Homeschooling

The Call of the Wall

What if there was a blank wall?  Then all of a sudden:  Street art!  Graffiti!  Spray paint us interested.

Book:  Banksy Graffitied Walls and Wasn’t Sorry, by Fausto Gilberti. Talk about timing:  the minute my son and I finished this informative book (with its fabulously whacko illustrations) – LIKE MAGIC –  a new Banksy statue appears in London!   We are in awe of Banksy’s nerviness, we are aligned with Banksy’s message, we now have a Banksy poster up on the wall.

Book:  Hey, Wall, by Susan Verde and John Parra.  This quick reading, almost sweet book clarifies the difference between graffiti and street art.  Excellent notes from both author and illustrator at conclusion of book.

– from the sarahknightwriter.com website

Website:  Graffiti on the Berlin Wall – we read through a simply excellent essay, “How Nikita Khrushchev Turned Berlin into a Happening Art Scene” on the sarahknightwriter.com website.  (HIGHLY RECOMMEND).  Superb, organized writing (with a comprehensive definition of graffiti).  After reading, we had maps out, looking at Germany after WWII.  We spent time considering the mean-spirited wall constructed around West Berlin in 1961.  Anyway, the “western” side of the wall ended up covered in graffiti….some of it still preserved.  SO INTERESTING.

Up close and personal:  Street Art in San Pedro, California – back in 2018, one of my best friends from UCLA days, Miss LynnDee, invited me to come see what was about to happen in her hometown of San Pedro:  the community was coming together to create a 2,000 foot mosaic mural (master-minded by artist Julie Bender) on a retaining wall that faced the Pacific Ocean.  Oh boy!  A completely fun day was spent in a ceramics lab (note my tiny tile effort, obviously critical to the wall’s artistic statement).  The mural was completed in 2021.  What fun to share photos of this San Pedro treasure with my son.  He was so focused when viewing the mosaic interpretations of fish, sea birds, and boats.  He is familiar with the concept of mosaics from our study of the Vatican (see “Holy Zucchetto!” from September 2015 if ya want proof).

     

Because it’s not all about the call of the wall:

Our Tom Gates Marathon –  My son and I have our grin machines turned on if we are ending an evening’s study with a dip into a Tom Gates book.  Over the years, we have read Liz Pichon’s Tom Gates books here and there, but we decided to give these books a serious re-read, starting with book 1, The Brilliant World of Tom Gates, straight through to book 24 (and hopefully, book 25), no stopping.  Here is what we like about the Tom Gates books:  

the cast of characters 
(who drains us the most?  Tom’s sister Delia? Uncle Kevin? Marcus Meldrew?)
– the pickles Tom gets himself into – the oodles of doodles – the British vernacular –

So the marathon has begun.  We have finished book 1 and are half way through book 2 (Tom Gates – Excellent Excuses).

Story Problem –  The local diner is hosting a sidewalk chalk art experience for kindergarteners.  The diner will provide chalk, complimentary refreshments (their famous “not too tart” lemonade), AND the diner has contracted with multi-talented town photographer, Miss Diane, to take photos of the sidewalk art, create a poster from said photos, and print up loads of copies that will eventually be available for sale – as an impulse buy – right next to the diner cash register.

The diner has budgeted $50 for their lemonade and $75 for the chalk.
The posters will cost $10 to print up and will sell for $15.

– How many posters will need to be sold to recoup the cost of the chalk and the lemonade?
A)  25     B)  50     C)  75     D)  100

– If 40 young ’uns participate in the sidewalk art experience, and all of their moms, 4 teachers, and 15 grandparents purchase a poster, how much profit will the diner see from the event?
A)  $40     B)  $59     C)  $170     D)  $295 (answers at bottom of post)

Orchestral Music – a Banksy soundtrack!  My son and I agreed that we would LOVE to accompany Banksy on a stealthy midnight art installation.  We did not agree on background music for for sneaking around with Banksy – 

  • My son picked The Pink Panther Theme, composed by Henry Mancini for the 1963 film.  Nominated for Academy Award for best original score (but lost to Mary Poppins).  Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.

  • I picked Anitra’s Dance, from Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, composed by Edvard Grieg in 1875.  Sneaky and sly, fast tiptoeing.  (Oooooh!  Look at the intensity of Thomas Dausgaard, the conductor.  No wonder the performance is so A+!)

  • …but we both agreed that the boldness of Banksy’s art is well matched with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, composed in 1942.  This particular video, featuring Leonard Bernstein as conductor, spots Mr. Copland seated in the balcony.  (I shed tears.)

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  A)  25 and D) $295)

Inspiration Point

We are mid-way through a unit on National Parks of the United States and while each park’s history/wildlife/vegetation/altitude is interesting, we do love to see what qualifies as a National Park Service “Inspiration Point”.  According to an internet search, over 50 designated scenic spots – selected by the NPS, to highlight natural and cultural resources – are worthy of the appellation, “Inspiration Point”.  We especially love the sites that make us wonder if we exist on the same planet.

Bryce Canyon National Park’s Hoodoos!

Our journey to investigate so-labeled inspiration points is fueled by the pretty funny, yet reverently observant “Subpar Parks”, written and illustrated by Amber Share.  Ms. Share begins each park’s page with a petulant complaint somebody posted on the internet, along the line of:  “just something to look at and leave” – “a bunch of rocks:  big deal” – “somewhat bland” and maybe the very best:  “looks nothing like the license plate”.  (I am wondering if most of the reviews might be attributed to pre-teens?)

We have learned the difference between a National Park and a National Monument.  We were sort of jarred to find out that “monument” is not necessarily a statue or structure.  Hmmm.

  • National Monuments such as Craters of the Moon (Idaho), Muir Woods (California), Devils Tower (Wyoming), are designated by presidential executive order under the Antiquities Act.
  • National Parks are established by acts of Congress and have stricter guidelines, regulations, and standards.

