BITTER WInTERY COLD
We have not celebrated New Year's. Technically it has happened, but for my family, one tradition was not held as we were travelling, so we are postponing our personal New Year's celebration until the end of the month. Hopefully, our hearts will be warmed up and cheered up by the splendid music of Maestro Gustavo Dudamel and the Vienna Philharmonic. Until, then "Happy New 2017 to you", and "still a grumpy 2016 to us"!
Winter Break was mostly wonderful. It was an honest break. We did not do any educational work, only fun and laziness were allowed. The kids spent good time with their cousins. There the girls went to a horse-care camp; altogether we toured NYC for a day, and mostly took small walks and hikes.
The cold has occupied Chicagoland in the last few days, so we are crammed indoors. I am looking for the freedom that an extra 10F degrees would bring to us over the next few days. There are a few hikes in the Palos Hills and Indiana Dunes are that I am interested in. I think, that for this weekend we will be satisfied with viewing Hidden Pictures(1/8/17), the movie. The books, both the original and the adapted youth version, were terribly dry and uninspiring; both read like a fact-infested catalogue. This sad remark aside, the movie is expected to be well done. The book that I have displayed to the left was suggested to me as an additional inspirational read aloud. I am still to find and read it. Commentary to follow in due time. Update: "I dissent" is a fabulous picture book. It is inspirational for young girls to work hard and to achieve their passion. It talks about disagreement and conviction, learning with and from others' opinions which you may or may not share; it talks about women's abilities and contribution to our world. All human beings begin life on the same footing, out of the same gate; there is nothing inherent in preventing one from being significant contributor. While I was researching this book I came across the statement that Susan B. Anthony ran the women's suffrage campaign on the grounds that white women should count as more than all black human beings. I have not researched this and I will update when I do, but I think this is an interesting remark that if shown true I want to share with my children.
I am hoping throughout this year to emphasize to both my boy and my girl that both genders are capable of great deeds, and both genders are capable of utter stupidity. Our study of ancient societies is already helping us along these lines. Rome with its preferences for boys to girls resembles current India. Rome's treatment of the poor resembles the ancient China and ancient Egypt strategies to keep their poor and farmers always occupied with work. Lack of information and lack of education for the suppressed is a hallmark from the ancient world, through the ages into today, a bad habit we need to break.
We are back in the swing of things. First week! Together, as a group, we are moving on in history and learning about Ancient Rome. Most of the discussing is comparison and contrast between Ancient Rome and the civilizations existing before it. This is a nice format allowing me a lot of review of past readings, and also development of critical thinking. The children already have established opinions about the gladiator type entertainment. My daughter objected to them due to the deaths of the animals. I pointed out that this covers the animals on both side so it is indeed sad for that reason. She laughed.
Since Rome is famous for its gigantic projects, we are talking more extensively about its citizens, buildings, roads and bridges. As of 1/16 we have read and enjoyed all of the featured books. I highly recommend them as a trampoline to information, critical thinking and further discussion on Rome and other ancient societies. Update: We read the book but we did not watch the video.
In Science we will begin to talk about the enviornment. On my list for this month is to view the movie The Lanfill Harmonic . (We viewed it and we liked it. I would not necessary recommend purchasing it, as its more inspiring version is available on the youtube.)
We have already read the picture book, but there is no harm in revisiting it again. The story of the girl depicted in the book is also available on youtube.
It is important for me to emphasize to my children that trash does not need to be trash. It can be reused and can be labelled treasure instead. My daughter is very concerned about animals and I think that a few picture books adressing this issue will be a nice reading addition to our routine.
Trash, slums and poverty walk hand in hand, so I will take this topic further into the world of child exploitation and child labour. I do want my children to understand that they are indeed priviledged, but with these rights and luxuries come responsibilities. I want them to understand that and take actions in their daily routines to make some impact towards maintaining their world cleaner and uncluttered. 
