A day with

We've had a few stressful things thrown our way over the past few weeks, so having any down time is a real treat.

As of January first I have become the big cheese of the library used book sales, and while I know someone had to do the job, and I do have a few good ideas for the event, it is definitely an increase in responsibility and time. It helps immensely to have a little boy who is a) so helpful when we go in to work, and b) so keen on reading all the books he can get his hands on (which is a lot in the sale room) when he can't help. Yesterday my dad helped us shift shelf upon shelf of alphabetized books around the room until we had tweaked organization a bit. Today Calvin spent an hour helping me weed through books that have been around a little too long and need to go on "sale" (as if 1.00 for a hardcover wasn't already "on sale"). Thanks, family.

The cold in our house is still threatening a coup, so the rest of the day we spent with tea and books. Some math, some piano, and Calvin was suddenly bent on getting back into our study of early humans so we revisited our "A Day with..." books by Fiorenzo Facchini (Homo habilis, Homo erectus, Neanderthal Man, and Homo sapiens). We both love these books—each is full of facts, dates, and images of archeological finds with a short story interspersed to bring those things to life.

Having mapped the human migration out of Africa we are working our way into American history and I'm loosely tapping an Intellego Unit Study for that. I have the American History Volume I studies for both grades K-2 and 3-5 and I'm blending them a bit, picking and choosing the parts I like from each. I think I've said before that I could probably have done this on my own, but I'm finding that there is something to be said for having a basic guide to follow—less late night planning involved.

Today we told each other our own A day with stories about living as hunter gatherers. Calvin decided that Jon was out hunting with a spear and a torch while we were in charge of gathering water in a gourd and collecting berries and tubers. We were in charge of the fire as well. I think this is reflected well in the illustrations he made to go along.

The men are returning...see their torches?

There will be meat for dinner (it's hanging up there) and a woman with a gourd of water...

Now we are back in current times. Chicken soup for dinner again (we will get healthy, we will), and there is snow in the forecast. Actual, honest-to-goodness snow. I hope it comes.

5 days: and counting

I remember Christmas as kid. Those last few days seemed to shimmer and vibrate with excitement. Presents piled up around the tree, the stockings were hung, school was out, joy, joy, joy. I'm sure excitement around the already riveting holiday is exacerbated by increased amounts of sugar. We've baked (and cooked) for one party or another at least once weekly since Thanksgiving.

So now that the presents are mostly bought and wrapped, the cards are out, the crafts are made, I'm trying to keep the rest of this week as normal as possible. Swimming lessons, library trips, some errands, laundry.

Calvin finished the last section of his Alpha math book today and filled out the accomplishment certificate in the back for himself. Then he asked for more. Good thing I ordered the next book.

He's still on a major Magic Tree House kick right now, his focus being on Christmas in Camelot and A Ghost Tale For Christmas, of course. He's still playing away at the piano.

And today he tackled learning how to draw reindeer, using this tutorial. I love their antlers.

How my five year old beat me in Monopoly

Actually, that can't be what this post is about because I'm not really sure how it happened. No I wasn't playing seriously cut throat or anything, but it's not like I let him win, either. I think the real key is that at five you don't have a strong sense of risk/benefit analysis so caution tends not to get in the way when luck is there to help you out. In any case, I ended up with a total of $63 to my name, all properties mortgaged, and I owed him $1,150 for the rent on Illinois Ave with hotel. If nothing else I'm finding that Monopoly is a great way to use math, especially creative math and math in your head, and it's also a great way to stretch patience, memory, and attention—we'd been playing this game on and off for two days.

It's been great to have a couple of days just at home. Math, monopoly, making dinner. A little piano, a lot of coloring and art. Calvin made a model T-Rex (which he affectionately dubbed "Model T"), and he's got a dinosaur diorama in the making (he's still on the background painting phase). He wrote a book on matters, as in the states of matter. We're making our way into the Cenozoic era finally so we re-watched Walking with Prehistoric Beasts and we'll do the same with Walking with Cave Men. No video is perfect, but we've been happy with this series in general and of course Calvin loves them.

Non sequitur?

Meet our oddly metallic purple and blue jumping spider. He was tiny and cute and very happy in our garden. Five years ago I would have rapidly fled the scene, but yesterday I used my own (gloved) hand to carefully coax him into a cup so we could get some pictures. This makes me happy.

And on an unrelated note, but entirely worth mentioning, about seven months ago Calvin became determined to play Monopoloy. At the time he knew his numbers, but we hadn't spent any time on math as a subject because it hadn't held much interest. The frustration of Monopoly without prior arithmetic sparked that interest and got us trying Math-U-See, which has served us well in its own way. Now, seven months later, Monopoly has made a comeback, and to drastically different results. The learning wasn't a rush—it was all on his own schedule, and of his desire and determination, and he is pleased with the results, or maybe he just takes them for granted. That warms my heart.

That is to say...life is going well.

Help from a friend