We are inspired (new topic) –

I took a deep breath each night before opening Nancy I. Sanders’ book, “Frederick Douglass – for Kids”.  Important, non-frivolous reading awaited.  We encountered a person that faced cruel laws and cruel people and (we held our breath) triumphed (we released our breath).  We encountered a treasure trove of vocabulary and concepts to define and grasp:  fortitude – strategic thinking – command of language.  

We followed Frederick Douglass’ life from slavery – escape attempt – successful escape – dodging slave hunters – speaking persuasively on the cause of abolition (one sobering speech was entitled “What, to the slave, is the 4th of July?”) – outspoken newspaper publisher – consultant to 4 presidents – statesman – family man raising 4 responsible children.  Douglass knew his cause was just and he persevered.  We are inspired.  

Final note:  this well written, well researched book could easily serve as text book for a semester study at any level:  it is NOT JUST FOR KIDS. 

Current fiction reading:  two books that got better and better with each chapter – 

  • Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo’s classic.  This book was probably a bit young for my son, but in its sweet way it reminded us of the positives to be found in inclusiveness, and in a likewise tender manner, provided an inspiring example of acceptance of loss. We really liked Ms. DiCamillo’s final notes to reader in our updated edition’s “Afterword”.
  • Mouse and His Dog, second in the series by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko.  As much fun as the first book, Dogtown, with a twist in the conclusion that absolutely cheered us.

Story problem:  Farmer Brown, inspired by soup bowls!

Farmer Brown always shops the winter craft fair at the local high school.  This year he purchased so many sturdy soup bowls (made by ceramics class students) that he was inspired to host a hot soup night for his 8 farmhands (each worker invited to bring a friend).  Farmer Brown prepared three soups to showcase farm produce:  

French Onion Soup – Baked Potato Soup – Pozole Soup

  • If each farmhand slurps down all three soups (in 3 different bowls) because quite an appetite has been worked up from farm chores, and each additional guest (including Farmer Brown) seems satisfied with a single bowl of soup, how many bowls does Farmer Brown need?

a)  8 bowls     b)  24 bowls     c)  33 bowls     d)  51 bowls

  • If Farmer Brown purchased 3 dozen bowls at the craft fair, will he have enough for hot soup night?  (answers at bottom of post)

Classical Music Inspirations – 

Youth orchestras – Obviously, the very future of orchestral music lies in the hands of young musicians.  But maybe the real future of orchestral music lies in the hands of conductors with vision and enthusiasm who inspire commitment and focus.  Conductors who select compositions that young musicians can’t wait to play.  My son and I paid attention to the conductors working magic in the following three selections.  We saw youth orchestras taking serious ownership of their respective compositions.  Bravo conductors!

Inspiring Conductor:  Gustavo Dudamel – conducting Sinfónica Simón Bolívar Orchestra with infectious enthusiasm and energy.  Do the musicians look like they are fully engaged?  Uh, YES.  Here they present an exuberant Mambo from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story (1957) –

Inspiring Conductor:  Malgorzata Kobierska – conducting the Kamerton Orchestra during the Polish Nationwide Music Schools’ Symphonic Orchestras Competition of 2014 (so she might not look like she is having the time of her life).  The ensemble is performing Camille Saint-Saëns’ Danse Macabre (1874) to the highest standards and this might be our favorite filmed performance ever –

Inspiring Conductor:  Benjamin Zander – leading the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra in a zesty Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila (Mikhail Glinka, 1840).  Zander exudes joy conducting  this speedy piece.  If Ruslan and Lyudmila is on our nightly music suggestion list, my son will scrawl a giant “YES” next to it – 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
 – Jane BH
(story problem answers:  c)  33 bowls, and yes, 3 dozen bowls is enough for hot soup night)

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). 

, 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)

But I digress…

When my sister and I were kidlets, Saturday nights would find us accompanying our parents to a neighboring home, where the adults would play bridge for hours.  Well, this family’s house was a salute to the bland tones of beige (yawn) and sort of a tannish color (double, NAY! TRIPLE YAWN).  And other than a rather large set of ornately carved wooden salad servers – hung on the wall as an art piece – there was NOTHING interesting going on in this house.  Anyway, courtesy of these long nights in Neutralville, here is what beige means for me:  NO CREATIVITY HERE.  NO INDEPENDENT THINKING HERE.  LET’S PLEASE MOVE ON.

But I digress.  Our current book basket is filled with the work of wildly independent, creative thinkers.  Not a beige tone in the lot.

No Beige Here:  “The Adventures of Miss Petitfour” (book 1), written by ridiculously gifted Anne Michaels, charming illustrations by Emma Block.  This is a collection of short stories concerning Miss Petitfour and her 16 cats, but for us, this book is about the glorification of words.  Words we know but forget to use. (Example:  Miss Petitfour and team enter a FESTOONING competition, not a mere “decorating” competition.)  And the cats names!  Our favorite is Purrsia.  PURRSIA.  This might be the first book we have ever read spurred on solely by the author’s mastery of fanciful vocabulary.  I was thinking feline adventures might hold little appeal for my son, but when I asked him if he thought we should order book number 2, he immediately scribbled “YES”.

No Beige Here:  “The Boy Whose Head was Filled with Stars (A Life of Edwin Hubble)”, written by Isabelle Marinov, illustrated by Deborah Marcero.  Lately, my son and I have been comparing photos sent from the Hubble Space Telescope (launched 1990) and the JWST (launched 2021).  So, a BIG YES to a book about Edwin Hubble (1889 – 1953).  INSIDER SCOOP:  Hubble’s father did not want him to study astronomy.  WHOA.  REALLY?  INTERESTING.  Was he concerned that astronomy would not provide a steady income?  Was it for religious reasons?  Hmmm.  Anyway, Hubble acquiesced and taught high school, coaching a basketball team until his father died, then Hubble scrambled back to astronomy. 

And we learned that he “only” managed this: TWO NOTEWORTHY DISCOVERIES:
1) the universe is so much bigger than we thought (even during his studies, the brightest scholars thought the universe was “limited” to the Milky Way).
2) The universe is getting bigger all the time. 

The book concludes with a focused reflection from the author:  
“It is this cosmic perspective that I’ve tried to convey through Edwin’s story, a perspective that is lost on so many of our world’s leaders.  Planet Earth is nothing more than an infinitesimal fraction of a mote of dust in the vast cosmic tapestry.  Maybe one day, this realization will help us overcome our narrowness of perspective, which lies at the root of so many of our earthly problems?”

No Beige Here:  “Old School”, by Gordon Korman.  Oh, we do love Korman’s books (I think we have read “Schooled” 5 times).  In this book, middle schoolers experience becoming united for a cause, find surprising connections with senior citizens, and among other things, they learn about WWII code breakers/shuffleboard/the pleasures of a restorative cup of tea.  This was a thought provoking story that we looked forward to reading every night.   And my son learned the double meaning of the term, “old school”.

No Beige Here:  Reporting in on our around the world tour – 

We are still LOVING this unit, brought to us by the Lonely Planet Kids, “The Travel Book”  .  Since last post, we have journeyed around the Arabian peninsula,  (took a Wikipedia detour to learn where vast supplies of oil actually come from – not dinosaurs as we were thinking, but ancient fossilized mini marine life)(as loads of people know, just not us), have studied the STANS:  Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan (we learned that “stan” means “land of”).  We are now heading toward Australia and Oceania.

Favorite new things we’ve learned:

Pakistan:  Jingle Trucks  (definitely NO BEIGE here!)

Jordan:   Royal Desert Forces (police) ride camels

Nepal:  We love this country’s flag (the 2 triangles symbolize the Himalayan mountains, and the 2 major religions – Hinduism and Buddhism)

Qatar:   Best in the good will category:  Qatar created the largest flag in 2013, then had it recycled into 200,000 book bags for school children distributed around 60 countries

Easy story problem from the Local Diner!  There’s a new Saturday night special at the Local Diner!  Date night calls for a bit of sophistication, so the diner is now serving table-side tossed salads!  Oh, the glamour!  What prompted this was that the diner’s chef’s cousin’s brother-in-law,  Mr. Hank, has gotten into whittling and has carved up a dozen pairs of wooden salad servers, which he is selling for $20 per set.  They are just gorgeous.  The diner bought them all,  6 to use for the table-side service and 6 to sell on a trial basis.  If they sell well, the diner will order more.

  • How much did the diner pay for 12 sets of salad servers?
    A)  $120     B)  $144     C)  $200     D)  $240
  • If the diner sells the sets of the remaining salad servers for $30 each, how many more sets of salad servers can they order from the profit?
    A)  3 sets     B)  9 sets     C)  12 sets     D)  1,000 sets
    (answers at bottom of post)

No Beige Here:  Orchestral Offerings – Three rambunctious, bold, imaginative pieces:

Bamboula, composed by New Orleans native, Louis Moreau Gottschalk in 1848.  First of all, the name:  a bamboula is a type of rum barrel drum as well as being a word one would want to say over and over.  This is a longish piano piece, but as we are getting used to it, we love it.  This is the exact recording we listen to – 

Cantina Band, composed by John Williams in 1977 for Star Wars IV.  Inventive, toe tapping, the ultimate quirky background music for the ultimate quirky bar scene –

The Wild Bears, composed in 1907  by Sir Edward Elgar as part of his “The Wand of Youth” suite.  This enchanting short piece transports us into the middle of a children’s raucous hide-and-seek activity.  The chaotic conclusion is perfection.  No beige here –

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  D)  $240 and A)  3 sets)

The Pre-Test

When I was earning a teaching credential at UCLA (this would be during the bronze age), esteemed professor of education, Dr. P., stressed the importance of THE PRE-TEST.  How could one possibly know what to teach without evidence of a student’s grasp of particular subject matter? 

Thus, from a recent “Around the World” unit PRE-TEST: 

1)  If given a blank map of Africa (with border outlines), how many countries can you identify?
– My son could color in Egypt and Algeria (we have studied both)
– Me?  Oh my gosh, this is so unacceptable:  I could correctly label Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, and Madagascar.  The end.  There are 54 countries and 4 territories in Africa and I could identify 5.  Yikes.  

2)  List everything you know about Africa:
– Both my son and I:  the pyramids, the Sahara Desert, Victoria Falls, Nelson Mandela.  The end.  

Pre-test results are in –  the students pretty much need to know EVERYTHING:

So, Africa.  Only half way through this unit, we are alternately perplexed and fascinated, as we become more aware citizens of the world –

– Two different countries: Niger and Nigeria
– Two different countries: the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo
– Like the Euro, several African countries use the same currency:
          West African CFA Franc: 8 countries
          Central African CFA Franc:  6 countries
– Newest country:  South Sudan (established 2011)
– Côte d’Ivoire’s Basilica of our Lady of Peace is the largest church in the world
– The territory of Western Sahara confuses us.  Why is this a territory?
– We found out where Timbuktu is (Mali).  We didn’t know Timbuktu was a real place
– There are 2,000 distinct languages spoken in Africa

(pre-test and African countries studied so far)

Our “Around the World” Unit – We are augmenting our Lonely Planet Kids book, “The Travel Book – a journey through every country in the world”, with two atlases and we love them both:  

–  “Maps”, by Alessandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski.  We refer to this most enchanting atlas nightly.
–  “The Hammond World Atlas – Super Edition”, printed in 1966.  We love comparing the new with the way out-of-date.  Always a discussion starter.

Even More Maps? –  my son is also learning the location of states in the USA.  We locate few states at a time, each night a new theme.  So far: 

– States we have lived in:  California, Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, and Texas
– Fun shaped states:  the “L”-shaped Louisiana, and the mitten-shaped Michigan, the square states Wyoming and Colorado
– The four “corners” of continental USA:  California (again), Washington, Maine, and Florida
– States of the “Four Corners” region:  Utah, Colorado (again), Arizona, and New Mexico
– “Compass” states:  North and South Dakota,  North and South Carolina, West Virginia
– “New” states:  New Hampshire, New York, New Jersey, and New Mexico
– Dream destination states:  Hawaii and Alaska

Story Problem Time (YAY!):

Pickle Day at Farmer Brown’s Roadside Stand – There’s an excited buzz around Hankville:  it’s almost Pickle Day at Farmer Brown’s Roadside Stand!  Pickle Day is held every spring and features Farmer Brown’s favorite cousin, Miss Kate (state fair champion in both sweet pickle AND dill pickle divisions!) giving a pickling demonstration.  

