Ode to Joy

Aidan has been practicing Ode to Joy from his lesson book, which has just the opening 8 bars or so. Since he likes this song so well, he has taught himself to play the next 8 bars by ear.

Now, he plays the song in 4 different keys, by playing the fingerings on each of the 4 violin strings. On the G string, he made some grandiose movements with the bow, stately commented, "I think it deserves this ..." and uniformly lengthened each note in the lower key.

I was moved by his use of the verb, "to deserve," in reference to his instrument and the music. He is such an artist!

Soon afterwards, he exclaimed that he wants to learn how to tap dance while playing his violin!

I'll be making some inquiries about lessons, soon. Highland dance ... here we come :)

Quote of the Day

"It's so hard to remember something you completely forget!"

Novel Writing

For the past several weeks, Aidan has been working on a story inspired by the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. He started with a map of the territory, then began thinking of character names for four clans of cats. His four clans are SeaClan, MountainClan (formerly LakeClan), ShoreClan and TwoLegClan. His character list is approaching 100 individual characters, all assigned Leader, Deputy, Warrior, Apprentice, Queen, Kit, or Medicine Cat status. Each character has unique physical and personality traits. He has considered their lineage and their destined paths as they rise to new status.

This evening, Aidan and I worked together on an opening chapter for his book ...

Greeneyes twisted in the dark, cold sea as he willed his body to sink to the sandy bottom below. His eyes were determinedly shut tight, his muscles flexed and rigid. Thoughts raced through his mind ... was he worthy of becoming the leader he had trained all his life to become? Would this death be the first of ten, with nine new lives being granted to him, elevating him to the rank of leader of his beloved SeaClan? Or was he only moments away from the end?

He pried open one eyelid, to see if his companion was still nearby. Relieved, he caught a glimpse of Winterpaw swimming powerfully to the surface. “If I fail today, I would be proud to know this cat as Winterstar,” thought Greeneyes.

Greeneyes felt a chill expand into his lungs as water claimed his body. His muscles relaxed, accepting his fate. In an instant, he filled with a sense of peace and warmth, calmed by the voice of the one he had loved, Lighteyes. The sweet smell of her helped him to make this final journey.

Now he opened his eyes fully and gazed about, to see he was surrounded by stars and three cats with glowing pelts. No study or practice could prepare Greeneyes for this welcome into Reflection. And there could be no mistake - Reflection was where he found himself in this moment. His mother, Muddysand, and his father, Greenglow, greeted him. In unison, the glowing cats stated, “We have journeyed here from Reflection to see you and give you your nine lives. You have demonstrated your loyalty, strength, courage, love, and the ability to sacrifice yourself for your clan. The time has come for you to become Greenstar, leader of SeaClan. First, we must tell you the future of your clan. You must keep Winterpaw as an apprentice for eight moons. When you pass on your leadership, the new leader must be Winterstar. Name Badgerkit as an apprentice as soon as you return. She is not too young, nor are her sister or brother. Go now, rise to the surface of the sea, and join in the celebration with your loyal followers.”

With a jolt, Greenstar emerged from the sea, accompanied by the warrior Seawave, who had witnessed his transformation to leader. Winterpaw yowled with delight. Startled, Greenstar convulsed and retched, expelling the salty water that had filled his lungs. He was amazed to realise that he felt strong and energized. Bluecrystal rushed to Greenstar’s side and pressed into his flank, bearing herbs to help remove the salt from his lungs. And in one joyous exclamation, the entire clan leaped and yowled in excitement to recognize their new leader.

Quote of the Day

"We need to make every second the best second of our lives because, if we don't, it won't ever happen again."

The Butterfly Stroke

We often describe Aidan as a little bit "different," and his taste in swim strokes is no exception.

When his swim coach asked Aidan to pick the stroke for the whole class to swim halfway through class today, Aidan chose the butterfly. The other swimmers groaned, and his teacher laughed because it's unusual for casual swimmers to like the butterfly stroke.

Aidan has a really strong upper body, and good form. His coach asked him to demonstrate the stroke for the whole class today. The only thing his coach wants him to work on, is to remember to use the dolphin kick at all times while swimming the butterfly stroke.

The Dreaded Homework

Aidan's first written assignment for grade 5 French Immersion is to write a 3-paragraph autobiography in French. The first paragraph includes personal information, characteristics and family. The second paragraph includes his interests, hobbies and favourite things. The third and final paragraph focuses on academic and personal goals.

