The Jungle Wolf: A Story to Read Aloud

I'm writing this down as part of my curriculum, How to Teach Your Child to Write a Novel. This is a part of Lesson #3: Villains. "The Jungle Wolf" is a story my mother told me when I was little. I always imagined the red flower in the story to be Oswego Tea (or Bergamot) which is an exotic-looking red flower that grows in rare spots in the woods in Pennsylvania. Enjoy!

Once upon a time, in the middle of the woods, there was a brave little girl who lived with her mother in a small stone cottage. Every morning, when she went out to play, the mother told her, "My daughter, you can play in the front yard, and you can play in the back yard, and you can climb the trees, but DON'T go into the woods. Not even if you really, really want to! Because in the woods lives the Jungle Wolf! He has red eyes, and drooling jowls, and sharp fangs, and he eats little girls!"

And the little girl always did just what her mother told her because she wasn't the type of child to disobey her mother, and because she didn't want the Jungle Wolf to eat her up!

Now one day, the little girl was playing just at the edge of the yard, and she was staring into the woods, wondering what it would be like to go there, and see all the interesting things hidden there among the ferns and the tall trees. There in the woods, just out of her reach, she saw a beautiful red flower. It was so lovely, and so interesting, that she just had to pick it! So do you know what she did? She went right into the woods, that brave little girl, straight over to that flower, and she picked it.

When it was in her hand, she turned her head and had a look around. After all, this was her chance to see the woods and all the interesting things she'd dreamed she'd find there. Was she afraid of the Jungle Wolf? Not much! And do you know what she saw, just over there, just out of her reach?

Another red flower.

So do you know what she did? She went deeper into the woods, that brave little girl, straight over to that flower, and she picked it. And another, and another. And when she had a big bouquet of all the red flowers she had found, she looked around herself, and realized that she was very, very far away from home. And all around her the forest was still. And quiet. (whisper) And she could hear the ferns waving, and the trees growing. And she could hear (suddenly loud) GAHOGACHEE! GAHOGACHEE! GAHOGACHEE! It was the Jungle Wolf! And he was coming to eat her up!

The Jungle Wolf pounced on her, with his red eyes, and his drooly jowls, and his sharp fangs, and he said, "NOW I have you! And I am going to eat you up!"

The little girl said, "Oh, please, Mr. Jungle Wolf! Don't eat me! For if you let me go, I will stay right here and sing you a song!"

The Jungle Wolf let go of the little girl. He was very fond of songs. "Well alright," he said. "You can sing me a song, and I'll eat you right after that."

So the little girl began to sing: (in a sweet high sing-song voice) "Quee-Quiy-Quo-Quay, Quee-Quiy-Quo-Quay." And the Jungle Wolf began to get a little sleepy. (Pretend to get sleepy, and have the child join you in singing the song) "Quee-Quiy-Quo-Quay, Quee-Quiy-Quo-Quay." And then... he... was... asleep. Now the little girl stopped singing and began to creep, creep, creep away from the Jungle Wolf and back toward her house. Creep, creep, creep.... SNAP! She stepped on a twig and broke it!

(Then you repeat the last part, as many times as it's amusing to the child who's listening. The last time will end with the litle girl getting home.)

GAHOGACHEE! GAHOGACHEE! GAHOGACHEE! It was the Jungle Wolf! And he was coming to eat her up!

The Jungle Wolf pounced on her, with his red eyes, and his drooly jowls, and his sharp fangs, and he said, "NOW I have you! And I am going to eat you up!"

The little girl said, "Oh, please, Mr. Jungle Wolf! Don't eat me! For if you let me go, I will stay right here and sing you a song!"

The Jungle Wolf let go of the little girl. He was very fond of songs. "Well alright," he said. "You can sing me a song, and I'll eat you right after that."