– After the demonstration, Miss Kate autographs her pickling instruction booklet (which sells for $10).  
– Jars of her dill pickles sell for $5.  
– Jars of her sweet pickles sell for $6.  
– Also for sale:  a festive basket, suitable for gift giving, containing the booklet PLUS a jar of each pickle style, priced at $18.

If the roadside stand receives 10% of Miss Kate’s sales, how much money will the stand realize if 400 booklets, 100 jars of dill pickles, 120 jars of sweet pickles, and 20 gift-giving baskets are sold?
a)  $64     b)  $225     c)  $360     d)  $558 
(answer at bottom of post)

Finding the original A.A. Milne, “The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh” (“Winnie-the-Pooh” and “The House at Pooh Corner”) on our bookshelf, enrobed in a thin (it wasn’t really thin) layer of dust, was like finding buried treasure (literally, a treasure buried in dust).  Would it be just as good a read as it was 25 years ago?  YES!

– Milne’s refreshing manner with words –
– unpretentious poems (hums) that beg to be read out loud over and over –
– the capital letters strewn about –
– perceptively defined characters who assist each other in and out of situations –
–  the winsome illustrations of Ernest Shephard – 

What a most pleasant way to conclude each night’s studies.  (I just came across an A.A. Milne quote that has apparently been taped to my office wall since 2009:  “One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.”.  This speaks to me.  Maybe this is how we rediscovered our dust covered book.)

Classical Music, The Pre-Test –

The majority of my acquaintances seem to have limited knowledge regarding classical music:
–  I was jolted into reality when one of my more educated friends asked what a symphony “movement” was.  
– When another acquaintance asked me what type of music I would like to listen to, I responded, “how about anything recorded by the New York Philharmonic?”  Acquaintance squinted his eyes and said, “hmmmm, I’ve never heard of that band.”  

Whoa. OK, that is what I am here for.  Anyway, if my son and I were giving an introductory class in orchestral music, we might pre-test by asking –
– What distinguishes music from the classical and romantic eras?
– Traditionally, how many movements in a concerto?
– Can you put these composers in order, according to when they composed:  Bach, Beethoven, Brahms?
– Can you tell the difference between a viola and a clarinet? (Please, can you at least get this right?)

Here is a micro-sampler of what we think everyone should have a chance to listen to. My son and I have renamed these pieces to reflect what we can hear in the music.  There’s no law that says we can’t.

– The Goat Symphony – really, Alexander Glazunov’s, Symphony No. 4 in E-flat major, movement II, composed in 1893.  It is so easy to visualize a team of goats on meadow clearing detail, pouncing about in the fresh air.

– Popcorn Pizzicato – really, Leroy Anderson’s Jazz Pizzicato, composed in 1939.  Before we changed the name, we had listened to the piece about 3 times and thought it was sort of OK.  Then, we matched the music up with a popcorn cart story problem.  Game changer!  This piece has become one of my son’s favorite evening selections.  Every pluck of the violin strings tells us popcorn is popping.

– Elephants! – really, Ottorino Respighi’s Pines of Rome, movement I (Villa Borghese), composed in 1924.  We can hear elephants trumpeting throughout the piece.  We know Respighi was capturing children pretending to be soldiers in battle (and we do hear that), but darn it, we cannot ignore the elephants!

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  d).  $558)

Topics from the Tropics

My son and I are immersed in facts and flavors of Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.  (And yes, yes, yes, we recognize that much of South America cannot be classified as “the tropics”.  Let’s move on.)

The Travel Book – A Journey through Every Country in the World, a Lonely Planet Kids Book –  We are enthusiastic about opening this book every night, but alas, we do have a complaint:  every page is set up as a graphic collage by somebody who certainly has an eye for color and composition, BUT!!! on almost every page there is content printed in a teensy font (black ink), and positioned on a dark color background.  Really, really difficult to read.  I have to hold the book “just so” and hunch forward to read.  Couldn’t ya just weep?

But I digress. With this book, our globe and atlas, my son and I have trekked our way through the countries of Central America, the Caribbean, and South America.  Favorite takeaways:

Nicaragua:  the streets have no names.  One arrives at one’s destination by use of landmarks.
Costa Rica:  all radio stations broadcast the national anthem every morning at 7.
El Salvador:  the US Dollar is the national currency.
The East Caribbean Dollar:  this currency used by 6 countries (Saint Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Grenada).
Saint Lucia:  only country in the world named after a woman.
Guyana:  English is the national language.
Paraguay:  no doorbells!  (clap your hands if you want in).
Uruguay:  the tradition is to eat gnocchi on the 29th of each month.
Trinidad & Tobago:  STEEL DRUMS!  The history of this instrument is compelling, we loved learning that steel drums of yore could be tuned and adjusted by use of a hammer, and we are in a smiley place while listening to steel drum (more correctly, the steelpan) music.

Marcus  Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish, by Pablo Cartaya.  We are following Marcus Vega’s family from Springfield, Pennsylvania to Puerto Rico to visit with extended family.  I am mortified to admit that before this book I was not exactly sure where PR was located. 

Before Music – Where Instruments Come From, Annette Bay Pimentel, illustrated by Madison Safer.  This sort of looks like a little kids book, but – HAPPY SURPRISE – it is filled with impressive scholarly research.  Great page on the history and development of the steel drums (steelpan).  A perfect enhancement to our listening.

Veering off the tropics topics:

  • 150 Mornings of Volunteer Work.  Once a week, my son does a bit of volunteering at a local nursery.  We hit day 150 last week!  

