Icarus

Its back to school time, and in a few short days my Little Man will be a fourth grader. I am amazed at how fast time flies as he grows up.
Back to school always makes me giddy. I loved school as a child, and to this day I still love learning. During my 20’s and into my 30’s, I took full advantage of all that Princeton University had to offer for community lectures and classes. I belonged to several book groups. I took classes at the community school, and cooking classes at Williams Sonoma. I thirsted after knowledge. After I got married, due to the newlywed bliss, I stopped chasing after lifelong learning. As time went on, I read less and went thirsty. Becoming a mother, I focused on my child learning, and became increasingly parched.
Its only fairly recently that I realized that I miss learning new skills. I miss the opportunity to conquer the unknown. I miss making me better.
I don’t quite know why I stopped growing and learning. I think part of me was afraid that if I did, I wouldn’t fit into the little wife box that I put myself in. Part of it also was that I wanted to spend every waking moment with my beloved, and I couldn’t bear to be apart, and then it just grew into homeostasis. I was afraid that I might change too much, and no longer be recognizable. I clipped my own wings.
Now, I am not as needed by my child. He is more mature. He reminds me he is a tween, and therefore capable of doing things ALL BY HIMSELF. He doesn’t need me to help with the day to day things that even six months ago I was needed for. I have been replaced by independence. Of course, I am still needed to help with long division and fractions and checking homework. Once upon a time, we would lie together on a blanket on the floor, with his head on my stomach, both reading a book. I couldn’t tell you the last book I really read and enjoyed. I don’t have the mental capacity or veracity to do so.
There are many things that used to be beloved that have been shed, like a hermit crab sheds his old shell, yet no new home has been found. Yet.
After breaking my leg, I have had THE TIME to think, and remember, and reminisce. I miss learning new things. I miss my crossword puzzles, and reading new books, and learning new things. Even if I didn’t like the book group’s selection, I loved being able to discuss why I didn’t like it. These are very much part of me, the same as sinew and bone. I need to continue to learn, challenge myself and grow. Homeostasis works but for a fleeting moment, at least in the Dee-niverse. So I am in search of opportunities to flap my wings and fly. I downloaded some apps, printed a few crossword puzzles and put on my big girl panties. I will indeed soar.

Weird Science

At the Little Man's school, the science fair is for third, fourth and fifth grades. Since he's in third, this was his first time competing. He decided on Tornadoes: Taking Flight, about tornadoes and the Fujita scale.
It was a lot of fun learning along with him! I now know more about them than I ever thought I would!
Some interesting facts:
Tornadoes form when warm gulf air meets cold Canadian air.
There are different types of tornadoes, including derechos, which are strong straight line winds (as opposed to a funnel cloud) that come out of the same type of thunderstorm funnel clouds come from.
While the movie Twister wasn't exactly accurate, the concept of the Dorothy machine was-and actually scientists are using similar ones.
Tornadoes using include hail, which is rain that gets caught up in colder air aloft and freezes. The biggest hail stone ever recorded was found in Vivian, South Dakota in July 2010.
Little Man made a power point of his presentation that rocked my socks! He is so smart and so talented that it's almost scary!
The highlight of his project was a tornado in a jar. This actually was the impetus to study tornadoes. He took a class at the Washington Pavilion on weather, and he was fascinated. As part of the class, he made a tornado in a jar that is too cool.
While he may have not come home with a trophy, it was the experience that counts. He had a chance to talk about his project and do public speaking. He learned to form a hypothesis and find research to support it. He practiced his writing and power point skills. Most of all, he made this mommy super proud!
During the science fair, we had a tornado warning in the area (oh the irony!) but that didn't stop us from celebrating afterwards with apple slices and a cherry limeade at Sonic.

Tornado in a jar

Mason jar
clear liquid soap
vinegar
water
Food coloring


Fill the jar about three-quarters full of water. Add 1tsp of soap & 1 tsp vinegar and a few drops of food coloring. Tighten the lid.

To make a tornado, shake in a circular motion

Mr. Roboto

Over the weekend, my son tried something new: Lego robotics. He's been a Lego building fiend since he's been 4, and this is taking it to the next level. This is part of the Lego league program (http://firstlegoleague.org/challenge/teamresources) in which participants build a Lego robot and then program it to do lots of neat things.
The program here in Sioux Falls (http://www.southdakotarobotics.com/index.php) took a major hit last fall when the program director and two other leaders were killed in a plane crash. Thankfully, Dr. Swets' wife took the program over and it's continuing.
I got to hang out and watch my kiddo learn to program a robot to go forward, backward and in a circle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=876be3bMxmc

On top of that, he learned to loop the commands which was super cool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwxJ2eHaLMU

The joy on his face when his program worked was the best! I love watching him learn something new and solve a problem.

