I guess this Jasmine chose Jafar over Aladdin… They look great together!
Week 4 – Tinker Bell
Tinker Bell is a super cute movie and has several sequels that are definitely worth watching. This movie was the first one that Dragon paid attention to at around 18 months old. So of course, I had to include it in her lessons.
Here is the link for the downloadable materials. (Again, please let me know if you have any problems so I can fix it!)
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Watch movie | Nature walk (weather dependent) | Lego kit | Puzzle | Flex |
Daily details:
Dance
Ballet and martial arts on alternate days
Music
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano
Crochet
The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
Download materials
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type – in download materials
Count leaves after collecting them on nature walk
There used to be four fairy friends – now that Tinker Bell has joined them, how many are there?
Storytime
Activity
Nature walk – look for different kinds of leaves, acorns, maple keys, flowers, etc (weather dependent – you want no rain the day before as well as day of)
Build a Lego kit
Puzzle – put a puzzle together
Next week: Halloweentown!
Week 2 – Cinderella Results
Week 2 was even better than the first. Dragon tried very hard in her virtual class through the school, and raised her hand several times to talk to the teachers – she even said some words in French. She worked hard on printing words with the letter ‘i’ (poussin, maison, voici, and poulailler (chicken coop – why she insisted on trying to spell that word rather than ‘ici’ is beyond me)) and on understanding how to break down numbers into their smallest components (4 into 1&3 and 2&2) and understanding the French names for the numbers. There were still technical problems, but not on our end, thankfully. I’m incredibly impressed by the patience and kindness of the teachers.
The part of the week taught by me went fairly well. There were a couple of hiccups with the paper doll project… well. You’ll see in the comments.
Dance
Ballet was fun and she got her first Martial Arts this week.
Music
We listened to a bunch of French music. Coeur de Pirate was the favourite and I foresee using this CD often.
Crochet
We managed to get a few more stitches in.
Basic Information
I added a new category – basic information. In here, we talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We will do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
Worked really well. The blank sheet was used on the second day with the filled in sheet as a guide for spelling.
Counting objects/math-type activities
The download sheet worked really well. She got to practice writing numbers and she counted well.
We also added a clock activity! Here is the link to the clock.
Storytime
I feel like she’s understanding more, or perhaps we’re just reading books she’s more familiar with?
Activity
Sewing a button – This ended up being a huge success! I cut a scrap of fabric and let her pick whatever button she wanted. She had a bit of trouble threading the needle (very small eye) and tying the knot in the thread, but she grasped the concept of sewing the button on very quickly and is so very proud of herself!
I ended up making a pillow for her little chair, so she got to see how a sewing machine worked (and how to ask Grannie for help!). We measured the chair and transferred the measurements onto the material. We talked about adding seam allowance, and what that means. We discovered that the ties need to be on the inside of the pillow before stitching if you want them to be on the outside of the pillow when you turn it right side out (again, thank you Grannie for catching that mistake!). And I showed her how I finished off the stitching with an invisible stitch after stuffing it.
Learn about mice (info here)
Make paper dolls (web) – do not use this link. The clothes are missing flaps and do not stay on the dolls. Dragon was super patient about colouring each item (she outlined them and made colour-coordinating clothes for the dolls) and even did some cutting, but we both agreed that they were not worth keeping. This activity definitely need to be re-thought. Maybe a simpler, larger doll and fewer outfits? Or maybe buying a simple set from the store would be better than printing one out?
Dear Dragon – Welcome to Level 4
Dear Little Dragon,
It’s been a big year for you.
Since your last birthday you’ve:
- Potty trained to a point of no accidents;
- Learned the alphabet in English (working on french);
- Learned to count to 10 in English (working on french);
- Learned to write your letters (better than me);
- Graduated out of a booster seat at the dinner table;
- Gone to Disney and your first rides;
- Been an excellent if over-enthusiastic big sister;
- Watched a lot of movies
- Started école
- and a lot of other fantastic things.
One of my favourite memories from this past year is the long-weekend we spent just you and me. You’ve already forgotten most of it, so you say, but it was fun. It was Halloween and we hung out, watched Phineas & Ferb, went to the cinema, played video games, and of course trick or treated. It was nice to have time just you and me.
Another great memory is you dictating your Christmas letter to Santa and making sure you told him what Pegasus wants. You truly love him and want to take care of him. It’s sweet and I hope that love and the adoration I see in his eyes doesn’t go away as you age.
One of your favourite things right now is to snuggle into someones lap and play video games with them on their phone. I’m not sure if it’s the game or the bonding you want but I’ll take the snuggles. (You’re already asking for your own phone by the way.)
