Little Blue School

How to Make Chess Team T-Shirts Using Fabric Spray Paint

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 13:28:00 +0000

For full instructions on this project, see my other blog post about making t-shirts here. I used the same general technique for making the chess team shirts but with some specific embellishments.

Materials:

Aerosol fabric paint. Something like this. In black.
White t-shirts.
A cardboard rectangle big enough to slide inside the shirts.
Xacto knife and cutting board.
Freezer paper.
Iron
Iron-on letters (optional)

1. Find or draw your design. You are looking for a simple silhouette of a chess piece. You can use whichever piece is your team's favorite. We used kings because our coach refers to the kids as King Benny, King Ben, etc. Maybe you want to be knights or even pawns. You know, the pawns are the most powerful pieces on the board. Or something. Look for something very simple in silhouette, like this:

2. Print out your design at about 10 inches high.
3. With an Exacto knife and cutting board, cut the design out of freezer paper. Save the inside! If you need a visual on this process, check my other post.
4. You now have two pieces of freezer paper -- one in the shape of a chess piece (to make the white king) and one with a chess piece shaped hole in it (to make the black king).

5. Position the freezer paper with a chess shaped hole in it in the spot you want the black king, and iron it down.
6. Slide your cardboard piece up inside your t-shirt to protect it from seeping paint. Spray your fabric paint into the stencil. Spray LIGHTLY! This is not a job for kids. Back up about a foot from the shirt and spray in gentle bursts. If you spray too close or too heavily, it will get clumpy and gluey and will not dry properly. Ever. As long as you live. Even if you live to be 37, like I have.
7. Let it dry for a few minutes and then peel the freezer paper outline off. You now have a black king!
8. Position the king-shaped freezer paper where you want the white king. and iron it down.
9. Spray your fabric paint around this reverse stencil. This is supposed to look a little graffiti, a little rock-and-roll, so spray in a zig-zag and let your inner tagger out. You do have an inner tagger, don't you? You didn't poison your inner tagger with too many violin lessons and tae kwon do tournaments did you? Good. So tag away.
10. Let it dry for a while and then peel the freezer paper off. You are done!

You can also add letters, iron-on jewels, and other embellishment. Go mad. Chess is a battlefield, and you may need to employ all the iron-on weapons in your arsenal. More pictures:

On the kids' shirts, I put the black king on the back.

Father and son shirts. Yes, this is their game face.

Chess shirts in action at the Championship Chess Norfolk tournament in May.

Benny's concentration pose.

The Benjamins

The Brocketts

Chess warriors

Benny's First Crush

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:30:00 +0000

Benny has had a serious crush on a little girl named Cecelia for almost a year. He has had dear, close friends who are girls before, girls he's planned to marry, girls he's been devoted to -- like his deep abiding love for Zoe since he was four years old. But his love for Cecelia is different -- more frantic, more urgent. She's a beautiful, sweet girl with long glorious hair and he just adores her. They hold hands, do art together, play Warriors together, and sometimes he just drags along behind her, worshiping. She is kind enough not to rebuke him, although the intensity of emotion isn't there for her. She sees Benny as a good friend and is happy to let him hang out with her. I so appreciate her tolerance! I thought I'd share some pictures of them together before they both grow out of it.

Here they are on the spinny thing at the playground:

It must be love. He lets her drive on the bumper cars:

Happy and airborne:

Riding in the front of the roller coaster:

Spinning on the Katapult:

Happy children:

It's summer and they won't be seeing much of each other. I can see at this point that they've already started to drift. Benny loves girls, and his interest is pulled in other directions. Cecelia needs time to hang with her girlfriends and that frustrates him. I can see in my child that his emotions are intense and his loyalty, for a nine-year-old, is deep. The fact that he's been so focused on this one girl for so long is amazing. Thanks to her graciousness and kindness, his first crush was a sweet, innocent business that gave him a lot of joy.

Leroy

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:03:00 +0000

My friend Susannah took this awesome picture of my dog Leroy.

North Carolina State Tang Soo Do Championships

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 00:59:00 +0000

On May 9, the children competed in a Tang Soo Do tournament in Fayetteville. It was Sadie's first tournament and Benny's second. Sadie was the littlest little warrior there, with a pink mani-pedi, pink sparkle gel in her hair, and a sparkly butterfly hair tie holding her braids together. She was astonishingly cute, I confess.

The tournament was not well organized. It started (late) at 10:30 and then the children in Benny's ring (the biggest age group) were told to sit around the edge of the ring while all belt levels performed first for and then sparring. Benny is a child who sits still as easily as an elephant flies. He was sitting on the floor with nothing to do but keep quiet and watch for about three hours, I kid you not. There was absolutely no reason for this madness -- there could have been a schedule with certain belt levels at certain times, so that the rest of the kids could have gotten up to eat lunch, go to the bathroom, play DS, see the sunshine, etc. But whatever! Benny was remarkably well behaved, given the circumstances, and even though he got shouted at by a black belt at one point, I was proud of his patience and self-control in that ridiculous situation. I would have died if I'd had to sit there for that long. The adults planning the tournament should have considered if *they* would like to participate in such a thing. The other NKA moms and I were speculating if any moms had been involved in the planning. Our guess: No.

Here's Sadie's form:

And Benny's form:

In the background of that one you can see the other kids sitting around the sidelines, wishing they could go out in the lobby and get pizza, or still feel sensation in their feet.

Neither of our kids placed well in the form. The good news is that in the sparring Benny pulled out a surprise success -- second place. He was very happy!

I could spew some more bitterness and discontentment, but instead I'll just post some more pictures.

Sadie and her friend Keric getting some advice from Master Odom:

One of Benny's teachers, who has been very patient with him and really helped him clean up his form and in general get his karate more fierce and awesome. She got second place in the black belt division for grown-ups:

Benny made a friend while sitting on the sidelines. He was at the last Fayetteville tournament too, so they recognized each other.

The kids had fun, and the experience was great for them, if irritating for us. The next week, Sadie got her first yellow tip on her white belt! Karate is awesome.

For more pictures, some of them very grainy but definitely cute, check out my Flickr set.

Homeschoolers in the Semi-Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Wed, 27 May 2009 23:55:00 +0000

For a list of all 41 spellers who made the semi-finals, click here.

For a list of the nine *homeschooled* spellers who made the semi-finals, scroll down:

#16 Josephine Kao, Sacramento, California.

#36 Claudine Broussard, Nova Scotia, Canada.

#40 Veronica Penny, Ontario, Canada.

#65 Serene Laine-Lobsinger, West Palm Beach, Florida.

#158 Tussah Heera, Las Vegas, Nevada.

#168 Kevin Drew, Buffalo, New York.

#218 Connor Aberle, Portland, Oregon.

#270 Andrew Traylor, Charlottesville, Virginia.

#276 Tim Ruiter, Centreville, Virginia.

Go homeschool!

