Lots of Learning

INKTOBER: A couple of days ago, I asked Annabelle if she was going to participate in InkTober again this year. She said she'd forgotten all about it, but was enthusiastic about giving it a go.

Created by artist Jake Parker, InkTober has been a thing for ten years now. It's two primary rules are "be nice" and "have fun." Those seem like decent guidelines. :)

So far, Annabelle has drawings for October 1 and 2. The first day's theme was "ring." Her creation for that is above. Day 2 was "mindless." She went zombie for that topic.

If you're curious, here's the 'official' list of drawing prompts for the month ahead.

BABY STEPS: We've spent a fair amount of the last 48 hours learning Hiragana. Or, should I say, trying to learn Hiraganga, a Japanese syllabary that's one part of the Japanese writing system. Hiragana is akin to the Japanese alphabet. It represents every sound in the language.

Learning Hiragana is not the easiest thing to do, if you asked me. I think CJ would agree. (For whatever reason, Annabelle seems to have it down cold lickety split. I have to wonder if that's because she spends so much time each day doodling and drawing, that memorizing these little shapes that represent the Japanese language is a snap for her.)

Anyway, it's really like being back at square one, in your first day of preschool, trying to learn your ABCs. (Except maybe it's harder now, because my aged brain isn't as spongy as it used to be?)

We've been using textbooks and worksheets from CJ's class, and turned to YouTube in hopes of finding a catchy song or something that would help. That search didn't provide very fruitful. Example? If you're interested, here's a video that promises you will "master Hiragana in 10 minutes."

Having watched it twice now, I'm just gonna straight up say, they lie.

CJ has a quiz tonight on Hiragana, and he's a little bit ... well, maybe a LOT bit ... nervous about it. I told him he can only do the best he can, and that will be good enough for now. Meanwhile, we'll keep practicing and maybe find a better video. ;)

We've been trying to practice in a variety of ways (online flash cards and memory games, writing them on white boards and paper, and even saying the names of the characters while moving in different manners. For instance, the photo below might make it look like the kids are Kung Fu Fighting, but they're really just alternating arm motions while saying Hiragana names.

VIBRANT VISITOR: A couple of days ago, I looked out the back window (the one in the photo above, actually), and saw a pretty little bird at the feeder. It was just there for a couple of moments, but I got a pretty good look at it. Annabelle entered the area, and I described it to her, saying it looked kind of like a robin, in that its back and wings were mostly black, and that it's belly was red. However, the red and black were more saturated or dramatic than a robin. It also had some distinctive white spots, I noted.

Annabelle scooped up our "Birds of Seattle and Puget Sound" book and started flipping through its pages. Within just a few seconds she found the page for the Towhee. Bingo! That was it. 

Turns out it's a big sparrow, and rather secretive in behavior. Perhaps that's why I couldn't recall having seen one before. I wonder how often it's hanging out in our shrubs.