The Countdown's On

CHAIN CHAIN CHAIN: We started the day off by checking in with our calendar, noting today's date, that Rick's birthday was yesterday and talking about Thursday's special events - ballet and a library trip. I also, for the first time, pointed out to the kids that a calendar is a great tool to help you figure out how many days there are between today and a big event you're looking forward to. So we counted the number of days until Annabelle's birthday and Halloween. Then, to make it more concrete, we constructed a countdown chain with 10 links to help us countdown to Bee's Bday. Here, the kids are numbering the strips (1-10) and the glue is standing by, ready to help link them together. Table time also included a workbook writing exercise - finishing some sentences. CJ's handwriting is really terrific when he pays mind to it.


PUFFY EYED BALLERINA: Today was Bee's ballet day. Before ballet she had a - hmm, how to put it nicely? - really ugly episode where she was screeching at CJ in what we'll call a very unfriendly voice. So she got to spend about 15 minutes in her room to think about the errors of her ways before class. I darn near didn't take her at all. ...
Once Bee was in the cocoon of her ballet class, CJ and I headed to the library. There, we found a whole library shelving cart full of Halloween books (which I thought was odd, since there were next to none last week. We picked up several.








WORD OF THE DAY: Sometime before 8, CJ asked me if cyberspace is in a computer. Good question. I told him I thought of it as the connection or network between computers or computer users rather than being within a single computer or computers. Not sure why he was thinking about cyberspace at 8 a.m. ... (Later, I checked Dictionary.com, which defines it as "The electronic medium of computer networks, in which online communication takes place." So I wasn't too far off.)

FIT AS A FIDDLE: The kids haven't been able to use many of the Wii Fit features for weeks now - the balance board was out of order. However, good news - brother Ken came by today and resynched the board and happily, we're back in business. It's good news because it lets the kids play a game while they get a little bit of exercise.

CJ SPEAKS: This afternoon CJ started asking questions about pets traveling on an airplane. I knew the genesis of that line of thought was a great show we watched yesterday, "Martha Speaks." It's about a talking dog with an exceptional vocabulary, and the writers do a really clever job of introducing new words to young people. Yesterday's storyline involved the dog Martha going along on a family vacation, and new words included cargo area destination, turbulence and reservation. One of Martha's destinations included a Dude Ranch, where she sang the song that includes the line 'git a long little doggies." Me, I always thought 'doggies' meant canines, and long little ones? Hmm, sounds like a Wiener dog to me. Anyway, turns out a "doggies" is really dogies, pronounced doe-geez, and that a dogie is a young calf without a mother. Did everyone - including a cartoon dog - know this except me?!

THE GREAT OUTDOORS: For today's physical activity (besides Bee's ballet), we walked Kirby to the neighborhood park, which gave us a chance to check out renovations there. Later this afternoon, we hiked up to Ella Bailey park (about 5 blocks seemingly straight uphill) and the kids roamed around there with about a hundred other kids.

MR. INVENTION: I can't tell you how many times a day CJ talks about making something, be it a new video game, a machine that makes money, a time machine - the list is long. Whatever his invention is, it usually has an -inator suffix. I really need to start writing his ideas down. Anyway, no matter how outlandish or illegal (for instance that whole counterfeiting thing) his future inventions sound, I always encourage him to go for it. (I can't help but wonder how many creative minds have been smothered or squelched by nay-sayers.)

CANDY MATH: CJ practically begged for candy corn at Fred Meyer today so I caved on a tiny bag. Tonight after dinner, the kids wanted at it. I poured it onto a plate and said they'd have to do some math - specifically division - to earn it. Together we counted that there were eight pieces. I asked them how they'd divide it so that they each had an equal amount. I expected there to be some discussion and work to figure it out, but Annabelle instantly swooped down, pushed four to each side of the plate and they dug in. Highly motivated, I guess.