Chemistry Unit: October 2020

 We are are learning about Chemistry. My approach is outlined below.

1. We are going to carry out Mel Science Chemistry demonstrations

2. We are going to study the basic principles of Chemistry as outlined in these resources:

1. Free Chemistry Text: Open Text BC
2. Know It All Chemistry
   
3. Kitchen Chemistry
4. Kitchen Chemistry
   
5. Chemistry: a molecular approach
6. Chemistry, 2nd edition by Great Courses Plus

3. The basic principles I want to cover this year are:

• Safety
• History
• Chemical Change
• Mass vs Weight
• Volume, Mass and Density
• Conservation of particles
• Conservation of mass
• Elementary Particles,  Origins, Atoms, Molecules and Mole
• Chemical reactions
• Types
• Limiting reactants
• Solutions
• Applications
• Cooking
• Medicine
• Electrochemistry
• Chemical Engineering

4. Experiments:

• 10/1/2020: These experiments rest on the production of CO2. In the first case it results from the thermal decomposition of baking soda. In the second case it results from the reactions of a base and an acid.
• Safety: 
• what and how needs to be protected before any chemistry begins
• what behavior is appropriate
• how to safely dispose of finished products
• how to safely clean utilities

• Sugar and Baking Soda Combustion: 
• Mel Science Information  
• Mel Science Lesson

•  Citric Acid and Sodium Carbonate
• Mel Science Information Page 
• Mel Science Lesson

August 2020

Goodness! This was a stressful month. Frankly,  it flew by like a blur.

I taught four science classes during August. The first focused on the properties of air, the second focused on static electricity, the third focused on sound and the fourth focused on rockets.

For the properties of air, we spoke about matter. I demonstrated that air has weight and occupies space.

For static electricity we covered what matter is made out of: atoms. What atoms are made out of: protons, neutrons and electrons. We covered how electrons can leave the atom, and how free electrons can jump (shock). We talked how we can protect ourselves from static electricity: by using special clothes and boots, by touching metal when leaving a car, by being inside during a storm, or making ourselves into a small ball if we are outside. I demoed how charged balloon attracts another balloon, or pieces of paper, or pieces of salt and pepper, or dripping water, or a can of soda.

For sound: we build a popper, a whistle, a popsicle kazoo, a straw kazoo,  a paper flute and noise makers with balloons. We talked about vibrations, how sound waves travel, how our ear works and how to protect it.

For the rockets we reviewed the forces that need to be overcome for a rocket to leave Earth. We made rubber rockets, balloon rockets, straw rockets, and skewer rockets.

We also benefited from some classes that we offered by other people working in my company. S. took an improvisation class, a painting class, a song writing class and a book club. B. took a Lego class. 

We also went on a week long vacation to Michigan. It was very pretty and we needed that vacation very much. Bryant Park is great. Haserot Park on the Old Mission Peninsula is possibly the only public park there. It is very pretty, and not busy on the weekends. The Empire Beach was my favorite in 2010 and 2014, but the beach portion has shrunk substantially. I am not sure why but I was unpleasantly surprised. I do not recommend it.

I starting reading a lot of books, and did not finish any. Grit, It's even worse than you think, So you want to talk about racism, Just Mercy(we also watched the film)(I recommend this TED talk by Bryan Stevenson), The New Jim Crow, Port Chicago 50, Stella by the Starlight, Bob. I need to read Roll of Thunder, Hear my cry and The Birchbark House.

We also continued to homeschool. We are somewhere a third of the way in 5th grade and 7th grade.

