Monday, October 20, 2014

Fall Learning


S has been working on Human Anatomy for science - 
although what has really captured her interest has been the new slides we got for the microscope.


Watching Crash Course videos to go along with our history chapter (thanks for the tip Aunt Jennifer!) 


We're trying All About Reading and All About Spelling this fall. 
Some of my more advanced readers and spellers are obviously enjoying the letter tile board.




Poetry teatime!


C chose this squash from our CSA box for his still life drawing


Making sculptures out of Sculpey


Keeping it real - the table after 4 kids are done with it on a typical day 
(the play dough is my pre-K-er's).




TRIGGER WARNING - dead stuff














I'm touched by my kids reactions to things in nature sometimes. Often when we are out hiking and exploring we come across animal remains, and often the children are interested. At the park they stumbled upon this very newly passed Scrub Jay. The boys and I initially found it, and their reaction was purely scientific, examining as closely as I would let them get, then finally running off. MG disappeared for a time, later to come get me to show me the memorial she had made for the bird:


Sunday, October 12, 2014

Star Wars READS!

So we have a pretty awesome library. The space is nice, the collection is excellent, and there are some really amazing librarians. Such as those who come up with events like this: Star Wars Reads.

I know, right?


Come to the library, do some cosplay... you don't feel alone because all the librarians are also dressed up (it was mostly all the younger librarians, go figure ;)




play with some Legos....


do some sing-alongs 

(Star Wars themed, of course)

(the same librarian Karl also gave an 
awesome dramatic reading from The Strange Case of the Origami Yoda)

But the most awesome item on the agenda started with the making of one's own life saber 
(out of a pool noodle and duct tape of course)...




Then, when your light saber done, prepare for your Jedi training session with 
Jedi Master Ben Kenobi! Freak out! Well, I freaked out.



Then it got kind of awkward because yeah, Darth Vader also came in to give lessons, and while that doesn't exactly work with the cannon, this guy made up for that by 
being super serious and in character.


Eventually the large group proved too unwieldily, and they asked the big kids to sit and wait for a bit, but the bonus was that they eventually got some semi-private Jedi training.

Vader's looking on like, "I need to get those young ones on the dark side like PRONTO."




He told MG that she had much potential for the dark side. Yoikes.






This pic is totally out of focus because Vader was being a total jerk to me. 
I was intimidated. I think he was enjoying it. Fun stuff.