Post-Institutional Play

Mama: What did you do at Claire's this afternoon?

Former orphan: We played orphanage.  I was Catherine and Claire was Victoria, we call her Vicky.  We are cousins in an orphanage.  Our caretaker is Ben and not very nice.  For breakfast, he gives us oatmeal every day.  But in the end we get adopted by a woman and we have eggs, bacon and waffles.

April 2013

Armenian American Superhero

The Solar Eclipse

I am glad we got to kick off our home school year with a very exciting science unit, culminating in today's solar eclipse with over 90% coverage in our area.  We studied earth's patterns and the solar system for three weeks.

Then Ella had the opportunity to take a class at the Cincinnati Observatory.  Sitting at the sidelines of this class, I was really proud to see Ella raise her hand to answer questions and knowing such facts as the sun being the center of our solar system, one million earths being able to fit into the sun, and the sun giving us light, heat and energy.

Solar prints

And today, we met up with fellow home schooling friends for an eclipse lunch and viewing.

I think the adults in attendance were even more excited than the kids about seeing this eclipse.  We're already looking forward to 2024 when we will be just a short drive from the path of totality.

Photos Of The Day

First Graders

100 Hours Of Home School

We have completed our first one hundred hours of the 2017/18 home school year.  We're pretty proud of ourselves and Ella earned a treat.

My favorite Ella exclamations from these first five weeks are below.

After watching shadows move for a morning, "Oh my gosh, so the earth moves and we don't even feel it?!"  Clasped hand over mouth.

Completing a work sheet at the grocery store, she answered the question What's your cashier's name and why is it nice to use people's names? with: "Telem. It's nice because then you don't have to say hey, dood."

After taking a look at a proportionate representation of the sun and the earth, "So we're just a speck?  Like Horton Hears a Who?  A speck?!"

This first month of home school has been more fun than not and Ella has certainly learned a lot.  Here's to the next 100 hours - cheers!

Picture Of The Night

Last night, Ella had a home school lesson under the open sky, watching the meteor shower.  We saw several meteors light up the night, talked about astronomy, and made memories.

Both closed their eyes to avoid the flash