Learned in September

A bonus of homeschooling my resident fourth grader in this year where school looks completely different for everyone is that I do end up learning more than normal. (The middles are doing distance learning from the school district, but Mr. TOF and I agreed that homeschool would be the best option for him this year.)

• For years now I’ve been curious about the little piece of land between Poland and Lithuania that belongs to Russia. It is completely isolated from the rest of Russia, and while I always suspected it had strategic military influence, after The Banana and Mr. TOF had a lot of questions about this piece of land, I decided it was time to find out the story. So, I learned about the fascinating history of Kalingrad Oblast. Thank you internet.
• I learned a lot about the artist Paul Klee. I could tell you all about my favorite Paul Klee paintings.
• Mr. TOF and I also learned about the life of Rembrandt, characteristics of his art, and about The Netherlands in the 1600’s. There is something very special about Rembrandt art. I have been super fortunate to get to see actual Rembrandt paintings in both the National Gallery of Art and the Chicago Art Institute, and they really are magical, take your breath away magical. I especially enjoy the portraits of Rembrandt. They make me want to write stories.
• I learned about the Goths, the Visigoths, other Barbarians, the Celts, Anglo Saxons, and the Byzantine Empire. I know I learned about those things before, a long time ago, but it was fun to relearn, because I had forgotten most of what I knew.
• Mr. TOF and I studied how Cathedrals are constructed.
• Reading the novel Bridge to America, by local author Linda Glaser inspired Mr. TOF and I to do quite a bit of research on Ellis Island. Even The Banana popped in for the virtual tour. Although I wasn’t necessarily planning for us to study Ellis Island right now, it was really fun to go on a rabbit trail and learn all about the process of how immigrants were granted entry to the United States during that time period, and how the island became a national park. We read a lot online as well as checking out some nonfiction books from the library.
• We learned about the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower and how they were built.
• We learned about Tschaikowsky, Stravinsky and Edvard Grieg, and I discovered all sorts of little facts and tidbits that I didn’t know about these composers and the lives they lived.
• I relearned lots of things about fungi, and we have been having so much fun spotting mushrooms, toadstools and lichen in our yard and in the forest.
• Mr. TOF and I are really thrilled with our new microscope, which was a homeschooling splurge purchase. It has totally been getting a workout! All three kids have been exploring prepared slides and slides of our own making. The microscope works so well! We have had so much fun looking at scummy pondwater! I’ve always wanted to see teensy tiny pond water creatures (but I had never actually been successful), and we have found a plethora of them! From fast swimming paramecium to delicate vorticella (my favorite) and volvox, we have seen all sorts of amazing things.
• Mr. TOF and I also learned a lot about bacteria, and we are about to embark on some fun bacteria science experiments that we are really excited about.
• I’ve learned several short pieces on my cello. I haven’t learned a lot of new music on the piano this month because it was more than slightly crazy getting all of my students back to their school year lesson routines with lots of Coronavirus adaptations. Everything is at least twenty times more difficult and time consuming these days!
• I learned that my favorite style of face mask is really the traditional pleated style, not the style that involves a seam up the front of the mask. For some reason the seam up the front makes the mask stick to my face when I breathe in, and I don’t find that to be pleasant. Side note: while I find that face masks do not impede most activities, it is legitimately difficult to sing and dance with preschoolers while wearing a face mask. They are, however, very observant and will tell you right away the very second the face mask slips off your nose.
• I learned how to make a contour drawing. So far, my best one has been of a little cactus in a pot.