  • Brave Like That, by Lindsey Stoddard.  Not sure if my son got the message of the book (which was basically:  be confident about being yourself), but this was a sweet, sweet read.  Good kid, excellent father.
  • Four new poems for my son to memorize:  The Spider and the Fly, The Road Not Taken, The Land of Counterpane, and The Duel.
  • Funniest piece of classical music – I am not sure how we came upon Edvard Grieg’s “March of the Trolls” (1890), but I am sure we have never heard a more startling piece of classical music.  This recording demonstrates the conductor’s grasp of comedic timing.  We hear an aggressive troop of trolls wreaking havoc with some poor soul’s quiet moment of reflection.  The final jarring insult (percussion) takes us by surprise every single listen. 

 

Story Problem – Sampling Birthday Cakes at The Local Diner

The Local Diner has hired a new pastry chef, whose specialty is birthday cakes! The first day of every month the chef hosts cake sampling day, so everyone will know what to order when their birthday rolls around.  4 different flavors are offered and 20 mini-servings can be cut from each cake on sampling day.

cake flavors:
lemon zing  – confetti cake – gingerbread – dirt cake (kids favorite)

  • If 40 people show up for sampling day and everyone wants to try all four of the cake flavors, how many cakes of each type need to be baked?
    a)  2 cakes     b)  8 cakes     c)  16 cakes     d)  40 cakes
  • Customers who place orders on sampling day get 20% taken off the cake price.  If each cake costs $20, how much will the pastry chef collect if 10 people order cakes on sampling day?
    a)  $16     b)  $40    c)  $160     d)  $200
  • If among the 10 orders 60% are for the dirt cake, how many dirt cakes will the chef need to bake?
    a)  6 cakes     b)  8 cakes     c)  16 cakes     d)  60 cakes
  • Which of these days would be a cake sampling day?
    a)  February 14     b)  February 29     c)  March 1     d)  July 4

And back to the tropics:  Steelpan Music –  bouncy, optimistic, full-of-cheer –

  • Steeling the Show!  We viewed historic footage of the first steel drum band (the Trinidad All-Steel Pan Percussion Orchestra) to introduce itself to London in 1951 at the Festival of Britain.  In 2023, the United Nations General Assembly designated April 11 as World Steelpan Day.  Yay! ( I am sure the UN General Assembly had pressing items on the agenda, but seriously, 70-plus years to deliberate on whether to support a World Steelpan Day? Did certain delegates need to be strong armed?  Is there a story here????)

  • Steeling our Hearts!  We watched young learners on the steelpan.  This joyful performance made our hearts sing and we were doubly enchanted by the A+ audience response –  

  • Steeling Away!   A piece of steel drum magic that transports us to an idealized undersea world AND a piece my son is well familiar with – “Under the Sea”, from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” movie of 1989, melody composed by Alan Mencken – 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(Story Problem answers:  a)  2 cakes,  c)  $160,  a)  6 cakes,  c)  March 1)

32 and counting!

How many books do we read in a year?  We have no idea.  So, this past January my son and I decided this would be the year to track the number of books.  Reporting midway through 2024:  32 books on the tally sheet.  Currently in the stories and studies book basket:

Studies – 

Arctic Tern Migration, Susan H. Gray.  In the autumn, these global traveling birds take 3 months to fly from the Arctic to the Antarctic.  In springtime, they head back to the Arctic – this trip taking less than two months due to wind currents.  We have layers and layers of “how do they do this and why do they do this?” questions.

Birdology, Sy Montgomery.  Favorite chapters:  “Chickens” (because each and every one is wacky) and “Pigeons”  (author Montgomery takes the reader to a pigeon racing club and we learn the specifics – we love it when a book opens a whole new world for us).

Mother Teresa, Navin Chawla.  This particular book – based upon extensive interviews with those who influenced (or were influenced by) Mother Teresa –  is the only authorized biography of Saint Teresa of Calcutta (as per her canonization by the Catholic Church in 2016).  It is THE book.  We were riveted by the work of this brilliant visionary leader.  How could one person, with no income, starting with 1 room and 2 postulants, turn this into a multi-national effort (hundreds of homes for the destitute, dying, leprosy affected, poorest of the poor) with a support system of 4,000 enthusiastic, committed nuns? 

Can I Recycle This?, Jennie Romer.  This is not our first recycling book, but this one leaves the other one (which was patronizing and jammed with platitudes) in the dust.  This author is interesting and specific.  We learned what goes on at a recycling center.  We learned what cannot (at this point) be recycled:  plastic forks and knives, straws, restaurant “to-go” cartons that have been sprayed with a plastic coating, eyeglasses, coat hangers, plastic baggies, potato chip bags.  We are sort of feeling bad about all the potato chip bags we go through.

Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums, Bob Eckstein.  Each entry includes a short list of facts about the museum, charming illustrations, and a few personal reflections from museum goers/employees (this is the best part!).  I was happy to see one of my favorite, NAY, perhaps my favorite museum, included in the book:  The Museum of Bad Art (Boston).  Also, we learned that there are museums/museum grounds that host 200,000 bees (Clark Art Institute), and 1,000 dolls (Wenham Museum House).  We were touched to the soul by the “National Museum of African American History and Culture” and Baltimore’s “American Visionary Art Museum”.  We learned that a WOMAN (Betty Willis) designed the iconic “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign (from The Neon Museum).  I learned of this book from James Breakwell’s hilarious Instagram site.  Many thanks!  This is the perfect type of book for us!

Stories – 

The Teacher’s Funeral – Author Richard Peck takes us to the one room country school house of the early 1900’s.  The surprisingly effective teacher is a high school student, sister of two of her 8 pupils (who do not want to be in school at all).  And then, just as we are settling into her spelling bees and geography lessons – WHAT THE H-E-DOUBLE-TOOTHPICKS??? –  the author takes us along to a neighborly gathering to observe the butchering of a pig.  Oh dear oh dear oh dear.  Do I skip over this part or do I come to terms with this part of long ago rural life?  I mean seriously, to be invited to a pig slaughter? Honored with the responsibility of handling the shotgun that would kill said pig?  Then the book goes right back to being its pleasant self (romance, school yard antics, teacher certification worries, the town poet mystery).  We do love Richard Peck’s books and have read loads of them.  This pig business was a jarring surprise.