This is the Face

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Sat, 23 May 2009 05:10:00 +0000

This is the face of the boy who rode Griffon by himself today. We went to Busch Gardens to pick up Dan's phone, which fell out of his pocket while he was upside down last week. We thought we'd hang out for a few hours and just do some kiddie rides, splash in the water areas. It was just me and the two kids. Then we read on Benny's height check sheet that he could ride the roller coasters *unaccompanied.*

I called Dan. Would this be okay, did he think? Should I allow it? Beside me, Benny was jumping up and down, insisting that he would be fine - FINE. I waited for him. I watched every car. I followed the line as it went around. There were times I couldn't see him. I fretted and tapped my toe. He rode Apollo's Chariot, Alpengeist, and Griffon all by himself. In between we did Sadie rides and played in the water. He was patient. He was thrilled. He was, he told me, "self-responsible." Remember when Benny was born? This is that same boy, right now today:

Rush Limbaugh Says Non-Profits are Bloodsuckers

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Fri, 15 May 2009 12:39:00 +0000

In a commencement speech at Arizona State University, Obama encouraged graduates to find ways to help their country outside a mainstream career track. Rush Limbaugh used this as a springboard to announce that non-profit organizations are parasitic bloodsuckers, not worth of attention from this year's graduates. Better find a real job than become a beggar, a dependent on society. Well, read it for yourself:

Obama: "Did you study business? Why not help a struggling not-for-profit to find better, more effective ways to serve folks in need? You study nursing? Understaffed clinics and hospitals across this country are desperate for your help. You study education? Teach in a high-needs school. Give a chance to kids who can't -- who can't get everything they need, maybe, in their neighborhood, maybe not even their home, but we can't afford to give up on them. Prepare them to compete for any job anywhere in the world. You study engineering? Help us lead a green revolution, developing new sources of clean energy that will power our economy and preserve our planet. Find somebody to be successful forward. Raise their hopes! Rise to their needs."

Rush: "By definition, how does a nonprofit operate? A nonprofit begs for money from other people. A nonprofit lives on donations, and the people that run nonprofits have to siphon some of the donations that they collect as their salaries. That, somehow, is preferable to going out and producing something and expanding the economic pie? Yeah, go to a nonprofit. Ask somebody else for money! Get credit for caring. Get credit for not being concerned for profit. I never met anybody at a nonprofit didn't care about money. People at nonprofits care as much about money as anybody else does, except they don't work for it. They beg for it. They feed off of others. They're like the US government, except they can't print their money. They're bloodsuckers!"

A short list of non-profit bloodsuckers who don't work for their money, parasites on our country who bleed from and destroy the rugged individual:

1. Focus on the Family
2. NRA
3. Swiftboat Veterans for Truth
4. The Heritage Foundation

Or how about a longer list...

1. The Salvation Army
2. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
3. YMCA
4. American Red Cross
5. March of Dimes
6. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (beneficiary of Rush's annual drive)
7. Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation Inc. (beneficiary of Rush's donation from his sale of Harry Reid's letter on Ebay)
8. Freedom Alliance (beneficiary of Sean Hannity's concert series)
9. USO: Operation USO Care Package
10. American Cancer Society

If the people who work for these organizations were listening to Rush's show yesterday they heard a powerful message: "You don't work, you beg. You don't help us, you bleed us. And you people who chose to get jobs working at parasitic suckholes like these should reconsider your careers. If you'd had any sense as college grads, you'd have pursued real jobs in real corporations where people work for their money instead of begging."

In other words, thanks!

Red Cross Workers Loafing Around

Bloodsuckers! You should be ashamed!

Shriners Children's Hospital: People working here should have gotten a real job!

The YMCA sucked the life out of all of these sad little children.

How to Make a Magic Carpet

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:32:00 +0000

The study of Persian rugs is an interesting way to get into Persian history and Islamic culture. Why are Persian carpets so beautiful? In a culture where iconography is immoral, a functional object like a rug is a place where art can be expressed "legally." Like calligraphy, Persian carpets are art in the guise of a necessity. Given the significance of these rugs to the culture from which they come, it's no wonder they are sometimes portrayed as magical.

Here are a few things we learned about while studying Persian rugs: symmetry, the types of designs (geometric, curvilinear, pictorial), the elements of a rug (border, central medallion, repeated motifs), child labor laws, how to value a rug based on knot count, the difference between natural fibers and manmade fibers, and more.

Project materials:

Large canvas rectangles
Crop-a-dile or other awesome hole-puncher
Lace-weight yarn/thread in different colors
Poster paint and brushes

Preparation:

Punch holes in the short sides of all the carpets, about 1/2 inch apart. You are going to need a serious, no-kidding hole punch to get through canvas. I used a Crop-a-dile.
Cut the thread into pieces about 10 inches long. Deep rich colors are best.

Step One: Fringe

Give each child a choice of thread colors and encourage them to work in patterns. They can use a simple knot to create their fringe. Make a loop in the center of the thread, push the loop through the hole, and then thread both ends through the loop. Pull tight. You can fold over the edge of the fabric as you go to create a smooth edge.

Step Two: Paint

First have the children sketch their ideas with a pencil lightly so they can erase and redo it if they're not happy with it. Make sure everyone remembers to put in a border, a central medallion, and then repeated motifs.

The kids took home some interesting work! Painting on the canvas was challenging for a few, they needed reminding to keep a lot of paint on their brushes. However, making the carpets led to some interesting discussions about what the carpets mean to the people who make them. Here is the class singing a Persian folk song while they worked. They started singing spontaneously, then of course I had to run get my camera and have them do it again!

What class is this? My elementary literature class at Norfolk's premier co-op of extreme homeschool awesomeness, Homeschool Out of the Box.

Strawberry Picking at Three Sisters Farms

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Sun, 10 May 2009 12:59:00 +0000

For years Veronica and I have taken our kids to the Three Sisters Strawberry Farm in Suffolk, VA, to pick organic strawberries. The reason we drive a long way to get strawberries that are organic is that this person...

and this person...

as well as Veronica's little people... do not hesitate to eat as many berries as they can, during the process. So, when you're at an organic farm, you feel like maybe your child isn't gulping down handfuls of mustard gas and won't be growing another kidney out the side of its head as a result. Or whatever.

So we get to Three Sisters Farm, and we start picking:

And the berries are HUGE. Massive, perfectly heartshaped berries, elegantly ripe, hanging in perfect, convenient clusters from every bush. And where are the weeds? There are no weeds. I don't know if you've ever been to an organic farm, but it is sort of weedy. In fact, some of the weeds are there on purpose because they help the pH balance or discourage invasive pests or recite pop poetry which the plants find nothing wrong with because, hey, it's entertaining, but the elitist slugs scorn, or whatever. So where, we wondered, were the weeds?