Human exploitation, period, on any scale, by anyone, cannot be acceptable and tolerated. This is my opinion and I want to pass it along to my children. "Sugar changed the world" is my reading but I will add on information from it to the children's learning. "Breaker Boys" is not terribly well written, but it contains key illustration to drive the main message home. "Sugar changed the world" is well written; however it skips over key historical moments in a rush. I think this book would have been more successful as a series, each component devoted to a particular era. The information that is contained within, the final essay regarding the manner in which the topic was researched, and the included list of sources are all very valuable to all educators. I think this is an excellent resource for further reading. If you read about the story of sugar, you have to read about the story of Salt-a basic necessity for the human phisiology. It is quite wonderful to learn from both, that the era of science eliminated the harshness and brutality brought by these simple chemicals.
Speaking of the era of science. It is Science Fair season, so we will be reviewing how science works and how scientists think. It is very important to begin drilling that into kids from this early, so they are neither afraid of the scientific concept, nor are intimidated, as the current society is, of the tools and reports of science.
Hopefully, this book will help us. I have a print out of ideas to explore. I hope that the kids will pick their own projects and we can begin chugging along to some fruitful research and hopefully some real learning.
This book is quite a good first introduction to the scientific method. It talks about statistics and warns about how difficult it is to be certain of your conclusions, which makes sharing information important.
Lessons have resumed-violin, piano and portuguese. For Portuguese we are reading the little prince. The kids saw the Netflix film and liked it, but the book will offer us the opportunity to discuss what the author means, or at least how we interpret/see the story.
Lessons have resumed-violin, piano and portuguese. For Portuguese we are reading the little prince. The kids saw the Netflix film and liked it, but the book will offer us the opportunity to discuss what the author means, or at least how we interpret/see the story.
My daughter:
- English: she is reading the BoxCar Children, books 1-4. She is also working on finishing AAS3.
- Math: she is working in Beast Academy Book 4B, chapter 1(counting) and chapter 2(division). We are also chugging along some mental math tricks. She already took the math challenge test but we don't know how she did overall.She passed and will take the district exam in February.
- Portuguese: weekly lessons and daily exercises in grammar.
- Piano and Violin, both require daily practice. Each instrument is allowed one day off per week.
- She is participating in her school choir this year, and she is loving it.
- She can choose to participate in two piano competition, and the piano guild audition. It will be her choice. We are taking it easy performance wise because last year was a bit of an overkill and slowed us down with advancing in the repertoire; in addition Book 1 for violin is in sight.
- English: he is reading well now. He is in AAR2 which I think is great. He is also finishing up AAS1 and by the middle of next month may be in AAS2.
- Math: multiplication is learned. He is now going through the advanced word problems for Grade 2. He is learning about the different interpretations of multiplication. We will also move into division and explore that. I am very optimistic and that the muck we found ourselves in December is overcome.
- Portuguese: daily readings and prompts for answers.
- Piano requires daily practice.
- I am not certain if I should ask him to participate in a piano competition. I don't think it is necessary. He is approaching the end of book 1 and we will be working on a piano recital, so that would be sufficient.
We will hike more as long as the temps are around 30F. We will go to three operas this winter/spring season. We will may throw in a trip to Arizona. The kids are expecting to become an aunt and an uncle in a couple of weeks. Super exciting.
I discovered Jack and Louisa this winter. I did not do any discovering. The series was recommended to me by the consultants at Random House books during the holiday season. I cannot praise enough these, so far, two books. Act 1 and Act 2. I even watched the original Guys and Dolls with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. I did not like the music but I enjoyed the humour and the acting.
These three books were recommended to me as "issue books". "There is a boy in the girls' bathroom" talks about a boy who is shunned as hopeless by the entire school system, and all other students. He is bullies and lonely. He misbehaves in response to aggression but he does not want to be noticed. A counselor, whom the "concerned parents" whose of the "good" kids who either bully or ignore the main character, is the only person who works with the boy in a gentle, friendly way. This little book made me cry. It was genuine and powerful. It is mostly dialogue so it is easy for late-elementary, early-middle school kids to understand and relate. "Counting by 7's" is a late middle-school, early high school type of book. It uses a lot of literary means and requires a more sophisticated and life-experienced reader. It is the story of a 12-year old girl, who is adopted and who loses her adoptive parents in a tragic accident. She survives with the help of unlikely characters. There is one main character around whom the story is centered, but the main supporting characters also undergo deep evolution as the story progresses. It is a wonderful book warning about the reality of real life, the struggles, the sacrifices, the complex fabric of our society, and the interconnectivity that ultimately binds us all together. I was considering this book for my niece, as she too at the age of 12 suddenly lost one parent. I don't think my niece is ready for this book, but I think that in a year or two, she should read it. "El Deafo" is a comic-style book. It is about a girl who has deficient hearing due to an early-childhood illness and is supported in her life by hearing aids. The story is about her perception of her experiences growing up-interactions with friends, doctors, parents, school. It is beautifully illustrated, the story is tender, and accessible to young audiences too. I would recommend it to late-elementary-school to late-middle-school kids. I am deeply impressed by the variety and power of the new literature for children. I think it is wonderful that parents read and recommend to their children the books they enjoyed as children, but I think it is important to accept and swim with the present as well. There is a lot of trash out there, but there is also real quality, and it is worthwhile sifting through the flashy garbage in order to emerge with the real gems.
