Grand Central Terminal Centennial Parade of Trains

This is what we did on Mothers Day (we actually celebrated on Saturday, which I'll post about later...) We went into GCT expecting a light turnout due to the holiday, but the pace was jammed packed with rail fans.

Trains on display included: a NY Central RR FL-9 locomotive, Metro North 1962 ACMU, Metro North 605 Engine (retired diesel locomotive), Metro North M-8s (the future train cars on our commuter line), Metro North BL14 Engine, Tonawanda Valley 1928 NYCRR Pullman Observatiom/Sleeper Lounge Car), U.S. Railway Car Post Office (built in 1910 for Pennsylvania Railroad); Phoebe Snow (tavern & lounge car built in 1949 for Erie Lackawanna, repurposed as an inspection car by Metro North), NY Central Passenger Car, Hickory Creek (1947 NYCRR sleeper observation car), New York Central 43 (1947 lounge/business car), Wisconsin (1948 business car for St Paul & Pacific RR's Wisconsin train), NYCRR 448 (1947 business lounge car), Ohio River (1926 Pullman Sleeper/Observation Lounge), Kitchi Gammi Club (1923 Pullman sleeper car), Birken (1954 diner/lounge car). Babbling Brook (1949 observation lounge car), Dover Harbor (1923 Pullman baggage car), Tioga Pass (1959 business car), Overland Trail (1949 Pullman), Pacific Sanda (1950 sleeper car). Salisbury Beach (1954 Pullman Sleeper), Berlin (1956 sleeper), Cimmaron River (1948 Pullman Sleeper), Montanta ( 1947 businesss lounge car). There were also LEGO and model train displays.

Lots of pictures below...





















Can you tell Mikro had fun?

Homeschool Update

Math: 3 and 4 digit addition and subtraction and 2 digit multiplication. Estimation, rounding, graphs. Teaching Textbooks on CD, Dreambox Math. English: Reading kid's versions of Shakespeare plays and a lot of poetry. Plot outlines, character development. History: Middle East, ancient and modern eras. Intro to Aztec, Mayan and Incan civilizations. Civics: Constitution, Bill of Rights, grassroots political action and protests. Science: mostly biology.

Some of the things we've been up to, in addition to the purely bookish and academic stuff:

Field trip with our homeschool group to the Map Room at the NYPL, and learning about georectification of maps in the library's collections using Map Warper software.





Science classes resumed at SMLI. They've done soil surveys, wildlife scavenger hunts, owl pellet dissection and food chemistry. And I haven't taken a single photo, because I've been hanging out with the moms, enjoying good conversation with like minded folks, and lots of laughter. Socialization for me!

Field trip to The Firework Maker's Daughter at the New Victory Theater. A combination of opera and shadow puppetry that had Mikro absolutely engrossed. (No pix allowed during the performance, but I took some theater architectural detail shots before it started...)





Traipsing around the city looking at public art and architectural details (and especially looking for mythological creatures and figures, which Mikro loves to do!)











Crafty Kids class at our local library, and pottery class.





Lots of park days, nature walks and bird watching, and visits to our river.









Climbing trees, playing ninjas, hide and seek, basketball, planting tomatoes, designing the evolutionary tree of various mythological and imaginary creatures, and rigorously classifying them. World building, storytelling, map making, drawing, reading till all hours on the Kindle.

This is what I think the real genius of homeschooling is: It balances life and learning and doesn't make them into separate spheres that only inconveniently intersect. Life is learning! And we love it!