August 2020 Homeschool Update:

5th Grade:

Math: PreAlgebra Ch 1

English: IEW 10, 11, 12, EIW-Lessons 1-8, Novel - Front Desk

Portuguese: Simple Past Tense, Simple Present Tense, Lessons

7th Grade:

Math: Geometry-polygons, Competition Math - number theory, Counting & Probability - tricky counting and probability

English: IEW 6, 7 ; Novel - Lu, Hello Universe, Just Mercy

Portuguese: Simple Past Tense, Simple Present Tense, Lessons

Read Aloud: Ghost, Sitting Bull

Social Studies: Just Mercy (Movie)

Movie related to a book: The One and Only Ivan

Exercise: Bike, Basketball, Run, Swim, Hike

Here are our 5th and 7th grade curricula:

5th grade Curriculum:

Music: Daily Piano and Cello practice

Arts: Paper & Scissors recreation of battles

English Writing: IEW- Medieval History and Essentials in Writing 5

English Spelling: All About Spelling 5 & 6

Literature: One book a month (three novel studies - Old Yeller, The Giver, Hatchet), one month focused on non-fiction texts, one month focused on fiction short stories and poetry.

Math: AOPS Pre-algebra and Geometry

Portuguese: Brasileirinho, reading, Gramatica Ativa 1

Social Studies: focus on American history from perspectives of Native Americans and Immigrants, critical look on American history and traditional look on American history.

Science: We will focus on hands-on science using books such as:  Explore Gravity (Physics, Forensics, Blood Bullets and Bones,  Rocketry, Exploring the Solar System, Beyond the Solar System, The Apollo Missions, Scientists in the Field Series (The Manatee Scientist, Sea Turtle Scientist, Inside Biosphere 2, Eclipse Chaser, Mission to Pluto, The Mighty Mars Rovers, etc.)

PE: workouts at home, bike, play outside, basketball, swim, hike, walks

7th grade Curriculum:

Music: Daily Piano and Violin practice

Arts: Whatever she finds on the internet

English Writing: IEW- Modern History

English Spelling: All About Spelling 6 & 7

Literature: One book a month (three novel studies - Roll of Thunder Hear my Cry, The outsiders, The Westing Game), EIL 7

Math: AOPS Algebra, Geometry, Counting and Probability, Competition Math, ACM prep, and MathCounts prep

Portuguese: textbook, reading, Gramatica Ativa 1 & 2

Social Studies: focus on American history from perspectives of Native Americans and Immigrants, critical look on American history and traditional look on American history.

Science: We will focus on hands-on science (making observations, taking measurements and drawing conclusions)  using books such as:  Explore Gravity (Physics, Forensics, Blood Bullets and Bones,  Rocketry, Exploring the Solar System, Beyond the Solar System, The Apollo Missions, Scientists in the Field Series (The Manatee Scientist, Sea Turtle Scientist, Inside Biosphere 2, Eclipse Chaser, Mission to Pluto, The Mighty Mars Rovers, etc.). We have a subscription to MEL Chemistry and will follow the experiments for an introduction to chemistry.

PE: workouts at home, bike, play outside, basketball, swim, hike, walks

September 2018

First big hiking trip:

Our first stop was the Grand Canyon. When we arrived around 2pm, we immediately went to the rim, to take a look. The views were breath-taking. Crowds were everywhere, on a weekday. We walked to the museum, which happens to be at one of the bus stops, and took part in a ranger program along the walk of time. The walk of times is fabulous. Sample rocks and the time period from which they were formed was displayed and some information was included.  The ranger did a fine job narrating, as well as involving the children in the presentation, and answering the many questions the group had.

That evening we saw an Elk. On this trip we ended up setting camp in the dark under the headlights of the car. Our neighbors were not pleased, but hey, that's life!

The next morning we drove to the rim, and took a 1.5 miles hike down the Bright Angel trail! It was lovely coming down, and super difficult coming out. Thankfully, on the trail a bit past the 1.5 mile marker was a ranger who advised me to head back up. I thank her.

The very same day we headed to Zion National Park. We stopped at Page, AZ to grab some lunch, and continued straight to the canyon. The park is mesmerizing. The drive from the entrance to the campsite is beautiful. You can easily view all the main types of formations, along with some of the inhabitants of this wonderful place. We were thrilled and at awe. As the night before at the Grand Canyon, we set up camp in the dark, but our neighbors this time around were quite forgiving. That evening was nice and warm, but windy, very very windy.

