The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. - Terry Pratchett

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Pine Tree, Saltwater Taffy, Human Muscular System



"I am going to be a Pine Tree for Halloween, Mama." Sounded pretty final and pretty good to me.

Some Wired Paper Pine decoration and string came together to make the sparse Douglas Fir-like Pine Tree costume. A pair of brown corduroy pants with knee pads that I sewed and the green fleece shirt (also sewn by me long time ago) was the basic outfit. (A cat sitting on the pine tree is a bonus. Nevermind how it got there.)

"Saltwater Taffy. That's what I want to be!" declared the 7 yo a few weeks ago, a wide grin escaping through the gap-teeth.

Some red fleece from my stash, white shiny tulle, cellophane paper, and some thread and pins came together to create the simple strawberry-flavored saltwater taffy costume.




Human Muscular System? That was the costume for the Human Body research that the older child shared in school.

The white slim-fit pants I had sewn for the Canada Dress and a turtleneck white long-sleeved shirt got scribbled with markers and brushed with paints to create the bloody mess that represents the muscles in our body.



The much-anticipated Trick-or-Treat-ing was done as usual, the treats stashed away.  Probably to be discovered months later in small doses...

The best part was the pumpkin carving, as always! "Wicked" was Ana's choice; the tiny pumpkin in the foreground was designed by Og - all carving executed by Papa after the kids scooped out the innards of the pumpkins. My job was to sort out the pumpkin seeds and roast them to enjoy as snack...



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Monday, October 29, 2012

Another year spins by...

Birthdays have always been low-key in my life, since childhood. Just family. A favorite meal that my mom made, by request. A visit to the nearby temple, if possible. No parties, no hoopla. And, it didn't fall on the same day in the Gregorian calendar each year...

Papa decided to indulge the birthday girl lady woman femme with a made-from-scratch Wicked Good Boston Cream Pie, his eager daughter serving as sous-chef.



A few weeks ago, I was casually grilled by the little girl about my favorite things to do, favorite things to eat, favorite place to go to for fun. And was asked to jot down a list of these favorites.

Of course, I skewed the answers a bit to make it kid-friendly/family-friendly, knowing that moments like these are few when I have the opportunity to strengthen the family bond, even if I'd much rather go for a run by myself, read a book quietly in my room curled up in bed with a cup of hot chai, contemplate on this gift of life, try to identify my purpose and dedicate some time towards realizing it... 

And, am glad I skewed the answers, because first on my list of Favorite Things To Do was 'Go for a hike with my family'.  Despite the relentless drip from the sky, we donned our rain coats and boots and hiked up the Black-tail Deer Trail, with Papa regaling us with tales from Roman history and mythology - starting from Romulus and Remus, all the way to Augustus Octavius Caesar, not in strictly chronological order.

A lovely scented candle. Fresh flowers. Plus a game that Ana made and insisted we play several rounds of right away. Those were the 'surprise presents'. I love the 4 Origami frogs that were the play pieces so the four of us could play together. Roll the dice, or as in our case, pick a number out of a container (1 to 5 only). The deceptively few steps in the game takes forever to finish thanks to all the Go Back To Start and Lose A Turn... Charades were the toughest for me, not being good at it at all.




Since I didn't have a favorite food per se, inspite of being a foodie, nor did I have a favorite place to go to for fun, I hesitantly inked in John's Incredible Pizza as I knew Ana was longing to go there. Since we've been there exactly once so far, it seemed a reasonable excursion, worth the expenditure, especially since Papa convinced me that he has this 50% off coupon valid for that day.

And when we trooped back home that evening after a full day that started with an invigorating hike, I think the kids enjoyed the day as much as I enjoyed watching them enjoy the day in their own way.

Simplicity being the mantra, cultivating it through a quiet life with meaningful pursuits, celebrating the everyday moments and the gift of just being, about 350 days go by in a year where we seem to 'do nothing'; and therefore, those handful of other days seem all the more essential to give us perspective...

Of course, the next day found me examining my limitations through a microscope, resolving to become a better person, more giving and smiling and laughing and joyful, trying to do the best I can with what I've been given...

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Sunday, October 28, 2012

Of Numbers and Stars

Of Numbers and Stars
The Story of Hypatia
by D. Anne Love
illustrated by Pam Paparone


Women in Mathematics in Roman Egypt circa 400 AD. There were probably just a handful of them. Notable of them was Hypatia of Alexandria, daughter of mathematician Theon Alexandricus.

