PVC Pipe Rocket Launchers

For directions on making these rocket launchers and paper rockets, click here.

We made 3 trips to Lowe’s...

My stepdad cut the PVC pipe with his circular saw (and a lot of expertise!).

Putting the pieces together is easy, but making sure you’re buying the right pieces in the first place, and cutting the pipe are not. I couldn’t have done those things without his help.

KiwiCo’s Tinkercrate

For Christmas, we got Gemma a subscription to KiwiCo’s Tinkercrate. 

I had seen ads for it and heard people say they loved it, but I wasn’t sold until I saw one of the 5th graders at the school where I teach, walking around with the claw machine he built. 

I grilled him about what he thought of the Tinkercrate boxes. Did he like them? How many had he done? Could he complete them by himself? Were they too easy?

He’d done three and had enjoyed them all. He said he could do them on his own, but that they weren’t too easy. They were “just right.” That was exactly what I was looking for.

I found a promotional code that made it possible to get a 6 month subscription for about $13 per box, so the price point was right. 

I liked that KiwiCo could ship the first box to one address (Grandma’s house, so it could go under the Christmas tree), and the rest of the boxes to a second address (our house). 

I also liked that EVERYTHING for her first project (a spin-art machine) came in the box. The only thing Gemma needed was a pair of scissors to trim the transistors. I also thought it was very cool that the project used the box as part of the design.

I wouldn’t have tried KiwiCo if I hadn’t had the promotional code. There are just too many subscription services on the market right now, and it’s difficult to gauge if a product will be a good fit for your child without getting to see the product up close and talking to a child who has used the product. I’m really happy with my purchase (the gift was a hit!), and I’m excited to see what projects come in future boxes.

December 23, 2019

Today, we are working on a puzzle, went to see Frozen 2, did a chapter in Life of Fred: Algebra, and practiced piano. 

One of our Christmas traditions is doing a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle together. This year’s puzzle is Cobble Hill’s “Yellow” in “The Rainbow Project” puzzle series. We’ve also done green, blue, and black & white. We only just realized that all of the puzzles form one long puzzle. The yellow puzzle is orangey-yellow on the left side and greenish-yellow on the right side, because it goes between “Orange” and “Green.”

Regarding the plot of Frozen 2, I found this article interesting:

https://www.popdust.com/disney-frozen-ii-indigenous-people-2641411635.html

We’re currently in Chapter 6 of Life of Fred: Algebra. I would love to finish this book by the end of next summer, and while I think that’s doable, it’s going to mean that I have to remember to do math. There’s no rush. Gemma’s “ahead” of where she “needs” to be. I could not do math with her for a couple of years, and she would still be where she “needs” to be. But it’s nice and neat and tidy to do a math book per year, isn’t it? There’s something that feels good about it. So, maybe we’ll complete algebra in August, or maybe we’ll take all of 2020. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Just thoughts.

I’m liking having Gemma track her piano practice with tiny Candyland stickers. It’s helping her see what she has and has not done. The visual means that it’s not me telling her to practice, it’s her piece of paper - and it’s difficult to argue with a piece of paper.😉

Magic Flute

Yesterday, we went to the LA Opera’s production of The Magic Flute. I’d seen it before, about four years ago I think, and was so blown away by the way it fused the opera with silent film - such a bizarre juxtaposition, right? And that’s why it was so magical. After the show, three of the singers came out and signed autographs, and the singer playing Monostatos even brought out his prosthetic ears to pass around.

LACMA Art Projects

We went to LACMA on Sunday. I didn’t realize that they have crafts for kids every Sunday. They also have NexGenLA, program for children 17 and under, which allows them to get into LACMA free. Even better: it gives them a free adult admission, too!

Friday Book Stack

At present, Gemma’s Fridays include Mark Kistler’s Draw Squad, choosing her own Bible reading in her blue Bible, a chapter in Janice Van Cleave’s Food and Nutrition for Every Kid. She’s also reading William Blake poetry this term, and - for this week and next - Two Mighty Rivers (about Thomas Rolfe) for history, instead of This Country of Ours or The Awakening of Europe. She also uses a spelling app, and works on one of four languages (her idea!) either using Duolingo or a TPRS book in the target language.

“Latin exam, Dad. It’s Tuesday.”

- Adam, Blast From the Past

Math: Year 3 Term 2

This is Gemma doing Life of Fred: Algebra on her Spooner Board. In a classroom, she would be told to sit still - IN. A. DESK. But at home, she work while sitting on this, lie down on it, rock, or spin around so fast it makes me dizzy.

Handicrafts: Cross-Stitch

Gemma and I have been working on this cross-stitch cat for most of this year (and, from the look of things, we’ll be working on it most of next year, too). I “assign” her 10 stitches per day, and for every 10 she does, I do 10 (but I usually save mine up and do a week’s worth on the weekend).

