Canada

Indian Summer

Summertime studies for the likes of us – 

India, Incredible India, an A+ book by Jasbinder Bilan, content well matched with Nina Chakrabarti’s A+ graphics.  Clever premise:  a young lady, “Thara”, and Nanijee (nanijee – totally great word – translates to maternal grandmother), sort through grandmother’s treasure box, which is filled with souvenirs from every state and territory in India.  Page by page, we learned facts about each area and souvenir, then located the state/territory on the included map.  Every night, my son and I were drawn in by the exuberant illustrations positioned among splashes of vibrant colors.  We would read anything by this team.

While Mrs. Coverlet was Away, by Mary Nash.  I subject my son to this book every August because it is funny, imaginative, and champions the concept of self reliance.  Spoiler alert:  chapter 15 includes such a poetic passage, transporting us on a lazy summer’s day to the town swamp for turtle hunting.  The story gets us ready for our Mary Nash December read (Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians). 

Nicolaus Copernicus, by Mariana Swift.  Oh, we do like this man (1473-1543) who had the nerve to propose the heliocentric theory.  Big shocker, Copernicus was not in the good graces of the church, but did he shy away from enthusiastically explaining his observations?  NO!  Role model!  Copernicus published his groundbreaking book, “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres”, at age 70.  Role model!

The Travel Book (a Lonely Planet Kids book).  We started this quirky fact book January 1st (with Canada) and finished August 1st (with Kiribati). One page every night, one country every night. (and BTW, I just took an online geography quiz and correctly identified 26 countries out of 30…before this unit I probably could have pinpointed about 9 countries).  Study unit highlights:

Welcome to our “Travel Book” Quirky Awards Ceremony:

Quirky Fashion Accessory Award, Grand Prize Winner:  Lithuania develops a signature perfume “Scent of Lithuania” (2011)
Quirky Global Citizen Award, Grand Prize Winner:  Global Seed Vault – entirely funded by Norway (officially started in 2008)
Quirky Destination Award, Grand Prize Winner:  An underwater post office! (Vanuatu)
Quirky Flag Design Award, tied for Grand Prize Winner :  A completely awesome hat (the symbol of Lesotho’s main ethnic group) is emblazoned on the Lesotho flag


Quirky Flag Design Award, tied for Grand Prize Winner:  Nauru is located just south of the equator and their flag is a model of brilliant simplicity.  See what I mean? 


Quirky Sob Story Category, Grand Prize Winner:  Awww, Nauru.  In the 1980’s, this country experienced a huge economic boom when they were able to sell  phosphate (used in fertilizers) (from scrapings of BIRD POOP).  Alas, they did such a good job of scraping the rocks of the guano, that there was no more phosphate to sell. Economy collapse. Heart breaker.  At least they still have that well designed flag.

A summer school cooking class story problem from the local diner – Chef Hank’s theme this year:  “It is all about the POTATO”.   The agenda:

Monday – twice baked potatoes
Tuesday – the secret of hash browned taters
Wednesday – Vichyssoise, co-hosted by the high school French teacher, Miss Suzette
Thursday – home-made potato chips and dips
Friday – cottage fries and the diner’s famous bar-b-que sauce

Well, who doesn’t want to improve their potato skills?  The diner kitchen has room for 15 students (and there is already a waiting list with 10 names on it).  This is a most popular class.

1)  If the class runs from 10 am until noon, how many hours will the students be in the diner’s school during the week?
2)  If the chef needs an hour of preparation before each class, for how many hours will the chef be paid at the conclusion of the week?  
3)  If the chef earns $20 an hour, how much will the chef earn for his potato week efforts?
4)  If students pay $40 tuition for the week long cooking class, will that be enough to pay the chef?
5)  If the supplies for the week run $100, will that be covered with the tuition income?
6)  If Miss Suzette is to be paid $20 an hour for 3 hours of work on the Wednesday, will that be covered by tuition? (answers at bottom of post)

Music to conclude the evening:  Impression from India

Ravi Shankar’s “Concerto for Sitar and Orchestra”, movement 3 (composed in 1971), performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andre Previn.  The first minute and a half of this piece is calmly exotic, then we are abruptly treated to the energetic, frenetic sound of the sitar.  What a thrill ride!  What a way to introduce my son to the sound of this complicated looking instrument!