The next morning we ventured into the canyon for some hikes. Four trails were closed so we hiked the Watchman (moderate), the Weeping Rock (easy) and the Emerald Pools (lower, easy). We took advantage of the bus which takes the visitor to 9 sightseeing spots. We also enjoyed the 22-minute video at the museum center. On the way back from the Emerald Pools we stopped to dip our died feet in the cool Virgin River waters. Then back at camp, we took our tent down and embarked towards park number three.

But before we even had a chance to leave Zion, we stopped many many times to observe the wild life. Wild Turkeys. Mountain Goats. Deer fighting and competing for territory and females. And of course, we stopped to look once again at the rock formations!

The drive to Bryce Canyon National Park was about 2 hours. It seemed longer because we drove a lot in the dark. But we did not make it all the way to Bryce. We stopped at Hatch which is 20 miles away from Bryce. I had rented a cottage for 2 evenings. Bryan was starving by the time we arrived, so we had dinner in the cafe across the street. Possibly the only cafe in the entire small town. The food was phenomenal.

Then we slept.

The next day, my oh, my, we went to what was, for me the highlight of our trip.

We stopped at the visitor center, got some guidelines on what to hike and got going. We went down the Navajo loop, around the Peekaboo loop, and back the Navajo loop. The Navajo loop is steep up and down. The Peekaboo is up and down the entire time. This was plenty of hiking for us. Coincidentally, we met a friend of mine, just as we were emerging from the Peekaboo trail and about to head up the Navajo trail. Friends make climbing out of a steep canyon easier. Thank you. Bryan had a friend to chat with. I had a friend to talk to, and Sophia hung around to listen to our stories.

The plan was to head to the visitor center. Watch the 22-minute informative movie; fill the junior ranger activity book, and go home. But on the bus we met a family which was talking about how beautiful the night sky over Bryce is, and that in the evening there would be a program with telescope viewing. So we changed plans. Instead of heading home, we went to the lodge for dinner, caught the last bus to the visitor center, drove to the amphi-theatre where the night program was supposed to be, and participated. We learned a lot about the universe. The kids and I participated in some demonstrations. Bryan won a lollipop.  Then we viewed Jupiter, a constellation, and Saturn! We were exhausted but delighted! And at 11pm we were back at the cabin, and slept soundly that night!

Optics

The plan is to explore optics. We are going to use Explore Light and Optics. We are going to also talk about one of the first real scientists, Ibn Al Haytham. There is a large historic component to his research and the methods he settled on.

We have all the materials for an in depth study of optics but as I am also eyeing mechanics we are going to just go over the fundamentals.




History

We are embarking on a over-encompassing study of history. We are starting of world war 1. No particular reason besides that I want to talk about how stupid the war was and how trust and misinformation and miscommunication has a lot to do with history. We are also going to talk about some of the first true historians and travelers-Herodotus and Ibn Battuta

Fun

We are going to use one-way valves to make a model of the heart and super soakers. Who does not like super soakers!

Music

Back in the swing of things. Sophia has two dance classes, one piano and one violin class. Bryan has one piano class. Sophia's first violin teacher told me that kinematic exercises are good for establishing rhythm and feeling for steady beat.

Homeschool

History, Science, Math, and Portuguese are in my court this year.

In History this year we are going to cover African Kingdoms, European Navigators, Conquest, New World, Slavery, Early US history, Civil War, Reconstruction, Great Depression, WWI, WWII, Vietnam, Cold War. I am taking a very liberal approach to US history, meaning that I will avoid lies at all costs. It will not be a pretty tale.

In Science my focus will be on mechanical and electric devices for computation. We are going to talk about Turing machines and transistors a lot. I am studying this material beforehand. It is fascinating.

