The Monday After

WHAT A WEEKEND: I'll readily admit that today was definitely not the most academic day in the history of MPA. However, I will say that I think we more than made of for it this weekend. Saturday and Sunday were chock full o' field trips and enriching activities.

We started Saturday morning off at the Fishermen's Terminal Fall Festival. There, the kids got some exercise jumping around a bouncy house. They worked on their hammering skills while building wooden boats. They got some art in thanks to the nifty spin art machines where the applied paint to spinning Frisbees. Annabelle also got her face painted and she decorated an oyster shell. As we walked around, we could hear the music of Inochi Taiko, Japanese drummers.

They learned a bit about boat safety from Coastie, the remote control mini tug boat. They got to see a number of exotic looking starfish and learn the difference between radial symmetry from experts with an oceanography group. And last but not least, they got to catch some real live fish!

From there, we raced south a few miles to the huge party that was the South Lake Union Park debut. Sunny skies brought thousands of people to the event. The park is AMAZING. I can't wait to go back and explore it when I don't have to share it with several thousand other people.

We were thrilled that Bubbleman was in the entertainment lineup. He put on a nearly hour long show that the crowd of all ages absolutely loved. I loved how he makes it a point to underscore how his props are all "cheap toys" and most are made from cleverly recycled materials.
We were able to tour the magnificent schooner Adventuress. Built in Maine in 1913, it is a floating work of art. (There's a neat history of the vessel on the Sound Experience Web site.) The kids really liked being in the belly of the ship, where they could check out the bunks and the galley.SUNDAY FUNDAY: Sunday afternoon we headed to Seattle Center to check out the science club session at the Children's Museum. The theme of the afternoon was "Robots in Space." Christian sat in with the kids. He tells me the session started with the leaders discussing what functions robots might have in space. After not too much talk, kids were turned loose to use recycled materials to create their own space robot.

CJ made his in short order. He took a couple of old plastic tubs, stacked them one on top of the other, put a piece of pink netted fabric in a void between the tubs for the robot's brain, turned them upside down and then taped them to an oversized square of foil and called it good. He was done long before the other kids.

Annabelle, on the other hand, was making an elaborate contraption and was not done when the leaders said it was time to finish up and show and share. She went into a full on crazy meltdown the likes of which I've never seen her do in public, ever. It was awful. I had to pick her up and carry her out of the room. After a very short, stern talk and telling her she had she one second go get her act together, we went back in the room and she was able to fully participate in the show and share part of the program.

CJ did a really great job of explaining and demonstrating how his robot worked. The kids in the class really liked it and gave him lots of kudos.


After the class was over, we checked out some of the kids' favorite spots in the Children's Museum. Afterward, we walked over to EMP, where the kids spent several minuted dancing in front of the video screen, bathed in stage lights. There are more photos of our weekend here.

For their writing assignment today, I had the kids recap their weekend, listing at least three things we did.

LUSCIOUS LUNCH: This afternoon, Christian cleaned the trout the kids caught on Saturday. Then, he fried them up for lunch. Annabelle was eager to sample her bounty, although she was a bit wary when she saw that they had been cooked eyes and all. ... But she took some bites anyway.
CJ wanted absolutely no part of the fish, no how, no way.

JAW DROPPER: As I've previously noted on these pages, I've been searching far and wide for places we might be able to augment our experience. Last week, I was reading up on Shoreline School District's Home Education Exchange. I got an email inviting us to a Q&A session with the program's director, so Christian and I went this morning. Boy am I glad we did.

The gentleman leading the Q&A was HEE program director Ron Jones. He has been with the Shoreline School District since 1974. It's clear his passion for his job hasn't waned over those years. He's a big advocate for home schooling; his own children were all homeschooled.

Mr. Jones spent about 20 minutes going over the history of the HEE program and its ins and outs. There are a couple of clear pros regarding the Shoreline system. One is that they don't have a required amount of seat time for students. You can be in their program and take no workshops there, if that's your choice. (You do just have to make weekly contact with a HEE advisor.) Mr. Jones said the HEE's role is to provide resources home school parents would have a hard time providing/procuring on their own. After he took us on a tour of the facility, I'd have to say they've succeeded in a huge way.

We saw their gorgeous gymnasium with a big stage and a cool climbing wall. There's a commercial kitchen where cooking classes are taught. There's a cafe, where kids, parents and staff eat - complete with tablecloths and a big fair-style popcorn cart that people are welcome to help themselves to. There's a home ec class with multiple sewing machines and huge tables for laying out projects. There's an art room complete with a kiln. There's a well equipped science lab. There's a room just for the robotic LEGO program. There's a video viewing area. There's a library that's more than twice the size of the Magnolia library. There's a curriculum resource room where workbooks and textbooks are for the taking. There's a RECORDING studio. Oh, and there's a great music room. It just went on and on and on.

Given all this, it probably won't surprise you to know that there's a looooooong waiting list to get into the program. They can only accommodate around 120 students; they're at that number with another 100 wanting to get in. However, Mr. Jones encouraged us not to be too discouraged. There's a possibility they might add another staffer, and families do come and go.

This is something we'll definitely be keep our eyes on in the months to come.

SOFTWARE CONSULTANT: This morning, Rick stayed with the kids while Christian and I were being wowed in Shoreline.

Annabelle reported to me that during their time together, she gave Rick a hand with a Photoshop project. I wasn't sure what to make of that, but when Rick stopped by tonight, he volunteered that, sure enough, Annabelle did show him some ins and outs of Photoshop, and helped him design a flyer. He said he was "weirded out" by how well she was navigating through the program and using its tools. "She knows more about Photoshop than most people I know," he assessed.

WHEN MATH ATTACKS: This afternoon we test drove a multiplication tables teaching tool for which I'd read multiple rave reviews. Called Timez Attack, it's by Big Brainz. In a nutshell, the player navigates his way through a kind of medieval looking world and along the way he or she has to solve multiplication problems to gain access to new areas. Multiplication is also used to defeat the bosses who would stand in your way.
CJ didn't really enjoy the game today because he is still new to multiplication and he wasn't able to answer the questions as easily or quickly as he would have liked to.

The action in the game was a bit too intense for Annabelle's taste, so I found her a multiplication lesson on Scholastic's Web site.

She played "Max's Math Adventure." It was about an amazing multiplying machine. The story started off ...

"Put 3 apples in the hole
Then press "2" on the control.
Out come 2 groups of 3 —
6 apples in all, don't you see?"

After reading about the machine, Annabelle had to solve some word problems related to the story.

MAGNOLIA MATTERS: This afternoon Bee had ballet and while she was there, CJ and I did some shopping and he had some time to play in the park.

I am happy to note that today CJ was able to make it 3 rings across the dangling ring apparatus - which is 2 further than he usually gets! I would love to see him make it all the way across within a month or so. I know he can do it!

Bee's on those rings in this photo, which was taken right before she let go and hit her butt on the wood ledge behind her. :/

From the community center it was on to the library. The kids needed to turn in their completed Summer Reading Program certificates in order to claim their prizes!

They were rewarded with new books (CJ chose a Thomas and Friends title while Bee went for a Captain Underpants book). And their certificates were signed by the librarian, and now they're good for free admission to the Burke Museum. Cool!