Veronica and I joked around that the Three Sisters people were sneaking in pesticides and just not telling anyone. Har har har. It is to laugh, right? Except OOPS, when Veronica actually investigated, she discovered that *BOO* they actually ARE using pesticides! It's not organic anymore! In fact, Three Sisters aren't even doing the farming -- they leased it out to something called Faith Farms which is slinging pesticides in great, heaping bucketfuls.

Which is why the berries were so nice and huge and perfect and the rows were so even and unweedy and easy to pick from. Which we found out after the children had eaten about a quart each of unwashed, mustard-gas-laden strawberries.

And so had I! I'm expecting a third kidney at any moment.

Fortunately, we still have our friends! And we will all be creepy third-kidney-havers together:

Another plus: the Three Sisters Farm still operates the store and animal farm connected with the property, and they had lots of completely organic baby ducks, turkeys, chickens, a fully organic cow, a couple of organic peacocks and these astonishingly cute organic kittens:

All in all, it was a super fun day with ice cream, candy, kittens, and massive awesome ripe delicious strawberries. I still highly recommend Three Sisters Farms. The berries might not be organic anymore, but you can always eat the kittens without washing them!

Norfolk Karate Academy Demo at Larchmont Elementary Carnival

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Fri, 08 May 2009 17:24:00 +0000

Sadie and Benny showed off their kicks and punches with the rest of the little warriors in white from Norfolk Karate Academy, on the Mermaid Stage at the Larchmont Elementary Carnival last weekend. This was Sadie's first time out as a karate princess, and she rocked it.

Look at the face: serious, fierce, and focused. This is a little girl who would never leave the house without her tutu. Without her pink leotard with the sequinned stars on the front. Who collects Barbies like stamps. Whose Polly Pockets all live in their own elaborate estates. She is a girly girl of the first order. Glitter in her veins. Firmly believes in unicorns and fairies. You get the idea. She started karate in February at the same school where Benny has been a student for the last five years, and within two years had quit ballet and was at the dojo twice a week.

Here she is doing her form with her friend Keric. Keric and Sadie both have older brothers who are karate veterans. they grew up watching classes and playing together in the toy room at NKA. Don't they look *awesome*?

Of course, she wasn't the only little redhead to snap it out. Benny was also showing his skills, solo-ing on his blue belt form, Pyung Ahn Oh Dan:

We love karate...

...and of course we also love carnivals.

For more pictures and video, check my Flickr set for the karate demo.

Silly Suzuki: Silly Words to Allegretto

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:04:00 +0000

Allegretto can be hard to learn because the sections are so similar and share elements. These words reinforce the ABCB form of the song, which is why the "sticks in my hair" part is repeated, and they are meant to be sung by the teacher and the student, with the teacher singing the part in italics.

Can I play Allegretto with beans in my nose?
Would there be any argument, do you suppose?
Can I play Allegretto with sticks in my hair?
Do you think that my teacher would care?

I don't care what you put in your hair or your nose
Just as long as you know where your fourth finger goes!

Can I play Allegretto with sticks in my hair?
Do you think that my teacher would care?

Top Homeschoolers to Follow on Twitter: The Homeschool Twitterati

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 23:49:00 +0000

Why do so many homeschoolers use Twitter? Maybe we are all undersocialized! Here is a guide to The Homeschooling Twitterverse, ruthlessly categorized by me:

Homeschool Dads
@martin_deveau (Scouts, 9 kids)
@darthdilbert (Christian, Nascar, Army)
@williambrockett (Navy, Geocaching, Chess, Tech)
@jimmiekersh (Conservative, Reformed Theologian)
@scotters (Conservative, Techie)
@circlereader (Christian, Human)
@chrisod (Netizen, Techie, Evolved Homeschooler)
@JayRyanAstro (Freelance Patent Agent, Astronomer)
@homeschooldaddy (HS Dad who actually teaches)
@120pagemonster (Screenwriter, Buddhist)
@Homeschooling (Aerospace Engineer)
@dcobranchi (Liberal, Secular, Evolved)
@stranahan (Writer, Artist, Huffington Post)

Conservatives:
@txskirt (Christian, TCOT)
@MrsCarrington (Infrequent Tweeter)
@vansadil (Technophile, Geocacher)
@AttachedToSix (Catholic, Organics)
@HomesteadMommy (Homesteading, Sewing)
@RebPasWife (Lutheran, Funny)
@Stubborn_Facts (1776!)
@kathymckinney (Self Proclaimed Rightwing Redneck)
@mcgburson (Christian, Southern)

Liberals:
@lostcheerio (This is ME! I am great! Follow me!)
@gillian_s (Organic, Green Living, Knitting)
@unschool (Sweet Tweets)
@summerm (Home-Birthing, Feminism, Breastfeeding)
@nomad_chicken (Tweeting HS travels in Southeast Asia)
@BoondockMa (Homesteading, Green Living)
@VegHeadPez (Buddhist, Karate Mom)
@mrsstranahan (Funny, Irreverent)
@coffeehound (Reader, Tutor, Coffee)

Writers:
@mrshannigan (Suite 101 Feature Writer)
@bonnyglen (Author Melissa Wiley)
@TammyT (host of Homeschool Writers Chat)
@TravelMaven (About.com Travel Writer)
@KristyTolley (Travel Writer, Kids Book Author)
@chrisworthy (Freelance Writer, Crafter)
@ClassicaScholar (Amazon Entrepreneur)
@AmandaBinTN (Unit Study Author)
@eeeegads (Twitterphile)

Christian:
@sawickis (Deals, Freebies, Saving $$)
@chelseajohns (Parenting)
@LacysWife (Lots of links)
@militantmom (Catholic, Writer, Reader, Funny Person)
@ElizbethChannel (Autism, GFCF, Quirky)
@fivejs (Piano Teacher, Reader)
@GratiaeUtDeus (Catholic)
@belleterra (Gardening, Sewing)
@kristi_runwatch (Bible Blogger)
@pianosteve (Podcasting Outside Institutional Religion)
@KarinKath (Cooking, Parenting)
@MamaArcher (Quiverfull)
@MrsStrick (Cheerful Tweets, Knitting)
@jacque_dixon (Quiverfull, Modesty)
@kidzanddogs (Crafting, Michigan)
@farmsteadlady (Gardening, Crafting, Blogging)
@gfcfmomofmany (Gluten Free)

Homeschooled Teens:
@super_angel (Power Blogger)
@aponderingheart (Modesty Maven)
@girlygirl007 (Christian Conservative)

