Doing A Happy Dance!

We're still pretty new on the dance scene. Riley is only now a few months shy of 3. It honestly, never would have occurred to me to look for a dance class last fall if my friend hadn't seen the ad and decided to take her daughter too. It worked out very well. Dancing once a week with your friends, nothing beats that. I felt like the new kid in class at recital time for sure. After that adventure, classes were done, but I had no idea for how long.

Yesterday evening I got a call from her dance studio saying registration was this morning between 10a-12p. Cool! Here I was, believing we were on dance class hiatus until fall. Then I went to talk to Mike about timing, money and general opinions about how to proceed with Riley's dance career. We decided closer to home and earlier in the day and week would be better. The research began, and what do you know, my Google-Fu produced an option less then 5min away, in the same price range with a 2.5-3yr old class on Tuesdays at 4:45pm. Score.

I was a little worried about leaving the familiar behind, but this new place had a lot going for it. I explained very carefully to Riley that we would go check out this new place and if we didn't like it we'd go to the other one and register. I also knew her best friend who danced with her all last year wouldn't be a part of summer dance classes no matter where we went. Change was in the wind.

Riley ready to go:

When I got to the potential new school I was instantly thrilled by its proximity. Riley was a little hesitant, but ready, as always, for the adventure. I loved their beautiful space and Riley gave the dance floor a sufficient test spin. It just felt right. So we signed up, but this was the real deal. Riley was going to need plain pink or black leotards, pink tights, ballet slippers and tap shoes. We went straight off to Target after she was registered. We were able to get all her ballet stuff. She couldn't wait to try it all on.

She spun herself right out. So did Leeloo.

I don't think a pony would have made her any happier than dance classes resuming and getting real ballet slippers. She's a real ballerina now. Unfortunately, neither Target nor the adjacent shoe store had tap shoes. When I checked Ebay I was stunned that even the shoes people were selling used seemed to be about $30. No-freaking-way. I did find a discount dance supply site with tap shoes in Riley's size for about $17, but kept looking. I got all excited and even (oops) bid on a pair on Ebay that's auction didn't end soon enough to get them shipped before her classes start. Then I emailed some people from Craigslist, but they had posted early in June and I wasn't hopeful. I stuck with it. I only called two kids consignment stores before I found one that had her size. $5.99 for a like new new pair of patent leather, tie top tap shoes in almost perfect condition. Score!!

She's thrilled now. How she'll ever make it to the 10th I just don't know. In the meantime she'll spin and watch Gene Kelly videos and get excited. They grow up so fast. A real ballerina...

Being A Social Detective

Isaac is a very smart boy, but the rules of social interaction do not come easy for him. He's not naturally very observant in general. His age also tends to be a rather self-involved period of existence. It's often clear that he just doesn't understand why the other kids react the way they do. Like the workbook I mentioned a few days ago, the materials we gathered for to help with this over the summer are fundamentally better than all the discussions we've ever had on the subject. They bring these issues into an academic arena (where he's comfortable) and out of the context of having just gotten in trouble (when he's less likely to absorb anything).

The book we've been using most often is called Diary of a Social Detective. It's really fun. It has a school aged narrator, Johnny, who's description of himself in the introduction was absolutely uncanny. Minus one or two small details he is Isaac. Johnny helps the kids at school solve their social mysteries one case at a time.

We've done four so far. The Back Away Buddy which was all about playing too aggressively and invading others' personal space. It focused on reading your playmates' physical clues and settling down/backing off. A great lesson. There was one about a girl who's friends kept getting mad at her and it turned out she was talking way too loud. She got them in trouble in the library and spilled the beans on a secret. That one discusses observing how loud those around you are talking and making adjustments. I was sooooo bad at this growing up. We read about a kid who couldn't figure out why everyone was always laughing at him. It focused on sarcasm. It's definitely a concept the intelligent, but unobservant child may miss.

