21 December 2009
17 December 2009
Nutcracker
Some friends of ours take lessons at a local ballet school. One that does the Nutcracker every year. Monkey and I read the story, and then we went to their production.
First things first. This was the first time Monkey had sat on this style of chairs, so it was a good thing that there were just a few extra minutes left when we got to the auditorium. He had a good time checking the wiggle in his seat.
The show started and Drosselmeyer sketched the basics of what was going on at the beginning of the story. This was the only spoken part in the whole production. When it was finished, the scene opened on the party at Clara's house. During the party, Drosselmeyer brought out his wonderful dolls to delight the crowd. My friend A. is the one with the big bow in her hair and the cute tutu-looking dress.
I didn't find out until several days later that A.'s Dad was the jester that was part of this group of toys, so I didn't end up with any pictures of him. After a demonstration of the wonderful toys, it was time to put them away. A.'s exit was most entertaining!
Clara, of course, loves the Nutcracker. Her brother, being a pesty little brother, takes it and breaks it.
Next we saw the March of the Toy Soldiers, and the big battle with the Mouse King. This was, I think, Monkey's favorite part. He really got into the sword fighting! I was charmed by the "Mouselings" that were trying to help save their King. They were so cute!
Mouse King vanquished, Nutcracker freed from the enchantment, I realized that I was starting to run low on batteries as Clara and the Prince go on their fairytale adventure with the Sugarplum Fairy. But I did get some pictures from the second half of the show.
One fun part was the Dance of the Sugarcane. A.'s younger sister, C. (center, with glasses), was in this one, as a "twirlygig," and she looked like she was having a wonderful time!
Then, it was on to the exotic destinations. Chinese Tea, Arabian Coffee, and Russian Trepak. I was particularly impressed with the Russian dancers, because they were so athletic, but they were hard to do justice to in the pictures, and the more so because these dances were all somewhat short.
Mama Gingerbread was just too funny; all those little kids in her skirt! If you look closely, she's also got a gingerbread baby up top there.
The Waltz of the Flowers was particularly fun - they had little kid dragonflies buzzing around, and some adorable Baby Bumble Bees that I didn't get pictures of.
It was a good time! When Monkey saw me working on this post, I had to stop and show him all the pictures I had up 2 or 3 times, and they made him smile. I'm thinking it was a successful outing! That's the nice thing about student performances: it's OK to take your student audience. And this one was a lot of fun.
First things first. This was the first time Monkey had sat on this style of chairs, so it was a good thing that there were just a few extra minutes left when we got to the auditorium. He had a good time checking the wiggle in his seat.
The show started and Drosselmeyer sketched the basics of what was going on at the beginning of the story. This was the only spoken part in the whole production. When it was finished, the scene opened on the party at Clara's house. During the party, Drosselmeyer brought out his wonderful dolls to delight the crowd. My friend A. is the one with the big bow in her hair and the cute tutu-looking dress.
I didn't find out until several days later that A.'s Dad was the jester that was part of this group of toys, so I didn't end up with any pictures of him. After a demonstration of the wonderful toys, it was time to put them away. A.'s exit was most entertaining!
Clara, of course, loves the Nutcracker. Her brother, being a pesty little brother, takes it and breaks it.
Next we saw the March of the Toy Soldiers, and the big battle with the Mouse King. This was, I think, Monkey's favorite part. He really got into the sword fighting! I was charmed by the "Mouselings" that were trying to help save their King. They were so cute!
Mouse King vanquished, Nutcracker freed from the enchantment, I realized that I was starting to run low on batteries as Clara and the Prince go on their fairytale adventure with the Sugarplum Fairy. But I did get some pictures from the second half of the show.
One fun part was the Dance of the Sugarcane. A.'s younger sister, C. (center, with glasses), was in this one, as a "twirlygig," and she looked like she was having a wonderful time!
Then, it was on to the exotic destinations. Chinese Tea, Arabian Coffee, and Russian Trepak. I was particularly impressed with the Russian dancers, because they were so athletic, but they were hard to do justice to in the pictures, and the more so because these dances were all somewhat short.
Mama Gingerbread was just too funny; all those little kids in her skirt! If you look closely, she's also got a gingerbread baby up top there.
