Open Wide

SURPRISING SERENADE: As we're making the less-than-one-block trek to Musikgarten this morning, the kids and I heard singing and strumming as soon as we set foot in our alley. When we reached the street, we spied a guy standing out on his balcony on the corner of Armour and 22nd Avenue, singing the blues (the Delta blues, to be specific). It/he actually sounded really good, and it was a great way to start the day.

At their lesson, the kids' chopsticks were replaced by real mallets! They are to practice picking up and holding the mallets properly this week, and if their technique is up to snuff by next Friday, they'll get a real live glockenspiel to use those mallets on.


Amazingly, Guitar Dude was still out there an hour later, when the lesson was over. He'd moved on to Jethro Tull by that point.

SAY "AAH": As "luck" would have it, CJ, Annabelle and I all had dentist appointments today. Mine was a 'getting to know you' session (xrays and such). CJ's was a small filling (which makes me feel horrible). Annabelle's was her First Visit Ever to the dentist, so she was very excited.

The technological contrast in our appointments was SO interesting. My dentist's office is a throwback, not to the Stone Age, but definitely the Atomic Age. All of the xray equipment was big and clunky and covered in simulated woodgrain and gold tone, with HUGE knobs and levers. After getting a full set of xrays there, I can't help but think I'll glow in the dark tonight.

Conversely, at CJ and Annabelle's dentist, everything is ultra digital. When they took her to the xray room, they'd take a picture and an amazingly sharp, huge image would instantly appear on the flat screen in the room. I was marveling over it to the point that I apologized to the hygienist. I told her I knew it must sound like I haven't been to a dentist in 40 years, but I just couldn't get over it.

Other amazing innovations in dentistry? The mild abrasive they used to clean Annabelle's teeth was cookie dough flavor. That's right. COOKIE DOUGH. And the fluoride treatment? No big trays you have to sit and stew in for 20 minutes, trying not to gag. Instead, it was a gel that took seconds to paint on her teeth. Aftercare instructions: You can drink and eat right away, just don't brush your teeth tonight. (How often are you going to hear a dentist say that?) Incredible.

Once we got home tonight, Annabelle asked Christian, "May I demonstrate how I felt when the dentist was moving the chair?" She then laid out on the mini trampoline and made pneumatic chair sounds. :)

BREATH OF FRESH AIR: After the dentist, we drove north a couple of blocks to a park (Madrona Playground) I'd spied earlier. It was a busy, great park with lots of play equipment and sports courts. Based on the couple of dozen families there, it appeared to be a very multicultural neighborhood (which is one of the things I love about living in Seattle).

As we explored, we found some cool, child-sized mosaic seats built into concrete retaining walls (what a great idea!)

UNHAPPY ENDING: First thing I see this morning upon getting onto the Internet was a report from King 5's Web site: "State wildlife and Seattle police are joining forces this morning to try and kill at least two coyotes roaming Seattle's Magnolia neighborhood. Traps have been set and the plan is to euthanize the coyotes, which have been spotted several times in the neighborhood."

Huh what?! Did I miss something? For six weeks this coyote or these coyotes have been living in and around us (and in some cases stalking and alarming us), and suddenly (finally) today someone decides they need to kill 'em?

Don't get me wrong - I don't think the densely populated Magnolia neighborhood is compatible with Canis latrans. What I don't understand is why it took six damn weeks to do something. This coyote (photoed below, taken in our yard a few weeks ago, and killed today) was in our front yard, teeth bared, hair raised and growling more than 5 weeks ago.

In their own defense, agencies who killed the coyote today make the valid point that wild animals that have become "emboldened" around humans can be a threat. Agreed. In the past week, this coyote has started following golfers around the course at the foot of our hill.

My question is, why wasn't the coyote trailed, tranquilized and relocated weeks ago? It's not like it has been ranging all over, unpredictably. Hell, I could have drawn a map with crayon on a napkin of its haunts.

By 5 a.m., on the first day (today) they even tried to capture the coyote, they had it. And then they shot it, because it was the "humane" thing to do. Sigh. Kinda seems to me like the humane thing to do would have been to try to capture it when it first appeared in our neighborhood, and relocate it to any number of places in the state.

The Beat Goes On

SUNNYSIDE UP: Even before the sun had crested Queen Anne hill to the east this morning, CJ was begging, "I want to squeeze the egg! I want to squeeze the egg!" Naturally, that got Annabelle's attention, too.

