Piano Mann

D has two pianos at my mom and dad's house - one in the living room and one in his bedroom. He plays them all the time...happily.

Last week was his Spring recital and he performed two complicated pieces. And he played them well.

Since he practices mostly at my parents' house, I don't really hear him very often. I know he's my kid, so I'm not really objective, but he's dynamic. I'm not easily impressed. Really. But I was impressed.

Nonna finally has her piano player. I took piano lessons for a year, fought with my mom everyday, cried, stomped my feet, and finally jumped ship to play the flute. Thank goodness for the next generation. They can pick up the threads of expectation and run with them.

Tech Challenge: It's Not About Winning

Our mantra, leading up to The Tech Challenge (click to read more about The Tech Challenge 2014), was: It's NOT about winning. It's about what you learned, how you failed, how you adapted and revised, and how you worked as a team. 

But I have to say, with over 500 teams waiting for the announcements, tension was palpable. Almost stifling. Kids were biting fingernails; parents were holding their breath. The room was practically vibrating with excitement.

There were prizes for Best Costumes, Best Journals, Best Device Performance and even Most Spectacular Fail. When it came to Best Engineering Design Process awards, I was floored to hear R's team announced: The Test Tubes. 2nd Place. Best Engineering Design Process. Wow.

Okay, it's not about winning. But it sure was nice to have that recognition of all their hours or hard work. D was so happy for his brother...

Jake was so relieved to be done...

And, me? Well, I'm all about creating food memories to commemorate special events. So, I treated R to his favorite treat: Sparky's Root Beer and Penny Ice Cream. It's still not about winning, it's about the entire endeavor. The award was just icing on the cake.

The Tech Challenge: Harnessing the Wind Video

It's taken me almost two months to be able to think about this challenge (click to read more about The Tech Challenge 2014) without cringing. It's not that it was awful. It wasn't. But this required project for all the 6th graders at our sons' school was all-consuming since my husband was one of the team advisors. They worked one day after school and one full day on the weekends for many, many weeks. It was grueling.

Now that it's summer vacation, I'll actually write a few posts about this experience. It was frustrating on multiple levels. But, as you can see from this video, put together by The Tech Museum, what the kids walked away with was astounding. I'm really impressed with this entire endeavor. And, now that it's not required, the kids and some of the parents are looking ahead at next year's challenge. We might be in!

 

Summer Reading: Challenge Accepted - Finally Slaying that Whale

 

photo by Shannon

As this is a blog to chronicle our innovations, creations, and challenges, I figured this was as good a venue as any to share my journey through a Summer Reading challenge.

Here's the back story of why, more than two decades out of high school, a handful of us are committing to reading this thick tome...

Years ago one of our teachers in high school assigned Moby Dick by Herman Melville. And I was one of those students who always did what was assigned. Always. I was kind of a dork. Still am, I suppose.

photo by Denise

In any case, I couldn't do it. I could not bring myself to slog through those pages and, along with one of my best friends who is also a rule-follower, we decided to skip it and buy the CliffNotes version. Gasp! It was a first - and last - for me. But I figured: if I split the cost of the CliffNotes with her, I was only being half as naughty. Right?

Mired in guilt, I actually did read the book at some point during that school year. But I came to find out very recently that she never did...and neither did a few of our other friends. So, though we're sprinkled all over the country - from Maine to California - we're (re)doing it this year. Moby Dick for summer reading. Woohoo. Dr. Littlefield would be proud.

J found it in Kindle-format for free in English and French. Okay, my French is a little too rusty for that. I picked up a copy as did a few other people we know. Stay tuned! I'm finally slaying this whale.

Avid Reader Becomes Obsessed Reader

I have never had to force my kids to read. Read fiction, yes. Non-fiction, never. They always have their noses buried in books, mostly about whatever animal or scientific project is their current interest.

I remember one of R's teachers commented, during parent-teacher conferences, "I love that he reads all the time. I would just prefer that he not read while he's walking. He might trip." Agreed.

But I could not have imagined that getting a Kindle reader would transform my avid reader into an obsessed reader.

A few months back, he asked my mom if she would get him a Kindle reader for his 12th birthday. She called to make sure we were fine with it. And, because he was smart enough to pick the model that only allows him to read - no game capabilities - I figured, What the heck. Let's do it!

Nonna and Nonno bought it, got him a case in his favorite color, and kept it squirreled away until his actual birthday. So, this weekend, after a fun birthday camping trip with some of his best buddies, he was able to unwrap his Kindle.

He had also gotten some giftcards and used them to pick a few eBooks online. Now, instead of reading for an hour before he falls asleep, it's more like two to three hours! And, perhaps, it's the novelty of the thing, but that's an amazing jump.  I still love my paper pages, but I will never argue with a tool that helps a child read more. I never thought I would say this, but I am a fan of the Kindle!

Do you have one? What do you think?

Summer Reading {by R}: The Unwanteds

I know, I know...summer vacation hasn't yet started for us. But we made a carefully curated list of books the boys will read over the next 8 weeks and R got started early when he borrowed this from one of his best buddies. He must have liked it because I see the sequels on his want-list for his kindle. Okay!

Book: The Unwanteds (click for the goodreads listing, click to find it on amazon)

Author: Lisa McMann

Comments: The Unwanteds is a great book to read. It starts out in a world called Quill and the creative ones are sent to their death because “Creativity is an infraction” in Quill. The Unwanteds are secretly saved by a magician and are in a world of the Unwanteds filled with creativity and magic. The Unwanteds is a book about a few childrens' experience in the new world called Artime. I highly recommend this book for people who love adventure and creativity. I couldn't put it down and read it in two days.

Inspiration for My Ornithopter {by R}

On Sunday I met a guy when hiking to the top of Garrapata. He was carrying a wooden glider made mainly of foam and balsa wood, but was reinforced with fiberglass and carbon fiber.

It had two servos sticking out of the wing to control it. The guy made it himself. He said its best to experience making it from scratch instead of getting a kit.

He launched it with a surgical tube sling shot, then he controlled it with a remote, gliding along the currents blowing up the side of the hill. He likes to follow the turkey vultures flying on the wind currents because the vultures rarely flap their wings. Instead they rely on the upwards currents that he needs to fly his glider. 

This has inspired me to make my own flying machine, an ornithopter. I'll post photos  of my creation later. For now, here are a few more photos of his glider. It's not named yet!