Home of the Brave

Dauntless

Fearless.  Pushing aside barriers.  Moving forward.  We found “dauntless” all over the place –

The Tuskegee Airmen – An Illustrated History:  1939 – 1949, by Carver, Ennels, Haulman.  If we were handing out grades:  
– A+ to this carefully documented scrapbook. 
– A+ to all Tuskegee Airmen – well trained military aviators and support personnel who worked together achieving an excellent combat record during WWII.  
– A+ to Dr. Roscoe Brown, one of the original airmen, who proudly wrote of, “these brave, persistent souls who successfully challenged stereotypes and overcame obstacles”.
We loved finding out:
– First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt inspected the flight program in 1941, flew with the chief  instructor, and found funding (to the tune of $175,000) for the building of Moton Field.
– Tuskegee Airmen were invited to attend the 2009 inauguration of Barack Obama.  More than 180 airmen were able to attend.
We now have a Tuskegee Airmen poster up on the wall.  

The Greatest Coast Guard Rescue Stories Ever Told, edited by Tom McCarthy.  Thirteen  gripping accounts of terrible predicaments involving an angry sea, raging storms, hoisting baskets, rescue swimmers, hypothermia, and – thank heavens – the very best of ship and helicopter maneuvering skills.  
Here is what would have improved this book: 
– a glossary (there are so many acronyms used in the reports, we had to guess meanings  by context) 
– photos:  we would have poured over them if this book had any  
Hello everybody:  one of the rescue swimmers said that over the course of 11 years of service, earning several Coast Guard awards, he received not a single “thank you” note from any of the stranded people he rescued.  Did my son and I think this was OK?  NEVER.

Home of the Brave, by Katherine Applegate.  This is such an important work of fiction.  We just finished our 2nd read through and we will read it again.  Kek (the protagonist), a child refugee from Sudan – brand new to Minnesota – is such a pure soul.  This beautifully written, quiet book has just enough humor to keep us captivated and just enough heartbreak to make us sensitive to an impossible situation.  After finishing the story, we read the author’s note, the reader’s guide, historical context, and discussion topics.  This was a gentle way for my son to begin to understand the plight of a refugee.  

….and other stuff…

Memorizing Poems – Cool School Style:

(really, this is hardly a groundbreaking teaching method)
Our current poems:
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” – Robert Frost
“The Swing” – Robert Louis Stevenson
“Keep A-Goin’” – Frank L. Stanton* 
1).  I read the poem aloud
2).  I give my son the poem sheet, only this sheet SOMEHOW, MYSTERIOUSLY, has a few words blanked out and he has to fill them in.  With the Frost poem, we started with just 4 words blanked out.  We have worked up to 22 blanked out words.  And in case you haven’t noticed, my son’s handwriting is a challenge to read.

On the lighter side – Toys!  Amazing Stories Behind Some Great Inventions,  by Don Wulffson.  So far we have read about the origins of the slinky, the seesaw (oh dear, what those ancient Romans did with the seesaw involving a lion and 2 particularly unlucky individuals dressed up as clowns.  FOR SHAME), tops, silly putty, Raggedy Ann, toy trains, play doh (we did not know that play doh was originally formulated as a wallpaper cleaner).  Truly, a joy with every reading.  Except for the tragic clown business.

Story problem:  The Local Diner hosts “Weird Food Night”!  The local diner is sponsoring a scholarship fundraiser for high school seniors!  Here is what will happen:  a buffet of 20 weird (in the minds of high schoolers) foods will be set out for the students to identify (by appearance or sampling).  The student who identifies the most foods will be awarded the scholarship.

The following weird foods will be on the table:  

artichokes   capers   cauliflower   cloves   cornichons   cranberries   gooseberries   hominy   kiwi fruit   papaya   parsnips   persimmons   pickled beets   plantains   pomegranates   shallots   turnips   white asparagus   whole grain mustard   yams

150 high school seniors have signed up for the contest.  If each participant pays $10 to be in the contest, and the diner donates 80% of the fee to the scholarship prize, how much will the prize be worth for each winner if 2 of the participants can name all 20 foods? (answer at bottom of post)
a)  $150     b)  $600     c)  $750     d)  $1,500

Orchestral music for those who dare to be dauntless –

Mozart Symphony No. 40 in G minor, composed in 1788.  The adrenalin pumping pace in Movement I makes it choice background music for Coast Guard rescue missions and fighter pilot commissions.  This music is all about relentless focus.

