It’s finally Maggie’s turn to have her first day of school! Off to Dodge Nature Preschool for her second (and final!!) year of preschool!
All posts by Andrew
First Day of Second Grade
Thunderstorms all night and ominous gray skies in the morning didn’t diminish Griffin’s excitement for starting school again this year. (There was nervousness, too, but mostly he was looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.)
Maggie Art Roundup
Maggie is not as prolific as Griffin at this stage, but she also loves working at the art table. Below are a few of her recent creations (age 4).
“Stream”
“Spaghetti”
“Crystal City”
“Baby Bird”
“Color Snake”
Griffin Art Roundup
A gallery of art that Griffin created over the past few months (7 years old). Most of these were created at the art table, often in the morning when Griffin likes to come downstairs and create art before the rest of us get up.
“A Park” Spring 2016
“Housey” Spring 2016
“Roller Coaster” Spring 2016
“Minecraft Kitty” Spring 2016
“The Bottle in the Sea” Spring 2016
“Footprint Tracks with Raindrops” Spring 2016
“Puddle in the Hole” Spring 2016
“Splat” Spring 2016
“Franconia” July 16, 2016
“Marker Castle” August 15, 2016
“Crayon Castle” August 14, 2016
Griffin’s Astronomy
While cleaning up the house over the weekend, we found a pile of work that Griffin created at school last year (first grade). This chart of the solar system reminded me of my recent post, Maggie’s Astronomy, so I thought I should add this here. Griffin is aware, by the way, that Pluto is no longer considered to be planet.
As part of his astronomy research in first grade, he also took notes on some of the facts he unearthed. I picked a few to share below.
Note the creative (and phonetically reasonable) spelling of explode: “iiczplod.”
Last of Summer’s Light
Our next photo from our August 30 photo shoot at Franconia with Sarah Hudson. Click below for a larger version.
How the Earth was Made
Not to be outdone by his sister’s creation myth (see my previous post), Griffin shared his own version:
This is my way that the Earth was made. There was a big explosion in space that made a big huge rock and then it melted into lava and then it kept on cooling and cooling. And rain came and then grass started growing and little particles in the water came and the particles got bigger and bigger. Some were in water, and some were on land. And the ones on land were dinosaurs. and the ones in water were kinds of fish. And that’s how the Earth was made.
I think he intended to say a bit more, but he became fatigued with the telling and decided to wrap it up. I may check in soon about a possible sequel.
How Animals Came
At dinner tonight, Maggie asked “How did animals came?” A few clarifying questions revealed that she was interested in how animals arrived on the planet Earth… literally, where animals came from. We talked a bit about microbes and evolution, but she wasn’t especially interested. After some consideration, she produced her own version. Here’s what she had to say (scrawled down verbatim on a scrap of paper at the dinner table):
The ground came.
The animals came from the ground.
And humans came from the animals.
Humans built houses and then
they lived in houses.
New career possibility: developer of creation myths.
Franconia Photography Preview
We enjoyed a fantastic photography session tonight at Franconia Sculpture Park. This is the first photo we received from our photographer, Sarah Hudson, who was gracious enough to schlep all the way to Franconia with us for an epic session amongst the sculptures. Click below for a hi-res version.
My Dubiously Relevant Subject
Every year I begin my eighth grade social studies class by asking students to answer this question on an index card:
Why is social studies the most important class you will take this year?
It’s an absurd question, of course, and I learn a lot by seeing how each student tackles it. Most of them simply write out some reasons why social studies is important. Others add that other classes are equally important. A few argue that another subject trumps social studies altogether. Occasionally someone identifies it as a leading question and castigates me for pedagogic incompetence.
This year, however, I received an answer that had me laughing aloud at my desk after school:
I don’t know yet. Convince me.
Challenge accepted!