Test Taking.  I am still laughing about last night’s multiple-choice quiz, FINISH THE POEM.  Really, it was a silly test to take, and yet it did provide information regarding my son’s retentive abilities, so it was a worthy use of time.  My son was presented with lines from 15 familiar poems, with the last word missing. He scored 100% and I am pleased with the grasp he has on poems that we have read over the years.

Examples:

“Will you walk into my parlor?”, said the spider to the __________”

(A)  bee       (B)  fly       (C)  ladybug

“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, But I have promises to __________”

(A)  keep       (B)  fulfill       (C)  reap

Reasons for giving my son a multiple-choice or true/false quiz:

• I want him to be comfortable with all types of tests
• I want to see if have I taught a subject adequately
• both types of tests are potentially handy as communication devices

New Words.  From our novels and academic readings, we came across two unfamiliar words: ASHRAM and BANDICOOT. Cool words. We looked them up immediately.

Last night’s Farmer Brown story problem:  Farmer Brown has a apple orchard, so he was understandably excited when he scooped up an apple-cider press at the county auction. We 1) took a look at cider presses via Google images, 2) discussed the concept of an “auction”, and 3) sat rapt as we watched an auctioneer on YouTube. Then we calculated how many jugs of cider Farmer Brown will have to sell before he breaks even on his new contraption.

Music Time:  Our selections exemplified “wistfulness”:

• Tchaikovsky’s “Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture – Love Theme” – This is the “go-to” background music for movie scenes where two people in love – separated by a meadow or the like – run toward each other. If you can get the slapstick possibilities out of your mind, this is the heart wrencher of heart wrenchers.
• Jay Ungar’s “Ashokan Farewell” – You can just feel the yearning in this stunning piece for fiddle, guitar, and bass. Well chosen as the theme for the Ken Burns’ PBS series, The Civil War.
• Irving Berlin’s “What’ll I Do” – The simplest of words masterfully arranged.  Wistful, wistful, wistful.

Welcome to the best part of my day!

– Jane BH