Of Numbers and Stars tells the story of one of the brilliant women of that period in history when women had very few rights, let alone the privilege to get an education.

Hypatia (High-pay-shah) had an insatiable thirst for learning, practicing and persevering till she gained mastery over that which she is learning, be it horse-back-riding, spear-fishing, boat-rowing, or poetry, mathematics, philosophy.

It is not often that a children's picture book biography manages to engage and motivate the child while presenting the illustrious life in a concise and accessible form. Most successful books in this genre seem to have a common thread: begin at the beginning - share the birth story of the protagonist, the formative years, and let the young reader connect with her/him before they willingly proceed to learn about the rich and full life.

Introduced to Hypatia as a little girl who was keen on learning whatever was taught to her, and excelling in it through diligence and dedication, certainly kindled the 7-yo's interest, eager to know how she turned out as a grown-up.

Students from far and wide came to study under her masterly guidance. "Through her extraordinary roles as scholar, philosopher, writer, and teacher, she became a symbol of learned women for centuries to come."

The text is rich with description, yet crisp and fascinating, not tedious or bland. The illustrations are gorgeous, striking a wonderful balance with the story, highlighting the period in history while keeping the focus on the narration.

Author's Note section shares that Hypatia's death was the result of a tragic and intentional attack on her. Although little is known first hand about her life, research has unearthed enough about her life to indicate what an amazing and brilliant scholar she was.

[The post written for Saffron Tree's CROCUS 2012 event]

[image source: amazon.com]

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Saturday, October 27, 2012

Manfish

Manfish, A Story of Jacques Cousteau
by Jennifer Berne
illustrated by Éric Puybaret


This picture book biography of the world-famous Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau is quite an homage to  his indomitable spirit as a marine explorer and conservationist.

I remember watching movies of the deep sea expeditions by Cousteau and his Calypso team; I remember being awestruck by the underwater images and the magical term 'aqua-lung' (not the Jethro Tull album, although that was quite captivating as well.)

Before his candid filming brought to the world the amazing creatures of the deep sea, little was known about this as-yet unexplored habitat.

The text is almost poetic in places, giving a rich account of Jacques' life from birth to late in his life. His love for water, his fascination for movies and filming, his irrepressible curiosity and spirit to explore the unknown all come across eloquently.

The illustrations are a visual treat, lush with the cool blues and greens of the ocean, with rich dark tones of the deep to remind us of the lack of natural light in those parts. Every double page spread captures the narration with elegance and charm, with a little bit of the whimsy.

For example, when Jacques dreamed that he could breathe underwater for real, having read a story about a man who could breathe underwater through a long tube, when he dreamed that he could fly, the picture shows young Jacques with outstretched arms flying with the gulls, swimming with the fish, in a gently ambiguous blue background that could be the sky or the water in a wide double-page spread.

My favorite is the page where Jacques tries on a pair of goggles his friend gave him - the split image shows the bottom half of the page with the gorgeous beauty under water and the top part of the page shows a hazy stretch of ocean and land with buildings and bridges in the far horizon, the focus being on the rays and Moorish idol and clown fish and other fauna in eye-popping colors.

It was magical to learn about the diving equipment Cousteau perfected with his engineers, with the deep sea gear and wet suits, and the discovery of many new species with strange adaptations.

Kids' favorite page: the fold out long vertical spread that mentions the discovery of  rays ("fish that fly through water"), truckfish ("big as a truck with lips like giant tyres"), Checkerboard fish ("with red and white checks from head to tail"), fish that looked like plants and plants that looked like fish.

Author's Note describes Jacques Cousteau as 'protector of our planet and its creatures', 'spokesperson for the sea', besides all the remarkable talents he shared with the world. Over 115 films and 50 books, and his rallying cry, "Il faut aller voir" ("We must go and see for ourselves"), doubtless has inspired many to follow in his illustrious footsteps.

While it is impossible to condense Captain Cousteau's life in a few pages, the book presents his story with clarity and grace, closing with his marine conservation efforts, adding a gentle call to action to the children:

Jacques dreamed that someday it would be you, exploring worlds never seen, never imagined. Whole new worlds, silent and shimmering. Worlds that are now yours. To discover. To care for. and to love.

The book is available in four other languages - French, Korean, Portuguese and Polish.

Another book by Jennifer Berne that was much-enjoyed in our house is Calvin Can't Fly.

[This post written for Saffron Tree's CROCUS 2012 event]

[image source: http://www.jenniferberne.com/books.html]

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Monday, October 22, 2012

CROCUS 2012 Starts Tomorrow!