(now for some fun)
Sister Suffragette, music and lyrics by Richard and Robert Sherman for the 1964 Mary Poppins movie.  In this song, Winifred Banks sings of being a “dauntless crusader for women’s votes”.  YOU GO GIRL.

Superman Theme, composed by John Williams for the 1978 “Superman” film.  This is music for the dauntless.  

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  b:  $600 each)
*  You are probably familiar with the Frost and Stevenson poems, but “Keep A-Goin’”?  Here’s  the story:  when my younger sister was in the 5th grade and had to memorize a poem to recite in class she picked Stanton’s poem and practiced it out loud so many times that everyone within earshot ended up memorizing the poem…and lo, decades later I can still recite the poem and pass a family tradition to my son.  We think “Keep A-Goin’” is the countrified way of saying “be dauntless”.

Making the Grade

Straight A’s  for everything in our July book basket – 

A+:  “A History of Pictures” – by David Hockney and Martin Gayford.  It is really called “A History of Pictures for Children” and we are perplexed:  this stunner of a book is for EVERYBODY.  It is thought-filled and thought-provoking, tempting us to take a fresh look at cave paintings, Egyptian wall paintings, mirrors, shadows, Disney cartoons, pencil marks, brush strokes, perspective, collage, and the influences of photography, movies, and computers. The 4 page timeline of inventions that pertain to drawing and painting is worth the cost of the book alone.  This book is in line for a re-read.

A+:  “One Real American, The Life of Ely S. Parker” – by Joseph Bruchac.  A superb book about the Seneca sachem (chief) and Civil War general.  Easy to read, filled with information that was new to us (go ahead, ask us about the Iroquois League, ask us about Red Jacket, ask us about Ely S. Parker), extremely well edited and documented, and a timeline is included at the back of the book.  My son and I are impressed by both Ely S. Parker and author Joseph Bruchac.

A+:  “What Linnaeus Saw” by Karen Magnuson Beil.  In my last post, “Our Hour”, I mentioned that we had read about artist/nature observer Maria Merian, who was cited so very many times by Carl Linnaeus.  So, we HAD to read about Carl Linnaeus (1707 -1778), whose quest was to systemize, classify, and name every animal, plant, and mineral.   The book is a weency bit repetitive, but the author is forgiven – Linnaeus’s path to the goal was neither short nor direct.

A+:  “Three Keys” – My son got a feel for the term “refugee” in “Home of the Brave” by Katherine Applegate (the finest book we read in 2020).  He is now beginning to understand the plight of the immigrant via Kelly Yang’s book “Three Keys”.  This is about friendship, open mindedness, hard work, and having the confidence to speak out for what is right.  We really liked the prequel, “Front Desk” and we will definitely be reading “Room to Dream” when it comes out in September.  Kelly Yang:  A+!

Other study topics from the July book basket –

  • The Everglades –  “Everglades National Park” by Grace Hansen.  This book is written for the younger reader, but it does come across with the basic facts and the photos (including a nice photo of President Harry Truman dedicating the park) are large and representative. 
  • Geometry –  “Everything You Need to Ace GEOMETRY in One Big Fat Notebook” by Workman Publishing.  Oooooh, I do not like this book because any venture into math that doesn’t involve a story problem leaves me dizzy.  BUT, my son really likes it.  DARN.  So we sally forth learning about congruency, chords, transversals, etc.  With each page, I feel like my head is diving deeper into a swirling fog, so I just read the words aloud and marvel that my son is entranced.  I give myself a C-.  
  • Geography – “Bird’s Eye View – The Natural World” – by John Farndon/Paul Boston.  Very pretty book, soothing illustrations, AND we both learned a new word!  We LOVE being smacked in the face with a new word!  We have never come across the word MEANDER used as a noun.  A meander is a bend in a river or a road.  It takes so little to make us gleeful.

The Local Diner plans for August (story problem) –  The diner is installing a pop-up snow-cone hut on the diner’s back deck for the month of August.  It will be manned by a high school summer-time employee, who will work 5 hours a day for $12 an hour.  There will be 3 flavors of snow cones:  cherry, mint, and watermelon, and a commercial snow cone machine has been purchased for $250.  The diner is making the syrups and providing the ice.  So the questions are:

  1. How much will the diner pay a week for a high school snow cone artisan?  
  2. If the diner sells a snow cone for $2.00, how many will have to be sold to recoup the money spent of the snow cone machine?
  3. Will the diner spend more on the snow cone machine or employing the high school worker (for the month of August)? (answers at bottom of post)

