Are We There Yet?

OVER THE RIVER AND TO THE WOODS: Apologies for the tardy post, but yesterday was a loooooooooooooooong day. A very looooooooong day. Three hundred and ten miles long, to be exact.
We left Seattle just after 8 a.m. and for much of the 175 mile drive to our lunchtime destination - Vancouver, WA. - we listened to and sang Christmas carols. I told Christian that I don't want "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg" to be the only holiday tune they know all the words to.

We arrived at our first stop, Grandma and Grandpa's house, a few minutes after 11. We were happy to see them and stretch our legs.

By around 2:00 it was back in the car for the second leg of our trip, south through Portland, through Salem, through Corvallis and then onward toward the ocean and Nonnie and Bops' place. Part of the way, Rick, CJ and Annabelle amused themselves by drawing completely inappropriate though pretty darn funny pictures in dry erase markable book.
We got to Nonnie and Bops just before 5 p.m.

By about 6 p.m. CJ started crashing hard. What was a stuffy nose has bloomed into a full fledged horrible cold. He's hurtin' for certain. :(

IN THE MORNING: CJ slept through the night, but he's no better today. :( He did rally for a Christmas cookie decorating session this morning.
He was pretty proud of his cookie that had a spider on it.
Bee made faces on more than one of her cookies.
TRACKING DEVICE: this afternoon we checked in with NORAD to see how Santa's journey is going so far. It's cool - on a world map, you can see all the places he's already been (as indicated by gift icons), as well as where he is right now (as evidenced by a Santa icon). You can click on any of the icons and see photos of his stop, and there's even video of some of his deliveries!
There's also a cool, interactive "Kids' Countdown" portion of the Web site. It's a section of the village at the North Pole, and there are many games to be played there.

In case you were wondering, (I was!) NORAD stands for North American Aerospace Defense Command, and it's the bi-national U.S.-Canadian military organization responsible for the aerospace and maritime defense of the United States and Canada.

First Christmas

BY DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT: Long before Annabelle was even up today, CJ was poring over the latest "Highlights" magazine (thanks, G&G). He spent a good half hour reading and then finally he moved over to the table to take on a "hidden picture" puzzle. It was still so darn dark out, I had to monkey with a floor lamp to get some light shining in his direction.

TOUGH AUDIENCE: This morning a special "Mickey's Adventure in Wonderland" was on the Disney Channel. CJ kinda sorta watched the whole show. Apparently he was none too impressed. As the credits rolled he yelled, "You mean I've wasted 60 minutes of my life watching this?!"

LOL!

GOLDFISH GEOGRAPHY: This afternoon both kids took a virtual trip around the world with a goldfish as a tour guide. Earlier in the day I'd bought them some Pepperidge Farm Goldfish as a snack, which reminded them that they have enjoyed tooling around the PFGoldfish.com Web site in the past.

While some games are pure silly ("Operation Underpants" comes to mind), others had some educational value. For instance, Annabelle spent the bulk of her time playing "World Treasures," which required some geography knowledge. The player has to play detective as one of the goldfish collects souvenirs and four of his souvenirs are missing. The detective has to scour the globe using goldfish provided clues to find the missing treasure.

HAIKU REDUX: I kept our writing assignment today short. I asked the kids to write a haiku about Christmas. I was happy they were each able to recall what a haiku is and how it's crafted.

Annabelle:
Christmas toys for all
A time of year for giving
No taking away

CJ:
Christmas is so fun
Decorations on the walls
It is like winter

YEAR IN REVIEW: We received a Christmas card from the family of the kid's BYB (best yoga buddy). It included a "first annual" family letter. CJ was especially intrigued by it, and took it upon himself to read it out loud to us.

He and Annabelle were very flattered to learn they had been named in the letter as a highlight of their BYB's year. Nice. :)LATE REPORT: I neglected to report that this past weekend the kids went to another play. This time it was "Red Riding Hood & The 3 Little Pigs," performed by the Fremont Players at Hale's Palladium.

