Chloe attended a week of camp at Cornell where she and a group of 15 other teens from all over the world spent their mornings in a writing workshop. Sufficiently inspired, her creative juices started to flow and she produced a couple of poems that she agreed to share here.
Continue reading The Dandelion & The Kiss, Two Poems by Chloe
Sophie took a class called the “Art of Comic Books” at our local museum. She’s always been more of a graphic novel-type girl than a traditional novel kind of girl, and the result of her weeks-long effort at writing and illustrating her own story are spectacular, in my not-so-objective opinion.
Watching movies with Chloe is fast becoming one of my favorite pastimes, especially now that I’m no longer limited to viewing saccharine-sweet children’s films with her. We have embarked on an epic quest: making our way through the American Film Institute’s “100 Years 100 Movies” list. We also have a lot of Oscar contenders to see in the theater before the end of the year. And we have plenty of schlock to watch on Netflix. Our viewing tastes run the gamut.
Chloe, unsurprisingly to those who know her, has very strong opinions about the movies she watches. And as a gift to all of you, she kindly agreed to critique some of the movies she’s seen over the past few weeks. Here you go, straight from the horse’s mouth:
One of Chloe’s last language arts assignments before the end of the school year was to write a poem using at least 15 words cut out from magazines. The result is a poem that perfectly captures Chloe’s vision of herself. And despite its autobiographical self-regard, it’s actually quite good considering she cobbled it together in about an hour. I’ve replicated it below (magazine words in blue):
Sophie continues to surprise me with her art skills. Indeed, I now think that she may have a future in forgery.
Chloe’s birthday present arrived today and she immediately started to explore the creative possibilities afforded by her new camera.
For a kid who doesn’t yet have formal training, she’s showing promise. Check out her very first photo, taken just outside our house. I love the reflection of the bare tree branches in the puddle. Watch your back, Ansel Adams!
Sophie’s first official story, “In the Tank,” is officially here. She even dedicated it to Ella, one her her very best friends. It’s all reproduced below (verbatim, 7-year old spelling and all). Enjoy!
Chloe’s recent social studies assignment was to write a letter to President Obama. I hope she gets a response. Here’s what she had to say to him – and those who know my daughter know that she had some pretty strong opinions.
Sophie and Grammy spent several hours yesterday working on a family tree for school. Sophie, being Sophie, had very specific concepts in mind. Grammy had her own very specific ideas about how Sophie should design it. Prior to getting started, I advised Grammy that Sophie was the project leader, not Grammy. Grammy was to serve as Sophie’s trusty assistant.
The Joy of Being Locked Out of the School
The head teacher blew the whistle to signal recess was over. We all ran to the door and joined the mob of kids going in. Once I was at the top of the stairs, I realized that I had left my lunchbox outside. Dammit. Now I had to go back out.