The Waltz of the Flowers was particularly fun - they had little kid dragonflies buzzing around, and some adorable Baby Bumble Bees that I didn't get pictures of.
It was a good time! When Monkey saw me working on this post, I had to stop and show him all the pictures I had up 2 or 3 times, and they made him smile. I'm thinking it was a successful outing! That's the nice thing about student performances: it's OK to take your student audience. And this one was a lot of fun.
Hands-on Homeschool Carnival
The latest edition is up, and we're included! These families have some great ideas for keeping their education hands-on!
14 December 2009
Hope For Peace
Because of the long history of hostility upon the earth, many feel that peace is beyond hope. I disagree. Peace is possible. We can learn to love our fellow human beings throughout the world. Whether they be Jewish, Islamic, or fellow Christians, whether Hindu, Buddhist, or other, we can live together with mutual admiration and respect, without forsaking our religious convictions. Things we have in common are greater than are our differences. Peace is a prime priority that pleads for our pursuit. Old Testament prophets held out hope and so should we. The Psalmist said, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
-Russel M. Nelson, Blessed are the Peacemakers
13 December 2009
Sunday Scripture
We believe that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man; and that he holds men accountable for their acts in relation to them, both in making laws and administering them, for the good and safety of society.
We believe that no government can exist in peace, except such laws are framed and held inviolate as will secure to each individual the free exercise of conscience, the right and control of property, and the protection of life.
We believe that all governments necessarily require civil officers and magistrates to enforce the laws of the same; and that such as will administer the law in equity and justice should be sought for and upheld by the voice of the people if a republic, or the will of the sovereign.
We believe that religion is instituted of God; and that men are amenable to him, and to him only, for the exercise of it, unless their religious opinions prompt them to infringe upon the rights and liberties of others; but we do not believe that human law has a right to interfere in prescribing rules of worship to bind the consciences of men, nor dictate forms for public or private devotion; that the civil magistrate should restrain crime, but never control conscience; should punish guilt, but never suppress the freedom of the soul.
We believe that all men are bound to sustain and uphold the respective governments in which they reside, while protected in their inherent and inalienable rights by the laws of such governments; and that sedition and rebellion are unbecoming every citizen thus protected, and should be punished accordingly; and that all governments have a right to enact such laws as in their own judgments are best calculated to secure the public interest; at the same time, however, holding sacred the freedom of conscience.
We believe that rulers, states, and governments have a right, and are bound to enact laws for the protection of all citizens in the free exercise of their religious belief; but we do not believe that they have a right in justice to deprive citizens of this privilege, or proscribe them in their opinions, so long as a regard and reverence are shown to the laws and such religious opinions do not justify sedition nor conspiracy.
We believe that the commission of crime should be punished according to the nature of the offense; that murder, treason, robbery, theft, and the breach of the general peace, in all respects, should be punished according to their criminality and their tendency to evil among men, by the laws of that government in which the offense is committed; and for the public peace and tranquility all men should step forward and use their ability in bringing offenders against good laws to punishment.
11 December 2009
Weekly Wrap-up
It's been a good week this week, though we did have a bit of a blizzard throw a monkey wrench into some of our plans. But it turned out fine.
Phonics: We got our "penny game" back out and practiced blending. It's been a while, and it showed at first, but Monkey was doing very well by the end of the game.
We used 6-sided dice this time (I couldn't put my hands on the 8), the better to practice counting & number recognition. It's become the "penny game" because we use coins for our pieces. We also read a whole slew of books this week! Sometimes, it seems like Monkey can't be bothered much with reading. But right now he's got a mess of favorites. Stop, Train, Stop! is one we have from the library right now, and we've all got it more or less memorized. Wise or not, I ordered that one this morning; it should be here in time to go under the tree.
Math: We're getting pretty good at our math routines, for the most part. Monkey knows what to do, and he is definitely getting better at counting. We'll bundle the straws we've been counting into our first group of 10 the next time we count, probably later tonight if everything goes well. I'm also finally getting organized enough to do begin working on lesson two in Math Expressions. I think we're going to end up spreading out the "lessons" over a couple of days because his attention span just isn't very big lately. That's OK. He's clearly getting better with the numbers. One of our more hands-on activities is he helped me count my stitches as I cast on to knit him a scarf. And I didn't have the yarn quite right, so I had to stop and do it again, so he counted to 30-something, then to 45. And then, because I always double-count my stitches, he counted to 45 with me again. Starting at 11, he needs help, and after 20, he needed me to count first so he could repeat it. But I was very impressed with all that counting!