Professional Types:
@beverlyschmitt (Preston Speed Publications)
@traciknoppe (Social Media Consultant)
@gemparenting (Parenting Advice)
@WWAHHMpreneur (Business Consultant)
@BathNBeads (Etsy Crafter)
@sophiadare (Etsy Crafter)
@douladeb (Homebirthing)
@spiceoflifedsgn (Etsy Crafter)
@loribourne (Montessori Supplies)
@TeenBizTalk (Business Coaching for Homeschooled Teens)
@VeryVerdant (Etsy Crafter)
@Nodinsnest (Etsy Crafter)
@farmhousemagic (Hand-dyed Silks)
@mrsjberry (Organic Food Depot, Glass Blowing)
@sarahjbray (Web Design, Graphics)
@peggyalvarado (Arbonne Rep)
@lorigouhin (Entrepreneurs at Home)
@marynix (Informed Parent, Elder Care)
@annahawthorne (Artist, Teacher, Writer)
@homeschool (Social Network Designed, Robot Geek)
@katemarais (Curriculum Publisher, Pandia Press)

Bloggers:
@principled (Principled Discovery)
@phatmommy (Agnostic, Technophile, Funny)
@color_me_pink (Jewelry, Gadgets, Food)
@sendchocolate (Autism Advocate, Humor)
@campcreek (Project-based HS, Art, Inspiration)
@VeganMamaDotCom (Vegan Cooking)
@sprittibee (Open Source Homeschooling)
@worducopia (Books and Writing Blog)
@nikowa (Knowledge House Academy)
@kim_mcneill (Kim's Play Place, Objectivist, Scientist)
@rationaljenn (Objectivist)
@reflective (Life Nurturing Education)
@mamarati (Gardening, Babies, Food)
@pagesofourlife (Photography, Classical HS)
@thirstyboots (Country, Single Parent HS)
@andrea_r (Eclectic, Canadian, Homeschooljournal.net)
@hsdistractions (Christian, Young Children)
@lapazhome (Unschooling, Florida Keys)
@lauriebluedorn (Trivium Pursuit, Classical, Christian)

Homeschool Resource Sites or Magazines:
@homeschool_mom (Homeschool Rewards)
@homeschoolounge (Homeschool Lounge)
@peahdotcom (Homeschool Curriculum Savings)
@heartofwisdom (Heart of Wisdom)
@mathdaddy (Math Worksheet Wizard)
@julieunplugged (Brave Writer, Cool Blogger)
@HomeSchBoutique (Homeschool Boutique)
@homeschool101 (Successful Homeschooling)
@hsbapost (Homeschool Blog Awards)
@The_HomeScholar (Helping People Homeschool High School)
@Terri_Johnson (Homeschooling ABCs)
@hmhomeschoolers (Very infrequent Tweets from Homemade Homemade Homeschoolers)
@SchoolhseStore (The Old Schoolhouse Store)
@TOSMag (The Old Schoolhouse Magazine)
@Homeschoolsegue (Homeschool Local Networking Site)
@myhomeschoolplan (Homeschool Record-Keeping)
@HomeschoolGuide (About.com Homeschool Guide)
@homeschoolers (Alpha Omega Publications)
@HOTMonline (Heart of the Matter)
@homeedmag (Home Ed Magazine)
@annzeise (A to Z Home's Cool, Massive Resource)
@homeedforums (Home Ed Forums, Networking)
@unschooledmom (Unschooling.com, John Holt)
@ahahomeschool (American Homeschool Association)
@sproutclassroom (Classroom Materials For Sale)

I Do Not Recommend:
@HSArticles (Overuses hashtags promoting her ad-heavy article site.)
@lshiller (Too many self-promoting tweets. He's relentless.)
@homeschoolernow (His site, Magic Learning, has persistent pop-ups.)
@crescentprephs (Purely promotion for this online high school.)

Did you like this post? I slaved over a hot stove all day to make it.

Are you following someone fantastic who wasn't included? You can make this list even better by suggesting yourself or other homeschoolers for me to add!

You can also promote it on your favorite social bookmarking site, at the links below.

Want to Tweet this? Here's a shortened URL for you: http://bit.ly/hstweeps

Don't forget to follow me! Me me me! I will follow you back. @lostcheerio

Silly Suzuki: Silly Words for Go Tell Aunt Rhody

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:46:00 +0000

Princess Go Tell Aunt Rhody:

Go tell Aunt Rhody I'm a princess now
Go show her all my shoes and pretty clothes
Tell her I like to play the violin
Tell her I like to play the flute
Go tell Aunt Rhody I'm a princess now
Go show her all my shoes and pretty clothes.

Plant Cell Go Tell Aunt Rhody:

Go tell Aunt Rhody I'm a chloroplast
Go show her all my stacks of thylakoids
Tell her I'm green because of chlorophyll
Tell her I make light into food
Go tell Aunt Rhody how I make the food
Carbon Dioxide, water and the sun.

For those who are keeping score at home: When I'm done posting these, I will make a printer-friendly songbook as a PDF. Until then, you'll just have to cut and paste the words into notebook if you want to print.

Singing Suzuki: Silly Words for Lightly Row

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Lightly Row Princess:
Princess says, "Play with me!
At the castle come and see!
We'll ride ponies in the woods
And give them sugar if they're good.
Diamond is my favorite one
Hop on up and have some fun
When we're tired maybe we can
Have some chocolate cake for tea!"

Lightly Row Plant Cell Parts:
Plant cell wall, nucleus
Endoplasmic Reticulum
Vacuoles give shape to cells
And these are all the organelles
Chloroplasts turn light to food
then the mitochondria
Change the food to energy so
Plants can grow up big like me!

The Tea Party Would Have Been Awesome! (With the Proper Permit)

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:17:00 +0000

Here's one sure sign this is not the revolution: Somewhere near Washington DC there's a truck driving around full of tea bags.

Yes, the plan today was to dump 1,000,000 tea bags into the Potomac River as a protest of -- uh -- the government. Unfortunately, the proper permit for dumping a truckload of Lipton into the Potomac could not be obtained! WHAT? NOT OBTAIN THE PROPER PERMIT!? Well, FINE, then they were going to dump the 1,000,000 tea bags on the ground! ON THE GROUND! In the *park.* NO! THEY DID NOT HAVE A PERMIT FOR DUMPING TEA IN THE PARK EITHER!! Even after the protesters offered to dump the tea tags onto a tarp for easy clean-up, the authorities weren't crazy about the idea. So the hundreds of protesters (HUNDREDS! HIDE YOUR CHILDREN!) packed up their tea bags and went home. Because nothing says "HANG 'EM HIGH!" like a quiet obeisance to the local dumping ordinances.

So much for the event billed as the largest grassroots movement in history. Guess what teabaggers? Fox News got what they wanted out of you -- a big fat ratings day. Show hosts coming at you from across the country! Live music! Parades! Tea! All on Fox! Of course, it was fair and balanced reporting, exactly the same coverage they gave to those silly anti-war protests which a few (hundred thousand) people attended in a couple (thousand) cities around the country (world). If you want a hearty chuckle, watch this montage of the slavering, drooling promotion from Fox News.