The play was billed as a British Panto, which the Fremont Players described as a production with a 300-some year history in Britain. This type of play is apparently always put on around the holidays, always based on a fairy tale, and interactive play is the norm. (For instance, the audience is encouraged to boo the villain, cheer for the hero and if a character says, 'Oh yes I am,' the audience is expected to reply, 'Oh no you're not.') Men often play women and vice versa.
Christian and Kennedy took the kids and all four thought it was a great show. There was lots of slapstick and even a live band accompanying the performance. Cool! Sounds like it's going to have to become a MPA holiday tradition!

ROUND ONE: Christmas started for us tonight. We had a Christmas dinner with Kennedy, whom we are going to miss on Christmas Eve and Day proper. We had a lovely vegetable lasagna and there were presents, much to the kids' delight (the presents part, I mean; the veggie lasagna, notsomuch).

The kids were happy to receive some Pluto Plasma from Ken. They also had tons o' fun playing with other people's gifts - including the (South Park) Kenny mask we got Ken.
And they had lots of fun with the high tech LED candles Ken got us. They conducted spooky tours of their bedroom.
THE MATH WARS RAGE ON: The debate about math (pro and/or con) is still going on on one of the homeschooling email mail lists I read. I'm digging the debate, because people continue to post links to math resources that are of interest. Case in point, today, a gentleman suggested we check out a YouTube video, "Why the other line is likely to move faster." It's short and interesting, and it turns out its author/star/poster is an engineering prof at the University of Illinois. He has a whole bunch of videos on his YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/engineerguyvideo, and his own stand alone Web site, too. We'll definitely be checking out more or Mr. Bill Hammack!

Winter Arrives

ANOTHER DANCING DAY: Annabelle had yet another special dance "camp" this morning. Today's theme: "A Ballerina's Christmas."

Annabelle spent 90 happy minutes dancing, drawing and watching a video. The special classes are always fun for her because she gets to meet new people.

POETRY BY NUMBERS: I thought it would be good to mark the first day of winter with a poem. I haven't had the kids write haikus before, so to help explain what one is, I thought it would be fun to write a haiku about haikus.

Very short poem
Easy and fun to write
Won't you try one now?

We went over the 5-7-5 syllable pattern, and then they took a crack at it. Annabelle whipped one out in short order.

Winter is so fun
I like playing with snowballs
Snow is really fun

Unfortunately, CJ found the process painful. He was so fixated on the 5-7-5, he couldn't think about actual content for the poem. I suggested he just forget about the numbers for a minute and tell me one thing he likes about winter. He immediately said, "Making snow angels." Well there you go, CJ, there's your first line! How easy is that?

Afterward, his attitude improved and he finished the haiku painlessly.

Making snow angels
People having snowball fights
Winter is so fun

While the kids wrote their wintery haikus, I on Vivaldi's "Winter, Allegro" from "The Four Seasons." I love it! If that won't get you going, nothing will!
.
I also played an Elvis version of "Winter Wonderland."

TIMES TWO: Our new Singapore math chapter is about multiplication. Hallelujah! The kids were getting really tired of just addition and subtraction.

That said, I explained to them that multiplication is really just addition - but it's a quicker, easier way to add. For instance, 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 = 16, and 4x4 = 16. I explained to them when they have the multiplication tables memorized, they'll be able to solve multiplication problems super quickly. Another thing I pointed about about multiplication is that you can flipflop the order and still get the correct answer. For example, if the problem says 6x3, but you haven't memorized your 6s yet, you can flip it to 3x6 and solve for it.

They whipped through two pages of simple multiplication questions with no problems or errors.