President Trump is such a wonder. The world history has seen plenty of narcissists, but never with so much power in their hands as this one. One of his many anti-social, anti-human, anti-world agendas is to fight vaccines. Social media, in the last decade or so, has given voice to a small, but nonetheless very vocal minority, who has coined non-existent connections between vaccines and medical conditions. Science is not part of the equal, opinion - yes. So, since we have settled into the comfort of world free of deadly and espensive viral diseases thanks to medical, preventative measure, we no longer emphasize the importance and the historical significance of these measures. This book, for me, was a nice refresher, and I consider sending Trump a friendly copy, or maybe an audio book.
I discovered Jack and Louisa this winter. I did not do any discovering. The series was recommended to me by the consultants at Random House books during the holiday season. I cannot praise enough these, so far, two books. Act 1 and Act 2. I even watched the original Guys and Dolls with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. I did not like the music but I enjoyed the humour and the acting.
These three books were recommended to me as "issue books". "There is a boy in the girls' bathroom" talks about a boy who is shunned as hopeless by the entire school system, and all other students. He is bullies and lonely. He misbehaves in response to aggression but he does not want to be noticed. A counselor, whom the "concerned parents" whose of the "good" kids who either bully or ignore the main character, is the only person who works with the boy in a gentle, friendly way. This little book made me cry. It was genuine and powerful. It is mostly dialogue so it is easy for late-elementary, early-middle school kids to understand and relate. "Counting by 7's" is a late middle-school, early high school type of book. It uses a lot of literary means and requires a more sophisticated and life-experienced reader. It is the story of a 12-year old girl, who is adopted and who loses her adoptive parents in a tragic accident. She survives with the help of unlikely characters. There is one main character around whom the story is centered, but the main supporting characters also undergo deep evolution as the story progresses. It is a wonderful book warning about the reality of real life, the struggles, the sacrifices, the complex fabric of our society, and the interconnectivity that ultimately binds us all together. I was considering this book for my niece, as she too at the age of 12 suddenly lost one parent. I don't think my niece is ready for this book, but I think that in a year or two, she should read it. "El Deafo" is a comic-style book. It is about a girl who has deficient hearing due to an early-childhood illness and is supported in her life by hearing aids. The story is about her perception of her experiences growing up-interactions with friends, doctors, parents, school. It is beautifully illustrated, the story is tender, and accessible to young audiences too. I would recommend it to late-elementary-school to late-middle-school kids. I am deeply impressed by the variety and power of the new literature for children. I think it is wonderful that parents read and recommend to their children the books they enjoyed as children, but I think it is important to accept and swim with the present as well. There is a lot of trash out there, but there is also real quality, and it is worthwhile sifting through the flashy garbage in order to emerge with the real gems.
President Trump is such a wonder. The world history has seen plenty of narcissists, but never with so much power in their hands as this one. One of his many anti-social, anti-human, anti-world agendas is to fight vaccines. Social media, in the last decade or so, has given voice to a small, but nonetheless very vocal minority, who has coined non-existent connections between vaccines and medical conditions. Science is not part of the equal, opinion - yes. So, since we have settled into the comfort of world free of deadly and espensive viral diseases thanks to medical, preventative measure, we no longer emphasize the importance and the historical significance of these measures. This book, for me, was a nice refresher, and I consider sending Trump a friendly copy, or maybe an audio book. 
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