they don't have a picture of the yarn.
Self-improvement bits:
I am actually thinking about doing this (Latin by the Dowling method, aka really-long-tedious-way-to-pound-Latin-into-your-brain). Remember this moment, for some day we will look back upon it and laugh.
06 April 2006
Sheep update
Monday: Decide to dig out sheep and finish them. Realize I don't have the pattern, the yarn or the needles. Fret about what to do.
Tuesday: Blog about impending sheep disaster. Afterwards, totally forget sheep exist. What sheep? Huh?
Wednesday: Recall that earlier in the week I wanted to do some sheep-thing, but have lost interest by now. Plus, you know, the kids are always hanging around and I wanted the sheep to be a surprise (there was a discussion a few weeks ago on Mothering.com Learning at Home about the disadvantages of homeschooling; I would go back and change my answer to "cannot knit sheep whenever I want", but figure that would be too cryptic to be helpful to others). On the other hand, really really want to be knitting something, and have by now realized that the felted backpack was such a dorky idea that I'd rather trim my cat's toenails than work on it. Trim cat's toenails. Cat prays I find something worth knitting soon.
Thursday morning: Get up hours before kids get up. Feel guilty that I'm not down in basement searching for black yarn for hooves. Decide that feeling guilty is progress -- a couple of days ago I didn't even remember I was working on this project! Whoopee! This is enough progress for today, as a matter of fact. Spend rest of morning reading Melissa Wiley's blog (She's the author of the Martha series of the Little House books, a homeschooling mom, and due to deliver a baby any day now. We just started Little House in the Highlands as our breakfast time read aloud. Cool coincidence -- a couple of days ago she posted a bunch of tie-ins to the Martha books. It's sort of like an instant unit study!).
Plans for rest of day: Purchase yarn that has no bearing whatsoever on any project mentioned up until this time.
Tuesday: Blog about impending sheep disaster. Afterwards, totally forget sheep exist. What sheep? Huh?
Wednesday: Recall that earlier in the week I wanted to do some sheep-thing, but have lost interest by now. Plus, you know, the kids are always hanging around and I wanted the sheep to be a surprise (there was a discussion a few weeks ago on Mothering.com Learning at Home about the disadvantages of homeschooling; I would go back and change my answer to "cannot knit sheep whenever I want", but figure that would be too cryptic to be helpful to others). On the other hand, really really want to be knitting something, and have by now realized that the felted backpack was such a dorky idea that I'd rather trim my cat's toenails than work on it. Trim cat's toenails. Cat prays I find something worth knitting soon.
Thursday morning: Get up hours before kids get up. Feel guilty that I'm not down in basement searching for black yarn for hooves. Decide that feeling guilty is progress -- a couple of days ago I didn't even remember I was working on this project! Whoopee! This is enough progress for today, as a matter of fact. Spend rest of morning reading Melissa Wiley's blog (She's the author of the Martha series of the Little House books, a homeschooling mom, and due to deliver a baby any day now. We just started Little House in the Highlands as our breakfast time read aloud. Cool coincidence -- a couple of days ago she posted a bunch of tie-ins to the Martha books. It's sort of like an instant unit study!).
Plans for rest of day: Purchase yarn that has no bearing whatsoever on any project mentioned up until this time.
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