This morning, we jumped right into things. Yesterday, we continued with our "Smart in the Arts" theme and we studied JS Bach - marking down on large poster paper all the things we have learned so far about this great composer. Today, as we continued, we listened to a radio program, Classics for Kids. We listened to music by Bach as well as a story told my the radio narrator. Afterwards, we brought up all time favorite lesson filler; You Tube. We watched many videos on his compositions. The kids also had requests: Prepare Thyself Zion. After that we visited sites dedicated to Edvard Grieg...Simon's favorite classic composer just because he looks "crazy". We are now off to study more about the Revolutionary War and then meet up with friends at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for a docent tour. Quite the cultural day.
Links:
Classics for Kids: http://www.classicsforkids.com/composers/bio.asp?id=2
You Tube :
Bach - cool animation. Toccata and Fugue in D Minor http://youtube.com/watch?v=ipzR9bhei_o
Bach: Rostropovich plays the Prelude from Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 : http://youtube.com/watch?v=LU_QR_FTt3E
Bach: Prepare Thyself, Zion: http://youtube.com/watch?v=BNZVe16N28I
Edvard Grieg: In the Hall of the Mountain King: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3TgVeQ44pEY
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Going Against Nature
Our little lives get complicated; it’s a simple thing – simple as a flower and that is a complicated thing. My world is your world. People like to hear there names. I’m no exception, please call my name.
DAY BOOK LOG 2
A relatively cloudy day, but really cool music is playing during Day Book Time. I made a CD for the boys quite a while ago with some of the music that I listened to in high school. So, today, Simon put in a song from Love and Rockets
So, daybook number 2 – I wonder what other entries will grace cyberspace. Will they all begin with song lyrics and upbeat feeling or will some be of a mother’s angst against her children – wondering why she ever made this step in the first place.
So, three days ago, I turned the magical 40. It would be fun for me to take a cross section of 40 year olds within different cultures and sub cultures – compare accomplishments, failures, dreams un-weaved. I would like to ask a battery of questions :
1. What significant life experiences prove to make up who you are today
2. What has been a remarkable accomplishment in your 40 years of spinning
3. Have you made changes to the way you lived once you turned 40
4. Has turning 40 changed your disposition on life
5. How is life daring you
6. When has your life seemed the most complacent
7. When has your life been the most unsettled
8. How do you find peace
9. When was your life marked by a direction you wish you didn’t have to take
10. Has you life been a bitter sweet symphony - describe
11. What urges you to continue spinning on this wild ride?
Then, after we had a round table discussion, I would give them each a copy of Robert Frosts’ The Road Less Traveled .
Day Book time has come to an end. Till tomorrow.
I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.
Kurt VonnegutUS novelist (1922 - 2007)
DAY BOOK LOG 2
A relatively cloudy day, but really cool music is playing during Day Book Time. I made a CD for the boys quite a while ago with some of the music that I listened to in high school. So, today, Simon put in a song from Love and Rockets
So, daybook number 2 – I wonder what other entries will grace cyberspace. Will they all begin with song lyrics and upbeat feeling or will some be of a mother’s angst against her children – wondering why she ever made this step in the first place.
So, three days ago, I turned the magical 40. It would be fun for me to take a cross section of 40 year olds within different cultures and sub cultures – compare accomplishments, failures, dreams un-weaved. I would like to ask a battery of questions :
1. What significant life experiences prove to make up who you are today
2. What has been a remarkable accomplishment in your 40 years of spinning
3. Have you made changes to the way you lived once you turned 40
4. Has turning 40 changed your disposition on life
5. How is life daring you
6. When has your life seemed the most complacent
7. When has your life been the most unsettled
8. How do you find peace
9. When was your life marked by a direction you wish you didn’t have to take
10. Has you life been a bitter sweet symphony - describe
11. What urges you to continue spinning on this wild ride?
Then, after we had a round table discussion, I would give them each a copy of Robert Frosts’ The Road Less Traveled .
Day Book time has come to an end. Till tomorrow.
I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.
Kurt VonnegutUS novelist (1922 - 2007)
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
DAYBOOK Log
1:38pm on Tuesday.