Math we are going to do a heavy review of what we learned last year, and we will slowly plow through some new material.  Sophia will begin Geometry and is already working through PreAlgebra.
Bryan is finishing the third grade Beast Academy books.

Portguese is a joint effort between me and their teacher in Michigan. I expect to have both reading and speaking more this year. We are also going to work on learning more verbs and tenses. At the moment we are reading O BGA, and the next book lined up is Nicolau Volta Aos Aulas.

New Year

This year we will focus on slowing down. Before proceeding, before committing, before reacting, we will ask: is it useful? The goal is to eliminate unnecessary pressures and to focus on enjoying the journey, and not focusing on the end of the destination.

It has been cold, bitterly cold, yet we found time to venture out. Last weekend we went to 'hunt' for bald eagles. We saw two, we some lots of other birds and spotted various critters. We went to Four Rivers Environmental Center for the first time. It is about 45 minutes away from home, on the Des Plaines river, and is a good 45 minutes closer than the next best spot in the state-Starved Rock. I hope to make a trip to Starved Rock once the weather improves a bit. It will be nice to see the waterfalls frozen. The last two Sundays we also went ice-skating in the afternoon. It has been very peaceful both times. This past weekend, both on Saturday and on Sunday, we took two hour walks around our own neighborhood. We played in the in-and-out-of-freeze hockey field, we observed and listened to birds' conversations, and just enjoyed being out in fresh air, in peace, with no objectives and no time constraints.

In history we are focusing on the Native Americans societies on the American continent. I try to point out similarities, relations, and impact from encounter with europeans. We first talked about the the civilization at Cahokia, and we saw a documentary about Cahokia. The kids (8 and 10) enjoyed it. We moved on to reading about particular tribes. We started with the Apaches because we have heard a story about them. We moved on around their neighbors before finishing with the Indians of the northwest. The Indians of the northwest offered a wonderful opportunity to think about how geography effects history; here, the intrusion of the European settlers was delayed, the harsh impact was inevitable.

1. The Apaches
2. The Navajos
3. The Hopi
4. If you lived with the Indians of the Northwest Coast
5. Cahokia (and for adults this)

For portuguese the kids resumed their weekly lessons with my friend Renata. The lessons are an Vovo Vigarista which is funny and touching. We have not finished because it is a little sad and I worry how my daughter will react. Maybe I will just shorten the ending for her sake. With my daughter, during her portuguese time with me, we read

hour long and are done over skype. The kids enjoy them and are benefitting from them. Together we continue to read in the evenings. This month we read
Diario de um banana 1. We have been dragging this book for a while but I hope to finish it in February and to begin the second book. With my son we are reading and almost finished with
Diario de um Zumbi. It is nothing special but because he likes Minecraft for him this is the most excellent book.

In Math for fourth grade we are working in Beast Academy 5B finishing Fractions, and Multiples & Factors, as well as our first encounter with proper algebra. We also covered train problems. We covered two mental math strategies-multiplication by 11, and multiplication of two numbers whos last digits add up to ten, and who first digits are the same. Next month the focus will be on rates and ratios. For second grade we are finishing BA3B-perfect squares, and will move on to the distributive property. So far so good.

In Science we started talking about electricity. I introduced the periodic table of elements. I talked about the structure of the table corresponding to similarities in the structures of the atoms; in particular I mentioned how certain atoms tend to lose easily electrons from their outer shell and how other atoms tend to gain easily electrons in their outer shells. I emphasized the role of neutrons in keeping the nucleus together. I emphasized the weight difference between the electrons and the constituents of the nucleus. I emphasized how fast the electron moves and how uncertain one is about where the electron actually is. (We will watch videos on the reactivity of elements later. We will also listen in some crash Chemisty videos.) Next month we are going to carry about the science fair experiments. The boy wants to explore batteries in a series. The girl wants to explore Ohm's law.