Until today, Aidan has focussed only on the first paragraph. He filled in blanks on the top half of the first side of a two-sided form, then re-wrote the paragraph onto lined paper, twice. From what I can tell, he seems to have misunderstood the French instructions. The instructions were for him to complete a draft and to have the draft corrected by at least two other people.

Since his first draft of all three paragraphs is due tomorrow, I arranged with Aidan to work on it after dinner. At 4:30 this afternoon, as I dropped him off at home after swimming lessons, he seemed content with this plan. So Aaron and I merrily went off to his swimming lessons (5:00-5:30), leaving Aidan and Austin to have some downtime watching the video, "Night at the Museum."

Here's how the rest of the evening played out:

6:00 - Aaron and I returned home
6:10 - started cooking dinner
6:30 - Skye texted to see whether I could pick him up from Lonsdale Quay
6:40 - Spoke to Skye on the phone, Austin and Aidan were fighting
7:00 - left the house with Aidan in the car - he brought the book, "Cats of the Clans," by Erin Hunter
7:45 - returned home and finished cooking dinner for Carla and Skye (the boys had already eaten)
7:50 - reminded Aidan that we need to finish his homework
7:51 - Aidan disappeared into the bathroom
8:05 - asked Austin to turn off a MacGyver episode on the computer, and Aidan sat down to the dining room table to work.

While I ate my dinner, I tried to go through paragraph 2 with Aidan. What are your pastimes? Reading and computer ... he said computer was "unfortunately" a pastime ... he judges himself for wanting to spend time using the computer, and feels it is not a healthy activity. So instead of simply writing down the two activities he enjoys, he spent about 5 minutes wondering aloud about whether he should try to find some better pastimes.

For his favourite sport, his musings seemed to evolve into some odd sort of self-psychoanalysis. First, he observed that the answer could be either his favourite sport to watch, or his favourite sport to play. I suggested that it would more likely be his favourite sport to play. He seemed troubled that he couldn't remember how to play soccer, but he thought he might like it. We discussed swimming and basketball as well. He described "the soccer player" as the one who was hiding behind a wall and all we could see of him was his hand. The "basketball player" was the big, dumb brute who didn't do very well at school work, but could learn. He remembered liking the learning part in basketball. And I don't remember anything special about the swimmer. Aidan ended up choosing swimming (natation) after about 10 minutes of deciding.

It was agonizing, going through the process and trying to stay patient. Skye came to the rescue when he urged Aidan just to write down the first thing that came to his mind. For his favourite food, Aidan insisted he doesn't actually have one (though, on the drive to Lonsdale Quay when we tried running through these statements, he said he has about 10 or 20 favourites and I asked him to pick one or two). Skye meant to say, "Pick a favourite food," but he accidentally said, "Pick a favourite poo!" which sent the whole family into the giggles. The ice was broken at last, and Aidan worked through the rest of that paragraph reasonably quickly.

For the third paragraph on goals, Skye asked Aidan if he knows the meaning of a "goal." Aidan described it as something that you achieve. As far as academic goals, Aidan doesn't really have any. Skye suggested that he write anything, such as getting 100% on a spelling test. This made Aidan recall that he had gotten 100% on many spelling tests last year. Despite this discussion, Aidan wrote his first academic goal as, "faire l'ecole a la maison," and his second goal as "manger un plein pizza." Now, he's getting silly. He will achieve this goal by "rester chez moi." So far, these answers are a real rub for me. Maybe I'll be able to convince him to change them for the good copy.

He listed his personal goals as "DORMIRE!!!!" and said he would achieve that goal "parce que je peux penser meilleur."

Upon reflection, I think we can try making a few adjustments to help Aidan to be successful in completing homework:

1. Having Skye participate was a welcome change. The resulting family discussion seemed to help Aidan to just get on with it, though he did get a bit anxious when the whole family was in the room with him.
2. Aidan's ability to do homework dramatically diminishes after about 4:30pm. Maybe it would be better for him to just go to bed earlier (8:00-8:30pm) and do homework in the mornings before school?
3. I talked to Aidan about what I thought were the three most important things to focus on, to help him do well in school. Healthy eating, plenty of exercise and enough sleep. With recent dietary improvements we've made, we can check off "healthy eating," and daily swimming lessons are taking care of "exercise." Sleep is the only one of the three that he and I both agree, isn't being met. He's been getting to bed closer to 9:30pm every night, so we have resolved to do an earlier bedtime going forward.
4. I've often wondered if it would help for Aidan to have a quiet, uncluttered study space at home. Maybe it would, and maybe it wouldn't. We've observed that, no matter how quiet and occupied the other family members are, if Aidan knows his brothers are doing activities (Minecraft, watching a video, reading a book) that he would rather be doing, it's nearly impossible for him to do homework.
5. Maybe it's time to finally read Alfie Kohn's bestselling book, "The Homework Myth."

