My Favorite Year - 2011

My Favorite Year: 2011!

Today is New Year’s Eve, and I am really sad that 2011 is over. This was my favorite year, 2011. We did all sorts of fun things. I learned about new games, learned new sites, and went to many places.

I got a YouTube account. I won four trophies: Soccer, Baseball, Chess, and Pinewood Derby for Cub scouts. I got my biggest Lego set, Lego Mindstorms, my most powerful Pokémon – Zoroak.

Here are all the places I went: Kalahari (Ohio) for a homeschooling conference, Naples, Florida, Universal Studios, many visits to Nana’s and Southampton, we visited Cohasset, where we used to live. I went to Wildwood, NJ, York, Maine (for my cousin’s wedding).

I lost my first tooth. I got glasses.

I started to learn Spanish, I got much better at Chess this year.

I went to three camps this year: Chess, Cub Scouts and Summer Center. I made lots of new friends, through camps, cub scouts and homeschooling groups.

My new neighbors finally moved in. But I didn’t meet them yet.

I read all the 39 Clues Books, I had a Pokémon Birthday party. I still love Lego’s, playing Chess on the computer. I got 10,000 hits on my blog!

I am sad that 2011 is over, but we are going to a friend's house to celebrate tonight. And tomorrow we will list all the great things we are going to do in 2012.

Christmas 2011

Christmas was 6 days ago.

I got Mighty Beanz 6 Pack, LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0, Wheel of Fortune, Monopoly Deal, a cap, a rock tumbler,
Set, LEGO minifigures, Rory's Story Cubes, books, and there are so many I can't remember the rest.

My favorite was LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 because you can build and program a robot.

I built a ShooterBot that shoots balls!

You can make sounds and make it sense things to!

It can move!

It can feel!

It can sense colors and light!

It can see!

ChessKid.Com

This is ChessKid.com.

Chesskid.com is like Chess.com.

You learn and play chess.

But there are fewer things. They do not have Chess Mentor and the daily puzzle.

My 30 minute rating is 694.

My name is OldKid.

My club is Challenger Chess Club.

Now you can join and play me if you dare!

New 39 Clues Book and a Fun Game

This is the new 39 Clues - A King's Ransom

I got the book from the library.

It was very exciting.

I already finished it!

There are about 14 books in this mystery series and I read them all!

I also got this great game called 10 Days In Europe.

You have to start with a country and end with a country.

Say you start with Belgium. You can walk to any border country of Belgium.

Say you start with Belgium again. And you have a yellow plane. You can fly to any country with the same color.

Say you have England. And you have the Atlantic ocean. You can take a boat to a country touching the Atlantic ocean.

If you play this game you will definitively learn European geography!

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Cabin Fever - Book Review

This is the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever.

It's the 6th book in the series.

When I tried to check it out at the library, they would not let me because it was new and I needed to live in Port Washington. In fact it was just released yesterday.

But when we got home my parents pre-ordered it.

It's really funny. The Heffley family is stuck indoors because of a big blizzard. I'll tell you more but I do not want to give away the story.

It took me around 1 - 2 hours to read it.

Chess Update

Recently my father signed up for Chess.com.

Chess.com is a website that helps you get better at chess, a place to play live games with people from all over the world, and it's even sort of a social network.

There's tactics, blitz chess, quizzes, and a lot more features.

My father lets me use his account.

At first we had a free membership.

Then he bought a Diamond membership for $99 so we can get everything!

I have an account on http://www.chesskid.com.

My father's rating is 1061. If you want to play with him his ID is CyberScholar.

My rating on Chesskid.com is 494. If you want to play me my ID is OldKid.

Karate

I'm learning karate on Wednesdays.

Karate teaches how to defend yourself.

My favorite part is when we play ninja dodgeball.

It's mostly boys but there are a few girls.

Watch this to see me destroy the assistant in sumo wrestling from last year.

So that's why he didn't come last week to our first class this fall, because he was afraid of me!

Español

I'm learning Spanish with Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone is a software program that you download and it teaches you Spanish.

I do it everyday.

You can also learn any language with Rosetta Stone.

