My Microsoft class is so much fun. We did coding at Microsoft. Another time at Microsoft, we made a robotic finger. It was cool. My friend Ella was there too. When we go back to Microsoft, I want to do a challenge on the game Minecraft. The person that finds diamonds first, wins the game. I went to go eat after Microsoft at La Duni in Northpark Mall with my friend.
Book by Sharifa Rhodes Pitts
This book is about Jake. He moved to New York City. People on Jake’s street are going to work and do other stuff like play games. Jake goes to Utopia children’s house after school. At Utopia he makes art. This boy grew up to be the famous artist Jacob Lawrence.
Wow has November flown by! I can’t believe we have almost completed our first semester of homeschooling. This has been such a rewarding and amazing few months.
I adore the classes at the Microsoft store in Northpark. They host these for our homeschool group and the kids just love them! This time we learned how to build a flex sensor that lets you control a robotic finger with your finger. VERY cool!
On this day we enjoyed learning about a bug’s life cycle and stages at the Perot Museum during one of their homeschool science days.
Taking time to re-investigate the robotics and gem floors of the Perot…we stumbled into the (oil) drilling section and took the ‘tour’ of a rig. Being my husband’s industry made it that much more interesting to learn about.
We were riding scooters near where we live in the city when we stumbled upon this fine shop called Jackson Armory. They were incredibly kind to take time to show us a few of their oldest weapons. Since I would never remember the name of this impressive piece photoed, I noted the tag info: AR Code MG42, Berlin-Borsigwalde, Mauser-Werke. The clerk told us that it had already sold and was going to its new home in Mass. They also have a tiny room of antique, rare books. We had the good fortune to see a Fore-Edge Book. If you are in Snider Plaza, I highly recommend taking in well-behaved children to see their treasures…..and it doesn’t hurt that Yummylicious is across the street!
This month at the DMA we learned about the secret language of flowers through the big, beautiful murals of Edward Steichen: In Exultation of Flowers.
In the studio, Jennifer taught us how to make art using paint, flowers… and gold!
It was that time again…..time to start from scratch with Zhen! This time Sebastian and I decided to use google to find a landscape image that he really liked and wanted to be inspired by. We discovered this painting, The Loneliness of Autumn by Leonid Afremov. It will be an 18″ by 36″ and I can’t wait to frame and hang it with the other two he has completed.
Sebastian is still loving his coding time with friends once a week at Techie Factory and Thanksgiving week he even got to attend a Techie Factory day camp with several more friends that were out of public school. They are having all kinds of winter camps too….should you be interested!
The Thanksgiving holiday was good to us. We spent time with extended family and friends. What a treat to have so many loved ones around us.
My nieces, Sebastian’s cousins spent the Thanksgiving weekend with us. We took them to Spark, Farmer’s Market, the big AMC ‘with the good chairs’ and Yummylicious too many times!
This month the beatboxing and music making from my son’s mind & soul came home. I don’t know where it has been over the last 24 months. This month it returned. 🙂 I am so thankful to get to work with and teach this joyous and loving creature.
I’m so thankful that I have a mommy & daddy. How are the reindeer doing, good? Can I please have a computer, PS4, a phone by Samsung Galaxy, 4 free day passes from school, a super cool fidget spinner, pop socket for the phone, an amethyst rug & two amethyst pillows, orbez, and last but not least a Dash. I hope you have a careful Christmas!
Love,
Sebastian.
Betta fish are colorful. Males are more colorful & longer. Males & females help to hatch the eggs.
There are more than 20 kinds of cobras that live in Africa & Asia. Cobras are cold-blooded. Cobras are carnivours because thay eat meat. They have very sharp and venomous fangs. Cobras only need to eat once a month. Cobras hach from eggs and can live 20 years. A cobra’s enemy is a mongoose.
Well if you haven’t made it to the DMA yet to see the Yayoi Kusama exhibit, you should take 45 seconds of your life and go check it out. 😉 Yep, that’s what you get once inside, 45 seconds. Spend the first 20 or 25 just taking in the infinity of pumpkins and make sure to have your camera app open before you enter. Then your last bit of time can be spent snapping a few photos.
We found ourselves at the DMA for a homeschooler’s class on art and the senses. The class discussed pieces of the collection found on the 3rd floor made of silver.
John Bramblitt, an artist joined the class to offer his unique perspective on ‘viewing’ art when one has lost the sense of sight. The kids discussed the other four senses and how art can still be enjoyed even when it can’t be seen.
John shared that when he eats different things he ‘sees’ various colors. He then uses this ‘sight’ to create his paintings. The hamburger painting represented all the colors he ‘tastes’. The kids then used scented watercolors to create their own paintings. Jennifer Sheppard in charge of this program does such a wonderful job at pulling together multiple concepts into these lessons. We appreciate her so much!
In our own art world, Sebastian is making rapid progress on the Dali. I expect it to be complete in another week or two. Here are photos for two weeks worth of progress.
When Sebastian finishes the Dali, we are trying to decide what the next replica will be and our search took us to learn about Andy Warhol. Sebastian and I read this book about Warhol and Sebastian wrote a short book report about it.
Meanwhile, coding at Techie Factory proceeds on with friends. They love programming Dash the robot.
These past weeks have been full of fun October festivities. Birthdays, carnivals, cold, cozy nights visiting friends and of course Halloween!
If the craziness of October wasn’t enough, we MOVED. Ugh! It was a short move just a few streets over to a new, modern flat in the city, but I FORGOT how painful moves can be. All in all, it’s over and we all survived. Sebastian was a HUGE help and got to use his measuring skills as well as handyman skills doing little projects for his dad and me. These are the days that I am especially thankful for the flexibility of homeschooling. Time for us to do the things life requires as a family without external pressures is such a blessing.
Since I want the focus of our blog to be on homeschooling, Sebastian, and our education journey, I don’t touch on my other interests or hobbies, but I am an avid researcher and advocate for alternative health. I could start/write a whole other blog about my journey, experiences, and research on the topic. In relation to homeschooling, I want to share a component that involves health. Over the summer I discovered that Sebastian had very high lymph blockage and really needed to focus on detoxing. He has learned so much about his own health and is an active, willing participant in improving and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. He dry-brushes, saunas, detoxes via ionic footbaths, sits through Rife sessions, takes time to reflect/meditate in nature, and makes a choice to abstain from wheat, gluten, and GMO food at every opportunity. Homeschooling gives us the opportunity to see that these lifestyle choices are supported every day. We are choosing to detach from ‘mainstream living’ and engage in a more aware, stressfree and ‘dis-ease’ free existence. I encourage everyone to re-evaluate their life’s pace, consumption habits (both food and stuff) and be sure you prioritize for your best mental and physical health.
I read a book about Andy Warhol. Andy was thirteen when his father died. Andy painted pop art. When Andy was a adult he lived in New York City. I like the picture he made about Michael Jackson.
