Jun 12
This gallery contains 13 photos.
School has been out for a week and 11-year old Lily is in creative heaven. It’s like she’s been set free. She always seems to be in the middle of some ‘project’. She says she’s writing a book and working on song lyrics. Yesterday, she spent hours on this collage. She called it a ‘collage […]
Did I mention that Zoolander wants to be a scientist when she grows up? Let’s just say that her favorite gift from Santa this year was a plastic human skull.
It started in 1st grade. Before that, she claimed that she wanted to ‘hunt bears’ for a living. She changed her mind after she did her Science Fair project on the quality of our water.
I called the Water Department and asked if she could test the water at their lab. Both scientists in the lab that day were women and they were delighted to suit-up a somewhat toothless, 6-year old Zoolander in a real grownup lab coat, roll up her sleeves and let her go to town. They were so kind and helped her through her experiment, while Zoolander grinned from ear to ear. She loved it and was hooked.
She then became obsessed with blood and the human body. One of her most thrilling experiences came at the age of 7, when the nurse at the doctor’s office let Zoolander help test her own urine. Livin’ the dream, baby!
Almost every book Zoolander checks out the library at school has something to do with the human body or blood. She really likes books with pictures, especially if they are gross.
They had a reading contest at school with books for prizes… Zoolander ordered ‘An Introduction to Genes and DNA’. Last summer, on the first day of camp, her counselor asked Zoolander which Disney Princess was her favorite. No response. Awkward silence. So, the counselor tried asking her what book she had read last and was a little caught off guard when Zoolander shyly replied, ‘Solving Crimes with Forensic Science’.
Zoolander sleeps in a pile of her science books. She especially loves the series of ‘Horrible Science’ books, which are illustrated with funny Mad magazine-style cartoons. Her favorite is ‘Blood, Bones and Body Bits’, but recently asked me to order ‘Chemical Chaos’.
So, last weekend, I found mold on some food in the kitchen. (don’t ask) Zoolander was psyched and begged me to let her keep some. She was all out of petri dishes, so she put some mold in a jar. She decided it needed water and then maybe some flour and then maybe a little sugar. Then, because her father had so carelessly thrown away a previous jar that contained moldy cheese, she made a special label for her new mold jar.
I am not a scientist, and I can’t keep up with her curiosity, so I try to find enrichment opportunities for Zoolander. I know she’s a visual thinker, because she tells me that she has a DVD library in her head and when she’s bored at school she selects a movie and watches the entire thing. Great.
Anyway, here is some of the fun science stuff she loves that other visual learners might enjoy.
*Mad Science-A hands-on after school science program. This is the highlight of her week.
*CU Wizards-Fun and free monthly science show for kids at the local university, which features lots of soda geysers and other kid-pleasing explosions.
*Usborne books-Lots of colorful non-fiction titles with beautiful illustrations.
*Horrible Science-Fun UK book series.
*IPhone Apps-3D Human Body, 3D Skeletal System, 3D Muscle System, Molecules, 3D Brain, 210 Human Body facts
*Android App-Speed Anatomy
*3B Scientific-Online site for all your human anatomy and plastic skeleton needs.
*SteveSpanglerscience.com
*Discovery Channel-Human Body/Pushing the Limits
*Hoagies’ Gifted science links
Zoolander’s obsession with science and her strong visual memory make me think of an interview I did with a scientist named Tom. Tom describes himself as a visual thinker who definitely knew at an early age what he wanted to be.
Lily left for Outdoor Lab today. It’s a 5-day overnight trip to a beautiful piece of mountain property owned by the school district. All sixth-graders attend. They apply what they’ve been learning all year in the outdoor setting. This restored ranch has served as an hands-on outdoor school since 1961.
Lily was excited to go and husband said she didn’t seem nervous at all when he dropped her off this morning. I think it’s because we prepared her for it. Plus, every summer she goes to overnight camp for 2 weeks so, she shouldn’t have a problem being away from home.
We started preparing her last fall, when we attended an Open House at the Outdoor Lab school on a crisp Saturday afternoon. The aspens were turning gold and the view of the snow-capped mountains was stunning, but it didn’t take long to realize that we hadn’t prepared Lily well enough for the visit.
Off the bat, the organization of the event was a little sketchy. Apparently the idea was to wander around the area, stopping at different stations to get more info. But that’s exactly the opposite of the way Lily wants to learn about something new. She wants to know the big picture first and fill in the details later. This is often a trait of Visual-Spatial learners… whole-part learning. She said, “I just don’t get it. What are we doing here? What is Outdoor Lab?” She began to get agitated and peppered us with questions… “Where do I sleep, where are the bathrooms, where will I change, where do we eat, what are we going to be doing all day, what teachers will be here?… ” I told her we could ask at each station but that wasn’t enough for her.
Finally, we came upon a presentation given by the Outdoor Lab principal. I thought he might give a good overview. But the school nurse spoke first and she talked on and on about medical forms etc, etc. I couldn’t even listen because now we were trapped in this presentation and I could only think about the fact that we still had to visit the bunkhouses to show Lily where she’d be staying, and we were running out of time. I forced my family to get up and leave while the nurse was talking. The principal noticed and commented, “Well, I guess some of us already know what they need to know.” My husband was upset with my rude departure. But I felt like, with a twice exceptional kid like Lily, that sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Having her visit the bunkhouse before we left was more important to me than the nurse’s feelings.
Afterward, I emailed the principal and explained why we left early. He was very understanding and invited us to bring Lily up again for a private tour.
About a month before Outdoor Lab, husband took Lily up for a tour and they explained everything to her. In school, her teachers were also preparing all the students, explaining what they would be studying and giving them a daily schedule.
So, by the time she left this morning, Lily seemed confident and comfortable. I think she’ll have a great time. She just does so much better when she’s fully prepared for new experiences.
Unfortunately, Zoolander probably won’t have the same opportunity as her sister. There’s talk of suspending the Outdoor Lab program because of recent school budget cuts.
Have you seen this show on Science Channel? I love it.
http://science.discovery.com/tv/ingenious-minds
Each episode profiles a savant or genius whose mind works in a different way. They each have an extraordinary ability in areas such as art, music and mathematics, while also suffering from intellectual and developmental disabilities. Some have autism or Asperger’s. Talk about twice exceptional! The episode I watched last night was about Temple Grandin. They used a lot of clips from the HBO movie with Claire Danes.
I had a very emotional reaction to that movie, recognizing some of the same traits in Lily. Not that she is even on the autism spectrum, but I recognized Lily’s sensory sensitivities, her anxiety in new situations, her visual perception and memory. And, of course, I could definitely relate to her mother’s challenges.
Here’s a link to Temple Grandin’s talk on TED.com. Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds | Video on TED.com
Brainhugger 