Just switch the language.

You can learn Italian, German, French, Brazilian, and all of the above!

I have learned how to say: boy, girl, egg, apple, man, woman, newspaper, bicycle, dad, mom, child, run, sleep, and a lot more!

un niño


una niña


un huevo


la manzana


un hombre


una mujer


un periódico


la bicicleta


un padre


un madre


un hermano


corre


duerme


y mucho mas

Maker's Faire

Last Saturday I went to the Maker's Fair with my family.

The Maker's Fair is a huge gathering of cool designers, inventors, and builders at the New York Hall of Science.

It was fun because I got to participate in all sorts of activities.

At first I we stopped at a little stand that had these little LED art kits, you just made a little drawing and took a LED and used sticky little things to keep it on.

Then I built a little rocket and launched it.

It went 7 meters!

Then I went to this big tent and saw all sorts of robots (see video):

Then I checked out a few things and left.

My Thoughts On Homeschooling

I am homeschooled.

I love homeschooling because:

• You get more free time.
• You don't have to be sitting down all day, it's bad for your body.
• You can skip ahead to the hard stuff.
• You can go to the bathroom so you don't have to cross your legs all day (just kidding for that part).
• No homework.
• You get more fresh air and outside time.
• There are many events and classes with other homeschool kids.
• Schools teach things that are not true (like global warming).

P.S. my dad taught me some of these.

There is nothing I don't like about homeschooling.

Someday a lot more kids would be homeschooled!

Wedding Trip

5 days ago I drove to Maine for my dad's cousin's wedding.

It took us 6 hours to get there.

I went with my mom, my dad, and my sister but my aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins were there too!

It was my first wedding!

Mom and dad went to the party and I had a babysitter.

On the first day we went to hotel, when we got there we went to the beach (see picture above), and then we went out to dinner. We ate pizza.

On the second day, after breakfast we got ready and went to the wedding. My parents went to the reception but there were no kids allowed. Then we went back to our hotel and the baby sitter came. She took us to the playground and then to the arcade. I won 390 tickets!

On the third day, we went out for breakfast again and said goodbye to everyone.

On the way home we stopped at my mom's friend's beach house in New Hampshire.

How an Eraser Works

See, when you draw something with a pencil, and you don't like it, you use an eraser, but you might wonder how it works.

This is how an eraser works:

When you rub the eraser on the paper it picks up pencil lead, some erasers actually break the surface of the paper.

The eraser's molecules are stickier then the paper's, so pencil lead goes on the eraser.

BTW, pencil lead isn't lead, it's graphite.

39 Clues

Recently I read the 39 clues series.

It was terrific!

There's a website, too!

There are books, card packs, and online missions.

They are on a 3rd-5th grade reading level.

Chess Camp

This week I went to Chess Camp at Adelphi University.

There were about 35 kids.

It was three days long; 7 hours each day.

I played 2 tournament games each day, but on the last day, there was a speed tournament.

Each game lasted five minutes and you could take the king.

At the end of the camp, I came in 3rd place overall in my division and I won a trophy!

Lost a Tooth!

2 days ago I lost my first tooth! I lost it in WildWood, New Jersey. I was eating my dinner and it popped out. It was in my dinner(it was Fried shrimp, so I wouldn't loose it. If it was pasta I would've lost it.), I thought I swallowed it. My dad put it in his pocket. The day after the next day I put under my pillow.The Tooth Fairy gave me $7!

Chess Tournament

This is a picture of my first chess tournament.

The tournament was yesterday.

I won two games, I lost 1 game, and I drew one game.

The tournament was 3rd - 5th grade, but I sneaked in even though I am technically only a 2nd grader. But remember, I'm homeschooled , so we don't have grades.

The winners - 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place - each got a trophy. I think I came in 4th or 5th place.

Next year I really want to get one....but I'm going have to keep practicing.

Weekend Getaway

This weekend we went to Southampton which is 70 miles away from our house.

I saw some of my friends who were also there for the weekend.

I went swimming in my grandmother's pool and my mom started teaching me the backstroke.

It was my mom's birthday and we went to a Mexican restaurant to celebrate. She also went to a very expensive yoga class!

