Creating

Sometimes it is easy to forget how important crafting can be to a sense of homeschool well-being. A sheet of correctly solved math problems is very satisfying, and definitely should be, but tapping into our creativity encourages mental stretching that gives us the strength to think on our toes, finding new and unique solutions to problems. Plus the process of imagining, pursuing, and then completing an entirely unique project, with final product in hand, gives a sense of fulfullment that, honestly, knocks internal self-patting right out of the park.

Clay, paper, paint, markers, pencils...you name it. There are lots of outlets for creative expression. This week Calvin made a pot, created a picture by pressing colored non-drying clay onto a sketch of his own, designed and built with Legos, and started a new scrapbook. This in addition to writing stories, noodling on the piano, and singing songs of life at the top of his lungs from the shower. And, of course, drawing.

We've always done a lot of drawing. Calvin illustrates most of his journal entries, and he loves to draw maps, as well, creating the worlds, real and imagined, that he explores in the books that he reads. I love his youthful symbolic drawings—the ones where birds have wings and four feet, suns have clearly visible rays, and people have oddly circular torsos—but he's entering the stage of more realistic images, so we've embarked on a journey of self-lead lessons with Drawing With Children, by Mona Brooks. This week we tried self portraits, taking pencils and clipboards and sketching pencils into the bathroom to use the mirror. Calvin did a first sketch, then we spent some time talking about the difference between his first sketch and the image he was seeing in the mirror and he made a second sketch. Then, just for fun, he made the likeness out of construction paper, too.

Clay pot making, inspired by the ancient pottery we saw behind the scenes at the museum

Pressed clay landscape

self portrait sketching

Notes from the homeschooling desk (1/31)

We were supposed to drive into Detroit today to enjoy a performance by the Dance Theater of Harlem, but we awoke to a world of swirling white that urged us—all of us—to remain snug within the safety of our own home. I am so grateful for the winter weather that we have been enjoying, including, and mabye especially because of, all these frigid, frigid days and the trickling amounts of snow that demand multiple shovelings a day. I am thankful for this weather even when it keeps us home, maybe doubly so when it does.

So no field trip blog today, just a peek at some wonderful day-to-day stuff, the kind of stuff we do when we are staying snug within the safety of our own walls.

A math note from my birthday, proving that math can be both life-relevant and fun

Methodology


self-portrait

The crafts are brought to you today by Labco (whatever that is)...

Project 365 week 4

Days 22-28, January 22-28

{field trip} UofM Exhibit Museum of Natural History—Behind the Scenes Day

What was I just saying about having so many great field trip opportunities so close to home?

Rotunda

This one was only fifteen minutes away, which was a good thing when we were leaving the house this afternoon with only about that much to spare. The Exhibit Museum of Natural History at the University of Michigan has already become a favorite stopping point for us, but today they opened their wings and offered a special glimpse of their behind the scenes work as well.

bird specimen collection

There are a few things in this world that fill me with great warmth and joy simply at their mention. I'm sure this is true for most people—our minds tend to link the feeling of comfort with certain experiences, this being the basis behind the pacifier, the trusty blanket, a hug from a loved one, and, of course, comfort food. For me one of these moments was an entire semester, later in my college years, spent studying the object of my desire: evolutionary biology and animal behavior. I spent an obscene number of hours studying that term, and most of them were spent in room 303 in the Natural History Museum: the Museum Teaching Collection and Lab. Mere memory of that lab and its professors is enough to fill me with an inner peace and longing, a pang of nostalgia.

room 303

Calvin and I have been visiting the museum several times annually for a couple of years now. Of course he loves the museum. The countless hours we have spent pouring over books on prehistoric life are made real there, as are a number of rare and/or local species he has never seen alive himself. He loves the rotunda, and the selection of reading materials available in the small library on the main exhibit floor. We both enjoy the dioramas of ancient life, and the murals, which are ancient in their own right. And every time we visit I feel a pull from the authorized personnel only doors off to the side, or turning a corner in the specimen hall will fill me with nostalgia for days of packed lunches eaten on the benches there while pouring over notes on the identification of lagomorphs based on dental orientation, or something of the like.

in the exhibit museum

Today was a chance for me to return to those moments, and to share them with Jon and Calvin. The rooms looked the same and smelled the same and I could not contain the smile that crept onto my face when we entered them. We took four tours, the one in the bird and mammal wing being the most important to me, but we also toured the paleontology, invertebrate, and anthropology wings. Aside from rare views of rooms full of specimens, we were also treated to the exuberance of the true scholars of each field, professors and graduate students, all being thoroughly in love with their fields and more than eager to share their love with the public. Though the event was free, groups were kept to manageable sizes by requiring pre-registration and tickets, which also helped limit attendees to those were actually interested in an hour's worth of lecture on the subjects.

scarlet tanagers

in the mammal teaching specimen room

in the Paleontology wing—mammoth study room

in the basement...the Paleontology collection

in the mollusk wing

viewing a butterfly's wings under a microscope

a pretty private look in the anthropology department

Calvin says his favorite moment was the Paleontology tour, and possibly making a cast of a Clovis point in the anthropology wing. Jon, who had yet to even visit the museum with us, says he enjoyed everything. For me, the greatest moment was just walking into room 303, and getting to see the cabinet of bat specimens, my favorite creature of study from that year so long ago, was just icing on the cake.

{field trip} NAIAS 2013

We're lucky to have many wonderful field trip type opportunities in our area. Detroit, struggling ghost town that it is, still draws crowds to many events each year, not to mention a wide variety of stage shows. The North American International Auto Show is just one such event, spanning two weeks in the second half of January, and every year we try to make the trek to join the crowds.

In years past the show included non sequiters like circus performers and vocal acts, but since the economic fall-out car companies limited themselves to hot chicks in spikey shoes. This year, for some reason, even those were short supply, and most of the cars on display were the same standards you would find on show-room floors. Without the usual strange prototypes and cars of the future we decided that this year was somewhat lacking. But there are always things to enjoy, like studying well-labeled engines of all kinds, or watching engines at work, or seeing the skeleton of a car on its side. We also made a music video, tried getting the feel of being a tire, designed our buttons and had them made, and ate candied almonds.

Some favorite moments from the show? We spotted some of our favorite period actors from Greenfield Village giving tours in the Ford display, which made at least Jon and myself strangely happy. For Calvin the highlight was probably riding the monorail to The Detroit Beer Company for lunch, and I'd venture to say that, with the show's slim pickings, my dad's favorite moment was the delicious beer and pizza he had for lunch.