Back in 2007, I joined a handful of like-minded parents - five, if I recall correctly - to share our favorite books that resonated with our kids, at the wonderful online repository called Saffron Tree.

Over the years, I've gained more from the association than the other way round I am sure. And, as Saffron Tree (ST)  family grew, it is exciting for me to benefit from the reading choices of the 'older kids' in the family, and quietly carry on some of the behind-the-scenes work for ST.

Each year, we throw a home-grown party online - a festival of books called CROCUS: Celebrating Reading Of Culturally Unique Stories.

And, each year, we try to zone in on a theme and highlight books via reviews, interviews, arts/crafts, games and such.

This year is no exception. CROCUS 2012 starts tomorrow for a week-long celebration of Mathematics and Eco-Science!

Join us at www.saffrontree.org from Oct 23rd to 27th as we present Math and Eco-Science related children's books, interviews and puzzles.


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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Periodic Table


Quite unintentionally, a sudden interest in the various chemical elements that make up our world found us knee-deep in books and supplementary materials embarking with gusto to learn as much as we can about the Periodic Table of Elements.

Well, not exactly sudden as the spark was ignited with TMBG's Here Comes Science CD+DVD.

The obsessive phase started when we bought Theodore Gray's Photographic Elements deck of cards after browsing The Periodic Table website and checking out The Elements book from the library.



The younger child got into it with the intense passion that characterizes his style of learning, completely immersing himself day-in and day-out on a single topic that catches his fancy at the moment. The older child likes juggling multiple areas of interest without being consumed by any one of them at a given time.

The deluxe set of cards in elegant 5-inch square format with stunning pictures got laid out on the floor patiently and enthusiastically. First we concentrated on the standard IUPAC arrangement, learning the names, atomic number, and chemical symbol, before attempting the other suggested layouts.

We played several games once all the cards were laid out on the floor:
calling out one card at a time with its atomic number;
calling out by its atomic symbol;
and as we got more familiar with the properties, calling out by some characteristic and a combination of clues
and picking up the correct card off the floor and making a separate pile.

From something as simple as 'an element found in bananas', 'element used in atomic clocks', 'radioactive element(s) discovered by Marie Curie', the clues we gave each other started getting progressively involved. Like, find 'a Lanthanide named after Ytterby, Sweden, with the highest atomic number'. (There are 4 elements named after Ytterby quarry in Sweden where they were first found.)

The cards also have many of the properties listed on the back of each element. So we started learning about solid/liquid/gas states and density and melting point, man-made vs. naturally occurring, radioactive and toxic/poisonous ones... peeling the layers and delving deeper as long as it interests the learner.

The most-enjoyed game was, "I'm thinking of an element..." along the lines of 20-Questions - only not 20, but just up to 5 questions/clues allowed.

Og: I am thinking of an element. Guess what it is!
Me: Is it a metal?
Og: Yes.
Me: Does it have more than 50 protons?
Og: No. it has more than 20 but less than 30.
Me: Is its atomic number greater than 25?
Og: No.
Me: Is it Chromium?
Og: No. It is used in making white paints.
Me: It must be Titanium!

(Zinc 30 is also used in making white paints.)

Of course, some can be guessed more easily than others, but, it helped reinforce some facts we picked up reading books.

Speaking of which... It's Elementary! by Robert Winston is the most-enjoyed, much-read book at home by the children. In the edition we have, Oggie found a major typo! On page 84 showing Group I elements, Francium is listed as atomic number 67, whereas it should be 87.



The Elements by Theodore Gray was captivating to the kids for its pictures, the text of course is aimed for an older audience, so the adults in the family enjoyed it more than the kids.

The Periodic Table, Elements With Style (Basher/Dingle) had fun facts but did not engage the kids as much at this time, possibly because  we were already hooked on the Photographic Elements cards with gorgeous pictures. We'll be revisiting it and a few others by Adrian Dingle that seem like fun.

The book I enjoy reading, as much for its content as its ease of presentation is Nature's Building Blocks - an A-Z Guide to the Elements by John Emsley. At any given time, it is fun to turn to a random page and read: Think pink, think Erbium - at least when it comes to art glasses and goggles for glass-blowers... Erbium can be mildly toxic by ingestion...

Of course, Tom Lehrer's song, plus a few youtube videos at random came in handy.

One of the games/activities that the 7-yr old likes to play is the Elementary Words! using the Periodic Table Code as we call it. The idea is from Theodore Gray's cards. Spell the word using the chemical symbols.

