DOESN'T GET ANY CLOSER: Tonight I interrupted CJ and Annabelle chowing down on chicken wings to let them know that rightthissecond the Earth was passing the closest to the Sun that it gets all year. The event is called Perihelion, a term that's from the Greek word peri meaning "near" and helios meaning "Sun."
During the Perihelion, it's approximately 147,097,206.9 km./ 91.4 million miles from the center of the Earth to the center of the Sun. That's about 5,000,000 km less distance than in early July's Aphelion, when we're farthest from the sun (94.5 million miles).
I asked the kids why it's dark and cold out even though we're somewhat closer to the sun. Happily, they knew it was because right now we're both tilting away from the sun (winter) and facing away from the sun (nighttime).
Also on the Perihelion, the Earth is moving about 1 km per second faster than when it's Aphelion day in July. Fascinating, no? ;)
MAILBAG: This morning the kids spent some time refining and adding to the letters they've written for the Great Mail Race. Annabelle's letter is headed off to an elementary school in Rhode Island and CJ is writing to a school in Nevada.
EYE DOCTOR: This morning I was wondering how in the world to single handedly get Kirby's eye drops administered and decided I couldn't do it. It was impossible to hold Kirby's head and body still while squeezing the tiny tube. So, I enlisted CJ to be the squeezer. :) He did a yeoman's job - once he was reminded the medicine was supposed to go IN the dog's eye rather than around it.
THE RIDE STUFF: One of my New Year's resolutions is to have the MPA kids do more writing. To that end, today's writing assignment was to come up with at least six sentences about the kids' favorite ride at Belmont Park in San Diego. Before he put pen to paper, I wanted to help rather reluctant writer CJ generate some ideas and, therefore some confidence, which would help help him generate content faster. We reviewed how covering the who-what-when-where-and why is almost always a go-to approach in a report. And then I suggested to him he could also use his senses to help paint a picture. That suggestion was met with a blank stare. So, to clarify, I said, "You know, your senses. Name one of your senses!"
"My sense of humor?" he replies, 110 percent seriously. ROFL.
Naturally, our exchange led to a review of human senses. Afterward, CJ came up (and quickly, might I note) with a nice review: "My favorite ride at Belmont Park on our vacation in San Diego is the Giant Dipper. The ride looked and felt very scarey. On the ride, I heard people screaming. One of the reasons it was my favorite ride is because of the turns. Another reason it was my favorite ride is because it looks pritty at night. One more reason is because of the front seat!"
I told CJ I especially liked his first sentence. He packed a lot of info into it!
Annabelle wrote: "My favorite at Belmont Park, San Diego is the Giant Dipper! I like it because of that first dip. Yo go woooooooosh! And then SWISH!!!!! It's over soon, but super fun!
BACK TO THE BRICKS AND MORTAR: Winter break from the kids' northern school is over. Both CJ and Annabelle were excited to get back to class today, which I found encouraging. In fact, on the way to art class Annabelle said, "In normal schools, kids look forward to winter and spring break. We look forward to going back after break!" That was gratifying to hear and reinforces my feeling that our non-traditional path is helping make the kids happy, eager learners. (And yes, I do put big value on HAPPY. You can't measure it with a standardized test, but I think having a high rating on the happiness index beats the hell out of being miserable.)
I have to think the classrooms that CeeJ and Bee sent letters to might not believe them in regards to their description of where they go to school, what with its always accessible popcorn machine, pizza parties, and classes you get to pick and choose - everything from art to LEGO robotics. Sounds too good to be true, in a way. :)
COINCIDENCE: We spent some of the time between Annabelle's a.m. art class and their p.m. science class in the library using computers. I was poking around the "for educators" part of NASA's site, looking for some ideas for experiments or lesson plans having to do with air, since that's what the kids are studying in science. I found a neat-o experiment called "Air Engines" that uses an inflated (but not tied) balloon attached to a straw to whoosh along a string.
Imagine my surprise when, during science class, that was exactly what we did! Such fun, and we brought home supplies to replicate the fun at home.
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