Classical music:  A+ Musicians – 

It was VIRTUOSO NIGHT last night.  My son made the selections (the writing chaos on the side of the page is my son indicating “Yes” or “No” for each of my suggestions) –

On the flute:  James Galway – We both love James Galway and we both love Tambourin, a short, happy piece for flute composed by Francois-Joseph Gossec in 1794, for his opera, “Le Triomphe de la Republique”.  For some reason, midway through the video there is a blank screen for about 40 seconds, but NO WORRIES, the spritely music continues – 

On the violin:  Itzhak Perlman –  We have compared Itzhak Perlman’s performance to other violin virtuosos and no one touches the finesse he puts into this performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor, the finale (composed in 1844).  BTW, my son and I refer to this as the Cat and Mouse movement – 

On the piano:  Simone Dinnerstein –  We consider ourselves members of the Simone Dinnerstein fan club.  Her discs are part of our music line-up as we drive to In-N-Out Burger twice a week. We LOVE her way with a Bach invention – 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  1)  $420,  2)  125 snow cones,  3)  the diner will spend more for the high school worker)

December Template

December Staples –

If it is December we are smiling our way through Mary Nash’s “Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians”.  What about this book makes us eager to read it for the 15th time?

funny ✓  original plot ✓  champions self-reliance ✓  holiday spirit  ✓

Or we might be enjoying “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus”, by Julie Lane.  This is our third time through this old fashioned December read. The author has skillfully woven plausible reasons for Santa’s sled, Christmas stockings, Santa’s red suit, etc into the story. 

The best book we’ve read in 2020 – Katherine Applegate’s award-winning “Home of the Brave”:  Kek, a refugee (we discussed differences between immigrant and refugee) from The Sudan (found it on globe, briefly read of its inner turmoil/armed conflict and despaired) has a new home with his aunt and cousin in America.  Every word in this book has been so carefully selected; it is easy to read, calmly poetic, heart-wrenchingly deep, and even funny.  It is about kindness and appreciation.  I was pretty much choked up by the end of every single short chapter.  This is a book that makes us be better people. 

Walruses for the win – We have just finished a unit on pinnipeds (fin footed), using “Scary Creatures:  Pinnipeds” by John Malam as a resource.  We now have the basics on seals, sea lions, and walruses, but seriously, there wasn’t too much that was tremendously interesting except this:

Guess how many clams an adult male walrus can eat at one meal?  6,000.  As in SIX THOUSAND.  How is it that there are any clams left?  My son and I decided that from now on when we see somebody gobbling up way more than their share we are not going to refer to them as a pig or hog, but rather as a walrus.

“American Trailblazers” by Lisa Trusiani – This book presents compelling introductions to 50 Americans who have shaped US history.  Some, my son was familiar with –  Example:  Paul Robeson.  My son loves Robeson’s recording of “Old Man River” from the musical “Showboat”, but we had no idea that Robeson was majorly intellectually gifted with a first-rate education (Rutgers University valedictorian in 1919, Columbia Law School graduate in 1923).

Some were new names to my son – Example:  Alexander Calder.  We learned that Sandy Calder (of the fabulous ultra modern mobiles) came from a line of professional sculptors.  His grandfather, Alexander Milne Calder constructed the bronze statue of William Penn that stands atop the Philadelphia City Hall.  His father,  Alexander Stirling Calder created a sculpture of George Washington that is part of the Washington Square Arch in New York City.  We had to see photos:

Story Problem Time – Jingling all the way at the Local Diner – Somebody, probably the diner cashier, Miss Fran, decided it would add a lot of holiday cheer if 5 large jingle bells were attached to every chair in the diner.  Chairs pushed in, chairs pulled out:  jingle, jingle, jingle.  

  • If there are usually 32 chairs in the diner, but due to the pandemic, 3/4 of the chairs had to be placed into storage, how many chairs would be adorned with bells?
  • If each bell costs 50 cents, how much would it cost to jingle up the chairs remaining in the diner? (answers at bottom of post)

December Listening – Handbell Choirs! What says HOLIDAYS ARE IN THE AIR more than the ting ting tinging of a handbell choir? –

First, a very cute performance of “Up on the Housetop” by the Raleigh Ringers –  

Next, LeRoy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” – a perfect match with a handbell choir (all that jingling), and the usual shenanigans provided by the Raleigh Ringers – 

And finally, “Patapan” – a superb performance by the Hong Kong Youth Handbell Ensemble.  Adorable ending –  

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  8 chairs, $20)