Aidan has been commenting on his learning style and habits. I think it's good that he is observing these things. He describes his homework struggles as his mind knowing what to do, but his body not knowing what to do. He ascertains that it's his body that is refusing to do homework, not his mind. When he works on math, he says that his mind thinks about all the things he could be writing down, thinking outside the box, then he can't stop thinking and never gets around to writing anything down. I asked him what he thinks about when he has a written assignment to do in class. He said, as he went red in the face and seemed on the verge of tears, "I'm thinking about how to do it. I don't know how to do it."

As surprising and perplexing as this is for me to grasp, I think this may be the crux of our problem. I've often felt that Aidan overcomplicates assignments. But this insight is something even more. Skye describes this with compassion and acceptance, that it's developmental. He's simply not there, yet. And our school system requires him to be there already, and they've continued on without him, without a design to help him fill in the gaps. Aidan's struggles in math, in particular, seem to arise from gaps in his learning. I don't feel I have the skills to identify those gaps, but I hope we will be able to hire a qualified tutor to help him where he needs help most.

Shape-shifting in his dreams

Aidan had a dream that he could shape-shift. He shape-shifted into a cat.
A cyclops came into his group of cats and took three cats away.
Aidan shape-shifted back into himself. He walked to the washroom and looked at himself in the mirror. He watched as his two eyes became one and he shape-shifted into a cyclops. Then, he went in search of the three stolen cats.

...

At this point, he woke up. And felt it necessary to find a happier ending to the dream. Thus ...


He found the cats and returned them to the group. They were all unharmed.
He doesn't know who was the other cyclops or why.

Silverwing by Kenneth Oppel

Oppel, Kenneth, Silverwing. Toronto: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., 1997.

Silverwing is the first book in a trilogy. A fourth book about bats, Darkwing, was published in 2007, but is separate from this trilogy and stands alone. Darkwing is a story about prehistoric bats and the first flight.

Follow this link to an excellent website for Silverwing.

As we explored the website, it was interesting to learn about the inspiration behind some of the landmarks on the bats' journey to Hibernaculum. Kenneth Oppel was born in British Columbia and grew up both in Victoria, BC and Halifax, NS. As we read the description of the mountain peaks (wolf ears) in the story, we pictured our local mountaintop, nicknamed "The Lions," and indeed, Oppel claims this was the inspiration for the mountain landmark in the book. Marina's island was inspired by Grand Manan, off the coast of New Brunswick, where Aidan's Nana, Nanita and Great Aunt live.

We learned about the different types (silver-haired, eastern red, vampyrum spectrum) of bats on which some of the characters were based. We learned more about how bats use echolocation to see with their ears, where bats live and what they eat.

We were impressed and amazed to learn that Roald Dahl, one of Aidan's all-time favourite authors, played a role in getting Oppel's first book published. Here is Kenneth Oppel's bio.

Aidan really liked this book. His favourite bat is Shade, the main character. Shade is the runt of the colony. He's smart and small.

A Fantasy Story

At bedtime tonight, I was tucking Aaron in and he complained that it was too bright in his bed. His reading lamp was on, so I switched it off and he immediately remembered that he wanted a story. I offered to make up a story, and suggested, “Imagine that we’re on a flying carpet. Where do you want to go?” Aaron screwed up his face in disgust and complained, “This isn’t a flying carpet!”

Just then, Aidan walked into their bedroom, exclaiming, “Imagination! Oh yes, can I do it too?” as he scaled the climbing wall to his top bunk. I asked both boys if, perhaps, the bunk was a pirate ship, or an elevator ... what would they like it to be? Then Aidan answered, “I have a suggestion ...” and I jumped on for the ride as Aidan narrated me through visions of a fantasy story in the night sky.

We’re walking on air. We’re in the sky and it’s dark now. But the stars are as light as the moon.  Our whole family is here and we’re all amazed that we can walk on the sky.