SEASONAL SONGS: Awhile back, I scored a Raffi holiday song book at the library. Today Annabelle was perusing it and decided they should play some carols on their glockenspiels. They plunked around playing "Jingle Bells" by ear, and did pretty well. HI-TECK HIJINX: Today we used a couple of really cool online tools to have some holiday fun. First up, we "Elfed" (or would it be Elved?) CeeJ and Bee. This tool came from the folks at JibJab. We had to select mug shots of each of them, upload them to Jib Jab's site, adjust the mugs for size and rotation, and then we got to choose the type of song and dance we wanted them to do. The choices ranged from country to hip hop to the Charleston. It was great fun! Here's a link to the traditional dance and a video of the elves surfing. By choosing the "Try Another Dance" feature, you can plug the kids' faces into any of the other styles. I think the Charleston was my favorite.

Next, I discovered the Portable North Pole site. Thanks to the folks there - and a little input from a Santa helper - Old St. Nick delivers a very customized video to children in just a matter of minutes. CJ and Annabelle were mesmerized when watching the videos Santa emailed them. (Annabelle's video; CJ's video). I'm so amazed that people are able to produce something like this.

LEFTOVERS: I forgot to include in yesterday's post the fact that the kids got to decorate cookies on the Space Needle Observation Deck. YOGA A GO GO: We did make it down to Columbia City late afternoon for yoga. We went about 15 minutes early so the kids could have a very mini birthday pow wow in the bakery across the street from the studio. Their best yoga buddy's bday is tomorrow.

There was a substitute teacher today. During class they apparently traveled to the moon. I'm sure CJ was Quite Worried as there's no oxygen there, and everyone knows we can't live without oxygen. ...

All of the kids emerged from class sporting bindis. Bee's was on her chin. CJ's was, not surprisingly, on his fingertip (he's not the sticker on your face type of guy).

Moon Shadow

DARK SIDE OF THE MOON: Today dawned dark and grey and that was more depressing than usual. Why? Because tonight there will be a lunar event of remarkable rarity - and we're afraid we won't get to see it!

How rare is tonight's event? Well, Geoff Chester of the US Naval Observatory inspected a list of eclipses going back 2000 years and since year 1, he said, "I can only find one previous instance of an eclipse matching the same calendar date as the solstice, and that is 1638 DEC 21." And having a full lunar eclipse on the date winter solstice won't happen again until Dec. 21, 2094. I'd say that's a pretty big deal. That's why we spent over an hour this a.m. talking about it.

But before our talk, I spent a good hour mining resources. I really wanted something dynamic to help them "see" what a lunar eclipse looks like. Reading about it is fine, but visuals help drive the point home.

Fortunatley, I found the Shadow and Substance Web site, which says its aim is to display popular astronomy both visually and entertainingly. There, we found a really cool animation which I used repeatedly today as we talked about about what a lunar eclipse is.

We also rounded up our own visual aids. I had the kids get their globe, and then a rather rotund squeaky toy frog served as our moon and we used a floor lamp as our sun. Via these primative props, the kids learned just how a lunar ecipse occurs.

We talked about how the Moon orbits Earth every 29.5 days, and the Earth orbits the sun every 365 days and that a lunar eclipse is when Earth blocks direct sunlight from the moon.

We talked about why there isn't a lunar eclipses every month during a full moon. For an answer, we turned to Mr. Eclipse, who said, "I'm glad you asked! You see, the Moon's orbit around Earth is actually tipped about 5 degrees to Earth's orbit around the Sun. This means that the Moon spends most of the time either above or below the plane of Earth's orbit. And the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun is important because Earth's shadows lie exactly in the same plane. During Full Moon, our natural satellite usually passes above or below Earth's shadows and misses them entirely. No eclipse takes place. But two to four times each year, the Moon passes through some portion of the Earth's penumbral or umbral shadows," and an eclipse occurs. (image from NASA)
We learned that when an eclipse of the moon takes place, everyone on the night side of Earth can see it. About 35% of all eclipses are of the penumbral type, which are very difficult to detect, even with a telescope. Another 30% are partial eclipses which are easy to see with the unaided eye. The final 35% or so are total eclipses, and these are quite extraordinary events to behold (like tonight's eclipse, cloud cover permitting!).