It is now officially, DAYBOOK time with the kids. What is Daybook? Each child has a composition book and for 15 minutes, they write in their 'daybooks'. Perry and Simon are sitting together with their books on the couch. The two are bent on their knees, leaning forward. Lucy is on her knees, facing the coffee table. I am currently by the fire place. During Daybook time, a selected child gets to pick out music. Lucy has picked out her piano lesson CD. I am hoping that this is a successful time for all of us.
It is quiet, there is music and, crossing fingers, there is writing. We are beginning with 15 minutes and maybe we will need to tone it down to 10. I think this would be a good end to our day. We are supposed to go to the art store today to get canvas for our "Frida Kahlo" self-portraits. We will see if we make it. It is 2pm and we are still doing school. We also have the food shelf to work at this afternoon.
Today has been a good math day for all three kids. Simon is learning about parallel and perpendicular lines. Perry is still dividing fractions and Lucy's big word for the day was Place Value Notation. It scared her at first, but she is understanding it and now able to add three digit numbers together. If she was still sitting in a first grade desk, she would be adding dominoes together with values of 6 and 3. Today, all three kids had their first introductory lesson on the American Revolution. We went around chanting, "No More Tea! No More Tea!" to symbolize the Boston Tea Party and we made a rap song up about the mean King George the III.
Lucy just read me her Daybook entry and in it, her stuffed animal is quoted as saying, "No more Tea! No more TEA!" I think she had a good lesson today :)
2:00 and it is time to stop.
King George the III
Oh What a NERD
He tried to tax Stamps and TEA
So the colonists had a PAR-TY
Dressed as Indians
They went on the boat
They threw the tea over
And it didn’t float
King George got mad
And made a line of boats
No one could get through
The swimming goats
Colonists wanted to be free
They made an army for you and me
The revolution started and guys did fight
They fought all day ‘til the British took flight.
This is the end of our colonial rap
So let’s have fun and take a good nap
By: Simon, Perry, Lucy and Mommy
It is now officially, DAYBOOK time with the kids. What is Daybook? Each child has a composition book and for 15 minutes, they write in their 'daybooks'. Perry and Simon are sitting together with their books on the couch. The two are bent on their knees, leaning forward. Lucy is on her knees, facing the coffee table. I am currently by the fire place. During Daybook time, a selected child gets to pick out music. Lucy has picked out her piano lesson CD. I am hoping that this is a successful time for all of us.
It is quiet, there is music and, crossing fingers, there is writing. We are beginning with 15 minutes and maybe we will need to tone it down to 10. I think this would be a good end to our day. We are supposed to go to the art store today to get canvas for our "Frida Kahlo" self-portraits. We will see if we make it. It is 2pm and we are still doing school. We also have the food shelf to work at this afternoon.
Today has been a good math day for all three kids. Simon is learning about parallel and perpendicular lines. Perry is still dividing fractions and Lucy's big word for the day was Place Value Notation. It scared her at first, but she is understanding it and now able to add three digit numbers together. If she was still sitting in a first grade desk, she would be adding dominoes together with values of 6 and 3. Today, all three kids had their first introductory lesson on the American Revolution. We went around chanting, "No More Tea! No More Tea!" to symbolize the Boston Tea Party and we made a rap song up about the mean King George the III.
Lucy just read me her Daybook entry and in it, her stuffed animal is quoted as saying, "No more Tea! No more TEA!" I think she had a good lesson today :)
2:00 and it is time to stop.
King George the III
Oh What a NERD
He tried to tax Stamps and TEA
So the colonists had a PAR-TY
Dressed as Indians
They went on the boat
They threw the tea over
And it didn’t float
King George got mad
And made a line of boats
No one could get through
The swimming goats
Colonists wanted to be free
They made an army for you and me
The revolution started and guys did fight
They fought all day ‘til the British took flight.
This is the end of our colonial rap
So let’s have fun and take a good nap
By: Simon, Perry, Lucy and Mommy
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Log 1
Short day;
but highly
caffeinated - yeah!
Physics Force: A highly visual and energized production surrounding the incredibly complicated world of physics. A group of comedic physicists demonstrating their science in a "wow factor" way.
Piano Lessons for two: Piano teacher allows Simon to create a new song and put in on the docket for student recital that will soon be coming up.
Tobogganing: Our neighbor, voted the "Best Dad Ever" by children all around, has created a slick toboggan run. Cheeks are rosy, hands are frozen, and "This is awesome!" can be heard from miles around.
