Keep a Goin

Stat Chat

The Statistics:  How many books did we read in 2024?

Number of books started:  53
Number finished:  46
46 might seem commendable, but my friend Shannon made it a goal to read 1,000 books to her toddler grandson in 2024.  On December 24th they shared book number 1,000.  Whoa.  Shannon!  You are making us look like slackers!
Number abandoned:  5
We do not believe that we would be better people if we continued to read books that did not entice. 
Number still being read:  2
Number of fiction books:  19
Number of non-fiction books:  34

Books to be re-read because they rank high on the awesome scale:
The Labors of Hercules Beal, Gary D. Schmidt
Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums, Bob Eckstein
The Mona Lisa Vanishes, Nicholas Day
While Mrs. Coverlet was Away, Mary Nash
Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians, Mary Nash
Schooled, Gordon Korman
Home of the Brave, Katherine Applegate

Our very very favorite reads of 2024:
Fiction:  The Labors of Hercules Beal, Gary D. Schmidt
Non-fiction:  The Mona Lisa Vanishes, Nicholas Day

Currently reading:

– Marine One, by Colonel Ray “Frenchy” L’Heureux.  Compellingly written.  We are learning what it takes to be in charge of the US presidential helicopter (always referred to as “Marine One”, as presidential helicopter transport falls under the management of the US Marines).   These helicopters are so well maintained and the pilots are so well trained that since its first commission (1947) there have been NO accidents or mishaps.  New concepts for my son:  Marine boot camp – hovering – a squadron – a lift package. 

– The Travel Book, a Journey through Every Country in the World, a Lonely Planet Kids book.  So, first question:  as of January 1, 2025, how many countries are there in the world?  Sorry, trick question:  an internet search has totals ranging form 195 to 257.  (sigh)  In The Travel Book, 204 countries are showcased  (each gets a single page of facts and quirky points of interest), so we are going with 204.  We are learning about one country a night and finding its location on our globe.  We should be reporting back in a little less than 7 months.

Reading Comprehension:  Since last report, my son is still smiling over our Clem and Clyde stories.  Latest antics involve:

sports fans – treasure hunting – whittling – Halloween socks – Thanksgiving napkins   
orchestra membership – creating a dazzling Christmas tree

The Poetry Project:  memorization is coming along for the three poems we began with (“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, “Keep a Goin’”, and “The Swing”).  Newest addition to the unit is “Sea Fever” by John Masefield.

New new new!  We are starting to do VERY EASY crossword puzzles!  Santa brought a book that looks youngster-ish, but I am guessing that whomever put it together had some sort of teaching background.  It advances from the simplistic to mid-level difficulty crossword puzzles at a thoughtful pace.  My son is experiencing success and likes delving into this book.

A Long and Complicated Farmer Brown Story Problem:  

Weather is chilly in January on the ranch, so Farmer Brown decided to purchase 4 pair of thick wool socks for each of his 5 farm hands.  The socks cost $30 per pair, but the “Sock Hop Sock Shop” was having a special deal for the month of January:  2 pair of socks for $50!  
– So, Farmer Brown purchased how many pair of socks?
a)  4 pair     b)  5 pair     c)  20 pair     d)  30 pair
– And how much did Farmer Brown pay (not including tax) for his farm hands’ socks?
a)  $120     b)  $150     c)  $200     d)  $500
– And how much more would he have paid if he had bought the socks in February?
a)  $100     b)  $50     c)  $30     d)  $20

But here is the thing:  Farmer Brown was so busy chatting with his old friend Hank (you know, of Hank’s Harmonica Orchestra), that instead of buying MEN’S sized socks, he purchased WOMEN’S sized socks and there was a “no return” policy on the “special deal” merchandise.  So Farmer Brown decided to donate the socks to the town’s silent auction fundraiser (to repair the roof on the town’s bingo parlor) and had to return to the “Sock Hop Sock Shop” and buy the right sized socks for his farm hands.
– How many pair of socks did Farmer Brown purchase when all was said and done?
a)  8 pair     b)  20 pair     c)  30 pair     d)  40 pair
– How much did Farmer Brown spend (not including tax) buying all the socks (good thing it was January!)?
a)  $1,200     b)  $1,000    c)  $350     d)  $80  
(answers at bottom of post)

Classical Music to Welcome 2025 – 

La Réjouissance, movement IV, from Handel’s “Music for the Royal Fireworks”, composed in 1749.  This is a robust fanfare worthy of welcoming 2025.  Should the occasion arise where we require a fanfare, this piece would be the one –

Pines of the Appian Way, movement IV, from Ottorino Respighi’s “Pines of Rome”, composed in 1924.  We join the composer trudging through discord, sorrow, darkness in the first half of this movement, but the back half of the movement – OH!  An overwhelming and lengthy crescendo gives reason for turning from sadness and welcoming the glories a new year can bring –

Sunrise, movement I, from Ferde Grofé’s “Grand Canyon Suite”, composed in 1930. This  music reminds us of the sheer privilege of welcoming a new day (and why not a new year?).  Bird song at the beginning of the piece is the first hint that all is going as it should be going – and it is NONE of OUR doing.  Sunrise in the hands of a higher power.  We have added “Sunrise” onto our Sunday night classical music list –

Welcome to the best part of my day.
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  c)  20 pair, d)  $500,  a)  $100, d)  40 pair,  b)  $100.  Inspiration for this story problem:  my husband gifted me with 4 pair of MEN’S SIZED wool socks for Christmas.  Ooops.)

