Kick Off

BOXING DAY: Even though the kids won't have science class in Shoreline again for a couple of weeks, we decided to hop right on the homework that they were given yesterday. It was a continuation of the template-for-a-box exercises they were doing yesterday.

Their teacher had provided a couple of flat patterns for boxes on cardstock. The kids had to figure out how to fold them to make them boxy (or a boxy bag, in one instance).

It wasn't easy. They figured out where the folds should be, but figuring out which order to tuck tabs in was troublesome. CJ was nearly in tears at one point.

Thankfully, with some cues and clues from me, they finally managed to make it work.

TWO Rs: After 'rithmetic, I decided we needed to do some language arts. First, the kids did some 'riting. They used the story starter machine on Scholastic.com to get their writing juices flowing. CJ had to write a short fairytale. He penned: "Once upon a time there was a silly princess who hates spiders. She had a dream about spiders! It was horrible!"

Annabelle had the daunting task of writing about a birthday cake eating a meal. She wrote, "The lumpiest cake's favorite meal might be birthday candles. You know those tall things with fires on top those things. The lumpiest cake loves country music."

While they wrote, I spun some fall/Thanksgiving-related tunes, including Clapton covering "Autumn Leaves," "Colors of the Wind" (from Disney's Pocahontas) and Natalie Merchant's "Thank You."

After they finished writing, we used a new-t0-us Web site for some language arts lessons, Fun4thebrain.com. One of the activities was about syllables. I asked the kids if they remembered what a syllable was. Annabelle responded by saying, "Ann-a-belle," and clapping her hands with each syllable. Excellent. :)

And so, we played Syllable Split. The kids had to read words as they were chopped into syllables by a bear-wielding an axe. They totally got it. Next up was Popcorn Words, which was sight reading practice. It was way too easy for the kids, but the game featured monkeys working at a movie theater, so they enjoyed it. CJ played Base Word Baseball, which is practice using base words with suffix ending. Again, too easy.

BRICK BY BRICK: Last weekend I found a small box of LEGOs. Today, I finally thought to bring them out so the kids could actually do something with them. But first, I wanted to give them a little inspiration. I had noticed that under the kids' category of Comcast's OnDemand, there is now a LEGO category. So, I chose a program to watch from that menu. It was a 6 minute video about a man here in Washington who is a professional LEGO builder. Turns out the dude, Dan Parker, has a great studio inside Freighthouse Square, a 110,000 square foot shopping center in the stadium district in Tacoma.

Parker has about 2 million 'elements' (bricks and detail pieces) on hand in his space in Tacoma, where he creates custom sculptures for corporations, movies and more. They don't sell any LEGOs at the studio, but there is a "free zone" space for kids to play, and they host workshops and parties. I can tell a field trip to Tacoma is in our future!

After the video the kids were hot to get on their own projects. They each built a vehicle with all sorts of bells and whistles.

The kids continued to develop their vehicles throughout the evening. In all, they probably spent three hours on them. Tonight CJ told me, "I made my ultimate LEGO creation even stronger. I made the mini shooter bigger so it gets more charged and my LEGO creation cannot be beated! Don't mess with him."
KICK START: And so it begins. ... This afternoon was Annabelle's first day of soccer.

This latest addition to our calendar is a bit of a compromise of sorts. She has been asking to join a soccer team for months - over a year. I know it sounds selfish, but truth be told, to date Christian and I have been reluctant because we're not ready to give up 1 or 2 afternoons a week and half of Saturday to watch bunch ball (that's what 5 and 6 year olds do) in the cold weather/rain. Plus, I can't imagine that this bunch ball/soccer wouldn't interfere with some of the stuff that's already on our docket.

Anyway, as an alternative to a full blown league play situation, I found a 6-week soccer skills workshop, 45 minutes, one day a week in the gym at the Magnolia Community Center. Perfect. When I told Annabelle this a.m. that today was (finally!) soccer day, she shot out of bed!

Class wasn't until 3:35 but she had her shinguards on at 2 p.m. Before class I informed Annabelle that the class was co-ed and she said, "I love boys. Especially really silly boys, like Rick and Ken." :)

Imagine our surprise when we got to the community center and found out there was only one other kid in the class - a boy who looked to be a year or so younger than her. I guess there's one other kid signed up, but he was a no show.

So today, Annabelle and The Boy got a private soccer lesson. While it certainly wasn't the Go Team! scenario she no doubt envisioned, Annabelle was thrilled with it. She didn't take her shinguards off until bedtime. :)