Regan just entered a project in her school's optional science fair and we are so proud of her and her hard work. It's hard to find the right balance of helping vs. letting her do it on her own but she did so much of this project and I think she feels really good about it.
At the lower elementary levels, it isn't judged or graded and is just participatory and she really wanted to do something on the solar system (and even though my family has fond memories of a big paper mache solar system model that I made with my friend, Melinda (that eventually ended up floating in a lake on Petit Jean Mountain during a massive wind storm that blew our tent away), I didn't steer her this way to relive my childhood, I promise. So we did some internet research and came up with the idea of letting people learn their weights and "ages" on different planets.
She plugged in all the numbers on online calculators and built her very first spreadsheet. She loved looking up the numbers online but actually putting them into the spreadsheet was the hardest part for her. She also researched the sizes and revolution around the sun times for each planet. After *much* searching, I finally tracked down foam balls in different sizes so that she could make a model of the planets - she helped mix paints to come up with the best match for each planet (the book we had showed Mars as golden with black highlights and not red - so we stuck with the book despite questions from Dad on why Mars wasn't red!).
She stood at her display for over an hour describing to people what she did and how to find their own weights and ages on her display. The organizers had pieces of paper at each display that said, "I like your project because:" and she received four pages of lots of encouraging words.
Congratulations, Regan! We are very proud of you.
And while we're talking about Regan, just wanted to show the note she left at the bottom of the stairs a couple of weeks ago. She, Jane and Meredith got up and fed Anna breakfast (and let us sleep in a bit). They made Jake and me (frozen) waffles and had the waffles, syrup and juices on the table all ready for us. Also - I've included Regan's portrait of Kate and William - she really liked watching their wedding a few weeks ago. We have very special kids!
Speaking of weddings, I'll close with a funny Anna comment. I found some pictures from our wedding and asked Anna, "Who is that?" pointing to Jake and me. Even though it's been almost 10 years, I *feel* that I don't look that different than how I looked on my wedding day. Jake's top-side looks a little different but his face not too much. Well, that was put to rest when Anna looked quizzically and said, "I don't know." Can a 2-year old play a trick on me or do I need to face up to the fact that we indeed look 10-years older?? :-)
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| Regan proudly showing off her hard work. |
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| The 2nd graders getting their ribbons for participating. |
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| Her certificate |
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| Working hard on her first spreadsheet (I set up the table and she put all the numbers in) |
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| The sweet note Jake and I found at the bottom of the stairs. |
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| Regan's portrait of Kate and William on their wedding day. |
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