My favorite so far was case 4. It was about a bully. It not only discussed what would motivate a someone to want to humiliate someone else it also discusses what you can do to stop being such an appealing victim. It was very well written. It went over the difference between tattling and setting boundaries. It touched on having respect for yourself and knowing how you deserve to be treated. It also talked about how very important how you say things is. Presented as always in a fun fictional detective style.

Click to Enlarge

We always do them together. I scanned a copy of the case sheet from the back of the book and I print a new one for each case. We take turns reading and discussing which are important to record. Then we stop before the resolution to talk about what we think the answer is before we read the end. It's very much a game. Sometimes, it doesn't seem to sink in right away but I'm often surprised.

The night we read the bully case Isaac and Riley were playing in his room. I was working at my desk and listening. I heard them happily pretending some elaborate scenario, but then I heard the dreaded silence. I braced myself for a scream of rage or the noise of a toy being tossed, but instead heard "Don't do that, Riley." in a clear unemotional tone. There was a brief silence and then she answered "Ok, I won't." Just like that the happy play noises resumed.

Not a whiny tone, a yell, a smack or a tossed toy was heard in the ensuing hour and change of that they played. The usual unresolvable conflicts didn't arise. They communicated like people. Well, I'll be! Not only did he learn something today his example was rubbing off on his 2.5yr old sister! Wow. I think it's important to do the cases with him because when the subject's a little close to home he tends to have trouble being objective. Afterwards though if I leave him to his devices it seems to get processed. Yay!

Is that like a summation of parenting in general or what? Teach them well and then give them room to be independent.

Take a Trip Thursday: Second Edition

This Thursday was much more smooth (and far less expensive) than the last one. We had breakfast and took our time getting ready. We loaded up around 9:15am and headed for my Dad's house (the house I grew up in). Over the last few years he's acquired chickens and very recently started growing vegetables. The kids visit Grandpa's house now and then. They always say hi to the chickens, but this was the first formal farm tour.

After hellos and candy (grandparents, what can you do?) we were off, armed with bread, to feed the chickens.

They seemed indifferent to the kids, but very excited to see the bread. Riley looked like Eva Gabor from Green Acres feeding chickens in her party dress. Isaac was a bit to imposing and for the most part they ran from him. The chickens enjoyed Riley's quiet approach and took bread from her hand. Just as we were finishing up she got a little scratch from an over zealous chicken's beak. Feeding the chicken's was Riley's favorite part.

Then we moved onto the chicken coop. We learned that chickens only lay eggs when they are young. Apparently there's about a two year window. He has brown chickens that are about done laying and two white ones that haven't started laying yet. Apparently, the color of their legs reveals what color the eggs will be. The coop was Isaac's favorite part.

Grandpa's growing raspberries, mangos, grapes (at least two varieties), tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, green beans, bush beans, cow beans, pineapple, lemons, peppers (at least four varieties), sweet potatoes and strawberries. It was thrilling for Riley to see all the different plants and how they grow. Isaac was only interested in what was edible now. I think it's great for the kids to see where food comes from. I don't think I understood the concept of growing/farming food until I was older. Food comes from the store, right? The cupboard? A box/can?

We all got out in the world and learned something, I declare Go! Dog Go! Day number 2 a success.

What's Awesome About Home Schooling

It's another in a long list of things I thought I'd never to, but here I am. Everyday I post a schedule for each kid, write notes for them on the white board, prepare worksheets, schedule trips and activities. It's been fun. It's just a natural extension of this.

It is a very time consuming thing, but completely worth it. The biggest challenge and one of the coolest things about this experiment is that it forces me to find things the kids can do together. Maybe that's not a big deal for some moms, but with a 7yr age difference it's not easy. I need activities they can both do or do together and places they both enjoy going. Our days of the week themes mean at least once a week we go somewhere everyone can enjoy. When we're home I am always trying to think of one activity a day they can both do together. I have photographic evidence, it can be done. I wonder if either of them will remember summer art projects together when they have their own children.