I went to the local farm and saw several animals.

I went with my mom, my dad, and my sister.

I also started reading a new series called Edgar and Ellen.

I played a new board game with my mom and my sister - Clue: The Great Museum Caper.

Beach Park

A little while ago I went to Caumsett State Park.

I went with my friends, my Dad, and my sister.

We were going to bring scooters but they wouldn't let us. So we had to walk to the beach. IT was 2.5 miles away and it was hot!

When we got to the beach we played for a little and ate lunch and walked 2.5 miles to the parking lot. I felt happy, hot, tired, and thirsty.

How to Swing a Baseball Bat

In order to hit a baseball far, you have to have a have a good stance.

The first thing you make sure, is that you point your feet to second base - just like in golf.

The next thing you make sure, is that your bat is in the right spot.

The right spot is by your ear. Keep your eye on the ball.

When the ball comes, step and swing. Run to first base!

Honeybees

Yesterday I went to a honeybee class in Queens.

Honeybees go from flower to flower getting a little pollen and some nectar and every time they stop they drop off some pollen. This helps flowers and trees grow.

When they return to the hive they make some honey out of the nectar. I don't know how but check out this site to see how.

Pollen is also food for honeybees.

There are three types honeybees:

The queen, the workers, and the drones.

The queen only has one job: laying eggs.

The workers have lots of jobs.

The drones help the queen lay eggs.

And that last picture is me looking at a honeycomb.

Honeycomb is puked-up nectar and is always built in a hexagonal pattern.

Crabs

Yesterday I did a science class on horseshoe crabs:

Here's what I learned:

I saw 5 horseshoe crabs. All of the alive ones were mating. There was one dead one.

Horseshoe crabs species are shrinking because people are using them to test if drugs are safe.

Horseshoe crabs have blue blood because their blood is based on copper. Our blood is based on iron.

Algebra, Done!

I just finished all of algebra!

The last thing I did in algebra was conic sections.

In conics we learned how to graph ellipses, hyperbolas, circles, and parabolas.

This a line:

y = x + 5

Parabola:

y = -3x² - 6x - 1

Circle:

(x - 2)² + (y + 3)² = 9

Ellipse:

(x²/6) + (y²/16) = 1

Hyperbola:

x² - y² = 39

A parabola is U-shaped. But it can open up or down.

An ellipse is an oval.

Hyperbola is like two parabolas.

You can tell what shape an equation is just by looking at it.

If one variable either ,x or y, is squared it is a parabola.

If both variables are squared then the graph might be a circle, an ellipse, or a hyperbola.

If the coefficients of x² and y² are the same sign AND equal, the equation represents a circle.

If the coefficients of x² and y² are the same sign BUT different, you have an ellipse.

If the coefficients of x² and y² have different signs(one positive and one negative), then the graph will be a hyperbola.

I did this with my dad:

Now I'm exited to start calculus and advanced geometry.

A Milestone!

I have reached 10000 hits!

It took me a year and a quarter to get this many hits!

Thanks to everyone visiting!

My Vacation

Last Saturday we went to Kalahari Resorts in Ohio.

I went with my sister, my dad, and my mom.

There was an indoor water park, an arcade, mini golf (but we didn't do that), etc.

We stayed for 5 days.

There was also a homeschool thing, there was events like a Pokemon funshop, a nerf war funshop, a warhammer funshop, a kids marketplace, a Dungeon and Dragons class, a talent show, and a carnival.

I had lot of fun.

Book Club

Yesterday I had my first book club meeting at the library.

There were 6 kids.

We read Amber on the Mountain by Tony Johnston and we did a craft based on the book. Next week we are reading The Lorax and Brother Eagle, Sister Sky.

I had a really fun time.

Scratch

This Software is used to make entertainment,games,etc.

It is called Scratch and it's free!

My first Scratch project is called crazy dance.

But I didn't put any projects on the site yet!

There are 8 blocks: Motion, Looks, Sound, Pen, Control, Sensing, Operators, and Variables.

Motion is exactly what you think - moving.

Looks is how you look, talk, hide and show.

