Day 146

Ben and I were working on learning some Flash programming this afternoon. I have not done any programming in a while and enjoyed doing it again. I think Ben could be a good programmer. He likes structure and routine but also likes to tinker, test, and extend what he has learned.

Today:

• Math Chapter 8 review
• Newsletter Article
• Ansel Chapter 7
• Betta Project
• Recipe

Days 141-145

Visitors for a family event have made it difficult for us to find much rythum the last few days. We had a more typical day and hope to get some things accomplished over the next couple of days.

Day 140 - Functioning

In math today I introduced the concept of f(x). Until now we have been talking about functions of the form y=mx+b. Today we modified that to f(x)=mx+b. Yes, they are essentially the same. Ben developed a mental block about the change. We had to set it aside and came back to it later but he still was frustrated by it. We will make a run at it again tomorrow.

Today:

• Library Trip
• Math 8-7
• Ansel Adams blog
• Betta Project
• Flash to Web

Day 139 - Focus

Other things going on at home unrelated to Ben and school have made school difficult to concentrate on lately. Despite competing anxiety, we had some good moments today. Ben has been struggling with a particular math concept and we made a breaktrhrough on that. We also got out next Newsletter outlined.

Things will continue to be difficult over the next couple of weeks but we will keep moving ahead.

Today:

• Reviewed Math 8-5
• Worked on Betta Project Board
• Outline Newsletter
• Read Adams chapter 5 and responded to blog
• learned about John Muir

Day 138 - Obscura 2

After telling my science teacher brother about our results with the camera Obscura yesterday he suggested that we do something additional. Yesterday we were looking at the image projected on a white board. Today I made a frame that I mounted a tissue paper on. Then the image was projected on the tissue and we viewed it from the other side. This greatly enhanced what we saw. The most important part was that we saw the shape of thie image. I was not circular like the hole. Instead it was rectangular - like the window. We took turns going out in the driveway and running around so it could be watched. It was a very fun afternoon.

Today

• Math 8-5 need to review
• Card for Shovana
• Baked Pie
• Camera Obscura
• Betta status
• Blog Response

Day 136 & 137 - Obscura

(Did not add a note yesterday.) It was a rather strange day at the School of Dad today because of a number of factors that had nothing to do with the school. Those items were mostly lowlights. The highlight of the day was building a Camera Obscura in Ben's room. We covered his window with black plastic, create a small hole, a were thrilled to see an upside down image of the view out the window appear on a foam board. It was cool and fun.

Today

• Math 8-4
• Betta Research
• Camera Obscura
• Adams Chapter 4
• Other misc

Day 135 - Perspective

As the lightbulb went on in Ben's while we worked on math today he said, "Some math concepts are crazy until you look at them in a different way."

Today

• Ansel Adams
  - Yosemite
  - Pandemic Flu
  - Sierra Club
  - Math Problem
• Math 8-4
• Betta Research
• Spelling Test
• Camera Obscura
• Music Lesson