Finally, a Field Trip!

MORNING MEETING: This morning we got the most important business out of the way first - the kids put their letters to Santa in envelopes and addressed the envelopes. I do believe that's the first time they've ever addressed an envelope themselves. CJ was r-e-a-l-l-y slow because he was worried about his letters being perfect. (Naturally, I told him they didn't have to be perfect, but he'd have none of that.)

HE'S ON HIS WAY: For this morning's music, I played a bunch of different versions of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" for them. We started with the Jackson 5, worked our way through Springsteen, Ray Charles, The Supremes , Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra (with lyrics we'd never heard before), a horrific track from "Disco Noel (1979)" and even a head banging version by Alice Cooper (cool!). I also found a version by Bahamian folk guitarist Joseph Spence who kinda growled his way thru the song. Frankly, the vocals sounded (to me) like a cross between Adam Sandler and Beavis (of Beavis and Butthead fame). CJ laughed because the guy apparently didn't know the words. "Bad singer!" laughed Annabelle. But reading the comments on the video, supposedly this guy is some kind of virtuouso on guitar. Um, OK.

We followed all this up with a karaoke version, to help the kids cement the words in their own minds.

CAUGHT IN A TRAP: CJ asked to play an old favorite, "Mouse Trap," today. As far as actual game play goes, it's pretty lame. The fun in this game is the construction of the convoluted trap. I made the kids read the (25-step!) construction instructions and identify the parts involved, though I mostly handled set up. Then they played/argued over the game for a good 30 minutes.

MATH NINJAS: We hadn't done any flash cards in ages, so for today's math, we went old school. (Back in the day, flashcards were about as close to a PowerPoint presentation as we got!)

The kids were totally into it. In fact, I was especially shocked by how quickly CJ popped up with the answers. I guess the competitive nature of it (gotta be first!) kicked him into overdrive.

BIG COLD: Today's science speak was all about glaciers. What inspired us was the recent story about the mammoth iceberg approaching Australia. We took advantage of BrainPOP's free lesson plan and watched a video about glaciers. We learned there are two types of glaciers: valley and continental. We learned that glaciers move when snow piles high, the glacier compresses and its bottom layer starts to melt, turning into a putty like substance. Valley glaciers are all over the world. They can be very powerful, carving through landscapes like a bulldozer.

FIELD TRIP!!!: We have gone waaaay too many Mondays without an official MPA field trip, so this afternoon we headed out to the Pacific Science Center! First stop was the special animation exhibit. The kids were in Cartoon Network heaven!

One of the first attractions we visited was a station where the kids could try their hand at stop motion animation (our mini lesson in stop animation last week came in handy here).

The kids also got to become part of the action in two exhibits. One was another example of stop motion animation; A camera took 14 separate shots of the kids in various poses and then knit them together in a video. In another, "bullet time" filming was demonstrated. It involved multiple cameras at different places and angles, all firing at the same time. Then those frames are put together, and the action appears to be in super slow motion (think fight scenes in "The Matrix").

After the cartoon exhibit, we wandered over to the regular exhibits at the Science Center. There, the kids found out how much they'd weigh on each planet in our solar system, sat in a replica Gemini capsule, saw naked mole rats, lots of reptiles and insects, large, animated dinosaur models and more.

At 3 p.m. we headed over to the small stage area, where a demonstration about illusions was going to be held. The emcee was the energetic Dr. somebody, in a tie-dyed lab coat. Soon, the good Dr. needed a volunteer. As you might imagine, CJ's hand (and whole body) shot up at that request. Happily, CJ was selected! He bounded up on stage, where he was asked to play catch with the Dr. (I'll admit that made me cringe a bit, because, well, historically, catching and throwing a small ball has not been CJ's gift). However, CJ did a great job! Then the Dr. had him put on some goggles that apparently changed his vision quite a bit - shifting things over to the left by several inches. When the Dr. asked CJ for a high five, CJ missed his hand completely and repeatedly! Of course CJ thought that was hysterical. When his volunteer gig was over, I told CJ I was really proud of him. He was a good listener, followed all the directions, and exuded enthusiasm. After the show, unprompted, CJ went up to the emcee and extended his hand and said "thank you." :) Very nice!

RADIO THEATER: Once home, we engaged in about 60 minutes of radio theater, acting out the parts as we listened to a couple of episodes of "Cinnamon Bear," a Christmas classic dating back to 1937.

MORE, MORE, MORE: To finish the very busy day, the kids watched a Reading Rainbow DVD featuring the story "Gregory, the Terrible Eater" and segments about how food is prepared for various people and animals in a variety of settings.

What with Monday's 12 hours of activity, I think Tuesday is going to be MPA lite. ...