It’s been a bit of a week here, partly owing to the crush of the Free-Ride offspring’s new school year. (I suppose, since it started in the middle of last week, it’s better described as a newish school year.)
The sprogs (and their parents) have been sufficiently busy that we haven’t yet had an extended discussion about the academic year that stretches before us. However, I was able to extract a bit of information from the elder Free-Ride offspring about the focus of the sixth grade science curriculum.
The sixth grade will, apparently, be studying Earth Science. According to the list the elder Free-Ride offspring dashed off for me, this will include such topics as volcanoes, weather, rocks, and ecosystems.
And there will be sixth grade science camp.
I do not know if they will get around to discussing what gravitational forces might explain the shape of the Earth in the picture above. I do know that the elder Free-Ride offspring’s teacher this year majored in biology.
I’m thinking that if things ever get less hectic, this could be a pretty good year.
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Ah, sixth grade science camp… in my area of the country they called it Outdoor Lab, and it was there (as a High School Leader) that I learned the most useful disciplinary phrase EVER for coping with large groups of pre-teens:
“Hey – that’s not cool.” [delivered in a nonchalant tone, followed by turning away from the perpetrator of some minor disruption.]
Since teenagers have built-in credibility with sixth-graders as ‘arbiters of cool,’ this phrase nipped many problem behaviors in the bud, and has proven to be adaptable to many other situations. =)
Earth Science, yay! I’m looking forward to the Friday Sprog Blogs this year.