Math fun

Today we talked about multiplying by zero and how the answer is always zero. Connor did a great job with this math sheet today. He's been resistant to anything that looks like school work so this was a triumph. 

Library

We went to the library for Pajama Night. The kids all wear their PJs for storytume. Much bigger turnout than the events we've gone to in the past and a really diverse age range - kids as young as 2 and as old as 10. The theme was Black History Month and I was really impressed with how much the kids knew. Maybe I sugar coat too much? We've had a lot of discussion about same sex marriage and oppression as a general topic, but it's mostly been "some people don't / didn't think XYZ is / was ok, so they made laws against it / hurt other people". Part of it is that Connor tends to be really empathetic and I have apprehension about making him sad as well as well as how much is age appropriate. But there were kids tonight who are the same age who knew that MLK had been assassinated and what slavery was. They knew who Jackie Robinson was and why he was so important. It's making me rethink the way I'm going to approach these topics in the future. 

We read a book about Jackie Robinson and the activity was about dreams. The kids filled in a booklet asking what their dreams were for when they grow up, listing things they would need to be good at to achieve those dreams. Connor wrote that he wanted to be a doctor, a pilot, or a hockey player. He was able to list that he would need to be good at "being in time for games" and "keeping pucks away" for the last one. We are going to work in the other two tomorrow. 

We were going to go to the Harrison library tomorrow morning for a puppet show but Connor has been a little whimpery and restless in his sleep tonight and I suspect he may be coming down with something. He seemed a little off this evening - more tired than usual. Hopefully it is nothing!

Progress

We had a mostly lazy, snowy week here. Some highlights:

- sledding and climbing in the mountains of snow. It's cold, but I'm glad he is getting outside, even for short bursts. 

- karaoke: he was singing a half-baked version of the Star-Spangled Banner, so we found a video with lyrics. He is SO proud of himself and sings so loudly when he feels confident. We've branched out with other songs he recognizes, and it's a fun way to improve reading skills without "work". 

- Olympic hockey: we are a hockey house, and we've been watching! He is having a lot of fun and really enjoys the time he spends with Aunt Kristin. 

- Connor and Kristin painted USA pictures to show their pride in our country. He also started working in his St. Paddy's day project (foam shapes, glue, and decorations). 

- There has been a lot of pretend play at our house this week. Connor has been pretending he is a puppy named Min. I think it is inspired by watching the puppy bowl a couple of weeks ago. He really gets into it and I'm happy to see the progress he has made with pretending. 

- shoes: we are learning to tie shoes. We are perfecting the first steps and scaffolding to build confidence. I'm aiming to have him doing the entire thing in his own by June. I'm not sure it's realistic, it could go either way. Some things seem to take eons to learn, while others click so fast. Like last summer - Kris and I spent almost an hour teaching him how to push off in his bike by himself with no success, but then I showed him a 10 second video and he did it immediately.

All in all, I'm so happy to see him progressing in multiple disciplines. It's not always as quick as I'd like, but I'll take the inches and the miles however I get them!

Magnets

Connor discovered that magnets not only stick, but repel each other. He was playing with two train cars and realized they wouldn't stick - he started using one to make the other move. Score one for learning through play!

Weekend fun

On Friday night, Kristin and Connor went to a Devils game. Connor was really engaged - he was chanting and cheering. We realized a few weeks ago that he doesn't focus on the clock anymore, which had become a really common stim. In fact, we have noticed that that stimming has stopped altogether. 

Marc took Connor to the new big indoor playground again on Saturday. He came home totally exhausted and well exercised. On Sunday the three of us went to see the new Lego movie. It was really fun and Connor adored it! We will probably go again with Aunt Kristin next week when she is on school break. The music is great and we are having so much fun with this song:

http://youtu.be/t6lHm-stXdM

Reactions

We spent some time earlier this week talking about the word reaction when Connor asked me to define it.  I explained it was a lot like cause and effect and related it to things he has experienced ("What happens when your favorite hockey team scores a goal?" and "When you use the brake on your bike, what happens?"). Today we talked about reactions in science, so we decided to experiment.

Rainbow Science!

We put the baking soda in the muffin tin and mixed some food coloring and vinegar in cups. Connor spent some time using an eye dropper to add the colored vinegar to the baking soda and watch it get all "fuzzed and scrambled". 

We're taking things easy over here with regards to what we should be learning. I'm trying to shift my focus back to self-directed learning (another post for another day), but still offering up project ideas and introducing new subject matter where appropriate, like the arty-science fun above. Connor had a lot of fun with the piano app this week, and chose to spend a few minutes yesterday doing 6th grade elapsed time questions on IXL.  He's looking forward to going to a hockey game tomorrow night and maybe ice skating or indoor playground on Saturday. We've got a bit of cabin fever with all of the snow and cold and spring can't come fast enough!

The Puppy Bowl

Connor and I went sledding today after we got another 8 inches or so of snow.  We did some math on IXL again, and Connor completed all of the fractions sections.  Today, Connor also wrote the paragraph below about the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet last night.

I watched the Puppy Bowl last night. There were nineteen or twenty puppies. The kitties did “locked out of heaven” on the piano during halftime. The stage was on the field.   One of the puppies scored a touchdown during the final second of the fourth quarter.  The next second the Puppy Bowl was over. There were millions of people there. They were very small people. I liked the Puppy bowl.