Vocabulary

The Spring Academic Banquet

Oooooh!  The Spring Academic Banquet! – actually, we host an academic banquet every night up in my son’s room.  Here is our basic template, gussied up to welcome spring – 

The hors d’oeuvre platter:  this past week, academic thinking mode was activated with mini warm-up exercises, along the line of:
– a word scramble (FLIDAFOD = DAFFODIL)
– iPad keyboard practice (sprout, trout, about, shout, clout, pout, grout)
– practicing: “>”(larger than) and “<“ (smaller than)
– matching:  composer and composition
– tracking the travels of Breton (our favorite shark) on ocearch.org
– ooohing and ahhhing over photos we took to celebrate my son’s 200th volunteer day at the local nursery. 

The main course:  two hearty, satisfying topics: 

– The Physics Book, 250 milestones in physics, arranged chronologically by Clifford A. Pickover, published in 2011. Oh my gosh – I never thought we would be reading about physics and bless our hearts, we are pretty much not comprehending most of the entries – AND YET, we are LOVING THIS BOOK!   Each “milestone” gets a two page spread;  one page for an illustration/photograph and one page for historical references and technical, bewildering explanations.  We skip milestones that are too confusing for the likes of us (the majority of milestones) but – oh! – the feeling of elation when we find a topic we can grasp.

The sort of milestones we have skipped:
The Antikythera Mechanism
Coulomb’s Law of Electrostatics
Soliton

The sort of milestones that fill us with wonder:
the physics of the boomerang – dynamite – the hourglass – Ben Franklin’s kite
the acceleration of falling objects – X-rays – the stethoscope
the thermos – neon signs – Schrödinger’s cat (which we are familiar with thanx to BBT)

Here is something cool we learned: The first Nobel Prize (funded by the invention of dynamite, 1866) ever awarded went to Wilhelm Röntgen for his original work with X-rays (1895). 
This is the book we can’t wait to open every night!

– Polar Explorers – for Kids, Maxine Snowden.  We have just completed part one (Arctic explorers), and are geared up to start part 2 (Antarctic explorers).  Our globe and compass are out every night so we can trace routes attempted by the explorers.  We are now REALLY familiar with:
– the concept of the Northwest Passage 
– the contentious race to the North Pole 
– the difference between the geographic North Pole and the magnetic north pole
– our favorite explorer:  Fridtjof Nansen (brilliant, thoughtful, honest, focused) 
– our least favorite explorer:  Robert Peary (apparently a self centered #$%&+*&%$#)

The salad course:  a Farmer Brown story problem involving veggies necessary for perking up a bowl of tossed greens:

– Farmer Brown is teaching a gardening class the first Saturday of every spring month  (March, April, and May).  Students will be given gardening gloves, clay pots, potting soil and will learn how to plant radishes, cucumbers and tomatoes from seeds.  Farmer Brown figures to spend $15 on supplies per student and has priced the course at $25.
– If 15 eager beginner gardeners sign up for each class, how much profit will Farmer Brown realize? 
A)  $10     B)  $150     C)  $375     D)  $450
– How many students will Farmer Brown prepare for if 20% of the radish/cuke/tomato students decide to enroll in his “Let’s Grow Bell Peppers” summer class?
A)  9  students     B)  15 students     C)  20 students     D)  45 students
(answers at bottom of post)

The dessert:  the icing on our spring banquet cake:

We just finished “Grandpa’s Great Escape”, by David Walliams.   A lot of full throttle wackiness (story AND illustrations) in this book: can friendships, bravery, and a special relationship between a grandfather and his grandson triumph over the mean, the greedy, and the cheaters? (Of course they can, but hold onto your hat, cuz we found this book to be a roller coaster ride from start to finish.)  To top it off (icing on the cake), we learned a bit about the pride of Britain’s Royal Air Force of WWII:  the Spitfire!

Classical Music for a Spring Banquet – 

“Spring”, from the “Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite”, composed by Paul Reade.  We learned that “The Victorian Kitchen Garden” was a British TV series, produced in 1987 (winning an award for best TV music in 1991).  The short recording we listened to features Emma Johnson (on clarinet), of the original theme soundtrack.  Perfect for spring, with bird song scattered throughout the piece –

“Appalachian Spring”, music composed by Aaron Copland for Martha Graham in 1944.  We like the weirdly named “Doppio Movimento” section (yes, we looked this up, we understand what doppio movimento means, but we still think it is a weird name), a respectful interpretation of the Shaker hymn, “Simple Gifts”, accented with with regal fanfare and waves of majestic strength.  We listen for the spring raindrops (or is it the clip clop of horses’ hooves?).  We love this piece –

“Spring Song”, composed in 1841 and found in Book 5 of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Songs without Words”.  We wonder whether Herr M would be amused that this piece would feature prominently in loads of cartoons (most notably, “Spring Song” was the central music theme of the 1939 “Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur” animated cartoon short).  Oh, the royalties he missed out on!

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  D)  $450 and A)  9 students)

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)

A Tree of Good Wishes

Every year we hang antique holiday postcards all over our Christmas tree.  Real postcards from back in the day when a 1 cent stamp covered postage (early 1900’s).  Real postcards with holiday messages displaying splendid cursive penmanship.  Over the years, we’ve loved how the vintage illustrations dress up the tree, but this year my son and I decided to actually read what was written on the postcards:

The majority of the cards:  Wishing happiness! – Wishing good health! 
Wishing many good Xmas wishes! – Wishing a joyful Xmas! – The kindest of wishes! 

