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August 30, 2007
I Make a Lousy Jedi
We are playing our first role-playing game as a family. Connor (11) is DM-ing - his first time.
It's certainly an experience. Actually, we're having a blast. It's great fun to see what the kids come up with, and how they react.
We're playing a game in the Star Wars universe. I am a Jedi, and wow, really, I stink. I charged into a fight with my lightsaber tonight, only to end up hurting not a thing, except my pride. I am not the Jedi you want on your side. However, the other members of my party, the Wookie and the psychopathic Ewok, are stuck with me. Ha.
Actually, I'm surprised to realize that so far, I'm really not very good at this game. This is ironic, as I'm the girl who spent most of her life making up imaginary friends and living in a fantasy world. I'm still at the level where the other players turn to me, expecting me to do something, and all I can think of is .... um ... nothing, really. Does it get easier? Should I drink more?
I've decided that perhaps Microsoft should seriously think about a d20 operating system, to follow on the success of Vista. Can you imagine the possibilities? Every time it asks you if you want to complete and action, it could generate a random number to determine if you are allowed to complete your action or not. From what I understand, this wouldn't really be any worse than Vista is at present.
Anyway.
On Tuesday, we went to our last concert for the summer - Rush. It was fantastic. They played for three hours. They played songs I didn't know, which is saying something (like, I should have listened to "Permanent Waves" more). Here's the setlist, if you like. At our show they played "Distant Early Warning" in place of "Summertime Blues." I can't quibble with the list, because really, anything they play is just fine; however, I am glad they did not do "The Trees," I'm glad they did do "Dreamline," and I would rather have heard "Earthshine" than "One Little Victory." But I'm not complaining. Really.
They played at least eight tracks off their new album, all of which were far better live. They all sounded absolutely fantastic - I mean, really, really good. Plus, you've got to give them credit for handling the music and the catering: While Alex Liefson had the expected stacks of amps behind him, Geddy Lee had large cabinets of rotisserie chickens. Yes. Rotisserie chickens. A chef came onstage, here and there throughout the show, to check on them. The best part was that the band never, not once, referred to the chickens in any way.
As I said, that was the last show. I guess it's now time to buckle down, admit that summer's (almost) over, and get back to work. Or something. Maybe I should spend the days practicing my lightsaber skills, instead?
Posted by lynx at 9:42 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack
August 26, 2007
Science
Yes, as I said before, we're using a formal science curriculum. Scary, eh?
I chose Singapore's Interactive Science because, well, it didn't make me run screaming off into the night the way most science programs do. I chose it for Connor, on the premise that 1) middle school was a good time to start into more formal science, and 2) Interactive Science would be challenging, but not overwhelming.
I didn't really expect Aidan to do this course as well. However, I gave him the option of doing science with his little brothers or with his big brother, and he chose the way of running away from school with the little brothers.
Interactive Science is solid. I can't abide fluff in a science program, and this has none. The text itself is written in a lighthearted manner, often with cute pictures that belie the level of the material. We had a bit of a hurdle at first, because the first few chapters are very math-heavy: unit conversions, calculating the volume of various objects, calculating area, finding rate and speed, etc. The math is right at Connor's level, but I had to teach Aidan (not a big deal, as he picks up math concepts quickly). But being math-heavy, I was afraid the boys would be bored. They're not. Go figure.
The experiments are good. Again, no fluff. So far we've covered lab safety, learned how to safely boil water in a test tube, used water to calculate volume, and observed what happens to the oscillation of a pendulum when you add weight, or change the length of the string (pendulum = ball on the end of a string). We've also tested individual reaction times, and calculated averages of said times. Next we're going to do the unit on speed and rate.
The experiments are meant for a classroom with a fully equipped science lab, so we have to do some finagling. Some labs we will have to skip altogether, but we can still read through the instructions and discuss possible outcomes. Others are easy: We don't have the materials a science lab would use to measure speed, but we do have Hot Wheels cars, and a piece of wood for a ramp. The experiments clearly demonstrate the text material, and are always relevant.
However, on top of all that, the text asks students to think. For instance, after a reading on volume and displacement, the students were asked how they might find the volume of a cork (which floats on water). Ah, problem solving!
Much attention is giving to different ways of measuring and calculating, so that the students can compare methods and find which is most accurate.
It is good stuff. I plan on moving slowly, and supplementing with lots of library books for topics we have never delved into before.
Because I am insane, we are also doing some of the experiments from The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments. So far all we've done has been th lesson on bending and glazing glass tubing. Both Connor and Aidan managed to burn themselves by touching the glass when it was hot. I was feeling pretty frustrated about having boys who were not smart enough to not touch the hot glass, until I did it myself. Well. Would any of you like to come by and handle lab safety for us when we get to the dangerous chemicals bits?
Posted by lynx at 9:48 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
August 24, 2007
We've Created a Monster
More than one, likely.
Tonight we watched the first two episodes of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." We've never watched this series, but at this point I'm willing to watch anything Joss Whedon has done. Heck, I'm willing to watch dramatizations of the notes Joss Whedon passed in junior high. We were not disappointed. I am told the series gets way better than the first season would have us believe, but we enjoyed these first two episodes. Our two oldest kids watched with us. I suppose that in many homes "Buffy" is not standard fare for the under-12 set, but, well, it is here.
The thing is, see, that several months ago we introduced our kids to Mystery Science Theater 3000. And they loved it. Which means that anything they watch is now instantly ... what's the verb here? I'm going to go with "MST3Ked." If you've never seen MST3K, it's basically a human and a couple of robot characters who watch really bad movies and make funny/sarcastic comments throughout said movie. So now every time we watch anything, Connor does a running commentary. Which would be annoying, except that I think he has a gift. He's good at this! He's funny! What have we unleashed on the unsuspecting world?
Posted by lynx at 9:43 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
August 6, 2007
Our Internal Clocks Are Out Partying.
We are in a bad, bad place.
We are all night owls. Every single one of us. We only play regular people during the school year, so that we can 1) get to activities more or less on time and appearing awake and alert, and 2) respond to knocks on the front door at 10:30 am without having to scramble for clothing. We also don't want to do school work in the evenings, so if we want to do our work, we have to get up in the morning and get going.
But left to our own devices, there's not a single person in this family who wouldn't stay awake until 1 am (or later), and get up around 10, or later; even the one who has to actually go to work in the morning. This a bad thing. Not having to get up at a predetermined hour is one of the perks of homeschooling, yes, but this is ridiculous. I suppose if we were staying up until all hours doing algebra and reading literature, that would be just fine. But we're, um, not.
That's where we are now. I'm trying to move our schedules back to something approaching "normal," but it's quite a struggle. I could really use an end to Daylight Savings Time right now.
Posted by lynx at 9:30 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack