The Flotsam and Jetsam

Tonight I texted #1 Son to ask him what he was up to.  I do that fairly regularly because I'm always curious about what he's doing.  He said he was going to some sit-ins.  You may think he's going to some protests, but come to find out, sit-ins for #1 means that he's sitting in with some bands.  FYI:  He'll be playing three gigs when we're visiting him in New Orleans next week. Woohoo.

Today a Thirdlander told me she wanted to research gender non-conformity for one of her zine pieces.  We've talked quite a lot about gender non-conformity this year, and the Thirdlanders love to use this term.  Whenever they can throw it into the conversation they do.  This gal wanted to search online for articles, but I said that I would have to help her with that.  She said, "But I'm going to use the safe search!"  I don't know.  I just decided she should wait.  Am I part of the problem????  I'm going to have to ask @JudyBookLady, most amazing librarian on the planet, for some suggestions for cool things to read.  She'll point us in the right direction.

I think I told you already that we've been talking about T****s reduction of some National Monuments.  We read and wrote about Bear's Ears National Monument in particular.  So last week I finally joined the #ditchThehomework movement.  Okay, I give one weekly math worksheet, but other than that, kids do their own thing for 30 minutes Monday through Thursday.  So far, no parent has complained.  Awesome.  Today a Thirdlander told me that he had some extra time this week, so he decided to make a clay model of Bears Ears National Monument.  He's bringing it in tomorrow.  He said, "It's actually quite realistic.  I looked at a lot of photos and used different shades of red clay."  I think that's hilarious.

Today we wrapped up our Power of Song unit.  After we read about the Landphilharmonic Orchestra, we used our kazoos to play We Shall Overcome together.  We sang the verses too.  They really sounded terrific and I'm glad the kazoos are going home.  The Thirdlanders have loved this unit.  Today one said, "Can you find a video of Pete Seeger singing 'Solidarity Forever?'" I said that I would look for one, and asked him how he knew about the song.  He said, "After we learned about Pete Seeger, I went to the public library with my mom and checked out six Pete Seeger albums."

Things are always happening in Thirdland.