• We did the double slip experiment to demonstrate the wave nature of light. (we will demonstrate the particle nature of light later). We talked about how waves add constructively and destructively.
• The kids played with their snap-circuit sets. My daughter noticed the polarity if the motor and the polarity of the LED.
• We investigated that battery alone in a circle drains the battery i.e shot circuit.
• We investigated that batteries in series add up their voltage.
• We investigated static electricity and induction using a balloon and cans of soda. (we will do the experiment with water eddy).

We played the following Games:
Sport It-my dad agreed that this is a great game to practice concentration and to practice foreign language vocabulary
Origami Revolution and Origami Shapes-quite delighted that my daughter took to this hobby with desire. I told her about all the practical uses of origami, from medicine to space. She was thrilled. I expect to hook her on to the mathematical way to looking at origami.
Minecraft Paper Crafts-quite delighted that my son found this site; yes, there is a lot to print, but it is better to have him build this way than to buy plastics. My son has started putting small pieces of lego inside the paper craft pieces for stability. His intuition is amazing to me.

Music  was my motivation to let go of the reins and to enjoy the ride. Since the shift in attitude all lessons have been enjoyable. Both children are progressing beautifully. My daughter is going to participate in a piano competition in late spring, and a violin group concert in mid-March; and both kids will participate, hopefully, in the Bulgarian piano festival in May.

Patriotic Month

It started with our visit to Iowa and President Hoover's presidential library.

First we talked about money. What money is and how the meaning of money has changed over time. I found this book to be a very good introduction to the concept of money.

The One and Only Declaration of Independece is the book I wish I had read as a senior in high school. I learned more from this children's book than from pages and pages in a heavy textbook. The history of money and the independence of the English colonies in North America are closely related. True unity would not have been achieved without adopting common unit of money. The trade, taxes and regulation, of course, were at the core of the revolutionary sentiments in the colonies - all money issues.
[We are going to read one more book about money and we will read a few more books about the revolutionary war]

President Reagan's birthday is February 6th and President Lincoln's birthday is February 12th. In schools Lincoln is the icon and is covered first. My children love to read about Lincoln so when we went to the library we took a few books about him. This is the first we read and I found it quite exciting, expecially that it is based on true events. [There are a few more books we will read about Lincoln.] [ I also intentionally began the month with the declaration of independence. I wanted to stress the significance of the language and how that language did not apply equally to all residents of the colonies. I will put this together with Lincoln and the Civil War to drive the point about inequality for women and races and the struggles of groups to be recognized as equals. We will study a little bit about th civil rights movement. I am appaled that MLK is the first representative that children meet. I already discussed MLK with my kids and dismissed him as the core and most honest representative of the movement. I stressed the importance of the people and not the one hipocritical representative. ]

I have started to teach my kids not to trust stories they hear at school, even "true stories". I started with myths in Bulgaria's history such as the lion jump by Levski. As we were shopping I guided ballet girl into taking the story apart and finding all possible flaws and reasons it should not be trusted. As with MLK I dismissed the single role of one individual and stressed the importance of the masses and the many, small contributions that have been made. Societies tend to seek national heros. It is my belief that heros become meaningless when they assume super human and super natural strengths or are otherwise depicted as invincible and flawless. I think it is important to emphasize the importance of the masses, but I guess for the leaders of societies it is not a good advertisement to know that a lot of people with small actions can take you down; for leaders of societies it is better to state that heros come every once in a while, rarely, giving the illusion to all others that they are not significant, just ordinary. So, I am going to dismiss the value of Vassil Levski and stress the importance of all organizers and all leaders in all villages and cities.

This is my read for the month. I have never read about the history of the atomic bomb and this narration, which is rather simple, makes me uneasy. I will say more when I have finished

Malala, I did not read, but rather I listened to the story during my 5-hour drive to Iowa. The kids were listening to their Kindles, I was listening to Malala's story. I was not impressed. In fact, I resented the story because it was very self-centered and it left a lot of questions unanswered, and it raised a lot of questions which in the context of the aspriation of this girl made no sense. In most stories of this kind, there are tipping points but these were not recognized, just the outcomes mentioned which definitely made the story shallow and incomplete. I am happy that this girl is doing well and has survived and moved on. I am sad that she has been manipulated. I wish in ten years she revisits her story and tells it with maturity. I also hope that in ten years she has resolved a lot of the contradicitions in her story.

