indoor rock climbing

I took Austin and Keon Ho to the Coquitlam Cliffhanger indoor climbing gym this afternoon so that they could try climbing while I belayed them. They arrived full of enthusiasm and had their sights set on topping all the walls in the first 5 minutes. However, I suggested that they start on the beginner's wall and see how things went.

The first wall is about as steep as a ladder and rises to the top of the 45 foot climbing structure. The hand and foot holds are nice large letters and numbers. Easy for kids to figure out and easy for parents to shout instructions. The whole idea of this wall is to get the kids comfortable with the gear, comfortable coming down and comfortable with being several times their height off the ground.

Both the boys did fairly well on the beginner's wall reaching about 25 feet off the ground before getting too nervous. I've found that it's often good to go try something harder for a bit then come back to the easy stuff. We spent the next hour trying out several other walls that were lower (35 feet) but were more vertical. Keon Ho was the first to get to the top with Austin managing it on his next try (competition can be a great motivator). After that they went back to all the previous walls and topped them with ease (including the first one which they practically ran up).

Once they were more comfortable with the basics of climbing I introduced the rating system for the climbs and we started to focus on not just getting to the tops, but getting there following the routes that the gym had set. This makes things a bit more interesting as now it's not just a physical and psychological challenge but it's also a mental one.

The routes are set in increasing levels of difficulty with each level requiring the climber to plan his moves more strategically and improve his technique. Starting with a very basic route that has the score of 5.6, the climber has access to many large comfortable hand and foot holds and climbs a steep but not vertical gradient. Stepping up to 5.7 or 5.8 (the most difficult climb they attempted) the foot and hand holds become smaller and more sparse and the incline goes vertical. It's important on these more difficult climbs to think several moves ahead or you'll find that you can't reach the next hold.

Austin and Keon Ho spent most of their time trying 5.7's and managed to finish several of them. They learned how to use a resting position to take breaks part way up (rather than trying to sprint to the top) and they started to learn how to move more efficiently by doing the climbing with their legs and trying to keep their arms straight to reduce muscle fatigue.

In the end they were very happy with their exploits and want to go back again. The staff at the gym commented several times how impressed they were with how long the boys were climbing - over 3 hours! Sounds like we'll have to go back and do that again :)

-sc

Evolution

This afternoon, Austin was bored, so I suggested he watch an educational video. He countered that he's already watched all the educational DVDs we have, and he can't think of anything on the internet.

While I'm sure there's a wealth of educational shorts on the internet, I was too occupied with my work to spend time surfing with Austin, potentially hitting a few duds. So, I dug out another video from the HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) series we ordered a few months ago. We received more than a dozen videos for free, from a US-based educational institution!! Austin observed that the DVD was still encased in plastic, so this would be the first time we've seen it.

Skye and I have already watched a very engaging, entertaining and thought-provoking video on the genetics of obesity, but we hadn't watched any others.

Since Austin is a theorist, and has always found evolution fascinating, I chose the first Evolution video for today. We watched the video called Fossils, Genes, and Mousetraps, facilitated by Ken Miller, a biologist and award-winning educator.

Ken Miller is a Professor of Biology at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island (which happens to be the setting of the next Hamish X book - we're now about 8 chapters into the second of a trilogy by Canadian comedian and author, Sean Cullen).

I had invited Keon Ho to join us for the video. He hesitated, when I told him it is an educational video, but he came down to give it a try, anyway. About 15 minutes into the programming, Keon Ho asked how long it would be (after yawning a few times). I told him it would be about an hour, he stayed for another 5 minutes, then retreated back to his book (Dragonology). Keon Ho is more interested in Geography than Biology, and I'm sure it's challenging to follow a lecturer in English, when one is new to the language.