We checked out our jar atop the kitchen island and found that the vinegar the egg was immersed in looked gelatinous as compared to its original state. Then, Annabelle held the bag while CJ gingerly squeezed the egg (having been warned that if he squoze too hard-end of experiment!).

Today, the once hard-shelled egg definitely has a bit of a squish to it. According to our book, by Day 3, we should be able to remove the last remnants of the shell entirely.

CJ SCISSORHANDS: This morning I got an email from CJ's new BFF: Chuck E. Cheese. In it was an offer to print out more coupons. CJ took it upon himself to clip the coupons and when he was done he excitedly exclaimed, "Now we're getting really very, very lots of tokens, right? And you know what that means - it equals lots of tokens!!!"

I tried to contain my excitement.

BACK TO THE BARRE: After what seemed like a monthlong lay-off, it was finally time to start the winter session of ballet this morning.

So, we (that would be me) had to round up her tights, her leotard, her slippers and something fancy to wear for the freedance portion of the lesson. I found the pillowcase full of frilly dresses from Goodwill and pulled out a lacey leotard with a skirt made from strips of pink and white nylon fabric draping down. I held it up and asked Annabelle if she wanted to take it today and she responded, "I don't want to dress like I was a princess in a war," in a tone befitting a teenager.

OK, OK, so I'll admit admit, the frock did look a bit bedraggled. So, I got some scissors and shaped the skirt a bit. Thankfully it passed "Princess' " inspection and she was actually quite pleased with it and herself once the time to don it rolled around.

AN ANNIVERSARY: Today marks the one year anniversary of Barack Obama's inaurguration - a ceremony our family watched with great interest, as his election was such an historic event. I was thrilled when I discovered "Our Enduring Spirit" at the library this morning, a new picturebook containing excerpts from the Obama's inaugural address interspersed with the captivating graphics of Greg Ruth. The fact that "a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath" seemed even more remarkable given that we've been reading about the trials and tribulations of Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and others in recent days.

The last few pages of "Our Enduring Spirit" contains the text of the entire speech, as well as interesting insight into the illustrator's methods and motivations.

PLAYING CHOPSTICKS: Mercifully, I miraculously recalled that the kids were supposed to practice drumming with chopsticks before their music lesson this week.
I had them fetch their sticks from their Musikgarten bags and set them up with a practice pad. For inspiration, I found "Little Drummer Boy" for them to play along with.

DO THY BIDDING: CJ has been asking to play his "The Price is Right" DVD for a couple of days now, so that was their math this evening, after dinner. In addition to being fun, it's good for reinforcing the concepts of more and less, gives them practice writing numbers in the hundreds, thousands and tens of thousands, makes them do some addition as well as estimating.

Dream On

KISS OFF: Still in his PJs, this morning CJ announced, "When I'm a man, I'll kiss you goodbye and be a scientist and make stuff. I'll make a sign that says KEEP OUT when I'm making an experiment."

No doubt picturing him just playing video games behind those closed doors, Annabelle asked, "How do we know you're making an experiment?"

"I'll put a sign out to tell what I'm doing," CJ replied matter-of-factly.

"But what if we don't believe the sign?" the suspicious sister pressed.

"I'll make a sign that says 'I'm making an experiment right now,' and when I'm done with the experiment, I'll put out a sign that says 'I'm done,' " he clarified.

That seemed to snuff out Annabelle's skepticism.

TAKE A SEAT: On Monday when we were learning about Martin Luther King Jr. four of the five books we read referenced Rosa Parks (the correlation being that Dr. King led the Montgomery Improvement Association, a group that was instrumental in the Montgomery bus boycott staged following Parks' arrest).

I'd spied a couple of items of interest about her on the BookFlix site, so today we reviewed those.

Parks' story really drives home the fact that one simple act by an "ordinary" person can have such far-reaching reverberations. My favorite line from the Weston Woods video based on Nikki Giovanni's book "Rosa" noted, "She had not sought this moment, but she was ready for it."

The book and video were wonderful teaching tools. They both certainly gave me a better understanding of who Parks was and what she did. "Rosa" really painted a picture of what that fateful bus ride was like, included who was seated where and how other riders reacted. (I learned that the back of the bus was designated for blacks, the front for whites and in the middle there was an area that either whites or blacks could sit in. Parks was in the middle section of the bus.)

After the read-along book ("Rosa Parks" by Wil Mara) and the "Rosa" video, the kids completed related vocabulary and chronological order exercises.

EYE SPY: During a morning snack break, CJ and Annabelle enjoyed the latest issue of the High Five magazine. They scanned pictures for differences and hidden objects.