Ahead of us on our path, we see two shapes that appear to be cats. One is a ginger tabby and the other is a small calico. The ginger tabby greets us and says,  "My owners.” “My owners?” Can it be? It is ... Garfunkel! And the other cat, with a female voice, is Jazz. Austin asks, “How did you learn to speak like this - in English?” Garf explains, “We didn’t. It’s natural. We can speak to all creatures in their own language.” Then we heard, “Auch, auch!” and Garf explained that was the language of a hawk, saying, “Hello, you are here.”

Garf explained that we are in heaven, but we are not dead. All creatures can simply walk between heaven and earth whenever they feel like it. But he cautioned that we must not let any scientists know about this, or heaven will be spoiled. He was afraid that scientists would bring too many materials to heaven. 

Jazz explained about the underworld and how creatures don’t get there the way we always believed they do. Whenever a creature perishes, it goes directly to heaven. It’s when the creature tries to escape heaven by way of a pathway, they often end up in the underworld. There are many escape routes from heaven, and they all lead to pathways which are littered with holes that lead directly to the underworld. Only on very rare occasions, can a creature successfully escape heaven and return to earth alive, on the pathway. Fish, however, are the most successful at this. Even when a fish is killed, it’s heart continues to beat, so when we think the fish has died, it is still alive.

Garf sadly recalled a story he had learned from elders about a battle which took place millions of years ago, between the dogs and the humans. We were so surprised, because, “But dogs are man’s best friend!” “Not in heaven,” Jazz replied. Garf explained that the battle caused a crack in the bridge between the underworld and heaven, when the two places were as one ... both were like heaven, where all good dreams come true.  This crack created millions of tiny dust particles that broke apart, then joined together that created life on a tiny speck to create life and earth. So Earth was created between the underworld and heaven.

We heard a female voice coming nearer, and Aaron turned around to see a beautiful cat. He asked, “Jazz?” and Mom turned around and called out, “Furina!” It was Mom’s cat from when she grew up. Furina was able to split into all her ages, so she appeared in all the forms of her whole life. Mom picked her up and hugged her, and Furina purred in her arms.

There are many rainbow bridges ... too many to count. There is a different rainbow bridge for every species in the universe.

Garf was happy when he looked over to a bridge and saw a human and dog building a bridge together. Humans and dogs had united again, to rebuild the rainbow bridges.

Fire and Ice book review

Hunter, Erin, Fire and Ice. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2003.

Fire and Ice is the second book in the 6-book series, "Warriors." The series is about Trust.

In the beginning, Fireheart and Graystripe brought WindClan home. WindClan had been driven out of their territory by Brokenstar, the former leader of ShadowClan, in Into the Wild. ShadowClan's new leader is Nightstar.

Fireheart and Graystripe receive their first apprentices, Cinderpaw and Brackenpaw.

Graystripe falls in love with a RiverClan cat after he falls into the river during winter and she saves him. This was breaking the warrior code and caused much concern for Fireheart. This put a strain on Fireheart's relationship with Graystripe and tested his trust.

A selected passage:

"...Fireheart leaped, grabbing Nightstar from behind. The black warrior howled in rage as Fireheart pulled him backward and sank his claws deep into Nightstar's fur. He had fought side by side with this warrior only a few moons ago to help him drive out Brokenstar. Now, he sank his teeth into Nightstar's shoulder with the same ferocity as he had used against the former ShadowClan leader."

As You Like It by William Shakespeare

I finished reading aloud the Shakespeare play, "As You Like It," to Aidan. We have tickets to see the play in Oregon on August 5.

The study guide we used, was helpful with defining some words we didn't recognize. Aidan did well, following along, and was generally able to understand the gist of events and conversations taking place. Fortunately, some of the adult-oriented humour was lost on him.

This play was written around 1599. Aidan is very intrigued by these scripts that are so old. He loves the old English language. The next play he wants to read, is A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Aidan's favourite character is Rosalind, because she's the main character. She's sometimes funny and Aidan was happy that Rosalind was able to trick people into believing she was a man when she disguised herself as Ganymede. Even her father didn't recognize her through her disguise, though he did start to wonder towards the end of the play.

Into the Wild book review

Hunter, Erin, Into the Wild. New York: Scholastic Inc., 2003.

Into the Wild is the first book in the 6-book series, "Warriors." The series is about Trust.