Ken Miller was lecturing to high school students about the theory of evolution. He's a very engaging speaker, and he launched right in to the fact that the study of evolution is a controversial subject, particularly in the southern United States. Austin is always drawn in to a good debate and was amazed to conclude that whichever interest group holds power at the School Board level, determines what will be taught in schools. Ken Miller explained that the defining groups have historically been the pro-evolution and anti-evolution (or Creationism) groups.

He played a clip from a short interview with him on The Colbert Report January 12, 2006. The clip was his 30-second definition of "Evolution." I invite you to watch this 6-minute interview - quite entertaining.

The lecture went on to describe what we learn from fossils, and examples of evolution that are taking place right now, in our midst and before our eyes. Ken Miller is a huge fan of Darwin's Origin of Species, and feels this is a book that everyone should read. It's foundational, in my opinion. We have a biography of Charles Darwin, we have taken The Origin of Species out of the library once (but didn't get through the whole book), and I have been drawn, recently, to a couple of children's adaptations of Darwin's theories.

As gripped as I was, by what I was hearing, I had to return to my office after watching for about 1/2 an hour. Austin stayed for another hour, to watch the full 90-minute program.

I asked him what he thought of it, and he said it was pretty good. He was interested in the coverage of Basilosaurus (a sea-dwelling mammal with tiny vestigial/degenerate hind limbs, that was once thought to be a prehistoric marine reptile), considered to be an ancestor to modern-day cetaceans.

O Canada!

Austin is teaching Keonho how to sing O Canada, at Keonho's request.

They are practicing, line by line, and Austin is using the internet to show the lyrics as they sing along.

I had told Austin yesterday, that I heard in the news that many Canadian high school students don't know the words to O Canada! Austin wants to be sure to know them by heart.

Drawing with Keonho

On Saturday, I overheard Austin saying to Keonho, "Hey Keonho, would you like to write a story with me?" I could hardly believe my ears!

Austin was inspired to write and illustrate a story about Bionicle characters. He was also inspired to earn stickers towards pieces of a new Bionicle set used as an incentive for typing ;)

Anyway, Austin and Keonho sat down together, at the dining room table, and began to draw. Keonho is particularly good with human faces. Austin drew a mountain landscape and an intricate Bionicle (I think it is Gresh). Austin had ideas for a story, but after about 30 minutes, he was losing interest. He was going to dictate a story to Keonho, and Keonho was prepared with his pencil and notebook, but the story hasn't come to be, yet.

Hopefully, Austin will be inspired again, and we'll all get to hear the story one day.

Beaty Biodiversity Museum

The Beaty Biodiversity Museum is opening at UBC this Saturday, May 22. They have a blue whale skeleton on exhibit. We are all looking forward to going, but we may not go to the opening day. Hopefully, we can go on May 29. It's free for the first five shows!

A Lesson in Population Density

On yesterday's drive to music lessons, Austin and Keonho were talking about the 2010 winter Olympics. Keonho asked if we went to any events, or if we watched any programming on TV. Austin told Keonho what he had watched, and Keonho particularly remembered the South Korean figure skater who won Gold.

Austin talked about Joannie Rochette, and Keonho recalled that she had lost her mother. Austin said, "Yes, only days before she had to perform in front of the world." Austin was clearly impacted by Joannie Rochette's story.He's quite sensitive to what she went through, and what she was able to overcome. He is so proud of her for winning a bronze medal.

Austin talked about Canada's gold medals, and how we broke an Olympic record for the number of gold medals won. Keonho remarked that it's understandable that Canada would be able to win so many gold medals, because there must be so many more Canadians than Koreans, since Canada is such a bigger country.

Then, the conversation really got interesting. I responded that, actually, Korea's population is higher than Canada's. Keonho was perplexed ... how could that be? Canada must be at least 50 times as big as South Korea! So I passed my iPhone to Austin and asked him to google "South Korea population," and he said, 48,607,000. Then, he looked up the population of Canada, which is 33,311,400.