This is a wonderful series about the amazing constructions over human history. Bridges is one great episode that I highly recommend. We will probably do the bridge building activity with straws and pins.

Below are all the wonderful books we read about bridges. We read them over a few months. They contain very insightful information, great pictures and ideas on projects to try.

Left: General Information about existing great bridges..

Right: Learning about bridges-types of bridges, simple demos, observation points.

  

Left: This too is laying out the basics but in a bit more detailed way.  

Right: Detailed information about some bridges and general concepts about bridges.

This is a primer for teachers on how to put together a 10-day team competition in a classroom setting. I liked it and I think that in a few years I will probably use it actively with my kids.   

Left: Cartoon version about the dangers during the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge. 

Right: the non-cartoon, more detailed version about the construction process, the difficulties and the solutions that went into building this beautiful bridge.

Quick Update on School Progress:

Ballet Girl:

1. Math: Finished Beast Academy 3B and Singapore Math 3B. Began Beast Academy 3C and Singapore Math 4A.
2. English: Reads at level O. All about Spelling: reached lesson 10 in level 3.
• Read Frindle (R)
• Read The Story of Diva and Flea (a few times)
3. Bulgarian: Is learning the parts of speech and rules of spelling. I learning the forms of communication.
4. Portuguese: Can read with help. Knows to conjugate in present tense regular AR verbs, Ter, Ser and Estar. Understands when a story is read.
5. Piano: Almost finished with book 2
6. Violin: Began Violin, tomorrow is lesson # 3.

The boy:

1. Math: Moving through Singapore Math 3A-multiplication. Spent a lot of time working on addition and multiplication. Learned about "times more" problems. Mastered "so much more/less than" problems.
2. English: The school thinks that he cannot read but I disagree. He comfortably reads the level 4 Bob Books and I have started him on All About Reading level 1. He loves it. He is motivated and he is making great strides.
3. Bulgarian: Reads comfortably.
4. Portuguese:  Understands when a story is read. Sings in portuguese. 
5. Piano: Finished Cuckoo, Lightly Row and just mastered the French Children's song hands separate. He is advancing wonderfully.

The good book during the beginning years

I was fortunate to grow up with only good books. The astounding quantity of school books of low quality was unheard of when I was starting to learn to read. Until recently, I did not appreciate that. Having a daughter who is an emerging independent reader revealed that troubling truth to me. I had to beg her teachers to direct her towards shorter, meaningful stories. I was also troubled to find that the students do not read the same text. How, I ask, can these children learn to discuss a book, to share an opinion, to share discoveries, when they do not read the same text? I am baffled.

I was hoping that I can rely on the educators to help pick good books; alas, this is also in my court.

I have decided that I will ask my daughter to read shorter books with which she is already familiar.
The list I have in mind is the following:

• The enormous crocodile (level N) (November 2015)
• The magic finger (level N) (December 2015)
• Grace for President (N) (January 2016)
• Frindle (R) (January 2016)
• Miss Rumphius (level O) (January 2016)
• Mouse called Wolf (level O) (February 2016)
• Pippi Longstockings (level O) (March 2016)
• The mouse and the motorcycle (level O) (April-May 2016)
• Esio Trot(S) (July 2016)
• The Twits (S) (August 2016)
• Dr. Dolittle (September 2016)

In addition, once a week I will ask her to read a fable by Aesope, re-read it, narrate it and we will discuss it. The following day, I will ask her to re-read it and copy one page from the fable. Since the fables are short, I expect to teach her narration fairly easily this way. I want to prepare her for longer narrations and dictation from real literature pieces which we will begin next year.