This book is about four clans that have shared territory for generations. Firepaw, a young tabby apprentice, lays paws on trying to find the future. The clan cats dislike Firepaw because he is a kittypet, they say. Firepaw tries to find the enemy and realises it is ShadowClan. Firepaw lost one whom he loved ... Spottedleaf. Ravenpaw and Bluestar lost Redtail. Graypaw lost Lionheart.

Firepaw was a kittypet because he lived with twolegs, aka humans. His name was Rusty, a normal housecat.

In the end, Fireheart thought that Tigerclaw was the enemy.

This is Aidan's favourite passage from the book: "'Did they fight well, Whitestorm?' she asked. 'Like warriors,' Whitestorm replied solemnly. Bluestar met his yellow-eyed gaze and gave a slight nod. ... Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names. Graypaw, from this moment, you'll be known as Graystripe. StarClan honours your bravery and your strength. ... Bluestar stood and studied Firepaw for a long moment before speaking. Firepaw, from this moment, you will be known as Fireheart. StarClan honours your bravery and your strength, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan.'"

Ghost Hunter book review

Paver, Michelle, Ghost Hunter. London: Orion Children's Books, 2009.

Ghost Hunter is a book about the Eagle Owl Mage who will try to conquer the living and the dead. Torak meets another friend during the battle. His friend’s name is Dark.

Torak was separated from Renn two times. Wolf was badly injured and Wolf’s mate was injured as well. In the end, Wolf had only one cub to live with.

My favourite part of this book was the ending, “Then they grabbed Renn’s gear and headed off into the morning, with the wolves trotting behind them and the ravens sky-dancing overhead.” It makes me feel happy.

I was surprised that the Eagle Owl Mage didn’t die.

I wished that there were still more books in this series because two other Soul Eaters could die.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to hear old, scary, and powerful stuff.

Oath Breaker book review

Paver, Michelle, Oath Breaker. London: Orion Children's Books, 2008.

Oath Breaker is a book about one of Torak’s best friends being killed. Torak tracks the killer to the Deep Forest and that is where Wolf thinks that Tall Tailless is not-wolf. He finds out about another enemy who is a Mage but not a Soul Eater, and is the one who set the fire.

My favourite part of this book was when Torak confirmed his place in Wolf’s pack.

Michelle Paver is a very good writer. When I read her books, I feel like I’m there.

Outcast book review

I finished reading this book aloud to Aidan last night. 

Here's Aidan's book review. 

Paver, Michelle, Outcast. London: Orion Children's Books, 2007.

Outcast is a book about a boy who had the Soul Eater mark on his chest. People saw it and cast him out and then hunted him. The part of being outcasted saved Otter Clan from destruction. The book is also about a person who caused a disaster. She was very powerful. In the end, the old man called Fin-Kedinn, fosters Torak into all the clans.

My favourite part of this book was when Torak realised that Renn's mother was the Viper Mage. I was really surprised to learn this.

The funniest part was when Wolf saw fish in the trees.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Thought.

Soul Eater book review

I finished reading this book aloud to Aidan this morning. 

Here's Aidan's book review. 

Paver, Michelle, Soul Eater. London: Orion Children's Books, 2006.

Soul Eater is a book about finding a dog that Torak calls, “Wolf.” It turns out to be a journey that saves the world.

My favourite part of this book was when Wolf was the last animal coming out of the gap in the cave entrance.

The funniest part was when Torak and Renn rescued the wolverine, it snarled at them and Wolf came up and the wolverine left.

I hope that Renn’s bow will be destroyed ... this would be an example of parting with something great, for instance, Fa.

I think there should be an Exodus-type book about the past of this series and the characters. Included in this book would be stories about Fa and it would start off long, long ago when the Soul Eaters were healers. We would find out what joke Torak told Fa at the beginning of Wolf Brother, and this would be the ending: “Torak woke with a jolt from a sleep he’d never meant to have,” (the first line from Chapter 1 of Wolf Brother).

In a book about the origins of the Soul Eaters, there would be one new named Soul Eater - the one who burned in the fire - and they would all be Healers. Around the fifth chapter, the Healers would become Soul Eaters. One main character would actually be Fa. There could also be a history of Renn and Wolf. Wolf’s story would start off with his mother pregnant, and end with a duck bone in his throat. Renn’s story would start off with her father preparing to leave for the Far North and would end with, “Let him go!” the stranger said. This was the scene where Torak wanted Wolf to be released from Oslak.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Spirit Walker, or anyone who is interested in animals.

