We're well over the mid-summer hump, but still going strong.
1) Kings Island for Little One and Middle Kid plus dad
2) Take Your Child to Work Day for the girls plus dad
3) Pickleball and lunch with grandpa for Middle Kid and dad
4) Cincinnati Reds game for both grandmas, the girls and Craig
The Ohio school year runs from July 1 to June 30, so our annual 900 required home education hours fall into this span... which means that Big Girl's high school U.S. Literature class with me has begun. I won't make any promises about posting everything we do in this class, but here's what happened in July thus far. I told her it was a warm-up.
Big Girl read The Giver by Lois Lowry and kept a list of words specific to the community described in this novel as well as some notes on theme(s). When she had finished the reading, we discussed The Giver in general and her assignment in particular.
Further joint discussion centered on a variety of topics including utopia vs dystopia, infanticide, euthanasia, active vs static characters, external and internal conflicts, euphemisms, open/ambiguous endings, and the themes of sameness vs individuality and conformity vs self-expression.
Next, Big Girl was assigned an essay. She had two topics from which to choose and decided to discuss whether the role of Receiver of Memories was an honor or punishment for Jonas. The essay went through three independent drafts which we reviewed together each time. The final essay will be added to her home school portfolio.
As a last discussion, Big Girl and I tried to find some parallels between Nazi Germany under Hitler and the dystopian community in the novel. We closed out our July warm-up by watching the 2014 movie version of The Giver and talking about how it compares to the book.
(Home education hours logged for this unit: 17)
Today, the girls had an exciting day at Craig's work with the Take Your Child to Work event.
Big Girl was on her own with a high school group and got to do three activities: Virtual Reality Cave, Flushability Lab, and Chem Lab. After lunch, she and her group made cards for recipients of Meals on Wheels before heading to the carnival.
Little One was in a younger group with Craig as a volunteer by her side. She planted flowers, designed a product box, painted rocks and did tie dye with sanitary pad material. Lunch and carnival also included.
This week was less busy and that's a good thing.
1) Medical appointment for Little One
2) Overnight getaway for Craig and me
3) Blackberry picking for me
4) Kings Island for Middle Kid, Big Girl and dad
5) Golf for Middle Kid, Big Girl and dad
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| Summer shenanigans now in full swing |
The hits just keep on coming.
1) Blueberry picking for Oma and me (11 pounds!)
2) Medical appointment for Little One
3) Kings Island for Big Girl, Middle Kid and dad
4) Sleepover for Big Girl
5) Summer Dance Day at the Cincinnati Ballet for Little One
6) Fourth of July party with friends for all
7) Neighborhood block party for all
When we face a day with many hours of driving, we prefer to pack our meals and eat them en route at a park or rest area versus stopping at restaurants. So I thought I would share what this looks like for us.
There are three of us in the family who will eat the same dishes, one of us with a very self-restricted carb-heavy diet due to hypersensitivity to oral and olfactory stimuli, and one of us who likes most foods to be served just so. Furthermore, Little One is always excited for travel, but it also drives her anxiety through the roof and when that happens, she struggles to eat at all. So in addition to everything else, we have to really monitor her intake and sometimes set aside one on one time at a quiet place for her to eat while we are traveling.
For lunch, I packed herbed cream cheese (so much goodness in the garden right now) with cucumbers on homemade sourdough bread, sliced apples, water and lemon shortbread for our mainstream eaters. Cold pesto pizza and chicken/fresh berries were on tap for the other two.
Here we are in Veedersburg, Indiana at Hub Park enjoying lunch, fresh air, and movement.
For dinner I made salads in a jar which have been a huge hit with Big Girl since the first time I prepared them for a road trip. Our more persnickety eaters happily had a repeat of their respective lunches.
Snacks in the car included pretzels, bananas, blueberries, M&Ms, and almonds.
For dessert we tried to have icecream at Park 'n Chill in Springfield, Illinois, because if we're going to eat out, it has to be local. Unfortunately, it was closed, so DQ to the rescue.
A busy and exciting week!
1) Medical appointment for Little One
2) Our nephew's high school graduation party for all
3) NCFA Conference in St. Louis for me
4) Sightseeing in St. Louis for all but me (Arch, Telephone Museum, Forest Park, Cathedral Basilica - Craig and I used to live pretty close to St. Louis and had already seen all of these places in the years B.C. so I didn't miss out all the way)
5) Arrival of Oma from Germany
6) Stops on the Family History Tour to show the kids where we got married as well as the shady apartment complex that was our first shared home and Craig's alma mater for all
7) Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Lincoln Tomb, Lincoln family home - yes, this counts as home education hours - for all
8) Cardinals vs. Astros game for Middle Kid and dad