YOU MAY SAY I'M A DREAMER: Using printouts from Education.com, I had the kids take turns reading some excerpts from King's "I Have a Dream" speech and asked them to draw something they thought would illustrate a dream of King's.

While they worked on drawing a dream, I streamed John Lennon's "Imagine" through my computer speakers.

CJ decided to draw "two white boys and two black girls" holding hands. He wasn't so thrilled with the execution. "I know my hair drawing doesn't look very good. ... Oh I forgot their smiles," and then soon after, "I know that smile looks creepy on the tall boy." When he had his (stick) figures drawn, I asked him if he could maybe add some elements to his drawing - like the sky or something. He immediately countered: "I planned for them to be in the middle of nowhere." I couldn't help but laugh.

In keeping with our "dream" theme, I read the kids a library book: "Afghan Dreams: Young Voices of Afghanistan." It's both beautiful and awful, featuring photos of Afghan children living in poverty and in the middle of a war zone. Alongside were first-person paragraphs in which the children shared their dreams. Those profiled ranged from a pair of homeless 10-year-old pickpockets to 11-year-old Nadira, who has never been to school. Instead, she makes carpets with her family from 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

EGGSELLENT EXPERIMENT: It's been waaay too long since we've done an experiment, so I decided that today we'd start one I found in "Science in a Bag," one of the many books given to us by neighbor Bob. The experiment I chose is called "Remove an Egg's Shell Without Cracking It," a title that captured the kids' interest immediately. The purpose of the experiment is to show how the acid in vinegar can dissolve calcium carbonate, the main material in an egg's shell.

Per instructions, we rounded up a self sealing plastic bag, an uncooked egg, white vinegar and a glass.

When Annabelle spied the vinegar, she said, "It's going to have an odor. Maybe we should have nose plugs!"

I assured her it the smell wouldn't be that gawd awful.

Following instructions, CJ carefully put the egg in the plastic bag and then held the bag while I poured vinegar in. Almost immediately, bubbles - carbon dioxide gas, just like the bubbles in soda pop - appeared on the egg's shell. The book explains that the gas is given off as the vinegar reacts with the shell. We carefully slipped the bag into a small glass jar and watched even more bubbles appear.

The book tells us that tomorrow we should lift the bag out of the glass and gently squeeze the egg. We can't wait to see/feel if a change has taken place. The kids stopped to peer in the jar at several points throughout the afternoon and evening, and were intrigued by the foam floating atop the vinegar. ...

DAMN MOUSE: CJ has been on this big Chuck E. Cheese kick as of late. Every time an ad for the place comes on the TV (which is, approximately every 6.3 minutes), it's as if it's the Voice of God speaking DIRECTLY TO HIM, ordering him to the restaurant.

I think Bee and CeeJ have been to C.E.C. once in their lives. It was a birthday party for one of CJ's classmates, so CJ was all of 3 and Bee was probably just barely toddlin' around and probably doesn't even remember it. For me, once in a lifetime there would be enough, but clearly the kids don't agree. ...

So, this morning I went to the Chuck E. Cheese Web site to see where the nearest Mouse House of Pizza Horrors is. While there, I discovered some Cheese E. deals - a homework calendar that the kid would each get 15 free arcade tokens for filling out, as well as other coupons for food and token deals. "I'll cut these money saving coupons out!" CJ said excitedly, scrambling to find scissors. His enthusiasm even prompted him to do some math. "Fifty plus 30, that's 80 tokens! That equals more lots (sic) of tokens!" Why yes, that is more lots, CJ. So, I suppose a pilgrimage is in our future. I half think (and definitely hope) that if we went, the mystery would be gone and it wouldn't seem like such a Nirvana.

DEN DESERTED?: After checking local news blogs for coyote sightings and learning that "our" wily duo may have made their way to Queen Anne, I felt a little more comfortable taking the kids and Kirby to the park at the end of the block. I still kept a close eye out for gray canines whilst there, though.

Get Outta Here!

PICK THE LOCKS: After spending a couple of days almost entirely homebound due to a largish DIY project (installing around 115 square feet of a slate flooring in our entryway), I was itching to get out of the house this morning.

So, we (including Christian, who usually has Mondays off but since yesterday was MLK day, he had today off, too) got out the strollers and headed north, toward the Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, more commonly called "Ballard Locks".

It's a 2-plus mile run each way (and all uphill on the way back, ugh). But we needed the air and exercise. CJ and Annabelle enjoyed a stroller ride most of the time, but they got some leg work in, too - certainly well over a mile for each of them.