MOST POETIC POSTCARD MESSAGE goes to “Charity” (1908), who squeezed into the small writing space:
“Each year to ancient friendships adds a ring. As to an oak, and precious more and more. Without deservingness or help of ours.  They grow, and silent, wider-spread each year. Their unbought ring of shelter or of shade.”  (Either we are too immature to appreciate this or perhaps this is a secret message written in code, but Charity, wherever you are:  CHEERS!).  

MOST UNIQUE CHRISTMAS CARD MESSAGE was certainly from Mattie to Albert (1909):  “Received the chickens – all O.K.”.  Apparently Miss Mattie was not given to effusiveness.  (Effusiveness:  new vocabulary word for my son).

December Reading –

Mrs. Coverlet’s Magicians:   My dad first read Mary Nash’s clever Christmas themed book to my sister and me when it arrived via “The Weekly Reader Children’s Book Club” back in 1962.  I remember asking my dad to re-read the page that listed the names of the household’s kittens:  Mary Mouse, George Soup, Ernest Waffle, Sally Egg, and the baddest kitten, John Napkin.  This book struck a chord with me, so here I am decades later, reading it every single December to my son.  And we are reading the very same precious 1962 edition (although I do have 3 backups for just in case).

Dogtown:  co-authored by Katherine Applegate and Gennifer Choldenko.  This book is a charmer, written from the viewpoint of a dog who has found herself in the local dog shelter (“Dogtown”).  It eases the reader into looking beyond diversity and disability and focusing on real issues (forging friendships/finding a “forever home”).  There were tears when we read the final page (from me, not my son), and my son was glad to see the sequel, “Mouse and His Dog” under the Christmas tree.

December Reading Comprehension – My son smiles big when he sees a new Clem and Clyde reading comp worksheet.  I smile big when I am writing a new Clem and Clyde reading comp worksheet:

Story Problem from the Local Diner –

During December, the diner adds their rich, creamy, “town-famous” hot cocoa to the menu.  Each mug of chocolate deliciousness is topped off with 5 mini marshmallows.  If the diner buys 16-ounce bags of mini marshmallows, and each bag contains 700 mini marshmallows, how many bags will the diner need if they predict serving 3,000 mugs of hot chocolate this December?

a)  5 bags     b)  22 bags    c)  300 bags    d)   700 bags (answer at bottom of post)

Our 2025 Christmas Music Obsession –

Somehow, we came across John Rutter’s “Shepherd’s Pipe Carol” and became enchanted with the lavish harmonies and unexpected rhythms. We found out what a shepherd’s pipe is (lots of definitions: recorder, wooden flute, pan pipes) and we read that composer/lyricist John Rutter, was inspired by Menotti’s one act opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors (first performed in 1951) (so we read a synopsis of Amahl and the Night Visitors).  Rutter wrote this carol in 1966 when he was an undergraduate at University of Cambridge.  We just love this piece!

Finally, looking toward the new year –

Another story problem from the Local Diner:  The diner has set up a New Year’s Resolution bulletin board next to the cashier’s counter.  The board will be up all year.  Anyone can tack up a card with their New Year’s Resolution.  As soon as a goal has been reached, a giant gold star sticker will be put on the card.  

– For example, Miss Olive has made a resolution to clean up her dining room, 
which has turned into a warehouse of clutter.  As soon as Miss Olive’s dining room looks again like a dining room, she gets to stick a gold star on her resolution card. –  

To further encourage success, the diner will serve up a hot fudge sundae to anyone presenting their gold starred resolution card!
– If 250 customers tack up resolutions and at the end of the year there are gold stars on 40% of the resolution cards, how many people did NOT fulfill their New Year’s Resolution?
a)  40  people  b)  60 people     c)  100 people     d)  150 people
– If a hot fudge sundae costs the diner $3, how much money will they have spent on the customers who fulfilled their New Year’s resolution?
a)  $30     b)  $120     c)  $300     d)  $750 (answer at bottom of post)

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
Story problem answers:  b)  22 bags of marshmallows and d)  150 people and c)  $300 

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)

Old Business, New Business, Funny Business

This meeting will now come to order.

Old business:

The chairman requests a report on the Clem and Clyde Reading Comprehension project: 

In the latest reading comp mini stories, fictional characters Clem and Clyde: 

– have learned to juggle – shown proficiency walking with stilts –

– purchased backpacks – painted their bedrooms – participated in a tractor race –

– ventured into the cat tending business – visited a caboose museum in Canada –  

I am continuing to provide a weekly edition of Clem and Clyde adventures and follow up questions. Independently, my son reads the stories and answers the questions.  Is he comprehending what he is reading?  YES!  A continuation of the reading comprehension project is recommended.

The chairman requests a report on the tracking of sharks off the east coast of the USA:  

We’ve been following a group of tagged sharks online at ocearch.org.  Seriously, this is quite entertaining.  Currently, the sharks have been circling the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada and are starting to head south to Florida.  We have a new favorite shark:  Breton.  While other tagged sharks seem to hug the coast of eastern USA, Breton is zigzagging all over the the Atlantic – he has even propelled himself over to the Sargasso Sea (which we studied in August, 2017 – view the “Sea Hunt” post for proof positive).  Breton is a scamp.  A continuation of our Monday night shark tracking is recommended.