We don't have a Lego league program in our school yet, but it's something that may be worth pursuing. I know of one third-almost fourth-grader that would love it!

Den blomstertid nu kommer

There is less than a month left in school here in South Dakota. While my son may be excited about summer, I am nervous about brain drain. We have almost 14 weeks of summer vacation, which can be used to be productive and learn new things.
Last summer, we really didn't do a lot of learning, and it really showed in a struggle to relearn at the beginning of the school year. Studies have shown that students, on average, lose 1-2 months of learning over the summer. This loss is more significant for low income students. Overall, students regress an entire reading level on average over summer vacation and lose almost a month's worth of math skills.
My biggest gripe is that our school district doesn't have a summer reading list, so I'm reliant on lists from other parts of the country. I struggle with that because both the Princess and I attended two top rated school districts growing up, and summer reading was a key component. While I encourage my son to read what he chooses, as he gets older he will have to read certain books. Why not start now?
Kids can still have summer vacation AND continue to learn. At the end of the school year, we buy a "summer learning" book that helps us to grow. My personal preference is the Summer Bridge series, which we have used since kindergarten. We try to spend at least 30 minutes a day on our learning, plus time reading a book.
Another great source to establish a framework for summer learning is your state's curriculum and rubric website. It's helped me create weekly themes for the summer that are cross disciplines.
Some of the themes I am looking at for this summer:

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory-read the book, watch both movies-comparing/contrasting them to each other & the book, nutrition and exercise, making chocolicious chocolate chip cookies.

Night of the Twisters-read the book, study tornadoes, develop a safety plan & emergency kit, watch a tornado movie, make a tornado in a jar, make tornado art (by twisting a paintbrush & splattering it on paper)

Cricket in Times Square-read the book, learn about NYC, make a cityscape collage, interview family members about their experiences in New York

Fudge a mania-read the book, make fudge, conflict resolution

That's just the start!

Object lessons

Learning doesn't just happen in school. I look for opportunities to incorporate it in every day activities. When my son was younger, we spent an hour or so everyday doing arts and crafts, reading and learning and he had no idea.
Grocery shopping was a great place to teach colors, shapes, comparisons and healthy eating. Now that my son is older we discuss money management and budgeting when we shop.
Once a month we go to the Kirby Science Center at the Washington Pavilion. It's a hands on museum, and it's helped him to love science and want to learn more. In fact, he's entering their science fair because of what he's learned going there.
Gardening is another pursuit we do together that is a great learning tool. Planting seeds, watching them grow, harvesting them are terrific educational opportunities.
The time we spend taking care of our pets is another great learning time. Feeding them, brushing them and walking our dog are all chances to learn outside of school. The neighborhood nature walks alone are priceless.
There are so many different ways to teach where kids don't realize it!

Weird Science

We are fortunate to have a science center museum here in town. The Washington Pavillion was originally a high school which has been converted into a science center, IMAX theater, an art museum and performing arts center.
Tonight the Kirby Science center turned into survivor island. There were 40 or so different stations where you got to do science experiments for spooky science night.
We started with tanagram puzzles and moved onto fishing on Mars. We had to balance rocks on a scale, then get camouflaged with getting our face painted. We raced an aluminum foil boat weighted down with rocks, went on a scavenger hunt that tested our short term memory before dropping parachutes from one floor to the next.
At Spooky Science Night, we had all sorts of firsts. Little Man would never allow his face to be painted before. He would allow his hand or arm to be done, but not his face.
Last night, that changed. We got a scary shark painted on our cheek.
We attempted to prevent mud from washing away our village in the mudslide tank.
We touched cow eyeballs, sheep intestines and other gooey, gross things.
We petted a real, live snake.
We conquered all sorts of sensory issues in one evening.
We shot a bow and arrow. My little architect built an earthquake proof house. We raced around to get supplies for our island on the obstacle course.
At the end of the night, we got candy (yay!) and little man got a bag of slime. We also earned 24 points each, since we visited almost all of the spooky science stations. As a result someone earned quite a few prizes.
It was a great night out-educational and fun!