Another huge plus is that no one is ever bored. It does not happen. They're either engaged (or at least busy) or they've earned their free time and are making it count. Good behavior means super fun stuff like Lego Challenge, baking or family movie time happen. Speaking of, and this is saying a lot for a house when an almost 10yr in it, the TV is almost always off. I really enjoy the quiet.

We're flexible and learn from what's around us. Big storm? Rainwater under the microscope. Watch a ventriloquist? Discuss vaudeville. My new voter registration card arrives? Discuss democracy. Vet appointment? Discuss domestication of wolves that lead to the modern dog. It's very living-in-the-stream-of-consciousness sometimes. It means the kids get a lot (not that they were hurting for it)of one on one with Mom. It also means I get more help around the house. We're a team for most of the day rather than mornings and evenings like the school year.

Setting the schedules to balance subjects we need to work on for school next year, topics we're interested in, fun summer stuff, free time, chores and quiet/nap isn't just helpful for the kids. It also forces me to focus on myself for sections of the day. I find myself eating breakfast every morning now. Showering, reading, working on my other job, blogging and watching grown up TV in the times they're quietly working or the evenings when we've managed to get everything pressing done.

Our daily themes forced me to commit to getting out of the house with the kids at least twice a week. We can learn anywhere and we do. I ran an errand to the bank with Isaac and we spent our whole wait in line discussing the currency exchange chart. It also means grandparent/friend visits and time exploring the city we live in. Go! Dog Go!

I learn things too! I remembered only the very general idea of static electricity, but thanks to having a science day I've had a refresher. Riley wants the colors to blend on her painting, which reminds of a host of art projects I did in school. My geography is a bit rusty, that's what Worldly Wednesday is for.

I'm so glad we took a summer off from nine weeks of camp. They are growing up so fast. I know school will sneak up on us sooner than we will be ready for, but I'm glad we're making the most of our summer.

More About Molecular Monday (aka yesterday)

Tropical storm Debby did a number on our backyard. It was super windy! This included toppling a whole section of of our privacy fence. When Mike began repairs (which was on the quick side because we have a puppy and a toddler) the hole filled with rainwater. So, as a bonus to our Michael Faraday lesson and snap circuits we also took a look at a rainwater specimen from the hole yesterday. The storm related power outages also tied in nicely with our discussion of generators.

We did an electromagnetic project with Isaac's snap circuits. It was supposed to lead to discussion on how the energy is stored and released. Unfortunately, Isaac put a piece on upside down and decided he liked it better that way, but he eventually got the drift. His favorite thing that we talked about was the Faraday Cage. He read the passage from the site I linked to yesterday and burst out "Like an airplane!" and then later they used that as an example.

We got out Isaac's microscope and put a couple drops from of rainwater from the hole in on a slide to examine. We didn't see much on our first attempt. Toy microscopes just don't have stellar magnification. We have a better one, but the last time he used Mike's microscope he caused serious damage to it. On our second go we poured all the specimen into the dish instead. Isaac was beyond thrilled when he saw something!

I made him draw what he saw and list at least 10 descriptive words. He saw two "somethings" in the end.

After we were done we watched this:

Next week we'll discuss Volta and do the lemon battery experiment!

Electric & Inventive!

First thing's first, Isaac had an awesome answer to a Lego Challenge on Friday. The challenge from Lego Quest:
Design a vessel. Here is the definition of the word vessel.
Vessel
-noun
1. a craft for traveling on water, now usually one larger than an ordinary rowboat; a ship or boat.
2. an airship.
3. a hollow or concave utensil, as a cup, bowl, pitcher, or vase, used for holding liquids or other contents.
4. Anatomy, Zoology. a tube or duct, as an artery or vein, containing or conveying blood or some other body fluid.
5. Botany. a duct formed in the xylem, composed of connected cells that have lost their intervening partitions, that conducts water and mineral nutrients. Compare tracheid.
6.a person regarded as a holder or receiver of something, esp. something nonmaterial: a vessel of grace; a vessel of wrath.
The Front

The Back

In His Words:
Blood vessel in a wound. The gray piece is a platelet, the white piece is a white blood cell and the red one is a regular red blood cell. The green piece is a germ. It's in a wound so there's a germ and a white blood cell. It's a 3-d model. The pieces are upward and outward. It's 2x2 bricks. I got the idea from the anatomy definition for vessel. It reminded me of the human body movie.

