Captain Science (or, as he’s known there, call sign Sniper) just got home from his first day of STARBASE at the nearby Air Reserve base. He had a fantastic time! He’s on Team Foxtrot with Maverick, Mallet, Darknight, and one other kid whose call sign he couldn’t remember. He knew one of the other boys there (not on his team) from Math Olympiad, so he had the comfort zone of a familiar face without it being a completely familiar experience. So nice for him to have a whole day out of the house with other children with similar interests! This is the kind of peer environment I can get behind!
After letting the kids spend an hour or so getting acquainted, the STARBASE staff really put them through their paces. They worked on the metric system and exponents through practical application in weight/liquid measurement. They measured various “space” fluids, weighed unknown metals to find ideal materials for building planes, and designed Army rovers in CAD.
Honestly, it was a bit of a relief for me to have the house to just myself and the smalls for a day (9am-2pm). Usually, Captain Science is the center of my school day, but today I was able to really focus on Tank and Babypie. Tank did several mazes and we did a fun activity using this illustration of facial expressions. We talked about what the person might be feeling to cause him to make each face. For the middle face in the next-to-last row, Tank said he thought the person was feeling thinking. I agreed, and told him that the word he might be looking for is “thoughtful.”
Babypie and I read books. Well, we read the same book four times. After we were finished reading, Tank, Babypie, and I all played with Tank’s “Dinosaur, Dragon, and Bug World” toys for a long time, then we went to pick up Captain Science and get his positive report.
I’m looking forward to the next four Mondays, for all our sakes!
