What we do on Thursdays: a/k/a the Geek Family Library Experience...
Mikro does Brainpop and Time4Learning and then reads a few library books (which I then don't have to try to fit on his maxed out library card!); Kev does job search stuff and studies the latest in IT security and 3D computer modeling; and Mom researches and orders library books for our present and future areas of study... and finds a hundred and one things to do other than write.
And with that, I think I am finally caught up to date!
Happy Summer!
We are year round homeschoolers, but we do tend to slow the pace in the summer, and we schedule less. We have a local treasure in Silver Lake, which is neither silver nor a lake, but rather a quiet beach along the Croton River. We'll be down there almost daily when it opens fully, with my Kindle and Mikro's library books in tow. (We avoid it on crowded weekends, though.) Mikro will do the library's Summer Reading Game, and we'll throw in some math and science. And since we live a short ride from the greatest city on earth, I'm sure there will be some field trips. Just not as many as usual...
NYPL's famous Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at Bryant Park, which is flanked by the statuesque lions Patience and Fortitude, and which inspired "Between the Lions", celebrated its 100th anniversary this weekend. Among the special events were free tours of the stacks (which are generally closed to the public), and a display featuring LEGO recreations of the library's leonine mascots. Mikro loves books, and LEGOs, so we had to check it out.
I wish we had been able to take part in this game, and I'm hoping they will make the book that was written available to the public:
We really enjoyed the LEGO lions:
And the stack tour. The musty old book smell brought back memories of my undergrad days, working in Butler Library at Columbia University. Same stacks smell! Mikro took a deep breath and exclaimed: "Ah, the smell of learning!" I almost died laughing...
My spine has been evil, so it's been a while since I got around to posting... Hmmm, where were we?
Tuesday, April 5th was our last Native American Architecture class. The kids finished making accessories for the village, then set it up. They had hoped to do several longhouses, and have a Lenape village and a Haudenosaunee village, but the wigwams took longer than anticipated, and only half a longhouse got built, so they displayed them together... each child talked about what he/she built, and what they learned in the class.
Wednesday was a library day. Thursday we did some bird watching, enjoyed the spring sights in our garden, did some BrainPOP, read more library books, read some Tumblebooks online, and did our Illustration Friday project. Here's some of what we saw in our yard:
Friday was Science Class at SMLI, where the kids learned about marine animals, and even dissected a squid! Wish Mikro had a camera with him for that...
We had a quiet weekend at home, ran errands, enjoyed the sunshine, and played some basketball. Mikro and Kev did some circuit building, and talked about designing a robot.
Monday and Tuesday were academics at home. Lots of math, stories about Japan, some botany and some online stuff-- BrainPOP and Tumblebooks... Tuesday we were supposed to do an online science class, but I got a call from "Mommy's Sister Lilo" as Mikro calls one of my four sisters from other mothers, and miraculously she was free and we could get free by skipping the web class (which will be available as a replay), so we made hay while the sun shined (and shine it did, an awesome bright 75 degrees F day here!) and headed up to visit her, and enjoy her nearby park together. The park critters also took advantage of the spectacular day. We saw tons of birds and several frogs. Mikro attempted to catch one by jumping into the creek with his shoes on... Later I found his crocs in the back of my car. We took a long walk and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Finally, good weather and an opportunity to go be in nature! Seeing my dear friend was wonderful as well.
That evening, Kev showed Mikro a prototype for a robot arm, cobbled together from a bit of broken umbrella, a piece of a fighter jet, and his Arduino kit (and a box of Tic Tacs to hold the arm up so it would clear the plastic tray it sat on...)
Today we finished a huge pile of library books, dragged them back and read more there, then managed to come home netting out with one more library book than before. Good stuff found and enjoyed. And for National Library Week, Mikro got to make himself a bookmark, and color some spring coloring pages. My fine motor challenged kid did a great job coloring. There is real improvement happening, and best of all, he enjoyed it and kept wanting to do more. Before this year, he never wanted to color, paint, draw or write. Now he really has fun with all of them, especially drawing and painting.
Monday was academics at home, and making clay fish. And there were Legos and K'Nex, and some neighborhood basketball as well.
