A First

OCTOBER ARRIVES - Since this is the first full month Magnolia Preparatory Academy has been in existence, it marked our first opportunity to make a monthly calendar from Day 1. I printed out a blank/boxed template, and had the kids write the month's name, days' names and dates on it. Then, we went through and highlighted some of this month's special days (Rick's birthday, Annabelle's birthday, my birthday, our wedding anniversary). We also marked Halloween. We also talked about how important things happen every single day. Conveniently, every darn day, The History Channel has a one minute video about an event of significance (they call it a lead story) from the past. As it turns out, Yosemite National Park was founded on Oct. 1.

THEY PUT A MAN ON THE MOON: Oct. 1 also marks one giant leap for mankind. NASA was founded on Oct. 1. So, we sang Happy birthday to NASA and talked a bit about what NASA is, and then I hopped online to find a brought-to-you-by NASA learning opportunity, and I found the StarChild Web site. CJ literally came running when he heard these words coming from the computer speakers: "What is the solar system? It is our Sun and everything that travels around it." (Kudos to the Pacific Science Center's daily Calendar of Science for giving us the NASA birthday news.)

LIBRARY LESSON: Annabelle's ballet was cancelled this a.m. (sick teacher), so we all went to the library. My hope was to load up on Halloween/October related books to get us through the month. Yeah, well, apparently I wasn't the only one thinking that. The library has a shelves with holiday-related books and the Halloween section was thoroughly wiped out. I did managed to find some scary-spooky-fall-type titles amongst the general population, so to speak. Having learned my lesson, I also gathered up an armload of Thanksgiving-themed books. The kids, meanwhile, loaded up on a dozen-plus DVDs.

THEY DID THE MASH: Since we're into October, a/k/a Halloween month, I thought it would be fun to find a Halloween-y tune as our song of the day. The obvious choice is The Monster Mash. I found a video on YouTube the kids loved - the original song with animated Lego action. Fun!

APPLE OF MY EYE: Apples were front and center in the Albertsons produce section today. As we surveyed them, reviewing what we'd learned about apples earlier in the week, CJ smiled mischeviously and said, "Did you know that apples grow in a bag in a grocery store?" Too funny. We bought some gala and golden delicious (only 78 cents a pound) and just one prized honeycrisp at $2.99 a pound - yikes!

PETER PETER: On the way back from Albertsons, where I'd let each of the kids pick a 99 cent mini pumpkin, CJ asked, "What's a pumpkin eater?" I responded, "Well Peter Peter would be one example," and went on to recite the very-bizarre-when-you-think-about-it Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater nursery rhyme (which, obviously, seemed to be at the root of his question). Naturally, this led to a discussion about how keeping one's wife in a pumpkin shell is not acceptable. Later this afternoon, while the kids were doing their math worksheets, I played a catchy do-wop musical version of the song. (It's worth noting that CJ completed his math in record time. I seriously did not believe him when he said he was done - I figured he probably skipped some, and would have bet money that he glossed over the instructions (it was mixed addition and subtraction). But lo and behold, he nailed it!

STORY WEAVERS: At one point today, CJ and Annabelle were making what they called "mixed up stories" using the "Bonus Feature" on a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVD. It has been my past experience that "bonus" features on DVDs are anything but. They're usually lame afterthoughts tacked on. However, in this instance, it was actually worthwhile - the kids were having great fun picking their stories' beginnings, challenges, solutions and conclusions.
EXTRA! EXTRA!: I can't tell you how often Annabelle takes the initiative to do her own art, writing, reading, etc. projects. Here are a couple of things she's done in the past couple of days. I especially love her spontaneous drawing of cirrus clouds!