History: Two Mighty Rivers

We’re taking a break from our “regularly scheduled programming” in history, to read the sequel to Mari Hanes’ book about Pocahontas. The second book is Two Mighty Rivers, and it tells the story of Thomas Rolfe, the child of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. We just read Chapter 5, in which Thomas, who is living in England, learns that his father has just been killed by Thomas’ Algonquian relatives.

I Don’t Do “Cute Advent”

This is what we’re doing for Advent this year. Calendars. One with chocolate, and one with Lego pieces. There will also be the one they pass out at church, with a Bible verse behind each door. We’ll attend the annual church Advent luncheon and learn the songs for the Christmas pageant. But that’s it. No Jesse Tree. No moving nativity scene figures from one part of the house to the other. Nothing handmade. Nothing that involves me gift-wrapping 24 picture books I don’t want to gift-wrap. Advent is supposed to be about waiting for Christ. It has nothing to do with chocolates or Legos, and waiting for Christ definitely has nothing to do with calendars.

American Indian Arts Marketplace at The Autry

This afternoon, Gemma and I went to the Autry because they were having their annual American Indian Arts Marketplace. We were able to watch a hoop dancing performance, and participate in the workshop portion of the performance. The dancers, father and son, Terry and Michael Goedel, were amazing.

Our Family Halloween Costume

“All the old paintings on the tombs / They do the sand dance don’t you know...”

Apple Pie 2019

I only bake one pie per year, and this is 2019’s pie. (We used the apples from our apple-picking trip to Riley’s Farm in Yucaipa.)

Gemma insisted we “carve” our initials into the top of the pie. (This, by the way, is a pie crust from the freezer section at Trader Joe’s.)

It was delicious.

Gemma’s Written Narrations: Weeks 6 through 9

In case you’re wondering what a child’s first written narrations look like, here are my daughter’s 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th narrations. She’s 8 years old, in “3rd grade.” She does one written narration per week (usually on Mondays - I wanted to make sure they got done early in the week), and she prefers to do them about her geography book: The World by the Fireside. I told her that each narration must be in cursive and must be at least 3 sentences (one sentence per grade level).

This one was not from The World By the Fireside. It was from Our Island Story. “When she died, her dog st-st-stayed with her. Wah😢Sorry I got ‘amotional.’ ”

Below, her narration about The Great Bat was written on another piece of paper, cut out, and glued diagonally (on purpose) because, she said, in all of the books she reads about kids who go to school, there are pages that look like that.

Gemma with a Supreme Court Justice

Last night, Gemma met Justice Sonia Sotomayor. The Supreme Court judge was literally across the street from our house, so we couldn’t not go. She was doing a book signing for her new children’s book Just Ask! In it, children with various special needs introduce themselves and explain what makes them different. Children are often told not to stare at someone with special needs, however Sotomayor said children should be taught to just ask. Because I teach lots of students who have special needs, and lots of students who don’t, I see a big need for teaching all students how to talk to each other about disabilities. My objective here had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with how I continually try to show Gemma that 1)there are so many things she can be when she grows up, and 2)no person is off limits.

Raising Lifelong Learners Podcast

Today I got to be a guest on one of my favorite podcasts - Raising Lifelong Learners. Talking with Colleen Kessler was so much fun, and I hope our conversation will encourage homeschool moms at the start of this new school year (and new not-back-to-school year). To listen to the episode click here.

Your Child Might Have A Teacher Who...

It’s the beginning of a new school year. The past two weeks, I’ve been thinking about why our family homeschools when I’m a public school teacher who believes public education needs to be an option. 

This year, my school hired four new teachers. Only one of them is truly new to teaching, but it got me thinking about how sometimes homeschool moms feel like they don’t know what they’re doing, and wonder whether their children would be getting a better education in public school.

I want to tell you - one - that you know more than you think you know, and - two - that putting your child in public school doesn’t guarantee that a teacher will know what they’re doing.

Your child might have a teacher who:

• Is brand new, has never had her own classroom, is idealistic and inexperienced 
• Has been teaching one subject for 3 years, and feels like she’s just gotten her footing, but due to the way public school works, is placed by administrators in a different subject
• Has been teaching 7 years, but has never taught your child’s grade level and is new to your child’s school (which means learning where everything is, who everyone is, who to ask for what, how to ask, and how things work)
• Has been teaching 14 years, but moves to a different subject in which she’s teaching seven different grade levels, and will have to learn the subject as she goes

These are not descriptions of the four new teachers we hired. These four teachers are all me at various points in my career. 

If you’re wondering if your child would be better off in school, with someone who knows what she’s doing, I’m here to tell you your child might not be in her class.

