Due to the havoc wreaked by 'my friend' the snow(see previous post), the kids missed a week of school in addition to the two weeks off for Christmas vacation. Suffering from post-holiday self-loathing brought on my gluttonous over-indulgence of fudge, movies, and general laziness, I knew that do-nothing-no-school days would bring out my inner Mr. Hyde. I devised a home-schooling plan in order to save us all. It didn't all go according to plan, but I believe that we learned the most when it didn't. Just like Ansel denies that he has ever learned anything on Sesame Street, the girls will most likely deny that they acquired any education while being home-schooled. HA! HA! HA! HA! I now have documented proof, dear children.
Savanna learned that homemade volcanoes smell and taste quite disgusting.
Ansel finally formed his first bubblegum bubble. You won't learn that at school
Emmy learned that shoveling snow, Wii boxing and Jumping on a play structure is excellent Physical Education.
One morning we discussed the history of Origami. Savanna completed some extra credit by folding 125 paper cranes.....she plans to test the legend of 1000 paper cranes. Supposedly, if you fold 1000 of this birds, your greatest wish will be granted.
If the legend is true, I am fully expecting to find a puppy wearing a red ribbon, wagging it's tail, and sitting on our doorstep.
We spent two afternoons at the Museum and Arts and Culture. Emmy learned that Owls have 14 vertebrae compared to our 7. That explains their 270 degree neck rotation.
Savanna opted out of the kids activities and sketched a red-tailed hawk. I learned that Savanna is close to not being a kid much longer.
Ansel learned to become solemn and statuesque while he held the owl . He also wishes that he had frayed feathers like the owl so that he could move soundlessly around the house scaring us.
Ansel learned to become solemn and statuesque while he held the owl . He also wishes that he had frayed feathers like the owl so that he could move soundlessly around the house scaring us.
Savanna realized that folding 125 paper cranes gave her some extra strength for balancing the perching predator
Ansel discovered that great things can come from a few twist ties and newspaper bindings.
Emmy and Savanna both practiced writing and editing documents on their new laptops. They whined and complained while working on the book reports I made them compose.
They seemed to enjoy "photo booth" a little more and spent hours laughing hysterically at their creations and mini-videos. I must admit that I got sucked into the photo booth craze. Yeah, this is me. This is what my Dr. Hyde looks like on a bad day.
Emmy got a new camera for her birthday and has spent hours taking candid shots of every member of the family and every deer in the vicinity. She has quickly learned how to find a victim, snap a picture, download, sort, and blog within minutes.
Corey learned patience while allowing Ansel to help build his office shelves.
Ansel tested his theory that his fake frog would be able to ride up the escalator unharmed. I thought he would slide and fall off the edge into escalator oblivion. I was wrong.....again.
The school nurse called in the afternoon to inform me that Emmy had cut herself quite badly ON HER FOLDER!? (Did I here that correctly? Surely she said, "On a Sharp Boulder") and may have to go to the hospital. I scooped up the feverishly moaning Ansel, wrapped him in a blanket, and raced (speed-limit style, of course) to the school. The nurse had recovered from her shock of seeing so much blood and reduced her diagnosis to "just needing a band-aid". I checked both girls out of school. They are safer at home. Maybe they will cancel school on Monday because of "dangerous folders".
Ansel insisted on buttoning his pajamas Thursday night. His independence grew 4 sizes last week. I was secretly hoping he wouldn't be able to do it and that the list of things he still needs me for wouldn't be shrinking as quickly as our piles of snow. He buttoned those buttons better than I could. Soon he will be buttoning my buttons.
Ansel tested his theory that his fake frog would be able to ride up the escalator unharmed. I thought he would slide and fall off the edge into escalator oblivion. I was wrong.....again.
The National Guard finally came to the rescue and shoveled off the compromised roofs and chipped away at the treacherous sheets of ice covering the sidewalks at the elementary schools. It also helped that SUPER WARM WEATHER HERO swooped down and melted much of the snow. Now we may have to summon SUPER STOP THE FLOODING HERO.
School resumed on Friday. Homeschooling was fun while it lasted, but I was anxious to get back to our routines and "personal mothering recharging" time. The girls rolled their eyes at my 'teacher voice' and called me weird a few times too many. Corey made fun of me and told me that I needed to start wearing my hair in a bun. I don't we could survive this on a long term basis.
Ansel spent Friday vomiting and moaning through feverish naps. So much for my routine and personal time.
4 comments:
Your days and weeks are certainly full of excitement! Looks like everyone survived once again. I hope the floods go somewhere else. You all have had enough for one winter. emptynest
You would make for a very interesting teacher if you ever wanted to be one. I have friends that actually home school. I'd go crazy. I don't know how they do it. They must have that teacher personality.
Is Corey studying the pros and cons of the mustache trend? I hear it's coming back (scary).
You got called to the school for a paper cut? Wow.
It looks as though the kids learned many important things during their home school stint, vital life lessons to be sure (everyone should learn to recognize the taste of kitchen volcanoes, in my opinion).
Kudos to you for embracing the situation...I will take your lead if the same happens to us! You are all amazing!
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