The chairman requests a report on current re-reads – 

Surviving the Applewhites – I think this is our 4th time through Stephanie S. Tolan’s never-a-dull-moment treasure.  It is about school projects, an uncontrollable goat, the cuisine of India, “The Sound of Music”, but mostly it is about family and creative passion and personal transformation and it is continually funny.  We love this book and we will read it again.

Cheaper by the Dozen – My son and I seem to read this book about every other year, and as an educator, I benefit from the “pep talk” it delivers.  I am not sure I can summon the high energy that Frank Gilbreth put into teaching his 12 kids, but his rollicking, unconventional, brassy verve inspires me.  The book, published in 1948, was written by two of the Gilbreth children, Frank B. Gilbreth and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.

It’s Halloween – My son and I read through Jack Prelutsky’s Halloween themed poem collection several times every October.  At this point, we know all the words to every poem.  This slender book is a welcomed part of our annual autumn experience.

New business:

The chairman requests a report on new books in the Cool School book basket:

Saving the Ghost of the Mountain – another engrossing journal by Sy Montgomery, documenting a research trip to to Mongolia (Mongolia!!! get the globe out) to track snow leopards.  These darn snow leopards are nigh impossible to find;  their pale spotted fur blends in too well with the surroundings.  By the end of the book, although it is clear that the research team was hiking in snow leopard territory, not one had been spotted (the heartbreak of research).  Nonetheless, this book was a pleasure to open every single night. If we couldn’t get up close and personal with a snow leopard we did become familiar with Mongolian ger housing and ibex goats (preferred gourmet treat for snow leopards).  

Amazing Rivers, by Julie Agnone, illustrations by Kerry Hydnman – so smartly put together, lovely illustrations.  This book covers more than 20 issues relating to rivers,  illustrating these topics with specific rivers of the world.  Maybe our favorite entry in this book:  the New Meuse River (Netherlands) hosts the world’s first FLOATING DAIRY!  It houses 40 cows, robots do the clean up, cow manure is recycled as fertilizer.  This is not our first river book, but it is the best.

Cable Cars of San Francisco – a favorite family member has recently moved to San Francisco and we are so patiently waiting for him to take a series of selfies on a cable car.  Is that too much to ask?  In the meantime, we have contented ourselves with the quick read through of “San Francisco Cable Car”, by Julie Murray.  A thin book with lots of really good photos (but not as good as a selfie from said favorite family member) and just enough information for us.

Key Player – 4th book in a series by Kelly Yang (we’ve previously read “Front Desk”, “Three Keys”, and “Room to Dream”).  We don’t love opening this book every night, because we know we are going to be confronted with some tough realities.  How about the tough reality of racism?  We are heartened to know there are role models, like brave protagonist, Mia.  Important book.

Funny business:

Tom Gates Epic Adventure – It is a happy day in our study room when we have a new Tom Gates book to laugh through.   Author Liz Pichon’s perfect ensemble cast, fabulous doodles, non-stop originality captivates us on every single page.  In this book, Tom desperately needs a haircut, is worried that he is the only one in class who isn’t invited to a birthday party, has to navigate between a family outing and the school “Tropical Disco”. I think we’ve read all 20 books in the series.

The chairman requests an unnecessarily complicated story problem:  

Big excitement!  The  local diner now offers a new item on the kids menu:  “Spell-a-Lunch”.  To place an order, kid customers must create a 5 letter word from the diner’s alphabet menu. The lunch plate will thusly be filled. 

A – apple slices     B – burger     C – carrots ’n’ celery     D – dill pickles    
E – egg salad sandwich     F – fries     G – grilled cheese     H – hot dog    
I – ice cream sandwich     J – jello     K – ketchup     L – lemonade     M – mini raisin box     N – nachos     O – olives     P – peanut butter sandwich     Q – quesadilla    
R – radishes ’n’ ranch dressing     S – sugar snap peas     T – tomato juice    
U – upside down cake     V – vanilla wavers     W – watermelon chunks    
X – extra napkins     Y – yogurt     Z – zucchini bread

For example:
If the child orders a “SHARK” lunch, the plate will offer (S) sugar snap peas, (H) a hot dog, (A) apple slices, (R) radishes with ranch dressing, and (K) ketchup.

– What will be on the lunch plate if the kid orders:
The “FANCY” Lunch?
The “CLIMB” lunch?

– Now for the arithmetic part of the story problem: 

1).  If the “Spell-a-Lunch” concept is a gigantic hit, and the diner sells 50 a week, how much will the diner profit at the end of a year, if each “Spell-a-Lunch” costs the diner $3, and the diner sells each lunch for $7.  

2).  At the end of a year, will there be enough profit money for the diner to donate $1,000 to the local elementary school library? (answers at bottom of post)

To conclude the meeting, the chairman requests a few short and funny orchestral pieces:

  • “Banjoland Buffoonery” –  from Grant Kirkhope’s music score for the the 2008 video game, Banjo-Kazooie:  Nuts & Bolts.  A variety of instruments get their spotlight moment in Kirkhope’s zippy composition, making it easy for my son to recognize the sounds of the bassoon, clarinet, flute, oboe, and I think xylophone.  Boisterously performed by the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. 

  • “The Clog Dance”, from the comic ballet, La Fille Mal Gardée (essentially, The Poorly Supervised Young Lady), composed by Ferdinand Hérold in 1828.  We have been smiling over this bit of music (via iPod) for a few months, and when I showed my son this video clip he was entranced.  The ballet’s basic premise:  young girl in the French countryside has found true love in the handsome Colas, but her widowed mother  (traditionally played by a large man) wishes her to marry the Alain (think village idiot), son of the village’s wealthiest citizen.  The “Clog Dance” hilariously puts the widowed mother front and center.  BTW, the costuming in this production:  charming.