Out of interest, later last night, I looked up the area of South Korea, and found it is 98,799 sq km. Canada's area is 9,093,507 sq km. So, 92 South Koreas could fit into Canada!

Then, I worked out how many people, on average, live in one square kilometre of each country. In South Korea, it is 492, and in Canada it is under 4! So, I told Austin and Keonho what I had learned, and as Skye suggested, I used Panorama Park as a suggestion of an area of land which is about 500 sq m, and compared South Korea (246) to Canada (2). It was really remarkable to imagine such a difference in population density between the countries.

Broken hammock

We used to have a free-standing hammock for the back yard. ...



Ever since I put it together less than a year ago, Austin has been trying to play with it as a teeter-totter, or to load it up with several people at a time, to tip people out of it, etc.



Each time he tried to play with the hammock in this way, he was asked by whichever adult was there, to stop. But he couldn't resist. He continued to play with it in that way, to rock it back and forth, and finally, one of the bars of the stand broke.



I was really disappointed that this happened, but surprisingly, I didn't get really angry.



I decided that Austin could earn back the hammock. He needed to earn 10 stickers. To earn one sticker, he could practice typing for 30 minutes, draw for an hour, read for an hour, write for 30 minutes, etc. To earn 2 stickers, he could mow the front lawn. He did decide to mow the front lawn and he practiced typing a few times. Then, he struck a deal with me to pay me $20 for 5 stickers, and he was done.



Attached is his finished sticker page. He asked me to include this on his blog.



So, now I am keeping an eye out for a good deal on a new hammock, and we have to take the broken stand to the dump, as it is sharp and dangerous.

Keonho

Keonho is an 11-year-old boy from South Korea, staying with us for about 2 1/2 months.

We are all enjoying Keonho, and he is learning English with our family.

Keonho loves soccer and enjoys being outside and active. On the first night he arrived (May 5), we had 4 tickets to the Whitecaps soccer game, so Skye took Austin, Aidan and Keonho to the game. This was a highlight for Keonho. He was able to give me a summary of the game highlights, the next day.

We had arranged for Keonho to have his own room, but on the first night, he requested to share a room with someone. Austin jumped at this opportunity, and was thrilled to share the bunkbed with Keonho. On several nights, I have been able to hear them having late-evening conversations, comparing life in South Korea to life in Canada.

Austin and Keonho have been allowed to go to our local school or playground for short trips, on their own. I can tell that they both are enjoying the independence, and it's nice to see Austin more active during the day.

Keonho purchased a skateboard, because he had observed that skateboarding seems to be a common pasttime for North American boys of his age. Austin was using Keonho's skateboard a lot, so I thought it would be a good idea for Austin to have a skateboard of his own. So, I bought a skateboard for Austin. It looks a bit different from Keonho's skateboard, and Austin proceeded to go over all the differences, and repeatedly suggest that his skateboard was better than Keonho's.

Keonho had quite a strong reaction to Austin's pestering, and ended up throwing his own skateboard on the road and cracking its edge. He cried and was very upset, and decided he didn't want to ride his skateboard anymore. I didn't see or hear any of this happening while I was in the house, but Aidan told me a little bit, and when Keonho went inside to cry, I sat with him for several minutes, and got a better picture of what had happened. I think some of it was a cultural difference - it's common for 11-year-old boys to tease each other, and many North Americans will joke that they have something better than the next guy, because it's a different colour, or whatever. It doesn't mean that they really think it's better - it's supposed to be just a playful tease. However, Keonho took the words for what they were, and believed that Austin was convinced that Keonho had an inferior skateboard.

We brought Austin inside to apologise, and I think Austin understood that his teasing was hurtful. This was a good lesson in sensitivity for others.

By the next day, both Keonho and Austin were practicing skateboarding and having fun together again.