I mean, it's a little bit silly. But hey, invoking the Boston Tea Party was always ridiculous. First of all, Americans in Boston were protesting taxation without representation. Remember November 4? We all voted. You lost. Obama has cut taxes on 95% of the population. Even that top tier of income earners, for whom the tax cuts have been repealed, are still paying a lower rate than they did under Reagan. Maybe that's why no one was really *that* mad, not mad enough to break any laws anyway, except for some guy who threw a box onto the White House lawn, effectively shutting down the only protest in Washington that was actually functioning.

For a great example of *really super angry* protesters who are ready to storm the Capitol and take back control of their country, watch this video of a nice lady explaining to a small crowd why they have to comply with Secret Service after the box-on-the-White-House-lawn incident. Listen closely and you'll hear one mob member mutter quietly, "We should just have our tea party right here!" That's right -- a TEA PARTY! In your FACE, Obama!

It was supposed to be the beginning of a revolution! They were mad as hell and they weren't going to take it anymore! Well who doesn't love a little activism? Too bad it all ended up with a lonely man driving around in a truck, no place to dump his two tons of tea.

Little Girls in Short Skirts

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 00:00:00 +0000

There's a girl at my church. Let's call her Harper. She wears the most shockingly inappropriate clothing. Short skirts? I mean, take your breath away short. Eye-poppingly short. Skirts that make me feel old and fussy. Low cut tops too. Don't get me wrong -- her clothes are not cheap. They're not daisy-dukes and halter tops, not ratty, not dirty, but they're the kind of cut and style that make the grannies cluck their tongues and shake their heads, especially when she sits at the communion rail.

Harper is fourteen. She is the sweetest, most soft-spoken, polite, loving child. Every Sunday she's upstairs helping out in the pre-K Sunday School class, crawling around on the floor picking up blocks and playdoh crumbs, and doling out lemonade and graham crackers. Then she goes and sits with her family in church, sings the hymns, says the prayers. Afterwards she helps out with the coffee hour, serving snacks, ladling punch, wiping up tables. On one occasion I remember her coming in with two plates of pigs in a blanket she had made at home, which she nervously heated in the microwave and served anxiously -- they were gone in minutes and she was flushed and pleased.

Are her skirts too short for church? Yes. I have seen her many times sitting on the floor with the toddlers, and found myself thinking she was about a centimeter away from total embarrassment. But I would rather cut out my tongue than tell her she's out of line in any way. She's a teenager who's cheerfully, actively involved in church. In my opinion, if she wants to come in a swimming suit, I'm fine with that. Her parents are lovely people. Active volunteers, happy, smart, very normal-looking. I don't know what their feelings are about their daughter's skirts. I would guess they're happy to have her sitting next to them in the pew. I know I would be. She's one of my favorite parishioners.

Last week, the Carnival of Homeschooling was hosted by a blog called A Pondering Heart (not for children -- there are violent images on the front page, as of April 12 anyway). The author of the blog is another young girl, Jocelyn, who is also active in her church. Jocelyn is very concerned with modesty. She is the founder of Feelin' Feminine, a group blog about modesty and against pants (again be warned, the image on the front page of this blog is ironically not child-safe). She has also written a modesty checklist, which she instructs other girls to print out and hang by their mirrors. She even made the graphics for the Carnival of Modesty! She is, like, totally modest. Jocelyn believes that she is called to admonish her sisters in Christ, and that what others might see as judgmental she feels is necessary.

Hosting a carnival is kind of like throwing open the doors of your blog and asking people to come in and look around. Clicking around in A Pondering Heart, my first reaction was that Jocelyn was just another obsessed teenager, and that it was kind of cute. Some girls are obsessed with Twilight. Some throw themselves into horses. This is a child who has let her passions run wild in the direction of religion, specifically modesty and what she perceives as chaste behavior. One has only to read her post about purging herself of all her Lord of the Rings paraphernalia to recognize the signs of the obsessed teenaged girl. So, as long as her parents don't take her too seriously, and she doesn't make any decisions she can't take back when she grows up, where's the harm? Yeah, it's all a little crazy (Example: A woman with short hair is a cross-dresser!) When I was her age, I wanted to be a professional horse trainer. I *really* believed in it too. Teenaged girls take things to extreme. More to be pitied than censured. She'll grow out of it, etc.

However, I started thinking about my friend Harper from church, and about all the earnest, sweet-tempered energy she brings with her on Sunday morning, along with her questionable hemline and sleeveless dresses. How ridiculous it would be to tell her she's "encouraging lust" or to tell her that her actions are not "pleasing to God" because of the cut of her skirt. That made me think that Jocelyn's message is not so innocuous. I certainly wouldn't want her preaching to Harper, making her feel like she wasn't welcome in her Father's house. A few verses for Jocelyn and the modesty carnival:

Matthew 7:20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Matthew 12:33 Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit.

Luke 6:44 For each tree is known by its own fruit. For men do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush.

James 3:12 Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh.

What do you think? Does Jocelyn have a good point? After all, we've all complained about the slutwear available in stores for elementary age children. Or, is this modesty movement sending a dangerous message to our children, placing such significance on all these external signifiers to express piety? The people who argue that women in African tribes go topless because they are "heathen" are preaching the same doctrine as the devout Muslims who believe that women must be covered up -- does that make the Muslims less heathen then?

In my opinion, your actions are what matters. Your appearance means nothing. If you believe in a God that made the world and is older than eternity, who has seen every age, every culture, every way that humans have clothed themselves since the monkeys came down out of the trees, do you really think He's measuring skirts, here in 2009, and judging some people unworthy based on a matter of a number of inches above or below the knee? It's silly.

Beyond that, it's a way to tear people down, another way to set an invisible bar so high that no one can ever be good enough. Jocelyn herself, self-appointed admonisher of her sisterhood, is constantly agonizing over whether she's modest enough, whether she's pure enough, if it's okay to wear this much makeup or is only that much okay, if a shirt should be this tight or that loose... etc. Unlike other teenage obsessions like writing comics or dancing ballet or stalking Robert Pattinson, this one makes little girls afraid for their immortal souls. You can never be absolutely modest, because modesty is so undefined. So you are always reaching, and always falling short. And that is actually not silly but wrong.

Six Ways to Stay Scintillating In Person When You've Already Twittered It All

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:22:00 +0000

You've been there, haven't you?

You: Listen, I had an incredible idea!
Her: Yeah, I know. I read your tweet about it.

You: I found the most amazing shoes! They were---
Her: Yeah, I saw a picture on your Tumblr.

You: You'll never guess what happened -- he's taking us to Italy!
Her: Yeah, I read your blog.

It's hard to stay scintillating in person, when you're very busy being scintillating online. Don't get me wrong. I know how important it is to document and express all the minutae of my existence on the internet. The many upsides to Twitter and Facebook are too numerous and obvious to mention. However, when I get to the park and the kids are playing and I just want to have girl talk with the other mommies, it's like they've been reading my diary. Whatever it is, they already know, because I've put the picture on Facebook, the link on Twitter, the anguish on my blog, or maybe I've Tumblred the whole conversation. What's a girl to do? Besides yawn and talk about the weather?

