Monday-Tuesday Learning Notes and Stuff

I agree with Adesa of 2 Homeboys fame, when she says that being really connected with kids, through activities that matter to them, creates fertile ground for learning:
The best part of it all, though, is that this game is something we do together. We connect through playing it. And that connection is where learning happens [...]

Dissecting Owl Pellets

Science is VERY cool — as long as there’s something a little disgusting involved. All this stuff is from Pellets, Inc.

Salt Dough Map of the 13 Colonies (Plus Florida)

Breaking news … we finished a project. Yes, US! We actually finished a project!
For this project we used a map in Kris Bordessa’s Great Colonial American Projects You Can Build Yourself. I sketched a grid over the map in the book.

Then I sketched a larger grid on the cardboard. I think we quadrupled the size [...]

Learning Notes Catch-Up — Marie

One day last week, Marie and I watched a bit of the inauguration and read part of To Kill a Mockingbird, which she finished the next day. I thought it was incredibly powerful, setting aside a portrayal of racism in Depression-era Alabama — a world that existed around the time my father was born–to watch [...]

Random Learning Notes & Thoughts About Aspergian Development

Marie and I are reading To Kill a Mockingbird. I am loving it even more the second time around. (Literature, History) She is still spending time on her movie reviews. (Writing, Film Studies) The other day, I suddenly became aware that this avocation is not just about writing and film studies. It is actually a [...]

A Little Mommy Guilt, A Little Montessori, and Some Housekeeping

It’s getting close to New Year’s — the time when good intentions come home to roost, often never to be seen again.
I’ve been thinking a lot about our way of life and learning. I am particularly concerned about how I’m parenting Missy, who is a few days shy of five years old. I need to [...]

Our Pinatas

Animal Farm

Monday, we wrapped up our reading and discussion of George Orwell’s Animal Farm. (Click the link for a summary of the book and discussion of the characters.) Here is a video on the historical symbolism in Animal Farm. I watched it with the kids after our discussion, because I wanted them to draw their own [...]

Plan for Winter Holidays Around the World Unit — in Progress — Suggestions?

I’ve wanted to do this for years, and I think we’ll finally give it a go. Maybe we’ll invite some other families to join us for some of this fun stuff.
Obviously, I have a long way to go with this. If anyone knows of any terrific books, projects or on-line resources, or if you have [...]

Tea Time and Poetry

Marie and I made Apple Scones and had tea time today.

We recently read Keesha’s House. It tells the story of a group of troubled teens in poetry. Each poem focuses on a particular character. They are in classic forms, such as English sonnets, Italian sonnets and sestinas.
This reminded me a bit of Edwin Arlington Robinson’s [...]