E-mail from Austin

This morning, I was at a business meeting from 9:00am until noon. This was Austin's day to go to Academie Duello. However, he had been up very late last night, and when he first woke up, wasn't feeling like going to class today. Since I was headed into a meeting and couldn't stay on the phone with Gemma (who called to tell me that Austin was protesting going to Academie Duello today), I just told Gemma to let him stay home today, then.

As it turned out, Austin had a change of heart and wanted to go to Academie Duello, but he didn't want to take the bus. I wouldn't have been able to drive him there, but I was pretty impressed to open this e-mail after my business meeting finished.

Here's what Austin sent to me, entitled "please talk to me":
"mom ive been trying to reach you but ur phone always goes to voice mail could you please call me i want to goto academie duello but the next bus is in an hour and a half
so i was hopeing that you could drive me ther gemma is realy mad and i dont think that she understands that i neded my sleep and i expect u to go austin thats not cind and get realy mad at me the day is mieribal its raining and im allone cuz gemma says that i canot be wiht gun ho .and i want to go but as i said the next bus is in an hour and a half so i cant go and its all going dounward from here

so im hoping u can turn it around lovee ur son @U$+!N"

Translation:
"Mom, I've been trying to reach you but your phone always goes to voice mail. Could you please call me? I want to go to Academie Duello, but the next bus is in an hour and a half, so I was hoping that you could drive me there. Gemma is really mad and I don't think that she understands that I needed my sleep and I expect you to go, "Austin, that's not kind," and get really mad at me. The day is miserable. It's raining and I'm alone because Gemma says that I cannot be with Keonho. I want to go, but as I said, the next bus is in an hour and a half so I can't go, and it's all going downward from here.

So I'm hoping you can turn it around.

Love your son, Austin."

I'm pretty pleased that Austin was trying to find a solution. Gemma says that Austin was fine this morning.

I'm not normally in a business meeting on Tuesday mornings. This morning, Austin was still asleep when I left the house. I didn't prepare him well for this morning, and I didn't anticipate the issues that might come up for Gemma. I wasn't able to be available for any discussion, because my business meeting couldn't be interrupted.

What I learned, was to better anticipate how things will go for a planned outing ... how Austin will respond to any changes. I will talk to both Austin and Gemma about calling Skye when they can't reach me. And I will remind Austin that the way he gets to Academie Duello, is by bus. Getting driven to/from Academie Duello is unusual.

Securing the soccer net frame

Aidan's hockey/soccer net has been coming apart while the boys play with it. Skye had a suggestion, for Austin to secure parts of the frame together, by using screws. When I awoke from my big sleep-in on Mother's Day morning, there was a heavy-duty extension cord leading from the kitchen to outside, and at the end of it, was Austin using a power tool.

Austin was attaching screws to the frame, with a power drill and a screwdriver bit. Aidan was quick to explain to me that this is a difficult job for Austin, because the frame doesn't already have holes in it, so Austin had to make holes for the screws to go through.

At one point, Austin finished attaching a screw, only to realise that he had failed to first connect the frame parts. So, he undid the screw, connected the frame, and started over. I was pleased to see how well he managed that frustration.

Swimming Lessons

I spoke with Austin's swimming teacher during this morning's lesson.

She explained that it is typically challenging to have siblings in the same class, and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. She has noticed that Aidan feels like he's not doing very well, but she described him as a solid Stage 3 swimmer. Actually, he's quite a bit smaller than any of the other students in the class. The teacher told me that he is getting overshadowed by Austin.

The teacher explained that Austin is a very good swimmer, and that he doesn't know that he's good. He wants her to tell him when he's doing well, and he wants to know how he's doing, compared to others. She says he has good endurance and strength. She recommends that we register him in Stage 4 next time. She thinks he'll like it. It's about an hour-long workout.

When I watched Austin swimming this morning, I saw that he was easily overtaking the other swimmers, but sometimes swimming right on top of his little brother!

In the past, Austin has been wary of taking Stage 4 lessons, because the other name for that level, is "I Can Swim Fast."