Aidan's reference to an "Exodus-type" book is based on the book, Transformers Exodus, 

in which Transformer origins are explained and some history is described. Michelle Paver's book series has greatly inspired Aidan's imagination. He often makes predictions or expresses desires for what could happen next. He also likes to ponder the author's motivations for story lines and events. And during this third book, he has been thinking back to events from earlier stories, wishing to have more details revealed and explained.

Spirit Walker book review

I finished reading this book aloud to Aidan this evening. 

Here's Aidan's book review. 

Paver, Michelle, Spirit Walker. London: Orion Children's Books, 2005.

Spirit Walker is a book about a sickness that spreads through the clans. The boy called Torak tries to find a cure and he doesn’t even know who his enemy is until the end.

I would recommend Spirit Walker just as much as Wolf Brother. I’m looking forward to reading Soul Eater next.

My favourite part of the book was when Tenris told Torak he had lied about the cure. I think it was a turning point because Torak had spent a whole long time just looking for the cure.

The funniest part of the book was when Wolf refused to get into the canoe. Another funny part was when Wolf got squirted in the muzzle by fulmar chicks.

I liked the new characters, including Tenris and the orca, Notched Fin.

Independence Day

A1: "Mom, can we go to Deep Cove?" I was working at my client's office about 1/2 an hour away from home. It was 3:15pm and Austin had just returned from picking up Aaron from preschool about 5 blocks away.

M: "Well, that's pretty far from home, but it's a nice day and I had been thinking the same thing before you called."

A1: "Can we have some money for ice cream?"

M: "That's what your allowance is for."

A1: "What about Aaron? He doesn't get allowance."

M: "Well then, you and Aidan will have to agree to buy Aaron an ice cream by splitting the cost, or else none of you should get any."

I left A1 with instructions to let Dad know where they were going and not to call me to complain if Dad says, "No." Skye was working downstairs.

Around 3:45, I received a text message from Skye asking if it was ok with me for the boys to go to Deep Cove. I responded, "Sure. I'll pick them up on my way home."

I reached Panorama Park at 5:15 and found the boys on the path near the beach. They were all happy and Austin was drinking water from a Tupperware container he had obviously filled at home. I was impressed that he had thought to pack water for the trip.

Austin excitedly told me that he had bought himself two slices of Deep Cove Pizza and he had $0.02 left over. Aidan had bought himself some ice cream and he had $1.51 left over.

M: "Did Aaron get some ice cream too?"

A1 & A2: "Yeah!"

A2: "We bought Aaron a small dish of vanilla ice cream."

M: "You shared the cost?"

A2: "Yes, Austin paid half and I paid half."

A1 and A2 explained that they had decided before they left the house, how much money they were willing to spend. So, they brought only that much ($10 and $5, respectively) down with them and left the rest in their wallets. Now comes the reason for the packed water bottles...

A1: "I wasn't going to be spending any of my money on water, so I filled up water bottles to take with us." Good thinking!

I asked how everything went and if they all enjoyed going down to Deep Cove (about 10 blocks from home) on their own. I received a very balanced answer.

A1: "Aaron got a little upset when I accidentally hit his chin with the scooter, and Aidan tread on the heel of his boot. We weren't really paying good enough attention at the start, but we got better at it. We made sure that Aaron was always farthest away from cars when we were walking on the sidewalk, even if Aaron got mad at us for that."

I was really proud of all the boys, and I told them so. This was a big step and they handled the responsibility beautifully.

Wolf Brother book review

I finished reading this book aloud to Aidan this morning. It's a real page-turner and Aidan simply loved it. We've already borrowed book 2, Spirit Walker, from the library. Austin was unexpectedly drawn into the story, so he is now off in his room, devouring the second book.

Here's Aidan's book review. This is his first book review, ever.

Paver, Michelle, Wolf Brother. London: Orion Children's Books, 2004.

Wolf Brother is about a boy who finds a wolf as his guide. His father dies. A bear is looking for him for a long time. The bear dies and the boy meets a clan called Raven Clan.

My favourite part of the story was chapter 32 because Hord and the bear die and it has a great ending. The sad part was that the bear died because I was expecting the demon to come out of the bear and the bear to turn back into a cub.

Torak made it so that the wolf was his brother. I was impressed that Torak would be able to speak wolf and understand wolf.

The most frightening chapter was the first one and it was a good part of the book.