P.S.  My biggest news!  I was part of a BBC Radio 4 program that was broadcast on New Year’s Day!  The program series (“Soul Music”) presents superbly constructed half-hour episodes that focus on a single piece of music.  “Sailing By”, composed by Ronald Binge in 1963, was chosen for the New Year’s Day show.  It is a composition that is well recognized by British citizens as it is played every night before the late shipping report broadcast.  I have written short thoughts about this sweet slumberous waltz in 3 different blog posts.  Anyway, if you have a spare half hour, here is the link.  My raspy/twangy voice is positioned about 2/3rds into the program.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0026999

and here is the entire piece –

 

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”.

Le Menu du Jour

~Oh, what a tantalizing offering~

Appetizers –
May we suggest – une petite matching quiz to review things we’ve been learning about lately?

Followed by – a bit of drawing with pastels, focusing on TEXTURE

matching-quiz

Zen perhaps – a game of hangman:  last night’s word was “vowel” – my son has just learned the difference between vowels and consonants (my bad for not explaining this YEARS ago).  Now that he recognizes the prevalence of vowels in all words, the time spent playing our hangman games has significantly decreased.

For le final appetizer delicacy – a story problem from Le Fictitious Local Diner:
The diner’s back room is being decorated with crepe paper streamers for a homecoming banquet, and it is going to involve THE PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM! (FYI, my son understands square roots, but to cut WAY down on time, we used the iPad for this calculation).

green-crepe-paper-left-sideblue-crepe-paper-roll

The room measures 15 by 20 feet and the party planners want to criss cross royal blue and bright green (school colors) crepe paper streamers from the ceiling corners.  Streamers are to be taped and artistically twisted together from one corner of the room, diagonally, to the other side of the room.  OMGOSH, right before their eyes, a HYPOTENUSE!
1) how far is it from one corner to another (diagonally across the room)?

2) how many feet of streamer are needed to stretch from one corner diagonally across the room to the other corner, if 1.5 times the hypotenuse are needed to achieve an esthetically pleasing twist?

3) if both colors will be used from corners to corners, making sort of an “X” in the middle of the room, how many feet will be needed of each color? (answers at bottom of post)

astro-cat-1

Le Main Course –
A favorite book author team, Dr. Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman, who put together “Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space”, have a new A+++ book out (YAY!):  “Professor Astro Cat’s Atomic Adventure” – another case of we-cannot-wait-to-open-it-every-night.  So far, we have learned about gravity (we threw a whole bunch of things up in the air and watched the inevitable happen), the scientific method (brother Jim is a molecular biologist, so we are taking a personal interest in the scientific method), the periodic table (organizational perfection), protons and electrons (the speed of those elections mesmerizes us).  We are spellbound by Professor Astor Cat’s topics – well chosen, well explained; and graphics – SPLENDID.  This book should be on everyone’s Christmas list.

For side dishes – our current fiction novel: “Gabby Duran and Troll Patrol”. YES.  And a reading from our current Tom Gates book (“Tom Gates Extra Special Treats – not”). YES.

To cleanse zee palate – a poem:  tonight’s selection, “Keep a Goin’” by Frank L. Stanton, a journalist for the Atlanta Constitution newspaper and Poet Laureate of Georgia, appointed in 1925.  This poem has been stuck in my head for decades (when my sister was in the 4th grade, she chose to memorize this poem, and in the process, said it aloud so many times that everyone in the family to this day can recite it).  Thank heavens it is fun, uplifting, grateful.  Good for everybody.

And finally, le dessert tray – three elegant morsels from Frederic Chopin:

strawberries

“Grande Valse Brilliante”, a waltz composed by Chopin in 1834 and used in the ballet “Les Sylphides”, which premiered in 1909.  Everybody who has taken ballet lessons has tour jete’d across the dance studio (hypotenuse style!) to this absolutely charming waltz:

“Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor”, AKA “The Funeral March” to ALL kids (“pray for the dead and the dead will pray for you”), was composed in 1839.  A perfectly creepy recording from 1910:

“The Minute Waltz”, more properly known as Chopin’s “Waltz in D-flat major”, composed in 1847.  A bit of false advertising, as this piece actually lasts just over 2 minutes:

Bon appetit!
Welcome to the best part of my day!
Jane Heiserman
(Story problem answers:  25 feet,  37.5 feet,  75 feet)