  • “The Typewriter” – yes, yes, yes, we know, all sorts of people have no idea what a typewriter is these days, but can one put together a list of humorous orchestral pieces without including Leroy Anderson’s out-of-left-field composition of 1950, “The Typewriter” ?  No.  Using the typewriter as percussion was inspired AND funny!

This meeting has been adjourned.
Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(Story problem answers:  
The “FANCY” lunch – fries, apple slices, nachos, carrots ’n’ celery, yogurt
The “CLIMB” lunch – carrots ’n’ celery, lemonade, ice cream sandwich, mini raisin box, burger
1).  $10,400  and 2).  the diner can easily afford to donate $1,000)

Global Positioning

My son and I have chosen global positioning as a study theme for 2022.  For every topic we tackle this year we are going to to answer this question: where in the world is this or where did it come from?  (We are primarily limiting our focus to countries.)

Our world map and colored pens are at the ready.  Every time we find out where something originated we mark a color coded dot on the map (example:  goat breeds – a black dot, penguin breeds – a silver dot).  Our big map is becoming our big polka dotted map.  The idea is to find ourselves at the end of 2022 knowing where every country on the globe is located.  

To illustrate:  reading from Jack Byard’s “Know Your Goats”, we learned

  • the Girgentana goat (best in class for truly WOW horns) originated in Sicily:  mark a dot on the island of Sicily.  
  • the Boer goat (super sweet Basset Hound ears) is indigenous to South Africa:  mark a dot on South Africa.
  • the Kiko goat (off-the-charts hardy – resistant to disease, parasites, weather) initially from New Zealand:  mark at dot on New Zealand.
  • we have read about 6 breeds of goat from Switzerland.  When you keep going back to Switzerland to mark yet another dot, you finally learn where Switzerland is (this is for my son’s benefit, please don’t think I didn’t know where Switzerland was).

Our topic line-up so far:  goats, penguins (hey! 18 species of penguins and only 2 live their lives in Antarctica: so, 18 sparkling silver dots scattered about our map’s southern hemisphere), owls, bears, and here’s a change of pace:  breads of the world.  This dot marking is more satisfying than one would think.

But all other topics get a dot on the map, too.  Example:  we are reading Lori Alexander’s well researched, well written, “All in a Drop – How Antony van Leeuwenhoek Discovered an Invisible World” (BTW:  illustrations by Vivien Mildenberger are just so right for this book)(and another BTW:  the timeline at the back of the book is worth the price of the book) .  

  • I can finally pronounce his name without pausing to gather my wits:  “LAYVENHOOK” 
  • this man ground down a lentil shaped lens (hey!  we learned “lens” comes from the word “lentil”) and made a separate microscope for every single item he viewed 
  • kind of chilling: van Leeuwenhoek saw things under his microscopes that had NEVER EVER BEEN SEEN before.  My son and I reflected upon this crazy wonderfulness
  • after seven years of heel dragging, the Royal Society in London finally accepted van Leeuwenhoek as a Fellow (1677)

Yes, yes, yes, but where did he come from?  Delft, The Netherlands.  Bring forth the map and mark a gold dot on The Netherlands.

Current Fiction Reads (and global positioning dots) – 

“Room to Dream”, Kelly Yang.  The third in her very readable and very worthy series.  At the point we are in the story, protagonist Mia’s family is about to embark on a trip (from Anaheim, CA) to see family in China (2 dots marked on the map).

“Surviving the Applewhites”, by Stephanie S. Tolan.  I think this is our 4th time through this relentlessly entertaining book.  With each reading we discover new truths about human nature and the creative spirit.  Location?  North Carolina: another dot on the map.

Back to the Goats: Story Problem – 

Farmer Brown has 6 acres of overgrown weeds that need to be cleared out, so he is hiring a team of goats from neighbor, Farmer Fran (yes, THE Farmer Fran of “Farmer Fran’s Grazin’ Goats”), to get the job done.  Farmer Fran has a herd of 30 goats that can clear a half acre in 3 days. The cost runs $400 per acre.  

1)  How long will it take the goats to clear Farmer Brown’s 6 acres?
a-  3 days     b- 18 days     c- 30 days     d-  36 days

2)  How much will it cost to have the land cleared? 
a- $240     b-  $400     c- $2,400     d-  $4,000

3)  If Farmer Brown hires a local construction company to clear the brush, it will cost $4,000 per acre.  How much will he save if he hires the goat team instead?
a- $0 (they both cost the same)     b- $2,400     c-  $4,000     d-  $21,600
(answers at bottom of post)

Classical Music Time with the Goats – 

Farmer Fran says that her goats work more efficiently if they are munching to music, so my son and I looked for music with a happy, rambunctious melody and rhythm – 

  • “Hoe-Down”, from “Rodeo” by Aaron Copland (1942).  An A+ performance by the USA National Youth Orchestra of 2018.  Thanks to the outstanding percussion section we can imagine the goats’ little hoofbeats all over this exuberant composition –

  • “Maple Leaf Rag”, Scott Joplin (1916).  Oooooh, we found an actual pianola roll played by Scott Joplin.  The tempo is much faster than we’ve ever heard this piece played.  Just the right thing to keep those goats moving – 

  • Alexander Glazunov’s “Symphony No. 4”, movement 2 (1893).  This piece transports us smack into the middle of Farmer Brown’s acreage.  We can feel the fresh air, we can see the goats scampering from one clump of weeds to the next.  They are making short work of this 6 acre task!  This is not exactly rambunctious music, but there is a playfulness and joyfulness present –

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  1) d- 36 days     2) c- $2,400     3) d- $21,600 )

Let’s Get This Party Started!