For Molecular Monday we are discussing inventors who worked with electricity. As a follow up to static electricity experiments last week. Mainly, Michael Faraday, but we'll also get into Volta and some others. After reading about all the neat stuff they did. We're creating closed circuits with Isaac's snap circuits set.

Today's Lego Challenge was to create something two dimensional.

In the artist's words:
It's a picture of a Tsunami going to a big brick and stone house on a beach. The palette blue is sky. I used it to make it portable. The colorful pieces are the house. Smoke is coming out of the chimney! The blue over there is the window. It opens so you can escape. The long blue bricks are tsunami the white and red are boats! The white part touching it is the crown of the tsunami.

Conversations With Cute

I came home from a drive in terrible weather and I asked a very cuddly Riley if she wanted to watch Monster House with me. We snuggled down on the couch.

Me to Mike: We didn't see any ghosts today.
Riley to Me: Did you see a robot?
Me: Nope. Do they like dark rainy days too?

Riley comes over to my desk while I have Old Navy's toddler section on the section on the screen. It's scolled down to a section of very tu-tu like skirts.

Oh, Momma! I want to borrow those!
You do?
Yes

She sits in my lap and points out clothes she likes as we scroll down on the page.

I like those. (points to shoes) I will like them on Facebook!
What?!?

Seriously, where did she hear that? And how did she know the correct context?

Riley picks up a stick in the backyard

Whatcha doing Riley?
Catching Whales!!

Riley runs through Mike's legs while he's standing in the kitchen and laughing yells:

Pop goes the easel!!

Something frustrated Riley. I think she dropped something.

Fudge! Fudge. Fudge. Fudge! Fudge. Fudge! Fudge.

Foul mouthed little thing! (:

Fabricate It Friday!

I wanted to do this bonus exercise from Isaac's Summer Bridge Activities Workbook for our first building project. I highly recommend these workbooks there is so much worth while material.

Here are their directions.

A Word About Materials

If you haven't been saving toilet paper and paper towel rolls all school year (I only had one) a wrapping paper roll works great. It just adds the extra step of cutting into smaller tubes. We used the toilet paper roll to measure slightly smaller tubes. One wrapping paper roll did not give us 11 smaller rolls, only 8. So two would give you even vertebrae and spare cardboard.

Isaac broke our rubber bands several times trying to thread them through the holes we punched. I recommend thinner (but sturdy) rubber bands and having more than 11 on hand just in case. Also, the 3/16" hole punch on my crop-a-dile seemed small at least for the thickness of rubber band we used. I do recommend colored rubber bands because it looks nicer.

A Word About The Project

This project (even without the extra step of cutting up a wrapping paper tube) has a lot of tedious steps. Don't attempt it with a young child, although building one for a litter kid to play with might be fun. Isaac and I took turns cutting cardboard and punching holes until we'd addressed all 33 rings. He very much enjoyed learning to loop the rubber bands together. Overall, it takes a lot of time to get to the finished project. You may want to prepare the pieces and simply have your child assemble it.

You may, if you prepare the project for your child, want to use a box cutter rather than scissors. This method will produce much springy-er circle. Scissors squish the cardboard a bit. Also, after we were done I wished I had painted the cardboard the night before. Either white like bones or fun bright colors. If you paint yours please sent me a picture!

How it Went

We weren't able to get all 33 vertebrae on our spinal cord. In the end it was a bit short.

We discussed how much more sturdy a spine with 33 vertebrae would be. We compared the flexibility of the model backbone to Isaac's. We discussed scoliosis and how my spine is now more like the initial wrapping paper roll, post fusion. We discussed the other parts of the skeleton supported by the spine.