So the little girl began to sing: (in a sweet high sing-song voice) "Quee-Quiy-Quo-Quay, Quee-Quiy-Quo-Quay." And the Jungle Wolf began to get a little sleepy. (Pretend to get sleepy, and have the child join you in singing the song) "Quee-Quiy-Quo-Quay, Quee-Quiy-Quo-Quay." And then... he... was... asleep. Now the little girl stopped singing and began to creep, creep, creep away from the Jungle Wolf and back toward her house. Creep, creep, creep.... SNAP! She stepped on a twig and broke it!

GAHOGACHEE! GAHOGACHEE! GAHOGACHEE! <> (bring your hands down hard on the table, or clap, or something). She leaped into the kitchen, and slammed the door, and was SAFE from the Jungle Wolf, who had to go back to the woods. And she never, ever, ever went out into the woods again by herself, no matter how many red flowers she could see from where she stood! The end.

Discussion:

1. What would the story be like without the Jungle Wolf? Can you retell the story without a villain?
2. What does the red flower symbolize for the girl? What does it represent?
3. Was the little girl right or wrong to go out of the yard and after the red flowers?

How to Make Chess Team T-Shirts Using Fabric Spray Paint

For full instructions on this project, see my other blog post about making t-shirts here. I used the same general technique for making the chess team shirts but with some specific embellishments.



Materials:

Aerosol fabric paint. Something like this. In black.
White t-shirts.
A cardboard rectangle big enough to slide inside the shirts.
Xacto knife and cutting board.
Freezer paper.
Iron
Iron-on letters (optional)

1. Find or draw your design. You are looking for a simple silhouette of a chess piece. You can use whichever piece is your team's favorite. We used kings because our coach refers to the kids as King Benny, King Ben, etc. Maybe you want to be knights or even pawns. You know, the pawns are the most powerful pieces on the board. Or something. Look for something very simple in silhouette, like this:

2. Print out your design at about 10 inches high.
3. With an Exacto knife and cutting board, cut the design out of freezer paper. Save the inside! If you need a visual on this process, check my other post.
4. You now have two pieces of freezer paper -- one in the shape of a chess piece (to make the white king) and one with a chess piece shaped hole in it (to make the black king).

5. Position the freezer paper with a chess shaped hole in it in the spot you want the black king, and iron it down.
6. Slide your cardboard piece up inside your t-shirt to protect it from seeping paint. Spray your fabric paint into the stencil. Spray LIGHTLY! This is not a job for kids. Back up about a foot from the shirt and spray in gentle bursts. If you spray too close or too heavily, it will get clumpy and gluey and will not dry properly. Ever. As long as you live. Even if you live to be 37, like I have.
7. Let it dry for a few minutes and then peel the freezer paper outline off. You now have a black king!
8. Position the king-shaped freezer paper where you want the white king. and iron it down.
9. Spray your fabric paint around this reverse stencil. This is supposed to look a little graffiti, a little rock-and-roll, so spray in a zig-zag and let your inner tagger out. You do have an inner tagger, don't you? You didn't poison your inner tagger with too many violin lessons and tae kwon do tournaments did you? Good. So tag away.
10. Let it dry for a while and then peel the freezer paper off. You are done!

You can also add letters, iron-on jewels, and other embellishment. Go mad. The beauty of custom t-shirts lies in the creative potential; you can put anything you want on them and have a lot of fun doing it, so go nuts! Chess is a battlefield, and you may need to employ all the iron-on weapons in your arsenal. More pictures:

On the kids' shirts, I put the black king on the back.


Father and son shirts. Yes, this is their game face.


Chess shirts in action at the Championship Chess Norfolk tournament in May.

Benny's concentration pose.

The Benjamins

The Brocketts

Chess warriors

Benny's First Crush

Benny has had a serious crush on a little girl named Cecelia for almost a year. He has had dear, close friends who are girls before, girls he's planned to marry, girls he's been devoted to -- like his deep abiding love for Zoe since he was four years old. But his love for Cecelia is different -- more frantic, more urgent. She's a beautiful, sweet girl with long glorious hair and he just adores her. They hold hands, do art together, play Warriors together, and sometimes he just drags along behind her, worshiping. She is kind enough not to rebuke him, although the intensity of emotion isn't there for her. She sees Benny as a good friend and is happy to let him hang out with her. I so appreciate her tolerance! I thought I'd share some pictures of them together before they both grow out of it.

