summer school 2021

What We’re Reading–Tokyo 2020(1)

Ok, let’s try this again!

Last summer, we were supposed to have our quadrennial summer school focusing on the Olympics. Of course, thanks to COVID-19, the Olympics were postponed, and despite my good intentions of having a cooking-themed summer school instead, we really didn’t do a whole lot of anything, which fit in nicely with the year in general. That brings us to the summer of 2021, and the rescheduled Olympics (about which I still have doubts in every way), and come heck or high water, we’re going to learn about Japan, Tokyo, and the Summer Games!

Here’s a look at our reading list. There are old Olympic favorites and a new addition or two:

And a whole section of books about Japan in general and Tokyo in specific (plus a brief look at Japanese Americans). Some are familiar titles from past units on Asia, and some are also new:

And a section of other items, just for fun. This includes a Lego set (of course!), a game, some hands-on activities, and some TV shows and movies:

Whatever happens with the 2020(1) Olympics, and regardless of my feelings about them, I’m looking forward to a more normal summer school!

More Origami in the Garden

When we visited the Climatron at the Missouri Botanical Garden last weekend, we saw the two pieces from the “Origami in the Garden” exhibition we missed during our previous visit:

We may have seen all of the sculptures now, but there’s still one I haven’t photographed successfully…hopefully I’ll getting a better picture of it this summer, maybe even during one of the “Origami After Hours” evening events!

Origami in the Garden

The Missouri Botanical Garden just opened a really cool exhibition…one that I’ve been anxiously awaiting since they had to postpone it due to COVID-19 last year…Origami in the Garden!

There are 18 large-scale sculptures around the garden, and we saw most of them this weekend:

They also have a really cool display in the Visitors’ Center which shows a few pieces on a much smaller scale, and also what a piece of paper that was folded into those shapes would look like upon being unfolded:

I’m looking forward to visiting this exhibition again (it goes perfectly with this year’s Japanese-themed summer school!), and catching the few pieces we missed the first time through!