So how do you keep yourself relevant in an actual conversation, while simultaneously microblogging your entire life? Here are six ideas:

1. Go lower. There are always things to talk about in person that you can't talk about on Facebook. You know what they are -- utilize them. Yeah, you may need to fall back on gossip, unkind remarks, rumors, and unsubstantiated theories. When all your girls are on Facebook, your regular safe mom topics may be met with a chorus of "Oh yeah, I saw that." Get past it! No small talk -- whatever! The good news is that Facebook and Twitter themselves are sources of a brand new kind of gossip and bitter whispering behind the hand. "I saw her playing Lexulous when she was supposed to be taking the kids to the Planetarium!" "She flaked on our party because she was sick, but then she was tweeting all over the place, drunk as a goat!" Forego the pleasantries and mention the unmentionables. Pleasantries are over. Save them for the status updates.

2. Be more mysterious online. Try tweeting something like, "OMG! HELP!!!" or Facebooking an unexplained picture of a llama. Try "Whee!!! It's finally here!!!!!" or link to a book about stripping your way through college without explanation. The good news is that when you run into your buddies at the grocery store, they're going to be very eager to chat with you. The bad news is, you're going to have to come up with something to tell them.

3. Find new friends. It wasn't always this way for us, remember? Remember the acronym IRL? It meant "in real life." The world of the internet used to be a separate life. You could gambol about saying anything you pleased because only a very few people were listening, and you were unlikely to run into those few at the gym. Even after the advent of blogging, real life friends weren't always up on every bounce and jiggle of life online, and before Twitter and Facebook, news took at least a few hours to disseminate. Now it's immediate. If it happens, they know, and they're all online. Right now. Gathering info. So look: From now on, your current friends are newly categorized as your online friends, and your new friends are out there waiting for you. They don't have laptops, they don't understand their phones, and they think Twitter is a sound birds make. They want to hear all about what your kids did today.

4. Stop Twittering and Facebooking every damn thing in your life. Okay, I'm not saying stop! Because that's crazy, right?! Totally. I would never say that. I'm just saying, a little withholding. A tiny bit, in the interest of keeping it interesting. Withhold like 30%, and see where that gets you. Try not telling us what you're making for dinner. Maybe next week you could extend to privatizing the lunch menu. Just give us details from one child's diaper -- keep the other's excretions a mystery to be revealed only in person. If you find yourself about to spill the big news just before Girls Night Out, and you find yourself about to reduce to 140 characters a story which in person could be stretched out over a whole martini, withhold! You don't have to tell us now. You can tell us in a couple of hours. We promise to listen just as much as the whole internet would have, only with laughter you can hear.

5. Give up on "real life" interactions. Let's face it, the line between "real life" and the internet is gone. Why worry? When you and your friends get together, use the time to check each other's knitting progress, enjoy each other's children, and eat. Talking was overrated. All that hee=hee and yak-yak. Much more efficient to use the internet for that, and use the coffee shop for consuming pastries and smelling each other's shampoo. Zip it. If they want to know what's going on with you, they'll read your blog. You need the traffic. If they want to know how you feel, they'll check the results of your "What flavor of bouillon are you?" quiz on Facebook.

6. Be more, do more, say more. Hey, you're awesome. You can keep up with at least eleven more ways of expressing yourself and still have interesting things to say. If you fit it your entire brain into your Tumblr this afternoon, then think of something else, something new, something more, and put that in there tonight. There's not a finite measure of you, after all; there's plenty to go around. You could Twitter, Facebook, blog, bookmark, and still have something to say at the park, regardless of how dull a day it's been. You read books, don't you? Okay, well, you watch TV -- say something fresh, regardless. You owe it to your friends. They have the patience to listen to you, in all your various modes of blathering. Sharpen up. Rise to the new media. Adapt.

As for me, I need to work on 4. I think I'll start by withholding my thoughts on applesauce, and maybe my plans for 2013. The rest is essential info and I have to get it out there right away. In fact, I need to go Tweet about this blog post right now. See you at the park!

Not Very Suzuki At All: Confession of a Burned Out Violin Mom

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 03:23:00 +0000

The Suzuki method is a triangle: the student, the parent, the teacher. For six years of Suzuki I have been an active part of this triangle with Benny and his teachers. I practice with my child, I play my violin along with him, I sit there alert and engaged at the lessons, I drive to group, I take him to workshops, camps, etc. I have put endless hours into this child's music education.

Two weeks ago, I decided I had had enough.

Picture a horse hitched to a stagecoach. The horse's agenda is to go as fast as possible. Never mind the safety of the passengers, the integrity of the coach itself, the driving conditions, the possible turns in the road. Then there's a driver. Her sole purpose is hauling on the reins. That's all she does, just pull back on the reins, with varying levels of frustration and patience, frustration and patience, yank yank yank. Occasionally the driver brings the horse to a halt, climbs down off the coach, and has a heart to heart talk with the horse. She explains all the logical reasons why this breakneck pace is not healthy or conducive to personal growth. During this conversation, the horse nods its head sagely, meanwhile tapping its hoof distractedly. When the stage driver gets back up on the coach again, the horse takes off at the exact same speed as before. Yank, yank, yank.

Horse = Benny. Stage driver = me.

Benny is in book 5. He is playing the third movement of the Vivaldi concerto in G minor. He cannot play this song, he cannot successfully pass this song, by ripping through it at maximum speed again and again. Repetitions at this speed do nothing to help him execute the song. What he needs to do is to slow down to a speed where he can play it absolutely correctly and in tune, and do a thousand repetitions. A thousand? Really? Yes. Suzuki would say, a thousand, in a slow tempo. This trains your hand and brain to correctly do the physical act of playing the song. Then when you take it up to speed, your reflexes take over. If you play it fast, you do not learn to play it right. You learn to play it messy. This is a tough piece, the toughest so far. It's not one he can just talent his way through.

So I said to his teacher, I can't do this anymore, it's so frustrating, I'm in this adversarial situation with my child, it's bleeding into other parts of our day, and I can't do this with joy, I can't approach practice with happiness, when I know that I'm going to fight with him the whole time.

His teacher, bless her heart, told me to take a break, let him practice on his own. That was two weeks ago. So, Benny has been practicing on his own. He is trying. He really is. He has in his mind what mature, independent practicing sounds like. He calls it "self-responsible." If he makes a mistake, he stops, dramatically fixes it, and then goes on. There's a lot of checking intonation with open strings. However, I know that what he's actually doing is teaching himself to play it wrong, and then fix it. You don't learn to play correctly by playing incorrectly and then fixing it, because then when you get to your lesson or in a performance situation, and you can't fix your mistakes, you're just left with the mistakes. Plus you're training your hand to play the wrong note by doing it over and over, regardless of whether you're fixing it or not! Not very Suzuki.