I love the fact that after today my kids know what 'penumbral' and 'umbral' mean in reference to a lunar eclipse. :) And we also learned that the moon is rust-colored during a lunar eclipse because of matter or debris in the Earth's atmosphere. Fascinating.

CHRISTMAS AT THE CENTER: Christian and I have decided to make visiting Atomic Santa atop the Space Needle the annual tradition for CeeJ and Bee, and we decided today was the day. The kids and I went to the Center early.

We left home at 2:10, parked for free several blocks away and speed-walked to the Center House. By the time we got there it was 2:28. With "normal" (translation = not ours) schools on winter break, the Winter Fest at Seattle Center has ramped up their WinterFest entertainment schedule. Case in point, a pair of magicians, Budd and Durgin - was appear on the stage in the Seattle Center (food) court at 2:30 today. The place was packed.

We found a spot on a little landing stage left. The first magician, Durgin, was funny and skilled, but he mumbled. It was hard to understand him. The second magician, Budd, was funny and skilled and I was enjoying the show until I wound up being part of it.
For you see, for a few of his tricks he needed an assistant from the crowd. In those instances, about 200 (mostly kids) hands went up. However, for one trick he needed an adult's help and (unfortunately) he wasn't asking for volunteers. Being the pro he is, he chose the most convenient female adult. And MOST unfortunately, that would be ME, hard stage left. OMG, I was MORTIFIED when he asked me to come on stage. I can't imagine anyone being LESS happy to be featured in production than me, but fortunately for Magician Budd, I am also totally someone who understands the need to Git 'er Done in live time. And so I went. I had the distinct displeasure of fitting Mr. Budd in a straight jacket (including an awkward strap that ran between his legs. (Out of mic's range, I told him I felt like a TSA agent.) And since he was in straight jacket, I had to hold his mic for him while he was escaping it.

After the show we moseyed over to the Space Needle and took the 45 second ride up to the Observation Deck where Santa was waiting for us. There were cool Christmas decorations all around.
The coolest of all was Santa's retro rocket!
It was funny listening to the kids tell Santa what they wanted - and where he could find it. CJ pointed Santa to an action figure on eBay, while Annabelle told him about an accordion at Value Village.
We, of course, walked the entire outside deck of the Space Needle to enjoy views from every direction.
We stayed through sunset in order to appreciate the city changing from daylight to night time.
The kids always enjoy the interactive displays at the Space Needle, and they have added a few new ones since our visit last Christmas.
We made our trip down the elevator and exited the Needle. I darn near forgot to look up at it when we were at its base. Glad I remembered at the last second - it's such a cool vantage point. The grounds of Seattle Center were decked out for the holiday, too. All in all, it was a really wonderful afternoon and evening. Merry Christmas to MPA. :)

Taking Flight

AWAY IN A MANGER: Today we finally made it out to Swanson's Nursery. In Crown Hill (just north of Seattle's Ballard neighborhood), it's a Christmastime must, for there they have creatures you don't usually see 'round these parts.

Above you see Curly the camel along with his miniature donkey pal. They weren't interested in us at all today, as we arrived right after feeding time.

We also got to see a couple of reindeer, but we didn't catch their names. (If I had to guess, I'd say Donner and Blitzen.) Whomever they were, they were sawing logs when we came to visit. Can't blame them. They've got a tall order ahead. ... At Swanson's the kids also revisited the scene of one of our favorite holiday photos. Here's the 2010 version ... And here's a (heavily Photoshopped) version of them in that same sleigh from 2007. ...
DRAMADEY: The kids had a fantastic field trip to the Seattle Children's Theater today. They were there to see "Lyle, Crocodile." Big brother Rick took them.

