Month: March 2020
My photography journey 29Mar20
Taking photos is a good way to spend some time in normal times, and it’s been good in these weird times as well.
I’m pleased to say that I’m fully in manual mode now and am getting many shots that look good. (And the ones that aren’t good are less often setting and more often just vision. “Just.”)
The Kid and The Climbing Daddy are making a table.
I’ve taken several walks around the neighborhood. Spring! Flowers!
I don’t ever want to have a bougainvillea —they’re heinous to maintain—but I appreciate that other people have them because they’re so pretty!
And what’s a set of photos without a dead plant? I thought this was very cool to look at, though.
And also
Part of a palm tree:
I liked the strings:
I always love seeing these bud new leaves:
I don’t remember ever seeing one of these like this!
And someone’s RV gate, clearly not often used:
A tree with a prosthetic trunk?
In the yard:
In someone else’s yard:
The Kid, his LEGO, and the back yard:
The kid way to process life
Kids work through stress and unfamiliar situations through play. (This is why play therapy is very effective with littles.)
The last play date we had (two weeks ago?), the kids were playing “corona zombies.”
Since play dates have ended, The Kid was playing a robber/spy game by himself where he had to steal and avoid a virus. (I don’t know how to do both simultaneously, but it’s his game. Not my place to “fix” it.)
He jumps on the trampoline A LOT (thank goodness that became part of the family before all this started!). The Climbing Daddy has a spiky ball for rolling underfoot. (Intentionally. Ideally while seated.) The Kid puts it on the trampoline and tries to bounce it off. It’s the virus (because they look similar) and he’s trying to get rid of it.
This is normal. This is healthy. This is how kids process stuff.
This is also informative.
If you’re seeing and hearing stuff like this come up in play, let them play it out. Of course you can have a conversation about it, but please don’t stifle the play.
(Likewise, if you hear them playing out other real-life-ish scenarios that raise red flags, be gentle, but have a conversation.)
As far as life without playdates?
He’s been using Marco Polo* to talk to friends and has had a few virtual playdates via FaceTime. I got tipped off that Battleship and Guess Who can both be played via video chat without adaptation, and they’ve enjoyed playing.
*I didn’t know much about this app until a week or two ago, but it’s been a lot of fun, for me and the kids.
We’ve made drawing and typing and foreign language learning part of our daily routine. He needs some structure and routine, and I don’t want all schoolwork. These are things he’s enjoying (so far) and are good for him and he doesn’t do in school.
Finally, one of my principals shared this with us.
Deep breath. You can do this.
My photography journey 22Mar20
Well … I’ve done a lot of academic learning this week, with just a little photo-taking. But I’ve graduated to all photos being taken on manual mode, which is exciting and yields only marginally more failure than other not-fully-manual-but-not-point-and-shoot-either settings. Getting there!
Here’s what I have to share with you, all from the yard or the garage.
The lead photo is a ladybug who is probably not happy that we’re ripping out her habitat. (The yard has so many really tall weeds. There are many other plants the ladybugs are welcome to hang out on.)
One of the cool things about having fruit trees is seeing the progression of the fruit growing. All of these little flowers will be either oranges or key limes, depending on which tree, of course. I took a few shots of baby fruits, but they didn’t turn out well.
A chili pepper … and a little critter.
I love cacti. Eventually, we’ll have more on site. For now, a few will do.
And finally, The Climbing Daddy is building a table for the back patio! It’s a good project for “we can’t go anywhere anyway.”
Free online resources for kids at home
Schools across the country are closing in an effort to help contain the pandemic.
This post is intended as a living resource for parents and other caretakers for online learning resources for kids.
They should all be free or temporarily free.
I have not checked every one. If you find any of these to be in error, let me know and I’ll edit.
If you know of others, let me know and I’ll add them.
All links should open in a new tab.
Online learning and classes through sites
Prodigy (math)
ABC Mouse (use coupon code SCHOOL7771)
Online learning and classes through YouTube
Online learning and classes through Facebook
Art lessons through Facebook live
More (different) art through Facebook live
Ideas for other things to do at home
These aren’t online interactive things but are lists of ideas.
Little animal drawing tutorials (not video; through Facebook)
Virtual field trips/performances
Collection of “over 30” virtual field trips with links
Kidsactivities.com seems to have a giant list, with loads of other stuff as well. If you’re not prone to overwhelm and want lots of options, head over there!