IAC Sessions 582-584

 The following referrals were issued by the IAC in Bulgaria on May 9, 2023 in IAC Session 582:

1) US dossier from January 2015 referred a female child aged 1 year and 1 month with features in health status and a family history

2) US dossier from March 2018 referred a male child aged 3 years and 10 months with features in health status

3) US dossier from December 2021 referred a male child aged 2 years and 4 months with features in health status

4) Italian dossier from April 2023 referred three sisters aged 5 years and 4 months, 6 years and 9 months & 10 years and 7 months with features in health status and a family history

5) US dossier from May 2023 referred an identified waiting child

6) US dossier from May 2023 referred an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued by the IAC in Bulgaria on May 16, 2023 in IAC Session 583: 

1) German dossier from March 2016 referred a male child aged 1 year and 6  months with features in health status and a family history

2) Italian dossier from January 2020 referred tow brothers aged 8 years and 8 months and 7 years and 7 months

3) US dossier from March 2023 referred a male child aged 2 years and 7 months with features in health status

 The following referrals were issued by the IAC in Bulgaria on May 26, 2023 in IAC Session 584:

1) Italian dossier from November 2015 referred two sisters aged 8 years and 4 months and 7 years and 4 months

2) Italian dossier from April 2016 referred two brothers aged 3 years and 3 months and 4 years and 11 months

3) Canadian dossier from August 2022 referred a male child aged 5 years and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

4) Italian dossier from November 2022 referred an identified waiting child

5) US dossier from May 2023 referred a female child aged 16 years and 10 months.

Tenth Week Of Summer

1) Kings Island for Middle Kid and Little One with dad

2) Hiking and dinner with friends in Kentucky

3) A paid mother's helper gig for Big Girl assisting a friend with her 6 yo during the final weeks of another pregnancy

4) Golf for just Craig

5) Golf for Big Girl, Middle Kid and dad

6) Potato digging at a local farm for all

Eighth Week Of Summer

 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 Giver by Lois Lowry

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)

Take Your Child To Work Day

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.

But the absolute highlight of Little One's day, the thing she can't stop talking about, was sitting at her daddy's desk.

Seventh Week Of Summer

 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

Summer shenanigans now in full swing

Sixth Week Of Summer

 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