winter weather--finally!

We LOVE winter!!!!  And we have had our hot chocolate, marshmallows, and new popcorn maker ready to go, along with several "snow day only" special activities waiting, and it's been so warm, so rainy, so NOT winter-y!  But last weekend brought us enough of the white stuff to get out and shovel and wonder at the beauty of winter.

ghung-ghung was cold and forgot her parka (a clothing item modeled after animal blubber--a little Arctic info we learned!), so she snuggled safe and snug in Four's hood:)

             We filled our beach buckets with snow and created winter wonderlands in our jammies in the  
               living room.

It was interesting to see the differences in the ways Four played with the snow vs Seven's preferences.  Four needed her own space--her own bucket for her own "guys", which included moose, fairies, a gnome, bears, zebras, and a unicorn.  She carefully made blue footprints in the snow by dipping the animals' feet in food colored water and they walked around the snow.  Even though her bucket was MUCH smaller than Seven's, it was all hers, and that was more important.

I had set up a big, wide bucket with snow, ice cubes, and water made blue with food coloring, with the intention Four & Seven would share the space, but that didn't work out.  Seven was willing to share, but Four needed space.  Seven's play really reflected him--no nonsense, "real" inhabitants, non-fiction, serious business.

This polar play, with real snow, ice, and water is just so cool!  Seven played with this for ONE HOUR straight when we came in from shoveling. Four stopped for hot chocolate & popcorn after about 30 minutes, but returned to this play several times before bed.  And yes, you will often find odd things like a couple of huge buckets of snow and ice on any random day of the week, but, this is us. :)  And we have a lot of fun!

doing the work of scientists

Let the experimenting begin!  We are conducting a series of experiments over the next few weeks and recording them all in our Polar Journals.  Today we made frost.

Step 1: crush the ice

even Snow White joined in

Step 2: wet a piece of paper, place the can of crushed ice on top, and add salt

Step 3: mix and wait

While we waited for our frost to form, we worked on an Arctic habitat mural.  We've been reading a lot about both the arctic and antarctica and the different animals that inhabit both areas.  Seven and Four agreed they wanted to make the arctic because more animals live there.  We used some materials we got at a local recycle shop, foil, cotton balls, felt, etc to create an Arctic mural.  I'll post pics of the finished piece soon!

even Beanie helped!

about 20 minutes later.....FROST!!!!!!  very cool!

icebergs, straight ahead!

Many moons ago, when I was an eager, spirited young student teacher, I created a thematic unit (a series of interconnected learning activities centered around a general topic) on the Arctic Regions.  It was my first public school teaching experience, and I loved everything about it--mostly that it made me realize how interconnected the experiences of teaching and learning are--can you teach, (I mean truly TEACH), without learning? how much richer is learning when one is also teaching?

Anyways, ironically, Seven asked me if we could do some homeschool stuff about polar animals because dear old Auntie Mel had lent him a book and he is now very interested in polar animals.  This is what I love--the learner leading the teacher.  And so, welcome to our Polar journey (nicely coinciding with winter!):

We experiemented with ice and water--what properties do they share? smell, color
What properties are different? temperature, shape, liquid/solid

The ice sculptures were so inviting, we took out our polar animals from Santa and enjoyed some dramatic play.  Through this play I could see both Four and Seven making connections between these particular animals and a habitat of ice, cold, and water--which grew deeper as the day wore on and ice melted to create an ocean.  Making such connections build a basic structure of understanding about the Arctic regions--climate, wildlife, and culture.

ice cave for the polar bear

walrus resting and sliding on an iceberg (new vocabulary)

the sundial

No exploration of the polar regions would be complete without delving into the earth's rotation of the sun, which led us to measuring time by the sun.  This was really fun and was daddy's idea:  we took an empty wrapping paper roll and taped it to the windowsill around 9:30am as the morning light was streaming into the living room.  We marked it's shadow with tape on the couch.  About 20 minutes later, Seven yelled out, "It moved!", and we marked the new shadow on the floor...and so on and so on with different lengths of intervals until about 11:30am.  We noticed how the shadow moved pretty quickly (it was about 3 minutes between the second and third tape mark!)  This was so fun, and remarkable, because so often, Seven will ask how long something is by holding his arms apart, "Is 10 minutes this long?  Is an hour this long?"  And I never know how to answer him, which is usually how I reply because I can't equate time in that way---but this did!  We actually got to see how far apart 10 minutes is!

a wonderful life

wow, it's been awhile...I can't let 2011 go without one last post, so here it is....