You know your home. You know where things are (except for times you don’t). You know who everyone is (too well). You know how to get what you need (by using Amazon and Instacart). You know how things work (and when they don’t, you’re a surprisingly good problem solver).

Happy not-back-to-school. You got this.😊

Gemma’s Fourth Written Narration

“The goldsmith was very tricky because he was able to do a trick in which he takes some acid and quickly pours some into the anvil. He pours the acid so he can get some of the gold for himself. He works in a house and will work for an entire day, for just half a rupee.”

This narration is from The World by the Fireside. 

Now that Gemma is in 3rd grade, I decided to require one written narration per week. (In Form Upper IA, Charlotte Mason suggested “an occasional written narration,” and I consider once a week “occasional.”) Gemma likes having clear expectations, so I told her that because she is in 3rd grade, I want three sentences (one per grade). 

After writing the above narration, she asked if her written narrations could follow this book every week. I said yes. I like that she expresses her preferences to me and is agentically engaged in her education.

My goal for her for this year is just for her to get used to writing - weekly - about something she’s read. I’m not correcting spelling (though I will tell her how to spell a word if she asks), and I’m not correcting punctuation or grammar - which isn’t easy. I just want her to get used to writing as an assignment and writing nonfiction. 

Think about how big those expectations are in and of themselves. In school, we don’t let children master those two expectations first, and then give them two more. No. Instead we give them a lengthy checklist right off the bat. 

Indent two finger spaces. Capitalize what should be capitalized. Use correct punctuation. Make sure your sentences have subjects and predicates. On top of all that, be interesting.

Will I be able to keep from correcting her mechanics? From telling her to use an adjective or two? From telling her that her sentences need to be a minimum of x words? Can I manage this for a year?

Gemma’s First Written Narration

This is Gemma’s first written narration. It’s also the first time she’s ever written in cursive on notebook paper! The chapter I read aloud to her was from M.B. Synge’s Discovery of New Worlds, about Hernan Cortes. Gemma asked if she could write “diary style.” I wasn’t quite sure what she meant. Turns out it meant she was creating a To Do List for Cortes. Note: I read that Hernan was known as Hernando and Fernando. Here is Gemma’s narration: “Ferdinand is not king. Fernando sails to island. Find Indians. Find gold. Find pearls.”

This Week in 3rd Grade

We finished reading Beware Princess Elizabeth, and started Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.

We finished reading The Princess and the Goblin (Gemma requested The Princess and Curdie), and started Children of the New Forest.

We went to Benihana...

Gemma completed her summer reading log and turned it in at the library, so she got a Benihana kid’s meal coupon and a new book of her choice from a special cart. (Yes, Gemma did wear her kimono to Benihana.)

..the Cayton Children’s Museum...

...the Getty Villa...

The Villa has a new audio tour for kids, based on the Percy Jackson books (which we haven’t read, and you don’t have to have read the books to enjoy the tour). The tour is Greek mythology meets Choose Your Own Adventure. At the beginning of the tour you’re told that you’re a half-blood and that you are on the search for your mythological parent. Gemma’s mother ended up being Aphrodite...the first time we did the tour. But it was so fun that we went back and changed our choices to see what other possibilities we could end up with. 

We also went to diving class, water polo class, and a birthday party at Rediscover Center, and did our usual schoolwork.

Finally, a panoramic shot of the library books Gemma has checked out right now...

Field Trip: Cayton Children’s Museum

This Week in 3rd Grade

In addition to reading some of:

• The Princess and the Goblin
• Beware, Princess Elizabeth 
• Life of Fred: Algebra
• Hexapod Stories (The chapter about Swallowtail butterflies, followed by a couple of short YouTube videos of Swallowtail caterpillars)
• The World By the Fireside (The chapter about flycatcher birds, followed by a couple of short YouTube videos of flycatchers)
• Exodus and Matthew
• Walter De La Mare’s poetry
• Discovery of New Worlds & This Country of Ours (about Christopher Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci)
• Tales of Troy and Greece (about Perseus)
• Pilgrim’s Progress
• Lamb’s Shakespeare (Much Ado About Nothing)
• ...and A LOT of free reading of books Gemma checked out from the library (she currently has 23 checked out, and a handful on hold)

We:

• went bowling several days this week (and by “we” I mean “she”)
• saw the play in which big sis Krystyna is the lead

• went to the reptile show at the library

• went to water polo class

(Gemma’s turn as goalkeeper.)

• started diving class (and taught herself how to do a somersault off the edge of the pool😳)

• grew mushrooms 

(Our mushroom harvest - sautéed 😋)

• saw the youth production of “Mercy Watson to the Rescue” at the Morgan Wixson Theatre