The Lottery

Our first short story for the high school home school literature class was The Lottery by Shirley Jackson.  I read this story in college and since Big Girl likes horror movies, I thought why not dive into a sort of horror story.  With The Lottery we had the following assignments - trying to write this without too many spoilers:

1) Comprehension and analysis questions, including the concepts of superstition, authority, continuity, fear

2) Writing an obit for one of the characters

3) Writing a front page newspaper article about the annual event

4) Comparing and contrasting the lottery with the reaping in The Hunger Games

5) An essay explaining why even children are included in the tradition of the lottery

6) Watching the 1996 movie inspired by the short story

For the rest of November we will be studying the poetry of Ralph Waldo Emerson and then we'll slow down a bit in December with some holiday selections (The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry and Robert Frost's winter/Christmas poems).

During her Christmas break, Big Girl will be reading Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, so she's ready to roll with that big unit at the start of January.

Understand Her

 

Emily Dickinson

After reading and studying Eli Wiesel's Night in September (and yes, I do realize that Wiesel was European, but he lived in the US for a long time), we moved on to the poetry of Emily Dickinson for October in our US Lit high school home school class.  While Big Girl had access to the entire collection of Dickinson's work, I chose six specific poems to analyze further.  In the process of doing so, we learned about Emily Dickinson's biography, slant rhymes, critical literary lenses, and new vocab.  Among others, there were a compare and contrast assignment, an assignment to re-write a poem into today's language, an assignment to write at least one original poem in Dickinson's style, and an assignment to create a piece of visual art that represents one of the poems.  We watched the movie Wild Nights with Emily and as the grand finale (a surprise to Big Girl), we visited Amherst, MA, including the Emily Dickinson House and Museum.

In November we will spend some time comparing Dickinson's work to her contemporary Ralph Waldo Emerson's and also read The Lottery by Shirley Jackson as our first short story selection for the class.  Big Girl likes horror movies, so this story seemed fitting to introduce on Day of the Dead.

Under One Roof

Big Girl was once again a participant at the Under One Roof community art exhibit at our Jewish Community Center.  This event is held annually in celebration of Sukkot.  This year we even managed to attend the reception and enjoy the art, music, food and company.

The 2023 theme was Dream

We're enjoying watching Big Girl explore her artistic voice and talents and are excited about what the future holds.

MOJ Referral Results Bulgaria IAC Sessions 585-589

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 585 which was held on June 27, 2023:

1) US dossier from December 2022 referred a female child aged 1 year and 8 months with features in health status

2) US dossier from June 2023 referred an identified waiting child

3) US dossier from June 2023 referred an identified waiting child

4) US dossier from June 2023 referred an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 586 which was held on July 14, 2023:

1) US dossier from August 2021 referred a female child aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health status

2) US dossier from July 2022 referred a male child aged 1 year and 9 months with features in health status

3) US dossier from July 2022 referred a male child aged 7 years and 3 months with features in health status and a family history

4) Canadian dossier from March 2023 referred three brothers aged 6 years and 6 months, 7 years and 8 months and 10 years and 2 months

5) US dossier from May 2023 referred a male child aged 11 years and 11 months with features in health status

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

7) US dossier from July 2023 referred an identified waiting child

8) US dossier from July 2023 referred an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 587 which was held on July 21, 2023:

1) Spanish dossier from February 2015 referred a female child aged 2 years and 3 months with features in health status

2) Spanish dossier from February 2015 referred a male child aged 1 year and 5 months

3) US dossier from May 2017 referred a male child aged 3 years and 10 months with features in health status

4) US dossier from May 2023 referred sisters aged 12 years and 10 years and 1 month

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

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 588 which was held on August 11, 2023:

1) Spanish dossier from April 2015 referred a male child aged 1 year and 5 months with features in health status

2) US dossier from October 2017 referred a female child aged 1 year and 10 months with features in health status and a family history

3) French dossier from December 2020 referred a female child aged 2 years and 7 months with features in health status

4) US dossier from February 2023 referred an identified waiting child

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

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

7)  US dossier from August 2023 referred an identified waiting child

 The following referrals were issued in IAC Session 589 which was held on August 25, 2023:

1) Spanish dossier from November 2015 referred a female child aged 8 years and 6 months

2) French dossier from August 2016 referred a male child aged 4 years and 10 months with a family history

3) Luxembourg dossier from January 2020 referred a female child aged 2 years and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

4) Italian dossier from September 2021 referred sisters aged 8 years and 8 months and 6 years

5) Canadian dossier from November 2022 referred a male child aged 7 years and 6 months with features in health status and a family history

The 6 Rs

This is why home education works for our kids.  Plus the sunshine!

Love Notes

 I'll never tire of these love notes!