It must be love. He lets her drive on the bumper cars:



Happy and airborne:



Riding in the front of the roller coaster:



Spinning on the Katapult:



Happy children:



It's summer and they won't be seeing much of each other. I can see at this point that they've already started to drift. Benny loves girls, and his interest is pulled in other directions. Cecelia needs time to hang with her girlfriends and that frustrates him. I can see in my child that his emotions are intense and his loyalty, for a nine-year-old, is deep. The fact that he's been so focused on this one girl for so long is amazing. Thanks to her graciousness and kindness, his first crush was a sweet, innocent business that gave him a lot of joy.

Leroy

My friend Susannah took this awesome picture of my dog Leroy.

North Carolina State Tang Soo Do Championships

On May 9, the children competed in a Tang Soo Do tournament in Fayetteville. It was Sadie's first tournament and Benny's second. Sadie was the littlest little warrior there, with a pink mani-pedi, pink sparkle gel in her hair, and a sparkly butterfly hair tie holding her braids together. She was astonishingly cute, I confess.

The tournament was not well organized. It started (late) at 10:30 and then the children in Benny's ring (the biggest age group) were told to sit around the edge of the ring while all belt levels performed first for and then sparring. Benny is a child who sits still as easily as an elephant flies. He was sitting on the floor with nothing to do but keep quiet and watch for about three hours, I kid you not. There was absolutely no reason for this madness -- there could have been a schedule with certain belt levels at certain times, so that the rest of the kids could have gotten up to eat lunch, go to the bathroom, play DS, see the sunshine, etc. But whatever! Benny was remarkably well behaved, given the circumstances, and even though he got shouted at by a black belt at one point, I was proud of his patience and self-control in that ridiculous situation. I would have died if I'd had to sit there for that long. The adults planning the tournament should have considered if *they* would like to participate in such a thing. The other NKA moms and I were speculating if any moms had been involved in the planning. Our guess: No.

Here's Sadie's form:



And Benny's form:



In the background of that one you can see the other kids sitting around the sidelines, wishing they could go out in the lobby and get pizza, or still feel sensation in their feet.

Neither of our kids placed well in the form. The good news is that in the sparring Benny pulled out a surprise success -- second place. He was very happy!



I could spew some more bitterness and discontentment, but instead I'll just post some more pictures.

Sadie and her friend Keric getting some advice from Master Odom:



One of Benny's teachers, who has been very patient with him and really helped him clean up his form and in general get his karate more fierce and awesome. She got second place in the black belt division for grown-ups:



Benny made a friend while sitting on the sidelines. He was at the last Fayetteville tournament too, so they recognized each other.



The kids had fun, and the experience was great for them, if irritating for us. The next week, Sadie got her first yellow tip on her white belt! Karate is awesome.

For more pictures, some of them very grainy but definitely cute, check out my Flickr set.

Homeschoolers in the Semi-Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee

For a list of all 41 spellers who made the semi-finals, click here.

For a list of the nine *homeschooled* spellers who made the semi-finals, scroll down:

#16 Josephine Kao, Sacramento, California.

#36 Claudine Broussard, Nova Scotia, Canada.

#40 Veronica Penny, Ontario, Canada.

#65 Serene Laine-Lobsinger, West Palm Beach, Florida.

#158 Tussah Heera, Las Vegas, Nevada.

#168 Kevin Drew, Buffalo, New York.

#218 Connor Aberle, Portland, Oregon.

#270 Andrew Traylor, Charlottesville, Virginia.

#276 Tim Ruiter, Centreville, Virginia.

Go homeschool!