Though there weren't any fish to be seen, as it turned out, it was a great morning to visit. The temperature was in the mid-50s, and being a Tuesday morning in January, it was pretty much just us and the occasional jogger or parks or construction worker. (In summertime, the place is packed to the point where you have to turn sideways to squeeze by people.)

With so few people around, we could actually see the signs and stop and read them without blocking traffic so that was a bonus.

We walked across both of the bridges/gangways that open when ships or boats are coming through - and wound up getting stuck for awhile on the north side of the park while a barge passed through. It was interesting to watch though, and fun for the kids, because they got to talk to the man aboard the barge.

We pointed out that a single tug boat was pushing all the weight of that massive barge. "It's little and powerful, like me!" Annabelle declared. That caused a whole crew of nearby construction workers to chuckle.

In all, our on-foot field trip lasted nearly two hours. Needless to say, Kirby was hosed by the time we got home.

MORE ON MARTIN: Today we returned to the BookFlix Web site to complete a couple of the activities they had associated with the book and video the site features about Martin Luther King Jr.

One was a vocabulary exercise, the other was about putting events in MLK Jr.'s life in chronological order (needless to say, by referencing the handy-dandy timeline they made yesterday, the kids aced it).

SOUTHBOUND: Tuesday afternoon means yoga in Columbia City. The long drive gave us an opportunity to review the lasted Kindermusik CD. The kids' homework was to listen to it and then this Friday they are supposed to report to teacher Nancy which track they like best.

About halfway into the first song Annabelle asked, "Is this Mexican music or Hawaiian music?" The answer was neither. The first nine songs on the CD are of Native American origin. Song 10 is the fantastic "Fanfare for the Common Man" by Aaron Copland, performed only using brass and percussion instruments.

CHECK MY MATH: Recently, I sent a link to this blog to a friend of mine who is a longtime elementary school teacher. Post haste she sent me a long, thoughtful email outlining a few of the things I've been doing wrong with the kids. ; )

For instance, she was kind (and I mean that!) in pointing out, " You fall into the same math trap that most people do, CJ didn't carry a 1, he carried one group of 10." Doh! She's so right!

She also reminded me that it's good to get kids counting correctly. "When they count do they say, 'one hundred and one' or 'one hundred one'? My first graders always thought they were so smart because they knew not to say the "and," and means a decimal, (such as) two dollars and fifty cents." Again, she's so right- and I really appreciate the feedback. :)

MATH WARS: Here in Seattle a storm has been brewing. For months, I've been following stories in the media and Internet postings about the math curriculum used in the Seattle School district. On Jan. 26, there will be a legal showdow at the King County Courthouse. A group that includes a retired HS teacher, a HS parent and UW math professor and meteorologist Cliff Mass is suing the district, contending that the recently adopted "Discovery Math" high school curriculum will contribute to a widening achievement gap between middle-class and underprivileged students. (Frankly, from what I've read, the curriculum sounds like it's a disservice to ALL students, but I'm getting ahead of myself. ...)

Cliff Mass' objection, especially, carries major weight in my book. He is one sharp dude. A recent cover story Seattle Weekly did on him is worth checking out. Here's an excerpt:

A passionate "math activist" who would like to return to the days of
calculator-free "explicit instruction" in elementary, middle, and secondary
schools, Mass and a pair of co-plaintiffs currently have a lawsuit pending
against Seattle Public Schools, in which they claim the District's shift to a
"Discovery Math" curriculum has widened the achievement gap between Caucasian
and minority students. (A January court date has been set.)
"Instead of getting the answer right, it's far more important to write an essay about your thought process," says Mass of an instructional movement he claims has led to a severe deterioration of math skills among his collegiate students. "I've had
students in my office crying because they've had to give up their dream of
becoming meteorologists. They couldn't pass the math. The most demanding aspects
of my field are being dominated by people overseas."

So back to the Math Wars at hand. ... Last May, the Seattle School Board approved implementing a district-wide high-school math curriculum called "Discovering Math" as part of a five-year strategic plan that Superintendent Dr. Maria Goodloe-Johnson created.Seems like the group might have a legitimate beef, for last winter, the State Board of Education was asked by the state superintendent of public instruction's office to evaluate the Discovering Math series. The board hired consultants. Strategic Teaching, a contractor for the American Institute of Researchers, reviewed the math curriculum. Completed last March, the evaluation showed the Discovery Math books to be "unsound" in all mathematical categories. From their report:

So how does SPS respond? Full steam ahead - Discovery Math here we go!

This is one I'll be watching.

