A Quick Week

Wow! It is Friday already and January is almost over. Some weeks just go by in a blink for me. This was one of those weeks. This felt like a prep or transitional week for us. We are preparing (bracing) for the rest of the school year. There are so many exciting and fun experiences ahead of us. There are also some dreadful and hard things to get through. All of these things require loads of planning.

Here is a brief review of what we are doing:

We spent the months of December and January eating everything out of the freezer and overflow (emergency) pantry. Now that they are almost empty, I am moving the pantry from the basement to an upstairs closet. I am also defrosting the basement freezer. Soon, I will start restocking them. I am also slowly moving all shelf food into glass jars. It just keeps everything cleaner and safe from any pests.

Our favorite game this week:

My dishwasher is trying its hardest to die. It is so frustrating how short the life span of modern day appliances are these days. The dishwasher upper rack is no longer cleaning anything. In fact, after some experimenting, we discovered it made clean dishes on the top rack dirty. NICE...NOT. It is a cheap dishwasher and not worth calling a repair man out. There is also no money in the budget for a new one, and so far my husband hasn't been able to fix it. For now, it cleans on the bottom rack and I wash all the glasses and cups by hand instead of using the top rack. Not a huge deal really, just an inconvenience.

Anne was offered the opportunity to substitute for her teacher at two ballet classes with pay. One was a pre-ballet class with 16 five year old children! There were no curriculum or notes to teach, so she just created little games that worked on beginning dance moves. The class sounded cheerful from the waiting room. Several parents that went outside the building to watch through the windows came back in and told the parents in the lobby that she had good order of the class and that the kids loved her. Go Anne! The second class was a grade two Cecchetti class with 9 and 10 year old students. She had a curriculum to follow and found that class pretty easy to teach. She said she preferred teaching the older class, because it had an organized lesson plan.

Poor Dean just can't catch a medical break. His dentist appointment resulted in a referral to have his wisdom teeth removed. We will have to travel several hours away to have them removed because there are very few Medicaid providers in our state. This is going to be a huge challenge for him. With his sensory issues, he finds just a normal cleaning to be a major struggle. Fortunately, he will be under anesthesia for the procedure. Also, he had no cavities, and they said he is doing a great job brushing his teeth.

My students made a sail car in physical science this week. It turned out great.

Lastly, we have started a unit study on The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I picked the book very carefully and decided to go with a very wordy graphic novel. It is thick and clearly carries the story line. I will be talking about it soon in more detail. I am so glad it is being well received by the kids. I have wanted to share this book with them for a long time and am glad I found a way that would enhance their learning.

Blessings, Dawn