This is post #148, ever so close to our 150th post; definitely cause for a party, so my son and I started the festivities by laughing through two favorite story problems from the vault – 

From the Oct 2, 2018 post (“Did absence make the heart grow fonder?”):  A  Farmer Brown Story Problem –

Poor Farmer Brown, literally, poor Farmer Brown. He is spending so much money replacing items that his cats, Olive and Owl (the hissing sisters), have destroyed. Over the past twelve months, Farmer Brown spent:

– $300: area rug in kitchen (shredded)
– $150: winter coat (clawed to death)
– $100 each: 3 farmhand bed quilts (each mistaken for litter box)
– $200: office blinds (permanently bent from bird watching)
– $100: large ceramic planter (tipped over so many times that it finally cracked)
– $ 78: small ficus tree (casualty of repeatedly tipped over planter)
– $300: neighbor’s yarn stash (don’t ask)

Judging the past year to be typical, how much should Farmer Brown budget per month to replace things Olive and Owl will most likely have their way with in the coming year? 

A). $59      B). $79      C). $99      D). $119  (answer at bottom of post)

From the September 19, 2015 post (“Lights! Camera!  Edison!”):  A Local Diner Story Problem – 

Art at the Local Diner – The diner is gussying up the place with selected pieces of what some might call art. Of course, they are installing the classic “A Friend in Need” (the rest of us know it as “Dogs Playing Poker”) by Cassius Marcellus Coolidge, purchased for $45. A portrait of Elvis on black velvet has also been purchased for $90. Posters of Batman, Superman, and Marilyn Monroe round out the collection, the lot acquired at a garage sale for $10. 

How much has the diner spent on “artwork”? (Heh, heh, the answer is not “zero”.)

A).  $10     B).  $145     C).  $175     D).  $900 

 Money to purchase the exciting wall decor came from the diner’s tabletop jukeboxes. At 25 cents per song, how many songs had to be played before the art could be purchased? 

A).  45     B).  580     C).  850     D).  1,000  (answers at bottom of post)

We take a break from story problem frivolity to present a few notes from the current academic focus:  our “Shining Stars of the 1860’s” unit –

– Ely S. Parker – “One Real American – The Life of Ely S. Parker”, by Joseph Bruchac.   A larger-than-life man:  Seneca sachem (which we learned is pronounced “say-chem”, meaning chief), Mason, Civil War General (close aide to General Ulysses S. Grant), competent engineer, skilled writer, diplomat, bi-lingual, you name it.  We love this man and we loved this book.

– Abraham Lincoln – “Abraham Lincoln – A Life from Beginning to End”, an Hourly History book by Henry Freeman.  Of course, there are so many books written about Lincoln, but this one speaks to my son’s level of comprehension.  Here is something that caught our attention:  before marrying Lincoln, one of Mary Todd’s previous suitors was NONE OTHER THAN Stephan A. Douglas, YES that Stephan A. Douglas of the Lincoln-Douglas debates!!!!  

– Matthew Brady –  “Matthew Brady, Historian with a Camera”, by James D. Horan.  This book includes 450 of Matthew Brady branded photographs (many were taken by his trained assistants).  Totally interesting to us:  a Matthew Brady photograph of Lincoln is used for both the $5 bill and the copper penny.

– Harriet Tubman –  “Harriet Tubman – A Life from Beginning to End”, another Hourly History book.  Excellent resource.  This caught our attention:  as Harriet Tubman would guide fugitives along the underground railroad, she would change the tempo of the spiritual “Go Down Moses” to indicate whether it was safe to move forward.  Of course, we had to listen to “Go Down Moses” and consider the parallels between the tasks of Moses and Harriet Tubman:

Back to the party!  What is a festive gathering without a prize drawing? 

I have set up a container for my son to draw three surprise classical music suggestions for Saturday night listening.  I did not know this was going to involve a learning curve – my son does not have the grasp of selecting only three items from the container, but we will get there.  Here are last Saturday’s winners –

– “The Hen Symphony” – from Haydn’s Symphony No. 83 in G minor, “The Hen”, movement 4, (1785).  We LOVE this super merry movement and have probably listened to it 15 times so far.  We sort of think we can hear a few measures from “Three Blind Mice” stuck right in the middle:

– “Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” – from Handel’s Old Testament-based (Book of Kings and Book of Chronicles) oratorio, “Solomon” (1748).  The 18th century “Englishness” of this piece almost makes us smirk, but then we hear those oboe harmonies and all is forgiven:

– “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3” in G major, movement 3 –  from Bach’s 1721 assemblage of the 6 concertos.  Hurries along at a fast clip.  Who can’t like this?

As if two story problems and a surprise drawing for music listening were not enough, there is EVEN MORE partying to come in the next two blog posts! 

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answers:  D.  $119, B.  $145,  B.  580 songs)

A Glimpse and a Glance

What was life like for my son’s grandparents, who were teenagers during the Great Depression and young adults during World War II?  

