Diffused Illumination

I now have no concerns about Kieran's science education thanks to another installment of the 'why didn't we have this in school?' finds.

I put the 4 in the SPL collection on request but am pretty sure I'll buy and ship at least 3 titles to my favorite scientist couple near Oxfordshire.

Bonus: Do you remember Hostess ads in comic books? Even if you don't this is a must-see, but read carefully. You may learn more than you want to know about the cupcakes ;)

This morning out of nowhere, with me in the kitchen prepping lunches and my husband & son at the table:

Kieran: "I eat dinner at my house" in Spanish is yo como en mi casa.

Husband, repeats after him & knows 'dinner' is missing but doesn't remember what it is, followed by muy bueno.

Me: et en français, 'Je mange le dîner à la maison'

Kieran repeats after me in segments with a fairly decent accent.

Moi: très bien!

Then they continued some stuff in basic Spanish, of which I understand next to nothing.

I got la cena for 'dinner' from the teacher's assistant, and she mentioned they're having a more comprehensive after-school Spanish session next year he might be interested in because he picks it up effortlessly & has quite a large vocabulary. He doesn't speak it all that much at home so this was news to us.

I keep thinking about how the foreign language requirements in high school & college are going to be so easy for him compared to how much I struggled picking up French as a freshman.

I forgot to write earlier about how Thursdays are phonics sharing days at Kieran's preschool. Everyone brings something that includes the sound in it, preferably as the first syllable but sometimes that isn't realistic (i.e. xylophone isn't correct for x, but box is). Beyond the letters of the alphabet we also have sounds like 'ch' and 'oo' and today's was 'ee'.

Last night I thought about bringing something green as a possibility, or maybe an eagle since the object doesn't have to be spelled like the phonic. Beyond those I was honestly blanking on alternatives. Yes, I'm a bit preoccupied.

Last night's conversation about the matter:

Me: Hey Kieran, the sound for sharing time tomorrow is 'ee'. What would you like to bring?
K, without hesitation: I know, Eeyore!
Me, hiding an 'oh duh why didn't I think of that' expression: Yes, that's a great idea honey.

Eeyore was safely buckled in Kieran's booster seat on the way there this morning, and another parent who saw him said 'Wow, that's a good one' and was surprised when I said that Kieran had come up with it himself. I'm so proud.

If that doesn't top the list of things I never thought I'd say to my 3 year old son, I don't know what does. Viva Skagway!

Last night we watched the premiere of an incredibly well-done documentary our local PBS station produced called Inside Passage. It's airing all over the place on the 14th and I highly encourage everyone to watch because it is not only beautifully shot, but they put two years of production into an hour film to ensure accuracy from all sides of what history we have here in the Pacific Northwest and it shows. I kept getting excited when they showed Native art, dances & storytelling because I could elaborate further each time and did so for Kieran.

My 5th generation native Californian self grew up thinking Indians were firmly fixed in the past, vanquished and absent everywhere from Sutter's Fort & the missions to a favorite family campground at Indian Grinding Rock. I internally winced when I saw some of the kids at Kieran's preschool working on totems made of cardboard shipping tubes. I know our society has a very long way to go towards not romanticizing/objectifying cultures & not just indigenous ones, but so help me I will do my part to promote holistic information and education instead of stereotypes.

I was on my cell phone with a good friend when my husband called me at work for the usual post-preschool update this afternoon. He said that Kieran wrote his name all by himself today by tracing from a lightbox. This isn't news, as it's one of his favorite projects to work on from start to finish (getting out the materials, turning the lightbox on & off, putting everything away), but the fact that the results were complete & mostly legible is.

( Of course I'm going to share the picture, I'm a mom! )

He's also bigger than one kid who will be 5 in November at preschool, most of the almost-4 crowd, and starting to get the hang of T-ball (lefty without question). It seriously feels like he should already be 4 at the rate he's developing in all aspects lately, with the exception of some wicked tantrums.