The Trials of Hercules Beal, Gary D. Schmidt.  An excellent use of our reading time.  Yes, it is highly entertaining.  Yes, its writing style nudges close to poetic.  Yes,  we are learning about the mythical trials of the Roman god Hercules and how they parallel the life of current student, Hercules Beal.  But we are also given front row seats to the best of  thoughtful and focused teaching skills.  On so many levels, a superb book.

Schooled, Gordon Korman.  This is probably our 4th time through this book.  There is a clash and then a melding of 1960’s hippie style culture with a present day 8th grade social environment.  So well written, fun to read.   

Story Problem from Farmer Brown’s Roadside Stand – The 4 full time employees at Farmer Brown’s roadside stand will now be identified by the wearing of heavy duty green canvas aprons.  Each employee looks so professional now.  The aprons cost $15 and this includes “Farmer Brown’s Roadside Stand” embroidery work.  Farmer Brown decided to order 10 aprons.  Good thing he did.  The week after the aprons were ordered, the price shot up to $25 per apron.  How much money did Farmer Brown save by ordering before the price skyrocketed?

a)  $10     b)  $100     c)  $250     d)  $1,000 (answer at bottom of post)

Counting on Classical Music – 

The Cuckoo, from Ottorino Respighi’s suite, “The Birds” (1928).  Here is a tough assignment:  tally up the number of two-note cuckoo motifs in this 4 minute composition.  Sometimes the motif is produced by a  single instrument, sometimes full orchestra, sometimes the notes are high, sometimes low, sometimes the motif stands alone, sometimes it is mixed into a collage of sounds.  Like I said, tough.  Our tally sheet totals are different every time we try this. 

 Bolero, Maurice Ravel (also 1928!) – ya gotta feel sorry for the percussionist who ends up playing snare drum for this 15-plus minute piece.  It is calculated that the snare drum is struck 5,144 times.  The worst part is that the musician has to play the same short rhythm over and over and over and over.  We would go bonkers.  That being said, we cannot resist anything that is conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. 

3,000 and counting! – According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the most prolific classical composer (with over 3,000 compositions) was Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767).  We are not sure we found the final composition (our goal), but his Overture-Suite in G minor was written during his final year.  We listened to the short second movement (the “Gavotte en Rondeau”), a marvelously fussy piece – clearly baroque – that moves right along.

 Welcome to the best part of my day,
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  b)  $100)

Fun with Feb

Prepare yourself for a bit of anthropomorphizing.

Poor February, so insecure in the company of those self-assured 31-day months.  Sure, February boasts Valentine’s Day, Washington’s Birthday, and Black History Month, but we think February’s confidence might be additionally bolstered by the knowledge that somewhere in the world there exists a month with far, far fewer than 28 days.  Read on:

“Britannica Kid’s Encyclopedia” (2020 edition) – My son and I are working our way through this jazzy reference volume and our favorite entry so far:  how 18 ancient cultures (2,600 BCE – 1582 CE) began marking the passing of time with calendars.  

First place trophy for most creative calendar goes to ETHIOPIA! (We located it on the globe, of course we did.) Beginning in 350 CE,  Ethiopian calendar masterminds placed the 5 extra days, that didn’t fit into their 12 30-day months template, into a 13th month (“Pagume”, wedged between August and September).  Pagume is a 5-day mini month!  Stand tall, February, stand tall!

Switching topics –
“Engineering the Space Needle”, by Kate Conley. Here is what we learned from this small but mighty book:

– the Space Needle, the centerpiece of the 1962 World’s Fair in Seattle, is a triumph of engineering, design, and management
– constructed in very little time (just over a year), in very little space, wind safe/earthquake safe, built and maintained with private funds (due to local government naysayers of the time)  
– the design drew inspiration from a small sculpture entitled, “The Feminine One” (slender, narrow waist, reaching for the sky).  Now my son and I don’t just see a tall landmark, we see a surprisingly beautiful landmark  

We have family members who live within walking distance of the Space Needle, so I asked for a photo to share with my son.  Oh boy, this is some fine photography: 

One of our latest fiction reads – 
“Clementine”, by Sara Pennypacker – this is the story of high energy, super alert young lady who is bursting with original ideas.  “Pay attention!” her teachers say, and in her heart of hearts she knows she IS paying attention (to every-single-little-thing that comes into view).   We loved this book, thought Marla Frazee’s illustrations made the story even better, and I am thinking that anyone who deals with what appears to be attention-gone-haywire might find this book comforting and illuminating.

Reporting in:  current Clem and Clyde reading comprehension worksheets have dealt with New Year’s resolutions, the purchase of a snowman, and sampling sugar snap peas.  We both love our time with Clem and Clyde.

Story Problem:  Cupid’s Delight Pie at the Local Diner – On February 14, the local diner celebrated Valentine’s Day by offering a slice of their Cupid’s Delight Pie with each lunch and dinner order.  Cupid’s Delight Pie is a sumptuous raspberry pie topped with a dollop of PALE PINK WHIPPED CREAM. The diner can serve 8 slices from each pie.  The diner ended up serving 200 lunches and 150 dinners on the 14th.  The pastry chef baked 40 pies.  Was that enough to serve all the diners?  (answer at bottom of post)

Classical Music,  February Style – 

We have been listening to the works of black composers for Black History Month and we knew we wanted to hear the music of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.  But when we did a computer search we kept getting entries for both Coleridge-Taylor and the the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  So we wanted to figure out the connection –

  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), beloved British poet (“Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, “Kubla Khan”).  We got sidetracked and read through the dazzling “Kubla Khan”.

  • Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912), British composer, named in honor of the poet. OH! OK!  That makes sense.   Named without the hyphen….hyphen came later due to a printer’s error.  Obsessed by Longfellow’s gol-dern-lengthy poem of 1855, “The Song of Hiawatha” (Coleridge-Taylor even named his son Hiawatha!), and most well known for his cantata, “Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast” (1898).  We listened to “He Was Dressed in a Shirt of Doe-Skin ” from said cantata.  While it cannot possibly transport us to the shores of Gitche Gumee (Lake Superior) of the 1500’s, the frothy harmonies (very Gilbert and Sullivan) are a dreamy delight. 