"Lyle" is about a charming (though speechless) crocodile living in NYC who wins over the favor of the (aptly named) Mr. Grumps. It's a physical comedy with some engaging dance numbers. It got six thumbs up from the three I picked up after it was over. (A taste of the super fun looking show is available in their YouTube clip.) CJ liked this production a LOT more than he liked "The Nutcracker" a week ago. Guess that means it was better than "mediocre." ;)

WINGING IT: Today, I asked the kids to count to twelve. Slowly. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. Twelve.

After they were done, I said, "That didn't take long, did it?"

They both agreed 12 seconds went quickly.

Then I said, "Would you believe in 12 short seconds, you could change history? ... In 12 short seconds you could do something so amazing, that people are still talking about it more than 100 years later?"

I had their attention. Excellent. :)

And so we began our discussion of Orville and Wilbur Wright and how 107 years ago today, the brothers made history by piloting a gas powered biplane in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Their first flight (with Orville piloting) was 12 seconds and 120 yards long. Image: Courtesy NASA. In March 1999, a full-scale replica of the 1903 Wright Flyer was mounted in NASA Ames Research Center's 40-foot by 80-foot wind tunnel for tests to build a historically accurate aerodynamic database of the Flyer.

We learned that the Wright Bros. of Ohio didn't attend college. Their mechanical and design skills were honed in the bicycle company they owned. We learned they started with gliders and after more than 1000 trial and error flights, on Dec. 17, 1903, their motor-driven biplane went airborne four times.

Today we learned they chose Kitty Hawk because of its winds and sand dunes which provided camouflage (they were experimenting in secret) and a relatively soft landing. We learned the Wrights had no quit in them - their first glider, tested in 1900, performed poorly, but a new design, tested in 1901, was more successful. Later that year, they built a wind tunnel where they tested nearly 200 wings and airframes of different shapes and designs.

I pointed out to the kids that in science class on Wednesday, they tried maybe 20 different ways to balance their pencil on the Popsicle stick and reminded them how long it seemed to take and how frustrating it was. "Imagine trying that over 200 times," I told them.

We learned that although they were first, others stole the claim to fame for years and years. Poor Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912. His brother Orville lived until 1948.

CAMEO APPEARANCE: MPA put in a "guest appearance" of sorts on a blog about Philadelphia schools. It came about in a round about way. The blog's main author used a photo of mine from Morguefile to help illustrate a blog post of his. He was kind enough to send me a link to the post. When I followed it and learned that it was a blog about finding the right school for your student, I couldn't help but write him and tell him how that was a subject near and dear to my heart. I also felt compelled to share with him a YouTube video I'd found (and posted here already) about the changing education paradigms.

Here's a link to the blog post MPA inspired: http://phillyschoolsearch.com/2010/12/15/changing-education-paradigms-video/

Plugging Along

BAREFOOT BALLERINA: Annabelle had yet another special dance camp today. It was a morning session. She showered, dressed, and I handed her her backpack with her ballet shoes in it. We were good to go. Except ...

For whatever reason, as we were about three blocks away from the studio I asked, "Do you have your bag?"

Yeah, well I knew the answer before I finished asking the question. Aaaaaaargh! We turn around, head back over and down the hill to our place. The kids waited in the car in the alley while I ran in the house to fetch the bag. I fully expected to find it - on the couch, on one of our tables, on a desk, on the floor, in the kitchen, or even the bathroom. But no. It was nowhere to be seen.

So I tear back out to the alley and hop into the car hopping mad. Super - now we're headed to ballet without shoes AND we're late. That's awesome.

Fortunately, the teacher keeps a box of "borrow" shoes (we always contribute to it when Annabelle outgrows her current pair). So, we crammed Annabelle's feet into a little-too-small pair of used shoes and off she went.

(For those wondering, the ballet shoes bag was finally located 3 hours later. It was behind the TV in the kids' room, where Annabelle tucked it when she was putting pennies in their piggy bank.)

