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Speed of Light
Oct. 8, 2006
Week in Review: October 2-8
This week had no major events, but it was fun as usual!
Violin lessons are going great, and Light’s music theory is growing by leaps and bounds! He is working thorough the Suzuki Violin book, and he is learning that his mind is way ahead of his body, but with practice and determination his body is learning to make the music that his mind so clearly hears. His math background really paved the way for a great foundation in understanding music, but he continues to amaze his instructor and me as his grasp of the math in music is displayed. Light’s ability to understand fifths and positions and scales and octaves and rhythm and time signatures and lots of musical stuff astounds me and although he can only “play” 3 songs right now (Twinkle, Twinkle, Lightly Row, and Song of the Wind), his musical knowledge and understanding well surpasses any aspirations I had when he began lessons 9 months ago. He has even begun to compose his own songs and it fascinates me to see him thinking about music. His instructor commented as we were leaving the lesson last Monday, “Keep this kid composing, he really has the mind for it.”
Swimming is also becoming another area of strength. Light has tried organized sports and none have really resonated with him, but he is active and loves to move! This summer he really became a “fish” and would spend HOURS in our pool, diving under and spending most of his time underwater and treading in the deep end. He really is a home in the water! With fall finally here and his need to be in the water we have continued with YMCA swim lessons and he is doing great. His strokes are becoming more and more refined, and he can swim the length of the pool with ease (we are still working on finesse) and often swims as far and deep as he can on his last entry into the pool at the end of the lesson, to prolong getting out of the pool! I think in the weeks to come we will be scheduling 2 or 3 lessons a week, as he really wants to be in the water as much as possible. Light has even stated he would love to be on a swim team, so I am exploring those options in our area.
Lego’s and K’nex got a lot of use this week. Light goes through building phases. I love to see what he will come up with. This was the most fascinating design this week, and I have honestly not seen anything like it in any of his Lego kits or books. He continues to amaze me with his creations.
The main levels are a building with floors and the “elevator” slides up and down the shaft. The elevator opens up inside the building and to the outside as well. I thought it was quite clever!
Light got to stay over at his grandparent’s house this weekend, and he went exploring with Grandma on her wonderful property. He came home with a box of great finds he gathered! He told me all about Blue Spruce trees, burning bush, Osage orange trees, pine cones, thyme, Sycamore trees and their giant leaves, and lots of other nature finds. They took light sensitive paper and made a print of some leaves they found. Light described the process to me, “For this activity pick a day when the sunlight is really strong, put the light sensitive paper in the sun for 5 minutes with leaves on the paper to make a design. After 5 minutes, put the paper in water for 2 minutes and watch the paper develop. You end up with a really cool design!”
All in all, we had a great week! We read (Light is currently reading Hoot by Carl Hiaasen, still reading about Chemsitry, also reading about Earth Science, and reading a book about Pythagoras), hung out with other home schoolers, enjoyed the weather, and welcomed fall!
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About Me
Raising my son, Light, is such a joy. I never know where our days will take us and keeping up with him is quite a journey! Unschooling is our way of living and interacting with this wonderful world!
I am following the leader, and he moves at the speed of light!
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Quotes
You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to find it within himself.
--Galileo
My schooling not only failed to teach me what it professed to be teaching, but prevented me from being educated to an extent which infuriates me when I think of all I might have learned at home by myself.
--George Bernard Shaw
When one's expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.
--Stephen Hawking
IT IS, IN FACT, NOTHING short of a miracle that the modern methods of education have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry; for this delicate little plant, aside from stimulation, stands mainly in need of freedom; without this it goes to wrack and ruin without fail. It is a very grave mistake to think that the enjoyment of seeing and searching can be promoted by means of coercion and a sense of duty. To the contrary, I believe that it would be possible to rob even a healthy beast of prey of its voraciousness, if it were possible, with the aid of a whip, to force the beast to devour continuously, even when not hungry, especially if the food, handed out under such coercion, were to be selected accordingly.
--Albert Einstein
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Oct. 10, 2006 - To Lego's
Edited by momtolight on Oct. 17, 2006 at 1:35 PM