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Powered by LifeTypeJonathan has been wanting our family to put on a Star Wars play ever since he started reading his Syar Wars book. I keep telling him, "You write the script first, and then we can figure out more details." So he finally decided to write the script, based on the movie Star Wars Episode IV:A New Hope, which we watched with the boys for the first time the other week. It's more like a plot summary, but it's wonderful! He asks me for a spelling every once in a while, and after asking how to quote a person's speech once, he has done all subsequent ones on his own. After working long and hard one day, he asked if he could skip handwriting in school since he was doing this, and I answered a resounding "yes!" So this has been his writing project and I am thrilled with it.
For your (or at least Grandma's) viewing pleasure:
This is from the boy who, not too long ago, said there was no way he could ever think of anything to write. All you need is a topic you're excited about!
In other news, we got out the bikes and took a walk to the nearby street that gets no traffic. Jonathan was a bit rusty after no riding over the winter, but by the end of our afternoon, he could start without stepping on a platform (stump, step, etc.) and could ride in large circles. He's still not comfortable turning around at the end of the street, nor stopping ("it's handy if there's a hill nearby") but I'm sure he'll be doing both soon. He's still a tad short, but that may even be "fixed" by the end of summer, too.
Jonathan requests to write now:
i was having fun wen was riding mi bike o ya i was wen i was zoo-m'n along. i was on the 1st geer then i was on the 2nd geer
then i was on the 3rd geer then on the 4th geer then on the 5th geer and then the 6th!!! geer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Mommy's turn again:
Jonathan has been working very quickly on his school and usually ends up spending less time on school than Noah, which seems backwards from how it should be. I am now ready to add official science to Jonathan's school work and I will start by trying out Pandia Press's try before you buy for their R.E.A.L Science - Life (Level 1). We are both excited about this. It looks like lots of fun for both of us.
I had been giving Jonathan one page a day from Lollipop Logic, and then one day as I was copying more lessons, Jonathan asked to do them and he ended up finishing the book! He likes analogies and deductions, but not inference (maybe those examples were too easy?). I got out my old logic book If This and That, Then What? and he got most of them.
He also likes big numbers. He's been working on some Miquon pages with greater than and less than and invariably a problem like "4<[ ]" gets a 1,000,000 or 10,000 written in. When he is a superhero, he can run/fly at 2 billion miles per hour. Things like that. Googol is also a favorite number.
Well, those are the notes on Jonathan for now that I can think of. In conclusion, Jonathan will write some more:
i'v been taking tons of picshers all around the House ! i was having fun wen i was taking picshers.!!! i'm havig
fun raeding my starwars book to.!!!!!! {wheaet are you doing????}
Hi, Jonathan! I like big numbers, too, as you can tell by the Math Paths. Your Star Wars Part 1 is great!
I am having fun reading a book called "The History of the Ancient World." There's a LOT of history, so it's a long book. I am about one third finished.
The other day I rode my bike to the library. I didn't zoom, however, because the streets were busy so I had to be especially careful.
Love,
Grandma
Although I didn't recognize the name, thanks to Jonathan's summary, I recognized the plot. I still think that's the very best of all the Star Wars movies.
Jonathan must have read the list of things a blogger should do - ie. ask the readers a question at the end of the post...
I promised a customer I would do a job for them "tonight", on Sunday afternoon, since I broke something on their website on Friday. It's still the night, so I still have time left.
(and the brake lines are replaced and working great, and both of the Anderson's computers are now working as well, which is what I've been doing for the last two days, or even part of the whole week - I'll need to calculate my hourly rate, as compared to the $1000 my mechanic wanted to charge me for the job).
Whew. I hope you're sleeping now.
Congratulations on the brake job! I wonder how your hourly saving rate for doing the brake job compares with your hourly earning rate. Of course, you have to remember to adjust it for the learning opportunity. :)
Oh yes, and don't forget you also solved my problem while doing all this other stuff (I think; I haven't completely tested it yet).
Hey Jonathan,
it's lunch break at work, so I thought I'd check and see if your dad had fixed the brake lines yet. I was telling Aunt Janet that I'd be a little worried if I had to repair the car's brake lines, but I guess your dad thought of a way to test the brakes without going downhill like Uncle Wiggily's cheese.
I think zooming is what having a bike is all about. Where we live, many shops are close by, and it's much faster to get there by bike than it would be by car. That's because there are many stop lights and one way streets, and because it takes a long time to find a parking spot. I remember two summers ago when you first rode on the small bike in the cemetery near the hospital, and even then you were pretty good at zooming, though if we ran fast we managed to outrun you. I bet we couldn't anymore!
Anyway, better get back to work...
Great job on the story, Jonathan! T & B are working on stories, too. I know B's is about a cat and some dogs, but I don't really know what T's is about.
B is looking at a new bike. He really wants what is called a cyclo-cross bike. It is like a hybrid bike (cross between mountain bike and road bike), but with the curved handlebars like a road bike. I don't think he is planning on entering cyclo-cross races, he just likes the bike. See if you can find a youtube video of cyclocross. Seems like something Frazz would get into.
Try looking at Critical Thinking Co. for logic stuff.
I watched B design his own bike at the Connecticut Science Center. Too bad you can't push a button and have it made for you!
The job took 28 hours, and I calculate that to the job again on my car would take 21 hours tomorrow, though that might be a little high.
I spent around $130 in parts, some of that going to pay for things that aren't exactly "parts", gas for a friend's car when I borrowed it, new jug of gojo soap when I used up the last of it for a friend.
I spent $150 in tools, and some of them aren't brake specific, but some wrenches in sizes I didn't have, etc.
The mechanic was going to charge $1000. Though I gather he was way overcharging, and a more reasonable rate would be $600 or so.
But, assuming that I wouldn't have shopped around, since I haven't been able to find a mechanic in our area (though in the process of looking for a specialized tool, I was recommended a new mechanic, so I might check them out the next time), the hourly rate I saved was $26/hour.
And assuming the $600 estimate was correct the rate for doing it a second time would be $28/hour.
The rate is significantly lower than what I charge people, but I don't work constantly either, though I do have a lot of work backed up right at the moment.
I didn't get a quote on installing a water heater but we put that in last week as well.
And I figure saving $26/hour while learning how to do something is pretty good.
Heather picked up the car, so I didn't get to talk to the mechanic too much, but he just said everything looked good.
1. I just noticed that what I wrote makes it look like I run stop lights with my bike. I don't. I try to balance on the bike without getting off, so that I can start that fraction of a second faster. The stop lights even out the time it takes by car and by bike because often I can catch up while the cars are waiting. (Sometimes the opposite happens, and I'm the one always stuck.)
2. I agree that "getting paid" 26/h for learning how to fix a car is a pretty sweet deal!
Also note that the hourly rate saved working on a car is tax free - so is effectively even more.
True, I hadn't thought about that.