I know you've all been dying to ask, "Amanda, how is it possible that you and Erin manage to show up to work each and ever day looking like the model of youthful beauty and good health?"

It's true. Erin and I can take on any fresh faced  20-something  any day, and rock a mean math lesson while we do it.

How? I'm going to let you in on a little secret:

We are both total fitness buffs.

From way back, you could spot us sweatin' up a storm to get in tip top shape. Here's a picture of me from a few year ago getting physical:

Here's Erin, leading her aerobics class:

Erin is actually so dedicated to keeping healthy that she married a personal trainer! Talk about physical perfection...have you seen this guy? Erin is a lucky, lucky gal:

 Working full time, raising kids (me), and bartending at night (Erin) doesn't leave us a lot of time to go to the gym. So we try and get a good workout in the class. Lucky for us, your kids love to move. It takes a lot to wear them out, but I think we came pretty close with some of our activities over the past two weeks.
You've probably heard your child humming our "12 Days of Halloween" song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPPDWl9h2e8

 We've added movement to this tune to show odd and even numbers. Last week we worked out the glutes with a squat for odd and a stand for even. Last weekend, I couldn't walk.  Apparently, neither could Max Ng, who let me know that squats were just not his thing. His idea for movement was to flip on our backs for odd, stand on all fours like an animal for even. Think about it: by the time you get to the "12th day" of the song, you have flipped front to back 78 times.

Now THAT was a serious workout! Sing the song at home and have your child make up their own movements to show the odd and even numbers. I promise you will work up a sweat.

To cool ourselves off after such a rigorous workout, we enjoyed some healthy, fruity milkshakes made by our chefs, Annabella and Catherine.

Annabella discovered headphones are a great tool for muffling the noisy blender.

So refreshing and delicious!

In other exciting classroom news:


SCIENCE:

The hornworms are here! The hornworms are here!

This is a tobacco hornworm. Farmers hate these insidious plant eaters, but they make fantastic classroom pets.  Starting as tiny larva, they require very little maintenance, they don't smell or bite, and they go from larva to moth in 30 to 60 days.

Here's there home. Their diet of mashed up leaves coats the bottom of the cup.

Not even a full centimeter on Thursday, this little bugger will grow to an astounding length in no time at all!

MATH:
Working with 10s:

Bo and Annabella counted pasta into groups of 10s

This is what 100 looks like!

And another way to practice 10s:

Bo and Zoe have to find matching numbers hidden under the bowls. Does the dime amount match the base 10 amounts? Nope. Try again!

Did the find a match? Yes! The coins equal 30 cents and the blocks show 30!

MYTHS:

The myth of Demeter and Persephone explains how the seasons came to be. Here's a copy to read at home with your child:

The Reason for Seasons
Ancient Greek Myths for Kids 

Zeus, the king of all the gods, had three sisters. 

Hera was both his wife and his sister. Hera was the goddess of marriage and the queen of all the gods. 

Hestia, another of his sisters, was a much loved goddess by the woman of Greece - Hestia was the goddess of home and hearth. 

His third sister, Demeter, was in charge of the harvest. All the gods jobs were important. But Demeter's job was very important. If she was upset, the crops could die. Everyone, gods and mortals alike, worked hard to keep Demeter happy. What made her happy was enjoying the company of her daughter, Persephone.

As the story goes ....

Persephone had grown into a beautiful young woman, with a smile for everyone. One day, while picking flowers in the fields, Hades, her uncle, the god of the underworld, noticed her. 

Hades was normally a gloomy fellow. But Persephone’s beauty had dazzled him. He fell in love instantly. Quickly, before anyone could interfere, he kidnapped Persephone and hurled his chariot down into the darkest depths of the underworld, taking Persephone with him.  

Locked in a room in the Hall of Hades, Persephone cried and cried. She refused to speak to Hades. And she refused to eat. Legend said if you ate anything in Hades, you could never leave. She did not know if the legend was true, but she did not want to risk it in case someone came to rescue her. 

Nearly a week went by. Finally, unable to bear her hunger, Persephone ate six pomegranate seeds. It seemed her fate was sealed. She would have to live in the Underworld forever.

Meanwhile, back on earth,  Demeter was miserable. She missed her daughter. She was not able to care for the crops. She was not able to do anything much except cry.

Zeus, king of all the gods, was worried about the crops. The people would die if the crops failed. If that happened, who would worship Zeus? He had to do something. Zeus did what he often did. He sent Hermes, his youngest son, the messenger, to crack a deal, this time with Hades. 

Even as a baby, Hermes was great at making deals. Everyone knew that. But this deal might be the challenge of his life. His uncle Hades, king of the underworld, was really in love. This was no passing fancy. 

When Hermes heard that Persephone had eaten six pomegranate seeds, he had to think quickly. The deal he made with Hades was that if Persephone would marry Hades, she would live as queen of the underworld for six months out of the year. However, each spring, Persephone would return and live on earth for the other six months of the year. Hades agreed. Zeus agreed. Persephone agreed. And finally, Demeter agreed.  

Each spring, Demeter makes sure all the flowers bloom in welcome when her daughter, Queen of the Underworld,  returns to her. Each fall, when Persephone returns to Hades, Demeter cries, and lets all the crops die until spring, when the cycle starts again. 

Here's a great video of the story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Plsmo-wRe-8 

The kids were a little nervous when I offered them a taste of a real pomegranate. Wait a minute, didn't this fruit get Persephone in trouble? Bravely, they risked exile in the Underworld for some seeds. BIG hit. These guys love pomegranate! Plus, we were able to prove that these myths are just that; MYTHS. We ate a lot of pomegranate seed and Hades was nowhere to be seen.

We've been exploring other myths that explain how the seasons came to be, as well as learning some scientific reasons for the changes we see in the outside world around us. Here's a story we read to explain why leaves change color and fall from trees in autumn:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV3CwoOWehk

We also mixed some math into our myths by discovering the favorite seasons and fruits of our friends. We made bar graphs and a pie graph to show our results:

Lucky Erin got to join the gang on the fabulous Friday hike:

Goofballs!