I wish parents and educators would come together to rid the market of garbage. The magic of the reading experience is not in the quantity of pages read but in the quality of the message consumed. Look at how long the constitution is-it is quite short!

This week I also went to the Parent-Teacher conferences for both kids.

• The K-teacher told me that mirror image writing is developmental and should be resolved by the end of second grade. In first grade, in the second quarter, kids are marked off by having the d's and the b' reversed. How are these two practices consistent? 
• About the grading. Why write on second graders' spelling papers % correct, when the students do not understand the concept? Given that first the students will be introduced to fractions, why not simply go with reporting the fraction of correct answers from all. 

The themes for this month have been:

1. Evolution - We have dwindled on the subject for a while but I will at it for another month. It is very important as it can allow me to show the kids how science is done-how pieces are put together, how sacrifices are made, how fights are fought, how one person cannot do it all, how history interferes, etc. All important lessons, to be repeated and reiterated many times in the future.
• We read about Jane Goodall. We read about the ideas of Darwin-why evolution, the discoveries in the geological record, why natural selection. We also are reading a book about apes which we find very interesting. It talks about Chimps, Gorillas and Orangutans.
• I read "The Lucy Man", and am currently reading "The origins of man" and "The cartoon guide to genetics". I will narrate the information to the kids in shorter format next month. 
• We watched "Chimpanzee" and "Born to be wild", and we will see "Mountain Gorilla". So far the kids have enjoyed these types of films, some of which we have seen in the science museum theatres.
2. Ancient China
• We did not read much this month on the subject. We just watched a DVD we borrowed from the library and I recapped for them the main messages. Overall, we are golden on Ancient China. Before jumping to the Roman empire, we will revisit some old stories to link the two great empires and emphasize their similarieis and differences.
3. Free Style:
• Picture books never fail. We read "How Santa got his job" and "How Santa lost his job", "Dear Primo" and "Same, same but different". We talked about how people can be different because of where they live but how they can remain curious and respectful towards each other. We also talked about how the little things one learns to do can add up to something big, and how sometimes the biggest ideas can fail.It is good to have a plan B.
• "A long, long line" and "Thse darn squirrels" are our new wonderful finds. The former is surprising and cute. The first one is fantastic for budding engineers and is plain funny and good natured. Picture books are a real treasure that we take away from children too early!
• We continue to read The one and only Ivan. It is a hard book to read. Maybe I picked it too early but I thought it makes sense in the context of evolution-this Ivan thinks like us, feels like us, but is overpowered by us; yet, we perceive very little of him. We are half way and I intend to be done in the next week with it.
• I also read "Crenshaw". I was thinking of reading this for December. Goodness gracious, no! Such a bad book! Yes, the style works great for Ivan, but fails big time here. Sorry. The glove that fits them all is only a glove.
• I also read "The war that saved my life". I found this a very harsh book. I was uneasy throughout. It is very well written, the message is wonderful; in fact, all messages are wonderful. Definitely for a mature reader, somewhere higher middle school, high school. I am very happy I read this book even if I was left depressed.
4. Movies - Thanksgiving became Nerd Weekend
• We watched "The revenge of the nerds", "Spaceballs", and the three "Back to the future" movies this month.
• We also watched "Annie"
• I intend to have a Star Wars spectacular in the next few days, but I am waiting for the library to supply me with "New Hope" so that we can follow Machete Order. Nope, we did not like the Satr Wars movies. I have to confess that they never meant much to me, I managed to sleep through them consistently (the Matrix too). I am not surprised that my kids did not like them. 
5. Magformers:
• We got two sets which we love. One is the robot and the other is the rinabo 60-piece. Both are fabulous and allow for hours of free play. Both are challenging as none offers diractions just pictures of good perspective so that you can experiment and figure out the shape. 
• In addition, we received a free puzzle book, which we love. I used it to demonstrate how people imagined the constellations. I have never enjoyed the staring at the sky and trying to figure out where some group of stars is, but to understand how it came about is worthwhile. With the puzzle, we also learned that more than one solution to a problem is possible. This is quite a break-through, quite an advanced step for little kids, who only think of one solution and happily move on.
6. ThinkFun games:
• I am a big fan. Nowadays there are so many gadgets that are advertised as teachings kids how to program. Oh it is so easy to give in especially when understanding how invaluable the skill of programming is. However, I do not see better introduction to programming than the ThinkFun games, which teach you in a sneaky way, to follow a bunch fo rules to achieve a goal. 
• I would like to take that a step further. Science works in the following way. We are aware of partial information and we seek the rules that lead in a continuous way from one piece of information to the other. I value these games tremendously. I think they make a great gift.
• The games teach a lot of patience. 

