We're on a geology bender at the moment. So far, we are lagging a bit behind in our own science studies at home, but at RES, where the kids take classes twice a week, all of the older ones are taking an Earth Science class during the first session, and this should be continuing through much of the year. Last Friday we went on a field trip to a winery in Goochland County where the kids participated in a rocks and minerals program. And tomorrow we are going to Morefield Mine, one of the all-time favorite field trip destinations.
Morefield Mine is like Williamsburg--it's not a do it once and get everything possible out of it event. It's one of those things that needs to be repeated yearly or so, each time bringing some extra bit of information or some new twist on the endless thrill of collecting rocks. Morefield Mine is constantly in danger of closing, is closed forever, just emerged from being closed forever, or is only open for this here limited time before it will be gone. But like the phoenix or the dirty wormy thing that becomes the beautiful butterfly, there it is just when you need it. So we'll spend a few hours in the morning at the sluice, in the pit, and covered with dirt so that we can bring home yet another bucket of rocks that I will strive not to vaccuum up because they are everywhere!
And then the following week we are visiting the Midlothian Mines, a spot which I pass nearly daily but have never actually stopped to investigate. There is currently a county park on the site of these mines, but I am anxious to learn more about the history of this area, and hey, it's all in the theme of what we're doing lately, so it is a timely opportunity.
Rutledge also had his first Rutledge-only field trip this past week. Kerry took off work on Wednesday to take him to the pumpkin patch at Chesterfield Berry Farm with his preschool class. This place is always a favorite--hayrides, pumpkin picking, a firepit to roast weenies in, a corn maize, the whole nine yards. I was a bit sad not to share it with him, but the boys have math class on Wednesdays and I teach in the early afternoons, so the older ones of us stayed home and got some work done.
We are doggedly pursuing our own work at the moment as well, so all of this disruption of field trips, lovely as they are, can tend to get us behind. I'm pleased that we've stayed the course as well as we have so far. Frances continues to learn by leaps and bounds. All of those promises about how if you leave them alone and let them learn slowly and prioritize play, exploration, and down time to ponder instead of early academics they will catch up in a short amount of time when they are a little older do seem to be panning out, at least in this case. Her reading continues to explode, her fluency increases by the day, and we're about ready to leave behind her 2nd grade math book in a couple of weeks. What's incredible is that a mere 5 months ago I was fretting about her being able to pass a non-ambitious standardized test with 1st grade math. Now she's multiplying, adding and borrowing, and complaining that what we're doing is too easy. There are still areas where she needs work and where she needs to have facts and ideas come more automatically, so I'm in no huge rush, but the change is so staggering. We're also catching up on some of the Story of the World material from last year, and Frances is the ideal audience for the activity book. Though she wasn't feeling her best this morning, she was meticulous in rolling out, cutting, and drawing bricks on her Mohenjo-Daro house, and she is looking forward to making a diorama with it tomorrow. She also has a similar aural memory to Ollie, which is so easy to work with.
Our Lego League is also rocking along. The competition comes up in just a few weeks, and today was an especially productive day. The boys have programmed the robot to complete almost four of the tasks that can be awarded points, which is more than we had dared to hope for even a week ago. The robot is still being tweaked, but they have come a long way in their ability to delegate tasks, problem solve, and work together in small groups to meet a challenge or troubleshoot. This has been a great experience for everyone involved, and I hope that this will just be the first of several of these competitions to come. I am hoping to find some time this weekend to play around with our robot, which we redesigned today. I am dying to work through the Mayan Adventure book as well when our official competition duties slow down some. It is a nice, methodical introduction to how to build robots, but also a super introduction to design and planning for projects in general. If only we had more time to tinker with this kind of thing!
One of the highlights of this week was Rutledge reconnecting with his friend Beckett, whom we had not seen in a long while. They hit it off immediately and Rutledge cannot wait for a playdate again. Alas, my older ones are getting less and less interested in park day. Walter and Ollie opted to bring a friend home from their math class to play Guitar Hero with, and Frances just didn't want to come. I think partly she was feeling a little phlegmy and wanted to hang out at home, but partly she just doesn't have the same good time she once did. It's hard to be the parent through this stage of hers. I think she is working out where she fits in with various groups and people she spends time with. It's hard work. It seems like she's always relegated to a younger age category than where she chronologically belongs, partly because she's small for her age and very active and goofy, partly because her interest before now hasn't been very academic (which I think is fine--she should spend time being a child and not just pushing toward the next stage), and partly because I and she have been complicit with his. But now she is wanting to find ways to have some responsibility, to play the part of something other than the younger tagalong. She is practically obsessed with wanting to start a preschool or to run some kind of classes for babies, toddlers, or Rutledge's friends. And as always, she wants to make money at it. I've told her that that might be hard right now, but she's welcome to spend time with the little ones that we know, and I'd certainly appreciate her helping Rutledge with things he needs to do. But it's like there's some ineluctable urge to parent/nurture/have authority over people younger than her right now. But it has meant that she's seeming more aloof and less interested in social situations with her own peers. As a parent, I feel good when I see her integrated, see her having fun. Much of the time she is off by herself now, even in groups, and she is complaining that she is bored. This too shall pass, I presume.
Ollie is off on a reading binge again. He recently reread the entire Harry Potter series over a few weeks, and he just finished Ender's Game, The Bullfight, and I don't know what else. Walter, Ollie and I just read Where the Red Fern Grows as a read-aloud and finished it tonight. This was my absolute favorite book growing up, and I was sobbing as I tried to read that next to last chapter--excruciating! They both really liked it. Frances has been enjoying a bunch of books as well. She likes reading the Usborne classics adaptations on her own, and we still do lots of reading aloud together. Recently we read Frindle, the Cricket in Times Square, the Littles, More Stories from Grandma's Attic, and we're getting ready to start Betsy, Tacy, and Tib, since she really loved the first Betsy-Tacy book.
Rutledge's current on-list is The Monster at the End of This Book, Puppies are Like That, The Little Engine that Could, Peter Sis's London Bridge is Falling Down, and a non-fiction book called Are You a Spider? For him, repetition is the big key, and we have no lack of that around here.
This is a bit of a creepy picture, but there's always something a little creepy about Latin American productions. After the big disappointment of not being able to perform at the Department of Education this month comes more than you want of performance on the stage! We had not been told until this week, but apparently the younger performers are going to be in next weekend's production of Dio de los Muertos, which will be running for four performances and will coincide with a Day of the Dead festival on Halloween day. Frances is performing in three numbers--Shake Senora, a group circle dance, and a procession of the dead. Next week will be one of those marathon weeks--4 days of rehearsals across town, followed by 3 days of performances, sometimes two per day. The bummer is that she will miss trick-or treating, since she will be dancing during those hours, but the good thing is that she gets more stage experience, and I had meant to go to the festival anyway, and now we have more of an excuse.
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