Rapunzel and the demon digger

We have had a WONDERFUL holiday season--and yes, it is the whole season we celebrate--really beginning in October with autumn and Halloween (our annual Halloween party and tricks & treats w/the Clarkes & Traftons), then Thanksgiving (more autumn: beeswax leaves, pressing leaves, collecting insane amounts of leaves,

dipping leaves in beeswax

dipped leaves

creature adventuring

turkey trivia, turkey day prep--recipes & such, and thankfully even this year, 'twas the night before thanksgiving at Salts' Stew day)--OK OK--I did tank this year and the bird/meal in general was less than spectacular...I'm allowed a bad one, aren't I?, plus Wampanog studies for homeschool this year--much fun!), and THEN, December....

honestly, that is a weird pic of daddy--he's much more handsome!
gingerbread A-frame dream house

Jingle our elf came to visit leaving notes & treats and special kindness missions for the three weeks leading up to Xmas eve.  We had a successful yet impromptu visit with Santa at the mall--unbelievably Seven actually sat on his lap!  We spent a lot of time on homemade gifts this year and handmade cards (55 to be exact!).  We also took our time decorating our tree, un-decorating and playing with all the ornaments, then decorating again, drank eggnog, made LOTS of cookies and ate lots of cookies, and wished for snow.  We enjoyed many candlelight dinners in honor of Winter Solsitice, and learned about latkes & the dreidal game & Hanukkah.  Christmas Eve was lovely with Grumpy & Tutu, Auntie Mel, and Uncle John--now known as Four's "sweet prince", and we had a glorious Christmas day at home, eating pancakes and staying in pajamas all day, while enjoying the amazing cardboard castle Daddy made and all the new toys...so many new toys!  We joined friends for a fantastic performance of The Snow Queen and decadent hot chocolate in Harvard Sq, and another lovely post-Xmas celeb with Nona & Pops.

Exhausting, busy, but so nice...so very, very nice, which brings me to what I really want to write about.  Since my last hot, sticky, uncomfortable day as a teacher last July, things have felt...weird.  This is something I have been dreaming of (at least in some form) for a long, long, long time--a change.  A change that specifically would allow me more time to focus on my family.  And when it was suddenly there, I freaked out.  I mean seriously, how do you handle having a dream actually come true?  actually getting everything you want?  It's unsettling.  Really, it is.

Let me be clear, we are broke and "struggling financially" is putting this mildly.  We live in the city, in a too small condo with no yard and a leaky roof (but wonderful neighbors).  Our car was broken into & vandalized over Thanksgiving weekend--so I guess there are also some not so wonderful neighbors.  My husband teaches art in the public schools--tell me, is there anything society values less in schools than the arts?  the answer is NO, so his job is stressful and frustrating more than rewarding, and he works  with a very URBAN population--teacher translation: kids who need the most and get the least.  And I am navigating my way as an adjunct professor, which believe me I love--but that doesn't mean it's easy--it's hard!!!!!  So things aren't what I'd call perfect by far.  BUT....I said it was a dream come true, and dreams aren't always perfect, right?  It's the perspective.

I spend more time each week with my children than anyone else.  I am witnessing their social, emotional& academic growth first hand, every day.  I make my own schedule for the most part.  I am knitting like a machine, painting, writing (oops, OK not so much in the blog lately, but I did make the submission deadline for an article), planning learning experiences for my own kiddos and actually have the time & energy to do them, (hello, once a week apple picking in September!), and I'm visiting with friends so much more than I've felt able to for several years.  I am delighted to grocery shop on Friday mornings (with the kids even!), and fold laundry after lunch.  I am cooking healthy, varied, good meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I'm being more thoughtful about when I spend money and what I spend it on--even where I spend it.  I'm walking the dog more--although I could be better about that.  My husband and I have several joint projects in the works.  Our family time includes games, playing, creature adventuring, and yes, movies.

My favorite holiday movie is Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life--all time favorite movie, and yes, it is also perhaps the sappiest, but I love it.  I love George & Mary Bailey, Zu-zu's petals, Clarence the angel, and the "wonderful old Building & Loan".  This was the first year we all watched as a family, and I had done some prep work--talking about the story of George Bailey and what would happen in the movie.  We got all set up with xmas lights, hot cocoa, and popcorn, and I interjected here and there with explanations or clarficiations for Four & Seven, who BTW sat through the entire movie--which is a freaking long time!  This year, watching it was really different for me--I practically wept through the entire thing--happy & sad, which drove Seven crazy, but I just kept saying, "I can't help it! I love this movie!"  It was kind of the same for The Muppets' Christmas Carol too.  So I started to think about why I was so emotional, and I think it has something to do with my new situation, which now, 5 months later is not so new.

I feel a bit more settled into this new life...finding a rhythm that works for all of us and accommodates the things we HAVE to do, and I feel like it's OK to be happy.  I have so much to be happy about, but maybe it's that old Catholic guilt telling me: "you should be fearful, you should be worried, you are not good enough".  It's hard to block those negatives out, and I think you have to make a choice every day to do it...whoa, am I getting too analytical/shrink-ish?  I just feel like the message of those movies, those truly good stories, is resonating with me deeply this year, and that is: success is how YOU define it.  We are not experiencing financial success right now, and may not for quite some time, but putting money aside, and defining success as happiness, I am swimming in it.  My husband is the most amazing person I ever met, before meeting Four & Seven, who are, respectively, my sun and my moon.  A sweet, curious, mischievous, imaginative, wonderful little fairy princess and a brave, creative, inquisitive, unconventional, kind, remarkable naturalist, are the two people my world revolves around.   And it really feels like a wonderful life.


