Afterward visiting The Huntington we stopped for lunch to celebrate the first day of school and Chaya exclaimed, "But we didn't learn anything!" Gee, thanks.
Me: Who's George Washington?
Chaya and Shira: The first president!
Me: How many pieces of marble do you use to make a sculpture?
Shira: One!
Me: Do you mix colors before painting an impressionistic painting?
Batya: No.
Shira: You dab it together on the paper.
Chaya: Its dots.
Yesterday the girls were asking for a museum trip. Since it was Monday, most of our usual picks were closed so we ended up at the LA County Museum of Art. We brought a friend along to enjoy the day with us.
Unfortunately they were busy removing installations from the Broad Contemporary Art Museum including one of the Richard Serra pieces. We did get in to see the human Nature exhibition which closes on July , 2011. This was a great treat because the girls were fascinated by the miniature elevators by Maurizio Cattelan. Batya (my little engineer) was especially interested in seeing how they worked.
We also had a chance to see the Egyptian exhibit and explain avodah zarah to them. We've some across the concept of idol worship and not making an image of HaShem before but I've had a hard time explaing what it was. Seeing the scultures of Egyptian idols brought it home. I was immensly grateful to have another adult with me while working through their questions.
Shockingly the major disappointment of the day was that I didn't bring along their art journals. So I promised another trip in a couple weeks when the new contemporary art exhibits are open along with some new journals and a pack of sharp colored pencils.
If you live or visit the Los Angeles area and have a child under 17 there is no excuse not to visit LACMA often! Their NexGen program includes free entrance for children under 17 plus an accompanying adult. (Since I have three girls, I was able to bring a guest for free!) Special exhibits are extra, but we've been three times in the past five months and still haven't seen all of the free stuff. You need to join. Seriously.
If you are in the Los Angeles area and interested in homeschooling the LA Jewish Homeschoolers will be holding their only information night of the year on Wednesday, June 15 at 7:00 pm. It will be held at the Jewish Learning Academy on Pico Boulevard.
I'll be there to answer question about early childhood homeschooling and offer support. I know it can be scary, but our Jewish homeschooling community is growing by leaps and bounds.
If you are unhappy with the educational choices available for your children it is worth a couple hours of your time to look into homeschooling.
Hope to see you there!
Second, Chinese parents believe that their kids owe them everything. The reason for this is a little unclear, but it's probably a combination of Confucian filial piety and the fact that the parents have sacrificed and done so much for their children. (And it's true that Chinese mothers get in the trenches, putting in long grueling hours personally tutoring, training, interrogating and spying on their kids.) Anyway, the understanding is that Chinese children must spend their lives repaying their parents by obeying them and making them proud.
Monday, August 15, 2011 at 11:07AM