January

Happy Inauguration Day to all! Half an inch of snow and icy roads have given Dagfari and me two extra hours at home this morning, so I can finally catch up on our January doings.
Last week we had a much-anticipated (by me anyway) Bookmarks event-- an appearance by author Geraldine Brooks. As usual, we were all quite involved in the planning and execution of the author talk and accompanying receptions. It all went extremely well--Brooks is a wonderful speaker and charming person--and D got a signed copy of People of the Book to add to his collection (though I warned him off reading it until he's considerably older--definitely not a kid book).
Dagfari, meanwhile, has gotten back into the swing of things, schoolish-wise. He's been moved up to Ballet 2 (from Ballet 4), which is proving a much better match for him. Latin and science class have started up again. The latter is biology this semester, and D is enjoying keeping a nature journal with lots of sketches. He's still very interested in Spanish art, particularly Spanish Baroque. We made a trip last Saturday to the NC Museum of Art, which has a major expansion project underway. D was at first highly disapproving of the new building (did I mention that he dislikes change of any kind?), but after looking it over carefully and reading an interview with the architect, he now grudgingly approves.
And today, well, we'll probably devote the school day to a civics lesson and watch the festivities in D.C., while looking for J & G (presumably quite bundled up!) in the crowd.

Spring '09 classes at SGS

We had an exciting trip to Michigan for Christmas, with lots of snow (also wind, sleet, rain, ice, and fog-- you have to love Grand Rapids weather!). Dagfari had a great time with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Lots of presents, cookies, dogs-- the usual holiday fun.


Dagfari entertained himself on the ride home with Peter and the Shadow Thieves on CD (thanks to Grandpa & Grandma Bos) and Prince Caspian on DVD (thanks to Grandma Brink). Now that we're home, he and ProfDad are working on getting Aunt Ann and Uncle Rich's telescope set up.

The new year is here, so it's time to start planning for the spring semester. Dagfari wants to take two ballet classes per week this semester and also start violin lessons. He'll continue with his Latin tutor, homeschool science class (biology this time), and history with ProfDad (continuing with the Renaissance). We're probably going to set up sessions with an English lit/writing tutor too. And one of his student minders will work with him on computers and math. Tutoring seems to work really well for D. Really, the hardest part of homeschooling now is not getting D (and parents) overcommitted.

In his spare time, D is still obsessed with art history. I'm thinking we may need to find a college student mentor for this, since it's really outside my area of expertise. We're hoping to make return trips to the National Gallery and the Met this spring too. Oh, and maybe study some astronomy, if we can master the telescope.