We Write – For the past few nights, we’ve begun STORIES AND STUDIES with handwriting practice.  There were years and years when my son could not manipulate a pencil of any size.  Even now, he cannot write independently, but the photo shows our progress.  On the left side of the page, I held the pen and my son grasped my fingers and pushed the pen around. On the right side of the page, my son held the pen and I supported his wrist.  I am thrilled that the words are finally legible. One thing that helps, is giving my son a rectangle to write into.  Without the rectangle outline, a single word scrawl can take up half of the page. BTW, what we have here are the states that we have lived in.

We Read – After handwriting, we moved on to an exceptional A++++ book about the universe: “Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space” by Dr. Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman.  Last night we learned about the construction of the space suits that Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong wore for man’s first walk on the moon.  This book is comprehensively researched, utterly interesting, and graphically outstanding. We purchased it from the Boeing Store, which was kind of neat, too.  It is a worthy companion to a book we read a few months ago, “MOONSHOT” by Brian Floca.  Extraordinary.  These are both informative, elegant books for everybody. Absolutely NOT just for children.

Le Fictitious Local Diner Story Problem – Last night’s question revolved around the annual cost of catsup for the diner. We started out with an insultingly easy trick question: If the diner goes through 7 giant bottles of catsup every week, how many bottles does the diner go through in a year?

Farmer Brown’s Story Problem – Farmer Brown wants to gussy up his front porch before all the relatives arrive for Thanksgiving, so he is going to order new rocking chairs for the porch. Wicker chairs run $200 and oak rocking chairs run $450. He has decided on 2 of each. Don’t start adding up the total yet. The wicker chairs need tie-on cushions at $35 each. And then there is 10% tax. Now, how much will Farmer Brown spend on the new rocking chairs?

Our Sunday Night Music – We listen to church-type music every Sunday night.  Last night’s selections:

• “How Great Thou Art” – we love the comforting and humbling version by Alan Jackson.
• “Turn! Turn! Turn!” – by The Byrds: a nod toward Ecclesiastes and a nod toward the late 1960’s.  Timeless.
• “Let Us Cheer The Weary Traveler” – by Nathaniel Dett and sung by the Nathaniel Dett Chorale. Nathaniel Dett, a Canadian, was composing at the turn of the 20^th  century.  His works are described as combining the style of European Romantic music (essentially meaning classical music of the 1800’s) with American Spirituals. This piece is one of our favorites. (Regarding the youtube link:  the real chorus begins about 30 seconds into the video.)

Welcome to the best part of my day!

– Jane BH