 

In the summer of 2003, I got a temp job at a local museum. It was not a job, but rather a one day gig. I was supposed to check visitors' stabs to a particular exhibit and after lunch I sat bored at coat check. For a rather unremarkable gig, this turned out to be a rather remarkable day. The day I first heard the name of Jane Goodall. Wait! For a highly educated person, it is highly surprising that I dismissed her achievement as rather mundane and I did not pursue my finding by getting a book and learning more. In my defense, I was burnt from four years of college, having just finished, and frustrated that I did ot see value in what I had learn in the previous 4 years, and even the previous 16 years of life. So, sitting around and observing chimpanzees was hardly something I cared about in my insecurity.

Move forward 13 years, and I am very jealous of this Jane Goodall. Somehow she was lucky enough to want something at an early age, and to remember it, and to pursue it. I also adore Jane Goodall, and now is the right moment to share her inspirational story with my daughter and my son. So before we hit science, we will learn about the people who make science possible and who make progress possible.

"Untamed" is a great introduction to the scientist and the person Jane Goodall. It is presented by National Geographic and is filled with engaging photos and vivid stories which capture young minds. "The Watcher" is the picture book with which we began. It is wonderful - it is simple and points out the wonder of this woman's life.

"Gorillas" is a facts book. Aside from the illustrations and the maps there is nothing inspirational about this book. However, the illustrations are so beautiful that it is a must skim through for young readers and students when learning about the great works of naturalists like Charles Darwin and Jane Goodall. 

"Primates" is for older kids so we did not read it but I did. It is good and walking in, it is useful to know something about Leakey, Goodall, and the other two ladies. Great illustrations, definitely a wonderful read, but for middle school or even high school kids.

"Bone by bone" is wonderful too, to get little kids thinking about the human body, and what differentiates and connects us to other living things. Before jumping heads on into evolution, I decided that this is a fantastic stepping stone. I loved it.It engages the kids by invoking a response and teaches them at the same time.

"The truth about Poop". With little kids you can never get enough of poop talk. It is a favorite topic. For my purposes it is also a great vehicle to think about in what ways people and animals are alike in regards to poop. In what ways people and animals alike take advantage of the mere existence of poop. Strategies, thinking is demonstrated by various creatures and it is worth learning not to dismiss them as simpletons. And don't forget to emphasize that this encyclopedia of facts could not have been accumulated hadn't there been someone actively observing the creatures in their natural environment.


"The one and only Ivan". I love this book, it ties nicely with people and nature, as well as with our topic of evolution. We have already read the shorter version, which clearly states what has happened to Ivan. Now, we are about to venture into the story about Ivan, told from his point of view. I want to hear what the kids' reactions are before I provide my commentary.

We already read the real story about Winnie, now we are putting real living people into the picture in order to make the story even more valuable and real. Nature inspires us. It inspired the stories, the movies, an entire empire of amusement parks. The jungle book and Dr. DoLittle inspired Jane Goodall to study, love and protect nature. Books are fabulous tools for us to grow. This is the ultimate message that I will drive home. Books inspire us. Be inspired. Dream and pursue your dreams, however unconventional they may be. Go for it!