Hopalong CJ

PATIENT UPDATE: MPA's most senior student is still quite hobbled from the aftermath of Annabelle's Killer Pickle project. "My foot is broken," CJ declared early this morning. Of course Annabelle quickly snapped back, "It's not broken, it's just hurt." At that, CJ explained that it feels "like a pitchfork is sticking it." Not broken, but definitely ouch. I didn't even know CJ knew what a pitchfork is.

We had to make some accommodations due to CJ's injury. On the midday dog walk he was stroller bound and there was no yoga for him this afternoon (though Annabelle still attended). Hopefully by tomorrow he'll be getting around a lot better.

COOPERATIVE CANDY HUNT: Before settling into "real" learning this morning, I let CJ and Annabelle have 15 minutes in Club Penguin. As I was listening to and watching them, it was obvious that there was, in fact, a whole lot of real learning going on. They were reading, using maps, solving riddles and working as a team (a/k/a engaging in cooperative learning) to complete the assignment - a virtual candy hunt. After CJ solved one riddle and discovered an item, Annabelle gushed, "Good thinkin', CeeJ!" The kids also both recently passed a test to earn the "tour guide" designation on Club Penguin. This means they can show community newcomers around the Penguin world. Cool!

PAPERWORK: This morning's paperwork featured more about map icons and terms, and we also did a Halloween themed sheet involving nouns and adjectives. CJ was slow to catch on, most likely because his brain wasn't available while I was reminding them what nouns and adjectives are. ... He finally came around and once he focused, he made short work of it.

BEETHOVEN MASH UP: After the kids finished their worksheets, I thought it was time for a musical interlude. I fired up Beethoven's Fifth Symphony for them (A YouTube version with graphical notation). It was powerful and fabulous. Next, I thought I'd mix things up with Walter Murphy's A Fifth of Beethoven" Not more than three measures into the song, CJ asked, "Is this disco motion?" Why yes son, yes it is. (In fact, the song was featured on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, and it doesn't get any more disco than that, now, does it?) Not surprisingly, Annabelle couldn't help herself and danced to that disco beat. CJ tried to dance. Briefly.

Afterward, when I polled the kids to see which version they liked better (the classic orchestral arrangement or the funked up one, Annabelle declared, "The second one because it was cooler!" And then she started singing (well screeching really) a hybrid of "Disco Duck" and "A Fifth of Beethoven." :)

ARES I-X ON HOLD: First thing this a.m. we tuned into NASA TV to see what was going on with the rocket launch. We watched nothing happen for awhile and then learned the mission was officially scrubbed for the day due to weather (although the skies looked clear, high-level clouds "can generate precipitation static which can create a corona of static electricity around the rocket that interferes with radio signals sent by or to the rocket," according to the Daily Mail. Tomorrow, they'll try again. If it's a no go then, the flight will be delayed until next month. When Ares does finally launch, it will gather data collected by more than 700 sensors placed throughout the rocket.

STORY TIME: We read another chapter of All About Sam (his family moved and now he has his own room and a real bed instead of a crib). Next up was Bat's Big Game. I pulled it off the library shelf a couple weeks back thinking bat = Halloweeny. This book had nothing to do with Halloween, but it was a wonderful discovery. It's a retelling of an ancient story (with previous versions told in in Cree, Cherokee and Japanese, to name a few) that's also one of Aesop's Fables.

The Animals are competing against the Birds. Bat shows up, sizes up the competition and decides he wants to be on the Animals team. But as the game progresses, Bat keeps switching teams/allegiances, depending on whom he thinks will be the eventual winner. Finally, the Animals and Birds call BS on Bat's vacillating. "I'm sorry for you Bat," said Bear. "But a good player sticks with the team ... even when they are losing." I used a scenario the kids could relate to and asked them what they'd think if in the fifth inning of a game, Ichiro saw the Mariners were losing and decided to go join the Yankees dugout. They agreed that would be TERRIBLE. All said, an engaging book with a great message. I'm so glad we read it.

CRAZY CRAFT: Last night when we were at dinner (McMenamins Fremont, celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary), CJ was being silly, dipping his French fries into their ice water and marveling at the new taste sensation he'd created. They were dubbed Frycicles and though it was panned by taste testers (Christian and me) the kids were going on and on about the food and how they could introduce it to a larger audience. I told them that we could make a mock box of Frycicles for fun. So today we did. I showed the kids how to find clip art online and they chose a cereal bowl, French fries, and ice cube graphics. We printed those out and they cut them out and glued them to a Crispix box. I typed Frycicles and showed the kids what the word looked like in several different fonts. CJ chose a retro diner font because it had little starbursts that looked like snowflakes, which fit his Frycicles theme. He also came up with a couple of marketing catchphrases for the box. The box is cute, but I personally don't see Frycicles coming to a grocery store near you any time soon. ...

QUOTE OF THE DAY: From CJ - "Annabelle is a craftsy girl and I'm a scientisty guy."