Coming Out

I'm going to admit something you that may not know about me....  I like love musicals.  I'm not sure when this enjoyment obsession began, but it's goes back as far as I can remember.  The first musical I remember watching over and over was Annie.  You know the one from the 80's.  I'm pretty sure my parents rented that movie just about every weekend for months.  Finally they broke down and bought a copy.  I still enjoy watching Annie on occasion and my daughter enjoys it as well (she doesn't walk around the house singing the songs like I do though).

Of course I enjoy musicals such as Grease, Dirty Dancing, Sound of Music, etc. but one of my favorites is a movie most people haven't even heard of.  Fans of Christian Bale may know the movie I'm talking about... Newsies.

As the title would lead you to expect, it's a movie about newsboys growing up in the early 1900's.  It delves into the lives of the newsboys and how, many of them were orphaned (do you see a theme here) and how they were newsies just to survive.  The producers did a wonderful job of bringing in time period props such as a very old treadle printing press.  You know the kind where they had to hand place each letter and pump their foot to make it move all while manually changing the printed piece of paper for a fresh piece of paper. 

One of the things that interests me about the movie now as an adult is that it was based on true events.  A few years ago my brother got me the collectors edition of the DVD and it has a special feature that lets you in on some of the history behind the movie and it is very interesting.

I think that's why when we were given an opportunity to tour a modern day printing press I jumped at the opportunity.  In fact, I was probably more excited than my kids.  It was so interesting for me to be able to compare a modern day paper printing press with a press from 100 years ago.  It was also fun to see my kids asking questions and learning how things work.

Part of the machine that inserts the sales flyers into the paper.

They keep enough paper on hand to run the paper for 28 days.  This is just some of the rolls they have on hand. 

 

 

There are actually 2 presses side-by-side.  They are both 2+ stories each.

So high above you it's hard to tell where each page starts and ends.

The paper winds through the press like it's going through a maze.

All the kids who were on the trip with us.  Such a great time!

What's next?  Getting my kids to watch the Newsies with me  :-)

Educational Success

In addition to buying a new car yesterday, we went to what was called a "Knowledge Faire."  It was aimed at homeschoolers and was designed to give the kids some fun things to do as well as give parents the opportunity to look at some books, games, and curriculum that could be useful to their family.  It cost a few dollars per person to get in, but I decided if it meant I could look at and touch some of these things it would be worth it.

I loved that my kids could do some of the fun yet educational things.  Among other things, they had a First robot team which my son LOVES and they had some representatives from Busch Gardens there with a few animals which my daughter loves. 

But the main reason I was there was to see if I could find some games that would help me get my son reading as well as something to help my daughter recognize a few numbers and letters she's still having problems with.   I did find a few things that I'm considering, but if anything what I found was that I am not giving myself enough credit.  Some of the ideas that have been made into games are very simple.  If someone else can do it, why can't I?  Give me some time and maybe the kids and I can come up with a game we can sell.

As great as all the game ideas were, the thing that I really enjoyed was watching the surprise on someone's face when my son answered a rather tough question correctly.  To be honest, I didn't think he remembered the answer, but he did.  It feels so good knowing that although the method I've chosen to use to teach my son is what some would consider unconventional, it seems to be working.

It made yesterday go from a good day to a great day.

Busy Times are Coming

Yesterday, the kids and I went to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach, FL.  We didn't spend much time in the "arts" section of the museum, but we did spend almost 5 hours in the Children's Museum section;  the primary focus of which was science.   Even though the space was rather small (we've been to smaller and we've been to much bigger as well), they were really able to pack in some excellent quality activities.

I knew from looking on-line that the museum had quite a few things that the kids would like.  In particular, they had a race track where you got to build your own car (we WERE down the street from Daytona International Speedway after all).  Little did I know that the cars were built out of K'Nex.  Anyone that knows my son, knows that he LOVES K'Nex.  He passed up Legos years ago in favor of K'Nex.  We spent most of our time working on building and racing our cars.  It just so happened that the track had space for 3 cars to race each other.

My son's second favorite thing, was an area where they allowed you to build circuits.  It's safe to say that this love came from his father.  I'm sure if he had been there, they would have had a great time in this area.

My daughter's second favorite thing was a pretend play area where you got to make pizzas.  I liked this area, because while my daughter made the pizzas (and I pretended to eat them), my son was the cashier and we worked on making change.

I truly love the idea of Children's Museums.  They are a wonderful way of teaching, while your children are completely clueless to the fact that you are doing so. 

So, why are busy times coming you ask?  Because, while we were at the museum yesterday, I got a family membership which allows our family access to 300 museums across the country for free or steeply discounted.  Can you say busy and fun times are coming?!?!  I can't wait to start taking advantage.  Who knows, maybe we'll end up back in Daytona at some point and we can bring along Daddy to play with the circuits...after all, we are members there now.