I have recommended this book to some people in my class.

While I read the book to Aidan, he was gripped by the story. He frequently interjected with predictions for what might happen next. He had many theories about why some characters had to die or suffer. He was very curious and speculated the meaning of a riddle that was being solved throughout much of the book.


There were many opportunities to expand vocabulary. Aidan learned the meaning of "fathomless," "incessantly," "paces," and "abode," as well as countless other words. We also had to interpret Wolf's descriptions, such as "Tall Tailless," "Lights," "Darks," and "Bright Beast-that-Bites-Hot," = "Torak," "Days," "Nights," and "Fire." Wolf observed that Torak wasn't as fast as him, nor could he smell or hear as well as Wolf could. Torak noticed that there is no concept of future in wolf language; only the present. Aidan was intrigued by this.

Last night, we reached Chapter 31 (the second-last chapter) and Aidan decided to go to bed. The look on Austin's face was priceless! He was incredulous of our ability to put the book down at that stage. So, he couldn't resist and finished reading the book on his own before tucking in for the night.

The Homework Pit

Last week, Aidan said to me (in reference to his mounting homework load), "I feel like I've fallen into a deep pit with only quicksand at the bottom."

I invited him to look around for a rope ladder.

He agreed there could be a rope ladder, but he was still pretty worried about the quicksand.

He later told me that there's only one small pocket of air under the quicksand, so anyone who falls in the pit would have to be pretty lucky to find that pocket to survive.

Too much MineCraft?

Quote of the Day

A2: "Earth wants to be close to death."

Around the table, there was an awkwardness ... I'm not sure if any of us were following his line of thinking.

A2 repeats: "Earth just wants to be close to death, because everyone really cares when someone is close to death."

Ok. I get it. Earth wants us all to really care. ... Yes.

A Greeting from the Soul

This morning, I reminded Aidan that today would be his great-grandfather's 100th birthday.

Aidan wondered aloud, "Do you think we could sing him Happy Birthday with our souls?"

Why we sometimes need sad endings

Aidan's class watched a French movie about children at war with each other. He doesn't remember the title, but thinks it is something like, "La Guerre des Enfants." Near the end of the movie, a large snow fort collapsed on a pet dog and the dog appeared to have died.

Aidan was struck by this event and told me about it after school. I could tell by the twitch in his eye that he was sympathizing and certainly moved.

He seemed to deliberate over this scene throughout the weekend. He was emotionally low and frequently mentioned that he misses Jazz, she was his best friend, and he's lonely without her.

On Monday at lunchtime, while we were driving back to school after Aidan's podiatrist appointment, Aidan surmised, "The dog had to die, so the children would learn that war only causes fighting, suffering and death. So don't do it."

Quote of the day

A2: "I feel like God wants me, but the Earth doesn't." 
M: "Don't you think God wants you on Earth?"
A2: "I know God wants me here."
M: "Aren't God and Earth the same?"
A2: "I think God and Earth are separate. Humans are destroying Earth and Earth just wants the humans to go away."

Painting

Tonight, Aidan invited me to paint with him. Together, we designed and painted on a small square of canvas. We plan to affix magnets to the back so we can hang it on the fridge.

It's fun to participate in the process of creating art with Aidan. He let me into his world a bit, so I could see how he selects colour and placement. He was so careful with his fine brush, outlining his drawing. And he was very generous with me, letting me know it was ok if I didn't stay within the lines of the cloud, because clouds have irregular shapes anyways.

Can you spot the hidden word?

Quote of the Day

A2: "We had a bunch of geometry tests today and none of the questions were about rocks! All I know about geometry is rocks."

M: "Geometry? Geology is about rocks. What questions were on your geology test?"

A2: "Oh, like provinces and cities."

M: "Oh, GEOGRAPHY! Those were geography tests."

A2 (looking bemused): "Anytime I hear 'geo,' I think 'geology.'"

Eleven Giant Cows

by Aidan Cove

Eleven giant cows ran into a den

One never came out and then there were ten.

Ten giant cows pulled a line

One snapped it and then there were nine. 

Nine giant cows tried to fit through a gate

One was too fat and then there were eight. 

Eight giant cows went to 7-Eleven 

One bought beer and got drunk and then there were seven. 

Seven giant cows jumped over sticks 

One fell and exploded and then there were six. 

Six giant cows went to a tree with a bee hive 

One was stung and then there were five. 