We got a glimpse of the Great Depression – through Cheryl Mullenbach’s first-rate book “The Great Depression for Kids”:

  • setting the scene for the Great Depression: the roaring twenties
  • Herbert Hoover’s policies and FDR’s “New Deal”
  • and when things could not get any worse: the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s
  • differences between city schools and country schools
  • fun diversions:  roller derbies, the circus, Shirley Temple
  • neighbor helping neighbor, farmer helping farmer  (very heartening)
  • vocabulary and concepts defined:  migrant workers, prohibition, the stock market, banks collapsing, breadlines, striking workers, rationing, silent movies /“talkies”, rural, urban

We got a glimpse of the early days of World War II – through Richard Peck’s YA novel, “On the Wings of Heroes”.  Peck’s short chapters seamlessly combine the realities of a nation at war with a middle school student’s realities:

  • an adored older brother serving in the air force
  • rationing (we did not know that even shoes were rationed)
  • collection drives for the war effort (rubber tires, paper, all types of metal), culminating in the most wonderful town event:  a parade of rusted out jalopies headed for the scrap yard
  • ineffectual teachers vs. dynamite craftier-than-a-fox teachers
  • classroom bullies (who are served their just desserts)
  • the best friend
  • the hilarious next door neighbors

This is a comforting book set during nervous times and a perfect follow up to our study of the Great Depression.

A glimpse at trees and the high seas – 

“Trees, a Rooted History” –  Socha and Grajkowski explore 32 tantalizing tree topics and team them with clever, superbly executed illustrations.  Our favorite two-page spreads: prehistoric trees (lots of fern-like leaves), the tallest trees (FYI, the tallest tree in the world:  “Hyperion”, a coast redwood in California), tree houses (why yes, we would like to stay in the treehouse on the grounds of  Amberley Castle in England), and the art of bonsai (who can’t love the sheer art and patience evident in a bonsai tree?).

We concluded our tree unit with a fill-in-the-blank version of the Joyce Kilmer’s poem of 1913, “Trees”.  (This was easy for my son – we have read this poem many times.)

Speaking of trees:  a Farmer Brown story problem – Farmer Brown’s cat, Olive, loves to scamper to the top of the front yard apple tree, but is jittery about the descent.  Smart thinking Farmer Brown has been successful in coaxing Olive down the tree with a fragrant offering of tuna.  If a can of tuna costs $4 and Farmer Brown needs to lure Olive down around 7 times a month, will $400 be enough to cover the cost of Olive’s “rescue tuna” this year?  (answer at bottom of post)

deep sea voyage

“Professor Astro Cat’s Deep-Sea Voyage” – YAY! We have the new book by Dr. Dominic Walliman and Ben Newman!  My son and I have loved every book by this team (especially “Professor Astro Cat’s Frontiers of Space”).  And once again, THIS IS WHAT A LEARNING EXPERIENCE SHOULD LOOK LIKE IN BOOK FORM.  We are only half way through, but here is what has grasped our attention so far:

  • How low can you go?  My son and I both shivered as we read about depth zones in the ocean.  How it gets darker/colder and darker/colder and darker/colder the lower you go (thank heavens for deep sea vents) .  We found the Mariana Trench (the deepest known place on Earth) on our globe and pondered how anybody found this in the first place.
  • Ocean birds:  We are giving “A+ for Effort Awards” to cormorants, sea birds that can dive to 130 feet below sea level, and Arctic terns, who migrate further than any other animal on Earth (from north pole to south pole).
  • Octopuses have NINE brains: each arm has a brain – after getting over the semi-creepiness of this, we mused over the mechanics of an arm having a brain.
  • Most thought provoking:  those who have viewed fish tanks at any aquarium will have seen schools of fish moving together quickly and almost poetically.  Now that we think about it, we have never seen fish bumping into each other.  WHY?  Because fish have something totally confusing called the LATERAL LINE SYSTEM which enables them to detect vibrations, movement, and pressure from their surroundings.  

manderinefish

  • The utterly elegant manderinefish:  our new favorite fish 

A glance at ants –  If you need to know about ants, may we recommend, “The Life and Times of the Ant”, by Charles Micucci.  It is simply jammed with all sorts of stuff we budding ant scholars did not know previously, like:  

  • an ant scholar is properly known as a myrmecologist (what an RTW – really tough word)
  • a queen ant can live for up to 15 years and can produce 1million eggs annually
  • all worker ants are ladies;  the only job for male ants is fathering ant young ’uns
  • ants rely on the senses of touch, smell, sound, and taste (but not sight)

Concluding thought:   ants have been busy on Earth for around 100 million years.  They are smart, strong and supremely organized.  Homo sapiens have been busy on Earth for less than 1 million years.  Some of us are smart, some are strong, few are supremely organized.  No wonder we cannot get a handle on how to deal with ants in the sugar bowl.

Classical Music Time – we created a soundtrack for busy ants:

  • Moto Perpetuo by Niccolo Paganini,  1835.  We’re imagining ants with teeny iPods, working non-stop to the rhythm of Paganini’s composition.  Do they notice how this four and a half minute piece seems to be managed on a single breath by trumpet virtuoso, Wynton Marsalis?