Here is to 2012, which I hope will bring more joyful time as a family, some peace (week at Spartina), adventures, growth, and maybe, just maybe a new home--bringing us that much closer to perfection!

Happy New Year and warm wishes to all!

when it's important

Ahhhh, Four.  Four is my enigma kid.  I know Seven inside out--he is me--thinks like me, reacts like me--sometimes I feel like we can read each other's thoughts, or at least we know each other's "looks".  Four is so different.  I often find myself in situations with her where I have to just pause because I am so dumbfounded as to what the heck the trajectory of her thinking is or just simply what she is trying to communicate.  But today I figured something out, and it's something that relates very much to all children, and "doing".  It's something I know...it's essentially the role of engagement...anyways, here it is:

I am constantly tearing my hair out over Four's complete lack of regard for her toys, clothes, posessions in general.  Out of the four of us that reside in this household, FOUR is solely responsible for the majority of things broken, damaged, misplaced, lost, and just plain leaving things all over the place.  She is my sunshine and I adore her every breath, but truth is truth.  She changes outfits at least 4 times a day, which is comical because despite producing the majority of laundry, she is actually  running around the house in her undies most of the day.  Many of the wardrobe changes involve her collection of princess dresses, and her new Rapunzel dress is a daily favorite.  The dress came straight from Florida via Grumpy and will also be her Halloween costume, so I have been cringing every time she's wearing it, in fear of the certain damage it will undergo before the official wearing of the costume for tricks and treats.

We had a Halloween party today--very messy business, and so when the dress came out, I immediately shook my head and as always in this recurring situation, I said, "That dress is going to be destroyed by Halloween."  Then someone commented on the good quality of the dress--(and believe me you pay for that in Disney!), and I stopped for a moment and realized the dress was still in near perfect condition.  hmmmm.....

It is well-made and good quality--worthy of the price.  But that isn't the only reason it has upheld it's new condition.  It's Four who has been careful to hang it up every night--it's the one dress I never find lying around.  And it's Four who the other night asked if she could change while she ate her spaghetti so "my new dress won't get dirty".  And now that I think about it, there have been several instances where she was wearing the dress, and then of her own accord, changed outfits before diving into something messy. This is not typical behavior for Four, so what's the difference?  The dress is important--to her.  And not only that, it's important that the dress stay clean and beautiful and undamaged.  She wants it that way, and is aware of and willing to do what it takes to maintain the dress' condition.  She has other belongings that are important--very important--take ghung-ghung for example (her stuffed cat--basically Linus' blanket).  It doesn't matter if ghung (spelled phonetically) gets dirty, as long as she's always there, but the dress is important in a different way.  It's like a prized possession, a luxury...it has different status.  And the way it's important to her is what motivates her to take great care of it and to love it in a special way.

I know, I know...it's a dress, but it also serves as a good example of something present in all kids, really, all learners--regardless of age: when it's IMPORTANT, it's worth doing.  So I'm thinking about that in terms of learning to read, practicing math, listening, creating, investigating....and becoming responsible for personal belongings.

always something new to learn, always a new way of seeing the world....

kudos auntie mel

progress update

Nature class is going soooo well!  We've had lots of talks about feeling nervous around new kids, and Seven is definitely adjusting and exhibiting so much enthusiasm for these classes!  He's learning so much too--new vocab, understanding food chains, habitats, and using journalling as a tool for observation and study.  LOVE IT!!!  Same with swim class--making lots of progress--Four went completely under water and was so proud of herself!  I am just so grateful to be sharing these moments with them!

Another exciting development is Seven's reading--yes, he's reading!  He's still in the emergent stage, but is showing more interest and finally PRIDE as he recognizes words and reads familiar texts.  This is such a tricky issue for me, as I have to keep myself in check--the public school teacher thinking, "where should he be by state standards?" and the TEACHER, knowing that in the most literate countries in this world, formal reading instruction begins just about now (ages 7 and 8), and that the most critical aspects are confidence and motivation.  When parents talk about their 3 year olds that are reading, it's nice, but I also know that the overwhelming majority of those readers plateau at about this age, and read at the same grade level as their early start peers.  So is there an advantage to early reading?  Maybe in some ways, but at what cost?  What parts of the brain are NOT developing because they are so focused on reading skills?  We never ask that question in public ed, and it's a really important one to consider.  There are clear deficits in our students--yes, even early readers, executive function is a big one--HUGE actually, and I am not afraid to say that more attention to the development of other parts of the brain (rather than the sole literacy focus), would serve all students much better.  But I'm sure the federal and state policy makers know better, right?  And of course, the big corporations that make zillions off reading programs are only motivated by their deep desire to help kids learn to read--not the fat checks they collect from school districts as they update their "perfect, one size fits all" programs in a box.  HA!

So we are reading, and working on measurement, number sense, scientific observation, recording data and using it to learn about living things, and we are playing--A LOT.  And through this play, I am assessing growth and learning, in a way I just could never do in a classroom of 20+ primates.

Today we are continuing our fall celebrations with a focus on Halloween--my favorite holiday!  more later!

Here are a couple visuals from recent adventures:

celebrating fall in the city--yes, we have leaf piles too!

observing geese at the apple orchard