So, here we are. Lesson is tomorrow. He's not being very Suzuki and neither am I. I honestly don't know what the solution is. We can use a metronome, but that involves me standing there enforcing the metronome, measure by measure. Me as enforcer is the dynamic I'm trying to get away from. On the one hand, I want him to learn to practice on his own! When I was nine, I was doing it. On the other hand, I think maybe he isn't capable of practicing on his own yet, and what I'm doing by "taking a break" is just making things worse and being selfish.

I am overthinking it. I am complicating matters. But I just can't get my head around it -- I need help! And may I just say that it doesn't help that Sadie is so easy to practice. Oh yes, the Sadie/teacher/me triangle is fully functional. And maybe that's part of the problem too!

More Suzuki posts: Suzuki violin.

The Weird Homeschooler: Myth or Fact?

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:23:00 +0000

Oh my gosh, are homeschooled children weird? Whether it's in the context of a mother's agonies in deciding whether or not to homeschool, or in the context of someone's actual polemic against homeschooling, the old "Well I know some homeschoolers and they're pretty weird" argument seems to keep resurfacing.

"Yes, they're weird. They're different. They're odd. So what?!"

"No, they're not weird; they're just fine, and public school kids are the weird ones!"

"Wait, no! All kids are weird! Just look at the way they run around yelling and picking their noses -- weird!"

The truth is that the reason this argument is so compelling for people is -- it's true! There are homeschoolers out there who are COMPLETELY NUTS. I'm not going to point fingers (lest any be pointed at me) but I'm sure you can all think of someone in your little world who fits the description. So, yes, homeschoolers are weird.

And you know what? You're weird. You're socially awkward, shy, reserved, or you're outspoken, a brazen nonconformist, or you're unaware that you smell bad, you're pierced, or afraid to get pierced, you're too quiet, too loud, don't like to follow rules, or too dependent on regulations, or you don't have your hair in a braid, or you do, or maybe you don't even know how to put your hair in a braid, and the reason you're so tragically broken as a person, the source of all your personal failings, as listed above, is because your mother refused to put you into school. So sad for you. If only you had been allowed to go to traditional school, you would be perfect.

OH. WAIT. Most of us *were* in traditional school. And yet we managed to be weird in all kinds of ways, both inspiring and depressing, all without the evils of homeschool, all on our own.

"Well, I've met some homeschooled kids. And to be honest, not to hurt anyone's feelings, or anything, but they were kind of weird."

Thanks, and we know. We know it so much we've co-opted the concept, and when there's a blog co-opting the concept, with its own domain name even, you can pretty much assume that we know. Kind of like Stitch N Bitch. Trust me, those of us within the homeschooling community know way more weird homeschoolers than you do. There's always that one family, or that whole co-op full of, well, you know. So yeah, you're right. Congratulations. You found a couple of nutjobs. But here are some things you're *not* allowed to say:

Myth #1: Homeschoolers don't face peer pressure. Yes, they do. They do dance, martial arts, choir, violin, swimming, scouts, church, and all kinds of stuff with schooled children (famous for their experience with exerting peer pressure), and they also create their own little peer groups within the homeschooling community itself. So, peer pressure and peer criticism and diversity within their acquaintances -- all that is covered.

Myth #2: Homeschoolers are *all* weird. Nope. Some are completely indistinguishable from public school children. The reason you don't know this is because you probably didn't notice those children, indistinguishable as they are. You probably notice the weird freaky ones, just like we notice the thugs, drug dealers, and sluts in public school.

Myth #3: No public school children are weird. Well, that's kind of silly. And yet, it's what is implied by the conclusion that homeschooling is bad, or that you're afraid to homeschool, based on the fact that you met a weird one once. You're afraid your child will be weird if he isn't put in public school. That's short-selling your child, and yourself.

Look. It's not wrong for people to say "Homeschoolers are weird." We know it's not incorrect. But to actually let yourself be talked into putting your child in an institutional school because you've met someone who was "weird"? That's really just an excuse. Look at your child. Is he weird? Did you make him weird by teaching him stuff for the first four years of his life? Will you really make him weird teaching him stuff for the next four, eight, ten years? Come on. This is your kid we're talking about, not some kid down the street you met once or remember from your childhood. Be brave. You can do this.

Find the homeschooler!

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Snow Tubing with Phi Bensa Zoe

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 05:05:00 +0000

We went up to visit our friends the Porterfields who had the shocking audacity to move North without us. So, this must have been Phi Bensa Zoe gym class? Indeed. Veronica had the awesome idea that we should drive up to Pennsylvania and go snow tubing at Liberty Mountain. There are not a lot of children for whom driving 3 hours only to drive another 2 hours to spend 2 hours tubing and then another 2 hours in the car would be worth it. For these children, it was TOTALLY worth it. Here they are waiting for the shuttle:

When we arrived at the tubing hill, my heart sank. It looked huge, fast, and we were immediately told that we couldn't go with our younger ones -- they had to go on their own. I was so proud and amazed that *all* the kids tried the hill, no one freaked out or hung back, and while Phillip declined to repeat his run after bravely giving it a shot, the rest of them went up and down the hill about a million times.

Benny, having looked over the situation, asked for "self responsibility," which I gave him with the understanding that he and Zoe (both now nine years old) would stick together. They did, and they did great having self responsibility. That alone was worth the effort of getting up there. But then there was Sadie Grace. She was a MANIAC. She loved tubing -- here's a video of one of her runs:

Did you hear her report that she said, "Woo hoo!" I can attest that she did. She said "Woo hoo!" Crammed into that tube with only her little head and her Dora boots sticking out, she woo-hooed her way down that big old hill. And Veronica and I had our moments too -- me going down face first and her circumspectly sitting upright in her tube, hair flying in the wind.

The children definitely experienced total happiness.

In Sadie's words, it was "super fun."

Karate for Him, Karate for Her

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 04:19:00 +0000

Two big changes with our karate studies.

1. Sadie started karate classes! She has been waiting to start for a while, but I told her she had to be 5 years old and 30 pounds. Well, she hit those marks at about the same time, so with trembling, fear, and much trust in Mr. Odom at Norfolk Karate Academy, I let her start. She loves it -- from the first moment she put on the gi she has been completely ecstatic. I had these illogical fantasies that she would have no contact with anything other than air for like two years at which point she would be allowed to maybe gently kick a pillow or something. Of course, she started kicking and punching things on the first night. GREAT. Here are a few photos from her first day:

Sadie started on the same night as her friend Keric. Here are the two new white belts with big brother Benny. As it turned out that night was Benny's last as a green belt -- he tested for blue that very same night!