Five giant cows stomped on a door

One fell off and then there were four. 

Four giant cows slept under a tree 

One never woke up and then there were three. 

Three giant cows went to the zoo 

One liked the big fat gorilla and then there were two. 

Two giant cows went looking for a planet called Gunne 

One found it and then there was one.

One giant cow which is me... who told this big fat story.

Aidan Wuz Here!

If one stops paying attention, one could miss some of the magical and carefully orchestrated transformations Aidan makes to the world around us.

Last week, I finally got around to packing away the rest of the Christmas decorations. As anticipated, Aidan noticed the change the minute he came in the door from school. He stood back from the mantelpiece, sizing up a strategy, then proceeded to pluck things from here and there to assemble his shrine.

When I left him, he was repositioning the mast on the sailboat he had made for Skye as a Christmas gift.

Then I got busy with corralling kids, breaking up fights, tidying up, preparing and serving dinner, working on the computer and preparing for my practice review. When, around midnight, I finally looked up from my busyness, I was greeted by a peaceful and heart-warming scene above the fireplace.

Aidan had arranged a photo of himself with Jazz, perched atop a terra cotta flower pot he has painted for her. A pine cone adds a bit of style and the candle brings aesthetics to the collection. To the left is the sweet pink ceramic urn which contains the ashes of our beloved pet. It gets even richer when he describes it, as for him, everything has meaning. The candle represents the flame. Aidan wants to grow a flower in Jazz' flower pot, then set it alight when it is done flowering. He plans to find a special final resting place for Jazz and Garf (our ginger tabby who passed away in 2010) in our garden in the spring. He seems to have an intuitive honouring of ceremony and an attuned sense of what would be appropriate.

And Aidan has insisted on including my childhood pet cat, Furina, in our family of cats. He gave Furina special mention in the shrine. At her feet lays the cat I formed out of modelling clay when we visited the Creativity Museum in San Francisco together last October. Aidan knows Furina was special to me. He loves to hear stories of the crazy things she got up to, when I was growing up. And he especially loves the story of how I convinced my dad to let me keep her when I was only 4 years old.

Beside the photo of Furina, is a picture frame from Yellowstone National Park. Aidan removed the printed paper from the frame and neatly placed it in front. Beside the frame is a little ornament of different types of paddling boats - something Aidan got from Deep Cove Daze last summer. He lined up everything, just so.

Horton Entend un Zou!

Aidan and I are reading French books together every night now. For now, it's mostly me reading to him. So that we have enough selection to avoid too much repetition, I asked Aidan to select 5 books from the public library to bring home.

His first selection was, "Horton Entend un Zou!" (interestingly, the cover image from the library record is different ... "Horton Entend un Qui!" ... I suppose the translator had more fun rhyming with "Zou" than with "Qui.")

This is a dearly-loved book in its English form, in our home. I wasn't expecting much from the French translation, but I have to give it an enthusiastic two thumbs up!

This classic has been masterfully translated into French, flowing and rhyming in charming Seuss fashion. Aidan recognized some of his most recent vocabulary words in the text, and I'm amazed at how quickly I can read this book aloud, without stumbling over words! I love the reading of it almost as much as "Fox in Socks!"

A Pen Pal

Today, Aidan wrote a letter to a pen pal from France. At least, Aidan believes his pen pal lives either in France or Martinique (which is also part of France). According to a list that Aidan brought home with him, his pen pal could be from France, Martinique, Guadeloupe or Quebec.

It would be so cool if Lucas is actually from Martinique, because that was one of our favourite stops on our sailing adventure last year.

This is Aidan's letter:

Dear Lucas

Where do you live? Martinique or France?

My hobbies are playing video games and playing LEGO.

I play basketball.

My favourite authors are Roald Dahl, William Joyce, Laura Geringer and Louis Sachar.

Last year, my family went sailing in Martinique and Guadeloupe. In Martinique, we anchored in Le Marin, Ste-Anne, Fort-de-France and St-Pierre.

I love the baguettes!

From: Aidan

Quote of the day

"Mom, did you know that sometimes the thing that's closest to you could also be the farthest away?"

To demonstrate, he walked into the kitchen and pointed his finger to the cupboard doorknob. "See?"

I responded, "Oh, because you couldn't go any farther (than the doorknob)?"

"No," he said as he gestured in a large circular motion with his other arm, "If you went all the way around the world that way, the doorknob would be the farthest thing from me."