  • Arrival of the Queen of Sheba, composed in 1748 by George Frideric Handel for his oratorio, “Solomon”.  All hail the Queen of the Ant Colony!  After producing all those eggs, this little lady deserves all the royal pomp that Handel can muster – 

  • Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4, movement 3 – Oh my, it is as if Tchaikovsky was writing about ants marching toward the ultimate prize:  A PICNIC BASKET.  There they go!  March, march, march, up and down little hills on the trail, no time for funny business.  But wait!  About a minute and a half in, AN OBSTACLE in the middle of the path!  A big leaf perhaps?  But take heart, quick thinking ants maneuver around the leaf and by minute 3, they are back on track.  What a grand ending as the picnic basket is reached (even the orchestra’s conductor is jubilant!).  Treasures (maybe a potato chip and cookie crumbs) are hoisted to bring back to the Queen, and the march back to the colony’s nest commences.  (My son LOVED the commentary and welcomed it again in the next night’s music line-up)(success!) –

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

The Fireproof Safe

safe third

Prologue-
Q: Did my son know what a safe was?
Q: Did my son know what “fireproof” meant?
Those resolved, Q: If my son owned a factory that produced fireproof safes, how would he mark the occasion of the sale of the 20,000th safe?  (Wait, what?)  Would he do what the Wertheim Company of Vienna did in 1869?
The story – I estimate that my son and I have listened to Joseph Strauss’s “Feuerfest Polka” about 240 times.  It is fast-moving, happy, accented with the pinging of a hammer on an anvil, and comes with an adorable story – the polka was commissioned in 1869 by Franz von Wertheim, whose firm produced fireproof safes (feuerfest means fireproof in German).  The music was in celebration of Wertheim’s 20,000th safe! My son and I spent time imagining a company today commissioning a polka for the 20,000th production of anything.  This is SO GOLD.
“Feuerfest Polka”: the story continues – Because of the hammer/anvil pinging, we’ve been referring to Strauss’s piece as the “Blacksmith Polka” for years.  But last week it occurred to me that my son might not know what a blacksmith was.  Did he?  No.  Oh, dear.  Time to find out about blacksmithing.  We chose “History of the Blacksmith in Photographs” by Bryan Crawmer, and “The Backyard Blacksmith” by Lorelei Sims.  Both exceptionally helpful.  To conclude this unit I read aloud (the quite lengthy), “The Village Blacksmith” by Longfellow.

blacksmith books

Epilogue – Because of a very short piece of music, my son now knows about blacksmithing and fireproof safes.  AND BTW, The Wertheim Company is still making safes.

All is calm – We have just finished “The Prairie Builders” a superb book by Sneed B. Collard III, for which he received the American Association for Advancement of Science Award in 2006.  It chronicles the reconstruction of an 8,000+ acre tall grass prairie in Iowa, beginning in 1992 – the site preparation, the reintroduction of native seeds, bison, elk, butterflies. The pureness, calmness of both endeavor and writing reminds us of “The Ox-Cart Man” (Donald Hall/ Barbara Cooney, Caldecott Medal 1980).  Both soothing reads make us appreciate focused, honest work.

“How Trains Work” – a comprehensive, high energy, vibrantly illustrated Lonely Planet Kids Book. Our two favorite takeaways:
– We found out exactly how a funicular works.  We have known about funiculars, but did not have a grasp on the mechanics. (See blog post of November 22, 2014, “Mounting Interest”) (the post is one of my faves)
– We were reading about suspension railways (sort of like an upside-down monorail) and came across this SHOCKINGLY AWFUL YET HILARIOUS account: in 1950, for an ill-thought-out circus publicity stunt, an elephant named Tuffi was traveling on a suspension railway in Germany.  She FREAKED OUT and jumped out of the train (40 feet above ground). LUCKILY she landed in a river and was rescued. Well! This certainly speaks to the sturdiness of that particular suspension railroad.

Reading for great pleasure – We have just started Richard Peck’s book of short stories, “Past Perfect, Present Tense” and it is so A+.  The introduction, an essay on the short story genre, should be required reading. Two points stuck with us –
(semi-direct quote)  “Stories present the metaphor of change, to prepare the readers for changes coming in their lives.  NON-READERS WILL NEVER BE READY” (I added the caps)
(semi-direct quote)  “A short story isn’t easier to write than a novel.  It has less time to plead its case.”
Last night we read the first story in the collection, “Priscilla and the Wimps”, AND LOVED IT.  In the span of 4 pages, the best short story we have ever read.  First of all, THE TITLE.  Second of all, SWEET JUSTICE! Oh my gosh, the ending!  This is re-read worthy.

Story Problem – Le Fictitious Local Diner has an app! (not really)(for story problem purposes only) – And what’s on the app?  Videos of cooking demonstrations from local celebrity/diner chef Jeanette.  The diner is paying Chef Jeanette $50 for each uploaded video and $1 for every view.  Views so far:
– “Bake your own Potato Chips with Chef Jeanette”:  20 views
– “Diner Cherry Pie with Chef Jeanette”:  15 views
– “Diner Healthy Diet Plate with Chef Jeanette”:  0 views
– “Hot Dogs in Pastry Dough with Chef Jeanette”:  25 views
– “Let’s Make Salmon Treats for your Cat with Chef Jeanette”:  500 views
At this point, how much does the diner owe Chef Jeanette?
A) $250    B) $560    C) $810    D) $1,000 (answer at bottom of post)

From our classical music time –
To honor short stories:  the very shortest piece on our iPod – Glenn Gould’s lightning fast interpretation of Bach’s Invention No. 13 in A minor (composed in the early 1700’s).  Usually this piece takes just over a minute, Gould has shaved off 15 seconds –

To honor the Regal Fritillary butterfly, reintroduced to the prairie project:  a composition for piano and two flutes, “Deux Papillons” (Two Butterflies) by Emil Kronke, composed in 1739.  Spritely performance in gorgeous cathedral setting –