Harness the Stillness
On the radio, the Jonas Brothers are singing some song about the year 3000. My three children are in the back seat trying to keep the beat when the oldest takes his brother’s hat off his head. The bickering sets in motion
“Gimme my hat!”
“Gimme my hat” mimics the older one, in a more acute tone.
“I mean it!”
“I mean it” again, with the mimic.
The youngest child decides now would be a decent time to sound off the reasons why she should not be wearing the shoes I picked out for her to wear. The laces are too long, they are hard to tie if they come undone and she used to like the color brown, but now she might like the color brown next year. The drama cry kicks in and the remainder of her debate is unintelligible.
I continue our drive and as I take in a deep breath and tune out the fervent discussions in back;
I find stillness within
My son, Perry, blares a pre-programmed song on the keyboard; while Lucy plays her three note song on the piano in the adjoining room. Simon asks where the microphone is so he can make up a song to the fanatical sound. Before I rein them in; before I scream;
I find stillness within
My children are in full swing with getting their day started. One drops a plate with a waffle upon it, another stubs their toe on the edge of a chair, while the last one spanks his brother with the hand of his stuffed animal. The oldest remarks, “Crazy things happen here every day!” And it is only 8:30 in the morning.
I find stillness within
I choose to make stillness part of my life. God provides every resource I need to continue in my walk. When “crazy things happen here every day” kinds of moments take hold, I can look to Him. It takes shorter than a moment of time to find a sense of peace and strength. I know He has my back and when days are less tame than others and I do not find nor desire those peaceful moments; I know He is there; waiting in the stillness for me to return, waiting for our connection with the other, waiting for my peace to be filled.
“Gimme my hat!”
“Gimme my hat” mimics the older one, in a more acute tone.
“I mean it!”
“I mean it” again, with the mimic.
The youngest child decides now would be a decent time to sound off the reasons why she should not be wearing the shoes I picked out for her to wear. The laces are too long, they are hard to tie if they come undone and she used to like the color brown, but now she might like the color brown next year. The drama cry kicks in and the remainder of her debate is unintelligible.
I continue our drive and as I take in a deep breath and tune out the fervent discussions in back;
I find stillness within
My son, Perry, blares a pre-programmed song on the keyboard; while Lucy plays her three note song on the piano in the adjoining room. Simon asks where the microphone is so he can make up a song to the fanatical sound. Before I rein them in; before I scream;
I find stillness within
My children are in full swing with getting their day started. One drops a plate with a waffle upon it, another stubs their toe on the edge of a chair, while the last one spanks his brother with the hand of his stuffed animal. The oldest remarks, “Crazy things happen here every day!” And it is only 8:30 in the morning.
I find stillness within
I choose to make stillness part of my life. God provides every resource I need to continue in my walk. When “crazy things happen here every day” kinds of moments take hold, I can look to Him. It takes shorter than a moment of time to find a sense of peace and strength. I know He has my back and when days are less tame than others and I do not find nor desire those peaceful moments; I know He is there; waiting in the stillness for me to return, waiting for our connection with the other, waiting for my peace to be filled.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
I just wanted to be sure of you
“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind. "Pooh," he whispered. "Yes, Piglet?" "Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw, "I just wanted to be sure of you."”
The cat is nibbling the last morsels of his dinner while the refrigerator prolongs it's monotonous drone. The house breathes in a couple of creaks and cracks now and again, but presently, there is a repose.
What will you do within this time of quiet? How do you continue to find energy within the stillness? When the day is strong, it's energy carries you, pushes you, enfolds upon you; you barely have a moment to stop and ask for direction. Now, the tranquil begins to slowly saturate your existence; It penetrates your world, and much like the noise and clatter of the earlier day, it too, enfolds upon you. What will you do within this time of quiet?
The cat is nibbling the last morsels of his dinner while the refrigerator prolongs it's monotonous drone. The house breathes in a couple of creaks and cracks now and again, but presently, there is a repose.
What will you do within this time of quiet? How do you continue to find energy within the stillness? When the day is strong, it's energy carries you, pushes you, enfolds upon you; you barely have a moment to stop and ask for direction. Now, the tranquil begins to slowly saturate your existence; It penetrates your world, and much like the noise and clatter of the earlier day, it too, enfolds upon you. What will you do within this time of quiet?
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