The Beatles, “Norwegian Wood” (1965), the first piece of western pop music to use the sitar. George Harrison studied with Ravi Shankar and the unique sound of the instrument was woven into this piece in a decidedly tame (but decidedly lovely) manner.

Léo Delibes, “The Flower Duet” from his opera of 1883, Lakmé, which takes place in 19th century India.  No sitar in this at all, but oh, the harmonies in this simply dazzling duet.  I can find no evidence that Delibes ever traveled to India, so this might be a case of “write what you don’t really know”.  It is still stunning.

Welcome to the best part of my day!
 – Jane BH
(story problem answers:  1)  10 hours     2)  15 hours     3)  $300     4), 5), and 6) yes)

The Last Dog’s Tail

dog tail

– Our final post for 2017 –

Ben best of blog 2017

– Here is what my son and I learned a LOT about in 2017 –
Africa – bees – Buffalo Bill – Canada – Cixi – crime science – grammar – Greek mythology – Jim Thorpe – maps – Native North Americans – Roy Lichtenstein – Royal Canadian Mounted Police – salients – South America – the Loch Ness Monster – the NATO phonetic alphabet – whale fall

My son’s favorite topic?  WHALE FALL, from the July 21st post, “Whale Fall and other Water Wonders”

– Our most memorable story problem themes for 2017 –
an outdoor deck renovation – box lunches – Canadian geese – cider – doilies at the diner – donating books – donuts – frying pans – live music at the diner – macaroni – nail polish – painting Farmer Brown’s roadside stand – radishes – the diner’s summer give-away – work gloves

My son’s favorite story problem?  FARMER BROWN AND THE CANADIAN GEESE, from the April 24th post, “Looking North”

– Our coolest music themes for 2017 –
circus classics – Dvorak’s birthday – minuets – music for the Narcisse Snake Pits – rootin’ tootin’ music – suite music – the Brandenburg Concertos – the crescendo – the fugue and canon controversy – the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra – the saxophone – the snare drum – the tango

My son’s favorite music theme?  MUSIC FOR THE NARCISSE SNAKE PITS, from the April 24th post, “Looking North”.  I have to agree, the music selections for the Narcisse Snake Pits, are hilarious.  A definite favorite theme for me.

christmas tree

So that brings us to December (so difficult to post a blog when one is a mom in charge of Christmas) – our engineering unit!

engineering books

Seriously, I can’t believe that we are loving three books ABOUT ENGINEERING!  But, now it is sort of like, if we cannot be an engineer (thanx to our DNA), at least we can be thrilled and inspired by the awesome achievements of engineers.

– “The Erie Canal” – oh my gosh, this resource by Martha E. Kendall is SUPERB.
– “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” – authors William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer have captivated our hearts.
– “Engineered! Engineering Design at Work” – by Shannon Hunt and James Gulliver Hancock – we’ve just started this. So far, “YAY!”.

grimms book

And a classical music theme focus for December – Fairy Tales:

– “The Sleeping Beauty Waltz”, from The Sleeping Beauty Ballet (1889) by Tchaikovsky, played by the Russian State Symphony Orchestra, featuring the largest bass drum I have ever seen.  Just a perfect performance.

-“Cinderella’s Waltz”, from the Cinderella Ballet (1944) by Sergei Prokofiev – with a darkness and edge so typical of Prokofiev.  The Dutch National Ballet brings a superbly choreographed performance, full of bounce and humor (bounce and humor marrying well with the Prokofiev music?  YES!).

– “The Children’s Prayer” (or Evening Prayer), from the Hansel and Gretel opera (1892), by Engelbert Humperdinck (not the pop star from the 1970’s).  Very soothing, somber, hopeful.  Beautifully played by Leipzig’s very famous Gewandhausorchester, conducted by a very thoughtful, if not super confident, Bobby McFerrin.  Interesting note:  the idea AND libretto (vocab) for this opera came from the composer’s sister, Adelheid Wette. YOU GO GIRL!

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
P.S. Most of my blog writing has been done at my local Starbucks, where they start preparing my “grande peppermint hot chocolate made with soy no whip” as I walk through their door.  Thank you Starbucks!  Au revoir Starbucks!  Beginning in just a few days (January 2018) I get to work in a real office.  It is teeny, but it has a window and I am très excited!