AND FINALLY, taking inspiration from the Ethiopian calendar:  What if we had our own 5 day month?  How would my son and I celebrate via classical music?

Day 1:  Welcome teeny tiny month!  –  We would begin with Scott Joplin’s bouncy “Rosebud March” (1905) – just the thing to set the tone for a joy filled five-day month.  This music puts a spring in our step and says, “Let’s be thankful, let’s be friendly, let’s smile!  Welcome, welcome mini month!”-

Day 3:  How time flies!  The month is half over! –  Time to stop and smell the flowers.  May we suggest Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s fanciful “Romance of the Prairie Lilies” (1899) for mid-month listening –

Day 5:  Going out with a bang – Florence Price’s “Symphony No. 1 in E minor”, movement IV (1932).  This piece is full speed ahead, concluding with a full half minute of cymbal crashing (and that is a lot of cymbal crashing).  (BTW, this symphony was the first by an African-American woman to be performed by a major orchestra.  Kudos to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for recognizing and showcasing talent.) 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  No, the pastry chef should have baked 44 pies.)

Hey, Rhododend!

Hey, rhododend! Courage, little friend. Ev’rything’ll end rhododandy. Hurry! It’s lovely up here!

My son and I are experiencing the satisfaction of growing plants from seeds, and I have been humming the GO TO gardener cheerleading tune, “Hurry! It’s Lovely Up Here”, from the 1965 Lane/Lerner Broadway musical, “On A Clear Day You Can See Forever”.  How this came to be – 

First, back in December, my son started a microscopic volunteer job at the most wonderful local nursery.  Mr. Paul, the manager, as well as every single employee we have encountered, has been accommodating, tolerant, and welcoming.  So, when we arrive for the once-a-week “job”, my son literally bursts from the car and yanks on his garden gloves, revved up to walk through the magic land of plants and get to work.  At completion of the day’s task, we purchase a seed packet (so far:  radishes, sunflowers, thyme, cucumbers, peppers, turnips) for planting that very afternoon. 

Then, we learned so much from Riz Reyes’ “Grow”, a superbly organized book offering a four-page spread for each of 15 different types of plants (plants that my son can understand, like mushrooms, bamboo, maple trees, daffodils), enhanced by the vibrant illustrations of Sara Boccaccini Meadows.  This A+ book has inspired us to plant tomatoes, pumpkins, and carrots from seeds.  (And speaking of “A+”, this book was written by a former high school student of my best college room-mate, (top flight language arts teacher) Miss Jeanette – who has made it into a few of my story problems).  We are already on our second read through. We just love every page of this book AND his Instagram page:  rhrhorticulture. Finally, a few months ago I paid a visit to the very best kind of new relative (a half-sister!), whose backyard produces such an abundance of fruits/citrus/vegetables that I knew, right then, that I wanted my son to be able to witness the slow motion miracle of all sorts of plant growing cycles.

Change of topic, but still in the backyard –  “Why Don’t Woodpeckers Get Headaches”, by Mike O’Connor, of the “Bird Watchers General Store” in Orleans, Massachusetts.  First of all, this is the work of a skilled and knowledgeable writer and almost more importantly, THIS BOOK IS NON-STOP HILARIOUS.  It is comprised of letters of inquiry to Mr. O’Connor, whose responses make me shriek with laughter, and are filled with information we had never considered (how can we be responsible citizens if we don’t have a birdbath in our back yard?????)(we are SO getting a birdbath).  Learning while we are laughing is THE BEST. More outdoor stuff – We have just finished “The Northern Lights – Celestial Performances of the Aurora Borealis”, dazzler photos by Daryl Pederson and Calvin Hall and relevant accompanying essay by Ned Rozell – prompting us to discuss the commitment a photographer would need to spend endless nights in the freezing cold environs of the North Pole, just waiting and waiting and waiting to capture aurora phenomena.  (Of course, we learned what causes the aurora:  solar winds jousting with the earth’s electromagnetic field.  Sort of FREAKY STUFF.)  We augmented our study (Wikipedia) by learning that  “aurora borealis” means  “northern lights”.  Is there a similar phenomena by the South Pole?  Yes, the “aurora australis” (australis meaning “south”, not a reference to Australia).  Damn, we know a lot.

Story problem from the nursery – a project my son is currently working on (at his volunteer job) involves moving pavers (that have been stacked on a falling-apart wood palate) to a brand new palate.  Over the course of the past few weeks he has moved: week 1 – 25 pavers week 2 – 30 pavers week 3 – 30 pavers week 4 – 33 pavers Question:  If the pavers sell for $3 each, and Farmer Brown needs 50% of the pavers on the new palate to create flooring for his new birdbath sanctuary, how much cash will he need to retrieve from his secret safe (not including tax)? a)  $60     b)  $177     c)  $300     d)  $354  (answer at bottom of post)

And more outdoor stuff  – We’ve just finished the Gordon Korman YA book, “Unplugged”, which takes place in the great outdoors (a remote camp in Arkansas) and involves a ban on electronics, a vegetable-forward diet, quirky new friends AND a sinister, illegal alligator enterprise. This is the most advanced mystery/adventure book I have tackled with my son.  He liked it!  As per usual with a Gordon Korman work:  excellent book, excellent message.

Classical Music Time: celebrating the growing season – “Spring”, movement I – from Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, composed around 1720.  About 30 seconds into this spirited performance we can hear jillions of insects buzzing like crazy in the meadow.  We love this part!

“Spring Song” – from Mendelssohn’s “Songs without Words”, book 5 (of 8 books), composed around 1844.  My son is familiar with the main theme of this composition because it has been used more than once in cartoons (case in point, Disney’s 1937 “Clock Cleaners” – about 6 minutes into the cartoon) – 

And of course, “Hurry! It’s Lovely Up Here” – Adorably sung in this video clip by Audra McDonald – my fave lines (about the “rhododend”) are stuck right in the middle of the song – 

Welcome to the best part of my day! – Jane BH (Story problem answer:  b)  $177)

Be like Sarah

A Citizen of the World – 

Among other things, last week found my son and I exploring the depth and breadth of The Royal Society of London and continuing our 2022 quest to match academic and non-academic topics with places-of-origin on the globe.  But something came up that caused us to put aside our stack of books for a bit.  We had the opportunity to cheer for up-to-the-minute SUPERB GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP IN ACTION.  