Sound is just sound.

Pen controls the sprite's pen.

Control is the first place you need to go, and if you get the software you'll see why.

Sensing is all the sensors for the sprite.

Operators helps with motion, looks, etc.

Variables have 2 parts: a variable and a list, though I don't get neither of them.

If you right-click a block you will see a help tab.

Thats pretty much about it in Scratch!

New Chess

These are the things I have learned in Chess:

• Skewering

• Castling Queen-side & King-side

• Forking (check and regular)

• The four-move checkmate

• En Passant

• Discovered Attacks

• Pinning

• The values of the pieces

A chess game is divided into 3 parts: the opening, the middlegame, and the endgame.

In the opening, it's important to castle quickly and to develop your pieces. Castling defends the king and allows the rooks to work together later on. Knights are important in the opening because they can hop over pieces on a crowded board. The most important thing is to control the middle of the board.

In the middlegame the bishops become more important.

In the endgame the rooks are very important and even a pawn if it's passed.

Queens are always important, BUT if she comes out too early your opponent can harass her all over the board while developing their pieces.

Frogs and Turtles

Yesterday I went to a science class on frogs and turtles with homeschooled kids.

It was 40 miles away it was really fun and interesting.

Here's a fact about turtles - a turtle's shell is like the brain of a turtle, so if the shell is cracked the turtle will die.

Here's a fact about frogs - frogs will cover themselves with all sorts of stuff(slime, pollutants,etc) to protect themselves from predators.

I saw a dead snapping turtle and a live turtle.

I heard 1 frog: a Spring Peeper.

Snap Circuts

As I said in the video, it is made of Snap Circuits.

I made it from the Snap Circuits Jr. and the green upgrade kit.

Some of the other fun projects you can make with the sets are:

Pressure Alarm

Laser Gun

Motion Detector

Funny GIFs

If you don't think these are funny, I was laughing out loud!

Lacrosse Lessons

On Saturdays I go lacrosse.

I need to wear: a helmet, a mouthpiece, gloves, elbow pads, shoulder pads, and cleats.

We do drills, practice catching, scooping, running, and throwing.

To throw accurately, you point the end of your stick at the target then push the top of the stick up straight up and over.

It's great exercise because I'm always tired and dirty at the end.

Exponents

Today I was doing exponents.

These are their properties:

x^a · x^b = x^a+b - Multiplying Powers

(x^a)^b = x^ab - Raising a Power to a Power

x^-n =1/xⁿ - Negative Exponents

Examples:

x³ · x⁷ = x³⁺⁷ = x¹⁰

(x⁵²)² = (x⁵²)² = x¹⁰⁴

x^-4 = 1/x⁴

3² · 3³ = 3⁵ = 243

(2³)² = 2⁶ = 64

4^-2 = 1/4² = 1/16

Imaginary Numbers

Yesterday I learned about i. We use it to describe imaginary numbers.

This is the definition of i:

i = √ -1 


Now if that is true, then the following is true:

i² =i· i = -1

i³ = i² · i = -i

i⁴ = i³ · i = 1

i⁵ = i⁴ · i = i

i⁶ = i⁴ · i² = -1

i⁷ = i⁴ · i³ = i³ = -i

i⁸ = i⁴ · i⁴ = 1

i⁹ = i⁸ · i = i

i¹⁰ = i⁸ · i² = -1

As you can see, every 4th power of i = 1.

So you can just divide i's exponent by 4 and the remainder will tell you the answer {1,i,-1,or -i}.

These are the questions I did yesterday.

A complex number has two parts - a real part and an imaginary part.

For example:

3 + 6i

I'll write another post on them later.

Stream Eroison

Last week I went to a class on Stream Erosion.

What they used is called a stream table. It was a slanted table full of sand with a faucet on the top.

There was 2 types of streams: the young stream and an older stream. The difference is the older one has been carved out a little by water.

Stream erosion is when water overflows a stream, the faster parts carry the boulders and the cobbles and the slower water carries the pebbles, sand, silt, and clay.

And this how a stream in the real world takes shape.

Look how small clay is, I bet you didn't know that!