Nature Study: That blizzard canceled our plans to head to the park, but Monkey got a chance to play in the snow a couple of times, which made him a very happy camper. Sadly, it's now dropped below zero (Fahrenheit), so we're not going out to play until it gets warmer. I simply don't have the gear for that, and I worry about those cute little pink cheeks! (After all, the scarf is only 8 inches long or so at this point, and still attached to the knitting needles, so it's not very useful yet.) We're supposed to get more snow next week, so there will be plenty more. I think it's fair to say that we're going to have a very white Christmas this year! The picture is my lilac bush. It doesn't really do justice to the heaps of snow we got.
Memory: We hadn't done much with this over the past couple of weeks, but when I asked Monkey to say his verses for me this week, he did very well. I think that Romans 8:16 has reached a point where we need only to do some maintenance, and 2 Timothy 1:7 is coming along very nicely.
Read Aloud: We're making slow progress in Through the Looking Glass. I don't think that this one is as much fun for Monkey, probably because he's just a bit young to pick up on all the very silly stuff going on. However, I am really enjoying it. We're getting to the point in the book where I need to start thinking about what I'm going to read next. Last time I was at Half-Price Books they had a number of Winnie-the-Pooh books that looked like they were probably beautifully illustrated. I may look into those. Monkey loves bears, and I think he'd really enjoy them. Plus, it'd nice to have Christopher Robin - a boy - be the main character. We've been reading a lot of stories about girls because it turns out that's what I'm familiar with!
Art: We worked on making some ornaments. I used Confessions's idea for snowman ornaments. Clearly, her kids are older than mine: look at how tidy their prints are! But we're having fun and the snowmen are turning out adorable. I'm trying to talk Monkey into gifting a few of his creations, but so far that's not been a winning idea.
Mom's Ed: I've been munching my way through a stack of baby books. The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth was a great read. I'm working on Birth Day right now, which deals with a lot of history, and being written by a pediatrician, is an interesting perspective on birth. Between attending that birth last week, and now finding out that I'm pregnant myself, yeah, I've got babies on the brain. It's a good thing. All other self-education projects are more or less on hold until I get this out of my system.
Here's a bit of gratuitous cuteness:
We took Monkey to visit Baby R. at the hospital, and he got to "hold" him. That is, Monkey sat on my lap, and I sat R's feet on Monkey's lap while Monkey wrapped his arms around the swaddled bundle of baby. It was terribly cute. Since then, he's made a habit of wrapping up his blankets and carefully holding them. They alternate: sometimes he's holding "R." and sometimes it's his "sister."
10 December 2009
Software Giveaway Reminder
Don't forget: the SpellQuizzer software giveaway is supposed to end tomorrow night! Thus far the odds of winning are great, because there are no entries yet, strangely enough. I think this software would work great for spelling practice in either a public school/homework setting or a homeschool setting.
To enter:
1. Post to your blog about this giveaway and review. Do this before Dec. 11, 2009.
2. Come back and leave me a link to your post in the comments of the original review and giveaway post.
If you would like, you can use the following code for your post. Just copy and paste.
It will look like this:
SpellQuizzer software works with any spelling program, whether homeschool or public. Click to enter Ritsumei's giveaway on Baby Steps for a chance to win SpellQuizzer!
To enter:
1. Post to your blog about this giveaway and review. Do this before Dec. 11, 2009.
2. Come back and leave me a link to your post in the comments of the original review and giveaway post.
If you would like, you can use the following code for your post. Just copy and paste.
It will look like this:
SpellQuizzer software works with any spelling program, whether homeschool or public. Click to enter Ritsumei's giveaway on Baby Steps for a chance to win SpellQuizzer!
Hurray!!!
I have a new widget for my blog. It looks like this:
Because we're going to have a baby at the end of next summer! Hurray!!!!
For the purposes of blogging, this baby will be known as "Sparrow." We're excited!
Because we're going to have a baby at the end of next summer! Hurray!!!!
For the purposes of blogging, this baby will be known as "Sparrow." We're excited!
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