And of course, to honor Franz von Wertheim’s 20,000th fireproof safe, Josef Strauss’s “Feuerfest Polka”:  this performance is pretty cute, with conductor and “local blacksmith” fighting for control of the orchestra –

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(Story problem answer: C). $810)

Mid-March Roundup

They glide through the air with the greatest of ease – We are reading “Catching Air”, a book focused on GLIDING ANIMALS (non-bird animals that seemingly fly from tree to tree).  This is our third book by Sneed B. Collard III, whose writings on lizards and bird beaks (for heavens sakes) have made us enthusiastic observers.   As usual, the material he presents in “Catching Air” makes us feel super scholarly:

  • we now know that large eyes on animals are suggestive of a nocturnal nature
  • we now know the difference between flying, gliding, and parachuting animals
  • we now know what a patagium (vocab) is and we know how to pronounce it
  • we discussed the difference between a carnivore, herbivore, and omnivore
  • we are now among those who know where the largest, second largest, and third largest islands in the world are (the largest, of course, is Greenland – where there are no gliding animals, but there are gliding animals aplenty in Papua New Guinea, the second largest island and Borneo, third largest island) 
  • last night we read about the creepiest creepiest creepiest thing:  the air gliding snakes of Borneo     

Editing Triumph:  Hans Christian Anderson – I wanted my son to understand references that originated from Anderson’s writings, like “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and “The Ugly Duckling”, so we read from a most elegant edition of his fairy tales, compiled by Noel Daniel (published in 2013).  This book is thoughtfully organized and filled with sumptuous surprises.  There is a lot of gold ink, short informative sidebars, and each fairy tale is teamed up with its own illustrator  (the likes of Maurice Sendak and Arthur Rackham).  THIS is the edition that anybody interested in Hans Christian Anderson should own. 

Quick Notes –

  • Hokusai:  After finishing “The Old Man Mad about Drawing” (Francois Place), learning more about Katsushika Hokusai, woodcut print master of the late 1700’s, I presented my son with 4 Hokusai poster possibilities for his room.  He selected the classic, “The Great Wave”.  Even in poster form, it is more spectacular than I had imagined.
  • Marsupials:  First of all, “marsupial” is a fun word to say.  Marsupial, marsupial, marsupial.  We finished a unit on marsupials – those mammals that nurture their newborns in mom’s front pocket – except for those marsupials whose mom’s don’t have a front pocket (which our book should have expanded upon)(editing disappointment)(sigh).
  • Compass directions:  I did a compass check with my son.  Did he know north, south, east, and west?  YES.
  • Hank the Cow Dog:  It has been years since we have read through the John R. Erickson series.  This is the ridiculousness we need to conclude each day.  We pretty much love Hank.

Complaint Department:  My son and I are studying architectural landmarks.  I am not mentioning our resource because this book could have been so much better.  I would not be giving this editor a raise anytime soon:

  • Our book provides only vague references to each landmark’s location, as if the exact whereabouts were a secret.  Seriously?  No nearby city mention?  No COUNTRY mention?  How can there not be a little map accompanying each entry?   
  • Whereas all entries are interesting, are they all really landmarks?  Are the Roman Baths of England a landmark?  Are the the buried terra-cotta army figures in China a landmark?
  • Often the book waxes on about a particular object of fascination (fabulous mosaics, a special stone, etc) associated with a particular landmark, and then does not include a photo of the object.  AAAAACK.

Nevertheless, we do have our favorite landmarks:

  • First place honors go to the hundred foot tall Christ the Redeemer of Rio de Janeiro.  Monumental simplicity.  Of interest:  funding ran low during construction, so the Vatican stepped in to assist.  Nice.
  • Second place, measuring in at 185 feet (on one side) is the relentless engineering fiasco and utterly charming Leaning Tower of Pisa.  

Story problem – a landmark at Farmer Brown’s roadside produce stand!  In the hopes of making his produce stand a tour-bus destination, Farmer Brown has commissioned a sculptor to create a 10 foot high bronze ear of corn, to be positioned near the stand.  That should get everyone’s attention!  The “artwork” will be true to actual corn proportions.  If there are 50 kernels of corn in a typical row on a corncob, each kernel must be approximately how wide in the sculpture?  (answer at bottom of post)

A)  2.5 inches     B)  5 inches     C)  7.5 inches     D)  2.5 feet

Classical Music Time – earlier in this month (MARCH), a local radio station hosted a “vote for your favorite march” opportunity.  We listen to marches every Friday night throughout the year, so my son definitely knew the three he was voting for:

  • Marche Militaire No. 1 in D major, composed as a piano four-hands piece by  Franz Schubert and first published in 1826.   Perhaps best described as a ballroom march, Marche Militaire is also effectively used in the cute-as-anything Disney cartoon of 1932, “Santa’s Workshop” (my son LOVES this cartoon – frankly, I love this cartoon).  Note:  the extremely competent pianists in this clip do take quite a bit of time to get started:

  • March of the Prague Student Legion, by Bedrich Smetana, composed in 1848.  This is a march that fills you with nationalistic pride, makes you throw your shoulders back and stand up straight.  We love the snappy pace of this particular recording.  As an added listening bonus, tucked into the middle of the march, my son and I listen for a few bars of “The Farmer in the Dell”:

  • The Imperial March (Darth Vader’s theme),  John Williams’ genius nod to aggression and menace.  In this film clip, John Williams conducts the LA Philharmonic Orchestra (complete with Jedi and Mr. Vader):

Welcome to the best part of my day!
– Jane BH
(story problem answer:  A)  2.5”)