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Last week's soccer game was at Slauson, a school we'd never been to. It was crowded because the entrance to the gym was a door that opened directly onto a staircase that opened, in turn, directly into the gym. That meant that everybody who arrived early (as the coaches always request) was crammed onto the staircase, waiting for the previous game to clear. There was a bit of snow on the ground, so the kids were taking off boots and putting on shin guards and shoes on the stairway. The seating was bleachers directly behind one of the goals. We only have the one game at Slauson this season, and I'm just as happy. The one plus was that the game was refereed by Delia's gym teacher. He took time to teach the kids as they played.

Delia's gym teacher also refereed the game today. It's the first time I've seen a ref hold a Q&A session before the start of a game. The kids had questions, so I count it as a good thing. The game itself was a bit hard to watch. Delia's team got run over. They came close to scoring a couple of times but didn't quite manage it.

I finally looked up the grade level mathematics expectations on the state government website. I'm a bit puzzled because the sample questions don't fit with the curriculum expectations. He has the second graders expected to calculate volume, third graders expected to know milliliters and fourth graders expected to calculate the area of triangles. None of that is in the curriculum, so I'm left unsure what to teach. I am going to have to teach my second grader how to multiply. The fourth grader is expected to know 'basic science and geography facts.' I have no guidance as to what falls into that category.

It's not as bad as Rock Hunters, but it's still challenging. Scott and I are planning to spend some time this weekend coming up with practice problems for the kids to try on Monday.

The guitar class we expected Delia to take ended up canceled. Apparently, she was the only kid signed up. That's disappointing. We were hoping she'd learn a little about how to play the guitar we bought her for Christmas last year (or was it the year before?). We may have to look into formal lessons, but price and transportation are both barriers. I can get her to central campus or downtown by bus after school, but going anywhere else requires quite a bit more time and is outside of what I can manage without severe anxiety.

The break dancing class we signed Delia up for is happening. She seems to be enjoying it, as far as I can tell. When asked, she says it's okay, but she looks forward to it.

Delia had her first What Went By practice last Sunday. She came home with a list of twenty endangered and extinct animals she's supposed to know. (My impression is that the event consists of questions comprised of descriptive hints about the animals-- what they eat, where they live, how they look-- and that the kids have to name the animals.) Delia and I spent a little bit of time last night googling the first couple of animals so that she could take notes. We should have started earlier in the week. We got through one and a half of the six she was supposed to memorize (she was just to memorize name, that they're mammals and whether they're endangered or extinct. The extra information is beyond what the coach asked for).

Scott looked at the What Went By list and grumbled. It would have been nice to have something like that for Rock Hunters last year. It would be nice to have something like that for Estimania for this year. We're not as bad off as whoever's coaching Potions (chemistry lab work), but our guidelines are a little vague.