This is the Face

This is the face of the boy who rode Griffon by himself today. We went to Busch Gardens to pick up Dan's phone, which fell out of his pocket while he was upside down last week. We thought we'd hang out for a few hours and just do some kiddie rides, splash in the water areas. It was just me and the two kids. Then we read on Benny's height check sheet that he could ride the roller coasters *unaccompanied.*

I called Dan. Would this be okay, did he think? Should I allow it? Beside me, Benny was jumping up and down, insisting that he would be fine - FINE. I waited for him. I watched every car. I followed the line as it went around. There were times I couldn't see him. I fretted and tapped my toe. He rode Apollo's Chariot, Alpengeist, and Griffon all by himself. In between we did Sadie rides and played in the water. He was patient. He was thrilled. He was, he told me, "self-responsible." Remember when Benny was born? This is that same boy, right now today:

Rush Limbaugh Says Non-Profits are Bloodsuckers

In a commencement speech at Arizona State University, Obama encouraged graduates to find ways to help their country outside a mainstream career track. Rush Limbaugh used this as a springboard to announce that non-profit organizations are parasitic bloodsuckers, not worth of attention from this year's graduates. Better find a real job than become a beggar, a dependent on society. Well, read it for yourself:

Obama: "Did you study business? Why not help a struggling not-for-profit to find better, more effective ways to serve folks in need? You study nursing? Understaffed clinics and hospitals across this country are desperate for your help. You study education? Teach in a high-needs school. Give a chance to kids who can't -- who can't get everything they need, maybe, in their neighborhood, maybe not even their home, but we can't afford to give up on them. Prepare them to compete for any job anywhere in the world. You study engineering? Help us lead a green revolution, developing new sources of clean energy that will power our economy and preserve our planet. Find somebody to be successful forward. Raise their hopes! Rise to their needs."

Rush: "By definition, how does a nonprofit operate? A nonprofit begs for money from other people. A nonprofit lives on donations, and the people that run nonprofits have to siphon some of the donations that they collect as their salaries. That, somehow, is preferable to going out and producing something and expanding the economic pie? Yeah, go to a nonprofit. Ask somebody else for money! Get credit for caring. Get credit for not being concerned for profit. I never met anybody at a nonprofit didn't care about money. People at nonprofits care as much about money as anybody else does, except they don't work for it. They beg for it. They feed off of others. They're like the US government, except they can't print their money. They're bloodsuckers!"

A short list of non-profit bloodsuckers who don't work for their money, parasites on our country who bleed from and destroy the rugged individual:

1. Focus on the Family
2. NRA
3. Swiftboat Veterans for Truth
4. The Heritage Foundation


Or how about a longer list...

1. The Salvation Army
2. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
3. YMCA
4. American Red Cross
5. March of Dimes
6. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (beneficiary of Rush's annual drive)
7. Marine Corps-Law Enforcement Foundation Inc. (beneficiary of Rush's donation from his sale of Harry Reid's letter on Ebay)
8. Freedom Alliance (beneficiary of Sean Hannity's concert series)
9. USO: Operation USO Care Package
10. American Cancer Society

If the people who work for these organizations were listening to Rush's show yesterday they heard a powerful message: "You don't work, you beg. You don't help us, you bleed us. And you people who chose to get jobs working at parasitic suckholes like these should reconsider your careers. If you'd had any sense as college grads, you'd have pursued real jobs in real corporations where people work for their money instead of begging."

In other words, thanks!

Red Cross Workers Loafing Around

Bloodsuckers! You should be ashamed!

Shriners Children's Hospital: People working here should have gotten a real job!

The YMCA sucked the life out of all of these sad little children.

How to Make a Magic Carpet

The study of Persian rugs is an interesting way to get into Persian history and Islamic culture. Why are Persian carpets so beautiful? In a culture where iconography is immoral, a functional object like a rug is a place where art can be expressed "legally." Like calligraphy, Persian carpets are art in the guise of a necessity. Given the significance of these rugs to the culture from which they come, it's no wonder they are sometimes portrayed as magical.