MLK Day

AMBITIOUS PLANS: I know that most kids in the United States had today off from school in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Well, we here at Magnolia Preparatory Academy certainly honored King today, but it didn't mean a break from the books for CJ and Annabelle!

We started by reading a trio of books I'd scored at the library last week. Together, they gave the kids a good foundation of knowledge about who King was and why we still talk about him (his legacy).

Next stop: BookFlix, a Website from the people at Scholastic. I knew we'd find a great read along book ("Martin Luther King, Jr." by Wil Mara) as well as a great video, "Martin's Big Words" by Doreen Rappaport. (I also found the "Big Words" video on YouTube. It's recommended viewing - really well done.)

(Note to interested parties: BookFlix is great - once you get in. It's intended for schools, libraries and other institutions and you need a username and password to use it. I get in by using the Seattle Public Libraries portal. Anyone who wanted to could get in by going straight to the BookFlix site and logging in directly. All you have to do is search the Internet using "BookFlix" and "password" as your search terms and some will pop up. Interestingly, the first one I found by searching was Magnolia [small world!] Trace Elementary [mtes = username, bookflix = password].)

TRACING TIME: Armed with lots of information, we were finally ready for our combination creative art-math-language art project. We'd be constructing a timeline of milestones in Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. I explained to the kids that timelines are really handy when you're studying history - they help you remember what happened when.

First, we stretched a roll of paper the length of the table. Next, we drew a long, horizontal line down the middle of it. Next, the kids wrote the years we'd be highlighting onto little rectangles, and glued those in order on the timeline. They also took into account how close those year rectangles should be together - right next to each other for consecutive years, further apart for dates more spaced out

Our next step was writing down the important event that happened in the highlighted years, ranging from Martin's birth in Alabama in 1928 to MLK Day becoming a national holiday in 1983. This step took the longest, as it involved a fair amount of writing, often words unfamiliar to the kids. ...

For instance, as Annabelle was penning the 1957 fact box to read: "Elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference," she said (with a completely straight face), "Daddy's not a southern Christian, he's a northern Christian!"

With the fact boxes in place, it was time for some flair! :) We found a couple of photos of MLK we all liked online and printed them out and glued them on. For our final step, I had the kids each trace their hand five times on different colored paper. They cut them out and then on each hand they wrote a descriptive word (leader, minister, teacher, protester, author, hero, peaceful, dreamer, and so on) about Martin Luther King Jr. We glued them on and (five hours later!) voila! a colorful, factual timeline of an American icon's life. Pretty cool.
SOLEMN SOUNDTRACK: While the kids were working on the timeline, I played a variety of songs for them, one being the beautiful "Up to the Mountain," a tribute to King Jr. by Patty Griffin. It begins, "I went up to the mountain, Because you asked me to, Up over the clouds, To where the sky was blue, I could see all around me, Everywhere I could see all around me, Everywhere."

I had to play U2's "Pride (In the Name of Love)," which is also about King Jr. The video I chose included quotes, videos and images of MLK. "Early morning, April 4, Shot rings out in the Memphis sky, Free at last they took your life, They could not take your pride." Powerful stuff.

Next up was "We Shall Overcome" (by Joan Baez, of course!), because it was such an anthem of the civil rights movement.

And, of course, I played King's "I Have a Dream" speech. After that, I made the mistake of watching Walter Cronkite's broadcast the night of MLK's assassination. That about rips your heart right out of your ribcage. ...

FALLOUT: Not a bit surprisingly, the kids' brains were spinning with all of the information they'd been given about Martin Luther King Jr., his life - and his death. CJ seemed especially affected.

Around lunchtime CJ said he wanted "to find the man who shot (MLK) and beat him up so he can never shoot Martin Luther King Jr. again."

Annabelle quickly countered, " Well, he can't (shoot him again) because Martin Luther King Junior has already died."

Though it didn't sit well, that made sense to CJ. His workaround: "I'll keep an eye on (James Earl Ray), and if I see him about to shoot somebody, I'll punch him in the back and call the police."

I told him I appreciated the sentiment, but he didn't have to worry about that. Ray died in prison in 1999.

Later in the afternoon, while playing with his Ninja Turtles, CJ asked, "Is (sic) there any more 'white only' signs?" I told him that I hoped not.

And later still CJ said, "I wish I could go back in time and change history. It'd take a shield to stop (the bullet) from hitting (MLK) and then he wouldn't die."

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: When taking a shower today, CJ was shampoo and soap resistant. I told him it wasn't negotiable. His counter, "When I'm a man, my soap-washin' days are over!"