I guess I can’t talk about this year without talking about Covid-19, or as you call it The Virus. You love being around people and last year you went to conventions with us, parties, and Disney. Then March came and everything stopped. It’s been hard for you and I’m so glad we podded with your grandparents.
I miss going shopping with you, I miss going to the park, I miss not panicking every time you touch a package. You have been great though. I’m not sure how much you get the concept, but you seem to understand it’s important.
One great thing about it, is that you have me home. I still hope you’ll be able to go to école for your first grade but everything is up in the air until a vaccine.
You’ve grown physically, mentally, and emotionally so much since you turned 3. (Oh man am I glad you’re no longer having full-on sensory overload tantrums anymore.) I can’t imagine what you’re going to be like next year, but I look forward to being there and finding out.
Happy Birthday, love you!
Your sappy Papa
Bill & Ted Series – JenEric Movie Review
How This Works – Read Other Reviews
Hello Cinephiles,
Today we’re talking about the 1989 movie Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, the 1991 movie Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, and the 2020 movie Bill & Ted Face the Music.
Story
Excellent Adventure
This story is dated in so many ways but still manages to be fantastic at the end. I’m torn between the poor pacing, homophobia, and sexism; and the fantastic message of love and peace.
Score: 0.5
Bogus Journey
The same message resounds through the second movie as in the first, but again there’s more sexism, homophobia, and transphobia to make things awkward. Again the ending is fantastic.
Score: 0.5
Face the Music
The same message of unity and love are sown throughout this movie like the others but with a little more maturity. The twist is predictable but getting there wasn’t. There was none of the previous movies’ sexism, homophobia, or transphobia, but there was a little bit of an awkward fat joke. (nothing compared to Avengers Endgame)
Score: 0.5
Characters
Excellent Adventure
Bill and Ted are well meaning, mostly kind, but so foolish. They have fantastic vocabularies but they really don’t seem to follow everything going on. They are the personification of the slacker. There was an extremely homophobic joke that was out of character and pretty jarring.
The rest of the characters are a wonderful mix of what-if historical characters showed up in 1988.
Unfortunately the women are all pretty useless.
Score: 0.5
Bogus Journey
Once again we get Bill and Ted as sweet, mostly, caring, and pretty fools. They graduated high school and got jobs at the mall.
The evil people are all very much evil and totalitarian. It’s an interesting switch to see the rebels be the ones who want to be controlled.
Score: 0.5
Face the Music
This is the saddest and the most relatable version of Bill and Ted. They are broken by the weight of their own destiny but still trying anyway.
The introduction of the daughters was great. They are the generation that grew up with music-obsessed slackers. They were both believable and perfect. Both actors managed to mimic the original Bill and Ted’s movements and mannerisms better than the original actors did.
I’m happy they gave the princesses both more story and more screen time.
Score: 1
Dialogue
Excellent Adventure
The dialogue is actually impressively clever. They bypass time travel confusion really well and do really well with making their characters sound unique. It’s endlessly quotable in the way only 80’s movies can be.
Score: 0.5
Bogus Journey
Station! The dialogue doesn’t seem quite as special the second time, but there are some fantastic lines. The time travel battle at the end and speech is fantastic.
Score: 0.5
Face the Music
It’s hard to judge the dialogue of this one compared to the others. It’s a lot of self-referential jokes and quips but there’s some interesting bit in there too. I like the consistency in speech patterns and then impressive impersonations of famous musicians.
Score: 0.5
Visuals and Music
Excellent Adventure
The production value on this was fantastic, making each time period look authentic (in an 80’s high school curriculum sort of way).
The music was perfect for the movie and really enjoyable.
Score: 1
Bogus Journey
The nature of them going to hell and heaven make so that everything in this movie is more stylized and a little darker.
The music was okay but not excellent.
Score: 0.5
Face the Music
The special effects were updated and beautiful, the makeup work was fantastic, and everything worked towards the story. The locations were authentic and the shots were well thought out.
The nature of the final twist means that the music is less important than the message, but despite that there’s some fantastic pieces. Especially between the historical figures.
Score: 1
Fun
Excellent Adventure
Despite a little cringe and a few really awkward moments the movie is pure fun.
Score: 1
Bogus Journey
There’s some cringe and a few parts that I think drag but overall the movie is a lot of fun.
Score: 1
Face the Music
For both nostalgic reasons and because it was well written with little to no cringe, this was a lot of fun. It kept the entire family entertained and watching.
Score: 1
Overall
Excellent Adventure
The movie is dated but still really heartwarming. They really want to push the love and peace message and like Bill and Ted themselves they stumble a few times along the way.
Final Score: 3.5 Stars out of 5
Bogus Journey
Like the first movie, it is dated but overall positive. It manages to capture the optimism of the first despite the darker tone.
Final Score: 3 Stars out of 5
Face the Music
The movie manages to pay homage to the first two while surpassing them in fun and quality. Definitely my favourite of the series.