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE RANCH: While Annabelle was getting her Nutcracker on, I was administering an online reading/language arts test to CJ. Such fun!! :)

We were doing it as part of our recent enrollment in the Accelerated Reader program. (Administered by Renaissance Learning, it's supposed to "make essential reading practice more effective for every student, personalize reading practice to each student’s current level" and "provide frequent progress monitoring and produce the greatest reading improvement." Hmm. We'll see. But back to the test. ...

CJ was put off by it IMMEDIATELY - I mean from the very first glimpse of the welcome screen. "Why does she have three fingers?" he asked of the cartoon "host." Ah, leave it to CJ to sweat the small stuff. :)

And CJ was horrified when the three-fingered host informed him this would be a timed test. You see, CLOCKS ARE THE DEVIL. Believe me, I said everything I could think of to assuage his fears, but I could tell he was freaked out for the duration of the event. (Note to self: I need to start putting a timer/hour glass on him even during mundane household tasks to desensitize him to the EVIL CLOCK.)

Somehow, he soldiered through the STAR Early Literacy Assessment (dunno what the STAR is an acronym for), and he scored an 884 out of 900, which earned him the title of "probable reader," which was their highest category (anyone in the 775-900 range is a 'probable reader'). I found that a bit odd since he scored a 98.2 in accuracy and wouldn't have been able to take the test at ALL if he couldn't read. (An aside - this experience reminds me a) how I don't really like labels and b) how wonky standardized tests can be.)

Next up was a reading test. Frankly, I thought it was super hard for a second grader. There were lots of Big Words that I know for a fact Mr. CJ hasn't used before. I didn't give him answers, I swear!, but as he started I reminded him that on tests with unfamiliar material, often a process of elimination is your best friend. I think that advice helped. The STAR Reading computer-adaptive reading test he took shows him as having a GE (grade equivalent) of 6.3. "With a PR (percentile rank) of 99, Christian reads at a level greater than 99% of other students nationally in the same grade." Go CJ. :)

Later in the afternoon, Annabelle took her test. For whatever reason, it was waaaaay easier than the one CJ took. (I'll have to ask the folks at the Home Education Exchange if each of their tests was set up assuming them to be a certain grade level.) Bee was practically rolling her eyes at some points. On one question she was to select the picture that looked the most like cheese. "Well that's obvious. This one IS cheese," she said, picking the wedge of Swiss.

On the STAR Early Literacy test Annabelle scored 887 out of 900, which earns her the silly "probable reader" label. Gee, ya think? She's been reading since she was 3. ... The STAR Reading test labels her at the GE (grade equivalent) of 4.4. I wonder what the test's max GE was.

Now that we've done our pre-testing, I'm not quite sure what exactly happens next in the Accelerated Reader program. I believe they have to read a book and then when they're done they have to take a quiz and pass it to earn points. And I do know the kids want to get cracking on it, because at HEE they have a case of prizes for kids who have earned a certain amount of AR points.

GIVE A HOOT: As she was pulling on a t-shirt with his image, Annabelle asked, "Why did they make Woodsy Owl?" I told her because I figured they created the character because they thought kids would like it and they were trying to encourage kids to think about the environment and not polluting. Then I started wondering who "they" was. I thought it was the US Forestry Service. I was right. Woodsy even has his own Web page these days. It's a nice site - there's a great educator's toolbox I'll be using in the future, without a doubt. ARMY AMASSING: After dance class today, Annabelle presented CJ with the Nutcracker that was the take away gift from the class. He was Quite Pleased to have a new soldier in his Nutcracker army. He spends time every day creating storylines using his Nutcrackers, lining them up and giving them marching orders (so to speak). OH MY STARS!: A few days ago I discovered this super cool YouTube video about mathematical doodlings. I knew I wanted to show it with the kids and today finally made the time.

Ahead of time, we talked about what doodling is, and I told them the video was made by a girl who loves math and it shows how fun math can be. I had them sit at a desk with pencils and blank paper and we played along with the video, pausing it as we needed to.

I love this video for so many reasons (math = art, girls can be great at math, it gets the kids used to the idea of using letters [in this case Ps and Qs] while doing math, etc.).