Here are a few things we learned about while studying Persian rugs: symmetry, the types of designs (geometric, curvilinear, pictorial), the elements of a rug (border, central medallion, repeated motifs), child labor laws, how to value a rug based on knot count, the difference between natural fibers and manmade fibers, and more.

Project materials:

Large canvas rectangles
Crop-a-dile or other awesome hole-puncher
Lace-weight yarn/thread in different colors
Poster paint and brushes

Preparation:

Punch holes in the short sides of all the carpets, about 1/2 inch apart. You are going to need a serious, no-kidding hole punch to get through canvas. I used a Crop-a-dile.
Cut the thread into pieces about 10 inches long. Deep rich colors are best.

Step One: Fringe

Give each child a choice of thread colors and encourage them to work in patterns. They can use a simple knot to create their fringe. Make a loop in the center of the thread, push the loop through the hole, and then thread both ends through the loop. Pull tight. You can fold over the edge of the fabric as you go to create a smooth edge.

Step Two: Paint

First have the children sketch their ideas with a pencil lightly so they can erase and redo it if they're not happy with it. Make sure everyone remembers to put in a border, a central medallion, and then repeated motifs.

The kids took home some interesting work! Painting on the canvas was challenging for a few, they needed reminding to keep a lot of paint on their brushes. However, making the carpets led to some interesting discussions about what the carpets mean to the people who make them. Here is the class singing a Persian folk song while they worked. They started singing spontaneously, then of course I had to run get my camera and have them do it again!

What class is this? My elementary literature class at Norfolk's premier co-op of extreme homeschool awesomeness, Homeschool Out of the Box.

Strawberry Picking at Three Sisters Farms

For years Veronica and I have taken our kids to the Three Sisters Strawberry Farm in Suffolk, VA, to pick organic strawberries. The reason we drive a long way to get strawberries that are organic is that this person...



and this person...



as well as Veronica's little people... do not hesitate to eat as many berries as they can, during the process. So, when you're at an organic farm, you feel like maybe your child isn't gulping down handfuls of mustard gas and won't be growing another kidney out the side of its head as a result. Or whatever.

So we get to Three Sisters Farm, and we start picking:



And the berries are HUGE. Massive, perfectly heartshaped berries, elegantly ripe, hanging in perfect, convenient clusters from every bush. And where are the weeds? There are no weeds. I don't know if you've ever been to an organic farm, but it is sort of weedy. In fact, some of the weeds are there on purpose because they help the pH balance or discourage invasive pests or recite pop poetry which the plants find nothing wrong with because, hey, it's entertaining, but the elitist slugs scorn, or whatever. So where, we wondered, were the weeds?

Veronica and I joked around that the Three Sisters people were sneaking in pesticides and just not telling anyone. Har har har. It is to laugh, right? Except OOPS, when Veronica actually investigated, she discovered that *BOO* they actually ARE using pesticides! It's not organic anymore! In fact, Three Sisters aren't even doing the farming -- they leased it out to something called Faith Farms which is slinging pesticides in great, heaping bucketfuls.

Which is why the berries were so nice and huge and perfect and the rows were so even and unweedy and easy to pick from. Which we found out after the children had eaten about a quart each of unwashed, mustard-gas-laden strawberries.

And so had I! I'm expecting a third kidney at any moment.

Fortunately, we still have our friends! And we will all be creepy third-kidney-havers together:



Another plus: the Three Sisters Farm still operates the store and animal farm connected with the property, and they had lots of completely organic baby ducks, turkeys, chickens, a fully organic cow, a couple of organic peacocks and these astonishingly cute organic kittens:









All in all, it was a super fun day with ice cream, candy, kittens, and massive awesome ripe delicious strawberries. I still highly recommend Three Sisters Farms. The berries might not be organic anymore, but you can always eat the kittens without washing them!