Final Score: 4 Stars out of 5
Busy, pumpkins, and tired
Hello My Imaginary Friends,
Work is starting to ramp up for the return of parliament (I do layouts for government reports, a lot of them are tabled in parliament). So I’m really busy. Especially with work, the preparations for the JenEric Advent Calendar, and Dragon going to school.
I’m also really tired from the last hurrah of this season’s seasonal allergies (apparently that means I have different allergies each season) and Pegasus having issues sleeping (more teeth and growing pains). All that to say that I haven’t had as much time to dedicate to writing or blogging. Sorry about that.
In other news, pie pumpkins are in stores here which means I’ll be going all out on pumpkin stuff. I’ve already roasted two of them and eaten the seeds. This weekend I’ll attempt Pumpkin & Spice Doughnuts if I have the time and energy.
Hope you’re all doing well.
Stay Safe and Be Kind!
Éric
Avatar
I don’t know much about Avatar, but I do know that Aang is pretty great! (And so is this cosplayer – Nathan Frechette, author and co-owner of Renaissance Press!)
Week 3 – Moana
This week is Moana, the 2016 film by Disney. I thought it would be nice to be able to go star-gazing when it’s not too cold but gets dark a little bit earlier. And this week has great viewing opportunities for Jupiter and Saturn at the beginning of the week (Mon-Wed).
Here is the link for the downloadable materials.
| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
| Watch movie | Star-gazing | Bake with coconut | Objects floating in water | Flex |
Daily details:
Dance
Ballet and martial arts on alternate days
Music
Singing, listening to different pieces, learning piano
Crochet
The project she is working on (currently she is making herself a poncho)
Basic Information
We talk about the days of the week and play games with the cutouts of the names. We do the same thing with the names of the months of the year. You can find the print-outs here.
Printing words
Downloadable materials
Counting objects/math-type activities
Practice counting objects and writing how many of each type – in downloadable materials
Draw x number of coconuts on a palm tree
Count and talk a bit about the planets (before going star gazing!) – Youtube link/ French Youtube link
Storytime
Activity
Star gazing – Best days to view Jupiter and Saturn this week are Mon-Wed 2020 (just check weather first!) During the day – talk about the two planets and what to expect while observing them – add in some planet worksheets for colouring (web link, web link)
Bake with coconut – cookies? Any option you like
Objects floating in water (experiment link, printable worksheet in downloadable materials)
Next week: Tinker Bell (2008)
Week 1 – Tangled Results
Dragon’s first week of Jr Kindergarten went well. There were some hiccups with technology for her virtual classes for her real school on the first day, but after getting a new link (and downloading new firmware for the camera) the second day went much smoother – other than several meltdowns from a very tired Dragon. We’re trying to figure out how to have her be part-time (one day a week), with the teacher’s assistance.
As for the part of her week taught by me, that also went well, for the most part.
Dance
Ballet was a big hit
Music
We listened to a bunch of French music. Coeur de Pirate was the favourite.
Crochet
We managed to get a few stitches in.
Printing words
Worked really well. The blank sheet was used on the second day with the filled in sheet as a guide for spelling.
Counting objects/math-type activities
The download sheet worked really well. She got to practice writing numbers and she counted well.
Storytime
She enjoyed the books, but I’m not sure she understood them
Activity
Baking – cake – talked about mixing colours and measurements.
The cake! 
How do we make purple? Red and blue food colouring (and blueberries). 
Stuffing yellow icing into the piping instrument 
Piping the yellow sun 
The sun! 
Look what I made! 
We had leftover yellow icing, so Papa added to the design. 
Perfect cake.
Painting – free-style with Crayola washable paint on paper – talked about mixing colours.
The sky 
Adding grass… 
Rapunzel’s tower 
Rapunzel’s hair 
I’m finished, mum! 
Completed picture
Make a paper lantern – need construction paper, paper bag, stencil (in download material), cardboard box, paper towel folded in fourths, and screwdriver thumb tack, and pen (instructions are Number 11). Put the paper bag over the cardboard box, and slide the folded paper towel in between the box and the bag. Place the stencil over-top of the bag/paper towel. Use the screwdriver to punch holes in the stencil/paper bag. Be careful not to move the stencil, or you will mess up your design. (Edited in italics after attempt.)
First attempt at the lantern – the push pin was too small for her to hold, and the cardboard too stiff to push into. She pushed on my fingers as I made the pricks – not as much fun for her. 
It worked REALLY well, but better for an older kid. 
Attempting to get a good picture of the lantern without the mottling of the construction paper. 
Using the screwdriver and a paper bag was much easier for her 
She did the whole thing by herself! (I held the paper in place.) 
Completed paper lantern!