It wasn't super easy for the kids to draw all the circles and points and lines, but they got better at it as we did more.

OH AND: Annabelle had soccer today. While she did her thing, we ran 'round Magnolia.
Near the end of class the teacher/coach announced they'd be playing a game called "Pong."

"Ah, a CLASSIC," responded Annabelle, who, by osmosis, knows all about vintage arcade games.

In the soccer class version, the kids were the paddles and they tried to kick the ball back and forth.

Midweek

photo: NASA

RUSSIAN ROCKET: This morning, the Soyuz TMA-20 rocket successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The three on board are Commander Dmitry Kondratyev of Russia, NASA Flight Engineer Cady Coleman of the U.S. and European Space Agency Flight Engineer Paolo Nespoli. They're headed to the International Space Station and should dock on Friday. Go Soyuz!

WAY UP YONDER: The kids watched a BrainPOP Jr. video on "Arctic Habitat" this morning.
Afterward, they did a related activity about the Arctic food chain. CJ grimaced upon seeing it, as it required drawing pictures, which doesn't thrill him. And truth be told, I almost didn't give them the assignment as I know CJ doesn't really like drawing. BUT I did sock it to them because the only way to get better at something is to keep doing it, and really once he gets started drawing, he doesn't seem to mind so much.
After that, I was ready to move on to some other work, but the kids were itching to get back to BrainPop, so I let them have their way. In checking my Internet history, it looks like they learned about fossils, frogs, heat, light, magnets, simple machines, and sinking vs. floating. Good for them!

LUNCHEON: We went to science class an hour early today to participate in our first "Pizza Wednesday." It takes place at the Home Education Exchange once a month. The kids thought it was pretty cool to get to eat pizza in a school library. They each devoured their slices right down. After he finished (quickly!) I asked CJ if maybe he'd like some salad. I'm glad I asked. He said yes, and for the first time ever, he ate a full helping's worth (instead of a meager little leaf that he's compelled to eat, per usual). Excellent! PENCIL PUZZLES: In science class today, Annabelle sat across the classroom, rather than right next to CJ. I think that's probably good for both of them. Bee wants to hang with some girls and CJ needs to get used to cuing off the instructor rather than off Annabelle.

We started with something easier - balancing a cardboard cutout of a pencil on a Popsicle stick. A counterweight way down low made it easy. Next up was the real deal - a genuine No. 2 pencil. That wasn't so easy to balance on its tip. the challenge was to balance a pencil on its graphite tip on a Popsicle stick. Sounds impossible, doesn't it? And I believe it would have been, if not for the aide of a long, pliable length of wire and a counterweight (clothes pin).

The kids were just given the tools and no specifics about how to "Make it so," to borrow a line from Captain Picard. That's right - they'd have to draw upon the knowledge they'd gained about balancing and stability in the weeks previous and use their brains!!

I'll be darned if (way across the classroom from me) Miss Annabelle was the very first one to figure out how to make it work. She wrapped one end of the wire around the pencil near its tip, and pulled down with the remaining length of wire and hung a clothespin from it. Nice work! Next, we had to balance the pencil with two counterweights.

BUNNY BONUS!: Imagine the kids' delight when they spied five 6-week old bunnies in a kennel outside the school's office today. A homeschooling family had brought them in to let other homeschoolers meet them. The kids each got to sit and hold one. They were warm and fuzzy and of course Annabelle wanted to take one home.

FUN AND GAMES: The kids spent a good amount of time late afternoon and evening on CoolMath-Games.com, where they played math and thinking games galore.

They enjoyed Bloons Tower Defense (strategy skills), Feed Fribbit Addition (flash card addition like problems), Gluey (anticipating, predicting and figuring out which configurations would earn the most points, Construction Fall (laws of physics) and Civiballs, which was great for learning more about the laws of physics. I caught Christian playing it after the kids had moved on.