May I present long time family friend, international educator Sarah LC, who currently resides in Germany.  Here is what she posted a few days ago:

I volunteered to meet Ukrainian refugees at the Berlin Central Train Station today.  Wearing an identifying yellow vest, along with about 30 other people, I met incoming trains of refugees, some of which were carrying as many as 750 people.  I roamed, or I stood still, and people knew they could ask me a question, and I would do my best to help.

– “Are you traveling on to another German city? Stand here, and you will get a ticket “
– “Do you need food? Follow me, here is the area where you can get food and sit for a bit.”
– “You do not have any place to go beyond this? You are here in Berlin and you don’t know anyone, or you don’t have a plan beyond this? Then come here…a bus will take you to an apartment or hotel room here, or in Dresden, or Hamburg…we will put you up.”
– “Are you traveling on to Portugal? Then let me show you where you can get your next train ticket.”
– “Do you need a SIM Card? Here is where you can get one.”
– “You need a COVID test? Follow me.”
And on and on.

Signing up to volunteer was the easiest thing in the world. Read a few few rules, register, and show up. I don’t speak a word of Ukrainian, Russian or Polish. It didn’t matter. We made things work.
I was quite impressed with the ad hoc consortium that set up this spontaneous structure in the midst of the greatest migration of people since WWII.

We think Sarah is a superb citizen of the world.  We want to be like Sarah.  (Of course we located Germany and Ukraine on the map and marked each with a gold dot.)(We are cyber-sending a bouquet of gold dots to Sarah LC.)

That settled, our current studies – 

The Royal Society – two books have caught our attention:  Adrien Tinniswood’s “The Royal Society and the Invention of Modern Science” and Bill Bryson’s masterwork anthology, “Seeing Further – The Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society” (which is WAY too intellectual for the likes of us…nonetheless, we are charting key points).  Before this study, here is what we knew about The Royal Society:  nothing.  Now we know – 

  • Founded in 1660, to assist and promote the accumulation of useful (scientific) knowledge
  • Members (“Fellows”) have included:  Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, Charles Darwin, and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek (all of whom we have studied).  So far there have been over 8,000 members (women are included in the number).
  • In the official name, “The Royal Society of London”, “London” refers only to the location of the society’s headquarters.  It is not “pro-Britain”, but is rather “pro-scientists of the world” (example:  Benjamin Franklin was a welcomed member even during the Revolutionary War).

Owls –  Currently we are reading about 40 species of owl in Jack Byard’s “Know Your Owls” and marking a dot on the map where each is found (and BTW, there are no owls in Antarctica).  Every species’ particular hoot is notated, so in order to make this a 3-dimensional learning experience I give each hoot a try.  “A” for effort, “B-” for execution.  OK, here are two owl relationships we were not aware of:

  • Owls and Woodpeckers:  many of the smaller owl species set up their nests in trees where gaps have been drilled by woodpeckers
  • Owls and Mice:  owls eat a lot of mice

“Daily Bread – What Kids Eat Around the World”, an original artistic endeavor by Gregg Segal documenting over 50 children from around the world (another opportunity to dot up our map) and what they eat.   A full page, gorgeous photograph of each child, surrounded by food they consume during the course of a week is accompanied by a few enthusiastic and respectful paragraphs, but there is an implied message about each kid’s nutritional intake (the junkier the foods, the chunkier the kids).  BTW, interesting fact in the author’s introduction: a 2015 Cambridge University study ranking diets around the world placed Chad and Sierra Leone at the top of the list for healthiest diets.  Author concludes that these countries have such poor infrastructures that food conglomerates haven’t figured out how to set up shop there.  Maybe Chad and Sierra Leone are luckier than they know.

Make us laugh – After all this heavy duty reading and analyzing we really needed to conclude our evenings with something funny.  Something like the latest book by Liz Pichon,  “Tom Gates – Ten Tremendous Tales”.  Layers of fun with an always amusing ensemble cast (we are not sure who we like reading about most – Tom’s impossible sister, his annoying uncle, his overworked teacher, the out-of-touch principal, the ridiculously upbeat music teacher?).  We are sort of fans of Ms. Pichon.

Story problem from the local diner – (oh, this is such an easy one) Every April 1st, the local diner hosts the premier social event of the season:   Stand-Up Comedy Night!  10 super hilarious members of the community have signed up to tell jokes on a hastily erected stage and tickets have been sold out for months.  The ticket price includes not only the outstanding entertainment, but also a slice of pie and a beverage.  If 150 tickets have been sold and each of the comedian wannabes gets a slice of pie, and each pie serves 8, how may pies should be prepared for the event?

a)  16 pies     b)  20 pies     c)  40 pies     d)  75 pies (answer at bottom of post)

Classical Music:  Fanfares for Global Citizens – We wondered if the type of person (like Sarah) who volunteers to make the world a kinder place, is the type of person who would relish being announced with a fanfare (we sort of think not), but that doesn’t mean that a fanfare is not deserved – 

  • First, we listened to “Call to Post”, a classic fanfare familiar to anyone who has ever seen the Kentucky Derby.  This 34 note fanfare has been used at horse races since the 1860’s and alerts everyone of the next race commencing in a mere 10 minutes –  

  • Handel, “Music for the Royal Fireworks”, movement 4 (La Rejouissance) (1749).  A regal, no funny business, 3 minute piece.  What we hear is essentially 2 robust fanfare themes played over and over –   

  • Gilbert and Sullivan, Iolanthe, “Loudly Let the Trumpet Bray” (1882).  The intent of this piece in the operetta is a satirical jab at the powers that be.  Regardless, it is still great fanfare music, worthy of our inspirational volunteers –

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  b)  20 pies)