Example:
Sir Nicholas = Sulphur Iridium Nitrogen Iodine Carbon Hydrogen Oxygen Lanthanum Sulphur = 16-77-7-53-6-1-8-57-16



I have a running list of words that we think up in our spare time - some are easy, they reinforce learning of certain elements based on their atomic symbol; some can be decoded in more than one way.

Example:
Phone = Phosphorus Hydrogen Oxygen Neon = Phosphorus Holmium Neon

And, of course, Harry Potter books 1 and 2 being somewhat of a recent study, the 7-yo liked to make up names like Bilius and Colin, tried very hard for Harry, Ron, Hermione, Hagrid, Dumbledore, Albus, McGonagall...

The best of all was Og's amazing teacher making up a Periodic Table "work" so children can work on it at  school if they choose to! I am blown away by her creativity and dedication.



Since Book-making is a favorite activity at home, a couple of books got made, with the older child working according to her ideas and the younger one collaborating with me, dictating extempore while I put on my Scribe hat and jot it down fast.



The books are works in progress - as we think of something to share in the book, we add a new page.

The five weeks of feverish frenzy has given way to a gently placid pace of study, possibly gradually tapering off to nil, making way for us to explore a new area when ready.

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Wednesday, October 03, 2012

Kids Craft: Paper Animals in a Box



There must be something about the large-sized books that must be appealing to the 7-yo. Just about every other book she borrows from her school library is a humongous volume - be it The Guinness Book of World Records or Shells:Treasures of the Sea, or the most recent, The Ultimate Paper Crafts & Origami Book by Jackson & A'Court.

It is no secret that Usborne Book of Art Ideas is a favorite at home - I leaf through it a lot while sipping tea some weekend afternoons looking for inspiration, among other books. And, Ana started doing the same a couple of years ago, minus the tea-sipping, of course.

Anyway, for a "surprise" Tea Party one summer day, Ana gave the hand-made invitations, all hush-hush; confirmed we would be there at 4 p.m in our backyard; where she had set up a picnic blanket, made some lemonade (in lieu of tea), cookies, and a Box Full of Paper Animals for the 'guests' to take home.

[The cookies were the Easy Bake™ kind that her aunt gave her last Christmas.]



Box Full of Paper Animals




Unfortunately I don't have a step-by-step for this project as I didn't do it; and it was done in secret to preserve the element of surprise. However, I think the idea is from one of the Paper Crafting books she has been reading.

The albino white tiger family was my favorite in terms of novelty and uniqueness. And, the paper-woven heart was a special touch.



Guessing from the finished work - simply fold the required size colored paper in half, draw and cut out the animal shape, adding its characteristic features, and voilá!

But that is not all. She made the heart-shaped box as well. Cut out cardboard from our recycling pile for lid and bottom; green poster paper for the sides, which she then proceeded to decorate with bits of striped blue tissue paper.



I did manage to casually peek in and get a picture when the gorgeous box was under construction.


My favorite animal to take home? I shamelessly grabbed the crocodile and elephant, leaving Oggie and Papa to the tiger family and giraffe.


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Kids Craft: Miniature Paper Dolls



Paper Dolls of all kinds have been very popular with the little girl at home. Sticker paper dolls as well as the regular kind with tabs to put on the clothes. Dress up of all kinds is much enjoyed as well, be it dressing up the self or dolls or others.

After playing with store-bought paper dolls aplenty, finally, Ana started making her own. The most fun part is designing the clothes (and making them) for her very own paper dolls. And this way, she is not particular about their facial features or bodies, but more focused on creating - from drawing to cutting out the dolls and clothes meticulously.

The inspiration apparently came from The Ultimate Paper Crafts & Origami book by Jackson & A'Court. I like how tiny the dolls are - it is hard to make miniature things even if they are much cuter than the regular-sized.

As is the norm these days, I had little to do with the making of these. I was given the girl paper doll to play with and Papa was given the boy paper doll. I like the detail, plus the choice of pants or skirt for the girl.

While a few more are in progress, I think with each of these projects, she seems to be interested in figuring out how to do it, make a prototype to satisfy herself and move on to create something else. Just watching her revisit/repeat a particular project gives me an idea of what interests her at the moment and helps me strategically place materials and books to encourage her self-learning...

Perhaps she'll grow out of it as school gets busy and the time to do what she wants dwindles, but c'est la vie... we grab on to what is potentially soul-satisfying and try to do it as often as life permits.

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