2. Benny's blue belt test! Benny got his green belt in November of 2006. Taking over two years to go from green to blue is not normal. Benny has never been on the fast track in karate, and for all he deeply and totally loves the sport, he has never been particularly good at it. What I appreciate about Mr. Odom is his willingness to take as long as is necessary for each individual child. Some kids will go quickly through the levels. Others will take longer. Benny has never been promoted when he didn't deserve it, and has also never been made to feel less than the other children because he takes longer between tests. This is why I was so proud that Mr. Odom felt he was really ready for blue, and even prouder when he told me after the test, "Benny deserved every bit of that." Some schools will put the kids up in groups, or promote them when their friends get promoted. At Norfolk Karate Academy, I know that my kids will be treated as individuals, with patience and dedication to the long term result. That means a lot.

Sparring:

Form:

A great night for the fighting Netzers. Here's a link to all the pictures and video from that night. Long may they punch and kick. I have this to say about what karate is doing for my children: After one week in karate, Sadie told me she was done with ballet. She says she's strong, she says she's tough, she quickly learned to count to ten in Korean, and she's working on her first form. She practices constantly, and she *loves* the way karate is making her feel. I'm proud of my girly-girl and her desire to line up her sparkly slippers on the side of the mat and get out there and punch and kick with the boys.

Disney World is Still in Florida

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 21:06:00 +0000

We went to Disney World for a week with Dan's family. Here are some pictures, taken by my brother-in-law with his enviable camera, to tell the tale:

Sadie and Sydney's bed:

Benny and Jack's bed:

Riding Kraken at Sea World. Front Row: Terri, Benny, Ashley, Andy. Second Row: Dan, Lydia. Yes, I rode Kraken.

Sadie in the play area:

How did Benny get so wet?:

Hollywood Studios. Benny battles Darth Vader:

Sydney and Sadie:

Belle and the children:

Aladdin's Carpets:

Sadie and Mom, going to Magic Kingdom on the ferry:

Expedition Everest. Front row: Benny, Ashley. Middle row: Dan, Andy. Back row: Terri, Lydia.

Did I take pictures? I *think* I did. They were just so violently inferior to Kevin's that I despair. But here's a link to my Flickr set for the Disney trip. There are many amusing photos there.

Army National Guard Recruiting Homeschoolers to Path of Honor

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:07:00 +0000

The Army National Guard has a new program: The Homeschooler's Path to Honor. You could summarize this new program by saying this: "We, the Army National Guard, will cheerfully accept your homeschool diploma in lieu of a high school diploma from a traditional school."

That makes sense. After all it's only right and normal that they accept a homeschool diploma. State universities do. Why not the Army? So, fine. However, instead of a notice of that bit of clerical updating, on the "Path to Honor" web site, you'll find the following verbiage:

The National Guard recognizes and values the unique skills, abilities, and character that homeschoolers can bring to our organization. Homeschoolers are known for their high levels of cooperation, assertiveness, empathy and self-control. The values that homeschooled young men and women hold will naturally mesh with the Army Values.

Homeschoolers are known for high levels of what? Who was surveyed to compile this list of traits for which homeschoolers, collectively, are known? And what is this cooperative assertiveness? This empathic self-control? These values and traits might as well have been picked from an arbitrary list for all they have to do with homeschoolers as a group. Homeschoolers are not a monolithic group full of identical robots. They are certainly not a unified army of cooperatively assertive little empaths.

Now, there are traits that homeschoolers *do* all have in common. Traits like the ability to work independently, a level of comfort with being outside the mainstream, a tendency to think past what's expected and deconstruct the status quo. I am not a military person myself but I would feel safe in betting those are not characteristics for which the Army is actively searching.

Here's another ripe quote from the Army National Guard's pitch to homeschoolers:

The National Guard is a natural choice for innovative young men and women who pursue unconventional avenues to succeed.

Yeah. That's the army. Unconventional.

I am not against the military. I know lots of people, including my husband, who found military service to be a very positive thing. However, I must call cowdung on this ridiculous recruiting language, which both misrepresents the experience a recruit can expect to have (It'll be just like homeschooling! But with money for college!) and misrepresents the recruit him or herself. If homeschoolers want to join the Army National Guard, good for them. But do we have to make them a special "Path of Honor" with their own fake, patronizing reasons for joining up?

Would you join the army because you're unconventional and empathic? What kind of nonsense is this?

Dreambox Plays Well with Right Start

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:51:00 +0000

If you're a fan of Right Start math, you may be interested in checking out this new online curriculum: Dreambox, for K-2 math. Sadie is working her way through Right Start's kindergarten curriculum, using lots of visuals -- tally sticks, an abacus, counters and manipulatives. When we started playing around with Dreambox, she found many of the exercises comfortably familiar, as Dreambox uses these same tools, but in the context of Flash animation and games. Dreambox encourages kids to visualize numbers and think in blocks of five and ten, just like Right Start, and we've just found that the two systems dovetail extremely well.

Dreambox's online math curriculum is very interesting, in that it progresses at a variable speed, based on your child's performance. If something seems easy for the child, the software skips him/her along to something more challenging. If something is too hard, the software pulls back to spend much more time on that skill. This quality means that it's *super* important for you as a parent not to help your child. The software is meant to be used by a child independently, because it customizes itself to the student's strengths and weaknesses. I did make the mistake of directing Sadie a bit too much at first, and that resulted in her being skipped ahead too much. Dreambox fixed it for me, though, and now we're back on track.

Here are a few screenshots of the software:

This shot shows the three sections of the Dreambox world -- the house, the adventure park (where most of the math games are played), and the carnival (where the less academic, more fun games are played). Kids earn tokens in the adventure park which they can "spend" at the carnival to play and unlock games. In other computer math systems I've experienced, there is more difference between the "work" games and the "reward" games, with the reward games being purely fun and the work games being more purely work. Dreambox mixes it up a little -- the work games are contextualized in narrative and have little cartoons and characters to play with, and the reward games are also teaching math concepts. Here's a shot of the carnival. Yes, Sadie's avatar has purple hair -- a harbinger of things to come, no doubt!

You can play for free for two weeks, and then it's around $10 a month, depending on how many months you buy at a time. If you have a strong internet connection and a K-2 child who likes computer games, Dreambox is a great way to teach without worksheets, without pencils, without lectures. The learning is intuitive, the rewards are integrated, and the software is fun!

First Bike Race of the Season

noreply@blogger.com (Lostcheerio) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:50:00 +0000

The temperature was hovering around 40. It was raining, windy, miserable. I can't believe he survived 28 laps in those conditions. Nobody fell over. Nobody froze. I was the official team photographer for Dan's team, Celerity Cycling. Here's my favorite picture:

No, he didn't win. But he wasn't last. And it was good to be back at a bike race, screaming my face off. Here's another picture of Dan:

I was shocked to see how many teams were out in full force already, here in the middle of February, with the weather so dreary. And it was a fast race, too! Nobody got fat over the winter, and they're all rip-roaring and ready to go. Well, great for them. Dan needs more miles.

Here's a link to all the pictures I took of the race, including all five guys on Dan's team, Celerity Cycling. After this dreadful ordeal in the freezing rain, those hot July days in the blazing sun are going to be welcome.