Know When to Fold 'em

SOMETIMES YOU FEEL LIKE A NUT, SOMETIMES YOU DON'T: As she's eating coconut yogurt this morning, Annabelle asks, "Is coconut a fruit?" Hmm. Good question. My first thought is that well, no, it's a nut. And as I poked around on the Internet for the real answer, the first two tidbits of wisdom I found said that it was a nut (not a fruit). However, in continuing on to Wikipedia (which I know can be suspect), I read:

"Botanically, the coconut (meaning the fruit) is a drupe, not a true nut. Like other
fruits it has three layers: exocarp, mesocarp and endocarp. The exocarp and
mesocarp together make up the husk, and the mesocarp is composed of fibers called coir. Coconuts sold in the shops of non-tropical countries often have had the husk removed. The endocarp or shell is the hardest part of the coconut. The shell has three germination pores (stoma) or eyes that are clearly visible on its outside surface once the husk is removed."

Hmm. So it says it's not a true nut, that it's a drupe (a word new to me) but that it is a fruit. Confusing, confusing. I prefer short, easy answers. ;)

UP, UP & AWAY: We started out our morning by making a paper airplane, a project I found on our cable provider's OnDemand/Activity TV feature. Our teacher was "paper airplane guru Michael LaFosse," who was sporting a horrible rug, might I note.

Anywho, it may not sound like a very academic endeavor at first glance, but as it turns out, it was a really great brain building exercise. First, we had to measure and cut paper to a 6x6-inch square. Then we had to follow well over a dozen folding steps EXACTLY in order and precisely in order to be successful. (While folding the paper into various configurations, we noted that at times it was a diamond, a hexagon, a triangle and so on.)

The neat thing about this activity is that at its conclusion there was a test of whether or not we did a good job. Another thing that made it more fun is that this particular design (called a "Stacked Over Logan") is made to be flown by stacking multiple planes atop one another and launching them at the same time. So in this instance, if one of us screwed up, our whole mission could have gone down! Fortunately, our "Stacked Logans" took flight, and their interesting construct made them fly in a way much different than the standard paper airplane.

MATH CURSE: After our successful airplane exercise, I figured we'd better check out a "Reading Rainbow" episode that was overdue for return to the library. The featured book was "Math Curse," and in it, the story's protagonist realized that everything, everywhere involved math and she couldn't escape that fact.

After the story ended, "Reading Rainbow" host Levar Burton pointed out that when a person realizes that math is used to solve problems, they then view math as a cure and not a curse. Very true!

The program went on to demonstrate how math is used for organization (using FedEx shipping as an example), for sizing (clothing and shoes were shown), in design and construction, in food preparation and service (following a recipe, portioning), and even something as simple as feeding a parking meter (figuring out how much time you need and then how many and which coins you have to insert to buy that much time).

It was all good stuff, and I think that taking the time to consider why we do math is time well spent - instead of just churning out important instead of just doing more math worksheets was a good use of our time.

DANCE PARTY: I told the kids they had to stay in their room and be quiet while I made a phone call to interview someone for a story I'm working on for The Columbian. (Yes, I still do that once in a blue moon.) I set them up with a nice quiet computer game and a nice quiet workbook.

Yeah, well that lasted about 10 minutes. Somehow that morphed into a DANCE PARTY! They had hopped to the jukebox portion of the Nickelodeon Web site and were taking turns playing DJ - when they weren't dancing frenetically (and LOUDLY). "This is so exciting, I can't stop!" CJ shouted as I opened the door to give them holy hell for not keeping it down. "This feels like fun!" he added, getting down with his bad self.

At that point, I'd concluded my call so I let them continue their rave. However, when a song from "Dora the Explorer" streamed through the speakers, CJ complained, "Not funky enough, right Annabelle?"

"Right!" she agreed, skipping to another selection more to their liking.

OUT AND ABOUT: It wasn't raining and I really wanted to get Kirby and the kids out for some fresh air. The Killer Koyote is still living in "our" park, so we went over the hill to Magnolia Village where we returned some library materials, walked a couple of blocks down to the park by the community center. We had the place to ourselves.

As usual, CJ and Annabelle played so well together. They're quite a team. First they took turns giving each other trolley rides. Afterward, CJ was very encouraging and helpful as Annabelle attempted some of the park obstacles that are just a tad too big for her.

We were lucky to get our expedition in when we did. It started raining as we left the park.

After the park, we walked back to the library and checked out more stuff - including DVDs (what a surprise!). This photo of CJ really captures the library experience for him. He's flanked on both sides by the shelves where kids' DVDs were kept. :)

DREAMWEAVER: At one point today CJ shared, "(Last night) I had a dream about going to the beach. It had very (sic) lots and lots of people. It was very hot. There were so much (sic) people I couldn't count them all. It was a bad dream about getting washed out (to sea) that made me wake up. ... That's why I ended up upstairs."

It occurs to me that I haven't ever asked either of the kids what they dream about. I should do that at least once in awhile. It also occurs to me that it would be an interesting exercise to have them log their dreams from time to time.