Tuesday was Native American Architecture class. Mikro made a canoe, and a three sisters garden for the model village. He also worked on the longhouse. They put in sleeping platforms and started working on the outer bark covering. It doesn't seem like there will be enough time to finish it, so it is likely to be displayed in an "under construction" state. I'm really impressed by how well Mikro has worked with other kids, and how willing he is to try new things, like sculpting in clay and using a hot glue gun. He is usually fairly timid about tasks that require a lot of fine motor skills, but he has jumped right in and made real progress. He is really starting to enjoy building and crafting. He also had great fun with his friends at the park afterward. We are soooo sick of winter around here, I've pulled out our brightest colored clothes to try and cheer us up a bit, and maybe inspire Mother Nature to finally give us some Spring...
Wednesday was library day. We picked up and dropped off, but also spent some time reading there (yay-- books I didn't actually have to cart home!) We are perilously close to our library's 50 book borrowing limit... Mikro also built a periscope from a science kit.
Thursday was working at home again. And delivering our Quarterly Report to the school district. And doing our Illustration Friday pieces. We also listened to the Roald Dahl Audio Collection that we borrowed from NYPL as an audio book. Mikro saw these balloons stuck in a tree, and thought they looked like early Easter eggs... I was just glad for some color other than winter grey!
Friday was the much looked forward to beginning of the spring series of classes at the Science Museum of Long Island. This week's theme was ecology. They made a food web, created terrariums, and took a nature hike. I got to hang out with my grownup friends, and meet an adorable brand new little baby. We met up with Kev and some local friends at GCT and rode home together, with Mikro regaling the other family with tales of his make believe planet, Skafeedra, and its ecosystems.
Yesterday my back decided to protest how much running around we've been doing. I can hardly move. (Hopefully it will chill out by Tuesday, so we can make it into the city for our final session of Native American Architecture.) Kev and Mikro spent the day reading about and playing with their new Arduino electronics kit and building circuits. They started off with a simple circuit that lighted a single LED, then moved on to multiple LEDs flashing in patterns (starting with the one given in the directions for the "sketch" (or program) and then inventing patterns of their own, and figuring out how to write the code. (See my very short YouTube video of the flashing LEDs posted yesterday.) At this stage, it is mostly Kev doing the figuring and talking Mikro through it. But Mikro did do some of the actual building himself. They also got a simple motor running before quiting for the night.
Today Kevin is half snoozing through the NASCAR race on TV, while Mikro works on his library pile. He's done some math reading, some science (he is really into reading about robots, and is looking forward to building one with his dad some day...), and even some history. I owe him some BrainPOP and Dreambox Math time on the computer, too...
Tuesday: Into NYC we go for Native American Architecture class with the homeschool group. The kids worked on their wigwam models, installing a fire pit, finishing up the framing, and starting to install the bark covering. After class, we had some park time with friends. Rushed home so I could make it to the first session of Adult Ed Pottery here in the village. This is my attempt to exercise my rusty art muscles. Started a coil built pot.
Wednesday: Library Day. Read a bunch of books there, borrowed an obscene number...
Thursday: Worked on the pile of library books. Made good progress early, but then the day devolved into *one of those spectacularly ugly home ed days full of surly adolescent attitude*, which seem to pop up every 3-4 months around here. I wonder if this was a case of early spring fever or something, though it was rainy and grey. Yesterday was all about being stubborn, avoiding work, acting helpless, and driving mom bonkers. He wouldn't even read the fun stuff without drama. After a period of sulking, he decided he wanted to learn after all, and flew through a bunch of Japanese folktales, some math, and an architecture book. We did some bird watching for Project Feeder Watch. Then he worked in his sketchbook, and came up with a concept for this week's Illustration Friday challenge: Warning. (Heh, Maybe mine should be: Warning: Bad Attitude Will Get You Sent to School If You Don't Watch Out... I am not above using the threat! The boy knows the boredom would be toxic.) And then we had wind-induced power outages (This is what we get for living in a "Tree City" with overhead powerlines. Too typical in March...), and sat around in the dark with our battery operated camping lanterns telling stories and reading by flashlight.
Friday: Mikro has painted his Illustration Friday piece, which I'll photograph and post later (after I come up with something myself...) And he's back at the stack of library books. We'll be heading back there to drop off the ones we've finished and pick up a couple more that have come in...
